#i HAVE to finish this thing dude. or i'll never know peace.

[the-valiant-valkyrie]

i haven't made myself a pinned post bc when i finish feed the roses i want to pin the chapters to the top of my page as they roll out. bc im so silly like that. but also that's probably not going to happen for another two billion years at this rate

#the more i procrastinate on it the more scared i get that if i reread it its gonna be bad asdbkjfdsf #i HAVE to finish this thing dude. or i'll never know peace. #in THEORY. i'm over halfway done. #i've got 6 chapters past the first draft stage #and 6 more in various stages of half-completion #and there's only 12 chapters #this game tech class is really kicking my ass though. honestly if i had one less class everything would be so epic forever #also speaking of pinned posts. i need to find where my wig writing guide went.

[brainsofseaweed]

HELPPP I JUST FINISHED THE HOUSE OF HADES HOW DO I FUNCTION NOW?????

LIKE BRO WHAT

also i seem to have made a scientific discovery

apparently humans can fall in love with books

BECAUSE I AM IN LOVE WITH THESE BOOKS

THEY'RE SO GOOD DUDE I HAVE SCHOOLWORK TO DO BUT I JUST CANT PUT THEM DOWN YK

YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA HOW HAPPY I AM THAT PERCY AND ANNABETH ARE OKAY LIKE BRO I WAS SERIOUSLY WORRIED FOR THEM FOR A SEC and for many other times throughout the book but that's besides my point

I WAS SO SAD WHEN EVERYONE HAD SOMONE BUT LEO WAS ALL ALONE BUT THEN HE MET CALYPSOOO and i have to say i am REALLY JEALOUS

THAT SHOULD BE ME HOLDING YOUR HAND

THAT SHOULD BE ME MAKIN YOU LAUGHHHH

(yes i'm a lesbian but again thats besides the point)

BUT YEAH

OH AND obviously knowing who the author is YOU KNOW I HAD TO VIOLENTLY SOB AT THE BOB AN DAMASEN SACRIFICE

LIKE WDYM "tell the sun and stars i say hello"?????

WDYM AT THE END WHEN PERCY IS LOOKING AT THE STARS HE SAYS AND I QUOTE "bob says hello"

OH THAT WAS JUST PURE EVIL I TELL YOU

(add it to the list of things i'll never recover from ig)

i feel almost ALMOST as traumatised as percy and annabeth (i'm very much exaggerating and we all know it)

soooo anyways

i know i say this at the end of every single one of these but thank you for coming to my ted talk. truly.

yeah that's about it

imma start the blood of olympus now (i know i say this at the end too just ignore it)

also it's such a bizarre thought that just a month and a little bit ago i was just reading the lost hero?? why has time changed into a liquid i shall never know

BUT ANYWAYS I GOTTA GO NOW

peace out yall

till next time :)

#heroes of olympus #HoO #house of hades #pjo hoo #percy jackson #annabeth chase #leo valdez #percabeth #i also heard ther were no percabeth povs in BoO and i'm trying hard not to cry about that #it's okay tho i also heard we get reyna and nico povs #and you know how much i love reyna #and nico

[livelovesimallways]

"Prayed Up....." 🎵

(Previous)

(Previous following Dana's story)

Moses and I finally arrived home a couple of days ago after an amazing honeymoon. We spent nearly three months traveling, relaxing and enjoying the best parts of what make us...us. After taking some time for ourselves, letting our friends and family know we were back became top priority. While I reached out on my end, Moses was reluctant to do the same. He says he wants to, "protect his peace", which leads me to believe something serious is going on. Although I fully understand where he is coming from, avoiding things never helps. I just hope that, "protecting his peace", doesn't make a situation worse or leave people in the dark.

Later on that day.....

"So hold on...Let me get this straight...Sean was messing around with that Julia chick outside of Dana's rules? Deanna found out and told her?"

"Basically..."

"Damn...I wonder why she didn't tell me? It seemed like everything was going well. She even sent me their finished wedding plan." *sounding confused*

"Maybe it is for her. She probably feels like what's done is done. Shit, my moms used to get like that whenever my father got caught."

"Humph...I remember having those days myself. You're probably right. Now I feel terrible. Dana isn't the type to come crying about her problems either. She'll tell you, but won't get emotional about it. She keeps a lot bottled up."

"Yeah she's a good ass person too. She don't deserve that shit." *looks down then shakes his head*

"So was this why you were avoiding calls?"

"I mean it's part of it. Sean's been like my brother since high school, but him still doing dumb shit just ain't sittin right with me. I thought he was makin progress but, that ain't the case. I don't know if I want to be around all that. Too much potential to have me in some shit."

"In some shit like?...."

"Being put on the spot to cover, or getting questioned over something he did."

"But that only happened once right?" *narrows her eyes*

"You really want me to answer that? Shit, we both know not to ask questions we really don't want the answers to. You're gonna feel obligated to tell her and neither one of us is trying to stir up past things. She knows what kind of dude she has. Obviously we want better for her, but she's sticking beside him. There's no need to dig."

*sighs* "Fine...I'll leave it alone. What's done in the dark always comes to light anyway, so..." *her phone starts ringing, cutting her off* "Oh look, it's Nica, another person you've been avoiding. I'll put it on speaker."

A Few Days Later.......

"I'm just not understanding why you won't tell your sister you're pregnant? Like, I know it's not ideal, but you're in a good place. You're starting your career at that tech giant and you can stay here as long as you want. It's nothing to be embarrassed about. Trust me, I've seen worse. The train wreck that is my father is a great example, and he's a multi-millionaire. You have a village: your sister, me and my family. You just have to embrace it. "

"Look...Mimi I get you're trying to help, but please leave it alone. That's not why..." *get choked up*

"Then what is it? I'm here for you, seriously..."

*whispers* "Fuck...."

"Damn...Umm...I didn't mean to upset you. You don't have to..."

"No, I do. Just please don't judge until you hear everything. The reason why I'm scared to tell her is because it's Sean's baby..." *tells her their entire history*

"Whew...That's a lot." *pauses for a few seconds* "Sleeping with your sister's man is foul as fuck, Dee. I get the whole college and first love thing before they met, but she's the one with him now...Has been for the past what, six years? And now a baby? You have to tell her before she marries this man."

"I know...I will..."

"This is crazy but, as much as I want to rant, I feel bad for you. He's manipulated this entire situation since you were eighteen. He was twenty-four and he knew to take advantage of your naivety. Now he says he loves you? He's full of shit and is using that as a way to keep you quiet and around." *pauses in thought* "Shit!..."

"What's wrong?"

"Remember a few days ago you were throwing up a lot?"

"Yeah?..."

"Well, I got scared and called Nica for advice. She had a rough first trimester so I figured she could help. I told her it was for you."

"Do you think she told anyone?" *extra concerned*

"I mean, it's possible, but that was a few days ago. I feel like if your sister knew she would've been knocking on the door. I'm gonna call Nica and check. But regardless, Dana's gonna find out sooner or later. You can't hide a baby bump and Sean's family has some strong genes. When the baby comes out looking like him..."

"Girl!...I get it. Can you please just call your sister for me? I'll figure it out from there."

To Be Continued......

Next

#black sims #black simblr #sims story #teeleah #moses #deanna #mimi #IYLIML #the weekend

[lokiina]

I FINISHED THE GAME (BG3)

I'M GONNA- THERE'S BIG SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT. So if you don't wanna hear about end game stuff don't click it cuz I'll be 100% explaining my ending and adding some screenshots in there too. You have been warned.

Proceed with caution. Like Gale hiding behind Cas.

Kay omg. SO, I'm really curious now how other choices end up playing out cuz for the most part this was a fairly happy end. Not 100% happy, as some people didn't get important things but all things considered things went well.

BUT.

I chose to side with the Emperor for this play. I know it was kinda sus on whether or not he was lying and using you as a means to an end for his own selfish needs, but I decided to take the chance and just follow through with the things he wanted. (Except taking the fancy worm to evolve, I was too scared to do that.) I only used a small handful of the worms through my play, and it ended up not being a problem at the end. My boy was completely fine and cured of his brain worm problem.

also this happened while trying to confront the brain the first time. LMAO

Siding with the Emperor and putting complete trust in him involved giving him the nether stones and it did end with the Githyanki prince guy dying. Cuz in order to leave the prisim properly to help me with the fight he had to absorb his abilities.... which meant eating his brain....

RIP Prince guy. Sorry for that....

But after that unfortunate event he was able to adventure with me outside the prism and I could control him in all the fighting as an allied companion. So I had a crew of 5 running around instead of just 4.

BUT I ALSO LEARNED MY BABY OWLBEAR WAS OKAY. He had previously like.... vanished from my camp and I was pretty sure it was a bug. But the lil babu was all grown up! AND IN ARMOUR!

The allies became quite useful, you could call on a handful of people to come as allied game controlled characters in some of the fights cuz damn them end game fights didn't fuck around. They just swarmed you with enemies.

In the end moments I genuinely thought there was gonna be a moment when the Emperor was gonna pull some shit to like take control of everything himself but he never did. He genuinely just wanted the brain gone. So we were 100% on the same side and so giving him the stones and everything was not an error it worked out.

Now in the cut scenes following the destruction of the brain my game kinda shit itself and stopped loading textures so things started to look absolutely bonkers for me and was a lil hard to follow. I think it's cuz I had been playing for so long my poor lil baby system was struggling to keep up with all the stuff it was throwing at me so I had to save, close the game and relaunch in the middle of the end stuff. Lae'zel peaced out, she was obviously not vibing with the fate of the prince guy. Understandably so. She did thank me for everything else that was done tho. Astarion was really upsetting cuz he was all ready to party, and then the poor guy started to burn in the sun and had to book it. kfdjghdkfjgh and then Karlach. Oh GOD. My poor heart.

I almost fuckin cried fam. She was about to die, and Wyll bust in going NOT ON MY WATCH and the pair of them peaced out to Avernus to save her and kick ass together. I would have offered to go with them but I had a funky lil wizard to worry about too. But I knew with the two of them they'd be okay.

The Emperor was just content everyone was free he said he'd miss my boy and thanked me for trusting him when most people wouldn't have. dkjfghdkfg He's a pretty cool dude.

And then there's this guy. This loveable lil nerd.

SO LIKE CAS IS GOING TO WATERDEEP TO MARRY HIS WIZARD.

It's actually fucking cute as hell and very fitting. I hadn't given Casvius a surname at all cuz they;re hit and miss with Tieflings. Some have some some don't, it's often a reflection of whether or not they keep family ties or if they've grown up outside of human culture influence and the like. I had it head canoned that he basically grew up in the Baldur Gates streets without a family but like managed and turned out okay. But he didn't have a surname at all cuz he didn't know what family he came from and didn't really care to find out. He figures his parents fucked up and he was the first tiefling in their bloodline and they panicked abandoning him. It wasn't an uncommon thing to have happen so it's what he kinda adopted as his own scenario too.

BUT NOW, HE CAN HAVE ONE. He can go marry Gale and be Casvius Dekarios. A name he's happy with and more than glad to adopt as his own.

ANYWAY This fuckin game is brilliant, and I hope it wins game of the year. Fuck. It deserves it. The scope of this game is unreal and you can tell a lot of love was poured into making it.

I'm probs gonna remake this boy and play again later so I can go back through parts that had been previously bugged and patched after I had passed them.

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #bg3 spoilers #oc: casvius

[pokimoko]

OH DUDE YESSS I love behind the scenes looks at fics Ohh my god 👁👁 What are some of your favorite details/parallels/moments from in memory of that you would love to talk about? (And if they end up tying into other stories feel free to infodump ab that as well I am all ears)

Oh, I'm so glad you asked. *thumps book binder bursting with notes onto table* Get ready, this is gonna get long. Oh, and don't let this folder fool you, this is far from organised. For anyone else following me who hasn't read the story and would like to, warning, there are spoilers ahead:

Okay first of all, there's the 'sunny morning hello' / 'cloudy afternoon goodbye' parallel that you pointed out in your comment. Originally, I put more of a focus on the fact the sun was going down in the last part, because in 'The Ode to Remembrance' there's the line "at the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them", so I wanted to make a subtle reference to that. And also originally it actually started raining after Randall was gone, and Marc took the time to admire it rather than shy away from it; there was a little rainbow and everything.

But! But then my brain was like "why don't we have the story start with Marc meeting his brother, so that the story acts as a chart of Randall from beginning to end, and to give the reader some time with Randall before the cave so they're sad when we inevitably lose him" and welp, couldn't refuse that idea could I? I've always loved first and last lines being a reflection of each other, it scratches an itch in my brain. In the last scene, the sun's still on the process of going down, but I decided to have the clouds part and to have the sun shine of him to represent him making peace with his past, and to show he was allowing himself to move on from that rainy day. I am not immune to pathetic fallacy. (I'll admit, I listened to 'Más Allá Del Sol' a few times while writing the final scene. Thanks to episode 5, I now have a kneejerk reaction to get upset when I listen to it. And also, y'know, the sun motif.)

I personally am very in love with the height chart part. I was trying to think of an image for the header and that came to me with no warning or lead-up (I was in the middle of hugging my mum at the time and gosh, the fact I had to continue acting normal after getting hit with that idea was definitely something. And yes, I do think about my fics while doing normal things. The only problem is that it leads to conversations like this: "oh crap, I'm so sorry, I didn't hear a word of that, I kinda zoned out, I was thinking about Mayan gods" "...Why were you thinking about Mayan gods?" "Uh" *sweats nervously*).

But anyway! The height chart. They mark the passing of time, but they also act as a preservation of what has come before. And of course they're associated with childhood and growing up. Eventually you reach the point where you stop measuring, because you've grown as much as you ever will, and then it remains simply to act as a reminder. Marc's chart is like an old journal entry; you don't remember writing it, or even the context for it, but you know it's your words, written by someone you used to be. But Randall's chart is like an unfinished sentence, (or one that in its shortness tells you everything...'for sale: baby shoes, never worn'). His chart will never be finished, but the indents remain, a reminder of where his story came to a stop.

This is where the Peter Pan inspiration came in. I didn't take inspiration from the story itself, but rather its own inspiration. When J.M. Barrie was 6, his 13 year old brother David died, a day before his 14th birthday. His mother was distraught, having always favoured David, but she took comfort in the idea that he would remain a young boy forever, never growing any older. This concept stuck with Barrie, and he eventually went on to write a story about a boy who would never grow up. In a way, it was his way to cope with what had happened.

For Marc, Randall's youth is a haunting reminder. Marc will grow older, but his brother will always be the same. The distance between them grows with each passing year. As a teenager, there would have come a day that Marc realised his brother had been dead longer than he'd ever been alive. Then that Steven had been around longer. That he'd known Layla longer than he ever knew his brother. Times goes on, and Randall's life in comparison to his own grows smaller and smaller, until it is only a tiny portion, barely a blip. But the marks remain. The distance that time brings only makes it harder for Marc to reach out for who left them in the first place.

The name of the fic was another idea that hit me in the head like a dodgeball to the face (and trust me, I know what that feels like). The working title for a long time was 'to weigh the heart of an albatross', to allude to ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’. In the poem, the titular Mariner shoots down an albatross for really no reason and then, either as a coincidence or as a result of him killing the bird (it's a matter of interpretation), everything goes to shit. The rest of the crew blame him and he is forced to hang the dead albatross around his neck as punishment (and then the crew all die and the Mariner is cursed by Life-in-Death, and is forced to keep living on and suffer as the only survivor, surrounded by the crew's dead bodies, and, well, y'see the connections, yeah?), and I wanted to be like "but see, Marc is the Mariner AND the albatross. He is the guilty man and the one enforcing the guilty. He is burdened, and the burden itself." (The fact Marc was a Marine certainly helped with the idea.)

I also originally wanted the epigraph to be a line from the poem (one contender: 'And they all dead did lie: / And a thousand thousand slimy things / Lived on; and so did I.' Because, survivor’s guilt and all that, and the complete self-hatred in comparing yourself to a ‘slimy thing’. Which as you know in the story, Marc hates..) but none of them fit the way I wanted. I did manage to sneak a sly reference to the albatross with KHONSHU BEING A BIG FUCKING WHITE BIRD HANGING AROUND UNWANTED LIKE A WEIGHT AROUND HIS NECK ENFORCING THE GUILT EVEN FURTHER AND STIFLING JAKE’S FREEDOM. And like, the actual bird Marc sees at the end, flying high.

But then 'in memory of you' came to me, thanks to me thinking about obituaries and such, and since the story is about memory and loss, I thought it was more fitting. I then shortened it to 'in memory of', to make it more open, to have it allude to all the things Marc lost that day. His brother, his innocence, his family. He's living his life in memory of what came before. Around the time of the getting that new title, I also rediscovered the Hill House quote (from an episode aptly named 'Steven Sees a Ghost') and knew it was a perfect fit.

The scene where Marc and Layla are talking about the meaning of their names was in there simply because I found out Layla means "night" and I was like "they really went and called her 'night', huh, in a show called 'Moon Knight...well, I can't let them get away with that, everyone must know." But it is sweet when you think about it, that the Avatar of the Moon god fell in love in with someone named after the night sky. Afterall, the moon shines brightest at night...

Wait. Shit. Oh shit. If that concept shows up in a future fic of mine along with some 'She Walks in Beauty' references you know fucking why.

Anyway. This next detail is actually one I picked up when rewatching the Field of Reeds scene (so many times; I do not particularly enjoying novelising scenes but I knew it was important to explore that scene within the fic itself, as it's an important step towards Marc's self-forgiveness). The way that Taweret says that there is "no danger" there and Marc immediately asks about Steven. Because of course, "when danger is near" and all that. Marc doesn't associate Steven with danger, but rather his safety from it. And when you find safety in something, you keep it close, even when there is no danger near. Because safety is comfort, and comfort is peace. The Field could only offer absence from all things bad, rather than the presence of that which is good, and so of course Marc left. He was never going to find true peace there. He would rather deal with the good and the bad than nothing at all.

Another detail: the movie night choices, because I can't ever just pick a random movie or song and be fine with that, no, no, I have to pick one with meaning. Silly writer brain. Anyway, the movies! If you seen 'The Bridge to Terabithia', I think you'll know why I chose that one; the synopsis literally has '(the imaginary world) helps Jess to escape and cope with a tragedy.' And like...the tragedy itself. 🙃 It's been years since I first watched and I'm still not okay. And 'The Lion King'...well, *gestures at the scene where Simba finds his dad's dead body* *gestures at Scar blaming Simba* *gestures at the years Simba spends trying to escape his past*. Guilt is a very huge part of that movie. Not that Steven would've picked up on that. Just like in 'Absent Place', he does a lot of things subconsciously; using muscle memory he can't remember forming, crying over things he can't remember hurting him, seeing the ghost of a boy he doesn't recognise. There's a blindfold around his eyes, but he keeps swinging the bat anyway, trying to hit the piñata, not knowing where it is or even why he's doing it at all.

Speaking of Steven, I wanted to make his interactions with the ghost distinctly different, to highlight the impact that Marc's guilt has on how he perceives things. With Marc, Randall is very much the epitome of a ghost, lurking in corners and doing nothing but watching. Marc has come to the conclusion that the ghost shows up to remind him of his pain, rather than realising the ghost shows up because he's in pain. But with Steven, Randall acts more natural, almost like a very quiet but kind child. Steven doesn't try to push him away, and he doesn't see him as a source of guilt, but rather comfort and companionship, so Randall acts accordingly.

(I kinda explored the idea of ghosts being shaped by our perception of them once before in a Lucifer fic I wrote a few years back which has, uh, well, a lot of thematic similarities to 'in memory of'. Like, a lot. Grief, guilt, ghosts, hiding in a fantasy, the past lingering. So, yeah, I don't get new ideas, I just pull out my old ones and put new clothes on them.)

But eventually, with the help of Layla and Steven, Marc slowly but surely starts to see past the wall of guilt his mother forced him to build up, and to remember his brother for who he truly was. That's why, by the last scene, when Marc sees him, Randall is swinging his legs and staring up at the sky, acting more like the child he is. Because Marc no longer sees him as something to dread, like you would a ghost, or as a condemnation. He sees his little brother, he sees him crying, and he goes over to give him one last word of comfort: I'm okay. I'm going to be okay. You can go now. Thank you for keeping your promise too.

Jeez, wow, okay, I told you this would be long but I wasn't expecting it to be this long. If you've made it this far, great job. Why don't we tie this whole ramble up with the most behind-the-scene detail of all: the notes I wrote when the idea first came to me, on the 23rd of July. Back when I thought it was really was just going to be 10 scenes.

My notes are usually more...coherent, but it was late at night and I just needed to get the thoughts down. Still, it's fun to see what stayed and what evolved through the writing process, and obviously everything that got added in, because there was a lot that was added in. I salute you Past Me, for ever thinking this would be a short enough story to have roman numerals denoting each part.

Alright, that's definitely enough rambling. I hope you've enjoyed me dumping all my brain's contents onto you. It was fun verbalising some of my thought processes to you and having the chance to explain some of stuff that wasn’t really made explicit in the writing itself. Thank you for the ask! :D

#ask #moon knight #meta #this counts as meta right? #long post #long fucking post #i told you you'd regret asking #when you get me going i fucking go i am an unstoppable object #especially about my writing #i am a child jumping up and down and pointing at my painting and going #did you see did you see #and you are the teacher patting me on the head going #yes dear it's lovely why don't you tell me why the curtains are blue #i love explaining symbolism and writing choices. so much so i had three english classes in my senior years of high school. shocking i know #and i was the only person in my entire year to take those classes too #that's right i had the awful nervewracking privilege of sitting alone in a classroom with no one else but the teacher #if they asked a question i had to answer #but at least the questions were about books and movies #those extra english classes are why i know so many bloody capital R Romantic poems anyway #i literally went back to my old school notes to gather some ancient mariner symbolism for the story #and uh if you ever see me writing about Jake and his kinship to Frankenstein's monster and how he's been treated....you know who to blame #the absent place had many underlying influences from things i learnt: the yellow wallpaper. plato's cave allegory. edgar allan poe's stuff #smoke and mirrors alternatively was inspired by media with magic mirrors: 'football' adventure time. sorceror's apprentice. infinity train #i like to hoard stories in my mind until i can steal them for parts #they are the foundations upon which i build #ANYWAY #thank you again for the ask i am sending you even more hearts #( ○w○)_💜💜💜💜

[khodorkovskaya]

09.01.23

on my way home now. i was surprised that my parents suggested i take the train bc like since when are we millionaires lol trains are so expensive! but turned out they forgot that train tickets were expensive and were v shocked to find out. but it was all so last minute so i ended up taking the train anyway. it was 80 bucks! like dude!

anyway ive been obsessed with the idea of having a swiss german boyfriend. i feel like that would fix me.

i feel like the issue with me and B wasn't that we were different. on the contrary, we're too similar. and we can't give the other what we really need i.e. stability, normality, sanity… we always dreamt about having a family and a house in the country side and kids who are normal and do team sports and go to music school and we're this regular family with family values. but it doesn't happen with people like us. i mean look at us. my dad's an alcoholic. when i was a teenager i had convinced myself that regular relationships weren't for me oh no no no i had to go to clubs underage and get groped by perverts. and then date a guy 10 years my senior and cry myself to sleep every night convincing myself that it was love. and B wasn't any better. his family was torn apart by war. and then he didn't want to date anyone normal either. he would pick up girls on the train and then had a long distance relationship with a girl in turkey whose dad had just died.

normal people, like andre, like a bunch of my other friends, whose parents never divorced, who grew up with family values, they have normal lives. they date and hold hands in highschool, they get into relationships with their classmates in uni. and then they get married and have kids and buy a house in the countryside just like their parents had done. it's all a cycle. and for B and i that kind of scenario would be unattainable.

it's like both of us are in wheelchairs and we want to teach our children how to walk, you know what im saying. meanwhile if we find partners who can walk i.e. partners who grew up normal, we can achieve our respective dreams of a house in the countryside and normality. and that's what we need. not going to the balkans to visit my dad who walks around with a bottle of slivovica in one hand and a baby (that he had at 55 with his alcoholic wife who kept drinking thoughout pregnancy) in the other. and then being like ahh shit do we go on the muslim hill or the orthodox hill. like no. we need to find peace and not continue this whole délire. bc if we did stay together and had a family we would've raised children who were just like us, frustrated and not knowing their place in the world.

so yeah im gonna get a normal swiss german boyfriend and have a normal life. and try not to get obsessed with the dysfunctionality of my family like i had been before. bc sure it's fun and entertaining, but it's not mature, it's not what i need.

and i feel bad for B bc he thought that i was the normal one. he'd tell me that he was so happy that i was a balanced person and that i was well raised. and sure, that's the vibes i give off i guess. and plus he projected a lot of things onto me and didn't see how dysfunctional i really was. he needs someone who is truly normal, just like i need the swiss german boyfriend. someone who has values and who knows how a family is supposed to function, not me who's just doing guesswork.

so my plan is: finish uni, work on the family business, do a masters degree in like business or something, meet a swiss german guy at like 27-28 and then have kids after 30 and try to be as normal as possible. and then i'll move to like zurich or luzern or zug or something. and raise my kids there and drive a bmw, vw or audi like all of them do. and my kids will go to a regular public school in the area and do sports and then go to uni in st gallen and work at a bank. and we'll all be happy and normal. and my husband and i will go to the hotsprings on holiday. and i'll think about B and my dad and the balkans and cringe at how bad it was.

#january

[dracothedeatheatingcupcake-ao3]

Chapter 4 The Ultimate Fake Boyfriend.

You know what? I just realized that I never posted the last chapter I did for The Ultimate (Fake) Boyfriend. This chapter is not complete unfortunately. I think I was trying to finish it but ran into some problems, which I did fix, but made it harder for me to find the energy to keep going with the story. Oof.

Anyway! Here is the unfinished chapter 4 (the last chapter I have written) for my mini fic TUFB. It introduces some more OC characters, so be warned. If anyone wants to know what ideas I had/have for the rest of this story, feel free to send me an ask and I can write them all down! I have this entire story mapped out in my head and know exactly where I want it to go, which is part of the problem. To me, it's already finished. I just have to write it all down for y'all to enjoy it, which is the tedious part. 😬 Oh well. Maybe one day... if I ever finish TPWM.

Last thing! I have another Ishimondo fic that is in similar WIP Hell. Would anyone be interested in seeing it here? It's based on that tweet by... someone from Danganronpa (I forget who at the moment and am too tired to go looking) about how Mondo and Taka would move in after high school and be too stupid to realize they're in love, or something. In this fic, they're in their mid twenties and Mondo is the one who is too stupid to realize he's in love, though it's questionable if Taka realizes it, since the fic is in Mondo's POV. The only chapter fully finished is the first, but I have a lot of small scenes written for later chapters that make some sense alone. I also really like the first chapter, ha. Anyway, let me know if you'd be interested! If even one person comments or messages me about it I'll work towards posting it. ^-^

(Here are the previous chapters if you want to refresh before this one, since it's been a bit.)

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

4 The Ultimate (Fake) Boyfriend. 

Mondo spends the next hour lying down quietly while his kyoudai sleeps, his eyes closed but sleep not finding him. He didn’t expect it to, though, so it’s not like he minds. He mostly just wants to be close to Taka, really. It relaxes him more than words can say to just let his kyoudai hold him, not worrying about ‘manliness’ or being weak or whatever other bullshit he usually worries about. Maybe it’s pathetic, but he knows Taka won’t judge him. He… he never fucking does. 

However, lying still has never been something Mondo’s been particularly good at, so in order to not die of boredom, he lets his mind wander, flitting between various thoughts and daydreams. He makes sure to steer clear of anything that would anger or upset him, not wanting to ruin the peace being held by Taka has given him. 

At some point during his musings, he lets his thoughts turn to Taka, a smile rising on his lips as he thinks of his kyoudai. Of all the things they’ve done together and the many good times they’ve had. Like the first time he convinced the dude to go out on his hog, Taka screaming his head off the entire time, arms so tight around Mondo’s waist that he’s positive he had almost bust a rib. But then, once they stopped, Taka had had the brightest grin, claiming that the ride made him feel /exhilarated/. Or the time he took Taka to meet Daiya for the first time, Mondo so fucking nervous that they wouldn’t like one another, only to feel so fucking relieved when the two got on like a house on fire. Taka had even been very respectful about Dai’s injuries that he’s been struggling with since the crash, somehow managing to be both considerate and helpful while not being condescending. Or their ‘epic’ snowball fight that first winter, which slowly turned into an all out war between them, with multiple classmates slowly getting roped into the expanding battle. Or… well. The list goes on and on, really. It makes his smile widen to think of how much he and Taka have done together. How much the teen has helped him over the past years. 

And he has. Helped him. So goddamn much. In so many different ways. Case in point, Mondo never would have had the guts to sign up for that woodworking elective class that Hope’s Peak offers if not for Taka’s enthusiastic encouragement, the hall monitor telling him all the goddamn time how he believed that Mondo could do it. That Mondo wouldn’t fail at it like he feared he would, that he wouldn’t prove himself right about how there is absolutely no future available to him. Taka had slowly but surely convinced him to try it even despite his fears, and now woodworking is his favorite fucking class, the only one he honestly feels /excited/ to attend. 

He still doesn’t think he’s that great at it, but he’s built so many fucking things for his room now, like a slightly crooked chair, and a surprisingly stable shelf. Not to mention all of things he’s whittled, since he finds that whittling actually helps calm him down after one of his rages. His first projects looked like utter shit, looking nothing like he wanted, but his more recent ones have started looking almost decent. And he just… he never would have gained the courage to take the class if not for his kyoudai. Nor would he have had the confidence to keep going after all of his numerous fuck ups during the first few weeks. 

The point is… honestly, he doesn’t know the point. Just… Taka is important. So fucking important. And as he lies on Taka’s broad, surprisingly comfortable chest, letting his mind wander down the memories he treasures the most, feeling so warm and full inside even despite the earlier negative emotions and uncertainty… he remembers why he’s doing this. And why he has to ensure he doesn’t screw this up. Outside of Daiya, Taka is easily the most important person in his life. He’s even surpassed the gang, he’s that fucking important. He’d walk through hell and back for his kyoudai, he truly would. And part of him thinks that Taka would do the same for him, even if he’d never want the teen to go through anything like that for his sake. It’s give and take, really. That’s why they work so well. 

Mondo continues to daydream for most of the afternoon, not sure what time it is since his phone is in his pocket and there are no windows in this tiny ass, dark as shit closet, but it doesn’t matter. Taka has a frighteningly accurate internal clock that somehow always wakes him up exactly when he needs to be up for any given event, with time to spare to get ready. Mondo relies on that internal clock a lot, honestly. 

However… it’s after what Mondo assumes must be around an hour that something changes in their little space. And it has nothing to do with Taka. 

At first, Mondo isn’t entirely sure what it is. His eyes are closed and nothing has really changed from what he can tell, but just… shit. He can’t fucking explain it, but there’s just something /different/ about the room now. He furrows his brow as he thinks about this, examining his surroundings as best he can. Listening close, he can still hear the faint sound of people talking and passing through rooms, the same shit he’s been hearing this entire time since the walls are thin as shit in this place. So, it’s not that that’s different. It’s nothing he can smell either. Thinking on it, it’s more… a feeling. Like… like he’s being /watched/ or something. But that’s fucking ridiculous. It’s just him and Taka in this small, dark closet… 

Right?

A minute passes, the sense he’s being watched growing with each passing second, until Mondo can’t take it anymore. With a heavy sigh, he opens his eyes and lifts his head from Taka’s chest, even though he’d been trying not to do that and break the peace inside him. Feeling annoyed at himself, he turns towards the door and lets his eyes land on the doorway. 

And promptly finds a pair of eyes staring back at him. 

“The fuck…?” Mondo mutters, blinking in shock, immediately on alert. He half sits up, forgetting everything as he looks at the unexpected intruder. As he does so, he realizes that one of the things he’d subconsciously noticed earlier was that it’s now a bit brighter inside the room. With the door closed, the closet had been mostly dark, with only a little light leaking in through the thin sliding door. Now, though, the door is open, causing the figure to be silhouetted by the faint light from the hallway. As such, all he can see are their wide eyes and their silhouetted head, which seem to be tilted in question. What in the goddamn fuck…

“That’s a bad word,” the intruder claims, their voice far higher and younger sounding than he’d been expecting. Blinking, Mondo squints and forces his eyes to adjust to the light, and is absolutely floored to see a young child standing in the doorway of the closet, still mostly shrouded in shadow, though he can make out some details. Like how their eyes seem to be bright red. Which is, uh…  shit. Not good. “Mommy says that you shouldn’t say bad words. It’s not nice.” 

Mondo can only blink at the words, his mind blanking as he’s faced with what must be another of Taka’s cousins, though this one is a lot smaller than he’s used to dealing with. Mondo honestly can’t recall the last time he’s been around a goddamn /kid/. Shit, he doesn’t think he’s done that since he was a kid himself. Fuck… and of course he would fucking /swear/ in front of one of the literal worst persons to swear in front of, god fucking dammit…

“Uh… y-yeah. Yer, uh… yer ma’s right. Ain’t good ta swear. Sorry,” Mondo mumbles, too taken aback to remember to use his more ‘respectable’ voice. He’s just so fucking floored. And kind of tired. While he hadn’t been sleeping, it had been very peaceful to lie on Taka and just daydream. Having to face a kid, let alone one of Taka’s endless fucking cousins immediately after that is… yeah. Not fun. Especially since Taka is, of course, merrily sleeping on, none the wiser that one of his cousins is standing there, watching him sleep…

Thankfully, the kid doesn’t seem put off by his accent. From what he can see, the kid just gives him a toothy grin, head still titled. 

“That’s okay! Just don’t do it again, or else mommy will wash your mouth out with soap like she did with my ani when he said a bad word. Why are you lying on cousin Taka?” the kid asks quickly, not giving him much time to process whatever they’re saying. And he’s not sure, since they’re still mostly in shadow, but based on how high pitched the voice is, Mondo thinks the kid may be a girl… or a very high pitched boy. Which is also possible, especially with young kids. Shit.

“Uh… w-well, we’re uh… ya know. Together,” Mondo states awkwardly, shifting so he’s fully seated, though he makes sure to leave Taka the blanket. Sitting up puts him about eye level with the kid, which honestly makes him feel a little better, since he can at least see them better now. They look young, but not super young, so he guesses they’re not Samantha then… 

“What does that mean?” the kid asks before he can try and figure out which kid this is, flooring him again. Uh… shit. How to fucking explain this in a way a kid will understand…

“Uh… it means we’re datin’,” Mondo says slowly. When the kid doesn’t show any signs that they understand, Mondo awkwardly tries to explain a different way. “Uh… like… ya know. We go out on dates together an’ stuff. An’… we uh… ya know. Love each other? Uh…”

Despite himself, Mondo feels his cheeks heat up at that last part. While it’s not unusual for a couple who is dating to be in love, it makes him feel weird to say that kind of shit about him and Taka, even if just an act. And it’s not like he doesn’t love Taka, right? He does. Very much so. Just… as a friend. A brother. Not like /that/. Not… ya know. Romantically. 

At least that seems to make sense to the kid, as their eyes light up, nodding their head quickly as they smile at him. 

“Oh! Like mommy and daddy, right?” 

Mondo blinks once, before nodding slowly, giving a single shrug. 

“Uh… yeah, kinda. I’m his boyfriend,” Mondo explains further, wondering if the kid will question that too. However, it seems that they understand that one, since they nod again, still smiling. 

“Cool! What’s your name?” the kid asks, eyes wide as they lean into the closet, closer to him. 

Mondo pauses, debating if he should answer or not, remembering what happened the last time he gave his name. Well… it would be rude not to… and it’s unlikely that a kid would know who the fuck he is, so… whatever. Fuck it. 

“Uh… I’m Mondo. Mondo Owada.” 

Like he’d expected, the kid shows no sign that they recognize his name. They just nod quickly, smile still bright. 

“Cool!! I’m Rini, wanna go see my dollies? I have soooo many at home, but mommy told me I could only bring three with me. I brought Ren and Ruki, who are sisters who hate each other and are fighting for the love of Haru. He’s the third dolly I brought. You can be Haru if you wanna, since you’re a boy!” 

Mondo stares at the kid— who he now realizes is, indeed, a girl, and is also sadly the youngest daughter of Taka’s fucking homophobic aunt— without a single clue as to what to say. Obviously, he doesn’t want to do that shit; he’s almost a grown ass man, he doesn’t fucking /play with dolls/. But how to say that without hurting the kid’s feelings…? Like he said, he doesn’t spend time with kids much, but he knows better than to be an asshole to a fucking /kid/. That shit’s about as bad as punching an old lady. Maybe even worse, really. 

Fortunately (or not…), before Mondo has to figure out how to gently say no to the kid, an unholy screech sounds through the house. It’s so loud it finally rouses Taka, who bolts upright with wide, bleary eyes, clearly not fully awake. Mondo doesn’t have time to get the teen reacquainted to the land of the living, because then… then he can begin making out the words that are being said. Which are… shit. Not very good. 

“-INI! RINI, WHERE ON EARTH ARE YOU?! IF YOU DON’T COME HERE RIGHT NOW, THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES!! RINI!” 

Mondo looks down at the kid in the doorway, who is now cowering down against the frame, looking so much smaller than even a six year old girl should look. It honestly breaks Mondo’s heart, and he has to fight to not rush over to the kid and make sure she never, ever gets hurt. Fuck… he hates it when people yell at kids… shit’s the fucking worst… 

“Uh oh…” Rini mumbles, meeting his look with wide eyes. She then looks to the side in just enough time for a hand to appear on her shoulder, the girl letting out a high pitched yelp at the touch. 

“There you are! My goodness child, how many times do I have to tell you not to wander off?! You were supposed to be helping your brothers unpack your things in your room, not wandering about! I swear, I don’t know /what/ to do with you some days,” a sharp, exasperated voice calls, causing Rini to shrink down, her eyes falling to the floor in what Mondo can tell is shame. It honestly pisses him the /fuck/ off, but he reins it in, knowing that exploding ain’t gonna help anyone. He really has to call on every anger management bullshit that Taka’s been feeding him this last year in order to stop his anger from consuming him, though…

“I- I’m sorry mommy… I was just looking around… but I found cousin Taka! And cousin Taka’s boyfriend, Mondo-san! He’s sooo cool!! And he’s really nice, and fun to talk to, and he loves cousin Taka, and he’s gonna play dollies with me, and-“

“You /what/?!” the lady exclaims, cutting the girl off. Rudely, in Mondo’s opinion. He can feel his anger spike when he sees Rini shrink down even further, trying to shy away from her ma’s touch, though the lady is holding the girl too tightly for that. And considering that Mondo is nearly positive he knows /exactly/ who this fucking lady is, it’s getting really hard to reel that anger in… “Rini, what did I tell you before coming here?! What on earth is the matter with you?! Can’t you listen?!”

Rini’s eyes start to water then, and Mondo can see her lip wobbling. She looks up at them sadly, before looking up at her ma, her expression turning guilty. Mondo can feel Taka shift beside him, reminding him that the teen is there, but he doesn’t take his eyes off the scene before him, his breathing getting a bit too heavy. S-shit…

“I… I know… b-but I love cousin Taka… he’s always nice to me and plays games with me, even if his games don’t make much sense… a-and Mondo-san was gonna play dollies with me, and I was gonna let him be Haru, since he’s a boy… I- I know you said I shouldn’t talk to them, that there’s something wrong with them, but I don’t understand why. Cousin Taka is nice, and Mondo-san is nice too… why can’t I talk to them anymore?” 

While it’s still kinda dark, Mondo can see that the lady’s face is turning red, her eyes pinched as she looks down at her daughter. It makes Mondo’s hands clench, his anger rising rapidly. 

“We already talked about this, Rini. If you cannot understand basic orders, then there truly is no hope for you. Now, come along. You still need to unpack your things and get settled. If I see you talking to either your cousin or his… /whatever/ again, then believe me, there will be consequences. Come, Rini.” 

The lady strides away then, leaving Rini behind, though it’s clear she expects the girl to follow. Mondo’s heart clenches as he watches the poor kid look wide eyed between them and her ma, clearly not knowing what to do. Taka shifts next to him again, and Mondo can tell he’s also upset with what’s going on. Deeply so. 

“A-ah… i-it’s okay, Rini. Y-you can go after your mother. It… it’s alright,” Taka says softly after a moment. Mondo finally glances over at the teen at the words and feels his heart break even more when he sees a sad, yet also resigned look on Taka’s face. It also makes him even angrier, Jesus Christ… honestly, /fuck/ Taka’s aunt. Lady can go burn in hell for all he cares… shit… 

“B-but… I… o-okay… I don’t know why mommy doesn’t want me to talk to you… I’m sorry…” Rini mumbles, looking at the ground, shifting awkwardly. A beat passes, and then they can hear Taka’s aunt call for Rini again, voice sharp and angry. Rini winces, gives them one last, unhappy look, before darting off after her ma, leaving them behind without a word more. As she runs off, Mondo develops a bad taste in his mouth, his stomach churning angrily. So. Not only is Taka’s aunt a no-good, motherfucking /homophobe/, but she’s also a piece of shit ma, too. Figures. It does tend to work that way. 

The silence between him and Taka is stifling in the aftermath of that shitshow, neither of them really knowing what to say. What can they fucking say in response to that goddamn shit? Fuck… /fuck/, Mondo hates this. So fucking much. 

Just when the silence is about to consume them, the tension unbearable, Mondo feels Taka shift to face him, his eyebrows furrowed with a bitter frown on his face. 

“What… w-what happened, kyoudai? I think I missed some of that… I’m sorry…” Taka says softly again, sounding so fucking /sad/ it physically hurts. Mondo shakes his head sharply in reply, turning on the mat to face Taka, eyes intent. 

“Nah, don’t fuckin’ apologize man. Ain’t yer goddamn fault. Just… I was kinda dozin’, not really asleep, when I felt like someone was starin’ at me. When I looked up, yer cousin was there. We talked fer a bit, it was awkward, an’ then… /then/ yer fuckin’ aunt started screamin’ her goddamn head off. That’s when ya woke up, so ya know the rest. An’ can I just fuckin’ say that I fuckin’ /hate/ yer goddamn aunt? Fuckin’ homophobic, abusive piece a’ goddamn /shit/,” Mondo curses, so angry it’s not funny. He swears, if he didn’t have a rule against hitting ladies (though he’s fairly certain this fucker doesn’t qualify), and if she weren’t unfortunately Taka’s family… well. Let’s just say he’d be feeling a whole lot better right about now… 

“A-ah… I- I see. Well, I’m sorry you had to experience that, kyoudai. I… I knew that Aunt Ryoko didn’t, um… /approve/ of my sexuality, but I had hoped that it wouldn’t affect anything at the gathering. I… see now that I was wrong… I- I… I’m sorry…” 

Mondo scowls at the faltering words, shaking his head sharply and shifting to be closer to Taka. He can see that Taka’s eyes are wide and watery, which he knows from experience means he’s about five seconds away from bursting into tears, which is utter /bullshit/. Needing to get Taka to listen to him and pay the fuck attention, he lifts his hand and cups the teen’s cheek firmly, ensuring he has his attention. Once he sees Taka staring at him with wide eyes, his mouth open slightly in surprise, Mondo begins. 

“Listen here an’ listen good, okay? That shit /ain’t/ yer fuckin’ fault. Not a single, fuckin’ thing. Yer aunt is a fuckin’ piece a’ shit who’s got shit fer brains, an’ it ain’t got nothin’ ta do with you. Ya hear me? So, don’t fuckin’ ‘pologize fer her bullshit. Ya’ve done nothin’ ta deserve it. Absolutely fuckin’ /nothin’/.” 

Mondo keeps his eyes steady on his kyoudai, and as such he can see the second the first tear begins to fall. But Mondo can tell by the small smile on Taka’s lips that they’re not tears of unhappiness, but just… emotion. His kyoudai has always been super emotional… Mondo used to look down upon Taka for it, back before they were kyoudai, but now he almost envies the dude. He doesn’t even remember the last time he cried. Not without hating himself for it. Taka, though, has always been able to cry so easily, and it’s… good. It’s definitely helped show Mondo that dudes can cry and show emotion, and yet still be strong. There’s no one stronger than his kyoudai, after all. 

“I… I know that, k-kyoudai… I just… I don’t know. I greatly dislike this whole situation. I knew that coming out would make things more challenging, just like I knew that bringing my supposed boyfriend with me would create tension. And yet… despite knowing this and preparing for it, I still feel so lost. I simply don’t know what to do here, kyoudai, and you know how much I hate not knowing things. I… I’m also very tired… this was not exactly the best way to awaken,” Taka states solemnly, sounding so fucking serious it actually makes Mondo snort even despite the severity of the situation. He can see Taka pout, but he doesn’t think the dude is hurt, thankfully. With a shrug and a sigh, Mondo sobers up and does his best to respond. 

“Shit, yeah. I know man. Ya think I know what the fuck is goin’ on? I just spoke ta a fuckin’ /infant/ who wants me ta play fuckin’ /dollies/ with her. An’ now, since yer fuckin’ aunt don’t want me ta do that shit, of course I gotta do it just ta fuckin’ spite her. Shit fuckin’ /sucks/. But don’t ya think fer a fuckin’ second it’s yer fault, got me? An’ y’ain’t gotta take it when people say that kinda shit ta ya. Ya deserve more than that shit. Yer the best fuckin’ person I ever fuckin’ met, an’ that’s fuckin’ that. I ain’t gonna hear ya say otherwise.” 

More tears begin to fall down Taka’s face, and Mondo finally gives in and wraps his arms around the teen, pulling him close. Taka goes easily, sniffling as he buries his face against Mondo’s chest, snuggling to get closer. It makes Mondo smile, his heart giving a little lurch at the sight. But fuck, if his kyoudai ain’t cute as shit… 

The pair remain like that for a while, just holding onto one another in their dark room. The door is still open a little, but no one passes so Mondo doesn’t pay it any mind. It’s so much nicer to just hold his kyoudai and forget everything than to worry about all that other shit. He’ll have to eventually but… not right now. Right now, he’s holding Taka as the dude slowly calms himself down. And that’s all that fucking matters. 

Eventually Taka does pull away, wiping his eyes with a shaky smile. Mondo lets him go reluctantly, unhappy with it but knowing he’s gotta. 

“T-thank you, kyoudai… you are right, like usual! This situation is not my fault, I am simply being myself and that’s what should matter! I… thank you, Mondo. You truly are too good to me,” Taka smiles softly at him, his eyes soft as butter. It makes Mondo want to pull him close again, to feel his warmth against him, but he knows he can’t, so he doesn’t. He just lets Taka look down at his watch, the dude’s eyes widening at whatever he sees there. 

“Ah! It’s getting late! Great Aunt Hana and Grandmother Kichi expect people to be at dinner at 6:00 promptly, and it’s almost 5:55! I- I am sorry, my dearest kyoudai, but I must put my uniform back on immediately! I-“

“Go, ya dork. I’ll change back inta 

my fuckin’ get up too, shit,” Mondo interrupts, rolling his eyes and standing up. He knows better than to argue with Taka about this kinda shit by this point. The dude is so fucking anal that Mondo is positive he will spontaneously combust if he doesn’t immediately start getting ready for this dinner. Wasting time by arguing will just upset him more and Mondo… shit. He definitely doesn’t want that. 

Taka gives him a grateful look as he stands to get his gear, turning the single lightbulb the closet has on so they can see better, though it’s still fucking dark as shit. Mondo turns to the uncomfortable polo shirt and black slacks he and Taka bought at a night market a few days prior, wrinkling his nose at the uncomfortable outfit. 

“I fuckin’ hate this goddamn shit,” Mondo mumbles as he shimmies into the slacks, which are a thin, highly uncomfortable material. He supposes he can’t be shocked since he got them for ¥400, but still. “I don’t know how the fuck ya dress in that goddamn outfit a’ yers every goddamn day. Seems uncomfortable as shit.” 

“It’s actually not that bad, kyoudai! I find it very comfortable! And convenient!” Taka responds, looking over at him as he zips up his fly. Mondo snorts, knowing the dude means it fully even though it’s complete bullshit, but Taka ignores that. “Thank you for agreeing to wear that outfit, though! I think you look very sharp in it!” 

Mondo feels his cheeks heat up at the compliment, and feels a bit too flustered to respond. Instead, he just shrugs sharply and turns back to his clothes, getting dressed as quick as he can. Taka does the same and they spend a minute in silence as they dress. 

Mondo is just finishing up combing his hair out and putting it in his half pony when he hears Taka let out a noise of dismay. Turning to face the hall monitor, he sees Taka with his hands up near his hair, a distressed look on his face. 

“Everythin’ good, kyoudai?”

Taka turns to face him, pout on his lips. 

“Ah, kind of! Or… not really! I mean… well! It’s just that my hair is out of order, but we don’t have any time for me to head to the bathroom to fix it! And it is highly unprofessional to walk around with mused hair! It is not that big of a problem, I suppose… just highly annoying!” Taka exclaims, nodding his head for emphasis. Mondo can’t help but smirk at the comment, snorting softly. Honestly, he’d noticed that Taka’s hair was a bit all over the place and not all contained and spiky like the teen prefers, but Mondo hadn’t mentioned it because it honestly suits him. 

He knows how much Taka hates that shit, though, and so he doesn’t hesitate a second before gesturing for the hall monitor to move closer to him. Taka does so without hesitation, though Mondo can see the confused look Taka gives him. The look vanishes once Mondo lifts the hand that’s still holding his comb, running it gently through Taka’s hair. 

“A-ah-! M-Mondo, you… you needn’t do that, kyoudai… I can handle it myself! … besides, it’s unsanitary to share a comb,” Taka mumbles, his entire face bright red as Mondo determinedly combs the knots and kinks out of his best friend’s hair. With a snort, Mondo tugs gently on a silky strand, ignoring the flare of heat that blooms in his belly at the feel. 

“Shut the fuck up, Kiyo. Ain’t like I got fuckin’ fleas or shit. An’ I don’t fuckin’ mind combin’ yer hair, man. Don’t make a big fuckin’ deal outta it,” Mondo mumbles back, his own cheeks stupidly pink. He can tell that the hall monitor isn’t exactly happy at the situation, his lips pulled down in a little pout, but he doesn’t offer any more complaints. 

However, after a few moments of careful combing, Mondo can feel Taka’s shoulders relax, the teen letting out a soft, happy sounding sigh as his eyes close with contentment. The heat in Mondo’s cheeks increases, but he doesn’t stop his combing, not even for a second. And if he keeps combing for a few moments longer than he has to, the feel of the silky strands too nice to stop that shit, well… whatever. Doesn’t fucking matter, shit. 

He is eventually able to force himself to stop combing, reluctantly. He knows they gotta get going soon or else they’ll be late, which he knows would upset Taka. And he doesn’t want that. Definitely not. 

“There ya go, man. Nice an’ fuckin’ ‘proper’ again. Ain’t all spiky, since I don’t got any gel at the ‘mo, but it’ll fuckin’ do. Now, c’mon. Let’s get this fuckin’ dinner bullshit over with.” 

Taka gives him a single wide eyed, slightly dazed look, cheeks a soft pink and mouth hanging partially open, before snapping out of it and nodding quickly. Mondo shoves aside the lurch in his stomach and follows after Taka as the teen opens the sliding door to exit their small ass room. 

As they move at a brisk pace through the house, Taka doing his usual ‘not running, just walking super fucking fast’ bullshit, Mondo can feel a spike of unease fill him at the thought of sharing a dinner with at least the majority of Taka’s family. He doesn’t know if everyone’s arrived or not, but shit. Either way, it’s still gonna be way more than Mondo is comfortable with. The shit he does for this fussy ass hall monitor… 

Once they reach the bottom of the staircase, Mondo follows after Taka down a few hallways, until they reach an open doorway that a lot of noise is flooding out of. Mondo figures that must be the dining room, the spike of unease increasing the closer they get. He can see an unhappy look on Taka’s face as well, his lips pulled down and his intense eyebrows furrowed. But Taka barely falters as he approaches the room. Rather, after a brief moment of hesitation, he just sets his shoulders and pastes a painfully false smile on his lips, looking for all the world like a man about to go into battle. Mondo would find it funny if he wasn’t feeling vaguely sick. And if he wasn’t concerned about his kyoudai. 

Taka spares him a single, commiserating glance, before the teen is slipping into the room, his voice loud as always as he apologizes for his tardiness. It makes Mondo smile slightly to hear Taka acting like himself, settling his insides a little. Well… better get this shit over with… 

Entering the room after his kyoudai, Mondo tries to look more confident than he feels, eyes casually glancing across the room to get a lay of the land. He has to fight against the lurch in his stomach when he sees a hell of a lot more people than there had been earlier milling around the room, half of them kneeling at the low table and half of them helping bring the food from the kitchen to the dining room. Shit…

“No need for apologies, nephew. It has been a long day, I am sure,” Hana calls from her place at the table, smiling wryly at the teen. Her eyes dart over to him quickly, before nodding her head towards the table. “Now, why don’t you help your mother grab the rice while your partner takes a seat? You will be sitting beside your parents like usual, with Mondo-san sitting between you and Yoshi. You may show Mondo-san his seat before going to help your mother.”

With that, Hana turns back to the table, instructing the various family members as to where to put the shit ton of food that was made. Literally, it’s like they’re expecting to feed an army, the fuck? It briefly distracts Mondo from his nerves, but the distraction does not last long. Not when Taka turns to face him a moment later, a small grimace upon his face. 

“Ah, of course, Great Aunt Hana! I will do that right away!” Taka exclaims, gesturing for Mondo to follow him. Which Mondo does immediately, knowing that trying to resist would be fucking pointless. Shit. 

He follows after Taka towards an empty area of the table, his kyoudai pointing casually to a cushion that is placed around the edge of the long table. There are a few unoccupied cushions around him, though there is a man that Mondo has never seen before a cushion over from his. From what Mondo can see when he glances over at the man, he appears to be white, with sandy brown hair and bright blue eyes. He’s also holding a wriggling infant, with a small toddler sleeping soundly on his lap, making Mondo fairly confident that he’s found Taka’s cousin-in-law, Alex. What joy… 

“So, Mondo! You may sit here while I go and help my mother bring out the dishes, like Great Aunt Hana said! I will be right back, I promise!” Taka exclaims, barely giving him a second to process the words before he’s darting away with a small half smile, half grimace. Leaving him alone with the foreigner and two infants. Great…

Unable to see what else he could do, Mondo takes a seat like he was informed, fighting to not squirm uncomfortably. God fucking dammit… he hates this shit… he honestly would prefer to be up and helping out, hating to be inactive when shit is going on, but he knows that would be considered ‘rude,’ or something, so he just sits down on his little cushion, feeling like an utter jackass. Fuck. 

Wanting to dispel the awkwardness he feels, Mondo looks around the room, trying to place the new faces he sees at the table, thinking it will help to know who is who before dinner officially begins. 

Other than Alex and the two babies, Mondo notices three kids sitting across from his cushion, down the table a bit. One of them is clearly Rini, though the poor girl is staring resolutely at the table with her hands in her lap, quiet and sad looking. It angers the shit outta Mondo, but he quickly pushes it down, knowing anger won’t help him here. 

He turns his gaze to the two kids beside her, assuming they’re her older brothers. They both look very similar, with dark black hair kept in a short, messy style, like they just woke up or something. They also have red eyes, from what he can see from his distance, and one has a shit eating grin on his face as he talks animatedly, while the other listens quietly, a thoughtful frown on his face. If it weren’t for the fact that the quiet kid is a lot smaller than the loud one, Mondo would think the quiet one is the older brother. But, judging by size and by what Taka has told him, he assumes the quiet one is Raidon, the little brother, making the loud mouth Ronin. Huh. Whatever. 

Moving on, Mondo notices Hana, Kichi, and Akiro sitting around the head of the table, across the table from where Mondo is sitting. The two ladies are dictating where everything goes to the numerous family members who are bringing the food in, while Akiro watches silently. Since Mondo already knows those three, he quickly moves his gaze on, looking at the last seated occupant of the room. 

Sitting on the other side of the three elders, across from Rini, Ronin, and Raidon, sits a lone teenage girl, who looks bored as she scrolls on her little smart phone. She has dark auburn colored hair and mahogany eyes, which are glued to the screen, ignoring everything else around her. Considering that only younger kids and elderly seem to be seated at the table (excluding him and Alex, though he guesses he’s seated since he’s a ‘guest’ and Alex is seated to mind his kids), he guesses this kid must be Taka’s second cousin from his other ‘aunt,’ Haruki. Which, Mondo realizes with a sinking heart, must mean that Taka’s stuck up family members must have also arrived while they were sleeping upstairs. Fucking fantastic… but wait, hold up a second…

With a frown on his lips, Mondo goes over that fact in his head a little more in detail, the sinking feeling expanding. As he tallies up the numbers, he realizes that if Taka’s Aunt Kumi, Uncle Daichi, and their brood is here, then that means everyone who is coming to the gathering is currently in the house, other than maybe one or two people. Which, Mondo realizes with a queasy stomach, is far sooner than he had anticipated. Taka had told him that it often takes longer for everyone to trickle in, some not arriving until the second day. Of fucking course everyone would be on time this year. God fucking dammit… 

Suddenly feeling put off of his curiosity, Mondo shifts his eyes to the table, glaring at the wood. His hands are clenched in fists at his sides and his stomach is in knots. He hadn’t expected to meet pretty much everyone today. He had hoped he’d have a little more time to fucking prepare. Of course not, he thinks bitterly. Of fucking course not…

“It’s a bit much, yes?” Mondo suddenly hears come from his right, the words a bit clumsy and the accent not that great, to be honest, which tells him exactly who is speaking right now. He darts his eyes over to where he heard the voice, his back stiffening as he wonders if the dude is actually talking to him or not. He stiffens further when he notices that, yeah, the dude /is/ talking to him. The person he assumes is Alex is definitely staring right at him, a shaky smile on his lips as he holds his fussing babe. Shit… god fucking dammit. He was hoping he could avoid conversation until Taka got back… Taka always helps him keep his cool in awkward situations… fuck. 

“Uh… yeah, I uh… I guess,” Mondo mumbles, feeling unbearably awkward, not sure what to say to the American. Alex doesn’t seem to think he’s fucking up too badly, he guesses, since the man just nods, his smile turning a bit wry as he looks around the chaotic room. 

“Yes, I remember my first time here. Very… noisy. My Japanese was bad then, and it was hard to keep up. It’s gotten better, but can still be a lot at times. They’re a good bunch once they get used to you,” Alex claims, his accent still clumsy and his words simple, but he’s mostly understandable. Mondo wonders if he should switch to speaking in English to help the dude out, since he’s almost fluent in the language, but decides against it. Ain’t like it fucking matters. He doesn’t even want to be having this conversation in the first place, so… shit. Whatever. 

“Yeah, I guess,” he mumbles again after a couple awkward moments pass, not sure what else he’s supposed to say. He’s never been good with conversation when he doesn’t really know the person he’s talking to. Shit’s awkward as fuck and he hates feeling awkward. 

However, once again Alex doesn’t seem deterred, the man simply nodding in agreement, looking back at him with another crooked smile. 

“My name is Alex, by the way. I’m Yoshi’s husband. She mentioned you earlier. You are Mondo Owada, correct? You go to Taka’s school?” 

Mondo’s fists clench further at the reminder of the earlier disastrous meeting, wondering what the fuck Yoshi has been saying about him. He takes a deep breath to push down the rush of anger and just nods his head jerkingly, saying nothing as he glares at the table. An awkward silence rises between them then, but Mondo doesn’t fucking care. He’s not here to entertain douchebag Americans, thanks. 

The silence stretches on as the baby fusses, Mondo not really interested in continuing the conversation. He feels a bit shitty about that, knowing that Taka expects him to make an effort with his family, but… shit. He’s been feeling so fucking off since ‘waking up’ that he thinks keeping his mouth fucking shut is prolly the best idea. Get through this dinner as painlessly as possible when surrounded by overbearing go getters, get some much needed rest, and hope tomorrow won’t be an absolute disaster. That’s the best he can fucking hope for, honestly. Fuck. 

And yet, of course he can’t get even that, he thinks sardonically as Alex clears his fucking throat, clearly intending to continue on with the goddamn one sided conversation. God fucking dammit… how the fuck long does it take to bring the fucking food out, god fucking dammit… 

“So. You’re the… uh, what’s the word… Ultimate Motorcycle Rider, correct?” Alex asks, head tilted, rocking his kid a little. The stupid ass question makes Mondo snort, his eyebrow raised as he finally looks over at the dude, unimpressed. Shit. He didn’t even bother making sure he had the right info before bringing it up? Fucking dumbass. 

“Ultimate Biker Gang Leader,” Mondo corrects in a drawl, restraining an eye roll, not wanting to be seen as overtly rude. He wonders if Alex is gonna have a problem with his talent, though. He’s such a straight laced looking dude, Mondo thinks as he takes in his white button up, black slacks, and simple hair cut. From what he recalls, Taka says he’s a fucking accountant, AKA the most boring profession of all time. He prolly ain’t a fan of the rough and tumble kind of life Mondo leads. Or… led. Whatever.

Alex, however, doesn’t seem to have a problem with it, not if his benign smile and thoughtful nod is anything to go by. Jesus. He’s like the human equivalent of a stale cracker. Absolutely nothing of real value. 

“Ah, of course! My mistake. That’s… interesting. I’ve never ridden a motorcycle before. They seem, ah… dangerous.” 

Mondo snorts again at the words he’s heard a thousand fucking times, unable to stop the eye roll this time. He leans back on his cushion, turns slightly to face the dude, and gives him his most unimpressed look. Dumbass. 

“Yeah, no duh,” Mondo snarks, forgetting that he’s supposed to be talking ‘respectable’. “Hogs are fricken dangerous rides. S’why I like ‘em. Ain’t nothin’ like ridin’ down the highway, nothin’ but wind in yer hair an’ asphalt under yer wheels. Feel every turn an’ curve ya take, practic’lly part a’ yer ride. Best fricken feelin’.” 

Alex gives him a confused look, his head tilted and his eyebrows furrowed, and at first Mondo thinks the dude is judging him for his enthusiasm for riding. The thought makes him angry, his hands clenching into tighter fists, hating it when people fucking /judge him/ for liking to ride. Shit, it ain’t a fucking crime is it?! Well… sometimes it is, he likes to drive super fucking fast and without a fucking helmet, but… still! Fuck!

Luckily, before he can snap anything out, Alex speaks, his words slow and hesitant, a hint of embarrassment lining them. 

“Er, I’m sorry, Mondo-san… I didn’t quite catch half of your statement. While I’ve been living here for five years, my Japanese still isn’t the best… I believe you mentioned something about enjoying riding? It does sound like fun!” 

Mondo blinks and realizes suddenly that he’d switched to his more laid back style of speaking, which he knows for a fact is faster and lazier than his more ‘formal’ speech. Shit, Mondo forget he was supposed to be doing that shit. What happens when you get him started talking about riding… shit. 

Mondo doesn’t get a chance to say anything else (not an apology, because fuck that), since at that moment Taka approaches, smiling brightly as he takes a seat to Mondo’s left. 

“Hello Mondo! Mother sent me out here since she only has one last dish to bring out before we should be able to begin eating!” Taka exclaims brightly, smiling an only somewhat strained smile. Taka then turns to Alex, his eyes immediately seeking out the baby, looking strangely intense. He begins speaking in English a moment later, words steady enough. “/Hello Alex! It is nice to see you again! Is this Benjamin/?” 

Alex relaxes now that Taka is here, his smile much easier as he nods his head, shifting to visibly present the baby to Taka. 

“/Hey man! It’s great to see you too! And yeah, this is little Benny. We’ve told him a lot about you, you know, though who knows how much he took in, ha. He’s usually a pretty happy baby, but he’s a bit fussy today. Yosh thinks he’s coming down with something/,” Alex claims in English, though he doesn’t sound super concerned. Mondo looks down at the red faced infant, who is staring up at them with bright red, tiny eyes, glassy with unshed tears. It’s strange to see such eyes on a baby, and Mondo can’t quite tear his eyes away, not even when the kid begins fussing again, his little eyes squeezing shut. 

Taka, of course, immediately begins to coo over the baby, fucking nerd that he is, leaning precariously over Mondo to get a closer look. Mondo automatically places his hand on Taka’s back to stabilize him as the teen presents his finger for Benny to hold, his face completely enraptured. Mondo’s eyes transfer from the baby to Taka, feeling ‘enraptured’ himself. Shit… 

“/Oh, he is adorable! Hello, Benny, it is nice to meet you! I am your Uncle Kiyotaka, though you may call me Taka/!” Taka says to the baby in English, talking in his usual forceful manner, not bothering with that ridiculous ‘baby talk’ voice adults usually use around infants. Heh. Nerd, Mondo thinks fondly again, letting out a quiet snort. The sound seems to get Taka’s attention, since the teen is turning his face to look at Mondo with a soft smile then, their faces a lot closer than Mondo is used to. Not that he minds. Not at all. “/Oh! And this is Mondo! He is my, er… my boyfriend! He means a lot to me, and I hope the two of you get along well!”/

Mondo flushes at the praise, averting his eyes away from the overwhelming sunshine that is Taka. His eyes land on the baby, who is looking up at him uncertainly, his tiny chest trembling with his unhappy fussing. He’s not full on crying, but he definitely looks uncomfortable and unhappy. Mondo does his best to smile at the kid, not used to dealing with infants in the slightest, but not so big of a dick that he’d be rude to a literal fucking baby. Like… seriously. 

“/Hey, kid. Nice to meet you/,” Mondo says, also in English, though he’s a bit clumsier than Taka was. Daiya taught him English when he was little, but he doesn’t get a chance to practice speaking the language often, so he’s a bit clumsier speaking than he is listening. The kid doesn’t seem to mind. Honestly, Mondo doesn’t know if the kid can understand him at all. He’s five months old, yeah? Is that old enough for them to understand shit yet? Mondo has no fucking clue. 

Alex gives Mondo a surprised look for some reason (what, didn’t expect him to know English? Jackass), but doesn’t get a chance to say anything more, since at that moment, everyone who was helping set up the table comes back into the room and heads for their seat, though there are a lot of happy greetings made as they go along that prolongs the endeavor. Mondo just watches as this happens, feeling decidedly uncomfortable as more and more family members spill into the room, his heart beating fast as he realizes that this is it. He’s fucking meeting all of Taka’s goddamn family now. As his fucking /boyfriend/, even though they definitely are /not fucking boyfriends/. Which is… shit. Whatever. Whatever, he agreed to this fucking plan, he doesn’t fucking care. Fuck. 

Mondo is still slightly distracted when Yoshi returns with a happy hum, plopping down onto the cushion beside him, giving them a happy grin as she takes Benny from her husband without a word. Alex gives up the kid without question, his attention going to the child sleeping on his lap, seamless and easy, like it’s something they’ve done a thousand times. It makes Mondo even more uncomfortable, like every interaction he witnesses between an actual functional family unit. He struggles to ignore it. It doesn’t fucking matter. None of this fucking matters. 

“Hey Taka, Mondo-san! Did you guys sleep well?” Yoshi asks them in Japanese, head tilted and smile easy. Mondo feels awkward around the chick, remembering how fucking /scared/ she looked when she realized who he was, but Taka has no such reservations. The teen just nods happily, still leaning over Mondo to get a better look at his cousin and ‘nephew.’ 

“Yes, we did Yoshi! Thank you for asking! We were just talking to Alex about Benny! He’s very adorable!” Taka exclaims, still singularly focused on the kid. It makes Mondo snort again, shifting to get more comfortable, seeing that the teen is not intending to go anywhere anytime soon. The new position has Mondo’s arm wrapped loosely around Taka’s waist while Taka kneels practically on his lap, but, uh… shit, whatever. They’re close friends, it’s not like it’s fucking /weird/ or anything. And they’re masquerading as boyfriends. It’s fine. Taka doesn’t even seem to notice, as focused as he is on the kid, so it’s fucking /fine/. 

“Aw, thanks Cuz! He really is a little cutie pie, isn’t he? He’s usually such a happy and upbeat baby, but he’s unfortunately got a bit of an earache today. I’m hoping it goes away by morning and he’ll be back to his usual bouncy self soon,” Yoshi explains, giving her kid a small, concerned look. Taka hums worriedly as well, frowning with concern as he leans closer to look at the kid. This unfortunately lands him firmly in Mondo’s lap this time, Taka practically lounging across him, his heat scalding. But it’s, ya know… fine. Totally cool. Not like Mondo is internally panicking or anything, no sirree! 

/Fuck/.

“Yes, I hope so too, Yoshi! I would hate if he was suffering throughout the entire gathering! I’m sure it’s already confusing enough for him to be surrounded by so many people; doing so sick would decidedly be unpleasant! You have my fervent wish that he gets better soon!” Taka proclaims, sounding as serious and forceful as he does about everything. 

Mondo can’t help the warmth that blooms inside his chest as Taka says this, nor can he stop how he looks at the teen, smile soft and eyes practically smitten. He knows he shouldn’t look like that, knows it tells shit he doesn’t want told, but… shit. Shit, shit, god fucking dammit. He can’t help it, okay?! Taka is just so fucking… /Taka/ and he can’t help the way he looks at the teen! He never fucking could… 

Apparently he’s not the only one who finds Taka’s proclamation endearing, though. Yoshi lets out a small laugh, her eyes squinting as she looks at Taka, her expression definitely fond. It does nothing to dim the warmth in Mondo’s chest, and he suddenly feels very glad that Taka has someone in his extended family who genuinely seems to appreciate him. He knows how much the hall monitor struggled to make friends growing up, knows that he was actually Taka’s first real friend, so to see that at least Taka had /someone/ is… a lot.  It might even be everything. Fuck. 

“God, never change, Cuz. Never change,” Yoshi grins, echoing Mondo’s sentiments exactly. Taka jolts a little at the comment, his cheeks flushing with his obvious embarrassment. Mondo can’t tear his eyes away as Taka ducks his head and smiles bashfully, looking so fucking /pleased/. Goddamnit, it should be a crime to be so fucking adorable. It really fucking should. 

“Ah! T-thank you! I, er… will try not to!” is Taka’s eventual answer, as awkward and adorable as the nerd himself. Mondo tightens his hold on Taka unconsciously, not sure why he does it, but just… wanting to feel him. In a, ya know. Brotherly way. 

Unfortunately, the action seems to remind Taka of their position. Taka jolts again and turns his eyes to Mondo, the blush deepening as the teen hurriedly scrambles off of him, stammering as he goes. Mondo has to fight his disappointment and just watches as the hall monitor goes, listening to his hurried (and needless) apologies. 

“Ah! M-Mondo, I… I’m so sorry! I did not mean to lean over you like that, ky- ah, kareshi! I hadn’t been thinking and it was a complete accident, one I assure you will not happen again, and-“

“It’s fine, man,” Mondo interrupts gently, taking care to remember his ‘formal’ voice this time. Yoshi is listening, after all. And most likely Taka’s parents, who have taken their seat on the other side of the teen. Which is… shit, not the time to focus on that. “I don’t mind. We’re, you know… dating. Don’t mind you being close to me. I’ve never minded that.”

Mondo gives Taka a significant look, hoping his kyoudai will understand what he means. Which is that they’re close, they’re fucking /brothers/, and he never minds when Taka gets close to him. Never. No matter the reason. He doesn’t know if Taka gets it, but the dude does go a shade brighter and his smile a bit shyer, so he understood /something/. Which is… yeah. Yeah. 

Luckily, that moment is cut blissfully short by Hana clearing her throat, the entire table coming to attention as they turn their gaze towards her respectfully. Mondo follows suit, sweating fucking bullets, but like hell is he gonna fuck this shit up so quickly. He’s not that big of a dumbass. Even if it is getting so much harder to fucking breathe…

“Welcome, family. It has been far too long since we were last able to all gather together like this. It is a pleasure to see you all again, and to meet our newest additions,” Hana begins, her eyes first sweeping over towards Benny, and then, surprisingly, to him. Her eyes are piercing as they look at him, as piercing as Taka’s eyes have always been, and it makes his blood run cold. It makes his brain go a little funny, his breathing speeding up for reasons he can’t quite explain, and despite the fact he tries so fucking hard to push it down and pay attention, he finds it nearly impossible. Not when he can still feel that phantom stare on him, piercing him, /judging him/, s-shit… 

His distraction causes him to tune out most of the speech, the words distant in his mind, like he’s listening through water. From what he can hear, he thinks it’s mostly about how it’s nice to make time to meet up with family and that familial ties are what are most important in life. He stops listening entirely then, his stomach clenching the way it always does when people talk about family, the envy and jealousy he hates rising bitterly inside of him. It’s all he can do to push it down, eyes hard on the table, his hands clenched in tight fists by his side. He knows he’s being ridiculous, knows he shouldn’t care about this shit, but it’s fucking /hard/, alright? It’s always been hard, from the time he was four years old and realized that the man who hated his guts was actually supposed to love him and not beat the shit out of him on a daily fucking basis, god fucking /dammit/-

“Are you okay, kyoudai?” Mondo hears whispered into his ear an unknown amount of time later, though he thinks it’s only been a couple of minutes, causing him to shudder. His eyes dart to the side to look into concerned scarlet, the most beautiful color he’s ever fucking seen. Even in a room surrounded by red, Mondo is positive that these eyes are the most splendid. The most expressive. The most luminescent, and all those other fucking words Taka’s been teaching him over the past year. He gets a bit lost in them, honestly, looking and searching and feeling. What he’s feeling, he has no fucking clue, but it sure is /something/. 

“Mondo…?” Taka asks again, after a few moments pass and Mondo says nothing. The teen also reaches out and places his hand gently overtop Mondo’s, looking so concerned it makes Mondo’s breath hitch, not sure how to fucking handle this. He’s never known how to handle Taka. Especially not when he gets all concerned like this. Fuck, but he can’t continue to say nothing and just fucking /stare/ at Taka, he’ll concern the shit outta the dude, he’s gotta fucking say something /right the fuck now, you goddamn piece of shit/-

“Yeah. Yeah, I… I’m fine, man. Just… ya know what I’m like with family shit,” Mondo mumbles, cheeks heating up, shrugging awkwardly. But it’s true. Taka… Taka does know. Taka is prolly the only person he’s ever told about the shit his old man would do to him, the abuse he faced at the hands of a man who was supposed to love him. In fact, the day he told Taka about that shit was the first time he allowed Taka to hold him as they fell asleep, his eyes leaking pathetic tears as his kyoudai whispered soothing words to him, promising him that he didn’t deserve the shit his old man had done. Mondo… Mondo hates thinking about that day, as embarrassing as it had been. The way his heart races every time he thinks about it is even worse, though, so he quickly pushes the memory aside. 

“Ah… yes, I- I do know… i-if this is too much for you, kyoudai, we could always retire early, if you’d like? I’m sure my family wouldn’t mind too much…” Taka trails off, sounding uncertain. It makes Mondo snort, giving Taka an unimpressed look. If there is one thing that Mondo has learned about Taka’s family in the short amount of time he’s known them, it’s that they absolutely /would/ mind if he left early. Well… half of them would. The other half would be forcefully worried, constantly bugging him if he was alright, and honestly, he’s not sure which he’d want the least, thanks. 

“Nah. Nah, I’m fine, man. I’ll be fine. Don’t worry ‘bout me, ‘kay?” Mondo mutters back after a moment, before looking back around the table, noticing that the speech seems to be over and everyone is reaching out to grab some food. Hoping that he’s not making some social faux paus, Mondo reaches out blindly to grab something, not really caring what. When he sees the bowl of white rice he’d managed to snag, he figures that’s as good a place as any to start and begins loading up his plate. He fucking loves rice, could eat three whole plates of the shit in a row, really. 

Taka doesn’t seem convinced, his eyebrows still all furrowed and his lips pulled down into a pissy little frown, but thankfully he turns away before Mondo can get too annoyed by the stare. With a soft sigh, Taka reaches forward and grabs the bowl of rice Mondo has finished with, giving him a soft, somewhat awkward smile. 

“If you say so, my friend. But I will always worry about you. It is my duty as your best friend, after all!” Taka exclaims, voice still quiet enough to hopefully not be overheard, but still as forceful as ever. It makes Mondo relax again, his lips pulled up into a gentle smile as he looks at the teen, so fucking glad to have him. Like always…

“Heh. Yeah, ‘course,” he replies absently back, feeling soothed. 

After that, no more words are exchanged between them, the pair happily grabbing the food that interests them, swapping it with the rest of the family around the table while Taka converses with those near him, seeming to be engrossed in the conversation. It makes Mondo feels hella awkward at first, not sure how to ask someone to pass him the shit he wants, not wanting to accidentally offend anyone and not wanting to interrupt Taka’s conversation. Luckily, it seems that Yoshi notices his predicament and begins grabbing the shit that Mondo is looking at, passing it to him with a wide smile even while holding her kid. It’s honestly kind of impressive. 

“Thanks,” Mondo mutters after she’s done it for the fourth time, cheeks a little heated at needing the help. Yoshi doesn’t hold it against him, though. She just waves her hand carelessly, her eyes twinkling as she looks at him. 

“Don’t mention it! Anything for Taka’s boyfriend,” she states, her words teasing. Mondo usually hates being teased, and he can even feel the discomfort bubble inside his chest, but… it’s surprisingly not as bad as it usually is. Something about Yoshi makes Mondo feel at ease. Honestly… she kind of reminds him of Daiya a little. If Daiya were an energetic, nosy chick. Which, considering who his brother is… heh. 

Overall, the dinner is… nice. Simple. No one really engages Mondo in conversation, but he honestly prefers it that way. It’s easier for him to spend the time observing the family from an outside perspective, watching them as they interact. And it’s… honestly kinda fascinating. While they’re seated fairly far from each other, Mondo can see how Taka’s stuck up family interacts with the rest of them, their noses upturned and their demeanor haughty. Despite that, they still seem to be engaging in conversation, the rest of the family not seeming to mind the clipped words or the haughty tone. Though, every so often Mondo will see a teenage boy roughly Taka’s age— who Mondo believes might be Taka’s second cousin Eichi, who’s apparently the biggest fucking asshole around— turn to face them with a smug little smirk on his face, eyes dark with amusement, but luckily the shithead never says anything directly to them. Which is good. Mondo’s supposed to be on his best behavior here. Punching the lights out of Taka’s cousin would kinda ruin that shit. 

But that doesn’t happen. And Mondo is mostly left alone while Taka speaks to his various family members, seeming happy. Mondo entertains himself for a few minutes watching Taka enthusiastically talk to his ‘uncle’ Akihiko, the happy bachelor who also apparently arrived sometime when they were in their room. From what Mondo can tell, they’re talking politics, Taka trying to get the older man to understand the importance of some policy or other, though the man seems mostly to be humoring the teen, nodding and humming when appropriate with an indulgent smirk on his lips. From what Taka has told him about the man, he’s a lot more laid back than anyone in the family, enjoying to ‘go with the flow’ rather than having any concrete plans in life. It often puts him and Taka at odds, Taka aghast as someone not caring about every last little thing possible, but despite that the pair seems to get along well. It’s definitely entertaining to watch the two, he’ll say that… 

This continues on for a little while, nothing too out of the ordinary happening, Mondo able to just zone out and chill while eating some honestly super delicious food. In fact, Mondo is just about thinking that the whole dinner is going to go on in a similar manner, the even not nearly as bad as he’d feared, when he gets distracted by a small commotion to his right. 

Head turning automatically, Mondo watches absently as Samantha— who has been sleeping merrily on her da’s lap this entire time, not stirring even with the loud noise— abruptly wakes up and begins fussing. Loudly. 

Without even looking away from her conversation partner, Yoshi immediately begins to hand little Benny over to Alex, the man accepting the bundle without question. Then, still talking to one of the various cousins, the chick grabs her daughter and brings her onto her lap, bouncing her leg immediately to try and soothe the cranky toddler. The whole interaction takes maybe five seconds, maybe less, and it leaves Mondo feeling… something. What that something is, he doesn’t know, but it definitely feels twisted, so he determines to not examine it too closely, thanks. 

But then… for reasons he absolutely doesn’t understand…

Mondo enters into a conversation with Samantha. The fucking /infant/.

And it’s not really a conversation. She’s like… fucking /three/ and her grasp on language is iffy at best. In fact, she’s clearly being taught both English and Japanese at home, since she’s babbling in a confusing mix of the two, Mondo having to stare at her with furrowed brows to try and understand a goddamn word. And as for why the hell he’s even bothering, well… it would be rude to ignore her, ya know? Especially after she makes it abundantly clear she‘s speaking to him when she grabs his arm and yanks painfully on his skin, babbling a sharp reprimand when he dares to look away from her after a minute of absently watching her babble. 

Yoshi finally looks away from her conversation at that, looking down at her daughter with disapproval, chiding her gently about her actions. The chick then gives Mondo an apologetic look, but he immediately waves it off. 

“It’s fine, I, uh… don’t mind,” he mutters, and finds that it‘s strangely true. He honestly doesn’t. Yoshi gives him a curious look at that, and for a second Mondo thinks that the chick is gonna be mad at him for, he doesn’t know… interacting with her precious child and soiling her with his rough lifestyle. But no. Instead, Yoshi just nods happily after a moment and goes back to her conversation, Samantha tugging on his arm again to get his attention. And, well… it’s not like he’s got anything better to do…

And so, that’s how Mondo finds himself wrapped up in the most convoluted, confusing conversation he’s ever found himself in, which is saying a lot considering who his kyoudai is. Honestly, Mondo doesn’t think he’s ever spoken to a three year old before, and he’s gotta admit that he’s glad for it. Don’t get him wrong, the kid is kinda cute and he doesn’t really regret entering into this ‘conversation’. But goddamn is it confusing. 

More than the kid constantly switching between English and Japanese, it seems that she doesn’t know what she wants to talk about. Every five seconds she starts talking about another topic, sounding just as enthusiastic as she had before. After about three minutes of this, Mondo absently wonders if this was what Taka was like as a child. Endlessly enthusiastic and painfully confusing. Somehow, the thought makes him feel less awkward about the whole situation, his lips smiling fondly as he thinks of his kyoudai acting like this little girl when he was a kid. It’s honestly not that hard to imagine. 

This ‘conversation’ between them lasts for about ten minutes, Mondo not really contributing to the conversation, but not minding listening to the kid babble. It’s honestly kinda cute, not gonna lie. He makes sure to nod along and make some noises that indicate that he’s listening, not wanting to be rude to the fucking kid, and it seems she’s happy enough with just babbling along. At one point he sees Taka look over at him and Samantha, pausing briefly in his conversation with his ‘uncle’ to give Mondo a wide eyed stare, before giving him a blinding smile. He doesn’t say anything, though, and instead just returns to his previous conversation, though his smile never fully fades from his lips. Mondo tries not to focus on it, but his chest definitely begins to bloom with a bright, hot /something/ at that fact. It’s hella distracting, though, so Mondo redoubles his efforts of following along with whatever the kid is saying, kind of able to make out that she’s rambling about something she did with her ‘dada’ the other day. It’s honestly hella cute, her little baby voice endearing, so Mondo doesn’t mind putting his full attention on the kid, humming with acknowledgment whenever it seems appropriate. 

What Mondo does mind, however, is when the kid decides it’s a good fucking idea to climb off her mother’s lap and onto /his/ during a lull in their ‘conversation’.

Well… ‘mind’ is a bit strong of a word. Honestly, he’s more surprised than anything, eyes wide as he looks down at the dark brown curls he can see under his chin. He’s never had a kid decide to sit in his fucking lap before. It’s… weird. 

It also makes Yoshi abruptly end her conversation, her red eyes wide and her lips pulled down into a frown as she looks at her daughter. 

“Samantha,” Yoshi hisses, looking embarrassed as she reaches out for the kid, shooting Mondo an apologetic look. The kid, however, evades her mother’s hands and settles herself firmly on his lap under his arm, her lip jutted out in a stubborn pout. She babbles something angrily at her mother, stubborn as all hell, and it makes Mondo smirk a little. What can he say, he likes the kid’s spunk. 

What he doesn’t like is how the commotion cuts across the entire table, everyone going quiet as they turn to look at what’s causing the problem. It makes Mondo flush, anxiety rising in his chest to see everyone staring at him— /judging him/— and he knows he has to defuse this situation as quick as he fucking can before something happens. What might happen, he doesn’t know. But knowing him and his anger when people judge him…

“It’s okay. I don’t mind,” Mondo mumbles to Yoshi, his hands still awkwardly at his sides as he darts a look between the kid in his lap and the chick sitting next to him. Yoshi looks uncertain about something, and for a moment Mondo thinks she’s upset because he’s a fucking biker and she doesn’t trust her kid with him. Which is… shit, /fair/, but he fucking hates it, he hates it, he fucking-

“Are you sure Mondo-san? I know how pushy Sammy can be, you don’t have to entertain her if you don’t want to. I can take her out of the room to calm down, it’s not a problem,” Yoshi replies softly, giving him a concerned look. She seems fairly genuine, too, like her concern is about him and his comfort, not… shit. Anything else. 

Taking a deep breath to shove everything down, he gives the chick a crooked half smile, shrugging as casually as he can while he shifts to get more comfortable. It makes Sam grumble, the girl pouting up at him, which strangely helps settle him more. What can he say. He’s unfairly fond of stubborn as shit, bossy, red eyed people. 

“Nah, it’s, uh… it’s cool. She isn’t bothering me,” Mondo claims, voice still quiet to prevent eavesdroppers. Yoshi still seems a bit uncertain, like she isn’t sure if he’s just being a martyr or not, but after a moment, she nods hesitantly and goes back to her dinner, darting frequent looks at the two of them. Mondo keeps himself as loose as possible, staring unseeing at the table, trying to ignore the fucking stares. God, does he hate people staring at him. Shit’s the fucking worst. 

Fortunately, people seem to grow bored of staring when nothing is going on, and soon enough everyone is going back to their own conversations, all seeming to accept that things are fine now. This relieves Mondo so fucking much, and it doesn’t take long for him to relax as well. Yeah, he has a fucking /kid/ in his goddamn lap, and he has no idea how to handle that shit, but hey. At least people aren’t staring at him anymore. Or… most people…

“I ain’t gonna explode man. Ya don’t gotta look at me like that,” Mondo mutters towards Taka a few minutes later, noticing that the teen is still staring at him weirdly. Taka jolts a little at the comment, eyes wide and cheeks flushing. He hurriedly looks away, embarrassed. 

“S-sorry, k-kareshi. I didn’t think you were going to explode, I just… a-ah. I hadn’t known you were good with children, is all,” Taka mumbles to him after a moment, giving him the shyest fucking look through his goddamn eyelashes. It makes Mondo flush in response, his eyes falling to the table, not sure how to respond to that. Because… shit, he ain’t good with kids. Or… he’s never really been around kids much, so he can’t say one way or another if he’s good with them or not. He just isn’t a fucking dick to little kids, ya know? And if a fucking three year old wants to climb on his lap and babble nonsense to him, what does he care? As long as she doesn’t kick him anywhere sensitive, he doesn’t mind. And he’s gotta admit… it is kinda cute how she’ll ramble on and on about absolutely anything, not caring that he has absolutely no idea what she’s saying. As long as he makes the appropriate noises, she’s golden. 

It’s also kinda cute how she’ll tug on his arm every so often, point to a type of food she wants to eat, and say something (in either English or Japanese, whichever one comes to her mind first) like ‘peas’ or ‘gimme’ or ‘dat one, tanks.’ And then, once he dutifully grabs the desired food, she’ll reach out to eat it with her hands, regardless of what it is he put in front of her. He’s super fucking glad he’s not wearing his coat or else she’d have gotten food all over it, which would not fly. As it is, she’s just ruining this stupid as shit polo and slacks he got hella cheap, so he doesn’t give a shit. 

Anyway… all of that besides, he’s not sure why Taka thinks he’s suddenly ‘good with kids,’ but whatever. Not like it bothers him. He’d worry about his image, but a) he’s supposed to be trying to be seen as an upstanding citizen of society here, and b) who the fuck says bikers can’t be nice to kids? Most bikers he knows are super nice to kids. In fact, anyone who isn’t gets the beating of their life from him. It’s actually a fucking rule of his gang: don’t be a fucking dick to kids. So… yeah. Whatever. 

“I ain’t, just… I dunno. Ain’t gonna be rude ta a kid. Ya know?” Mondo eventually says, a few moments later, voice as quiet as he can go to prevent more eavesdropping. Taka hums, nodding slowly, turning to look at him with a small smile. Shit…

“I don’t know, kareshi. You seem fairly good with Samantha. I know for a fact that she can be, er… a bit much. Not many would be willing to listen to her conversations, let alone let her climb onto their lap. It’s… admirable,” Taka mutters in reply, eyes glittering in the low lighting, admiration clear within them. It causes Mondo’s throat to grow dry, and he has to look back at the table to prevent himself from saying (or /doing/) anything stupid. Goddamn. 

Dinner continues on after that, the kid in his lap happily babbling about anything and pointing to the food she wants, while Mondo listens with half an ear and responds when appropriate. The rest of the table continues on with their own conversations, everything seeming happy and very… homey. At no point does the discomfort within him go away, but it does settle a little as the meal goes on, enough so that he’s able to eat a fairly substantial amount of the super fucking bomb food that was made. He even manages to enter a small conversation with Yoshi and Alex, who ask him about his gang and what it’s like to lead. All in all, while it’s definitely not his scene, Mondo finds that the dinner is… not that bad. Could be worse, definitely. 

Eventually, the meal does end, the mountain of food dwindled to dregs only and everyone at various stages of exhausted. Taka is leaning subtly against his shoulder, his eyes drooping every few seconds, which tells Mondo that he’s super fucking tired, even after his nap earlier. Mondo doesn’t mind the dude leaning against him and just moves a bit to give Taka more room, shifting Sam a little to make them all a bit more comfortable. Unfortunately, moving wakes Taka up, his kyoudai blinking at him sleepily while his cheeks flush bright pink. 

“Ah, s-sorry, kyoudai… I must be more tired than I thought,” Taka mumbles, still looking exhausted. Mondo chuckles, turning to face Taka fondly. 

“It’s okay, man. I don’t mind. But, uh… we should prolly head ta bed. Yer lookin’ pretty sleepy, Kiyo,” Mondo mumbles in reply, lifting a hand to absently run it through his kyoudai’s hair. He feels Taka stiffen for a second, but before he can worry that he did something wrong, the teen is relaxing with a soft, happy sigh, leaning further into his side without a care. It makes Mondo smile, the sight honestly super fucking adorable. It gets even cuter when Sam decides she’s also sleepy and so she shifts so that she can rest her head against his chest, her little hand reaching out to grab Taka’s sleeve. Taka smiles gently at the little girl, and Mondo has a moment to think that it’s not just him that’s supposedly good with kids.

His thoughts get interrupted when he hears Taka’s great aunt clear her throat again, a hush falling over the brood. Mondo respectfully turns his head to face the woman, knowing that if he were to show her even the slightest hint of disrespect things would be all over for him. If there’s one thing he’s learned most from his few hours here, it’s that everyone in the family adores the matriarch and wouldn’t tolerate any disrespect. 

~~~~

Aaaaand that's all she wrote, folks. Like I said, I have a ton of ideas for this fic, it's just hard writing them down. And connecting all the ideas together. If you did like this fic, please let me know, though! I cannot guarantee it ever getting finished, but I do like the premise and I like what I have written so far.

Also, I hope the kids seemed realistic, ha. As I've mentioned on here before, I work with kids, so I tried to model the kids on the kids I work with. Samantha was based off a friend to a kid I used to babysit, who was three when I met her and LOVED to talk about anything. Her name was also Samantha, which is why I named the character that, giving her an American dad to excuse it. ^-^

#The Ultimate (Fake) Boyfriend #Danganronpa #Danganronpa fanfiction #Mondo's POV #Kiyotaka Ishimaru #Mondo Owada #My fanfic #OCs #WIP

[cosmorom]

who i think can/can't die in st5 and why (long post):

eleven: it's pretty plausible she could die like a hero with a sacrifice, when she'll fight against henry again, but i simply don't believe it because it dosen't make sense? for all her narrative we see how she dosen't want being compared to a hero, she doesn't want to be a hero. el wants to be loved for who she is, not because she's cool with powers and she saved the world like 3(?) times. she wants to be loved like el, not 011. if in s5 they don't finish her story arc and put her at peace with herself, duh her death will just be heartbreaking and unfair. i would like to see that in some way, at the end of everything, she'll lose her powers (like in s3) and she just be in peace with her family and friends. however, this doesn't mean that the probability of her death is low.

will: well he just can't die because 1) the previous seasons will be like useless? the whole story starts because will is alive and has to survive (talking abt s1). 2) will is literally the only one who never had his happy ending at every end of the seasons. and he suffered enough. just give his happy ending with the boy he is in love with and with the love of his family. obviously, knowing him, if his intervention (even risky) is needed to kill vecna, he would not think twice and would immediately offer to die for the others, as he has already demonstrated. i just can't think about the fact that he will suffer more in the next season until the end (bc he will). give him a BREAK.

max: well the situation is actually complicated. she can die as she can't. i think if they wanted to kill max they killed her in s4. so i'm not totally sure about her. i mean clinically she was (or is she?) dead...her mind is lost (in vecna's?). i don't know. i have doubts. i hope she won't leave us for good.

lucas: i don't think he'll die duh, he won't

dustin: recently, after, some declarations by the actors... i have a lot of doubts about dustin. pratically there's a lot question and theories that he could die with steve ("if you die, i die"), and this totally makes sense. yet dustin is devasted about eddie's (and max's) deaths, and we will see this much more clearly in the next season. i don't know if he will tolerate even steve's (we'll talk about him later). i don't know, i'm scared about him. i'll explain better later.

mike: so, i think they'll do something with mike like vecna'd but he won't die. just sayin': what would be the happy ending for will if mike died? yeah, this is a pretty selfish example, but it's the truth. and mike just can't die, he deserves some happines in this somewhat dark period for him. i swear i will punch someone (a lot of dudes) if he dies.

erica: nah she's a girlboss she just can't die

suzie: no

nancy: she's a girlboss too but i'm not sure she's totally safe rn, it's not sure that she won't die, that's it.

robin: there's not any reason for killing her, facts.

argyle: duh???

jonathan: doubts. many doubts. too many doubts. he could. duh i don't want this.

steve: 99,9% he's fucked. listen. it's too obvious. in the next season he will (finally) understands and accepts that he dosen't need romantic love in his life to be happy (reminds me of someone or am i wrong? right, el?) and he will probably die like a hero or something. he's the only one with (almost) full character development, when jonathan still has many things to solve. and the fans love steve. he'll die. and if dustin will die with him i'd- anyway...talking again about dustin. i'm scared about the fact that when (not if) steve dies, he will die in dustin arms (like someone else, his name starts with e and finish with ddie munson.) my boy dustin will be so fucking tired.

eddie: "he seems pretty fucking dead to me" lmfao i'm sorry

vickie: nah

joyce: she can't right????

hopper: he already cosplayed Jesus, that's enough

murray: probably.

enzo: also probably.

lonnie: yes because he deserves it.

vecna-001-henry: yes.

#byler #< target audience #stranger things #stranger things 5 #st theories

[arwainian]

Reading This Week 2023 #5

Welcome to the second week of my school reading heavy life and the weirdness of formatting this when i have to read things for class in chunks instead of all at once

Started and Finished:

fe3h fic (all on ao3)-

The Short Side of Eternity by wanderlustt Vexing by DistractedSiren What Never Was by HTFNoelle Smiles That Reach the Eyes by Recipe The Moon Behind Clouds by printers_devil yours is my spring by northofkites Let Your Heart Hold Fast by wearwind Tanaras by wearwind Agabhainn by wearwind Architects of Heaven, chapters 1-8 (all currently published) by wearwind things we cannot recall losing, chapters 1-3 (all currently published) by wearwind The Signet of His Lords by queenlua Deer Among Cattle by queenlua

can you tell i had a long trip back to my dorm this past sunday? the majority of these are fics on the shorter side that i read on the plane and train ride, and then the last two i read early on in the week. really enjoyed Deer Among Cattle since I just met Judith in my playthrough

Batman/Superman: World's Finest #11 written by Mark Waid, illustrated by Dan Mora

this was my sunday morning read before i left home, and i am just so enjoying this comic even though i have not read the superman stories that it is apparently referencing and building on (according to my dad, who very happily explained what the Reveal was)

"Base and Superstructure in Marxist Cultural Theory" by Raymond Williams

school reading! this will reappear in the coming weeks as the class instructed me to read through it all together once, and then read it again in chunks taking note of specific parts. this was for my 19th c. pop culture class

"Women, marriage and the family" by Tanya Evans, from British Women 1700-1850 edited by Hannah Barker and Elaine Chalus

always enjoy some evidence based social history, this is for my Jane Austen class

Ongoing:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

the reread for class continues! i fucking love the first proposal scene and i read portions of it outloud to my boyfriend

The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen edited by Edward Copeland and Juliet McMaster

read a section of this about what Economic and Social Class of people are represented in Jane Austen's works which was very enlightening

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, translated by Constance Garnett, narrated by Frederick Davidson

audiobook my beloved, i love reaching parts and quotes that ended up in The Great Comet bc i just become a pointing meme every time

Sam Patch, the famous Jumper by Paul E. Johnson

this dude is fucking legendary and also reading about him makes me sad because he does not seem to be having a good time

Started and Ongoing:

The Gentleman's Daughter by Amanda Vickery

more for my Jane Austen class, this one is about like landowning but untitled women in Austen's day and Wow the chapter on pregnancy and childbirth and motherhood was heartwrenching

Oathbreaker by quandry on ao3

another fe3h fic, this one is multichapter and i'm getting through it slower. unsure if i'll continue it or just abandon it to pursue other reading, but i think it's an interesting trait on a character changing sides/getting recruited post-timeskip

Beastars, Vol. 4 by Paru Itagaki, translated by Tomoko Kimura

i started reading the first chapter yesterday and then remember that there's another book that I want to be reading during my free time because I know my dad is waiting to talk about it with me so then i felt guilty and. stopped reading this? i will power through it once i have read at least one chapter of that other book

#cal reading log #cal reads comics

[hide-away-wally]

The World Ended In 1962

So here is where it starts, the pursuit quixotic. My mom had this friend she knew from college, and they were like two peas in a pod back then. But then they both moved. For a while, they talked on the phone and by snail mail, but then there was this huge gap where she went to work abroad, my mom's friend, that is, and they basically lost touch completely.

This was in the before times, like pre-social media, pre-cellphones, even (well, they had them, but they were more like a novelty and looked like a brick, like that bag phone The Dude got in The Big Lebowski when he was supposed to do the drop off and Walter fucked it up). You still had to pay long distance fees or just plain send letters back and forth, and since my mom's friend, let's call her Mae for ease of reference, was constantly being shuffled around for work, there wasn't even a fixed address or phone number, and it just became too much trouble, I guess.

Anyway, fast forward several decades, and they both find each other online, and start talking again, and it turns out, small world that it is, that they'll soon be neighbors again. So yeah, Mae and my Mom became like two peas in a pod again.

I was in my teens at the time, and we'd all have dinner together, so I sort of got to know Mae's kids, Harper and the other one (who doesn't figure into this story so I won't make up a fake name for them) a little bit. Not exactly super well, but since they were both several years older, and back then that seemed like an insurmountable abyss insofar as casual interaction was concerned, but they were both cool. We mostly played video games in the basement once we finished eating and the adults kept chatting up a storm upstairs.

So I actually didn't properly get to know Harper until after I got back from college and got a (supposedly) temporary job at this used bookshop / thrift store combo using the Mae/Harper family friend nepotism hookup.

The job itself was ... fine. A bit dusty and tough on the old sinuses, but peaceful, and nothing I couldn't handle with a bit of Benadryl. At the time, it was a big enough deal to actually get one after college. Shit was hitting the fan, which is par for the course these days, but was a bit of a surprise to quite a few people at the time.

I liked being around the books and bric a brac, and Harper was technically Manager during most of my shifts, and they were still cool. So we started talking, since the shop was tucked away a bit and there were usually only a few customers browsing the stacks and shelves at any given time, and then we actually became friends. Like, proper friends. Peas in a pod.

We'd carpool together and hung out quite a bit outside of work as well, just talking, driving around, goofing, playing games, making silly videos, et cetera. We shared a passion for the weird and spooky side of things (the occult, Forteana, weird fiction, and so on), and there's never a shortage of that going around. Harper is the one who turned me onto Twin Peaks and The Prisoner, and I got them into the House of Leaves and a bunch of Unfiction stuff, and so on, and so forth.

My best memory of them is watching Twin Peaks the Return together, both of us for the first time, every week. What a blast from the past.

Anyway, we were at Harper's place, same basement we used to play video games as kids, watching the Return Part 8. If you, my possibly nonexistent digger or stumbler of a reader are familiar, you'll know it was a doozie. There was some buzz on twitter ahead of it airing, but I didn't really pay all that much attention.

Anyway, I'll mostly avoid any specific spoilers (as if it's possible to actually spoil that show). Suffice it to say, that episode was "lit as hell" in the parlance of our times. CW: Gif below is wibbly and wobbly in a way that can cause some discomfort, especially if you're photosensitive, so I'd recommend scrolling past it asap.

Anyway, we turn to each other, mouths agape, in that "I don't know what the fuck we just watched, but it was awesome" sort of way, and it actually took us a few minutes of digestion to get a proper conversation going. You know, tossing about theories, going on tangents, and so on. Then we decide to watch it again, to see if there's any hidden puzzle box nonsense we missed among all the weirdness of David Lynch doing a really messed up Kubrick / Malick / B-movie tribute.

I had to urinate a few minutes in, but since we'd watched it once, I told Harper to just keep it going. It was one of those twenty minute long wides that Lynch does sometimes, so I figured it would still be going by the time I got back.

Anyways, I was quite correct. I had left during the countdown to the Trinity test, and got back a few moments before the camera jumps inside the mushroom cloud. The image of Harper sitting there, in that narrow room, on that old boxy couch, with only a stark, black and white rendering of a nuclear blast for illumination, transfixed once again, is weirdly burned into my memory. Something beautiful and almost immanent about it, you know. I almost wish I thought to take a picture. Not that I had a camera that could do it justice back then.

Anyways, I took my seat and we resumed watching. And then Harper turns to me, all serious, and goes, "You know the Cuban Missile Crisis?" I tell them of course I know the gosh darned Cuban Missile Crisis.

Harper pauses for a second, "First of all, I promise you that I am NOT high right now."

"Okay, this is going to be good."

"What if, like, the world ended in 1962?"

"Yeah, that was one fucked up week to live through, I bet. You know, Khrushchev ..."

"No, listen, what if they, or most of them didn't live through it. I mean, like, what if that's what actually happened? What if this timeline we live in is, like, an exception, or a fluke."

"Aren't all timelines equally valid? If we go by that logic, at least."

"Alright, I've never told anyone this before, cause they're normies. But you're my one and only Twin Peaks friend, and that shit's like a blood oath. Do you ever have dreams, or visions, or whatever, where you're living a totally different life, where you're not even you, but everything IS real. Like 100 percent real. Cause I'm pretty sure I've got at least one other self, and they live in like the post apocalypse. And they're definitely not even a version of me, you know. In that world, I was never born. I think I'm actually Russian in that world. Like, I speak fluent Russian ..."

Now you can think what you want, but that was one amazing fucking night. That was one of the best fucking nights of my whole fucking life. I miss nights like that one. I miss Harper too. Fuck, I miss them so fucking much ...

Anyway, that's sort of how I became the sole inheritor of the most important parts of their meagre "estate." Not only did Harper leave me their consoles, games, art (both their own and collected finds, prints, and commissions), books, and DVDs, but also several boxes full of journals (many of them dream journals) and other assorted manuscripts, as well as a few other choice pieces of arcana. They had showed me some of this bounty before, including a few magical hours on that one amazing, mind bending night of talking, laughing, and creeping each other out, but I didn't get the full set until after they were gone.

I wept over that fucking box pretty much every time I tried to pull anything out to actually look at it. For the longest time, I just couldn't bear to do it. Anyway, that's all I've got the spoons for right now. Some things are hard to think about, even two years down the line. I need a palette cleanser, a snack, and some sleep ...

[norangeyyy]

Late Night HCs

Bucci Gang Edition

TW: nothing too extreme, just a little bit of hurt/comfort stuff sprinkled right here and there.

Bruno Bucciarati

► Bucciarati typically doesn't stay up late at night, he has work and would squeeze all the amount of sleep he can get on his free time.

► Unless he has a lot of things in mind.

► It doesn't matter whether it's a work-related problem, his past, a random thought, or just generally his worries about his future. It will keep him up.

► He'll definitely need someone to be an outlet but if no one's available, he'll just stare at the night sky and distract himself with the moving clouds or finish some of his work until he's too tired to think of anything.

► If you happen to be in the same situation and same place that night though, then make sure that you take care of the trust he has for you when he was at most vulnerable and he will do same with you.

► I personally headcannon Bucciarati to be the type to like those kind of conversations since i highly doubt that he has been so vulnerable in front of anyone besides Abbachio ever since he joined the mafia.

► And even then, he's mostly the one who lifts the spirits up and not the other way around since he's the leader.

► So expect to hear things and words you wouldn't expect to come from the Bucciarati you see everyday come spilling out of his mouth, it'll be a lot.

► Pat his back or better yet, give him a hug and brush his hair while doing so. He needs it a lot since he hasn't really got one after his family fell apart.

► "I feel so much better now, thank you. I'll make sure not to forget about this night. "

Leone Abbachio

► The night owl of the gang.

► Staying up until 3AM is nothing new to this man, hell, he could even go on a whole day without sleep if he has a lot of things that's bothering him.

► He's the opposite of Bucciarati, he prefers to shoulder his intrusive thoughts alone. It'd take some great amount of effort and trust to make him talk and let it out.

► What he does during those times is either using his stand to replay certain memories that could either worsen his guilt or put him at ease, or just drink until he passes out but most of the time, he does both.

► He could also be listening to some music while he does so but if he's feeling guilty for making Bucciarati concerned about his frequent drinking, then he'll just listen to music and hope that he'll fall asleep and not just keep his eyes closed until the sun rises.

► It works, kind of, but even without alcohol driving him to sleep, he'll always be tired. His sleeping schedule is seriously messed up because he never really cared about it in the first place.

► Would sometimes go out for a walk. Leone is fond of the city's peacefulness when everyone is asleep, with the only thing keeping him accompany is the cold air and the dim light of the lampposts.

► Secretly still has his police uniform and would occasionally take it out just to stare at it or talk to it in a not-so-kind of way as he sees his younger self in it.

► Gets dragged in whatever shit Narancia and the others are up to if he gets spotted. Mostly it's just for a movie night behind Bucciarati's back but Abbachio knows better and expects the unexpected when it comes to the gang.

► Knows what everyone does in late night if they're still up and has seen a lot of ungodly sights.

► Whether it be seeing a sleepy Mista and the pistols chanting a weird prayer to a bowl of cereals or Fugo being dragged out of his room by Narancia, Leone knows it.

Pannacotta Fugo

► Just like Bucciarati, Fugo rarely stays up late at night and if he does, it's usually just because he's busy.

► Fugo has hobbies like painting and reading, everyone in the gang knows that. It's just that he gets carried way too far sometimes and loses track of time.

► Who could blame him though when the book he's reading is just too interesting or the painting he's currently working on is almost done, right?

► On extremely rare occasions where something unpleasant enough to keep Fugo up at night happens, he'll bundle himself in his fluffy blanket like a butterfly in its cocoon.

► He always does this back when he's still living with his parents, it makes him feel safe from anything that's haunting him.

► And if it's neither his hobbies or problems that's keeping him up, he'll just hear Narancia whispering outside his door or Mista throwing pebbles at his window.

► For the first few times the duo did this, Fugo was still able to resist until he just can't anymore knowing that they wouldn't leave him alone all night.

► "Well, this isn't so bad. "

► He says as he enthusiastically tosses a popcorn into his mouth with his eyes glued all over the lit screen of the TV.

► Movie nights, along with sneaking out to go the nearest convenience store, became a common thing between the Torture Dance Trio™ ever since then.

Narancia Ghirga

► The type to wake up in the middle of the night and think "Hmm... Everyone's asleep, let's commit robbery tonight!"

► Fugo's sleep paralysis demon.

► Would literally not hesitate to steal chocolate bars with Mista and probably does 3AM challenges with him too.

► Never runs out of ideas to keep himself up at night and is the one who comes up with everything but what he does still depends on his mood.

► If Narancia's feeling a little too lazy then he'll just sleep and most of the time, with music keeping him accompany. But unlike Abbachio, he purposely doesn't wear headphones just to annoy Fugo whose room is right next to his.

► If he's feeling like it, he'll straight up just invite the others to watch a movie or play videogames even though Bruno has already made it clear not to use the TV after 11PM.

► But just as he likes staying up at night doing crazy things with the boys, he also uses his energy left and free time to self-study, as surprising that may sound.

► He may hate reading but he takes advantage of the fact that his brain is much active at night and he doesn't want to depend on Fugo too much. After all, he dreams on going back to school and he's more than willing to be capable enough to do so alone and pass without the other teen's help.

► Will cuddle anything that's near him while he studies but if you give him a plushie, it'll be instantly his favorite and he would definitely use it as a study buddy.

Guido Mista

► Alright, let's be honest here, this dude wouldn't even stay up if it weren't for his bros.

► 5 seconds lying on the bed and he's already knocked out for a good 10 hours if there's no work he has to do for the day. Make it 8 at weekdays thanks to his mafia-related responsibilities.

► He sleeps like a log so only a combination of shaking him up awake with Fugo and Narancia can make him rise from what seems like a two year coma but is really just a normal tuesday night.

► Will pretty much join Narancia at anything he does but since his last three brain cells are obviously still as half asleep as him, he won't be able to remember that much the next day.

► And once he's out of the room and is already sitting on the couch with the guys, Mista's the type to fall asleep halfway through the movie.

► You can't blame him though, it's 12AM and it seems that Fugo got to choose what movie they'll watch since Narancia already got to choose the other night.

► Unless they're playing videogames or are going out then he won't be acting like a slow ass PVZ zombie with a fried brain. Actually, he'll be hella active if that's the case.

► Active at grabbing every snack each second, that is.

► Actually, it's the pistols who does that but oh well, it's not like Mista's innocent too.

► "I swear it's not me who ate all of our groceries for this month! Right, guys?! It's the pistols! "

► And that, everyone, is how Guido blew their little rendezvous without even trying.

Giorno Giovanna

► There's not much to be said about this boy since just like Mista, Giorno goes to bed early as he makes sure he still gets the proper amount of sleep.

► He already has a lot of things to deal with at day so of course, by the end of it, he'll be exhausted.

► Nights before exams are excluded because although he may seem like he skips class sometimes, Giorno still knows his priorities.

► Only when he became the head of the mafia did he really started to lose sleep as great power comes with great responsibilities.

► It took a LONG time for Giorno to adjust to a lot of things cause come on, he maybe resilient but he's still a 15 year old teen.

► Not only does he have towers after towers of work but i like to imagine that he still continued his education and used some of the things he learns in class in the mafia, specifically in classes like history or geography class since as a boss, he has to know every nook and cranny of Italy.

► Not to mention that emergencies happen and he always has to be ready to give out orders, even if it means being woken up at 1AM.

► God, help this child because all the things mentioned above are just an understatement of what happens on the first few months of being in charge of Passione.

► "So this is why Diavolo looks like he's about to explode whenever something goes wrong huh. "

#I'm writing for the gang again hell yeah #jjba #jojos bizarre adventure #vento aureo #golden wind #jojo's bizarre adventure #narancia ghirga #narancia #narancia x reader #leone abbacchio #abbachio x reader #bruno bucciarati #bruno buccellati #bucciarati x reader #guido mista #mista x reader #pannacotta fugo #fugo x reader #giorno giovanna #giorno x reader #||»•norange.writes

[jungw8ns]

GOING TO AN ESCAPE ROOM WITH ENHYPEN !

PAIRING: boyfriend!enha x gn!reader. GENRE: established relationship, fluff, crack. WARNINGS: profanity (not that much tho), mentions of death (?). WORD COUNT: 100 - 200 each member.

HEESEUNG:

the two of you were so pumped playing an escape room together for the first time that the other people in line had to calm you guys down (which was trully embarrassing to say the least 🤐🤐)

he was looking at the ranking board filled with pictures of players that had succeeded in the shortest amount of time and he just wanted nothing more than to see both your faces on there

but anyways, we all know how competitive heeseung gets 🕴️

oh boy let me tell you, this guy WAS SPEEDRUNNING IT but not the kind you were thinking

the second the timer had started he was literally SPRINTING AROUND THE ROOM LOOKING FOR CLUES YET COMPLETELY MISSING THEM 🏃‍♂️💨💨💨

while he was busy running around, you were picking up the little details in the room and in no time managed to open a few locks

"y/n look i found– oh 😐😑😐"

HE WAS SULKING PLSSS 😭😭😭

when you noticed him standing from afar staring at you with his arms crossed, you called him to solve this one puzzle you already did

*gasps* "oh no! babe i don't understand how to do this, please help me 😔😔🤥🙏🙏"

he had to bite his lower lip to stop himself from letting out that cocky grin but it got out eventually

"oh it's so easy sweetheart, just put this here and then voila! 😉"

when the two of you escaped you suprisingly got to take a polaroid with him home after ranking 2nd in the records

heeseung was the one who held onto it tho, placing it underneath his clear phonecase for safekeeping <3

JAY:

GOD THIS DUDE

THE ESCAPE ROOM WASN'T EVEN THAT SCARY AND YET EVERYTIME YOU GUYS OPEN A LOCK OR A DOOR HIS FIGHT OR FLIGHT INSTINCTS COME UP 😭😭👊👊

"y/n stay behind me >:(("

"um, babe, you do realize that's just a door right?"

"WE'LL BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY?? THE STAFF COULD'VE PROGRAMMED IT TO GROW LEGS?? 😵🧐🧐"

you knew you shouldn't have played horror games with him a few nights ago cause he looked like he was about to lose his mind 😔

you had to shove his ass aside and move on to the next mission cause the both of you knew that he was stalling 🏌️‍♀️

jay was being extra clingy the whole time you were playing, he'd either link arms with you or hold hands (he's literally so adorable) 💞💞

BUT THEN YOU THOUGHT OF DOING A PRANK ON HIM

while you were roaming around the room trying to solve a puzzle, you saw this horse mask on a nearby table

and so you made sure jay was distracted and put on the mask

you could've NOT worn the dusty old thing but where was the fun in that?

"jay can you come here for a sec?"

you hid behind the wall beside the door frame waiting for him to come into your sight and attacked him

now, how about we guess what happens next?

a. he faints

b. he runs away

or c. he slaps you in the face and forces you to buy him food for the rest of the night

if you guessed c then YAY! YOU'RE CORRECT 🥳🎉🎉🎊

THIS HOE SLAPS YOU AS HE SHOULD

"$##/@+(+'£%(:?!!)&£**/*%@"

when he finally takes off the mask like those scenes in scooby doo he's never felt so betrayed in his life

"i- I TRUSTED YOU 😭😭😭 YOU BETTER BUY ME FOOD LATER, I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS, THE BETRAYAL???? LITERALLY UNPROVOKED?????"

he wouldn't stop side eyeing you until you guys finally pulled up on the mcdonalds drive thru

"hi, can i get two um– bts meals please? 😒😒 and two oreo mc flurries 🙄🙄 and also large fries 😐😐"

sane (1/3)

would be trailing behind you like a little puppy (i love him so much 😭😭😭)

he either has his arm linked with yours or held hands every five minutes

JAKE:

really focused on the puzzles he's doing but the second he hears you call out his name for help he's there beside you with the sweetest smile

but anyways, mans was POPPING OFF the entire time you were playing

he was solving problem after problem in no time (he wanted to impress you is why he activated his inner flash ⚡⚡) but he did let you play tho, the last thing he wanted to do was make you pissed at him for hogging all the games

def buried jake with compliments and forehead kisses right after ❤️__❤️

and so the two of you got out in like an hour and a few which you were very proud of

"you were so cool today babe, good job !!"

"aww thank you angel 😊😊"

sane (2/3)

SUNGHOON:

would be linking pinkies with you the whole time, only letting go whenever the both of you had to solve something that needed two or more people

there was this one game tho where he had to arm wrestle this literal hand lever to open the door to the last room (yea...don’t ask why, the staffs were pretty weird 😬😬) 

it made him enjoy the experience a bit more as it was only the two of you playing instead of getting accompanied by strangers

HGAWAHSGDHSGHDA PLSS THIS GUY

“oh this’ll be easy, y/n step aside, i’ll handle this 😏😏😏”

idk if you were supposed to think about how handsome he looked with his serious expression on and his veiny hands coming into frame or be worried for him because the lever was REAL HARD to pull that his veins looked like they were going to pop any second soon, you stepped in and helped him tho cause you were a good s/o <3

from a spectators point of view, the two of you looked like y’all were about shit your pants but the two of you eventually succeeded on beating it, immediately dragging him to the next room which had a sofa in it, laying down to catch your breaths

cliché moment ahead ⚠️⚠️

the two of you shared a few laughs before standing up on the empty space, held hands and started to jump in circles to celebrate your success 💃💃

yupp, y’all were never going back to that hellhole again

very stubborn at first, he wanted nothing to do with the game but then you held him at gunpoint by saying:

SUNOO:

"please just this once or else i'll revoke your mint choco ice cream rights 🔫🔫🔫"

"BUT IT'S SCARY IN THERE BABE :((("

"it won't be that scary sunshine, besides, i'll be ready to 🤜💥 yk?? trust me babe i would never let anyone hurt you <33"

kinda pissed since you blackmailed him into the place and also bc he wanted to play bumper cars and dance mania but he yea he caved in pretty quick 😋😋

(y/n let him play his games in peace tf >:(((( )

once you guys got in tho he realized how normal it was and that it was not terrifying at all

THE EPITOME OF CLINGY OMFG

he wouldn't stop back hugging you and you couldn't bring yourself to push him away to play the games so you just let him walk behind you with his arms on your shoulders 😩😩

(y'all were walking kinda funny but don't tell sunoo that 🤫🤫🤫)

yea the two of you ended up escaping with a whopping 2 hours and a few minutes

but it was the effort that counts so A+++++ for the both if you 😜👍👍👍

sane (3/3)

JUNGWON:

was the one who suggested going, he even searched on naver about really good escape room places to visit and was overall really looking forward it

he liked going to places and having fun with you so it wasn't a shock how his eyes were literally crescents and his dimples were so evident

yea he literally rushed the both of you to the place that you were the first in line 😵

while waiting for the staff to finish setting up he was playing with your connected hands like 🖐️✊🖐️✊ (so precious 💞💞)

"y/n why are you taking so long 😭😭 what if they close and we end up not solving a single lock, hurry up por favorrr 😩🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏"

when they finally lead you to the room he was kind of surprised that they had separated the two of you into different spaces (like the one with txt where they had the answers to the other member's puzzles yk???)

he was locked inside a telephone stand while you were handcuffed in the main room

dw the two of you reunited after a few minutes cause jungwon was rushing his lock to get to you 🤭

you both were progressing at an average pace and it made you guys a lot more closer (not that you guys weren't before but you get what i mean)

after you guys escaped the two of you went to eat curry and talked about the whole experience 😋✌️✌️✌️

this boy literally dragged you in the escape room with him

NIKI:

HE DIDN'T EVEN GIVE YOU TIME TO REFUSE HE JUST 😐👉🚪

"ok masterchefs, in order to test your abilities we must go through series of puzzles and make it out alive, understood?"

he tried ignoring how confused you were and went on to try and get you guys to escape

HE'S LAUGHING AT YOU FOR WHATEVER REASON AND OBV YOU LAUGH ASWELL CAUSE WHO WOULDN'T??? his laugh is so contagious pls 🤖🤖 he was so close to d wording cause he couldn't breathe from laughing too much

yea.. you guys spent so much time laughing at each other for being so dumb at this that you ended up playing 'till closing time

spoiler alert: he fails on doing anything cause the second you made eye contact with him this child collapses 😍🤩

GIRL SO EMBARRASSING 🤡🤡

THE STAFF KICKED THE BOTH OF YOU OUT AND NOW YOU GUYS WERE BANNED FROM THE PLACE ☠️☠️

"haunted house next weekend???"

"BET"

NOTE – god they were WAY funnier in my head but yeah.... i love them so much AND OMFG HAVE YOU GUYS SEEN HEESEUNG’S SELCAS LAST NIGHT???!?@??#?@?!?@ HE’S NOT REAL WTF ⁉️❓❓⁉️

also, idk why BUT EVERY TIME I SAVE A DRAFT the paragraphs get scrambled?? £!?) 6=6) 🤣😂💔💔🤣🤣😂💔 it's so annoying but anyways, ilysm pls stay safe and have a great day <33

#enhypen #enhypen drabbles #enhypen reactions #enhypen imagines #enhypen fluff #enhypen x gender neutral reader #heeseung x reader #jay x reader #jake x reader #sunghoon x reader #sunoo x reader #jungwon x reader #niki x reader #jungw8ns

[millenialfanfictionaddiction]

Hey bestie! Spooky here!

I had an idea that is completely self indulgent. I was recently diagnosed with diabetes and found out that it is all about balance. I have had moments where my blood sugar is too high or too low. The ones where it gets too low are the worst cause I get dizzy and feel faint. My lovely husband likes to call then Paul Blart moments 🙄.

So my idea is for Nekoma. I feel like if their Manager YN had a low blood sugar moment, they would all freak out except for Yaku. The lovely Yaku who remains calm in the midst of all those crazy cats. I feel like Yamamoto and Lev would start shouting "YN's dying! Our precious manager, you can't leave us!" Kuroo is just confused cause like he's the captain but YN never said anything? Kenma knows whats going on and knows you'll be fine after you drink/eat something with sugar in it so he's just calmly playing his games. Inuoka is freaking out but trying his hardest to find you something. Poor baby brings you his water bottle thinking maybe you're just a bit dehydrated. After the first time it happens, some of the boys start carrying both sugar and sugar free snacks for YN cause they love her so much. They just wanna protect their lovely manager.

-Spooky anon

Omg bestie 🥺 first off, I love this idea! Second off, pls not the Paul Blart moments 😫😫😫 I hope you are doing well and adjusting to your new diagnosis! And I'll definitely indulge your self-indulgence 😏

You, feeling a little tired and lightheaded, go to sit down as the team finishes up practice. You know it's probably because your blood sugars are low and all you need to do is get to your bags.

"Hey YN are you ok?"- Kai, our ever observant angel 😇

Pls Kuroo and Yamamoto's heads practically break off they snap ap fast in your direction

"Yeah I just need my bag"- you standing up and immediately sitting back down, feeling the wave of nausea and lightheadedness

Inuoka, Shibayama and Yaku rush to you

"Oh my god YN's a gonner!"- Lev, now screaming

"SAY IT ISNT SO! I DIDNT EVEN GET TO SHOW YN OFF AT TRAINING CAMP"- Yamamoto, pre-mourning your loss

"Will you two shut up!"- Kuroo, now screaming

Everyone is panicking

"Hey YN, how many fingers am I holding up?"- Inuoka our precious baby

"YN isn't coming back from unconsciousness dude- istg this team"- Yaku

Kai comes over with your bag and sits down next to you

"Drink some water YN, your blood sugar is probably low"- Kenma, grabbing his game and sitting on your other side

Fukunaga runs to get your water 🏃‍♂️ as you take out your testing kit

"Wait 🤚🏻your diabetic YN?"- Kuroo, so confused

"Yeah I just got diagnosed"- testing your sugars as you reach for the bottle Fukunaga brought you

"Geez YN why didn't you tell us?"- Kai

"Well it's not something you just bring up casually! Like 'hey guys! Great day right. Oh BTW I have diabetes. Peace and love'" you, doing the most

You grab a snack and eat it while the team watches

"So YN's not gonna die?"- Lev

"Guys I'm right here 😐"- you

"Oh thank GOD"- Yamamoto crying

Yalu takes out his phone and types

"What are you doing?"- you

"Adding snacks for you to my list of things to carry YN"- Yaku

"🥺🥺🥺 YAKU 😭😭😭"- You hugging Yaku

"Hey YN I'll carry snacks too can I get a hug?"- Yamamoto, grasping for whatever he can get

Please YN give them all hugs 🫂

#spooky anon #my lovely bbys #live action headcannons 🤣

[spicycreativity]

I typed this directly in Tumblr since I'm having an issue with Google Drive on my phone 🤪 In response to a prompt for pre-AA Virgil and Remus. I'll have to answer the ask separately since I forgot about Tumblr's whole text block copy & paste thing

No content warnings, no ship

-----

Remus was building a house of cards on the coffee table.

Virgil watched from the couch, heart leaping into his throat each time Remus added another card to the trembling scaffolding, but no matter how certain he was that collapse was imminent, it never fell.

When the strain of sitting and watching outweighed Virgil's fear of distracting Remus, he spoke. "Do you think Thomas might accept us someday?"

Remus picked up another card, the gold foil on its back flashing in the lamplight. Janus' cards. As much as showmanship was his forte, his gloves didn't allow him the dexterity to perform any tricks. He kept them around mostly for the aesthetic. "Who cares?" Remus said, tenting the card gently against another. The face swirled and changed, morphing from the King of Diamonds to a graphic illustration of Remus that Virgil interpreted a moment later as the Duke of Dicks. "They're boring."

Virgil didn't need to ask who 'they' was. It was true, too. Patton, with his tight-lipped smiles and shiny eyes, was boring. Logan, all sharp angles and calculations, was boring. Even bombastic, boasting Roman, was boring. They were all so boring. Boring and safe. Virgil was sure that Patton had never pulled the TV apart in a frenzy, that Roman never let himself get caught cheating at cards just to start a fight. It must have been a peaceful life.

Remus balanced a card, face up, on the apex of four cards arranged into neat wedge shapes. The Queen's face became Virgil's, her red accents turning to purple. "What's that?"

"I said," Remus raised his voice, "they're boring."

Virgil winced. The house of cards trembled but did not fall. He took a deep breath and expelled it with his head turned so as not to threaten the precarious structure. "I heard you. I meant—" he gestured at the face card "—what's that?"

Remus tipped his head backwards over his shoulder so he could smile at Virgil, though one of his eyes drifted to stare at the opposite wall. "The Count of Clouds."

"That's kind of cute," Virgil blurted, surprised. Remus' grin widened, his one-eyed stare growing more intense. "Okay, that's not."

"Good." Remus quit his Pennywise impression and, with a wild swipe of his arm, knocked down his half-finished house of cards.

"Hey!" said Virgil, leaping to his feet in a fit of fight-or-flight. "What the Hell, dude?"

Remus jumped and landed on the coffee table, a sharp crack splitting the air as the surface splintered beneath his feet. His boots slipped a little on the cards, but he kept his balance, staring down at Virgil with the raised eyebrows and downturned mouth of an arrogant teacher. "You see, Virgil," he said, gesturing widely at the scattered cards, "the act of destruction is in and of itself an act of creation. So that begs the question: What do we destroy when we create?"

"What?" said Virgil helplessly, already trying to gather the mental fortitude to imagine up a new coffee table.

"Try it."

"No!"

"Break the coffee table, Virgil."

"Dude, no." There wasn't much else Virgil could do but turn his palms up and stare. Remus had always been like this, but that didn't mean Virgil was used to it.

"Fine." Remus stepped off the table and began a complex, shuffling dance step toward the doorway. "You know, Virgil, you're pretty boring, too." And he was gone in a glint of glowing green eyes and the flash of a grin.

Virgil sighed and flopped back against the couch cushions. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing to be boring.

#Spicywrites #Sanders Sides #Remus sanders #virgil sanders

[mxtcha-tea]

and that's how i met you mother

✎desc; love at first sight with shiratorizawa (honestly, not all of them are love at first sight but ignore that)

✎pairing[s]; shiratorizawa 3rd years x f!reader (separate)

✎genre; fluff, crack

✎language[s]; english

✎chef note; just an excuse for me to write lovesick boys💗 (I can’t do Shirabu, Kawanishi and Goshiki’s part cause I ran out of ideas🤸‍♀️🚆)

Ushijima

It would just be a normal day in his class, learning and stuff like usual

Then after the teacher finished explaining and hand out the tasks, he'll went through his pencil case and couldn't seem to find any pen

Ushijima frowned at that and looked throughly in his pencil case but with no luck, there's none

He swore that he had put some inside, maybe his mind slipped a little?

A tap on his shoulder caught his attention as he turned his head around to make eye contact with you

You're holding out one of your pen to him with a neutral look,

"You can have it," Ushijima look at you surprised, does that mean he can just take it from you? That's a little absurd

But he didn't question it and nodded, slowly taking the pen from your hand and continue studying

The pen doesn't really sit right in his hand, it's not being his and literally someone else that he doesn't have the chance to talk to

He'll spare a glance at you every minute (ngl, he's complimenting your side view internally)

And when you caught him looking at him, he'll just blink and slowly look back at his work with a light blush on his cheeks

(Istg it's so cute)

After the class ends and before you can leave for lunch, Ushijima caught your attention first,

"Here, thank you for lending me this. And unfortunately, i can't take it from you"

You're just looking at him with a dumbfounded look before taking the pen from him,

"Ah, no problem, um..." "Ushijima Wakatoshi"

You nodded at that, scratching the back of your head "...Ushijima. And it's [y/n]"

Both of you are just standing there in front of each other but it's not awkward, surprisingly

It's as if you two are waiting for one of you to speak and end the convo

(Spoiler alert; none of you wanted to end the convo since both of you find each other interesting)

You cleared your throat, fiddling with your pen a little, "Okay, see you after this, Ushijima"

He nodded at that and with that, both of you went to your separate ways

'[Y/N], YOU AWKWARD BASTARD! THAT WAS SO EMBARRASSING, I BET HE THOUGHT THAT YOU'RE WEIRD NOW!'

Ushijima's just walking towards the gym with a fairly visible blush across his cheeks as he look down

"Ushijima..."

"[y/n]..."

"I guess he's fine..."

"I guess she's fine..."

Ushijima Current Mission!

Trying to figure what other scenarios he can drag you in to have a convo with you again

Good luck Wakatoshi~!

Tendou

You and Tendou have talked with eachother a couple of times but it's nothing more than that

And Tendou actually want to talk more with you (at first for friendship points but y'know...)

Today, you look more beautiful than ever to him today

It's not like you're not beautiful every other day (he thinks you're pretty so that's why he kept on having a convo with you)

And he caught into that

Somehow, he can't help bet stare at you in a distance and he tried his best to avoid getting caught

(Tendou's scared that you find him creepy for looking at you all the time and he don't want that thought to flood you mind)

Then, you came to him to explain about the work your science teacher gave since she's absent for the time being

And you can bet that he doesn't hear a single thing you said because he's too focused on yourself

It's kinda like in those scenes in manga where the main character stare into the main interest

The main interest looking as beautiful as ever with flowers around them

Pretty eyes, angelic face, kissable lips

For him, you're perfect and he even thought that you might be an angel in disguise

No matter how you even see yourself, he would always think that you're fascinating, adorable, enticing—

"Tendou, are you okay?"

The redhead snapped out from his thought and got caught by you

By now, his face is literally mocking his hair color as he chuckled nervously,

"Ah, I'm fine! It's just that..."

He was about to stop mid sentences but thankfully he still got that crumbs of courage and just goes with it,

"...you look pretty today,"

Tendou said with a closed eyes smile, peeking an eye open and trying to see your reaction (ngl he's nervous)

You blinked

Before you literally exploded at that which is what make him surprised in his seat

You fake coughed, looking away and avoiding eye contact,

"Thanks...."

[love meter +10!]

If this is an actual manga or anime, there could've been hearts dancing around him

Timeskip to Tendou at his home and squealing quietly to himself (he can't let his family hear him fanboying for someone in his school lmao)

"We're totally going to marry 3 years from now on~" he says to himself in the mirror with so many confidence

(I just love it when Tendou act like that, let him have his moment)

"Haha, thank you gods for creating me and [y/n] in the same world,"

Tendou's Current Mission!

Getting to know you better and give tons and tons of compliments, just like in the simulations! Specifically otomes and dating games

Try your best Satori~!

Semi

It was another day, another practice session

Except that it went longer than Semi expected, he managed to run from the gym to the main entrance

But before he can even put on his shoes, heavy rain started pouring down

He look at the dark grey sky, resting his forehead onto the shoe locker with one shoe already in his foot while the other in his hand

Sighing, Semi thought about asking to come with Tendou and Yamagata since he didn't bring his umbrella

But on second thought, he realized that they prolly forgot theirs too

And all 3 of them have to run under the rain again like last time

Yamagata and Tendou: "We can avoid the rain if we're fast enough!"

He shivered at that their words and the thought of getting terribly sick again

And before Semi's brain can process a strategy for himself, he was caught off guard when an umbrella was opened next to him,

"Ah sorry,"

In those few seconds, everything went slow motion when your eyes catches his

(He swore it felt like in the anime)

He can feel his cheeks flushing a little but thanks to the wheater, it's not obvious

"Hello?" Semi snapped from his thoughts, shaking his head before focusing on you again,

"Sorry, sorry, um—" "You don't have an umbrella?"

He blinked, shaking his head slightly

It's a pretty peaceful staring between you two with the rain hitting the ground as background sounds

Until you lift your umbrella up, and pointed at the small spot next to you with your thumb,

"Here, I'll help you,"

"Eh?"

Semi was flabbergasted a little at your statement but would he decline it?

Of course not,

"Just tell me where your house is then I help you go there,"

And that's how he find himself back at his house's entrance with you in front of him,

"And that's why I just let you walk with me for the afternoon,"

"Is that so, oh wait! I haven't known your name, and you prolly haven't known my name either..."

He scratched the back of his neck before looking at you with a smile,

"The name's Semi Eita, thanks for the walk back home,"

Your lips parted a little before in turns into a tooth rotting smile,

"[y/n], no problem and thanks for the company, Eita,"

An arrow pierced through his heart as his face is literally the color of Tendou's hair

And just like that, you left him on the entrance with a funny expression upon his face

Cutting the scene to Semi punching his pillow (rip pillow)

"You already caught me off guard already but you really had to look at me like that...."

Semi's Current Mission!

Try to find you the next day after first period and try not to be awkward with you and his convo after the eventful day

You can do it Eita~!

Yamagata

Let's just say that,

Yamagata went through the late anime girl scenario

But with his toast falling down from his mouth while running towards his school

And his stamina almost running low despite being a volleyball player and a libero

(His house's prolly far from his school, cut him some slacks sheesh)

He's pretty much stumbling a lot when he enters the school and speed walking up the stairs

Some of the students look at him weirdly but that doesn't become his main concern because a strict teacher is going first

Yamagata's almost there, almost reaching his classroom's door

But god had other plans and place an invisible rock in front of him

And as you can tell, he slipped on it and now facepalming the floor

(The sound is so loud my lord)

He groaned, shaking a little while trying to sit up from his position

The male look up and is now face to face with you, who's looking down at him

Okay he might be delusional from the impact but is he actually looking at an angel right now?

"Dude, you okay? That's gotta hurt from the sound that it made—"

Your words drowned inside his mind as he widened his eyes with pink tints decorating his cheeks

'This...THIS IS IT!'

"—also I think your nose is bleed—"

"PLEASE MARRY ME!!"

You flinched at that but keep a calm face, a little bit concerned that he may hit his head too hard

While Yamagata is just having heart eyes for you, sparkles around him after saying those words almost too confidently

He doesn't know what's in him that make him think that you're the one,

But he definitely can feel it

You sighed, crouching down while searching through your pocket and pulling out a small pack of tissues,

"I think we're going so fast right now but no, maybe 5 years later or never,"

"Does that mean you agree??"

"I don't know, you're handsome but also stupid, a himbo I think,"

You wipe away the blood dripping down his nose, taking his arm, opening it and put the bloodied tissue on it before closing it, giving a light tap,

"Now go to the nurse office,"

"Will you be there for me?"

"No,"

You help him stand up, dusting his shoulder and walk away as if nothing happened

Yamagata watches you from the distance with a lovesick smile

Tendou laughed behind him with Ushijima and Reon next to him and Semi looking at Yamagata, confused,

"Hayato, I have no idea if you had your alarm on but you just came to school during recess,"

"She's perfect...also, I think I need to go to the nurse right now cause my head hurts,"

Yamagata's Current Mission!

Marry [y/n]

Have fun, Hayato~!

Reon

(He will have the best love at first sight cause I say so)

It was the school festival and it's lively in every corner of the school, the outside, inside the classrooms, even the hallways

Reon had just finished his part of his classroom and now can walk around to enjoy the festival

Honestly, it's a pretty normal day to him despite being the school's festival

The students of Shiratorizawa has always been this lively so it's good that they can be keep the atmosphere as how it is like any other days

Since the others are still working on their parts, Reon was all by himself

Sure, the quiet sounds without Tendou, Semi and Yamagata is fine but he prefer it being loud anyway

A short of way to fill in the boring silence

But what's the bad thing to enjoy the peace once in a while?

So he take a small walk outside the Shiratorizawa building

Stalls decorated the outside with students busy serving the customers

He was greeted by some of them as he greeted them back with a warm smile

Hands inside his pocket while looking at the sky every few seconds

Baby blue sky with fluffy white clouds, it is the spring afterall

It was at that moment where he turn his head around and caught your eyes

It was something between those few seconds that a lighting strike between the string connecting you two for a second

Reon knew he did from the moment you two clashed with each other so suddenly

It was...not love at first sight exactly,

But rather, familiarity, like,

'Oh, hello, it's you. It's going to be you,'

The staring prolly lasted more than he expected before you snapped out from your thought, shaking your head,

"Sorry! Didn't mean to..." "But you didn't do anything?" He rose an eyebrow, smiling sheepishly and watch your panic slowly dissolves

"Well, technically yeah but It was bad of me to stare off at you like that,"

He chuckled, your heart clenching at that,

"Don't worry, I think I did it too...maybe both of us did,"

"Ah, yeah! Probably..." you fiddled with your fingers, visibly nervous facing him since he's basically a stranger even tho being in the same school,

"Reon Oohira," "Eh?" You look at him with confusion at first, while he just offers you a smile,

"My name, since we have...how to say it, meet each other? And I don't want to make you uncomfortable after all that so I think it's best if we introduce ourselves,"

Your heart's basically beating out loudly that you'll afraid that he'll hear it

But, that doesn't seem so bad, does it?

You mirrored his smile, this time more confidently than before,

"[y/n] [l/n], nice to meet you Reon!"

"Please,"

Reon put his hand onto your head, "Just call me Hira,"

You fainted

"She's interesting, I love her,"

Reon's Current Mission!

Get to know you better and honestly, there's nothing else to do after that other than asking you out

You'll do great, Oohira~!

#haikyuu #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu crack #shiratorizawa #shiratorizawa x reader #ushijima x reader #ushijima wakatoshi #tendou x reader #tendou satori #semi x reader #semi eita #yamagata x reader #yamagata hayato #reon x reader #reon oohira

[zutaraplatter]

Avatar: The Last Airbender Critique

There are already a million of posts like this one, and I might be saying things that’ve already been said a million times but I’ve recently become reheated about the ATLA ending and wanted to let it out -_- No one asked, this is true, and this may or may not be a way to stall from this final project I still have to complete, but here’s 10 things I didn't like and/or would change about the show that likely shouldn’t need changing because they should have been done in the first place.

1. Katara should have apologized to Sokka after TSR

It should have happened and it didn't. In my canon-avoiding mind, Katara and Sokka have a heartfelt conversation where she apologizes for the awful things she said, Sokka says he forgives her and he's sorry if he wasn't as there for her as much as he should have been, which he follows up with "but I'm happy you listened to Aang and took his advice," leading into my next point

2. Katara should have said that not killing Yon Rha was her choice

And thats why it was the right one. Not because Aang already said it was wrong. No no. It was the right choice because that's what she chose. I love my mom to death and can't imagine losing her in any way, let alone the way Katara did. And I can't say for sure that if I was in her shoes that I know what I would have done f that yes I do I would have killed that motherfucker. But I also know that if Katara decided not to kill him, then that was one of two correct choices because they were Katara's choices to make. Not Aang's or anyone else's and this should have been clarified. I know it's a kids show but I said what I said. Next point.

3. Katara should have said more after telling Aang she was unsure at the Ember Island Players

Katara hasn't had any trouble saying how she feels, especially when it comes to helping others and making them feel better, whether she was right or wrong. But she holds back or overly softens blows and seems to even shrivel up at times when it comes to Aang. And me no likey. I had a boyfriend who I adored and admired and just genuinely looked up to. I'm also a shy and anxious person who hates confrontation, but because I loved him, I never refrained from telling him when he was wrong. I might have been a little shaky about it but I did it tho because when you want to be with someone you walk through the grass and stomp through the mud. And I personally feel like either in that moment or later on in an added scene that Katara should have voiced to Aang how unheard and disrespected she felt about his words before TSR and his actions on the balcony. I hate being uncomfortable and my secondhand embarrassment is toxic but I would love to see a scene of this. I always imagined Katara saying stuff like "But I'm not you Aang, and I'm not an Air Nomad," or "Zuko could understand why I needed to go, and I'd hoped you would too," or...I'm out of ideas but you get the idea. And you know what, I know I'm a hard Zutara shipper, but them having this conversation would honestly make me respect their relationship a whole lot more should it be believably written to end on a good note (I don't see how it could be but hey I'm an open minded person and I did think they were cute together once upon a time). Basically, all I'm saying is that Katara is no small voice and she should have been written that way when with Aang. Boyfriends can make you shy but should never make you weak. Period. Next point.

4. No rock! ONLY GROWTH!!!!!!!!!!!

I still squint my eyes whenever I remember that rock that unblocked Aang's chakra. What even was that? The laziest writing possible in my opinion. That's what. And Aang deserved better. What should have happened should have been that Aang started to lose to Ozai. And then as Ozai's about to deliver the finishing blow, Aang has flashbacks of everyone he's trying to save and honor, ending with a very prominent flashback of Katara with the guru's disembodied voice reminding Aang to let go of his attachments to become all he needs to be...then BOOM! Baby boy is back on his feet, chakra unblocked, he kicks Ozai's ass, I'm crying hysterically on the floor, as are the rest of us, and he wins. Then at the end of the series, instead of a kiss, he gives Katara an apology. She accepts, everyone else comes to join them on the balcony, cinematic group hug, camera pan into the sun. I don't know lol. Basically what I'm saying is that Aang did not deserve some deus ex machina. He deserved to grow and become his best self like everyone else got to.

5. Aang should have heard differently in The Storm

Katara is a very fate-minded person and this is when I saw potential for her to become a toxic character in regards to Aang. When he admits that he ran away from home 100 years ago, Katara tells him that that was basically a good thing because he was meant to be here and now. Like...no? What Aang did, though understandable for someone so young, was still wrong. Yes he would have maybe been killed but I'm like 10000000% sure they had a plan to protect and evacuate the literal avatar. And what was technically "meant to be" was a new avatar. But hey, what's done is done and kicking Aang while he's down is a no-no in this household. But that doesn't change the fact that Aang needed and deserved honesty. Maybe the fisherman could have said this, I don't know, but I feel like Aang should have been told by someone that although running away was wrong, it's a blessing he and Appa were able to survive and be able to help save the world now with his amazing friends found-family. Maybe this is too harsh, and maybe even outright wrong, but I felt like Aang deserved a truer answer here to support and comfort him.

6. MAILEE!!!!

Do I even need to go into detail?

7. Spiritual sigh*

Don't make me go into detail -_- I will say though that although Aang and Katara are both amazing individuals capable of earth shattering things, they were not a healthy fit for one another. This is evident in the original series and especially in their children from LOK. They both deserved the best but better than one another.

8. ZUTARAAAAAAA

This is a Zutara blog you KNEW this was coming, as it should. There's just too much. There's too damn much. I would give a real paragraph to this too, but, I mean, there's already so much proving that this was the pair. Fics, metas, rants, this site. Scroll through my blog or any of the ATLA related blogs I follow and...dude. These two were meant to be together and I'll mourn the narrative brilliance WASTED for no good reason every day for the rest of my life. No reason these two shouldn't be married with three kids. sob. I will take this part to say thank you to the amazing fic writers that gave Katara, Zuko, Mai, and Aang what they deserved that the writers didn't have the guts to give them themselves. Next point tho.

9. AANG AND ONJI

Good God almighty. Why not this? WHY NOT THIS? I'm putting on my bullet proof vest and I'm going to say this; Aanji is cuter than Zutara. Now before you scorn me or whatever, let me explain. Zutara for me is like steak. No. Chicken parmesan. I like chicken parmesan better. The point though is that Zutara is savory. You know? I don't see them as cute, I see them as Obviously. Aanji on the other hand is like a bag of my favorite candy. They are like a brownie. A cookie. Girl Scout Samoas!...I don't know what words are anymore. This post got way out of hand. I guess what I'm saying is that for Zutara, I scream, but for Aanji, I squeal. I hope that makes sense. But here's the main point I want to make. Onji never knew who Aang really was. And Aang was always, at his core, himself. She very obviously had a crush on Aang for his personality and that was crazy cute and frankly preferable to Katara's "I...guess he is." (you know exactly what I'm talking about) Anyway, I kept wanting more of them together. I wish all the time that we'd gotten to see her again, with a more fleshed out character and all. And in the way that I imagine the show should have gone, she could have been the perfect love interest for Aang, during this episode or way later, even in the comics! Another WASTED opportunity for greatness and I will, again, never recover T-T

10. Iroh get your ass back here

Maybe this is a misguided critique but I hated that Iroh just left Zuko alone in the fire nation at the end of the series. Baby was in trouble in every sense of the word and Iroh was just like "See ya! You got this nephew." I'm expected to believe that? I'm expected to accept that? No no no. He should have at least stayed for a few years to help Zuko stay upright and, you know, alive. And by "upright" I don't mean "good." I just mean been there to support him because Lord knows he needed it, at least in the beginning of his reign. It was cute that Iroh was able to settle down with his own teashop after all those years of violence and mourning and running and this and that. I was more than happy for him for being able to have that peace finally. But I still think it could have waited a little while longer so he could support Zuko.

That's it I guess. I know not everything I've said makes the most sense in one way or another, but I enjoyed putting it together all the same. Thank you for reading and have a great day. I'll go finish my final now.

(Edited for a typo)

#zutara #katara #aang #aanji #avatar the last airbender #uncle iroh #onji #on ji #Im wasting more time with these tags #avatar the last airbender critique #avatar critique #mai #avatar mai #ty lee #avatar ty lee #tylee #avatar tylee #the southern raiders