#every week they somehow surpass themselves

[oldbutnotyetwise]

Dying Wisdom

     Something interesting happens as you are approaching your own death, people suddenly think that you have gained wisdom.  They ask you questions and wait for something profound to come from your mouth or keyboard.  Has this act of dying suddenly made me wise? No, I don’t think it has, but what it has done is it has given me the gift of clarity.  Suddenly I am able to see through the haze of all the things that don't matter, something that was so hard to do through most of my life.  Suddenly I can see, and understand what is important, what really matters, which in some ways can give the impression that I am wise.  

     I have a counsellor named Gord who visits me every other week.  He is a quiet, gentle and wise man.  He is a counsellor connected with some of the nearby Hospices.  He has been asked to speak to an area Men’s Group, and he has been asked to share what wisdom the men in his Palliative Care Ministry would share with this group of men based on their current and life experiences.  What follows is my reply to Gord about his question to me.

     It can happen to you.  I think we all wander through life feeling we are somewhat invincible.  I was in good shape, loving my retirement, living my best life when suddenly the trap door under me opened and the world I knew was suddenly gone forever.  So next time you drive by that cancer hospital, see that disabled person struggling, visit that dying friend in the hospital, pause for a second and realize that that person could be you…..I hope it never is, but it could be.

     Stop putting everything off until tomorrow because sometimes tomorrow doesn’t come.  My wife and I had planned adventures but put them off as we had moved to our dream property and got busy there.  I feel badly that I didn’t give her some of those dream vacations because she deserved them, but I just thought we had more time.  Even after getting my terminal diagnosis we got busy taking care of things to prepare for what was coming, and I missed the chance to travel before my illness took the opportunity for travel away from me, from us.

     Life isn’t about collecting “things”, life is about loving, making memories, helping others, pursuing happiness and just maybe leaving the world a little better than you found it.  All the money in the world can’t save me, but somehow as I journeyed through life I managed to collect a menagerie of the best friends one could ever ask for.  Walking the road toward your impending demise can be a lonely and scary path on your own, but continually I find one of my friends there beside me, they don’t even have to say anything, the comfort comes from just finding them by my side.  So I hope that you have been a good friend, because those that have good friends tend to be good friends themselves.

     Time is very valuable but sadly we tend not to be aware of that until our Time is running out.  These days life seems to be lived at a super fast pace, which can be dangerous because all that Time we are hanging on for dear life, our life is passing us by.  Children grow up, friends move away or die, our health gets stolen away from us and we come to the end of our life without ever having lived.  Take it from someone who’s Time is running out, Time is more valuable than all those things you think you want or need.  When people are interviewed near the end of their life the thing they wish for more of isn’t money or things, it is more Time.  Once Time is gone you can’t get it back, so spend your Time wisely, very wisely.  

     I hope that you have a great spouse, partner, significant other, or whatever you might call them.  I am very lucky because I have the best wife of all time, I already knew she was great, but when my illness moved in with us she surpassed, and continues to surpass all my expectations.  I wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for her, she saves my life every day.  She manages to wring little bits of joy out of this small fraction of a life that remains, and she does it every single day for me.  Prior to diagnosis we were a very happy couple, but struggling through this illness has brought us to a level of love I never knew existed before.  I hope that if you ever find yourself confronted with a serious illness that you have a partner like mine.  A partner that loves you, shows you kindness and compassion, and is your rock to steady you when you stumble on your journey. I also hope that you recognize although you may have the terminal disease, both of you share it completely.  The very small life I live is also lived by my wife, she can’t travel, she can only leave our home for short periods because of my care needs, in her caring for me she has had to do things no one should have to do for their spouse.  She has no days off because she is caring for me 24/7, and somehow through all the exhaustion, unpleasant tasks and tears she continually shows so much love for me, despite how unlovable I may feel I am.  If you are visiting someone with a terminal illness don’t just check on them.  Take the time to check in on the caretaker, they are often forgotten about but carry such a heavy burden.

     Say the things that need to be said, because one day you, or the person you should have said those things to may be gone, and the things that needed to be said will then forever remain unsaid.  Tell people you love them and that you are grateful that they are in your life.  Don’t cling to grudges or old hurts, they are only stealing joy away from you.   How many of us have lost someone and regretted not telling them how we felt?  I know I certainly have lost dear close friends and family members before I said the things I should have said to them.

     I went out of my way to speak to numerous widows and widowers who had lost their partner to a terminal illness.  I asked each of them about the aftermath, the time after their partner had died, and asked them what went well and what do they wish they had done differently.  I have tried to learn from others who have travelled this road, I want to make things as easy as I can for my wife and daughter afterwards.  It is sort of the final gift that I can give.  So if you don’t have your affairs in order, terminal illness or not, get them in order,  Ensure your Will is up to date, that people know your wishes, and maybe even make your own funeral arrangements for yourself, it is a burden you can relieve your loved ones of during a time when they will be struggling.

     Do nice things for people, they don’t have to be huge things, sometimes the smallest of kindnesses can turn someone else’s day around.  Kindness costs you little if anything, but it pays huge dividends.  I can guarantee that kindness is the best investment you can make.  

     Be grateful for everything.  Gratitude is a core ingredient of happiness.  Even when something bad happens, don’t just focus on the bad thing, look around because there is good there too, it’s just harder to find.  My terminal illness has brought many amazing people into my life, brought countless acts of kindness to my wife and I, made me so appreciative of what I have, and made me feel so much love from my wife, daughter and friends.   I know this sounds a bit crazy, but this dying man is very lucky in so very many ways.

     At the end of every day as you lay down to sleep, pause for a minute or two and think that maybe you might not wake up tomorrow, and if that happened would you be happy with how you lived your life, spent your last day?  If the answer is no, then start making the changes you need to make, so that at the end of every day  you can say yes, you led a good life, you spent your day well and you can rest peacefully knowing that you have lived well.  

#als #dying wisdom

[perexcri]

isn’t it messed up how i’m just dying to be him? - [byler week 2023 - day 3]

everyone give it up for Mikhailgate!

title from: sugar, we’re going down by fall out boy

dedicated to: bbc’s sherlock for scarring 14 year-old me and making me leery of getting invested in and interacting with fan theories for fear of the writers choosing to never answer any of their open-ended questions! also my freshman year Russian phonetics class, which was slightly useful for at least one of these sentences

To say that things had been odd since they returned to Hawkins would not just be an understatement, but a flat-out lie. Odd implies bizarreness on conceivable terms, and what has happened in the last three months–nay, two and a half years–surpasses any preconceived notion any of them had about anything. Certain immutable laws of the universe have been casually broken ever since Will disappeared and El showed up in the woods, monsters are real, and the government is in on all of it, and oh, yeah, Will and Mike are best friends! Except they’re not.

Well, they are?

Kind of?

Maybe?

Is there a term for very clearly friends but there’s something under the surface that keeps pushing into both of them, and neither person knows what to do?

Well, there should be a term for it, because whatever it is, Mike is feeling it pretty hard right now.

See, even when they fight, there’s this unspoken law of the universe itself that still makes them the closest out of anyone in the party. They understand each other on a fundamentally different level than most other people, can communicate entire conversations in glances–in short, they know each other almost as well as they know themselves. Despite how much every other conceivable point of stability has been torn apart in their lives, they know that they at least have each other, that no matter what, despite the fights and whatever thing keeps occupying the empty spaces of their conversations and glances, they’ll always snap back to each other, just like how they’re supposed to.

Mike is very calmly mulling these things over when El, who’s sitting a little too close for comfort, pulls the plastic fork that had somehow broken in half away from him and sets it on the table. Her fingers linger on his for a beat too long before falling away. “Mike?”

“Hm?” he hums with pointed exasperation. He’s too busy–thinking, of course.

But also staring.

“Do you not like the new guy?”

Well, first of all, new guy is another one of those phrases that’s not simply an understatement, but a complete and utter lie. New guy implies somebody unfamiliar, somebody they’ve never seen before.

And this guy–well, he’s definitely not that. He’s got hair just as wavy and dark as Mike’s, except instead of flattening his bangs and the top of his hair out like Mike takes painstaking time to do every morning (despite the fucking apocalypse happening outside the government base’s doors), he lets them hang wild and loose all over his head, like if a bird’s nest just looked effortlessly cool and flawless despite it undoubtedly being a mess to comb through. His eyes are just the same shade of brown as Mike’s, freckles spattered in nearly-identical constellations all across his skin, and his bones stick out of his body at awkward junctures, in nearly all the same places that Mike’s does.

The only difference?

The heavy (and we’re talking honey thick) Russian accent that drawls through every last bit of Mikhail Antonov’s speech, that omits articles wherever it so desires and can’t pronounce an H without sounding like he’s hocking up a lung. And yeah, sure, Mike gets it: all languages are different and unique in their own ways! If he tried speaking Russian, he’d probably sound abysmal, and all the Mikhail Antonovs of the world would make fun of him in their language for not pronouncing a word right or mixing up sounds so he ends up saying Jesus instead of vinegar, or whatever, but to hell with propriety and understanding, because Mike doesn’t care about any of that shit when Mikhail won’t unglue himself from Will’s side.

“Mike?”

With a huff, Mike momentarily peels his eyes away from Mikhail’s confident–nay, imposing–posture towards Will, how his hand casually rests against Will’s arm as they sit at one of the cafeteria tables a few rows down.

And Will?

Well, Will isn’t exactly trying to dissuade any of these advances. No, ever since Hopper called in a favor and smuggled his buddy Dmitri and his family out of the Soviet Union and into the swirling hellscape that had become Hawkins, Mikhail Antonov has been positively enamored by Will Byers, and Will doesn’t seem to mind. He leans into Mikhail’s touches, calmly tries to explain any weird American things to their new peer–hell, they even have inside jokes now! Something will happen, and they’ll immediately lean in towards each other and begin muttering and laughing, like they’re kids in the back of class trying to entertain themselves to keep from falling asleep.

Just like how Mike and Will used to before monsters became real and physics regularly decided to go on vacation and let all hell break loose.

So, yeah, Will doesn’t mind.

Mike minds, though. He minds very much.

And, sure, maybe this is him getting a taste of his own medicine after he ditched all of their friends for the better half of last summer to hole up in Hopper’s cabin and alternate between making out with El and then not making any kind of conversation with her. Okay, yeah, maybe this is karma’s sweet, sweet revenge on him. Fine. Whatever.

It doesn’t mean he has to like it or agree with it.

“Yeah?” he finally asks, but he has to grind the single syllable out from the notches between his teeth.

“You’re glaring at Mikhail again,” El notes, nodding towards the broken plastic fork.

“Yeah, well, maybe he should talk more quietly,” Mike grumbles.

As if on cue, the rest of the cafeteria grows a little quieter just as Mikhail is reaching the crescendo of one of his many long-winded stories about surviving winter on the Kamchatka peninsula (of which he has certifiably too many for them all to be true, if you ask Mike). He and Will burst into laughter, and Will’s doing that cute thing where he tries to hide his mouth, but it doesn’t stop the laughs from seeping out between his fingers, and the light hits his eyes just right and highlights the crinkles on their edges, and for once, he doesn’t look troubled by the supernatural.

And Mikhail?

“See, Will–”

Oh, and that’s another thing: since their totally unasked for adoption of Mikhail into the Party and subsequent crash course on Russian phonetics and that language’s intricacies, they’ve learned that there is no W sound in Russian, so Mikhail doesn’t even say Will’s name right. He doesn’t say Will, he says Oo-Ill, and fuck being brave enough to speak two languages, because it makes Mike’s blood boil every time.

He absconds from his moment of disgust to tune back into the (incredibly loud) thrum of Mikhail’s voice in the cafeteria:

“I told you,” Mikhail coos, “Call me Misha. It is much better than Mikhail.”

Will responds, but because he’s a sensible human being who doesn’t shout in public, Mike can’t hear what he says, but he does grin and nod his head and look the teeniest bit bashful.

He looks cute. He really does. He used to look like that at Mike, back when they were younger, before Mike let his own big mouth run, before the mall became a battleground, and before Will had put up a wall of silence after giving him a painting that El had supposedly commissioned.

The fact that Mikhail looks strikingly similar to Mike himself just adds insult to injury, really. Like the issue isn’t something physically defective with Mike, but some core nature of himself that’s thoroughly rotten and Will knows he doesn’t deserve.

“Mike,” El consoles, turning in her seat so she’s more properly facing him. “It’s not like he could ever replace you for Will. You guys are best friends.”

Best friends. Yeah, that’s a funny term.

“I’m gonna go take a nap,” Mike mumbles under his breath, and before El can ask him to repeat himself, he scoops up the leftovers from his meal, pushes his chair out from the table, and begins the shuffle of shame down to the front to dispose of his trash and dunk his dishes in the gray dishwater.

Worst of all is the fact that he has to walk by Will and Mikhail’s table. That when he does so, Will’s eyes snap up, and just for a second, they alight with interest.

Mike keeps his eyes down. He focuses on what he can see of the core of an apple he only got halfway through, and he pretends like Will’s gaze doesn’t send spikes of guilt into his chest and skittering down to the bottom of his gut.

The cold dishwater doesn’t do anything to dispel the heat of embarrassment currently settling over his skin like a blanket made of hot coals, and his hands shake. His mind automatically drifts to his relationship with El as well as with Will, and he can’t tell if they ever had proper breaks, or if they simply just fell away; if Mike let them fall through his fingers like this, just so he could tell himself this pain could mean something.

As he stomps out of the cafeteria and down the long hall of dorms, his thoughts remain on one track:

Fuck Hawkins. Fuck the apocalypse, and Vecna, and trauma, and feeling like you have to conform to society’s expectations for you.

But most of all, fuck Mikhail Antonov.

---

um hi i do feel the need to say that Mike’s jealousy-induced views on speaking a language that isn’t your native one do not reflect mine! his views here are exaggerated for laughs because it’s a silly thing :)

#byler #bylerweek2023 #ficlet #mikhailgate #ok i actually have a story about the Jesus/vinegar thing but i will save it for the ao3 endnotes

[justjozzyjitters]

Short Story #7

I the Journal, She the Girl

In being a journal, you learn many things about what it is to be honest. There are the things you tell the people you love to prevent them from worrying, the things you tell yourself to get rid of the shame that comes with lying, and then there are things that you tell me. I’m a trapper-keeper of all the things too morbid to say aloud.

That is the worst part of being a journal. I know my owner’s deepest darkest secrets but can’t do anything about them. I wish I could somehow nudge myself out from beneath the coffee cup full of pens off her desk, jump onto the floor, and use my crumpled pages to crawl my way out of the depths of a teenage girl’s bedroom, but I am just a journal. I don’t have limbs, I don’t have eyes, I don’t have ears, I don’t have a mouth. Instead, I have skin to let me feel every little impression of a desperately moving pen and tears as they melt away her writings and a mind filled with the thoughts shared between the girl and me. I am only to feel.

“Dear Diary,” she began, as she usually does in one of her more chipper moods. It’s unusual for the girl to write when she is anything but sad or angry, but this time her letters loop about themselves, and little hearts dot her i’s and j’s. “I know I don’t write a lot apart from when I am upset, but I figured today would make a good time for an update. I think things are really starting to look up for me.”

During the few times I’ve witnessed her happy, she always starts in nearly the same way. Perhaps if she was a bit more superstitious, she would avoid the heartbreak that comes from so blatantly showing off all the good things to the demons that want to take her home.

“I finally started my new job at the restaurant. I don’t mind all the hard work, but it is starting to weigh in on me a bit,” and here it comes, “There is this lady who has been there for a while now and, least to say, she is a b*tch.”

The girl never curses aloud, and even in writing, she doesn’t have it in her to express the word entirely. It has become one of the many things I love about the girl, along with how she decorates my pages with little figures and stories rather than the curses most people her age are always spouting. Even if I could hear, I don’t think anyone could surpass the purity bestowed within my pages and the heart of the girl.

“I am trying my best, I really am, but when you are working as a hostess, a buss-girl, and waiter all at the same time, you can’t do things completely perfectly. All she does is sit at the bar and chat with our more welcoming customers while I must pick up her slack.”

The girl is the most hardworking person I’ve ever heard of, yet the most insecure.

“Then, whatever work I do for her is never up to her standards. I am a bit of a perfectionist myself, but Tessa is awful. Last night I was half sweeping under a table and half watching the door for any new customers, but apparently, I wasn’t doing it right. She roughly tore the broom from my hand before forcing me out of her way and doing a worse job than I had. I know I should have just stood up for myself, especially being that she isn’t even a manager, but instead, I ducked back down behind the counter while I tried to catch my breath.”

She has been doing so well at preventing anxiety attacks, but now one person has single-handedly brought the girl back to me. Though I’m just a journal, I can still feel anger. I’m at my happiest when I go the longest without being written in, as that means the girl is happy.

Last time, I hadn’t heard from her in over a month. I didn’t even know that she had a new job or made a new friend named Samantha, but I was fine with that. Now I hear from her a couple times a week, “Tessa this, Tessa that.” I am happy to spend time with the girl but not as happy as I am without her. I love the girl, but she is sad.

The more the girl is sad, the closer I come to death. My days are coming to an end, and I am afraid that the girl won’t tell me how this all ends.

It is during this time that the girl is at her saddest. She begins carrying me around with her and skipping lines as she writes as if she can’t help but try to get through the last ten or so of my pages as quickly as she can. The girl loves writing in journals, and she has many of them. As much as I love her, I will always be hers, and her never just mine. I’m not the girl’s first journal or the last. There are big ones covered in stickers and others small and letter-bound like me. On one shelf in her bedroom, she has the graveyard I will one day join to blindly wait for when she decides to remind herself of past happenings. That likely won’t happen, though, for she can’t remind herself of sad things to be happy.

I only had two sheets of paper left to be filled when I felt a different set of hands. The girl stowed me away beneath the hostess counter where she worked, leaving me often to guard it while she was off picking up Tessa’s slack.

Those hands weren’t as soft as the girl’s; the skin between each finger tended to snag loosely against my binding when she flipped the page. These hands didn’t hold a pen and kept going wrong. The girl never looks back through my pages nor has me without a pen.

The girl and the stranger are very different in feeling, but then suddenly familiar as I feel a warm tear splatter onto the last page. The stranger is sad.

“Dear Kelly,” the stranger begins suddenly, adding fuel to the fire with unfamiliar writing and a pen too cheap from my pages. “I never knew how my behavior has affected you, but I will try to be better. As I’m sure you know by now, I am sick, and I just learned you are too. Having you here has sort of made me feel better, but I have done nothing but hurt you. I can’t just make you into my punching bag anymore. You do fine work. Love, Tessa,” She finished shortly, closing me back up and placing me back in my original position beneath the counter.

It seemed like she may have more to say, but then she came to my final page. As a journal, you have a short lifespan, and it makes it hard to be able to witness the stories end.

Kelly finally comes back. Her hands are soft and tender as she works at my pages, flipping to the back she has yet to find out was already filled. She goes through me twice, finally landing on Tessa’s entry. Kelly’s index finger quickly scans the page, reading everything once. Then again. On the third read-through, she roughly flips past the pages, takes ahold of the final two sheets, and rips them from my spine.

In doing so, Kelly seemed to calm down, as if taking away my pages would make the events that transpired seem slightly less accurate. She didn’t seem to trust that Tessa would apologize honestly and how dare she try to change the story in Kelly’s own diary.

Maybe I had been a bit biased up until this point. There are many sides to the story; Kelly’s was always mine. She takes the pages and rips them out as if I would just forget and still be entirely on her side. Still, Tessa’s hard hands left impressions on all the other pages and the cover I can feel to read again and again as I try to understand matters as a journal I never before have.

About 2022, age 18.

#personal narrative #personification #short story #creative writing course #amateur writing #journaling #diary

[the-necessary-unnecessary]

#every week they somehow surpass themselves #lisa evans #vivianne miedema #arsenal wfc #weplaystrong #my gifs #og #woso #futfem

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 302: As the Todoroki Turns

Previously on BnHA: 

Today on BnHA: We have a very fun chapter in which (1) Shouto grows up lonely on account of his parents being worried that his siblings will literally try to kill him, (2) Natsu and Fuyu grow up neglected on account of not being special and/or self-destructive enough to attract attention, (3) we get to revisit all of that exciting spousal abuse from chapter 39, and (4) Touya burns to death right on cue, pretty much exactly like we expected it to happen. Thankfully since this is a shounen manga, Horikoshi finds some hope in all this misery as the Todoroki family rallies together, with Shouto getting his long-overdue credit for being a perfect sweet angel who put up with all of this shit for sixteen years and somehow came out of it strong and kind and empathetic and determined. Anyway, so that flashback was a barrel of laughs. But now that it’s over, we can put all of that angst behind us, and move on to... well I guess, probably, more angst. Look, we’re short on variety at the moment. Bear with it.

ouch. we knew this was coming, but still

A+ parenting move there. “ho boy, our eldest just tried to murder our youngest, now what? hmm how about we isolate our youngest from all human contact”

though in their defense, we probably shouldn’t have expected this rabidly strength-obsessed fire man and his wife who was groomed since childhood to obey her family’s whims to have any idea of how to raise stable, well-adjusted offspring

SERIOUSLY YOU GUYS

this is a perfect example of Enji’s tragically self-revolving viewpoint right here. just because being a hero is your entire world doesn’t mean you can just excuse yourself from anything outside of that and act like it’s out of your control. “alas, all I care about is hero stuff and my son can’t be a hero, we are doomed to inhabit two different worlds” no you jackass, it’s called having more than one hobby?? figuring out how to spend some time with your son that doesn’t involve training?? the same exact thing you were telling him to do last week, while ignoring that you’ve never done that yourself in your life??

that said, yet again we have that complexity though because it’s obvious that Enji at least on some level is aware of his own flaws, even though he seems unwilling or unable to confront them. honestly, from what we’ve seen so far, Enji’s obsession with surpassing All Might might be more accurately called an addiction. he literally can’t let go of it even though he’s fully aware of how it’s slowly destroying his life. and so in the same way that a lifelong smoker or alcoholic might tell their child to stay away from cigarettes and booze, Enji tells Touya not to follow down the same path as him, even though he himself doesn’t know how to leave that path. so yes, it’s hypocritical as fuck, but there’s also an element of helplessness there as well because Enji literally doesn’t know how not to be like this

though all the same he sure could stand to put in more than just a token effort. but it is what it is, and we already know how much he’ll come to regret it

and meanwhile Baby Shouto has frozen his sleep bubble with his quirk lmao. so I guess his quirk did come in early. that’s a recipe for chaos right there

once again Shouto is ruining every single dramatic panel in this flashback

this was so dark and intense... and then I spotted the lil bubs in the corner. Horikoshi please control yourself

“some hero you are, running away” and then all of a sudden, “FIVE YEARS LATER” lol what. OKAY THEN

(ETA: love the confirmation that eight-year-old Natsu comes from the Iida school of puberty and is basically a fully grown man, and meanwhile Touya comes from the hobbit school of puberty and has been perpetually eight for the past five years.)

“HEY BIG BRO WANNA COME RECREATE AN ICONIC FLASHBACK SCENE WITH US. WE’VE GOT THE SOCCER BALL RIGHT HERE, BUT HURRY UP OR WE’LL BE TOO LATE FOR SHOUTO TO WALK ON BY AND STOP TO LOOK”

lol and that’s literally the next three panels. but Horikoshi did add this extra bit after Endeavor starts to drag Shouto away

seriously Enji what the hell did you expect was going to happen here. “Touya went nuts and tried to kill his little brother out of jealousy, so let’s make it clearer than ever that Shouto is the important child and all the other children are just rejects. this will definitely not make the problem 100x worse, and will surely lead to Touya giving up and living a happy life, having been emotionally abandoned by the person he admired more than anyone.” good for you pal you figured it all out. no need for that plan b, “we all just go to therapy”

anyway so he’s telling Shouto he can’t play because he needs more endurance training. and meanwhile Touya’s patented Todoroki Drama Genes are going through puberty as well

definitely the face of a happy, emotionally stable child who’s not still plotting to murder his younger brother in his sleep

“WELL ACTUALLY MAKESTE” lol I stand corrected??

apparently during the five year interim Touya actually stopped blaming Shouto and realized Enji was the one at fault. good for him! a bit inconsistent, given what we know happens later, but I assume we’ll get to that in good time

anyway. “yeah man I agree that dad sucks, but it’s the middle of the night and I’m only eight and you’ve been monologuing for the past two hours bro”

LMAO

the manga is making my jokes for me, only better. fine then

looks like someone’s still miffed about that disagreement he had with his baby sister back when she was like four

“Fuyu doesn’t get properly riled up like I want her to so ranting to her is annoying.” okay but having been in Fuyu’s shoes, it really is just a different way of coping, and I can guarantee she’s not as fine with the whole situation as Touya might think. but making your peace with something is often a decision that’s made for emotional self-preservation reasons. and I sure as hell don’t fault her for trying to shut out a situation that she had no control over, and trying to make the best of it, and scrape together as normal a childhood as she could manage

and now in Touya’s defense as well, that is of course easier said than done, and I’m sure if there was a “push this button and instantly get over all of the trauma in your life” switch readily available for Touya then he would have pushed it too. unfortunately it’s not always that simple

so now Rei is pleading with Touya not to go train up on his little emo hill again, but it doesn’t seem like much has changed since he was eight

I don’t think he gives two figs about being a hero; he just wants his father to look at him again with pride. fucking hell, stop doing this to me you damn Todorokis

guh, they keep telling him the same thing over and over again

even if we hadn’t already known he was gonna go melt his jawbone off soon, I wouldn’t have expected a line like that to go over well

yep. fuck

that Todoroki puberty angst, though. nothing else quite like it

“you have a part in this too, Mom” ooooooh man

okay but look, he’s not entirely wrong. like, I’m not saying any of this is Rei’s fault at all! she’s in an impossible situation where she’s afraid to stand up to Enji (who by this point has shown that he’s willing to physically attack her if things get too heated, which is terrifying), and doesn’t really have anywhere to turn for support. her parents aren’t helping much if at all, and Japan in general is just a terrible country to be in when you’re in a domestic abuse situation. everyone’s expected to put on a brave face and deal with their problems all on their own in private. Rei is basically completely isolated at this point, and she doesn’t know what else to do, and so she’s just trying to keep the situation as stable as possible for the kids

but on the other hand, “for the kids” is also where that argument starts to break down a bit, because at this point Shouto is also being physically abused by his father, and the other kids are continuing to be neglected (emotionally if not physically), as they have been for years. so the situation really isn’t stable at all for them. and as a kid, what you end up learning in that type of situation is that you can’t rely on either parent. not the abusive one, certainly, but also not the other one who can’t protect you from any of it. even if they love you and they’re trying, they’re just as helpless as you. Rei is struggling to deal with all of this with one hand tied behind her back, and I get it, and I’m not blaming her at all. but all the same, particularly given that she’s (understandably) putting almost all her focus on Shouto, the end result is that the other kids have basically been left to fend for themselves

so yeah! a shitty situation all around. and one of those cases where it’s not really anyone’s fault (aside from Enji’s), but I can understand the resentment Touya is feeling all the same. and I’m so glad Horikoshi is acknowledging this, because it’s something I probably would have been too uncomfortable to bring up otherwise. as it is it’s still an incredibly heavy subject, and one that I probably have too many personal feelings about

anyway, so once again the whole “we’ll try talking to him and then just shrug our shoulders when it doesn’t work” parenting strategy doesn’t really pan out for the Todoroki fam

sob this boy is Anakin Skywalkering before our very eyes. all that’s missing is AFO to come and start whispering in his ear. any minute now...

“anyway so then he got taller and his fire changed from red to blue”

guess we’re getting pretty close then huh. this is the part of the flashback that I really don’t want to see, but also unfortunately the part that I’m most curious about :/

oh for fuck’s --

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN IGNORING HIM FOR FIVE YEARS DIDN’T ACTUALLY DO ANYTHING TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM” sob. back to the drawing board I guess

I thought he got taller, why is he still only like a third of Enji’s height here

oh fuck me these are armor-piercing feels. this is the heavy artillery right here

ENJI I’M BEGGING YOU PLEASE STOP AND THINK FOR ONE MOMENT IN YOUR LIFE BEFORE DOING SOMETHING YOU’LL REGRET FOR THE REST OF ALL TIME. your child just told you that he still thinks beating All Might is the only thing you care about, and that he believes his existence is a mistake unless he finds some way of doing that for you. please stop for a moment to contemplate that and choose your next words with care and grace and oh who the hell am I kidding

-- OR WE COULD JUST BLAME REI

go on and blame everyone but yourself then!! that’s a great solution!! jesus christ man I know this is Endeavor at his literal worst but still this is fucking hard to watch

POOR BABY SHOUTO IS YELLING AT HIS DAD NOT TO HIT HIS MOMMY THIS LITTLE BRAVE BOY NEEDS SO MANY HUGS OH MY GOD

AND MEANWHILE THE OTHERS ARE HUDDLED IN THE NEXT ROOM TRYING NOT TO CRY AH FUCK

(ETA: Fuyu covering Natsu’s ears cuts RIGHT TO THE CORE OF ME. Horikoshi if you’re really not gonna get these kids some therapy then at least consider giving your readers some. what is this.)

you know it’s bad when you’re starting to think the part where the kid burns to death might actually be a less traumatic thing to cut to right now

holy shit, actual Rei thoughts

“I was the one who ultimately made that choice” well there we go, wonder if that’ll put that whole argument to bed at last. I doubt it, but you never know. actually who am I kidding it’s not gonna settle jack shit lol

oh thank god, they decided it was getting too intense and cut away back to the present to narrate this next (final?) part

get ready to cue up that Alicia Keys. THIS BOY IS ON FIREEEEEEE

yeah I think that’s one thing we can mostly all agree on. neither of them had any clue what the fuck they were doing pretty much at any point. though I will say that the hypocrisy of him being all “WHY DIDN’T YOU STOP HIM” followed by him IMMEDIATELY DOING THE EXACT SAME THING is a bit rich

(ETA: and he still has this problem, doesn’t he? he froze up when Ending snatched Natsuo, and again when Dabi was attacking Shouto. he’s so afraid of doing the wrong thing that he ends up not doing anything, which of course is exactly what led to Touya’s death. damn Enji I guess you’ve still got some additional character development to unlock.)

and of course neither of them could possibly have known how badly it was going to turn out. like, the consequences here were WAY disproportionate even for the shittiest of parenting. no one expects “I didn’t know how to talk to my son” to snowball into “my son burned to death and then somehow came back as a villain and murdered thirty people”

ohhhhhhhh fuck me

LITERALLY INCINERATED THE ENTIRE HILLSIDE. fuck. and I am so not ready for the scene of Enji finding the remains of his jawbone afterwards. at least we were spared anything super-graphic (for now at least)

I feel like the timeline here is off, btw?? wasn’t Touya’s death supposed to happen after Rei got hospitalized? this might be the first actual retcon of the entire flashback. although I think it makes more sense this way tbh

I do appreciate that ten years later Enji is finally reflecting on the fact that if he’d just given up his stupid obsession he could have stopped his family from crumbling apart. that probably sounds sarcastic as fuck, but it’s not. there are countless jerks out there who would have still managed to find a way to blame literally everyone and everything under the sun except for themselves. at least he finally figured out how to take responsibility, even if it came too late to stop his son from dying and being radicalized into a villain terrorist organization

and speaking of, it seems to me we’re missing a third and final part to this little tale of woe, and one which only Touya himself will be able to shed any light on. so we’ll see how that goes

oh man seeing the other kids blaming themselves even though none of it was their fault hits hard af. Rei wasn’t kidding when she said they’d been bearing that burden of guilt far longer than Enji

SHOUTO I SWEAR TO GOD IF THE NEXT PANEL IS YOU APOLOGIZING FOR BEING BORN, I WILL... WELL I’LL BE VERY SAD, I GUESS. SO DON’T DO IT

oh good he’s just being quiet. good. it absolutely is not your fault lil bean. it’s not theirs either, but feeling guilty about things that aren’t your fault is a time-honored shounen tradition

goddammit I braced myself for the angsty Shouto panel a page too early. gotta do it all over again now lol. okay here goes

;_;

well well well would you look at that

imagine that. talking things out with your child before they make a rash decision. looks like the Todorokis’ parenting skills are finally leveling up

OH MY GOD

holy shit. this is the most quintessential moment of father/son Todoroki bonding in the entire series. for me it even tops the “nice scar” scene lol. Enji sobbing at the fact that he still has a chance to set things right. and Shouto offering his hand in what is actually the most mature and selfless gesture I’ve ever seen, and being all “we’ll stop him together” to his dad who he hates, but also doesn’t really entirely hate anymore. and all of that is incredibly moving... BUT ALSO HE STILL REFUSES TO MAKE EYE CONTACT WITH HIM AND HE WOULD LIKE HIM TO STOP BEING SO FUCKING DRAMATIC ALREADY IF YOU DON’T MIND. “WHEN YOU’RE DONE CRYING...” fkjldsk

OH MY FUCKING LORD

(ETA: wouldn’t be a Todoroki drama fest if there wasn’t somebody listening in on the whole thing in secret just around the corner lmao.)

“you think we should have waited somewhere else?” “yeah, probably.” “are you feeling a lot of secondhand embarrassment too?” “god, you have no idea.” STFU HAWKS IT’S NOT EMBARASSING TO BE MOVED TO TEARS BY YOUR FAMILY ALL COMING TOGETHER IN YOUR DARKEST HOUR TO GIVE YOU HOPE THAT YOU PROBABLY DON’T DESERVE BUT ARE NONETHELESS INDESCRIBABLY GRATEFUL FOR

and anyway you chose these guys as your found family, bucko. too late to back out now. next time go get yourself adopted by the Iidas then

AND MEANWHILE NO WORD ON THE WHOLE “HOW DID A THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD SURVIVE A FIRE THAT COVERED HIS BODY WITH HORRIFIC SCARS AND MELTED HIS JAW OFF, AND HOW DID HE SOMEHOW THEN MANAGE TO GO INTO HIDING FOR TEN WHOLE YEARS, AND WHAT HAPPENED IN THAT INTERIM TO CHANGE HIS GOAL FROM ‘SURPASS ALL MIGHT TO IMPRESS MY DAD’ TO ‘KILL ALL HEROES TO MAKE MY DAD SUFFER’.” as if we don’t know the answer to that. but still, would it kill Horikoshi to just confirm AFO’s involvement in all of this already. at this point it’s basically just a formality

so here’s hoping next week we’ll either get that, or more Hawks action, or (DARE I EVEN SUGGEST, I’M AFRAID TO JINX IT) finally cut back to Bakugou and Deku and All Might omg. either way I’m hyped

#bnha 302 #todoroki touya #dabi #todoroki enji #endeavor #todoroki rei #todoroki shouto #todoroki natsuo #todoroki fuyumi #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha #my sincerest apologies for this absurdly long recap which is barely funny at all! #THERE WAS VERY LITTLE HUMOROUS CONTENT IN THIS CHAPTER #congratulations horikoshi you win this round

[sserpente]

A/N: Request from @wrenstrange! Put up the decorations, it’s finally time again! Enjoy, everyone!

Words: 1957 Warnings: pure fluff, blood sample/needle/syringe, soft!Loki, fatique, fainting

You dropped like a piece of wood right about when you were making yourself a cup of tea in the kitchen. Knees ceasing to support you any longer, vision darkening, stars dancing around you making you dizzy. Your eyes rolled to the back of your head and before you knew it, your body finally won and shut down.

Although if you could have chosen, you would not have fallen straight into Loki’s arms whose reflexes caught you, preventing you from hitting the hard floor beneath you. He cradled you with his brows furrowed, his blue gaze almost helpless as he looked at Thor and Stark for support.

Then, everything went black.

-

“Welcome back.” You blinked, the artificial lights above your head blinding you. A hand held you down when you attempted to sit up drowsily. Bruce was leaning against a metal table in Tony’s lab, hands crossed before his chest and with a concerned expression on his face. “You blacked out,” he explained, “out of the blue.”

“How are you feeling?” Tony added.

You only realised then that it was Loki who had held you down. He was sitting on a chair right next to the makeshift bed they had carried into Tony’s lab and he was observing you with Argus eyes. Your heart sped up when you noticed. You usually tended to avoid the God of Mischief at all cost. There was a part of you that was afraid of him after watching him making an entire crowd kneel in Stuttgart, the other was hands down swooning over him. It had all started when he had rescued a cat from a tree, honouring a cliché he had not even been aware of. But someone who helped defenceless little kittens had to have a soft heart deep down, no?

Thor had brought him to Earth along with him after Asgard had been destroyed. He could not exactly be considered an Avenger but he had long surpassed the villain image… at least, to some extent. Well, you were no Avenger either. You used to be a SHIELD intern and then somehow ended up with the superheroes themselves. Apart from some basic fighting skills and the ability to use a gun, you had been trained to spend most of your time in front of a computer, often working twelve hours or even more a day. What did they say? Evil never sleeps.

“Any idea what might have caused this?” Bruce continued.

You shook your head. “No. But I’ve been having migraines and a persistent fatigue that just won’t go away.”

“I see… anything else?”

“Um…”

“You can talk to us, (Y/N).”

“Well, I… I’ve been dizzy a lot lately but that sometimes happens during my special week of the month so I didn’t think anything of it.” You took a deep breath but hesitated.

“And?”

“I’ve been sweating way more when working out. Like, a lot more. Instead of making progress… I feel like I’m getting weaker every day. It’s frustrating.”

“Uh-huh. I’m taking a blood sample. FRIDAY will run a couple of tests on you to figure out what’s wrong.”

“What? No! Nothing’s wrong! We don’t need a b-blood sample.”

“No one faints for no reason, (Y/N), especially not on Loki.” Loki rolled his eyes but did not leave your side, even when Bruce started fiddling around with some gear and apparently, a first-aid kit and then approached you with a syringe and a small clear vial.

“I’ve done this a million times before, I’ll be gentle.”

“No! No, no blood test, Bruce, please!” Almost hysterically, you moved back on the bed, your heart in your mouth.

“(Y/N),” Loki suddenly said calmly. You shivered when he spoke your name, his head tilted slightly. “Are you afraid of needles?”

“N-n-no…” You lied. Loki raised an eyebrow.

“Look at me.” He said. Hesitating only a little, you did as you were told. It wasn’t like his tone allowed any contradiction anyway. In fact, it reminded you a lot of his strict and bossy tone when he had caused chaos in Germany. “It has to be done. Hold my hand and do not take your eyes off of me.”

“Who are you and what you have done to Reindeer Games?” Tony tossed in, throwing the Trickster a suspicious glance. Loki rolled his eyes once more. As if he had any obligation to explain himself to Stark of all people.

In the meantime, you were panicking even more. Loki was being nice and considerate with you and Bruce was about to pierce your skin with a needle. Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck… your breathing sped up.

“Look. At. Me.” Loki repeated. You obeyed this time, allowing him to take your hand and press it gently. Much to your surprise, it immediately calmed you down a little. You gaped at him unbelievingly. You didn’t even feel the needle going into your skin and drawing blood. Wait… was he casting a spell on you?

“There. All done.” You could not bring yourself to look where Bruce brought your blood sample but when both Tony and he stepped away and turned their backs on you, you swallowed.

“T-thank you…” You had to ask—not because you did not think he was not capable of offering his help without seeking a personal advantage and not because you didn’t think he was too evil to even think about being selfless… but because you were genuinely curious about his motivation. Loki did nothing without a reason, he was always one step ahead. “You put a spell on me, didn’t you?”

He nodded. “Why… why did you do that for me?”

“We are all afraid of something.” It was the only response he gave you. For a few moments, you merely sat there quietly, neither of you uttering a single word. Only when Bruce and Tony returned did you realise that Loki was still holding your hand.

“Okay… I’ve got the results from your blood test and FRIDAY couldn’t find anything suspicious.” Tony announced, scrolling on his tablet. Bruce adjusted his glasses to take a peek.

“You said you’ve been feeling tired? You sweat a lot, you get dizzy, and I’m presuming you barely have an appetite?”

“I don’t have time to eat a lot to be honest…” You confirmed.

“Any concentration problems?”

Pressing your lips together to a thin line, you thought about it for a moment. Now that he mentioned it… it had gotten obnoxiously hard to focus on your work lately. Eventually, you nodded.

“Sounds like severe exhaustion to me.” Bruce said. “Do you have issues with low blood pressure or diabetes or any other medical condition? No, FRIDAY would have found something like that. You know what I think? You overworked yourself.”

“Like… a burnout?” You probed.

“Most definitely.”

You grunted. Oh, that was just great. There you were, attempting to squeeze in regular workouts in this awesome training hall the Avengers called the HARM room after work to get stronger and hence, eventually gather up the courage to speak to Loki and now you looked exactly like what you did not want him to see you as—a weak and meagre human.

“The best medicine would be for you to quit work for a while and stop physical exercise altogether.”

“Banner is right,” Tony added. “Take a few weeks off and rest, sleep in, eat more and healthy… the whole program. I officially give you a holiday.”

“You’re not my boss, Tony, you can’t give me a holiday.” Your smile was weak. “But I don’t have time for this anyway! I can’t believe this is happening so soon before Christmas!” You whined. “I can’t stay in bed, I’ve got so much to do! I have to buy presents and decorate and bake biscuits and make gingerbread… Besides, I’m gonna fall behind on all the data.”

He shrugged. “I’ll take care of that. Let me talk to Fury. You let us know if you need anything. Can you take her to her room, Reindeer Games? And please, no funny business.” Beside you, Loki was just frowning, utterly ignoring the billionaire’s request.

“Why were you pushing yourself so hard?” He finally spoke when the two Avengers had left—whether it was genuine confusion or mere curiosity in his voice, you were not sure. “Why were you training for battle in the first place? I have never seen you out on a mission.”

You sighed. Time to let the cat out of the bag, it wasn’t like you were still going to make a good impression on him anymore now.

“I wanted to impress you, I guess…”

“Impress me?” Loki repeated incredulously.

“Yeah… catch your attention… in a way. I mean, part of me is still terrified of you, of course but… you have a good heart, Loki. I knew when I saw you rescuing that cat from the tree.”

The God of Mischief rolled his eyes. “I knew this was going to damage my reputation.” He responded with a sly smirk, making you grin. “It was an innocent kitten, what was I supposed to do?”

“See?”

Your heart skipped a beat when his blue eyes locked with yours. He appeared… uncertain; not used to dealing with affection. Loki swallowed.

“Can you walk?”

“I’m not sure…”

The God of Mischief sighed, his lips pressed together to a thin line. Without any hesitation, he snuck one of his arms under your knees and wrapped the other around your waist. He lifted you off the makeshift bed as if you weighed nothing—and to him, you probably didn’t.

Loki carried you to your room in utter silence and eventually lay you down in your bed. Your heart jumped when he sat down on the edge of the bed himself, with a peculiar interest in his hands so he would not have to look you in the eye.

“There is no need to impress me.” He suddenly said. Your head shot up. “I did not think anyone would even… never mind.”

Oh. It almost felt like you were finally getting to know each other, for real this time.

“Do you want to stay for a while? I was going to watch some Christmas movies if I’m not allowed to get out of bed.” You sighed. “I can’t even decorate. You have no idea how many decorations I have to put up. None of the others care to make it a little more festive here, especially not Fury.”

“Yes, I have seen the boxes.” Loki replied. “It’s a little… corny, wouldn’t you say?”

“Honestly, when living among superheroes who risk their lives every single day, you could use a little corny.”

“I see.” Loki simply waved his hand and before you knew it, your entire room was decorated. Green and red tinsel shimmered on your window sill, holiday lights were blinking above your door and fake—but incredibly real-looking—snowflakes hung from the ceiling. Many of your favourite decoration items were now sitting on your nightstand and your desk, including your tiny little Christmas tree. The rest of the decorations, so it seemed, Loki must have spread all over the Tower.

“Oh my Goodness… Loki, this is amazing!” The God of Mischief winked and when you looked down on yourself, you noticed you too were wearing a green and gold Christmas sweater. Heavens, you could kiss him. “Thank you so much! What did you… is the entire Tower…”

“Yes.” He confirmed. He didn’t have to. Tony did only a fraction of a second later.

“Thor! Can you tell me why my Ironman helmet just grew metal antlers? I swear to God, if Reindeer Games has something to do with this…” It was then you exploded with laughter despite your exhaustion.

-

A/N: If you enjoyed this story, I would appreciate it so much if you considered supporting me on Kofi! It’s either for caffeine or red wine, I’ll take both. ko-fi.com/sserpente ♥

#loki #loki imagine #loki x you #loki x reader #loki fluff #loki laufeyson #loki laufeyson imagine #loki laufeyson x you #loki laufeyson x reader #loki laufeyson fluff #loki odinson #loki odinson imagine #loki odinson x you #loki odinson x reader #loki odinson fluff #thor #thor imagine #the avengers #the avengers imagine #mcu #mcu imagine #marvel #marvel imagine #tom hiddleston

[m00nchildwrites]

Shifts - Naruto Fanfiction Onshot

Canon Divergent AU

Summary: Shifts happen throughout life. Sometimes, they shock you. Sometimes, they just seem right. The first time she had called them friends he had felt as though an anvil hit him full on in the chest.

Pairings: KakaSaku (all character are and have been adults at the start of the fics events). SaiIno. & Hints of YamaIru and NaruSasu if you connect dots well.

___________________________

Sakura was beautiful, full of life, and so very strong. She had blossomed into an amazing kunoichi. She was a medic on par with Tsunade, and fully expected to surpass even her master before she turned 25. She never ceased to amaze him. 

Her ability to forgive was truly her greatest gift. After the war, after everything, she had forgiven the last Uchiha, had been understanding when he took off again, had helped him adjust to village life once he finally returned. Yet, when Sasuke had tried to control her and the course of their relationship; Sakura surprised everyone by walking away. 

Her inner strength matched her outer super strength.

She had grown up. All of Team 7 had. And, Kakashi couldn't figure out when it had happened.

But, suddenly she was 24. Fiercely independent. Strong arming -literally- all of Team 7 and Team Kakashi into taking better care of themselves and each other. 

Naruto was starting to study the more bureaucratic side of his dream Hokage position, because Sakura had finally gotten him to realize that he couldn’t just go off and chase down every issue, and beat and talk it into submission, like he always had. Sai was dating Ino, and apparently doing it well. Yamato had been seen giving flowers to a certain teacher at the Academy, as well as, pushing for reform in ANBU policies. Kakashi had personally seen Sasuke thank a merchant for helping him to wrap some especially juicy tomatoes at the market the other day, and according to Sakura, was close to working up his nerve to ask out a certain someone he had apparently been repressing feelings for forever. She even kept Kakashi from a death via boredom by bringing him updates and coffees most days of the week, if she could help it, which- he had to admit- had made all the difference in his horribly long days behind the Hokage desk.

They met up for dinners at least once a week. They met up to train at least twice a week, even though they all had long since gone on past their respective teams. So, really- She had somehow wrangled her hodge-podge gaggle of hopelessly damaged orphan teammates into a tight knit family and functioning members of society. And had them all entirely wrapped around her pinky finger. 

She was miraculous, he thought as he watched her.

There she was standing in the middle of training ground 3, wind in her pink hair, directing the movements of her very own Genin team. Now she would be teaching a new generation of hopeless, helpless twerps. 

All grown up. He thought again in amazement.

Yet, really- he knew exactly when it had happened. 

It happened after Sasuke left, and Naruto went traveling, and then Kakashi had disappeared into back-to-back solo S rank missions assigned by Tsunade. They had left her all alone. He had left her all alone to deal with her team breaking apart. And the guilt had never faded for it.

After she left Sasuke, Kakashi was pleasantly surprised that it was him she had reached out to. Why she felt him qualified when he had failed to force the issue to stay in the village when Tsunade assigned all of those solo missions he would never understand, but he took this olive branch for what it was. 

It was his most important mission, and he treated it as such. He would not – could not fail her twice. So, he made certain he was there for her. He brushed away her tears when her veneer cracked as she brought him coffee and he asked how she was doing. He made her laugh when she was bogged down with work by sending her little notes via ninken. He let her land hits during their regular training sessions when she needed to feel her fists connecting with something, so she wouldn't break down. Until she was finally really and truly ok again.

Even still, she sought him out. When she spotted him watching her curiously, she had smiled and said, "Friends are there through the good times and the bad." Her smile had broken through his shell that day.

Friends.

The first time she had called them friends he had felt as though an anvil hit him full on in the chest.

The word felt so foreign to him. And yet, it warmed him in the oddest way. It was then that he felt the change, a subtle shift. 

He stopped feeling as though it was a mission to not fail her. Instead, he found that he wanted to seek her out. He looked forward to their time together. Missed her when they were apart for any length of time. He would shown up at her work with her favorite tempura in time for her lunch. He grabbed her chocolate and handed her tissues as they watched one of their favorite sappy love stories when her monthly hormones made her a mass of emotions; he had refused to shy away from her during that time and assured her that there was no way he would miss one of their rom-com movie nights because of some tears and a bit of snot (she had been convinced he wouldn’t want to be around her like that, which was ridiculous). He had combed through every strand of her hair when she had caught lice from treating the kids at the Academy when Konoha had that bad outbreak.

Their time spent together over the past year had been some of the best days he had had. He had laughed more, smiled more, looked forward to the next day more than he had ever done.

When the next shift happened, he wasn't as surprised. 

One day he simply noticed that he let his hand linger each time he handed her something, held on to her a little longer when they said their goodbyes. But, he didn't question it, because it felt right. Everything felt right. 

When her gaze would catch him watching her, as he often liked to do, his heart would skip as she gave him a secret smile he had only ever seen directed at him. It was his and no one else's. He didn't feel like he deserved it, but he accepted it fully – treasured it even. As he did with all things Sakura lately.

He smiled as he watched her team waving happily as she brought their session to a close, only to smile wider as she flashed him his secret smile. He watched her walking over, skin glistening from a sheen of sweat, hair fluttering about her cheeks with the gentle breeze. She was breathtaking.

As she sat beside him to watch the sunset over the trees, he wasn't even surprised when the next shift happened and she placed her hand over his. He didn't question it. Because as he laced his fingers with hers, it felt right. Everything felt right.

#kakasaku #yamairu #narusasu #sasunaru #Kakashi Hatake #Sakura Haruno #yamato #saiino #sai naruto #Ino Yamanaka #naruto uzumaki #sasuke uchiha #my work #my oneshots

[formenis]

Hiii! First of all, I love your blog and writing!! Second, I looove Near, and was just wondering if you could do a request of Near trying to be romantic, like he just finished a big case and his S/O is doing well and they go out to a fancy dinner or he buys her roses? Something cute and fluffy and romantic haha. Thank you xx

Oh my, shush //w//

Thank you so much, Anon-san. 💞

TITLE: DOSSIERS IN A VASE.

pairing: Near x gn!reader

warning: none

F/L: favorite language

𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗻𝗼. 𝟮𝟭: 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 "𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗺𝗻𝗲𝘆"

This was the first case agent Y/N L/N solved after the Academy. Not much after Kira, the world reverted to the same state it was before his appearance: corrupted, noisy and undisciplined. When Y/N's boss assigned "Operation Chimney" to them, they were quite nervous: it was their first case after all, and they had no experience in real cases.

However, much to the boss' surprise, it was Y/N's involvement that ensured the success of that operation: thanks to their perfect organisation skills, the FBI managed to neutralize a terroristic group that was acting in the name of Kira. Agent L/N received a reward after that case.

.

.

𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗻𝗼. 𝟯𝟰: 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 "𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗺𝗲𝘁"

Once again, FBI asked for agent L/N. This time they needed a translator.

Recently, the government captured a dangerous serial killer that was terrorising the major cities of the East coast but once police captured him, they notice he didn’t speak English. At all. The only language he knew was F/L.

It was the moment agent L/N was called. Using an intercom connected to the interrogation room, Y/N was able to talk with this person. Their only job was to translate what the detective had to say or to ask; at first it wasn’t working, the man stood in silence for most of the time. But then Y/N decided to take the initiative: using their particularly alluring voice, this new FBI agent tried to convince the serial killer to confess (or at least to say something about his crimes).

Putting pressure on the right topics (like his past or his emotions) they managed to break the mask of the fearsome serial killer and to obtain a confession. Y/N smirked satisfied behind the glass of the interrogation room and, once again, they received a reward.

.

.

𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗻𝗼. 𝟰𝟰: 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 "𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗵𝘂𝘁𝗲"

At this point L took an interest in them. Commander Rester and Lidner talked a lot about this new FBI agent that in few months solved two of the most intricate cases that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had in their archives.

«Commander Rester, please, get me agent Y/N L/N's dossiers» L ordered with his usual monotone voice, finishing a very tall dice tower.

«Yes sir»

L couldn’t ignore someone like agent L/N. If their skills were as good as the others claimed, L had to check if they could become one his agents. It was being a while since L met a valid detective.

When Y/N's boss gave them "Operation: Parachute", he knew they will succeed. This time Y/N had to convince a group of kidnappers to surrender or –at least- to release the hostages. They stated that they will kill a person for each minute of delay in the delivery of the ransom. It was a delicate operation.

«Commander Rester, I want to listen to agent Y/N's call to the kidnappers»

Rester connected to the FBI network just in time to hear Y/N's first words. They didn’t use a voice modulator so L could listen to their real voice: it was calming, alluring and somehow captivating. L never heard a voice like that.

More he listened and more curious he got. The choice of each word, the way it echoed in L's ears: everything about Y/N interested him.

«Miss Lidner, let's consider agent L/N as a candidate for my task-force»

«Very well, L»

.

.

𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗻𝗼. 𝟱𝟴: 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 "𝗦𝗮𝗳𝗮𝗿𝗶"

As time passed and more complicated Y/N's cases became. At first they believed they would be "confined" behind a desk buried with paperwork. However, in a very short time Y/N's boss recognised their skills and gave them more and more cases.

Soon, Y/N L/N became one of the most required, esteemed and respected FBI agent in their department. Their importance became so relevant that L himself asked for Y/N's help many times.

The first period Y/N and L communicated only by computer: the FBI agent always listened to his modified voice and obeyed at every order. After a while, however, Y/N learnt how to recognise L's different moods: they could tell if he was pissed off, angry, happy and even sad. Everything despite the voice modulator.

After that, Y/N stopped obeying blindly at his orders and started to give their own opinions and advices about this or that case. L appreciated everything they had to say, cherishing the "bravery" to criticise their boss. The two of them created a strong link between each other.

Until one day, the day L made a surprising request: «𝙰𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝙻/𝙽, 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚔-𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗, 𝚜𝚘 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜»

In few weeks, Y/N found themselves in an imposing yet dull place: no decorations, no paintings, no plants. Nothing. Just grey walls, a high metallic ceiling and shining floors. They could see their own reflection on that floor: shining H/C hair, smooth S/C skin and formal suit.

A man with blonde hair guided them through the corridors of that building and once Y/N saw how drastically the architecture changed in front of them, they realised they reached their destination: a large entrance without a door, with a hemispheric, metallic ceiling. A large entrance that preceded an even more larger room filled with bright monitors from the floor to the ceiling.

The blonde man said something to a person hidden behind a structure made of dice and then he left. Y/N didn’t know what to do or what to say. The only clear thing was that whoever was in the room they were fond of toys and jigsaws.

«It's nice to see you…agent L/N» a mature, deep voice echoed in the empty room and a tall man with his back curved inwards and long white hair appeared from behind the towers. «I'm L»

.

.

𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗻𝗼. 𝟲𝟭: 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 " 𝗔𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆"

Since the first official encounter with L, Y/N never came back to their old FBI HQ. They started to work for him, for a young man considered as the greatest detective in the world.

Y/N was fascinated by him: the way he thought, how gently his movements were when stacking his dice towers and how caressing his voice could be while explaining all his deductions. And even his look was intriguing: long (and apparently silky) while hair, porcelain skin and deep black eyes. Those eyes could be dull –or even dead- for most of people but for agent L/N they were like gazing at a night sky. They would look at them for hours.

But was it right to be fond of their own boss? Y/N didn’t know but they couldn’t help but blushing at those beautiful features.

"Operation: Affinity" was the case that helped L to realise what he really felt. Initially, he created a strong bond with Y/N: a strong yet a simple business relationship. Nothing more than pleasantries between boss and worker.

But then, as time passed, L noticed how his own behaviour drastically changed: each time agent L/N had a mission, he would be worried the whole time, he had to be sure Y/N was safe and, most importantly, he wanted them by his side.

Hence, when the government gave "Operation: Affinity" to L, Y/N asked to be assigned at that case.

«Why?» L asked while typing something on his laptop.

«I already solved cases like that. It would be simple»

«Very well»

However, when L watched live coverage the mission, his behaviour shocked everyone. From the monitors he noticed someone armed behind Y/N –and they were completely unaware of it-. L rushed from the floor to the microphone in Rester's hands and quickly spoke to Y/N's earpiece.

«Y/N behind you!»

In that moment Y/N turned and hid behind a wall just in time: the man shot toward their direction before being knocked down and then handcuffed.

At the HQ everyone was silent: Lidner and Gevanni watched the scene from their desks and Rester was looking at L in disbelief. He never saw such reaction in someone as the greatest detective in the world. The old SPK members exchanged a surprised look among each other.

Once L got back on track he was surprised as well. The image of that man with his gun pointed at Y/N's back upset him a lot. He couldn’t image what it could happen if he didn’t warn them in time.

Then, as to interrupt L's never-ending thoughts, a noise from behind him distracted the detective. His precious dice towers fell on the metallic floor of his monitoring room. He turned to look at the mess.

«So something really changed…»

.

.

-𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗗𝗔𝗬-

Y/N came back at the HQ tired and awfully stressed. Another difficult and rather dangerous case just ended and they wanted to relax at least for a couple of hours. Being a member of L's task-force could be an exhausting job but agent L/N loved it. But what Y/N loved most was L himself…they would do anything for him.

«Gee, I'm starving…» before taking a nap (and a shower) Y/N walked towards the monitoring room. They surpassed the large entrance but, surprisingly, they found nobody.

«Where's everyone?» Y/N asked but they didn’t receive answers. When they got closer to their desk Y/N could hold back a gasp (and a deep blush on their cheeks): a vase! With roses inside!

«W-What?» they smelled the roses and smiled. The scent was so good, those were fresh flowers. Moreover, there was a tiny piece of paper tied to each stem: "21", "34", "44" and "58".

However, Y/N noticed something terrible: they were in an even number. Giving an even number of roses was a presage of unhappy events in the future.

«Agent L/N, I think you missed something» a mature and masculine voice spoke from behind them. Y/N turned and saw L with a rose in his hands, a piece of paper was tied to that flower too.

L gave the rose to them and Y/N read the paper: "61". What was the meaning of those numbers?

«A rose for each case brilliantly solved. From your first case, "operation: chimney", to your last one, "operation: affinity". This one in particular is very important to me»

«Why?»

«It's when I realised you're not a simple FBI agent to me anymore» he was gazing at them with those beautiful black eyes and Y/N focused back at the roses. Actually, they were a blushing mess: did L just confess to them? Or was that a simple gesture of affection?

«I read somewhere that five roses mean "love token"» L added sensing their doubts while playing with his white hair.

Y/N looked at him once again, the blush never left their face. They smiled and so did L: the two of them didn’t need other words in that moment.

.

.

.

𝗕𝗢𝗡𝗨𝗦

«Y/N, what are you doing?» asked L while watching agent L/N walking closer to him at the centre of the room.

«I need some rest so I'm going to take a nap»

«I'm afraid to inform you there's no bed here»

«I don’t need a bed» and then Y/N sat on the ground next to him, placing the head on his lap. Now it was L's turn to be a blush mess.

«Y-Y/N, this is highly unprofessional» he said in pure embarrassment.

«But it's comfy»

Shortly after that Y/N fell asleep on L's comfy lap. The greatest detective in the world hadn’t the courage to move them away and stood in that position until Y/N woke up.

#death note #death note near #nate river #nate river x reader #near x reader #near with long hair #near dn #near death note #gender neutral y/n #gender neutral reader #death note fluff

[popconfession]

I mean. I know Riverdale is always what the fuck even. But what the fuck even.

#the rocket? #the suit? #the fucking vanity belt? #the weird sudden intense patriotic imagery? #honestly i watch this show for my weekly dose of surrealism that isn't you know #our current political situation #and somehow every week they surpass themselves

[whenfatecollides]

truly like lets reflect. You and I era, up against g*dle’s very successful debut, no matter dc got their first noms lets go! What era, up against two bigger groups with bigger fandoms, we tried, we’ll get it next time. Piri era, The Show gave dc 0 points for expert score, we needed 1245 to win, so out of 1500 even 1000 would at least have seemed close but a near miss. 0 was ridiculous. 1st week Deja Vu.. do i even need to? 11 points. 0 expert score (cough minus -122 points COUGH) fcuk The Show. 2nd week DV.. a sudden festival with no announced winner. Scream, impossible up against a Top 4 gg. Boca, our guaranteed win. Covid outbreak in SBS building, The Show is cancelled for the one week we stood a chance. Odd Eye, probably the first era in a while we’ve actually had a fair shot, The Show changed up the rules. no more Starplay votes only SMS live votes for korean fans only. Oh well they brought back intl votes before BEcause era only for them to take away the free votes charging so either pay or less votes plus the olympics and timing wiping away our first week results sighhhh sorry for the long post i needed that out

for piri they also didn't count dc's physical albums for whatever reason... we would've won. but like you said, we'd get it next time, it would've been fine, except it wasn't because we just got screwed again.

also odd eye era... woolim's manipulation was very very obvious and that bg would not have won without that (I mean really iu was topping the charts and they somehow got a #1 on genie several times right before the charts froze? among other things that tbh I don't wanna get into bc it's pointless) so even if we weren't that screwed by the music shows themselves (tho we were by the show bc the pre-vote and live voting would've made a difference since it's still like 20% together??), that definitely screwed us over.

honestly this always gets me upset but what am I gonna do? give up? I'm too stubborn and loyal for that lmao every cb lately I think to myself that it's gonna be the last time I'll get involved with digital projects and then a cb gets announced and I just jump on it again... they really deserve this and I still want to do what I can to help. I think I just miss that feeling of hopefulness from before yk, I always used to think that it was okay and we would get it with time, at some point the numbers would be undeniable. but it's been like that for a while now and seeing how other groups have managed to achieve that with less feels really disheartening yk (by this I don't mean that those groups didn't deserve their wins, because they did, and ik they worked hard for it too, just that this is unfair towards dc and us). but it is what it is, and for the stuff that we can't control we just gotta let it go and let it be. at the end of the day we're still really spoiled by dc, altho I'll admit that I do miss all the pre-covid content a lot ;-; I never realised how endearing their interactions during fansigns and fanmeetings were to me until all of this happened, there's been a kind of naturalness from them that I've missed a lot, idk if that even makes sense KSDJ either way I still believe that dc will get that first win soon, and many more after that, they become more and more successful with each comeback and their growth has been really exponential for the past year. summer holiday in less than 2 months of release is literally 2k from surpassing road to utopia's sales (128k) that has been out for 9 almost months now, it's kinda mind blowing when you think about how in 2019 they sold like 60k albums combined... anyway I am derailing at this point, we'll get through this together 🤠

#and it's okay we all gotta let it out sometimes #ask

[gb-patch]

Ask Answers: January 28th, 2021 (Part 2)

Here we’ve got asks that aren’t to ask a question but are just really nice messages. Thank you all for sending us such kind comments ;v;. It’s seriously heartwarming to see so many people having good experiences with the game. I don’t even know what to say to such sweet responses.

We’ll keep doing our best and thank you again to each and every one of you for giving Our Life a chance ❤!

Hello! I've been following this account and have been following the development of 'Our Life' for a few months now, and I just wanted to say thank you for all your hard work and dedication you have put into the game. It astonishes me how much choice you have during the sequence of Our Life and am excited to play the full version now, I am downloading it as I write this message. I've had a great time seeing the demo transition into to the full game and just wanted to write two words. Thank you.

Anhhhhffbgdfbhujk!!! Congratulations on the release, I’m playing the game right now! Thank you all for your hard work and I can’t wait for the Step 3 DLC to come out, I’ll probably wait for the Step 3 DLC to come out to experience everything, but until then, I still have a lot to play. Thank you once again!

finished my first playthrough just now. it just felt so wholesome ??? 100/10 would do it again. i laughed. i cried. i got angry. i felt second-hand embrassment— i got so into it i was left in literal tears after getting my first ending. the art, the storyline, the music, and COVE HOLDEN– UGH IT WAS LITERAL PERFECTION ❤ THE WAIT WAS WORTH IT. THANK YOU FOR MAKING SUCH AN AMAZING GAME 🥺😭 this made my 2020 better, i can't wait for step 4 in 2021 ❤❤

So I was following you guys on itchio for years and uhh did I stay up til 6 am on a school night to finish the game? Yes. Did I sob my eyes out during step 3 as a 20 year old having doubts about life and adulthood? Absolutely. I can't form proper sentences right now due to lack of sleep but just wanted to say thank you for making it. I honestly feel lighter and I feel like it changed my views on future to be more optimistic... I can't wait to replay it! Thanks again!

I love how Our Life turned out!! I keep replaying it and can't stop squeaking and giggling!! Thank You for creating it ♥

okay i have actually fallen in love with cove and cannot WAIT to marry him 😭

Hi! I played through 'Our Life' yesterday and  I just wanna say how refreshing it was to be able to have Cove be 'high initiative' and also have so many opportunities to initiate affection from the player character! As a pretty flirtatious/affectionate person myself, I notice that a lot of VNs don't give players that agency, and affection can be kinda 'carrot on a stick' if that makes sense. You guys did an awesome job! I look forward to seeing if there are more of those moments in Step 3 & 4 :)

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the option to choose Cove's level of initiative in step 3! As much I love the option to choose I personally enjoy have the romanced character take the lead without my input so when I got to step 3 and had to option to make it so that Cove initiated affection without as much input from me I was really happy! You guys seriously added so much freedom in terms of choices, it's almost baffling that the only thing you have to pay for is optional DLC!

I absolutely loved everything about the game and I really want congratulate the team for making the game such a satisfying experience.

I look forward to step 4

❤️❤️❤️❤️

* and sorry for my bad English

Just finished my first play through and I loved it! I've been looking forward to the game and it definitely was worth the wait. Thank you all for your hard work and can't wait for the extra dlc!

Till then, hope you guys gets some well deserved rest🤗

Love you guys, thank you so much for your hard work. :)

Ok, so I just finished Our Life and, wow. I have never cried at a video game before, ever. Thank you so, so much! Its one of my favorites.

this isn't a question, but i just wanted to say how much i enjoyed our life 🥺 i've been patiently looking forward to the full game for a few months now, and i couldn't be happier with it! i've only played through it once so far but the outcomes of the choices i made were all so soft and wholesome 💗 i can tell that everyone who was involved really worked hard and you all did an incredible job! i can't wait to see what else is in store 👍

i’d just like to say how addictive our life is!!! i constantly played it during quarantine and now playing the full release is so amazing to me!! i love that i’m still discovering dialogue bits with different personalities and actions!!! i have to admit that i’ve been wishing the day to pass faster all day during school so i could go home and play again. mentally i’m not the healthiest and our life being released has boosted it up so much, thank you for creating such an amazing game!!!!!

Hey, I just wanna say I played our life two times and it still give me the same feelings. I was really looking forward to this game before it came out and I kept on replaying the demo. This game is such an amazing experience and I feel so happy playing it. I am not really a person good with words unfortunately but I do honestly love this more than anything in the world. Thank you for making it and I hope that you will continue to make more games like our life. This game really makes me happy and I can't thank you enough

Just wanted to say that Our Life really made me feel seen as an 18 year old trans man who's been struggling with change as of late and I can't thank you guys enough for it. I just finished the main story and currently released DLC's and gosh, I can really only say... woah. Just, woah. The messages are somehow exactly what I needed to hear right now, and they brought me a lot of comfort in this really weird and confusing time in my life. Can't wait to see what comes next in this lovely story <3

I am honestly in love with Our Life. The graphics, the soundtrack its just *chef's kiss* It was so worth the wait for it. I can't wait for step 4. Keep up the good work GB Patch!

good people i have just finished Our Life and let me say, it was beautiful. rarely have such non-fantastical moments (and even some fantastical moments) brought me to tears like this game has, and i don't even have the dlc (yet). i don't know how you did it but it felt like i was playing a slice of life anime. i had waited with baited breath to play this since i played the demo and my expectations were not just met but surpassed. from the bottom of my heart thank you for this game

I found the game by chance and I am so so glad I did. It’s so inclusive and made me feel so incredibly seen. Seeing that my gender identity and sexuality were possible just meant the absolute world to me. I’ve never seen something like this and it just made me so incredibly happy. Thank you for the absolutely amazing game and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Hello! I downloaded Our life earlier this week and I'm only now getting the chance to play it (Very busy and stressful week) I'm so excited to play and I wanna say thank you for making this adorable game!

I just finished my first playthrough of Our Life and I can't even express how much I love it. Cove is absolutely precious and has killed me several times, and the art and soundtrack is beautiful. I love all the small different choices. I'm very interested in the Derek and Baxter DLCs and the rest, can't wait!!!!!!

thank you for "Our Life Beginnings & Always" it has to be one of the best visual novels i ever have played and i just dont want it to end (i know it will, but damn it! i want to have a wedding night, have children and die of old age with cole! XD) when i play it it always makes me tear up (in a good way) and i am most definetly going to buy all the dlc that you make! thank you for this lovely game and all the work that went into it! (ps: i also loved "lake of voices" )

You guys are incredibly talented and im very proud of you all! You've really outdone yourselves w/ OL and i cant wait to see whats next to come for you all :)

i really love that you can be trans in Our Life! not a lot of games do that so i just wanted to say thank you!

Guuyyss!! I just wanna say! Thank you sm for the headscarf option in the MC creator! I especially loved that little detail where MC quickly slips the headscarf on before greeting Cove, I've never felt so immersed :'D Not that the rest of the game wasn't immersive btw, but since I wear my hijab most of the time that little addition really felt like something I would do! So thank you for that <3

I've been watching "Our Life: Beginnings & Always" development for quite some time, and I gotta say its wild to see it finally release. Its so unique in the way relationships work- even character creation. I've cried multiple times over this game while playing. I can't thank y'all enough for a game with these kind of mechanics, and representation. its rare I get to feel im really playing as myself in games like these. Everyones outdone themselves. this'll certainly be one I keep coming back to.

I've been following the development of Our Life from way back when the first demo dropped and it still blows my mind how many choices and customizations there are (love that update for the MC's bedroom btw!) and the fact that the game remembers them - it really feels like your very own coming of age story! I was so immersed I cried at the end :') Can't believe I experienced this game for free lol. I can't wait for future DLCs and Step 4! Good luck with all your upcoming projects dev team!!

Just wanted to say I love Our Life and I'm thankful it exists. Thank you so much! I love the little world you created and all the people in it. Especially Cove! This game makes me so happy!

Just poping in to say hi and that ilu guys ^^, remember to take care of yourselves!

Hi!! I just wanna thank you for creating such an amazing game. Our Life is one of the few dating sims I’ve found that let’s me be a male mc, it’s really hard to find dating sims that let me be gay. Our Life is my new favorite dating sim to just sit down and playthrough whenever I’m having a bad day so I just wanted to let y’all know how much I appreciate all you’ve done. 🤍

Fan from australia here

Just wanted to reach out and let you know how important this game has been to me. I came across it at a really rough time ( that I’m still going through ) and it’s been one of the things that’s driven me to get up and out of bed sometimes.

This game and cove both hold a very special place in my heart and I can’t wait to see more of him in the DLC and Step 4

Much love ♥️

I know this isnt exactly the main focus of the game, but i really love how we can customise the mc personality wise! This is the first time i've played a game like this where the mc actually does and says exactly what I would do and say in certain situations and its such a breath of fresh air!! It's also so cool how the other characters can pick up on it!!

Cove Holden saved 2020 (my 2020 anyways) I would die for him

Sorry for this being out of the blue, but after playing through Our Life I wanted to thank you for the experience. I don’t know if I’ve ever played a game that has made me cry happy tears TWICE lol. It’s beautiful, scenic, inclusive, and absolutely amazing..have a great rest of 2020 and I honestly cannot wait for the rest of it :,) (ps. The ending song is stuck in my head)

I think you guys might've ruined visual novels for me forever. I'm not sure I'll be able to play another without comparing it to Our Life and I know if I do that I'll be disappointed every time because of how amazing it is. I bought the DLCs before playing the base game it's one of the best impulsive purchases I've ever made

Thank you so much for making our life! It's my favorite visual novel ever and I just can't articulate how much being able to just be honest with my responses instead of going for whatever would make the love interest happy means to me? I reccomended it to evry friend I have that plays visual novels because this is the best one I've ever played!

Just wanted to say that I absolutely adore this game! The childhood friends tropes is my favorite thing and this game delivers! Cove is the sweetest thing, infact all the boys are good boys. Super excited for all upcoming dlcs!

Hi, I just want to thank you for making such an amazing game like Our Life. Tbh, I was following the game’s development for a while, but me and my family moved away from my childhood town just a few days before release, so I really connected to this game. You all did amazing!

hey just wanted to know that i completely loved ol: b&a and it was so good and love cove more than i’ve liked any fictional character, it’s now my comfort media. thank you so much

hi i just wanna say i really enjoyed all of the representation in our life b&a! there were characters with a lot of different body shapes, pic characters, lgbtq+ characters, and you get to choose your own pronouns and sexuality!!! so tysm!!

This isn't a question, I just wanted to say that Our Life is incredible. Ever since I finished it, I've been looking for other visual novels to play so I don't play OL so often that I start memorizing the lines before all the DLC comes out, but I keep coming back to it. It's really one of a kind, I think you all ruined other visual novels for me because I haven't enjoyed another VN like I have this one since I read it ❤.

i think our life b&a is the first game where i felt like cove loved me, not the character i play as which is really nice for someone with kinda low self esteem so THANK YOU

I’ve been playing Our Life practically nonstop since yesterday. I just want everyone who worked on it to know how much the LGBTQ inclusivity means to me. As a closeted trans ace guy in an unsupportive household, I can’t emphasize how much of a comfort this game has been to me. Everything about it is so wholesome and heartfelt. I’m excited to see what other games you make in the future 💙

- A demibiromantic ace transgender man who may or may not have cried over the option to be myself in a game for the first time ever

Csn i just say i really appreciate how you handled MC deciding to use they/them at different stages. Mainly because alot of games don't pay much attention to the body the mc was assigned at birth if they player chooses nonbinary like it does with male/female. And it was just nice to be able to play an mc who just thought gender was kinda 'meh' for them but still felt good about the body they were born with (like myself). I guesd it boils down I'm really appreciative of the hard work it must've taken for you to make all those options possible & still have them matter.

I just wanted to thank you all for Our Life. My mental health hasn't been in a good place recently and it has become my favorite form of escapism/way to cheer up. It's idyllic setting and fantastic characters are such a good way to wind down, I love it. Also, I've been dreading 2021 due to classes starting and general stress, but the DLC and your next project have given me something to actually look forward to :). I'm so excited for them and now I actually have a reason to be happy that it's 2021. Sorry if this message is a bit weird, I just wanted to thank the team for their hard work and for creating something so incredible <3

I've gotta say this is one of the most repayable games I've ever played, if not the most. Usually after i do a playthrough or two of a game i have to wait awhile before playing again otherwise it feels stale. But i haven't had that problem with our life because of the sheer ammount of player agency. Everyone who works on tbe game should feel incredibly proud of themselves because you've created something amazing.

I just wanted to say thank you for Our Life. I'm sure you get this a lot, but it really pulled me out of a mentally tough spot in my life. So thank you.

who needs therapy when you have our life: beginnings and always? haha no but seriously this game is my comfort game, and even though i can’t join your patreon at the moment please know i am always supporting you and i am so excited to see everything you have in store! everyone who works on the games is so so talented

All DLCs have nice content. 😡😡

And I love them all!!💗💗💗💖💖💖💕💕💕

#our life #Our Life Beginnings & Always #ourlifeba #ask #gb patch #gb patch games

[getlitaesthetic]

I’m interested to see what the brothers would be like if they had a child (probably with the mc purposely or accidentally) and the fucked up family dynamics that would come of it, like would they full on discard the child? Raise them to be just like their dad? I wouldn’t be surprised if Beel pulled a full on Kronos from Greek mythology

Also asked by an anon: “What if mc somehow got pregnant? How would the brothers be towards them during their pregnancy and how will they deal with the child?”

(Undateables version found Here)

Lucifer

It is on purpose, and Lucifer is the most excited to be having a child.

Will carefully monitor MC’s diet, exercise, leisure activities, everything they do to an extent far surpassing anything he’s done before.

He becomes obsessed with the child’s health.

Not that that stops him from injuring MC, but now he’s very careful with what he does to avoid any harm coming to his child. After all, they can’t get comfortable here.

When the child is finally born, it’s immediately taken from MC.

“I can’t have you passing on your weakness to my daughter, can I?”

He names her Lilith. It was always going to be Lilith.

Lucifer is a loving father, and abusive partner. MC only gets to see Lilith as a prize for a job well done. They become the most well-behaved human in the realm for a chance to see their child. It is such a rare occurrence, their daughter rarely remembers them.

He teaches Lilith to be a true demon, despite their half human nature. Raises them into the Devildom and is a careful protector to ensure that no corrupting influences touch her but his own.

Eventually, Lilith is ready.

MC is so excited to see their daughter, as soon as she enters the room, she’s swept into a big hug. 

MC gasps, and gurgles as they choke on their own blood, Lilith giggling in their arms. 

“Did I do a good job, Daddy?”

“You did perfectly, Princess.”

Mammon

This was definitely an accident

Not only was it an accident, but he may or may not have freaked out a little bit.

“Do you KNOW how expensive children are?”

But then he realizes that everything has a value.

So he sucks it up, and helps MC get through the pregnancy unscathed... Although he may or may not have chained them to the wall so they didn’t get into trouble while he was handling business.

When the boy is born, Mammon doesn’t bother to name him. He leaves MC to take care of the child. They name him Najjad, and dedicate all of their time to raising him to be happy, and healthy, and as human as possible.

He is a handsome child, born with a head of pale white hair, and MC’s eyes. Skin smooth and unblemished, with an easy, happy smile. They love him. They would do anything for Mammon in order to continue being allowed to raise their son.

But the fantasy is short lived.

Mammon quickly grows tired of MC’s time being split between him and the boy, growing greedy once again for their full attention. 

It isn’t long before he has lined up a buyer. It is only days after that that, without warning, Najjad is taken from his parent’s arms, and delivered to a shady demon willing to pay a pretty penny for the offspring of one of the Avatars.

“Finally! About time I got you to myself again, eh?”

Leviathan

This was long since planned. It was only a matter of time before one of his brothers had a child, and Levi wanted one first. Maybe it was the envy in him. Okay, okay. Probably it was the envy in him.

MC is already locked in his room, so it’s easy to hide the pregnancy, just in case something happens. After all, the last thing he wants is for his brothers to know it was a race, and then for him to lose.

Or worse, for one of his brothers to hurt MC while they were still pregnant.

Levi forces MC to do a lot of floating during the pregnancy, and to have a water birth.

However, he is less careful than most of the others. Constantly forgetting to be gentle, always pushing and grabbing MC a little too hard.

Still, the baby boy is born healthy. He doesn’t look quite human, even at birth. Long ragged gills cut sharp lines along his throat, and his eyes are slit. A long black tail extends from his spine, with a fin on the end. The rest of him looks human enough.

Leviathan eventually settles on the name Mizuko. MC is not given the chance to disagree.

MC is still not allowed to leave the room, but is given ample time with their son, helping to raise him, as long as they follow Levi’s strict instructions. He often takes Mizuko away for significant periods of time, disappearing along with him. MC can only imagine they are in the Devildom’s waterways, their son learning skills they’d rather him not know.

Oh, but how good to be alive, and a parent. Even if they were chained to this room, to the torture of being Levi’s plaything. Mizuko makes the whole thing so much more bearable. In fact, they consider trying to get Levi to have another, if only so that they may have a chance to always have one at home.

“I did it, MC! I won! I wonder what Lucifer will have to say about that.”

Satan

A pregnancy with Satan was planned, and actually suggested by MC.

They wanted to show their devotion to him, still so unaware of how he had manipulated every aspect of their life.

He seems so excited when MC tells them that it’s happened, they’re pregnant.

He treats them so sweetly throughout their pregnancy, but continues drugging, manipulating, and casting spells on them without their knowledge and without regard to their child.

It is only luck that none of them hurt their baby.

MC gives birth to a beautiful daughter, who will grow to have soft blonde ringlets and beautiful blue eyes, just like her father. She glows softly. 

Satan and MC agreed to the name Ismene for a girl early in the pregnancy, and once she arrived, it seemed just perfect. 

She grows to be smart as a whip, but cruel. Satan is so proud. MC begins to realize they don’t know everything about their husband after all.

They sit in the garden, Ismene practicing a spell to set a flower ablaze. MC tries to frown, to scold her, but their face does not budge.

“How lovely,” they hear themselves say, as if far away. “Our little girl is growing so quickly.”

Satan kissed their forehead and knelt in front of their daughter.

“Remember, you have to want it to die, with all of the rage in your heart,” he instructs her.

She smiles, looking at MC as the flower begins to burn.

Asmodeus

A child with Asmodeus is unplanned, but not unexpected.

With all of the unprotected sex he has with MC, and how frequently? It was only a shock it took so long.

Besides, MC no longer had the brain capacity to agree or plan anything. All they wanted was more of their demon master, filling them up, using them, making them worth something.

What could possibly fill them more than a child?

Asmo thinks it’s adorable, to watch MC’s stomach grow as they lay there, mindless and drooling. Desperate for anything Lust could offer.

It does not affect his daily routine in the slightest. He continues to use and abuse MC as he sees fit whenever he desires, and still disappears for weeks at a time, leaving MC’s health up to whatever brother happens to remember to feed them.

They give birth alone, confused as to why they are in pain and what is happening.

When Asmo returns, he leaves MC in their pain and filth, taking the baby girl away to clean her up and dress in lovely silks.

He names her Bellerose Fayre, and is the only one of the brothers to give his child a middle name.

She is perfect, and would pass for human if it wasn’t for her long, winding tail that reaches and grasps with it’s velvety texture, pulling in anything it can touch.

What happens next is... incredibly disturbing, to say the least. If you are particularly sensitive, I would recommend skipping to Beelzebub.

Asmo is inseparable from his daughter. Always keeping her dressed in beautiful clothing and teaching her everything he knows. Bellerose is a very quick study. It isn’t long at all before she has fully tapped into her father’s power and begins to work at his side, seducing souls to Hell. Only a child. 

How MC would have died to stop it if they could have. But they remained in that room, no mind left to care.

“Good job, Rosie! Another worthless wretch condemned to the pits. You’re a natural!”

Beelzebub

Unplanned. Unplanned. So unplanned.

Anon, you are unfortunately quite correct.

Beelzebub can smell it on MC before they even know. He had been holding back on feasting, saving them for a special occasion. 

But now that they were pregnant? Their blood, their body, all of it was extra nutritious as it prepared to build his child.

He waits, for a while. Staying far away so as not to be tempted, despite MC’s desperate attempts to get him involved.

The day comes for the gender reveal.

A boy.

Since Beel refuses to be involved, MC picks out the name. Akuji. 

It’s an apt name. 

MC returns that day to attempt to tell Beel the news, only to be met by the lumbering form of the starved man that strikes fear into their heart. They eat MC whole, and their child with them.

But that isn’t the end. Awake. Akuji screams from inside MC, inside Beel. Tiny claws begin to scratch and dig.

Eventually, his son rips through his stomach and into the world, severely underdeveloped. Time would take care of that. The boy had curled hands with bloody claws, blindingly violet eyes, and the concave stomach of his father. He would eventually grow fly wings and a head of MC’s hair, but he would never gain a full human form.

Beel tried several times over the years to eat his son, to no avail. Every time, he would just have to sew up his stomach and continue on his endless stalk for sustenence.

Belphegor

A child with Belphie is so unplanned that he doesn’t even know about it until a thousand years after they are born.

He had trapped MC in his lair for his nap, but his grip had loosened in his dreaming, and while they remained locked in the room, at least they could roam. Food was stockpiled to hide from his twin brother, which MC subsisted on.

They had become pregnant after a slow, elongated night of fucking with Belphie as he gained their favor to get them where they were now. And they had no way to tell him without ensuring their own death in the process.

So MC coached themselves through the pregnancy, always careful not to wake Belphegor.

It was a close call during the birth, as he huffed and stirred, but MC bit down on their own arm to shut themselves up.

When their son was born, he looked perfectly human. Blinking slowly up at their parent. MC fed him only once, and whispered his name to him before he drifted to sleep. 

Eventually, the food ran out. Their son did not wake, no matter how they tried. MC sobbed quietly at their loss, as surely he was dead. Starved and exhausted, they laid down to die.

Hundreds of years passed. In his sleep, the child grew, gaining more demonic features. Growing longer, sharper. Lithe wings extending from his back and sharp teeth appearing past his lips.

Their dreams began to intertwine, the boy learning so much from the Avatar of Sloth’s thoughts.

Finally, Belphie awoke, immediately spotting his son in the corner, strangely familiar, and the young one stirred at the movement.

“Who are you?”

“Cimon.”

“Hmm. Good morning.”

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me headcanons #obey me yandere #House of Lamentation #obey me dark au #children of the dark

[randomoranges]

dun dun dun

i’ve been sitting on this other plot point for actual years lamao.

prince au  part 92

--

Étienne seemed impervious to Calvin’s little crisis and Calvin kept it that way. The best thing to do at the moment was not to breathe a word of it to Étienne. Not that the prince would disapprove of his little venture with Edward, but he would be gleeful and insufferable about it. He figured it would be best to let things settle, before he brought forth his accusations, especially since he was convinced Edward would gab to Étienne first. Yet, even if he had, the prince never brought it up and Calvin thanked his lucky stars – if he still had any left.

 However, despite all of that, the prince, for some absurd reason, still insisted on learning Edward’s training methods and styles and so, Calvin found himself having to face the man sooner, rather than later.

 “You seem more unfocused than usual today, Sir Calvin; would there be anything particular on your mind?” Edward jeered as they demonstrated a new lesson for the prince.

 From a tactical standpoint, Calvin was quite surprised by the Étienne’s progress. He had really taken to the whole ice dancing technique remarkably well and even Calvin’s father had stopped by to observe once he had gotten wind of it.

 The kicker to Calvin’s pride had been when his father had offered praise to Edward, but somehow, he had managed to keep his cool, until Sir Ian had left.

 “The only thing on my mind is getting that smug look off your face.” He sneered as he readied his grip on his sword. He wanted very badly to disarm the smug bastard at least once, but so far, Edward’s techniques had gotten the best of him each and every time. If this was how Étienne had felt during all their sessions, Calvin thought he might finally understand.

 “Would there be a different look you’d rather see on my face?” Edward asked and he laughed when Calvin looked at him with disgust.

 They went at it again and this time, Calvin was actually able to cover some ground. Finally. Even Edward looked somewhat surprised and a little pleased.

 He may have imagined it.

 Maybe.

 Étienne, however, had noticed and was very enthusiastic about his praise, “That was amazing! I knew you’d get the hang of it!”

 The fact that the prince had surpassed him weeks ago went unsaid. The fact that there were times when Edward used the prince to demonstrate something to him instead went unsaid as well. At least Calvin knew the prince was genuine in his compliments.

 They readied themselves again and this time, Calvin was sure he was going to knock the scythe out of Edward’s hand, but just as he was about to start, one of Calvin’s men came rushing in.

 “Captain!” He yelled out.

 Calvin instinctively made sure the prince was behind him, in case, not liking the expression he read on the man’s face. He knew that look. That was the emergency look. Something bad had happened.

 “There’s been – an intruder. The western gate. The man said he was here for Prince Edward. It’s his older brother. Your father has taken him in for questioning, as a precaution. So far, we haven’t found any of his men. The patrols have been sent out.”

 Before the soldier could go on, Calvin reacted, telling him to take the prince to safety. He ignored Étienne’s protests and pointed an accusing sword towards Edward. His worst fears were playing out, it seemed. He knew – he knew this day would come and no one had listened to him.

 “You,” He told Edward, “With me. You may be engaged to the prince, but this madness ends now.”

-- PREVIOUS: XCI CURRENT: XCII NEXT: XCIII

#pc: calgary #pc: edmonton #pc: montreal #edward murphy #calvin BRISEBOIS LOL #étienne maisonneuve #au #fic #3 sentence fic meme thing #prince au

[nekoabiwrites]

Oh my god, they were roommates...

IT’S @not-so-innocent-bi-sander‘s BIRTHDAY! At least in my time zone~ And I tried my best to make a fic that covers all that Jordan loves :D

AU: Human/College AU Pairing: Prinxiety Words: 3408 Warnings: Panic attack, nudity. Anything else, please let me know!

Summary: Virgil didn’t think he’d ever see him again and yet, here he was... and he was hot!

--

“Across the hall from your room is our final roommate, Virgil Evans. He pr-”

“Virgil Evans?!”

The loud exclamation of his name had something clicking in the young adult’s mind. The voice was eerily familiar, though Virgil would have sworn up and down that it was just a hallucination and that no one was even out on the landing. The now muffled voices and the thumping of heavy things hitting the ground told him that someone was definitely out there, or at least was before they moved into the empty room opposite his own. There was no way it could be… could it? He went to shake the thought from his head and get back to work, but a sudden excited knocking at his door interrupted him. With a slight shake of his hand, Virgil walked up to the door and grasped the handle to see who was on the opposite side.

Everything stood still immediately once the door was opened. Virgil was, metaphorically, flung back in time by the mere sight of the man before him.

They had both been akin to outcasts in middle school; one a fledgling emo who was too scary and quiet, the other a small pudgy child who was too loud and excitable. Somehow, they were complete opposites yet fit so well together, almost like puzzle pieces. They liked to play make-believe, watch Disney movies, draw and paint. Though, on a deeper level, there was far more in common.

Virgil had been in denial in middle school. He realised that he found his friend absolutely adorable and really cute, and he realised one day during a pretend scene of true love’s kiss saving the day that he actually did like kissing his friend. But Virgil couldn’t say that, it could ruin his best friendship and – most definitely – the rest of his entire life. So, it stayed hidden and Virgil pretended like all of his emotions weren’t there. Up until the day he left.

One day, Virgil was waiting in the usual spot when his friend approached him, looking sad. He told Virgil that his family were moving away, and he was going to have to change schools. It felt as though Virgil’s entire world was crashing around him. A week passed and he was gone. Virgil was back to being alone. He thought he’d never see his friend again. Apparently, he was dead wrong.

“I can’t believe it! It’s actually you! I’d recognise your emo ass anywhere, though I didn’t expect you to get better at it!” His old friend laughed heartily, giving Virgil a once over.

Virgil rolled his eyes and leant against the doorframe, arms crossed, “Didn’t expect you to become a meathead like your brothers, but I guess we were both wrong, Roman Prince.” Virgil put extra emphasis on his last name, which caused a grin spread across his face as the man before him almost inflated with indignation.

“How dare you!” Roman pressed a hand to his chest dramatically, “I will have you know I surpassed them greatly with my grades, thank you very much!”

“Like that was hard.”

“Are you undermining my achievements?!”

“A little.”

They continued to argue back and forth for a few more minutes before a quiet voice interrupted them and both of their heads turned to the new participant in the conversation. “Um, are you two fighting? Please don’t fight, at least not on the first day…”

Virgil ducked his head in embarrassment, “Sorry, Pat… Didn’t mean to freak you out…”

“Yes, many apologies. We weren’t arguing. Just old friends teasing each other as you do!”

Patton’s eyes lit up, “Wait! Are you the friend from middle school that V-”

Immediately, the emo was out of the doorway and in front of Patton, his hand clamped over his mouth. “Patton, shut up!” Virgil hissed, his face already beginning to burn in embarrassment.

A chuckle had Virgil’s stomach churning, “So, Virgil has mentioned me, hm? I guess I am unforgettable.”

“Whatever. I’ll be in my room.” Virgil muttered, slinking back into the dark bedroom. He shut the door in Roman’s face, who tried to get one last comment in. He listened carefully to the sounds in the hallway; the short conversation between Roman and Patton, the footsteps descending the stairs as the door across the hall shut and vague noises of Roman unpacking started. Only then did Virgil allow himself to whisper scream as he collapsed onto his sheets. He asked a question in his mind, ‘How the fuck did he get hot?!’

--

Virgil hoped that, over time and with exposure, his sudden surge of attraction to his old friend would dissipate. Perhaps Roman would have weird habits that would turn Virgil off or maybe his personality – having changed over the years – would grind on Virgil’s last nerve until every ounce of attraction fizzled away. Of course, things were not that simple.

Roman was just as energetic and friendly as he had been years prior, easily making friends with not only the other roommates living with them but also many other students, and even the grumpy old lady who lived in the house next door who always complained about the weird phantom noises they were apparently making at 3am when they were all asleep (or at least, lying in bed). He always had time for Virgil though.

By the end of the first week he’d been living in the house, Roman had somehow gained an all-access pass to Virgil’s room at most reasonable times of the day. To the point that the two would just sit and do work before eventually falling into long discussions – or arguments – about nothing in particular. Some days, they’d simply fill each other in on their lives since they parted ways. Roman was extremely invested in Virgil’s life and what became of the other kids from their school, and Virgil could say the same about Roman.

It was during one of these conversations that Roman asked a particularly interesting question. He was laying on his front, head held up by his hands. There was an open notebook to the side of him, though it was all but forgotten at this point.

“I haven’t heard you mention anything about the topic but I’m very interested, so I’ll ask anyway. How many of the girls did you have throwing themselves at you when you got older? I bet that dark and mysterious vibe got them all, didn’t it?” Roman wiggled his eyebrows playfully, grinning slyly as Virgil choked on the drink in his hand.

The emo put the cup down and smacked his chest a couple of times before rasping out a short “What?! No. The fuck?!”

“Oh… Sorry, I just thought with your good looks and the whole… aesthetic you have going on, you’d have the pick of them all.” Roman said sincerely. Virgil’s cheeks darkened at the compliment and Roman’s eyes quickly lit up. He swung around, throwing his legs off the side so he could assess Virgil closer, “Virgil… I don’t mean to pry, and you don’t have to answer me but… were there any… guys?”

The immediate spinning of Virgil’s desk chair told Roman everything. The sly grin creeped back up onto his face as he stood, approaching the chair that now faced away from him. Roman faked a gasp before resting his crossed arms on the back of the chair, “Did I get it right?”

Virgil huffed in annoyance and rolled his eyes. In a single swift movement, he grabbed the rainbow stress toy from his desk (a gift from Patton) and threw it over his shoulder, attempting to hit Roman’s shoulder with it. However, the tug on the back of the chair and the undignified high-pitched yelp followed by stumbling steps had Virgil thinking he’d missed his mark. It didn’t stop him from laughing after he turned in his chair and found Roman pouting at him indignantly.

“Oh, yes. Laugh it up. It’s just so funny that you tried to assault me!” Roman tossed his head with a sniff, a haughty look upon his face.

Virgil managed to control himself a little in order to respond, “You look like such a jock, but you are way too gay for that. And I hope that this answered your dumb question, Princey.” He picked the stress toy off the ground and held it up for Roman to truly get a look at before putting it back on his desk.

Roman perked back up once he saw the toy properly, “Well, thank goodness for that! I don’t think I could have lived knowing someone as pretty as you was straight.” He situated himself back on Virgil’s bed and went back to looking over his notes, while Virgil stewed over what he’d just heard.

The weeks passed and nothing was getting better for Virgil. It had gotten to the point where he couldn’t just bottle it up within himself anymore, he just had to talk to someone. That’s how he found himself laying on his back on Logan’s bed, staring up at the precise constellations that dotted his ceiling.

“If you truly want my opinion, Virgil, it seems there is enough evidence to show that your affecti-”

“Ahhh, don’t call it that!” Virgil threw an arm over his eyes, as if that would help him get away from the truth of his smart friend’s words, “Is there anything else you can say instead?”

“Virgil.”

Logan placed his tablet pen back into its holder, twisted the lid of his laptop back to its regular position and turned to face his bed. His left leg crossed over his right and his arms tightly crossed over his chest, looking at Virgil with his stern steely gaze. The emo lying there almost squirmed away, as he could feel the piercing gaze even without seeing it.

“Ughhhh, I knew you’d be no help!” Virgil slid himself off of the sheets and onto his feet, heading towards the door, “I’m gonna go see if Patton’s in. Maybe he’ll help me more!”

Logan said nothing, simply shrugging – which Virgil caught sight of in the mirror next to the door – before turning back to his work, “If you think he’ll help, then go ahead. Unlike you, I am actually trying to complete my studies, so you’ll know where I will be.”

A light twitch of a smile came to Virgil’s lip as he muttered a thanks under his breath before fake-storming out of Logan’s room, shutting the door behind him. He pulled his phone from his pocket and went to text Patton. His attention was so focused on his phone that he didn’t notice the sound of a new door opening near to him. It was only when he collided with something warm and solid that Virgil realised someone else was in the hallway with him. He quickly lifted his head to apologise, but found his words catching in his throat at the sight.

Roman stood just in front of him, still damp from his shower that he’d clearly just finished. His hair was slicked back with the water, though a few strands had fallen across his forehead from the slight jolt of someone walking into him. Virgil’s eyes couldn’t help but follow the trail of a droplet that had already run its course down Roman’s torso, drinking in every detail of his clearly well-looked after body. He was just muscular enough to have definition, as well as being incredibly broad chested – which really made Virgil realise how much taller Roman had grown as Virgil had clearly made contact with his pecs when they’d bumped into each other. His eyes travelled even further before Virgil could even consider tearing his eyes away from the sight before him. Roman’s body was almost that unbelievable triangle shape that he’d only seen on magazine covers, advertisements and movies. It even had that V-shape that guided Virgil’s gaze to the towel that was hanging low on Roman’s waist, being held up by only one of Roman’s hands.

All of a sudden, Virgil came back to himself. Thankfully, it had only been a few seconds since the impact, and both had been a little startled. Virgil, however, took several steps away, blushing a deep red. He stuttered, attempting to find something to say as he backed up to Logan’s door again. As he fumbled behind him for the door handle, Roman approached slowly, looking concerned. Virgil hadn’t even noticed he’d started to panic.

“Virgil. It’s okay. We’re both okay. Try to breathe…” Roman spoke calmly, holding his hands before him. However, he’d seemingly forgotten that his hand was the one thing keeping the towel from falling to the ground. As he went to reassure Virgil with both hands, Roman could feel the fabric fall from around his waist.

Virgil outright screeched pterodactyl-style and dove into Logan’s room, his face burning. He didn’t see Roman also turn a fantastical shade of red as he saved at least some of his modesty as the door had been slammed shut just as quick. The larger of the two listened at the door for a few seconds. He waited until he heard Logan speaking to Virgil, coaching him through breathing techniques to quell his panic, before heading back to his room to get dressed.

In Logan’s room, Virgil was slowly uncurling from the tight ball he’d managed to get into in his panic as his breathing was starting to return to a somewhat normal level. His eyes were swimming and his head was pounding, but he was able to make out the shape of Logan kneeling beside him.

“Are you feeling better, Virgil? Would you like me to fetch you some water?” Logan asked, analysing Virgil’s body language.

“That… um, please… yes.” Virgil wheezed, stretching out on the ground. He carefully stretched each muscle from the tips of his fingers to his toes as Logan cautiously stepped around him and out of his room. Virgil allowed the sense of embarrassment to wash over him again and his face continued to burn, though his panic was manageable. He could not believe that he’d almost lost it over Roman, of all people. He went to audibly groan whilst slapping his hands across his face, but the sound of Roman’s voice had him stopping mid-movement to listen to every single syllable.

He heard Roman address Logan, clearly both in the hallway nearer the kitchen.

“How is everything?” Roman asked, concerned.

“He is doing relatively well, compared to the state he came to me in, if that’s what you are asking.” Logan’s voice was getting closer. Virgil sat himself up, so he wasn’t caught by Roman lying on the ground.

“That’s good. Um, could you tell him that I’m sorry for whatever happened. I don’t know if it was my fault or what, but I just want to cover my bases, just in case.”

“I’ll be sure to let him know. I think it’s best if you don’t come too close. Seeing you again may cause a slight relapse.” Logan stated as his voice came right up to the door. Virgil was now sat with his back pressed against the bed, trying his hardest to look natural.

“O-oh. Right. Of course. Um, well… I hope everything is okay…” Roman sounded disappointed, but a set of footsteps started to retreat away from the room and up the stairs.

Logan then opened the door and entered, his face as stoic as ever. He handed the glass of water to Virgil before sitting himself back into his desk chair and continuing to work. Eventually, there was a rustle of bedsheets that told Logan that Virgil had gotten off of the floor and sat himself back on Logan’s bed. Virgil was muttering something under his breath.

The chair spun back around before stopping on a dime as Logan sighed, “Virgil, if you are going to say something, please let me hear it. I would like to help you, but I can’t if I don’t know what’s going on.”

Virgil gave his friend a withering look that had no malice behind it as this was just the way they worked, “I said ‘I’m going to fucking die’” Virgil made air-quotes around his words.

Logan smiled wryly, “If you’re going to do that here, could you at least make it quiet? I do have a project to finish.” He waited to see Virgil smirk and stick his tongue out playfully before turning back to his laptop, giving Virgil some space to think.

It was after dinner when Virgil started to make his ascent back up to his room finally. There had been a long conversation with Logan once the emo had his thoughts in a semi-coherent order which had ultimately ended with the conclusion that both sides had a mutual interest and that Virgil should really just go for whatever he wanted. It was just as that final point was made that Patton knocked on Logan’s door in order to call him out for food.

“Oh! Virgil! I was about to call you and Roman down, but since you’re here, come on out!” Patton cheerfully said, grinning from ear to ear. The peppy student practically skipped away to call out to Roman, leaving Logan’s door wide open. Both of the other students emerged, slipping into the kitchen quietly. As food was being served up and they were all eating, Virgil avoided eye contact with Roman, even as his roommate was trying his hardest to catch Virgil’s eye. He was working out the script in his head, as Virgil knew he would never do it if not today.

It was only once he was halfway up the stairs and Roman called his name that Virgil even contemplated looking at his roommate again. When he did, his face flushed pink once again at the memory of what he’d seen. Virgil pushed that all away however, as Roman took the stairs two at a time to catch up to him.

“Are you alright? I wanted to check on you after what happened earlier, but Logan said I probably shouldn’t. Just in case. But I wanna make sure you’re okay.” Roman rattled off as they both headed up to their rooms.

Virgil stopped outside his room, leaning against the closed door. “Yeah, I’m good. Just was a little… surprised, I guess?” He mumbled, looking at a very interesting piece of the carpeted floor.

“Good. Good. I didn’t want to uh… traumatise you or something.” Roman laughed nervously, which got Virgil’s attention. He’d never heard Roman nervous before.

Slowly, Virgil raised his gaze, “Well, um, thanks? I guess? Logan helped me. We talked about a lot…” he trailed off, unsure of himself.

“What did you talk about?”

“Just… what happened and things.”

“Things?”

Virgil was shifting his weight from foot to foot, his nervousness getting the better of him. He was trying to remember the script he came up with in his head, but nothing was coming to him. This wasn’t how this was all supposed to go. He ran his hands through his hair in frustration. The emo growled under his breath before practically shouting, “I fucking like you, okay?!” Immediately, Virgil clapped his hand over his mouth and his eyes widened in shock at his own outburst.

The silence rang out between the two students. Virgil was unwilling to move and Roman was almost moving in slow motion. He tentatively reached out, loosely grasping Virgil’s wrist in order to pry his hand away from his mouth. It only took a step to close the distance between them, “I like you too, Virgil. Took you long enough to notice.”

Virgil was shocked this was working out the way it was. He was barely aware of what happened before Roman’s lips were brushing against his own, silently asking a question that required an answer. Instead of words, Virgil simply threw himself onto Roman, crushing their mouths together.

Immediately, his back was pushed up against his closed door once more as Roman took charge of the situation. The larger let go of Virgil’s waist in order to grab the door handle and push it open, leading Virgil inside. As the emo let his bedroom door swing shut, he watched Roman tug his shirt over his head and tossed it aside before taking one large step to close the distance between them once again. The lock on the door hit home immediately.

--

My other stuff: http://nekoabi.tumblr.com/myworks Mobile Accessible Masterlist: http://nekoabi.tumblr.com/post/181954641376/fic-masterlist

General Tag List: @not-so-innocent-bi-sander​​ @didsomeonesayprince​​ @llamaly​​ @justanotherpurplebutterfly​​  @iaminmultiplefandoms​​ @ultimate-queen-of-fandoms2​​ @lowkeyvirgilobsessed​​ @louisthewarlock​​ @fangsandrainbows​​ @xxladystarlightxx​​ @sleepyssnail​​ @ao-koshka​​ @notalwaysthevillian​​ @pumpkinminette​​ @doces-e--tuga​​ @coloursintheblur​​ @safesandersides​​ @hogwarts-my-love​

#Sanders Sides #Fanfiction #Prinxiety #Virgil Sanders #Roman Sanders #Patton Sanders #Logan Sanders #Anxiety Sanders #Creativity Sanders #Morality Sanders #Logic Sanders #Oh my god they were roommates #Human AU #College AU

[tuiyla]

So I finally watched The Owl House

I wish I’d do this with every show I watch but it seems like only a lucky few get the She-Ra style rant of love treatment. Well, I finally watched The Owl House after my dash having been flooded for the past couple of weeks and I have some thoughts. Slight spoilers below.

First off, I love the whole vibe. I had a faint idea that this show would be about magic but I didn’t know much before watching - except for one thing, we’ll get back to that. The way it builds its world and deals with magic, though, is so refreshing. And I just have to mention here that I laughed out loud at all the Harry Potter jabs, they were hilarious. I expect we’ll learn much more about magic and its users as the show goes on but as far as the first season goes the introduction was really solid. It strikes the right balance between leaving things to the imagination but being more than “wave wand and magic happens”. It’s colourful, it’s creative, and I even like the ovens and school tracks, despite knowing that the story is about not conforming to those. It makes the Boiling Isles unique and make me want to learn more about the world even beyond the characters and the main plot.

TOH also presents a world that’s much more macabre than I was expecting from the Disney Channel, not that that’s a bad thing. I found myself thinking of Adventure Time at certain points and pondering, at scary moments, how kids would react. I think kids love this, though, and besides, nothing can be more scarring than Courage the Cowardly Dog was. It’s not that terrifying, of course, just daring enough to stand out. Overall the show has what I would classify as more of a Cartoon Network vibe than a Disney Channel one, but I admittedly haven’t really been following many Disney shows. In any case, I dig it. I dig the weird creatures and the beautiful backgrounds and I appreciate how alive the Boiling Isles feel. It doesn’t take long for TOH to immerse you in its world so I’m for one am hooked.

I make a big deal of loving the world itself because rarely does it happen that world-building stands out to me so soon in a series. I do love carefully constructed fantasy worlds but for the most part I’m more interested in the characters themselves. Here, I’d say it’s close to being a 50-50, which is something that even Avatar can’t say with its elemental masterclass in world-building (which is mostly because the character depth there is unrivaled but still). So yeah, kudos to The Owl House for achieving this. From Luz’s glyph magic to the covens and the titans, I’m excited to explore this world more.

Now, the characters. The real meat of any story. Starting with Luz, I have seen some criticism that she’s a generic hero so far, the “I’m a weirdo”, heart of gold, upbeat variety. I don’t think this makes her bland, though I do admit that being told over and over again that she’s weird makes me less engaged, even she’s also shown to be weird. I like the message of her arc and that the chosen one trope was deconstructed almost right away. I like that she’s relentlessly enthusiastic and kind to people and I like that she doesn’t have to get more bitter in order to get development. Instead, she learns from her mistakes but keeps being herself and brings her unique spirit to the Boiling Isles. We need protagonists like Luz, not just because she’s latina and bisexual but because her learning process doesn’t involve cynicism. Sure, there is a lot she needs to learn but her heart is presented as an asset and a sort of source of magic. I’m excited to see where her story goes, for sure.

I’m gonna write briefly about the other characters before I get to my favourite one. Eda is super cool and I quickly got over the fact that she’s not Beatrice Horseman, lol. She embodies such a youthful energy but the show also allows her to be a middle-aged woman comfortable in her own body - well, owl curse notwithstanding. Also, her relationship with Lilith is one of my favourite parts of the whole show. Eda subverts so many of the mentor’s traditional tropes and I’m here for it. I kinda thought she was the villain based on her design and when I didn’t know anything about the show but hey, happy she’s not.

I don’t think I’d even seen a picture of King before starting to watch the series and at first I thought I’d get tired of him real quick. He’s the type of character who can get really annoying instead of endearing really fast if he’s not given any depth or charm, both by way of writing and voice acting. Luckily, I ended up liking King and his antics. His design is indeed adorable and Alex Hirsch is a genius. The only time I felt like he went too far was, perhaps surprisingly, in the book writing episode, “Sense and Insensitivity”, but even there going too far was the point. So yeah, King’s also great, there’s much potential in his backstory and general character.

Alright so really quickly, other characters: Willow and Gus are generic best friend characters and though they already have other things going on, I expect more development as the series progresses. I like that Willow is actually super powerful, just not in the way people expected her to and Gus is clearly also talented despite being younger. I’d be happy to see more of the other kids, get more familiar with Hexside. Edric and Emira are fun characters but they were really shitty in their first episode so I was kind of surprised they weren’t more of a nuisance to Amity later on. I’m all for supportive siblings so I wouldn’t mind a good relationship between the three but I feel like it’s more complicated than that with the Blights.

Finally, I also have to mention that Hooty is... well, quite something, isn’t he. Much like with King, I thought he’d be much more annoying but somehow the show is self-aware enough that it makes Hooty tolerable. I’m almost always torn between feeling sorry for him and being thoroughly weirded out, and I think that’s the intention? It’s fitting that he’s the titular character as he embodies the tone of The Owl House well in my eyes. He’s there for the comedy but there’s just enough there to hint at something more. Very bizarre, strong CN vibes, here for it.

Now that I’ve written a paragraph more about Hooty than I expected to, let’s talk about Amity. Listen, no other character stood a chance to be my favourite as soon as I learned Mae Whitman voiced Amity. That woman gave me Katara so now I have a quasi Pavlovian response to her voice. I’d also say that I knew more about Amity going into the show than I did about any other aspect of TOH. I heard somewhere that she started out as an antagonist, I knew her parents were abusive, and the reason the show blew up on my dash and my general online bubble is the Grom episode. Lucikly I only saw stills of Lumity beneath the crescent moon but the pure Sapphic energy of that was enough to gay migrate me to this show. I’d like to note it here though that The Owl House is a good show in and of itself, the queer rep is just a nice extra. I’m gonna spend the next couple hundred words going on about Amity and her crush on Luz but I don’t value only that. The Gay Migration is great and rep is great but I’m also grateful to have a solid show behind it. That being said.

I’m a total dyke for Amity Blight. I was very biased before even being introduced to her character but I genuinely find her to be fascinating and she has great potential. She’s developing quite quickly, like much of The Owl House, but an arc not being stretched out for several seasons before getting a rushed conclusion is refreshing. The progress hits all the beats and the only note I have is that I want more. She starts out as a generic bully but the opportunity to be more is there from the beginning. We find out early on that she used to be friends with Willow, we see that she works hard and values honest work. When she becomes Luz’s rival, it doesn’t last long before Amity shows that she’s open to new perspectives. That’s not to defend or even justify her earlier and nastier moments, Amity was rude to both Luz and Willow. But through all that, she becomes a complex character who does bad things but isn’t a bad person and grows when she gets the space to. I think that’s neat.

Luz’s decision to befriend her might be cartoon logic but as someone who subscribes to the “kill them with kindness” ideology, I can totally relate. Amity’s softer side doesn’t take long to show and “Lost in Language” is such a great episode to show how complex people can be. Again, I was already biased when it came to Amity but she’s consistently shown to be capable of self-reflection and growth when others give her the chance. I think her past and potential future friendship with Willow is a great way to explore many different topics and I’m trusting the show to do it justice. I also can’t wait to meet the rest of the Blights, if only to get me some angst and further develop Amity. I half expected Grom to take the form of her parents. Too dark for Disney? Well, we don’t know Amity’s dynamic with her parents, exactly, but there’s so much subtext and potential. I love what we’ve already seen from her but I’d also say that she has one of the greatest potentials in the show.

Another way in which this potential manifests is Lumity, of course. Again, they’re developing quite quickly but that doesn’t mean it’s rushed. I’d love to explore Amity’s crush more and what Luz means to her. The Grom episode surpassed all expectations, still and gifs don’t do the stunning dance sequence justice. The animation is so smooth, the colours are amazing, the music is on point and the Sapphic vibes complete the picture. Poetic cinema, truly. Molly Ostertag and Noelle Stevenson are really out there giving wlw animation fans everything we ever wanted, huh. It also warms my heart that the crush is made very clear, not just by Luz’s name being on the note but by the delightful gay disaster that is Amity in “Wing It Like Witches”. I never thought I’d ever see such a relatable useless lesbian in animation so kudos to Dana Terrace and the whole crew. Wow, how far we’ve come.

So yeah, Amity is a funky little lesbian and I’m a 100% here for her gay disaster moments, but I also love where Lumity is going thematically. They’re great as foils and I’m hoping that they won’t get together at the very end. Look, I love me some Bubbline, Korrasami and Catradora, but it’s time a wlw relationship had the chance to exist onscreen and not only in the last episode. The Owl House has a great chance to do that. I know the creators don’t want romance to be the main focus and I respect that, I think the world they created deserves to showcased and explored to its full potential. Lumity could be a great subplot though, as representation on the one hand and as a thematically interesting dynamic on the other. Plus, Luz and Amity are just cute and sometimes, it’s as simple as that. Oh, and also the whole Little Miss Perfect thing? One of the best fandom discoveries I’ve made in a long while. Not only is the song truly perfect for Amity, I love that Joriah Kwamé went on to write Ordinary as well. This right here is why fandom is beautiful.

I think that’s about it for season 1 initial thoughts. The moral can be a bit on the nose at times, especially in the early episodes but the show is ultimately for kids and I appreciate its message. Interesting world and magic system, good characters, great potential for later seasons, just a well put together show that I’m really glad I started watching. I’m kind of sorry I didn’t keep up with season 1 as it was coming out but I would not have been able to wait between episodes. The pacing is good overall, deffo moves fast but I wouldn’t call it rushed, and the “filler” episodes still add something to the story. I’m not sure if I would still feel like the show moves at a fast pace if I hadn’t binged it but in any case it isn’t rushed, the necessary beats are all there and have time to sit. I’m going to watch as it comes out from now on so hopefully season 2 will arrive early next year.

Oh, and: I’m very new to the fandom, barely just found out about Little Miss Perfect, so any and all tidbits, fun facts, and fic recommendations are welcome. Also if you just want to chat my inbox is always open!

#the owl house #toh #amity blight #lumity #luz noceda #my thoughts #down another rabbit hole i go

[saltytyrus]

hi, ariana! if the losers were a superhero group what would their powers be and how would they have gotten together? would they be popular as heroes or would they be considered vigilantes/menaces?

Hi!!! I had a lot of fun with this, thank you for sending it in Jack! 🤗 

Powers - I honestly kinda struggled here and couldn't choose just one for some (also warning, some are about to be very unoriginal :') 

Bill - Super strength (imo it's very useful but also... kinda basic??? it just feels right 😂) + force field generation

Ben - Invisibility

Bev - Pyrokinesis + telepathy

Eddie - Super speed

Mike - Memory manipulation + Panmnesia 

Stan - Zoolingualism (?? basically just the ability to communicate with animals bec!! imagine him with an army of loyal crows! he would always have a friend, this reddit thread is literally Stan living his best life :')

on top of that, just mind reading in general. He'd probably have a never again rule set in place after making the mistake of reading Richie's once. the material for that is endless 👌

ALSO, I'm being greedy but I'd love for him to have serenity inducement (here's to hoping that I'm getting all these powers/words right 😂)  

Richie - Telekinesis + Teleportation (he would have so much fun with it) 

Popular as heros or as vigilantes / menaces?

I think out of all of them Bill would definitely be a popular hero. I can see him actively and constantly seeking out situations where he can help people. 

While for the other losers, I can see them just trying to lead normal lives. I don't think they would be all that interested in being put on a pedestal or in a spotlight (of any kind). And it's not to say that they wouldn't use their powers to help someone out if need be, just that they wouldn't go out of their way with a purpose of finding something/someone to save. 

But also!!! because of Bill, they would find themselves often tagging along to make sure his dumbass doesn't die 😂 like one week it could be bill, richie & bev, and another just bill & eddie or ben etc depending on whatever he's trying to accomplish

Apart from that I think they all could easily end up being seen as vigilantes/menaces at some point. They would 100% set out to change/fix a system that they see actively harming people instead of helping, and because of that it would be a toss up on who sees them as a hero or vigilante/menace.

How they came together: 

This is where I both blanked and somehow ended up over complicating it 😭 

my brain refused to imagine them ever being separate and unaware of each other, so I was going to stick with them being school/childhood friends

but then I thought of a sky high situation where powers (if any at all) come in randomly throughout teenage years

So for this version powers would come in from age 17-20. The losers would be completely unaware of each other & Georgie still would've died as a kid, but instead by getting hit by a car while out playing. Bill would have a constant need to try and save people and it would later on be a double edged sword because: 

I thought it would be fun to bring Pennywise into this. The losers would each have a neibolt version of themselves that would come out once their powers came in. They'd mirror their abilities, but would only be as strong as the individual loser based on however much they'd use/practice their power. 

(I would probably have to change Stan's power to shape shifting for this to justify the random spider head running around town 😂)

Every single loser would end up being viewed (/framed) as a vigilante/menace of varying extents at some point. And because of Bill's power usage, Neibolt Bill would end up on top- both with being the strongest and fucking up the most shit around town 😭

The neibolt crimes would start out extremely small, like barely even punishable or noticeable aside from those around to actually witness it due to the losers themselves newly having powers.

But as it would add up the losers would begin to receive more and more dirty looks from peers & strangers and rumors would eventually follow. The losers would get so used to being accused of shit at a certain point that it would just roll off their backs. They'd probably chalk it up to bullies targeting them. 

For Richie maybe it would even result in a cop visit to his house- but with nothing more coming of it due to having a solid alibi.

It would be annoying but bearable up until the moment that the rumors got swapped out for video evidence as the crimes became more and more frequent + serious.

I feel like Ben, Mike, and Stan wouldn't surpass the rumor phase while Bill, Richie, Bev and Eddie's neibolt half would definitely land themselves on tape due to their excessive power usage in comparison. 

I love Eddie, he's my favorite character but the idea of him being the first of them to end up on tape is sending me. And it wouldn't even necessarily be over anything crime related, but something extremely embarrassing. Like imagine his neibolt self being found casually lounging in a dumpster on trash day and making the news over it. Just a story along the lines of "halted trash collections earlier this morning due to grimy teenager (Derry news would be that shitty imo 😂) found asleep in a dumpster. We're told that workers had to forcibly remove him after twenty minutes of refusal to leave" 

And with his powers, Neibolt Eddie would've zipped away as soon as he was set on the ground before anyone could've even done anything with him or offered to take him somewhere. 

...I am once again making a disclaimer that I love Eddie dearly, because what if the night before that he had done a little act of rebellion against Sonia & dyed his hair blonde, which in turn just ended up making him look even more guilty 😭

Okay, now for how they actually end up meeting:

For everything to work Bill would probably have to be one of the last to get powers (otherwise he'd end up on the news within months due to his usage & it wouldn't work for how I want it to play out)

Bev and Richie would definitely be one of the first two to get their powers & meet. Richie would randomly teleport into the convenience store she was working at, all out of breath and crouching behind some shelves. Initially she'd be spooked by his random pop in but would take pity, whether it was out of boredom or curiosity, and offer him a hiding space behind the counter (which he'd immediately accept & hop over for some reason despite probably being able to teleport behind it). After some small talk and Richie telling her that he was being chased by Bowers over some shit he didn't do, they'd come to find the common ground of being the brunt end of recent Derry high rumors and from there they'd stick together.

They would later track down the others (minus bill & eddie) by following frequent rumors with the goal of seeing if the same shit was happening to them as well. 

6/7 losers would only realize that everything probably wasn't exactly a rumor once the crimes start getting recorded/aired. They would have Eddie's experience on the news to support the "devil duplicate" theory they'd come to after seeing Bill Denbrough, Derry's beloved hero and now apparent villain make the news. From there they'd set out to track down Bill to find out wtf is happening.

_

my brain is absolutely f r i e d, but I'm jumping back to go over how they found Eddie as a treat for myself  :')

there are 2 versions, not all that different from each other, but one just really highlights Eddie's (knowingly or not) continuous pining over Richie. It 100% follows his neibolt dumpster news report & unfortunate hair-dying-timing.  

Scenario #1 is Richie and Bev walking into the theater to see a (much cleaner!) blonde Eddie. Beverly would manage to keep Richie from immediately running up into his row, but would find her efforts useless five minutes into the previews when he teleports himself into a seat next to Eddie, nearly scaring him half to death. He'd playfully lean on the arm rest with a dopey smile like

"I personally favor the dumpsters up in Bangor but hey, I'm all for going local if you'd like to show me around sometime."

(??idk.idk.idk 😂 originally his opener was just "hey, weren't you on the news recently?" but eh). So anyways, Eddie would be a mess, nearly popping a blood vessel but would later find himself near tears of laughter due to Richie's commentary throughout the movie. Bonus if he tried holding in his laughter out of spite to the point that he broke with a full on snort and turned to see Richie staring straight ahead at the screen, red cheeked & beaming, already preparing his next joke.

Scenario #2 is that Richie works at the Aladdin for the concession stand and recognizes Eddie as he steps up to pay. Opening with "I dig the new look" (referring to his hair that's now growing brown at the roots) and Eddie's confused because he's 98% sure that he's never seen this person before but it clicks immediately as Eddie watches the shit eating grin grow on Richie's face. Eddie, wanting nothing more than to run away again, simply stays put and mumbles out that it wasn't him

And the last response he ever expects to hear is an "okay", sounding just genuine enough for him to look up and see a much softer smile.

It would catch him off guard, having someone finally believe him, or at least not openly fight him on it (even if he's sure that Richie is just humoring him) that he'd often find himself showing up to the theater thirty minutes before his movie, just hovering over the stands by Richie. Clinging to the excuse that it was just someone to talk to while he waited away from the harsh summer weather and the grips of his mother.

Panic wouldn't set in until the day that Richie asks him what movie he's waiting for and completely blanks, not having the slightest clue until peeking down at his ticket.

#hopefully this wasn't too hard to follow or repetitive #i tangled myself up in a web 😭 im going to cringe at this later (but seriously this was a lot of fun!) #the losers club #it #death tw #neibolt losers