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#that place was my childhood so it’s very nostalgic
yellobb · 7 months
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Sorted through the fucking WEEDS to make a playlist full of the songs they play at the theme park I grew up near instead of, ya know, doing my fucking dishes
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robinsnest2111 · 1 year
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these 2 books are singlehandedly saving my day right now
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b6d11f · 1 year
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view of other worlds from our windowsills
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six-of-ravens · 10 months
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need to remember that my preferred grocery store opens late on long weekend Sundays for some godforsaken reason. had to go to the more expensive store across the street (bc I was not driving 20 mins, thank you), and I didn't break my budget bc I didn't need a whole lot today, but was very much haunted by the unpleasant feeling of getting screwed over the whole time I was there.
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sisididis · 2 years
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@electric-onion tagged me to post my top 4 Spotify tracks (I don’t use Spotify so I hope it’s ok if I share my 4 most-listened-to songs.)
Here they are : )
I’m tagging @friendlyneighbourhoodromanian @no-passaran and @bunny-banana 🥰
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Note
30k follower celebration for Hannibal Lecter please prompt 3 “I never thought I would see you again.”
.⋆。Won’t Let Go Again。⋆.
Hannibal Lecter x plus size reader
implied Hannigram x plus size reader
Moving to Baltimore was supposed to be a fresh start, to escape the ghosts of your past but a budding new friendship with an FBI profiler leads you back to the man who left you behind
Warnings: european!reader, DARK, usual Hannibal warnings (implied cannibalism, kidnapping, drugging, manipulation), childhood lovers, needles
WC: 1.2k
Minors DNI
Library- @hannibals-favourite-meal-library
Halloween Celebration
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America confused you, everything was big and moved so quickly, you considered it a miracle that you didn’t constantly get lost. But it was such a beautiful place, especially Baltimore. The mixture of old and new architecture that lined the bay was so reminiscent of your old home but also gave you a whole new world to explore.
With a paper map in your hands, you wandered down a mostly empty street, your small heels clacking softly against the pavement. You were determined in your search for a new coffee shop to try out on your day off but so far, you have been unsuccessful. Head down and concentrated, you didn’t notice an equally distracted man walking straight in your direction.
You bowled into each other and you both fell down. You winced and the man yelped as you crashed onto the cold sidewalk. “Oh god! I am so sorry, I should’ve seen where I was going.” You apologised quickly, ignoring the way the skin of your knees burned with pain.
The man shook his head at you, causing his brown curls to tumble over his forehead. “No it’s my fault, sometimes I just wander and forget my surroundings.” He pulled himself to his feet and offered you a hand, although he would not meet your eyes.
“I suppose we are both at fault then.” You chuckled and allowed him to help you to your feet. Your long skirt fell back over your legs, concealing the small cuts on your knees. You took note of the way he made sure that you were all right before he appraised his own body for any injuries. 
He suddenly ducked down and grabbed something from a puddle on the side of the street, and when he popped back up with your now destroyed and waterlogged map, he smiled sheepishly at you. “How about I get us some coffee as a sorry for ruining your map?”
He finally met your gaze with the most beautiful pair of blue eyes you had ever seen. Then his stomach growled loudly and he looked away, pink dusting over his high cheekbones. “Then let me buy some sandwiches for us both.” You offered.
——————
Your friendship with Will Graham was like how you viewed the states, both nostalgic and brand new, filled with mystery and comfort. You learned quickly that he was not a very reliable friend given that he frequently disappeared into cases and his own mind but he was also an incredible friend when he was around.
He showed you all of Baltimore and taught you some tricks to navigating any city so you wouldn’t get lost. And now, he was inviting you to dinner- at his therapist’s house. 
“I would hardly call this romantic, Will.” His eyes flicked to you as he reached to ring the doorbell of the townhouse in front of you.
“I never said this was going to be romantic.” He snipped but he still squeezed your hand tightly.
You rolled your eyes playfully. “You said that you were taking me to dinner somewhere nice, I assumed it was a date.”
“You’re teasing me, I don’t like when you tease me.” He muttered but you could clearly see the way the corner of his lips turned upwards in a soft smile. 
Before you could retort that he did in fact love your teasing, the door opened and the breath was sucked from your lungs. “Hannibal.”
Amber eyes widened and the careful composure he possessed, fell away. “Mylimasis.” (Beloved) Your hand went limp in Will’s hold and suddenly your vision was blurry with tears.
“I-I have to go.” But your companion held tight, his own blue eyes staring at you with an apt fascination. You could see the way his brain was ticking over, analysing each and every part of you but you refused to give anything away. “Let me leave.” 
You tried to pull from his hold and instead you were pushed into another one. Hannibal was much stronger than you remembered and he easily pulled you into his home. Will followed close behind, shutting the door with a firm slam. You would later question why he so blindly obeyed Hannibal but in the moment, you were only focused on the way your heart was breaking all over again. 
His chest was firm beneath your touch as he tugged you fully into his arms. He was older, there was no doubt about that, but the longer you looked into those golden eyes you used to know so well, the more you saw of that boy who had stolen your very soul. “My mylimasis, I never thought I would see you again.” 
Your anger flared once more, setting your veins alight with a fire you thought you had extinguished long ago. “That tends to happen when you abandon someone.” He did not even flinch at your fight.
A large, warm hand cupped your full cheek as he gazed at you just the same as he had so many years ago- you wanted to punch that look off of his face. “Even more beautiful than I remember.”
Your eyes burned with unshed tears, memories unearthing from the deep graves in your mind you had buried them in.
The first time you saw him, you didn’t think he was real. He was so beautiful he had to have been some sort of fae. His regal features practically glowed in the spring sunlight as he smiled at you. You could never clearly remember what he said to you that day in the flower fields by your small home but you did remember the feeling of his words- love, comfort, warmth.
But the day he left, his touch only brought you pain. You could still feel the way that the gravel sliced into your palms as you fell at his feet, begging him not to leave. He promised you the world yet he took the world from you. His eyes were dark, his lips turned down in a vicious sneer.
No matter how hard you tried, you could not forget the expression of pure hatred and disgust he held on that day. 
“You know her?” Will finally spoke from behind you. Hannibal finally looked away from you and to his patient who still stood awkwardly right in front of the door. 
“She is my first love.” He answered simply as you scoffed under your breath. “It seems fate brought my two loves to each other and then to me.” 
Your eyes went wide. “Let me go!” You thrashed violently but his grip never faltered. “You’re fucking crazy!” Hannibal never even acknowledged your struggle, instead nodding over your head towards his lover.
So caught up in your struggle, you didn’t hear the opening and subsequent shutting of a drawer before the heat of Will’s body drew closer and his breath tickled the back of your neck. “Don’t fight it, it will only make this worse.” His voice sounded cold and so unlike the man who would call you in the middle of the night to talk about a new stray dog he rescued.
You tried to turn your head but Hannibal firmly gripped your jaw, keeping you still. There was a pinch in your neck then warmth suddenly flooded through you. “Fuck you.” Even as your words slurred, the malice in your tone didn’t escape either man.
“Just close your eyes mylimasis, we will never let you go ever again.” The darkness swallowed you whole.
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seeingivy · 4 months
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speak now
actor!eren x f!reader
**part of my method acting series
songs mentioned: the greatest by lana del ray and speak now by taylor swift! (minor mentions: daylight and forever winter by taylor swift)
an: LIGHTS CAMERA ACTION BITCHES!!!
previous part linked here
--
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There’s something strange about showing Eren around an elementary school. Or strange about being around Eren at all. 
There’s an overarching hunch, a quiet fear that parrots in your mind whenever you’re with him, stuck in those quiet pockets of time that you feel like he can see right through you, that every secret thought ricocheting in your mind is one that he’s entirely cognizant of - and that he hates it for it.
It almost fills you with disgust. How badly you want to be around him all the time, to be able to read him the way you’re positive that he can read you, just so that you can know what he’s thinking. 
Is he upset with the way you reacted? Does he know how grateful you are towards him? Is he consoled by the fact that he’s fully forgiven? Does he care?
Does he think about you as much as you think about him? 
The elementary school makes it worse. Almost emotional. Because it’s the fact that even though it’s not your school, it’s exactly how you remember it - so nostalgic that it’s nauseating. Though the colors are less vibrant, almost too dull this time around. The desks are comically small, when they used to be so expansive that you could barely reach the front corners. 
“Did you ever collect Box-Tops?” you ask Eren. 
He looks at you, face wrinkled in confusion as he shrugs. And the second his eyes lock with yours, you quickly swallow down your gulp of shame - at the lost, almost pinched look in his eyes - as he quickly averts his eyes. 
Does he hate you for bringing it up? Does he want to berate you for rubbing in the fact that he had no semblance of a normal childhood? 
You take the little jar, the little cardboard slips secured in the glass, as you hold it up to him. 
“These are Box-Tops. They’re usually on the top of cereal boxes and granola bars and stuff. You can collect them and bring them to class and whoever gets the most in your grade usually gets a pizza party. It’s a charity-type thing where they get more funds for things like arts programs at your school by turning them into the foundation.” you murmur, placing the little jar in his hands. 
“You can’t just…fund the schools properly?” Eren asks, wrinkling his nose. 
“Are you crazy, Eren? Why would they ever do that?” you respond, voice dripping with sarcasm.
Eren smiles.  
“Figures. D’you ever win?” 
“Win what?” 
“The pizza party.” 
“Oh, maybe once or twice. They usually only buy two pizzas so you get a comically small slice so that it’s enough to go around for everyone. And I had Falco and Colt to share with - we had to split all the Box Tops we collected evenly between the three of us so I always felt lame turning like three or four in.” you state. 
Does he think your complaint is stupid? That you should be grateful that you even got to experience it in the first place? 
“What if there was an even number?” 
“Rock paper scissors. Then Falco started crying when he lost, so we ended up giving it to him anyway.” you state. 
“Very on brand.” 
Eren smiles - brightly this time - as he sets the jar back onto the top of the filing cabinets and the two of you continue to awkwardly pace around the room. Eren’s overwhelmed with the memory - of Falco sobbing at his first Canadian Christmas when he was asked what he was thankful for - and the consistency makes him warm.
There’s something unsettling about the room - about how foreign it is to him. There’s a weird echo panging in Eren’s chest, somewhat caused by how longingly you seem to be looking at every little detail of the room. Running your hand over the hardwood desks, picking up the box of crayons, almost frowning at the pictures.
The thoughts that run through Eren’s mind are almost paralyzing, that he can barely keep his beating heart collected in his chest, and more awkwardly, that you know and are choosing to ignore it for civility sake. 
Are you going to leave him when the show ends? Would you have left him if you lived a different life too?
Are you never going to end up together?
“Did you ever see Falco and Colt? When you were at school? S’that like a thing that happened?” Eren asks, poking around each of the little flyers on the bulletin board.
“Ah. Not really. Though sometimes when I was going to art class and Falco was going to computers or something, we’d kind of pass each other. We’d always be really excited to see each other. When we saw Colt, he always pretended like he didn’t even know who we were.” you state. 
Eren can't stop the thoughts.
Do you hate him for bringing up a life that was robbed from you? The security of a school, of a quiet life because he selfishly picked you to be at his side? 
Eren hums in response, as you head over to the last wall - the one left untouched by your inspecting eyes - as you fight the urge to smile. There’s little pictures of each of the students, Teddy right towards the top with a big toothy smile on his face. You point it out to Eren as you catch it before him, memorizing the soft look that spreads over his face when he finally catches light of it. 
“You ever see Zeke?” you ask. 
“Well, we technically watched a movie with him in it? So, that counts?” Eren shrugs. 
“That’s right. Having your own parents and your brother as your source material must be so crazy.”
The thought that follows your comment nauseates Eren.
Are you trying to point out how different you are, so much so that you’ll never be able to be together? 
“I can imagine exactly how you would be in elementary school.” Eren states, slinging his arm around your shoulder and bringing his face nearly flush with yours. 
“Oh yeah?” you ask.
“You’d be like…this girl.” 
You inspect the picture, rolling your eyes at the cop-out answer. Each of the little pictures is labeled with their hobbies or their interests, and naturally, Eren’s picked the girl who says she wants to be a songwriter. 
“You’re funny.” you respond, sarcastically. 
“S’nothing funny about it.” Eren responds. 
“You’d be like…this one. He seems like the type of kid who would pull on a girl's pigtails, which according to Mikasa, is something that you actually did.” 
Eren’s going to kill Jean. 
“That’s just how you get a girl's attention.” Eren responds. 
“Is that right? Had something you wanted to tell Mikasa really badly?” you smile. 
Eren’s almost embarrassed that you know. That he feels the need to defend himself, to prove his devotion to you even though there would be no reason for him to do that. 
“Ugh. Who told you?” Eren asks. 
You can’t help but laugh. 
“I can’t remember. Maybe Jean?” 
“It was two days!” Eren whines. 
You’re not sure how the topic came up, but Jean humbled you very fast when you claimed that you were the first person that Eren ever liked. Apparently you weren’t because Eren had sported a two day crush on Mikasa when they were younger, before he ever met you, which left you embarrassed - but also ready to tease him to oblivion. 
“Eremika…” you state. 
Eren clamps his hand over your mouth, as you quickly shove him off. 
“Shut up.” Eren states. 
“It’s funny! Mikasa’s getting married and you’re stuck at a five-year old’s piano concert. With seats all the way in the back, mind you.” 
Eren rolls his eyes, as he leans back and sits on top of one of the desks. You follow suit, ignoring the little creak, as your legs swing over the top of the desk. 
“What was your signature move in elementary school for the boys?” 
“Was I supposed to have game as a seven year old?” 
Eren scoffs. 
“Well, we can’t all be talented.” Eren teases. 
“I hardly qualify hair pulling as a game. That’s an annoying way to get attention.” 
Eren smiles, leaning forward and curling his hands around a lock of your hair, before he lightly tugs. His face is so close to yours that you can make out the tiniest wrinkles in his skin, marked around his eyes. 
“Annoyed?” Eren teases, his voice barely a whisper. 
You shake your head, ever so slightly. A jarring movement feels too loud, like he’ll move away at the smallest of breaths, like a deer in the woods. 
“Down to my very core.” you respond. 
Eren smiles, the wrinkles even more pronounced, as you almost lean your forehead against his, skin ghosting each others. The thoughts are racing at this point, so fast that Eren can barely feel his breaths. 
Is he ever going to be in love with someone who isn’t you? 
“I feel the need to clarify. It was two days.” Eren states. 
“Two days of hopeless pining.” 
“Nothing compared to the three years of it that I did with you.” 
You roll your eyes, cheeks burning. 
He knows. It's written all over your face.
“Nothing compares to a puppy-love childhood crush.” you state. 
“That’s where you’re wrong. I get the whole innocence of the puppy-love thing, but nothing pales comparison to the intensity of a teenage dream.” Eren states. 
Eren watches your eyes waver and feels his throat constrict. 
You know. It's written all over his face.
Thankfully for him, and less so for you, Sukuna ruins the movement. His shouting from the doorway breaks that quiet bubble, quickly pulling you both farther away from each other. 
“What the hell are you guys doing? It’s starting in five minutes.” 
--
You and Eren settle into your seats at the back, right by the door, as the lights dim in the little auditorium. They’re a warm golden, the smell of fresh paint tickling your nostrils.
Sitting all the way in the back has you and Eren weaving your heads around all the people crowded in front of you, the tiny cell phone lights illuminating each row. 
You catch sight of Lana and Sukuna are aggressively gesturing at Teddy on the stage from their cushy seats in the front row at your left - Sukuna trying to get him to smile for a picture while Lana tries to signal to him to fix his untied shoelaces. The coddling makes your heart burn.  
Eren digs into his coat pocket and pulls out a little camcorder that he hands to you. 
“For?” you ask. 
“Can you record it for me? I just…want to watch him in real time.” 
You smile. 
“Of course, I can.” you murmur, taking the little camera from him and flipping it open in your hands. 
“Don’t record the other kids. I don’t give a fuck.” Eren states. 
“Who knew you felt so passionately about kindergarten piano concert etiquette?” you jeer. 
“You would be shocked. Lana’s basically out of storage by the time she gets to Teddy.” Eren groans. 
You roll your eyes. 
“I think it’s sweet.” 
Eren wonders if there’s anything you can’t find the good in. His wavering suspicion is that it’s him - that you’re the worst thing he’s ever seen. So tainted that there’s barely any semblance of light left in him. 
Eren’s hanging onto the end of your words, wanting to hear the spiral of thoughts running through your mind. Your affinity to look towards the positive, to soak up all the good, to point out all the love in the room - it was something he found himself chasing even though he knew he was barely half deserving of it. 
“I just mean…when I was younger, my mom would tell me that my friend’s mom recorded me singing too and then sent it to her. And I was always really touched that they saw me and didn’t think god, it’s another kid I have to sit through. Like no, that’s Y/N! That’s my daughter’s friend.” 
Eren deflates. He figures that it comes so naturally for you - seeing the good - because he thinks the law of attraction is real; that like attracts like, that people find what’s similar to them. And that he always seems to be the antithesis to it. 
He’s always the exception to your rule. 
“And some parents are late. They’re running here from work, or…or they were late because they had another kid to take care of first and…and it still makes the kid feel special, even if they don’t know it.” you whisper. 
You twist the camera around in your hands as Eren gives you a lopsided smile, an underlying sentiment you can’t really place mirrored in his features. You’d memorize his expression just to agonize about it later, in the safe confines of your room, but your train of thought is cut off by a tapping on your shoulder. 
It’s a little girl - with dark skin and braided hair - barely the age of seven. Her little legs can’t even reach the tan colored floor, her sparkly purple shoes glittering in the dim light. 
“Hi.” she states. 
Eren leans over, a cautious arm on the small of your back, as you lean your head closer to hers and whisper. 
“Hi. Is something wrong?” you whisper. 
“Our dresses are matching colors.” she states. 
You look down - the white flowers printed on your dress matching her frilly pleats. It’s an painfully relieving breath, as you give her a smile. 
“My name’s Y/N. It’s really nice to meet you.” 
“Y/N? Like the pop artist?” 
You freeze, freezing cold ice shooting down your spine. 
“I wish my mom named me after someone cool. My name’s Grace. It was my grandma’s name.” 
You can barely muster out a response, Eren’s fingertips at your side squeezing shaking the shock out of your mind. 
“I’m sure your grandma was pretty cool.” you respond, barely registering the words as they leave your lips. 
“I mean, yeah. She was old. But no one’s as cool as Y/N L/N.” she responds, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. 
You can see Eren smiling out of your peripheral vision, giving a polite nod to the parents seated at her side, who’ve now caught onto the fact that their daughter is talking to a complete stranger. Eren’s quick to diffuse the situation, holding out a hand to them. 
“I’m Eren. This is Y/N. We’re here for Teddy. Curly blonde hair, big brown eyes?” 
“Yeah. Yeah, that’s right. I’m sorry…did you say your name was Y/N?” 
You give them a sheepish smile, bringing your hands to the coarse skin above your elbows and pinching. 
“That’s right.” 
“Our daughter’s a really big fan.” they state. 
You smile, looking back down at her dark eyes, this time wide in shock. 
“Is that right?” you ask, trying to give her the warmest smile you can. 
Her parents lean down closer to her ears, the overwhelming sense of a flowery perfume taking over your senses, as you watch them talk to her, softly. 
“Okay. Ask her nicely, okay?” they ask. 
Grace gives them an obedient nod, before turning to you and puffing her chest out to you. 
“Can I have a hug?” 
“Oh. You…you want a hug?” 
“Please? It’ll be quick.” she asks, her little voice shrill with a hopeful tone. 
There’s a soft sense of elation that spreads through you, your cheeks warm at such an innocent request, as you can barely stop your arms from shaking. You open up your arms to her, as she nearly jumps into your embrace, and you squeeze her little frame as tightly as you can. The smell of strawberries wafts off her hair, accompanied by a soft giggling sound in your ear that nearly brings tears to your eyes. 
You look up to find her parents, an awkward pinched smile in their eyes, as you give them a polite smile. 
“I promise, I’ll take a picture with her after the show, okay? And if I forget, please come find me and remind me.” 
The relief is apparent in their faces - their sickeningly grateful smiles over something as simple as a picture - as you let go and she settles back into the seat next to you. 
You have to settle for recording Teddy with one hand, a deathlike grip in the camera, only because Grace refuses to let go of your other hand for the rest of the show. 
--
Eren’s surprisingly really good with kids. Or really, not surprisingly at all, because you were finding it hard to identify something that Eren was really bad at. Because even the mistakes he did make were so painfully endearing, so warmly thoughtful that you could barely accost him for it. 
He's making jokes with all the kids - participating in their rock paper scissors contests, playing pranks on their parents, and stealing cookies for them when people aren't looking.
You guys are the last ones to leave the school. But it’s only because Eren’s so enthralled with talking to all the passing people - taking pictures, signing napkins, and making phone calls to all their loved ones - that it makes your chest swell. 
The narrowed eyes still make you nervous, an underlying feeling of inadequacy - of embarrassment for hiding out for so long - is all but nauseating, something Sukuna picks up on right after Eren. 
He lets Lana take the lead on the pictures and mingling with all the parents, apparently something that was Sukuna’s forté, as he keeps his arm linked with yours, backs cold against the cement wall.  
“You know, you can go make your rounds with Lana. I don’t want to ruin your son’s piano concert for you.” you state. 
“This shit is overrated.” 
You smile. 
“You’re lying.” you state. 
Sukuna looks over at you, brown eyes fixed on yours, as you watch a smile curl on his face. It’s almost boyish - and it’s the first time that you’re acutely aware of the fact that Sukuna’s probably the youngest one here - living a life so vastly different from yours. 
“I am lying.” Sukuna states. 
“Do you like it here, Sukuna?” you whisper. 
“I’m better at this than I was at the whole - award show, celebrity world thing. People here are really easily impressed.” 
“Is that right?” 
“I handed a woman a lemonade earlier and she said God bless you. Over a fucking lemonade.” 
“That’s just basic human decency, sweetheart. Were you raised by wolves?” you ask. 
Sukuna scoffs. 
“Basically.” he responds. 
You hum in response, watching Lana crouch on the ground and press her cheek to Teddy’s as Eren quickly snaps the picture for them. 
“Can I ask you a question?” Sukuna asks. 
“Is me saying no going to stop you?” you ask. 
“Probably not.” 
“Proceed.” you respond. 
“So, what did you really do for two years? And don’t give me the same shitty bullshit as last time. I want to know what it was that you did.” he responds, tone unrelenting. 
You pause, mulling over the question. You knew it would come soon enough, the utter bleakness of it all, but you suppose it's like ripping off a bandaid. That it'll become softer to talk about after you do it so many times.
“It’s not pretty.” you respond. 
“I’ve always thought you were really ugly. It’s hardly a difference for me.” 
“Lovely. In a world of boys, you really are a gentleman, Sukuna.” 
He grins, nursing the glass of lemonade in his hand. 
“To be a woman is to perform. Now, tell.” Sukuna responds.
The truth of the matter is that there’s nothing to tell. Because you didn’t do anything. 
“I got home from doing the interview and spent the entire week with Falco and Colt. I-I basically didn’t let them leave my side. Falco slept with me at night, Colt basically watched over me like a hawk.” 
It’s a crashing plate, worried eyes, and an embarrassingly debilitating loss. 
“And then Falco came into my room one day and told me that The Lucky One sold more vinyls than all of my other albums combined, in one week.” you state. 
“Non-fluff shit prevails. I’ve been telling you.” 
“I didn’t approve of that album being distributed as vinyl. For physical sales - at all. It wasn’t about the money or the records or- or any of that. And when Falco told me, I-” 
Sukuna looks over, at the lump in your throat. He knows the feeling too well - the sweaty skin, the heavy tongue, and slips his hand into yours at his side. 
“I broke his phone.” you state. 
“What?” 
“I took it from his hands and I smashed it. Then my own too. That’s partially why I never called you guys. I didn’t exactly memorize your numbers and I wasn’t in a position where I was going to just ask for them back.” you state. 
“Not like you would have called anyways.” Sukuna states.
“I only knew Mikasa was having an engagement party because she sent me a physical invitation. Only knew Marco died because of the news. I-I barely knew what any of them were doing when I was gone, still.”  
You bite your tongue, the tiniest metallic taste enveloping your mouth, as you pull the now warm, puffed up flesh away from your teeth. 
“I knew that if I came back, it would mean I would be sucked back into it. What’s your response going to be, hint at it with this song, come back like this and…I’d rather lock myself in my house then do that again. I love songwriting, but not enough to sacrifice my dignity. I enjoyed my career but it drained the life out of me.” 
Sukuna’s lip twitches. You choose to ignore it for the time being. 
“I took up different hobbies. Got a sewing machine, made sourdough from scratch, I even learned flower arranging. But, I could tell that I must have seemed like I was off my rocker or something. My parents and my brothers never really left my side, I could tell that they were always worrying about me, and-and I hated that because-”  
Sukuna stops you before you get too choked up, now standing in front of you, his back blocking the sight of you from any of the people milling around the courtyard. 
“I know that’s a shitty answer. That I should have been doing something worthwhile. But, but- I was fucking tired. I was done doing all this and I can’t exactly…be a functioning member of society or something. I can barely stand here without people giving me a second look or trying to get a discreet picture.” you whisper. 
“I just wanted to know. I’m not giving you shit for it.” he whispers. 
You frown. 
“You aren’t. But maybe you should.” 
You look over his shoulder, at Eren squishing Teddy’s cheeks with his fingers as Lana takes a picture of them - far too close to barely even get the two of them in it together. 
“He fought for me when I wasn’t even here anymore. I was moping in my house, breaking plates whenever I got frustrated, and he was still moving forward.” you murmur. 
Sukuna pauses. 
“Y/N. Don’t do that. I need you to be so careful with what the fuck you do after you leave here.” 
The sense of urgency in his voice catches you off guard. 
“What?” 
“Y/N. It won’t happen if you’re careless. You cannot wallow in your own pity about this, I need you to tread lightly, okay?” 
“What won’t happen?” 
Sukuna glares at you.
“You and him. You could spend years pointing fingers at each other, who didn’t do what. You won’t get him back if you stay there when he’s moved forward.” 
“I don’t want him.” you whisper. 
You barely believe it when it comes out of your mouth. 
“You disgust me, Y/N.” he states. 
“You’ve always had such a way with words.” 
“And you’ve always had a lack of critical thinking. Why wouldn’t you want him?” 
“Why would he want me?” 
“He just does. The same way you just do.” 
You swallow hard. 
“Fine. Be a fucking idiot for all I care. If you do ever knock some sense into that thick fucking skull of yours, just be careful. Eren knows that he has to prove he cares about you for you to come back to him. You need to know that he barely thinks he’s deserving of anything from you, so much so, that he won’t ever make the move.” 
Sukuna doesn’t mince his words. You wish he could have you through every important decision of your life just so you wouldn’t stumble and fall as much as you did. 
“Eren’s called the shots since you were fifteen. You’re going to have to call all the next ones. And for the love of god, really. I’m so tired of that fucking freeloader showing up whenever he pleases. And you look really ugly when you look sad, so just do it right please.”  
You smile. 
“Are you insinuating I’m pretty when I don’t look sad?” 
“I hope you fall off a bridge and never recover.” Sukuna responds. 
--
The sniffling cues Eren onto the fact that you’re crying. The air pressure of the plane is overwhelming in his ears, almost so loud that he misses it, but he counts himself lucky that you’ve always been an obscenely loud crier. He peeks his head over the division over your seats and reaches forward to poke your head. 
“Hey. You okay?” he asks. 
You give him a meek nod. You know for a fact that he doesn’t believe it for one second. 
“Can I come over there for a second? I don’t want to talk from so far away.” Eren asks. 
“Isn’t that like…illegal? Two people in one seat.” you murmur. 
“This is first class, the seat is basically a bed. And there’s no laws in the air.” 
You frown. 
“Eren. Laws still exist in the air. They’re just local.” 
Eren smiles. 
“Well, aren’t you a little genius? Scooch over.” 
You shift on the seat, pulling your blanket closer to you as Eren very precariously makes his way over to your seat, the two of you almost cramped in the small space. It’s almost funny how there’s barely any room, your foreheads pressed together from the lack of space. 
“Hey.” he whispers. 
“Hi.” 
“What’s wrong, Margaret?” 
You shake your head. His hands are warm on your sides. 
“Come on. Tell me. I’m really good at fixing problems.” 
“I know.” 
Eren can’t place what the tone is in your voice - but it comes out all strained and raspy - that it rubs him the wrong way. 
“I didn’t mean it in a bad way.” you clarify. 
“Which way do you mean it?” Eren asks. 
You sigh. 
“I mean. You handled everything considerably well, even if it wasn’t easier for you. You…you waited until I was ready to hear it, until I asked to be told your side of the story. And you put it all together, wrapped in a perfect bow with that documentary, and then took me to see Lana and Sukuna too because you knew I’d want to.” you mumble. 
“Wrapped in a ribbon. Who the fuck calls it a bow?” 
You roll your eyes, earning you a laugh from Eren that’s so loud it makes you laugh too. You reach forward to clamp your fingers over his mouth, muffling the loud sound, as you shush him loudly. 
Eren pauses. 
“I’m glad it worked. And I had a lot of time to think. You don’t have as much, but…we’ll help you. With whatever you want to do.” Eren states. 
You give him a nod, unsatisfied with the answer. 
“What were you thinking?” Eren asks. 
You fish out the little slip of your pocket, nearly smushing your face into his in the process, and place the little paper in his hand. 
“This is…Satoru Gojo’s phone number?” Eren asks. 
“Yeah. I got it from Sukuna.” 
“For what purpose?” 
You pause. 
“I’m going to bury Scott Clarkson into the ground.” 
Eren’s caught off by the answer. 
“You’re what?” 
“What answer were you expecting?” 
“I’m not mad at it. I was just thinking more…I want to write music again. I’m not a quitter.” 
You frown. 
“I thought about that. But it hasn’t exactly worked for me like that. I even tried when I was at the beach but I came up with nothing. But that’s not relevant, I don’t need to write music to end him.” 
“I mean, yeah, I guess. But it’s better that way. Using exactly what they tried to take away from you to get back at them.” Eren responds. 
You smile. 
“You’ll help me?” 
Eren rolls his eyes. 
“I’m pretty sure I made it clear that I’d do anything for you. Even this. Especially this.” 
You smile. You reach forward, placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing hard. 
“Thank you. And I get what you’re saying about the music, but it just isn’t happening, so we’ll have to think of something else.” 
“I have an idea. When we get back to set, okay? I think it’ll help.” Eren states. 
You nod. 
“Okay. I trust you.” you respond. 
The sentiment sends a shiver down Eren’s spine. 
“I don’t know how it’ll go. I can’t promise that it’ll work out the way we want it.” Eren clarifies. 
You smile. 
“I was trusting you to help me get back into songwriting, not into bringing him down. I’m talking about help into being…myself again.” 
Eren’s eyes flicker, down to your lips, and then back up to your eyes. You almost swear that you imagined it. 
“Do you think I’m different?” you ask. 
“Yeah.” 
You pale. 
“Do you hate me for it?” you ask. 
Eren shakes his head. 
“I like you better like this.” he whispers.
Eren reaches forward, tucking the loose hairs back behind your ear, before his warm fingers are secured around the nape of your neck. He does it a second time, looks at your lips, and this time you swear the corners of his mouth are twitching too. 
“You weren’t very confident when I met you, almost like you didn’t think you were cut out to do this. Unsure of why you even had a place in the room. Then you went so far away from me, worked yourself so hard, that I barely remember you even smiling at any of us anymore. You were angry, then you were heartbroken, and apparently you broke a lot of plates when you weren’t with any of us?” 
You roll your eyes. 
“I’m going to kill Falco.” 
“Colt.” Eren corrects. 
You scoff. 
“No way. Eren, he kind of hates you.” 
“Kind of? Colt was ready to punch me in the face when he first got to set. Rightfully so.” Eren responds. 
“It’s actually not rightfully so. He didn’t even know what you did.” you state. 
Eren pauses. 
“I know. He got here and asked me first thing what it was I did to you. Then he wanted to punch me in the face when I told him.” 
You shrug. You can tell that Eren’s waiting for an explanation - green eyes looking at you expectantly as you give him a nod. 
“It felt wrong to talk to him about it. Falco knew you a little bit better, but even for him…they would just start bad mouthing you just to make me feel good. But that would just make me feel worse because…I don’t get it. Hating someone just because things went wrong.”  
You crack your knuckles. 
“It’s like Ricky. I can badmouth him. He was horrible. He’s a bad person and he literally left me out there to rot just to embarrass me. He did it to Lana, to Teddy. You…I just thought you didn’t like me. I couldn’t really fault you for how you felt. And I loved you. I don't get off on talking shit about you when you were my entire world.” 
Eren smiles. 
“You had every right to badmouth me.” 
“But that’s the thing. I just didn’t want to. Even if things ended badly, you still made me really happy. We still did this entire thing together and-” 
“We’ll finish it together.” 
You smile, giving him a nod.
“You know when you’re in a relationship and you feel like you get to see a different side of that person? Because you’re so close?” Eren asks.
“Yeah.” 
“That’s how you came back to us. Feeling close again. A fresh slate, back to what drew us all to you in the first place. So many things in this industry, in this job are so fake. I mean our job is to literally pretend. You are an overwhelmingly genuine person. Even more so now. You are different. We’re all going to love you for it.” Eren states. 
For someone who’s so convinced he’s horrible with words, Eren always seems to have the perfect ones for you. 
“Will you leave if things go south?” you ask. 
“No.” 
“Then we can do this. I’m positive.” you state. 
“What makes you so sure?” 
You squeeze Eren's hand three times.
“I don’t have anything to lose, Eren.” 
--
When you get back to set the following morning, you don’t miss Connie very loudly whispering with Eren behind you. You’re positive Jean and Mikasa are eavesdropping just as much as you are, their eyes fixed a little too hard waiting for Eren’s response. 
Did you guys kiss?
No, Connie, am I crazy?  
It makes your heart sink a little bit, but you ignore it as Eren comes up at your side, giving you a bright smile. He reaches for the little glass jar to your left and gives you a wink before he calls for everyone’s attention. 
“First things first, Falco. Good job on press. That was one of the funniest fucking interviews I’ve seen in my life.” 
Falco laughs, as you turn your head to the side, pretending to do a little bow as everyone pats him on the back, and you look at Mikasa. 
“What did I miss?” 
Mikasa smiles, pulling up the video at your side. 
“Levi’s direction was to not answer any questions about you. Naturally, that was all they asked about so we all decided to coordinate our answers and basically say that we didn’t know you.” Mikasa states. 
“What?” 
“It sounds stupid, but it was so funny. Some of them started actually believing it. And Falco took it so far, he started pretending like he wasn’t even related to you.” 
Mikasa hands you the phone as you play the video, barely containing your laughter at how stupid the video is. Falco’s so confident in his words, so self-assured that it’s making Gabi burst out into laughter, and obviously messes with the interviewer so bad that they can’t even continue. 
It makes you happier than it should - their first experience being so overwhelmingly positive.
“And we all wore ribbons in our hair, which didn’t help matters anyway.” Mikasa states. 
“Levi’s a menace. He’s milking this so much.” you state. 
“That was actually my idea.” 
“Oh. I didn’t mean-” 
“I know. I just want you coming back to be a big deal. It’s not an easy thing for you to do. You’re going to get every bit of hype for it.” 
You smile, reaching forward to link arms with her, as Eren makes a booing sound. 
“Are you done? Can I talk now?” 
You shove Eren. 
“Stop being rude.” 
“I’m not being rude. You guys interrupted me.” 
“Why were you talking before us? That’s so inconsiderate of you.” Mikasa states. 
You laugh as Eren rolls his eyes, handing each of them a tiny white slip and a marker, before he takes his spot next to you and gives you a big smile. 
“Y/N is going to write a song. Multiple actually. I want you to write down ideas for her and she’s going to pull one out every morning and read it to us. Then she has to play whatever she came up with, even if it was only one line, at the end of that day.” Eren states. 
“Eren.” you start.
“No buts. You guys know the drill.” 
You watch as everyone follows his instructions, excitedly whispering to each other as their pens move, and you look over at Eren. He drops his own slip into the cup, the first one, with his name neatly looped on the outside as he gives you a smile. 
“I’m not going to be able to write anything.” you state. 
“Well, you heard the rules. You’ll have to write something.” 
“Eren.” 
He shakes his head, handing you his journal, opening it to the marked page as you flip through the sheets. 
“I did this a while back, when I was getting back into it. It helps a lot more than you think. And you can ask the person who gave you the slip for help if you really need it, but that person only.” 
You take the book for him, watching everyone give you excited smiles as the cup fills up just as fast, and flip though the pages. 
“write a song about me and sukuna” And underneath, the lyrics to a song called Daylight. 
“write a song about connie’s one year anniversary of being sober” with Levi’s distinct handwriting and the lyrics to a song called Forever Winter scribbled messily on the page. 
And the last one makes your throat bob in your chest. 
“write a song about y/n”
You read over the lyrics, pressing your fingers against the ink, as you fervently read the lyrics. 
We didn't know that we had it all But nobody warns you before the fall Don't leave, I just need a wake-up call
I'm facing the greatest The greatest loss of them all The culture is lit and I had a ball I guess I'm signing off after all
You look up at him, his attention drawn away as he shuffles the cup in his hand to mix up the slips and then holds the cup out to you. Everyone’s watching, waiting for you to pull a piece, as you set the book down, and give them all a meek nod. 
There’s a resounding sound of cheers, and an obscene amount of screaming from Connie and Sasha, as you close your eyes and pull out the first paper. You open up the little slip, floored by how random the request is. 
“Write a song about upstaging someone's wedding. Connie.” you state. 
A resounding smack fills the room - as you look over to find Jean hitting Connie. 
“I told you not to put that in.” Jean yells.
“What? It’s funny! Eren said random stuff helps with this.” Connie defends. 
“Dumbass. You just had to write something about ruining a wedding?” Jean grates. 
“Who the fuck said it was about you, you egomaniac?” Sasha asks, reaching forward to flick his forehead. 
“Who else is getting married, dumbass?” Jean responds. 
“Why are you so mad? You’re clearly projecting your own personal issues.” Connie states, as Jean and Sasha follow him out of the room, their shouts filling up the quiet air. 
Eren turns to you, a bright smile on his face. You want to smack him.
“I’ll see you tonight. Fully written song and all.” Eren states, lightly shoving you as he walks past. 
You groan, leaning your head on Mikasa’s shoulder, as you hand her the little slip. 
“Eren’s so fucking annoying sometimes. How am I supposed to write a song about this?” you complain. 
“You’ll think of something. You’re amazing.” Mikasa states. 
“I um…actually got you something. And I had something I wanted to ask.” 
You took Sukuna’s words seriously. And had every intention to make amends. 
“Really?” she asks. 
“Yeah. It’s a keychain.”
You pull it out, the little penguin charm hanging off the end, as she takes it into her hands. It makes your heart swell - the way she carefully turns it over in her fingers, the excited smile on her face. 
“Thank you so much, Y/N.” 
“It’s kind of stupid but…it’s blue? Like something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue?” you state. 
Mikasa’s smile gets wider, her shoulders relaxing as she reaches forward to give you a hug. 
“Thank you. I love it.” 
“It’s just a penguin.” you murmur. 
“Maybe to someone else. But I haven’t forgotten that we watched Happy Feet at midnight the day we were supposed to film the Colossal Titan reveal and almost missed shooting that day.” she states. 
You can barely contain your elation this time. That Mikasa remembers the memory just as well as you do. You both laugh for a second before you muster the courage to ask. 
“Listen. I want to ask something but I don’t want to overstep so know that you can say no.” you state. 
“Okay.” 
“I know that we have our own rooms, but I wanted to ask if you wanted to share again? Colt and Porco always snore and…and you have your entire life to share a room with Jean but only a few more months to share one with me?” you mumble, voice nearly shaking. 
Mikasa brings her hands to your shoulders, squeezing hard as she can barely contain your smile. 
“Really? You really want to share with me?” she asks. 
“Are you crazy? You’re like the best roommate I’ve ever had.”
“Bullshit.” 
“No, really. Falco kicks, Colt smells, Porco snores, and Eren’s nothing compared to you. You're like a princess compared to them.” 
Mikasa smiles. 
“Deal. Lets go switch the signs - to their rightful places - right now.” 
“What if Jean disagrees?” you ask. 
Mikasa rolls her eyes. 
“He can choke for all I care.” Mikasa states, linking her arm in with yours as you both pound up the stairs right to the hallway. 
You take the marker, scribbling out Mikasa and Jean’s names (and Connie’s comments underneath) as you hand her the marker to do the honors. You both admire the little sign together, arms wrapped around each other, as Eren, Connie, and Jean join you two. 
“What the fuck?” Jean asks. 
You smile at him. 
“Sorry. Not your room anymore.” you respond. 
“One could argue that it was never really yours in the first place, Jean.” Mikasa states. 
“Dude, you guys are so annoying.” Jean states. 
“Did you just call your fiance, dude?” Eren asks, earning him a shove from Jean. 
Connie comes up at Mikasa’s side, taking the marker from her hands, and adding his signature comment to finish off the new sign. You look over at him and smile, tugging him into your hug with Mikasa - as you all admire the door. 
Y/N-MIKA FOREVER!!! 
And underneath, Connie’s lopsided handwriting: 
WE’RE SOOO FUCKING BACK
--
You understand why everyone was crowding you and Eren when they thought you were going to kiss in season two. It’s because you got to set early to make sure you got a good seat for Falco and Gabi’s love confession - so excited that you could barely eat your lunch.
You can’t help but watch them a few feet away from you, nervously kicking their legs on their chairs, as your notebook lays forgotten in front of you.
There’s a group of shitty lyrics on the page, so embarrassing that you shut the page as Eren approaches and takes the seat next to you and Mikasa. 
“I wasn’t going to read them, silly goose.” Eren states, lightly shoving you as you tuck the book under your ankles. 
“Good. I’d kill you before you tried.” 
“Wow. Standing up weddings has you that mad?” 
“The opposite actually.” you state. 
Eren rolls his eyes as he scooches closer to you, halfheartedly shaking Levi’s hand as he passes. You look over to Falco and Gabi again - the two of them increasingly nervous, Gabi more so for some reason, as you lean over and whisper into Eren's ear.  
“Ten bucks this pushes their real love confession ten years into the future.” you state.  
“What?” 
“Think about it. We had to kiss and it pushed things back basically a year and a half because we got all flustered and confused. Falco’s doing a whole bit, they’re going to be nervous about this for years.” you state. 
Eren rolls his eyes, reaching forward to elbow you in the side. 
“Bullshit.” 
“I’m right! The same thing happened with Hange and Levi.” you defends. 
“Rookie mistake, Y/N. Do I know your little brother better than you? He’s not half as pussy as you or Levi.” 
“Touché, asshole. If he likes her so bad, why hasn’t he said it yet?” you respond. 
“He’s a romantic. He’s waiting for the right time.” Eren responds. 
You look over at the two of them, splitting a box of Tic-Tacs, as Levi walks back to his cues and sets up the cameras. 
“Think about it. In a relationship, you’re either a Hange or a Levi. You’re either a Jean or a Mikasa. Falco’s obviously more like Mikasa and Levi. And Gabi’s like Jean and Hange. She has to make the move.” 
“You’ve got it all wrong. Gabi’s the Levi and Falco’s the Hange.” Eren responds, nearly offended at your statement. 
“Are you an idiot?” 
“Watch. I’ll prove it to you.” 
Eren pushes up off the floor, dragging Niccolo along with him, as they two of them approach Gabi and Falco. You’re not sure what they’re whispering - but you can tell that Falco and Gabi are flustered by the premise - and Eren and Niccolo are far too elated as Eren walks back over to you, this time with Niccolo in tow. 
“Hi Nico.” 
“Hi Y/N.” 
You look over at Eren, glaring at him, as he gives you a sheepish shrug. 
“Okay, guys. We’re going to start rolling. Falco, Gabi, you ready?” 
“Yeah.” they respond in unison, giving each other a little fist bump as they take their seats on the floor. 
“Was no one going to ask me? I’m in this scene too.” Colt complains, earning a fit of laughter from the crew. 
Everyone quiets down as the lights dim on the set, the group of you hunching forward, trying to contain your smiles as you look at each other. It’s only then that you’re reminded of how good Falco and Gabi are at acting, the painstaking agony in their voice almost making you shiver. 
“I helped make the attack on Liberio happen. I met a wounded soldier at that hospital, and without knowing it was Eren Jaeger, I sent letters from him to his allies using the mailboxes outside the zone.” Falco starts. 
Mikasa leans over to look at Eren, mouthing the words “fucking bastard” as you try to contain your laughs. Levi gives the four of you a warning glance, as you muster out an apologetic smile. 
“A lot of people died in Liberio. So….it’s my fault that Udo and Zofia died.” Falco finishes. 
“I see…” Gabi responds. 
Falco swallows hard, a pink blush on his cheeks, as you all excitedly smile. 
“Also, I love you. I didn’t want you to inherit the Armored Titan. That’s why I became a warrior candidate. So…so that we could get married…and be happy forever.” 
Gabi’s as red as a tomato. You almost feel bad for teasing the two of them so hard but it’s so endearing it makes your heart squeeze. 
“I wanted you to live a long life!” Falco shouts. 
“What are you saying?” Gabi responds. 
“I might turn into a Titan at any moment. I just wanted to get it all out there before I’m gone for good.” 
It's silent - leave for Gabi's tears before she quickly stands up. You watch as Gabi aggressively wrestles with Falco, pulling off the little black band secured around his waist, before she throws it on the ground, her chest heaving.
You sincerely hope Levi campaigns for them to win an award for this one. 
Levi calls cut, as Hange runs up to the two of them, excitedly cheering them both on as they avert their gaze from each other. Eren’s quick to jump up, grabbing you by the wrist as he pulls you up to the group of them, a devious smirk on his face. 
Niccolo’s quick to join his side, the two of them crossing their arms over their chest and smirking at Falco, as he sighs. 
“Really, guys?” Falco asks.
“Really. You agreed to it, little dude.” Eren states. 
Falco rolls his eyes, nervously eyeing Gabi - who is excitedly jumping up and down in front of a very unamused Levi - before he walks over to her and plants a big kiss on her cheek. The group of you all gasp, Gabi’s skin burning red, as Falco runs away, claiming he needs to go to the bathroom. 
Niccolo and Eren are fist bumping at your side and Eren’s turns to you, irritatingly positioned with his hands on his hips, as he smiles at you. 
“Told you so.” Eren states.
“What the hell did that prove?” 
“It’s simple. I asked Falco if he wanted to play a game of Truth or Dare. Then, I asked him to kiss his favorite person on the cast on the cheek after the scene was over. Told him to run right up to you and do it since I knew for a fact you’re his favorite.” 
“Eren, you little-” 
“Falco is most definitely the Hange or the Jean of the relationship. Would even go as far to argue that he might even be the boldest.” Eren states. 
You groan, the two of you walking past Gabi and Falco near the snack table, a sizable distance away from each other and nearly sweating in the presence of each other. You and Eren shoot them a thumbs up, and Eren continues to gloat all the way back to the house. 
--
At the end of the workday, Eren’s gathered everyone in the main room in a big crowd, doing nothing to help your nerves, as you give them all a smile and loop the guitar strap over your shoulder and sit on the bench. 
“Okay. Repeat the request, Y/N.” Eren guides, the group of them all giving you warm smiles. 
Mikasa and Sasha blow you a kiss, Porco and Connie with overenthusiastic thumbs up, and Eren’s smile pushing you on. 
“Right. The request was ‘write a song about standing up a wedding’ and it was from Connie.” you state. 
You swallow hard as you shut the book and place it under the bench and start strumming on the guitar to warm up. 
“Be nice to me guys. I called this one Speak Now.” 
I am not the kind of girl Who should be rudely barging in on a white veil occasion But you are not the kind of boy Who should be marrying the wrong girl
There’s a resounding sound of cheers, Connie and Mikasa clapping along with the sound as everyone else follows suit. You can feel your head pounding, your voice slightly shaking as you continue on and the guitar strings uncomfortably burning your fingers. 
I sneak in and see your friends And her snotty little family all dressed in pastel And she is yelling at a bridesmaid Somewhere back inside a room Wearing a gown shaped like a pastry 
Mikasa scoffs. 
“Are you trying to tell me something?” 
Everyone laughs, including you, as you shake your head and blow her a kiss before continuing. She makes the little gesture at you - like she’s catching the kiss in the air and tucking it into her pocket. You can feel Jean rolling his eyes at your side. 
Don't say yes, run away now I'll meet you when you're out of the church at the back door Don't wait, or say a single vow You need to hear me out And they said, "Speak now"
The rest of the song goes relatively smoothly, the excitement from the group of them making your heart soar, that block in your throat dissolve.
Sasha’s trapped Niccolo in her arms and has been aggressively swinging him around for the past minute, Porco and Gabi locking their fingers together to do a little swing dance, and Hange, Armin, and Eren bobbing their heads in unison at the side. 
The group of them all give you a deafening sound of applause when you finish, aggressive hugs and kisses being placed on your cheeks as they all applaud you - claiming your brilliance - as you feel your cheeks burn with excitement. 
Eren’s the last one to approach you, an almost too satisfied with himself smile on his face for the second time today, as you give him your most peachy smile. 
“Like it?” you ask.
“Loved it. You’ve still got it.” Eren states. 
“You know it.” 
“Can I give you one note?” Eren asks.
“Please.” 
“The last verse. You have to change it.” 
“What? Why?” you ask. 
“It’s a good repeat. But I’m more curious…did the guy from the song leave the altar for her?” 
You nod, giving him a smile, as you reach for the book, and gesture for him to sit next to you on the bench. You quickly jumble the lyrics onto the page, nearly misspelling half of the words, before you hand it to him for inspection. 
And you'll say, "Let's run away now" I'll meet you when I'm out of my tux at the back door Baby, I didn't say my vows So glad you were around When they said, "Speak now"
"Always a sucker for a happy ending. It's perfect." Eren states.
He gives you a glimmering smile, making your heart skip a beat as his hand brushes against yours. Eren pulls out the little slip from earlier today, taping it right above the lyrics.
He gives you a last pinch of the cheek before pushing off the bench, leaving your entire body burning at his praise. 
“That’s my girl. I didn’t doubt you for even a second.”
You pause.
"Eren?"
He turns back, eyebrows raised.
"Yeah?"
"Ask me who my favorite person on set is."
"What?"
"Ask me."
"Why would I-"
"Can you just do it?"
Eren turns back, hands at his side.
"Who's your favorite person on set?" Eren asks.
You walk up to his side, standing on your tip toes to press a kiss into the softness of his cheek. You hope that he understands - that you're overwhelmingly thankful for him. For the documentary, the days in Seattle, and the lifeline he always throws you. That you'll always be indebted to him.
"It's you." you whisper.
Eren's cheeks are pink.
"Is that right?" Eren asks, the tone in his voice teasing.
"Don't push your luck." you state.
"Wouldn't dream of it." Eren responds, as he gives you one last cheek pinch before leaving you alone with the piano.
Singing the song, strumming the guitar - it's almost like stretching an old muscle, flexing out the soreness. You're so excited that you reach for the cup on top of the piano to start writing the next one right away. But when your read the slip, you feel your mouth go dry.
you love someone with your entire being, and all they do is tolerate it
And at the bottom, a name scribbled in messy handwriting
Jean.
--
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--
next part linked here
an: OK GUYS. WE'RE IN THE ENDGAME NOW!!! sorry its kind of boring but we die like men
taglist: @k0z3me @kayleegomez @yihona-san06  @bsenpai @sweetenertea @mykyoon @violetmatcha  @rebeccawinters @cutiejgg @bokutosthings @bookwrmm @mblrrr @wheredidmycrowngo @somethinginyoureyes7 @chilichopsticks @okaystopwhore @you-always-made-me-blush @itzmeme @firelordazulaaaa @whoami-72 @g-ghostly @intimacywithceline @erensmoodygf @cocomellxn @princess-ackerman @jaegerfiles @cacapeepee @rui-0836 @moonmalice @invisible-morii @sofiasber @bbybeeb @timetobegone @tee4str @ttokki2 @leave-rae-alone @ec3lipsy @officialsimpp @gojojang @yookayyo @lordbugs @multiplefandomthings @iobeyfandoms @camilo-uwu @justanotherkpopstanlol @mel-star636 @fvckingeetar @ttalgi @najaemism @ilovekimchi123 @youraggedybitch @xoyumiqls @leafguitar @dreamy-carat @spiidergirlsworld @luvs4kim @levin4nami @florichun @hoonmyluv @cowgirlikets @dreamxiing @mamamammarga @tangerine-neonlight
pls comment on this post or any of the chapters if you want to be added to the taglist <3
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cassie48 · 3 months
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𝓗𝓘𝓢 𝓔𝓜𝓟𝓡𝓔𝓢𝓢
𝖣𝖺𝗋𝗍𝗁 𝗏𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋 anakin 𝗑 𝖿𝖾𝗆 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋
⋆ටᆼට⋆⋆ටᆼට⋆⋆ටᆼට⋆⋆ටᆼට⋆⋆ටᆼට⋆⋆ටᆼට⋆⋆ටᆼට⋆⋆ට
You were his prised possession. The very reason he lived. When he first met you on Tatooine as a boy he decided then and there, thatyou’d be his.
When he went back years later to seek out his mother, he met you again. 𝗜𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵, he had decided. So he took you with him, despite what others thought.
Keeping you and him a secret was by far the hardest thing he had ever done. He was a very possessive man, and when anyone 𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 flirt with you, it would take everything in him not to kill them then and there.
Obi-wan was aware of your relationship with Anakin and knew it wasn’t just some childhood nostalgic friendship. He knew, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴. So when he went to Mustafar to stop him, he brought you.
You, scared and confused out of your mind, stayed on the ship until he and Obi-wan had finished fighting. When your heard the silence you ran out spotting him.
“Ani?” You wept tears falling down your tanned cheeks.
“Sweetheart what are you doing here?” He asked pulling your smaller body into his and wrapping his big arms around your little waist.
“Obi-wan brought me. W-Where is he” She cried clinging onto him.
“He had betrayed us. He’s to weak to understand my power. I have defeated the emperor, I know how the power to rule” he smiled menacingly placing your little head in his hands.
“Y-You’re gonna rule the galaxy?” You asked shocked.
“Me and you, side by side. I can finally treat you like the queen you are. I would never let anything or anyone hurt you. Do you understand sweetheart?” He said pulling you closer to him, if it were at all possible.
You nodded slowly taking in the information. “Y-You’d never hurt anyone, right Ani?” You asked innocently, leaning your head on his chest, the days events slightly tiring you out as your eyes grew heavy.
“Princess, the only time I’d ever hurt anyone is if they were hurting you. You understand that’s why’d I’d do it right?” He lied, knowing you’d believe him. He had to, you belonged next to him.
“I understand ani” you barely whispered, as you leant your body weight against him, feeling sleep wash over you.
“You must be so tired sweetheart, let’s go back to the ship, you need rest” he lovingly told you, but you were barely conscious at this stage. He picked you up  bridal style and you leant your head on his shoulder drifting off.
⋆ටᆼට⋆⋆ටᆼට⋆⋆ටᆼට⋆⋆ටᆼට⋆⋆ටᆼට⋆⋆ටᆼට⋆⋆ටᆼට⋆⋆ට
Here you were, one month later since that night. Anakin was right, he took care of you, treated you like a princess. You and hun ruled the galaxy, the emperor and his empress.
You were sat in his lap, your little head leaning against his chest as he explained his orders to his men in front of him.
It wasn’t unusual for you to be sitting on his lap while he worked, he told you it calmed him down.
As you leant your head on his big chest, you tried your best not to let your eyes close, feeling tiredness come over you.
You let your eyes wander around the room, trying to keep them open. You looked to the right, your body freezing when you saw a man, one of Anakins me staring at you, with a disgusting smirk on his face.
You didn’t know what to do, your body didn’t move an inch. Anakin frowned feeling the nerves radiating off of you.
He leant down and placed his hand over your face, before asking “what’s wrong baby?” With a deeply concerned expression.
“He’s staring at me ani…I don’t like it!” You whispered burying your small face in his chest to escape the man’s stare. Tears slowly fell down your cheeks.
All the men stopped talking and looked towards the two of you. They were waiting for the emperor to kill or torture someone. They had been warned their first day
Anakin looked up, glaring at the man with a look that cannot be explained. He picked you up, placing your head away from the men.
“If any of you leave this room before I get back I will kill you all” he said simply before turning and walking back to your shared headquarters.
Once arriving he placed you down into your big bed, leaning down and giving you a sweet kiss.
You willed your tears and looked up at him. “I’m sorry Ani I don’t know why I’m so emotional lately” you whispered staring at his hand you were holding.
“I think I know sweetheart but we’ll discuss it in the morning. Try to sleep and I’ll be back in a little while” he told you as he went to leave.
You gripped his hand that you had been holding, your big doe eyes looking up to his own dark ones
“Y-Your not gonna do something bad are you ani?” You whispered with a slight pout on your lips.
Anakij smirked at you innocent look. “I’m only gonna have a stern word with the men baby” he told you, tucking you into bed and kissing your forehead tenderly.
You nodded before sleep came over you, and you closed your eyes.
Anakin smiled contently before leaving the room, his smile turning to a glare as he made his way back to the meeting room.
When arriving he saw all his men standing with an extremely nervous look on their faces, two men holding the man who was looking at you earlier.
Anakin walked directly over to the men with a knife in his hand, plunging it into his chest.
“What did u tell you about looking at my wife. She’s mine!” He yelled out, his face scrunched up in anger.
Eventuallu he pulled out the knife from the man’s now lifeless body, letting it drop to the floor.
Anakin looked at the two guards near him.
“Clean up this mess. Let all of you see this as a warning, of what will happen to you if you so much as look at your empress” he spat, with pure rage in his tone.
He made his way back to your headquarters, changing into clothes without blood. He then climbed into bed with you.
“Ani? Is that you?” Your soft angelic voice said, as you turned over rubbing your eyes.
“Yeah it’s me baby, go back to sleep you tired yourself out today” Anakin said his hands going about both sides of your waist before pulling you up a little into his embrace.
You hummed burying your face into his neck
“Did you have a talk with the mean man” You asked, your voice laced with a little fear.
Anakin noticed this and frowned.
“Baby, you know I would have never let him hurt you. He’s dealt with, this won’t happen again” he softly told you, pulling you in closer trying to ease your worries.
“Ok ani” you said before you drifted back off to sleep, your mind now at ease.
⋆ටᆼට⋆⋆ටᆼට⋆⋆ටᆼට⋆⋆ටᆼට⋆⋆ටᆼට⋆⋆ටᆼට⋆⋆ටᆼට⋆⋆ට
𝗔:𝗡:
𝗶 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗶𝗺 𝗴𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗮 𝗱𝗼 𝗮 𝗽𝘁 𝟮 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀!!
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welcometomyoasis · 5 months
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Seventeen as life's comforting moments
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Synopsis: what comforting moments the seventeen members remind me of no pairing | fluff, comfort | approx. 2.4k words | warnings: mental heath, insecurities A/n: because svt brought me so much comfort this past year, here's a little headcanon. i'm wishing everyone a good year ahead ❤️
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🍒 Seungcheol - spending quality time with people you care about
Seungcheol is the type of person who really treasures those who care close to him. He shows his appreciation to them in different ways by giving them gifts, like Jeonghan’s Dyson airwrap, or telling them how much he cares for them. But I feel like one major way he shows his love and appreciation is just to spend quality time with them. They don’t have to be doing something fun. They don’t even need to be engaged in some deep, emotional conversation. The time spent together could simply be a quiet day at home spent in comfortable silence. It’s all about spending time in each other’s presence and taking that in. Time is precious. Especially amid the hustle and bustle of life, being able to carve out time shows just how much the other person means to you. It means that they are a priority in your life, and vice versa. Seungcheol encapsulates those moments of love.  
😇 Jeonghan - watching the sunset 
Perhaps this is me projecting because Jeonghan is one of my comfort people? One of my favourite quotes is “Even the darkest night will end, and the sun will rise again” from Les Miserables. I know the quote is more of a sunrise, but to me, sunsets signal the end of a hard day. You haven’t exactly gotten over the intense emotions yet, everything still feels very raw. All the emotions like anxiety or sadness washes over you. But as you see the sunset, you just know that at least for now, the day is over. There’s a certain peace of mind that comes with that thought, and I would view Jeonghan as that. He’s such a silent pillar of support for the members. They can go to him with any problems and he will gladly lend a listening ear. Sure, the problems might remain and the emotions are heightened, but Jeonghan’s presence, empathy and willingness to listen would provide so much comfort for his members. Not unlike the feelings that come with watching the sunset, Jeonghan is that moment of emotional reprieve.
🦌 Joshua - spending time by the ocean
Joshua represents the feelings you get when you’re by the ocean. Joshua is a fun loving guy, and playing by the ocean is certainly fun. You can play in the sand, build sandcastles, have a picnic, and you can run into the ocean only to laugh and run away when the tide comes rushing over your feet. At the heart of it all, Joshua embodies everything that is gentle. He’s like the soft breeze brushing against your face, the sounds of the tide slowly cascading onto the beach. He’s the happiness and peace that washes over you as you dip yourself into the ocean and let the waves slowly rock you back and forth. Best of all, he’s that feeling of serenity you get from just breathing in the salty ocean air as you look out onto the vast horizon. When you look out at the picturesque view, Joshua is that moment of serenity that comes to soothe your aching body and soul.
🐱 Junhui - snuggling under a blanket to take a nap
Junhui has a certain air of innocence around him, something I would associate with the innocence of childhood. The feeling of curiosity that made you want to grow up. It’s just that when you do, that innocence goes away. You become tired and drained from being busy all the time and having way too many responsibilities. At least when it gets too much, you can take a nap right? It’s a luxury. But there’s just something nostalgic about being able to tuck yourself under a blanket to take a nap. Feeling the weight of the blanket, letting the warmth completely envelop you as you slowly drift off. It’s not that you feel childish from taking a nap, nor is it childish in the first place for wanting to take a rest. It’s about that nostalgic feeling that makes you long for the time when you were younger and hadn’t dealt with what life had thrown at you. Napping makes you feel like an innocent kid again within your own little bubble away from the harshness of life. In that sense, Junhui represents the moments that heal your inner child. 
🐯 Hoshi - feeling passionate or excited about something
If there is one thing about Hoshi, you can never doubt the amount of passion he has. It doesn’t matter what that passion is directed at, he never seems to run out of it. Be it his passion for dancing, his members, tigers or even his passion for throwing Mingyu under the bus during the mafia game. I also wouldn’t say that it’s simply when you allow yourself to get caught up in the moment. Passion is more complex than that. Feeling passionate about something, someone. It’s a feeling that excites you and it’s that feeling drives you forward to pursue whatever and whoever it is that is at the center of it. It doesn’t just make you feel alive, it makes you feel that life is worth living. It allows you to turn that passion into determination, strength to push forward even if you encounter any hardship. Honestly I don’t know what else to write because to me, Hoshi represents the moments when you allow your emotions to take over completely, when you allow your emotions to guide you forward. 
🐈‍⬛ Wonwoo - solo dates
We all know that Wonwoo is extremely reserved, he is an introvert who does enjoy spending time alone. Sure he loves his members, but he definitely needs time alone to recharge. Wonwoo reminds me of solo dates. When you just take yourself out. You could be engaging in your hobbies like photography. But it’s not only about that. It’s about really treating yourself to things and experiences that you enjoy. You can’t put a price on the relaxation and peace that going on solo dates brings. Of course you don’t have to spend money on your solo date either. Your solo date could be at the new restaurant you wanted to try, or at the old restaurant you are a regular at. Maybe it could be at the beach or park. You could even indulge a little and try the expensive spa treatment, or you could get the $3 McDonalds McFlurry. Ultimately, you’re doing what you want to indulge yourself. I see Wonwoo really enjoying that, so I would think that Wonwoo represents the moments when you exercise self-love and self-care.
🍚 Woozi - time spent creating
Woozi has done and created so much for seventeen. The sheer amount of creative energy that this man has is indescribable. As such, I would see Woozi as the time you can spend creating. There are no boundaries or rules for being creative. You can literally do what you want. You want to paint a picture of a cute cat, do photography, paint your nails, write a seventeen act play. Go right ahead. Sadly, no matter how inspired you are, sometimes insecurities get to you. It holds you back from creating because you don’t think it will be good enough. My question is good enough for who? It’s your work and others’ opinions should not, and do not matter. You should be proud of what you can create. Woozi would certainly share that sentiment. Because of that, I strongly stand by the opinion that Woozi would be the moment you are able to let go of your insecurities or inhibitions to create something that would definitely mean a lot to you.
⚔️ Dokyeom - genuinely laughing
I don’t just mean letting out a haha laugh or writing an lol that we often do with a relatively straight face. I’m talking about laughter that comes from our bellies. The type that makes you tear from spending so much energy being hunched over and clutching yourself. The type that physically sheds all the tension from your body. Dokyeom reminds me of that. His laughter is contagious. His smile and energy is bright. He’s not afraid to laugh or be playful. He’s naturally funny and his cheeky antics bring so much joy and laughter to us and the rest of seventeen. Dokyeom represents that ability to lose yourself in a moment of laughing at something or someone that you find hilarious. He represents the feeling of being able to just feel something other than all the complex, possibly negative emotions in life. Dokyeom is the moment when you feel alive.
🐸 Minghao - taking a walk through a trail in a forested area 
Being able to walk through a trail in a forested area is a much needed change of scenery from the stifling, chaotic cities that we live in. Minghao gives off the feeling of emotional and mental stability, something I would associate with the tranquillity of nature. Walking down a path amongst all the trees, feeling the warmth of the sunshine hit my face. Yet feeling the coolness that comes with the shade of the trees. It’s sad that we often forget how beautiful nature is, that we forget how we should appreciate and experience nature. In the same way that Minghao would close his eyes when he meditates, closing our eyes when we are surrounded by nature will help you to feel at peace with yourself and your surroundings. Listening to the sounds of the animals like the cicadas or birds, taking in the scent of pine trees or flowers. It’s not about being one with nature, it’s more about being present. Minghao is certainly that moment of learning how to be present, and more importantly, how to feel present within your surroundings. 
🐶 Mingyu - waking up early in the morning 
Not everyone is a morning person I get it. Somehow Mingyu makes me think that he’s an early riser, someone who would like to get a head start to the day. I would think of him as this time in the morning just after the sun has risen that is calm and quiet. It’s the time before the city or wherever you are gets busy. The sun casts its rays into your house, giving it the most beautiful illuminated glow. It makes your otherwise normal house look ethereal. Especially if you have the day off, that time of the day is also perfect because you get to prepare yourself for the day without the pressure of having to be prepared for anything specific. You can afford to take your time and just go around your house. You can make your breakfast, do your skincare routine, choose an outfit for the day. Or, you could just sit with a cup of coffee, tea, or whatever drink you prefer and chill out on the couch. Having that time to yourself is precious and it gives you time to prepare yourself mentally for the day. Perhaps you even anticipate getting out there. Mingyu is definitely that moment, the moment where you feel ready to take on the day no matter what it throws at you. 
🍊 Seungkwan - listening to heavy rainfall 
The sound of rain falling is soothing. The rhythmic way that it drips and splashes onto your window or the ground. Hearing the pitter patter of the rain drops while you’re inside does something to you. Perhaps it’s the melancholic feeling that the grey sky makes you feel, or perhaps it is the heavy water droplets that fall harshly to the ground. Whatever it is, it has a soothing effect, making you feel instantly calmer. It heals you. Similarly, Seungkwan has the most beautiful, soothing voice. His voice is soft, melodic. He knows how and when to regulate the tone and strength of his voice. He has the talent and ability to put different emotions into the song when it’s needed. When you hear him sing, you can’t help but give up control over your emotions. Your mood automatically shifts according to the emotions he delivers through the songs. Like the sound of the rain, listening to him relaxes you. Seungkwan is the moment you allow your heart and mind to rest. 
🐻‍❄️ Vernon - engaging in your hobbies
There are people who are quirky in the best way possible. That’s Vernon. He’s so unabashedly Vernon? The fandom jokes he’s like an alien. He likes food combinations that most people would think are weird. He wears clothes which look like they don’t match but are actually pieces from designer collections. I link this with engaging in your hobbies because everyone has different hobbies. And sometimes our hobbies would be considered weird. But it’s what we enjoy doing. It’s not about finding validation from other people, it’s about being able to be in our own little bubbles to do what we want. It’s our safe place. We engage in our hobbies not only because we think it’s fun, but it’s also an escape from life. Our hobbies, as weird as they are to others, bring us contentment and fulfilment. Everyone is weird that way, right? I would like to think that Vernon therefore represents the moments of happiness that comes with indulging in activities you enjoy. 
🦦 Chan - accomplishing little things 
Honestly, I struggled thinking of what to write for Chan. Similar to Hoshi, Chan is passionate, and similar to Woozi, Chan is creative. He’s capable of so much and he always excels at what he does. That’s why I would see Chan as the times when you are able to accomplish something. In life, there are so many expectations. We’re expected to do so many things at the same time, and we’re expected to do it well. If you can’t juggle the tasks, you’re deemed to be inefficient, incompetent. That kind of mindset really wears you down. It makes you feel like you’re not good enough when most of the time, you’re just worn down and stretched too thin. Instead, we should celebrate all of our achievements no matter how big or small it is. It reminds us that we aren’t as broken or useless as we think we are because we can do it. We can achieve things, which is why Chan’s ability to excel makes me believe that Chan is that moment when you manage to accomplish something. He’s that moment that you realise that you are definitely capable of more than you think. 
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taglist: @weird-bookworm @wonijinjin @babyleostuff @wishing-fieshes @kwanienies @mayashu @megseungmin @porridgesblog @haecien @mirxzii @scoupsofcherries @eightlightstar
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shxtodxroki · 5 months
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𝙽𝚘𝚝-𝚂𝚘-𝚂𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚝 𝚂𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚊
Summary: Your past friendship with Satoru Gojo is ancient history by the time you’re both well into your teaching years, the man a mere memory from your past you can’t help but reminisce on more often than you should. But when Christmas-time rolls around and you get roped into a faculty Secret Santa event alongside your sister school, your not-so-secret Santa causes old, unresolved feelings to resurface, and gives you a chance to finally rehash and truly release them. 
Warnings: Swearing, some angst, this fic was written as a gift so it’s a fem reader instead of my usual gender neutral reader! There’s also a few small descriptive details of the reader’s personality/likes since it’s targeted towards the person I wrote it for, but there are NO physical descriptions of the reader! Geto, Nanami and Haibara are also all teachers in this! (Nanami and Geto work w/ Gojo in Tokyo, while Haibara works w/ reader and Utahime in Kyoto!)
Pairing: Satoru Gojo x Fem! Reader
Word Count: 6.8k
Note: This fic is a gift that I wrote for @planetnini for this JJK secret santa event! :D Hi Nini, I was your secret santa! :D I had a lot of fun getting to know you and chatting with you through asks throughout this event, and I hope you like the final fic I made for you! I tried to take into account some of the things you told me and personalize it a bit, and I’d love to know what you think! <3 Happy holidays Nini and anyone else reading this, if you celebrate any holidays around this time of year then I hope you had a wonderful time, and even if not, I hope you’re having an amazing end of the year! :D
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The scent of the town-famous bakery always managed to fill you with a bittersweet sense of nostalgia, memories flooding your senses as flashes of bright blue eyes and teasing grins flashed behind your eyelids in response to the familiar scent. It makes your stomach twist in mild discomfort, pushing the fond childhood memories that spring up back into the crevices of your mind where they belong as you feel a small, long-residing pang of longing.
He had always loved sweets.
Being friends with Satoru Gojo, the honored one who took Jujutsu society by storm from the very moment he was born, was an experience you reflected back on far more often than you’d ever admit out loud. Considering how long it had been since the two of you last had any significant contact, it would seem odd to admit just how often your mind still wandered to him, to the many soft moments and bright memories you shared in adolescence, and to the one true best friendship you had ever known. People have come and gone through your life in waves since then, and you’ve had dear friends who meant the world to you, but nobody could ever come close to the role Satoru had once filled, the way he made your heart feel so full of affection and love that it just might burst. It was the kind of friendship you felt you would only find once in a lifetime, and thus the kind you could never forget. Maybe it wouldn’t sound that ludicrous after all, but you still kept this longing to yourself, and most days, you managed to dull it to a gentle simmer beneath your ribcage as you went about your days.
You have other things to focus on now. A job and your loved ones and the upkeep of your home, all essential parts of your daily life that keep you from lamenting on the mere wisps of memory of the boy you knew. Knowing that he wasn’t far away, living a life far busier than your own but in the same profession at your sister school, did come with the occasional urge to reach out, to reminisce or catch up or ask why your whole friendship had fallen apart in the first place. But you’ve always managed to resist the urge, to fight back the desire to reach out and pry yourself away from the open yet long-ago unfollowed Instagram page on your phone (though not always without help, you had to thank Utahime for keeping you from your nostalgic urges every now and then). 
So with all the work you had put into moving on from a friendship you honestly should have long ago, you would admit (at least to yourself) that you were less than excited to find out that you’d be participating in a winter retreat with the sister school where Satoru now taught at. You were even less eager when it was revealed that there would be a staff-wide Secret Santa event between the two schools, and as the days counted down towards the trip, you found yourself wishing that the universe would cut you a break just this once and give you anyone else besides Satoru to buy a gift for. You knew so little about the person he was currently, now that so much time had passed between the two of you, and truthfully, you had no clue if he even remembered who you were at this point. The sting of realizing that he didn’t remember you was a pain you truly didn’t long to feel, and having to get a gift for your former best friend under such uncertain conditions was simply a fate you wished to avoid at all costs.
“Quit glaring, you’re drawing attention to you, and me by proxy.” You mutter to your best friend as she glares daggers into the back of the man you wished to avoid. Luckily for you, the interaction was anything but uncommon for the two, so it was unlikely to truly draw attention to either of you. Yet it still wasn’t a risk you wanted to take, not wanting to face even the slightest possibility of being forced to suffer through awkward small talk with the man who had once known all your deepest secrets.
“How did that idiot manage to become a teacher? His students would be better off with a fucking rock as an instructor, I swear to god.” Utahime grumbles back from beside you, paying no mind to your words as she continues glaring at the man from afar. Her disdain for the man was amplified when you told her of your shared past, but she had held a strong dislike for him from the moment the two had first interacted at school functions, leaving you hopeful that he wouldn’t be phased from the typical distant hostility and annoyance he received from your best friend. These days, Satoru Gojo rarely managed to spare you as much as a glance, and it had been years since he had uttered your name (a fact you were ashamed to admit you had been keeping track of, in the brief and meager conversations the two of you had shared over recent years). The feeling of being forgotten stung deep in your bones, but you outwardly portrayed the same level of unbotheredness and nonchalance he did whenever the two of you would be put in the position to briefly interact, so most of your colleagues (including Satoru himself) were hopefully none the wiser to your inner predicament.
“Alright, everyone come draw a name! And there’s no switching or re-draws unless you pick yourself!” You suddenly hear Suguru Geto’s voice echo through the room, sounding controlled and put-together as always as he drew you from your reverie and back into reality once more. It didn’t take long for the air to grow stuffy as all of the evening’s attendees crowded together around the bag of names, the small crowd still managing to tightly press together as everyone crowded in to select their recipients for this year’s secret santa event. 
Some were more eager than others, but the process was still able to remain somewhat orderly as everyone pressed together and took turns grabbing a folded up paper from the bag. The rotation went counter-clockwise, and you watched as your coworkers and fellow faculty went one-by-one until the line reached Utahime to your left. As she plucked a name from the bag, you blurted out a quip that wasn’t meant to particularly be hidden, but one which you really only intended for her ears as a small grin made its way across your face.
“Thank god Gakuganji’s off on business this year, imagine what a nightmare it would be to buy a gift for him.” You laugh at your own comment, watching your best friend’s face light up in acknowledgment of the joke before opening the slip of paper in her hand. The voice you hear responding to you, though, is much lower than that of your friend’s, and the sight of her mouth not moving causes your stomach to drop as you suddenly grow aware of the presence to your right.
“God, I think getting a gift from that geezer would be worse. He’d bring five dollar socks and expect ‘utmost gratitude’.” His voice felt like honey coating your ears, deep and smooth as the scent of his cologne suddenly engulfed your surroundings. You couldn’t believe you had let his presence slip out of your awareness, that you had been oblivious to him standing right beside you even if only for a few moments. You were so used to being tuned into his movements during gatherings like these, doing your best to avoid him whenever possible and to maneuver your way subtly through awkward small talk on the occasions where avoidance wasn’t possible. And yet here he was, appearing beside you without a shred of awareness on your part. And he was joking with you causally, as if the history between you meant nothing to him at all.
He may not remember your history at all at this point.
You could feel heat rising to your face at the thought, the painful stab of acknowledging that you may not have meant as much to him as he did to you causing your form to grow rigid where you stood. You knew you shouldn’t still be so affected by him, so in tune to everything he did and so easily reactive whenever he was near. His quick remark to you showed that he held no similar reservations when interacting with you, and it had been plenty of time to let go of the torch you had been carrying. But you were the one who left the friendship with unresolved feelings you never got the chance to express to him, with an attachment deeper than just friendship. And he obviously wasn’t, which was clearly why he had managed to move on so much faster than you had.
You were thankful as you realized it was your turn to pull from the bag, eager for a distraction so you wouldn’t have to think of a response to Satoru’s remark. You needed to calm down, and hopefully you could occupy yourself with thinking of potential gifts for your recipient through the rest of the night rather than putting so much energy into a man who wouldn’t reciprocate. Your hand plunged in and out of the bag in a flash, just desperate for any name that wasn’t Satoru’s, and you let out a soft sigh of relief as you read the name inscribed on the paper in your hand.
“Yu Haibara”. 
Thank god, fate seemed to be on your side this time. Not only did you not pull Satoru’s name, but you were close enough with Haibara, as you saw one another nearly every day, to comfortably pick out a gift you knew he’d enjoy even without the list provided to you. He was easily one of those you were closest to among the participants, second only to Utahime, and despite the melancholy that had been simmering within you throughout the evening as thoughts of Satoru filled your mind, you felt a sudden wave of confidence and excitement as you thought of what you could get him that you knew he’d love. Perhaps this was what you needed, to stop focusing so much on a long-dead friendship by instead putting that energy into pursuing closer friendships with those you cared about now. This was going to be the Christmas to turn around your attitude, you were sure of it.
And in the self-improvement spiral you sent yourself down in that moment, for once you missed the small, almost imperceptible yet genuine smile that crossed Satoru’s face as he pulled a name of his own from the bag.
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The next morning, as you woke up and stepped out of your hotel room for the morning after dragging yourself out of bed at the sound of your alarm, you found yourself nearly falling face-first into the floor as you tripped on an unfortunately-placed object directly outside your doorway. The fall caused you to let out a shriek as you braced for impact, and though you were luckily able to catch yourself before you crashed, the event still left a small, tired scowl on your face as you pulled yourself up and took a glance at the item that had nearly left you bruised and sore first thing in the morning.
The sight in front of you, however, quickly melted your annoyance into curiosity as you saw a soft, pale yellow bag obstructing the walkway outside of your hotel door. Your mind was racing for a few moments as it tried to catch up with the morning’s events, and when you were eventually able to recall the secret santa exchange that you had signed up for the night prior, you felt a small giddiness bubbling within you as you grabbed the small bag by it’s handles and returned with it in hand to your room. Perhaps you could forgive whoever had left the bag in prime tripping position, as the excitement of receiving your first gift of the week outweighed any prior frustrations you held.
You opened the bag expecting a small gift to start off the exchange, maybe flowers or a nice snack. Your secret santa had only had hours between the choosing of the names and this morning, after all, and you would perfectly understand choosing to go light on most of the gifts even without the rushed nature of this first morning. So when you stripped the bag of its tissue paper only to be faced with a brand-new copy of a new game you had mentioned in your list of potential gifts, you couldn’t fight back the widening of your eyes in surprise. A brand new game surely wasn’t cheap, and to get it at such short notice felt like nothing short of a miracle. (Or incredible effort on your Secret Santa’s part). Taped onto the game was a note, short and simple:
“You’ve seemed extra stressed the past few days, so why don’t you take the day off and relax? Kick your feet up and have fun playing your new game ;)
- Secret Santa”
The note gave little away of the one who had left the gift, yet their kindness and effort was clear in both presentation and product as you grinned to yourself. Fate truly did seem to be on your side this holiday season, as you had seemingly been blessed with the loveliest secret santa in all existence. While the gift was much more than you had expected, and you had barely even gotten a chance to wake up that morning, you were quick to shoot a text over to Utahime telling her to come over to your room to share your excitement with someone. Though you unfortunately couldn’t play the game yet as your secret santa had advised, since you hadn’t brought your console with you on the trip to Tokyo, you still wanted to enjoy the gift in some way as you silently sent your gratitude towards your mystery gift-giver. You’d have to thank them when they finally revealed themself on Christmas eve, but for now you’d wait for your best friend to arrive so you could brag about your exceptionally generous secret santa and the gift you couldn’t wait to try out once you returned to your cozy home in Kyoto at the end of the week.
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On the second day, you thankfully did not wake up to a tripping hazard outside of your door, leading you to assume your secret santa would drop off your gift later in the day. Honestly you were thankful that it wasn’t left first thing in the morning like the day prior, as you had accidentally overslept after staying out a bit later than usual picking out a gift and writing a fun note for Haibara for day one of your secret santa exchange. 
You had offered to chaperone a sightseeing day around Tokyo for the students (one the Tokyo students would also be attending, though more on the basis of shopping than sightseeing) alongside Utahime and two Tokyo instructors, and after sleeping through your alarm, you were already short on time as you scrambled to get ready and meet your students on time. Having a gift to open would have only added to your hassle, and now you could look forward to receiving one at the end of the day instead as you rushed to the meeting spot, just barely making it in time.
Utahime and all of your students were already waiting, and you watched as your best friend’s face drew into a small smile as she saw you approaching. Your eyes quickly caught sight of Satoru and Suguru standing beside her, seemingly the volunteers to chaperone the Tokyo students for the day, but you were determined to stick to your new outlook of no longer fixating on Satoru, so you forced yourself to brush past his presence even as he mocked and teased your best friend beside you. The four of you set out with the students in tow, allowing Suguru to lead the way as a Tokyo native (and out of a lack of trust in Satoru’s navigational skills), and you did your best to stop your mind from drifting to thoughts of Satoru as you tried to keep your students engaged and having fun, while also taking some time to chat with Utahime and scan the area for potential gifts for Haibara.
You made many stops throughout the day as you passed through various shopping districts and interesting stores, and it brought a smile to your face to watch your students interact and have fun with one another as well as their sister school peers as they spent the day shopping and chatting altogether. The poor kids were faced with the monstrosities of the Jujutsu world on a daily basis at such a young age, and it warmed your heart to at least be able to give them the chance to simply have fun and act like teenagers every once in a while. For today they weren’t Jujutsu sorcerers in training, they were just kids hanging out with their friends, and the thought made you smile as you, Utahime and Suguru hung back and watched the kids do their shopping and sightseeing (as Gojo had turned his attention from Utahime to Megumi Fushiguro for the time being, much to the young boy’s chagrin.
The day was long and covered quite a bit of land, taking you all through the streets of Tokyo as you reminisced on your youth and saw places you hadn’t visited in years, since leaving Tokyo for Kyoto to become a Jujutsu instructor and get away from your (admittedly not that dramatic) past. Sure, the nostalgia of it all did bring memories of your childhood with Satoru to the front of your mind on occasion as you passed a shop that the two of you used to always visit with your allowance money, or a favorite restaurant you would visit together on special occasions.
 But you managed to keep your focus on the students and enjoying the night out rather than letting yourself drown in the memories, and you were proud to say you even managed to be friendly and courteous to Suguru despite your usual awkwardness around your former other half’s new best friend. You were so focused, in fact, that you failed to notice when Satoru’s watchful eyes fell on you and refused to leave as he saw you interacting with his best friend with ease, or the way his expression faltered into an unreadable look at the sight.
As the sun begins to set, and all the adults begin to discuss plans to turn in for the evening, you catch a brief whiff of a scent that sends you hurdling back into your adolescence full-force, your common sense momentarily leaving you as you step out of the ongoing conversation and quickly make your way to a place which was once your sanctuary, your home away from home in your younger years.
Your favorite bakery, a small, family-owned shop whose delectable treats you hadn’t tasted in years was still standing in the same spot it always had been, and the scent of the pastry that had been your favorite since childhood made its way to you as your eyes widened at the sight. You were so caught up in trying to keep yourself from drooling at the delicious scent that you failed to hear your colleagues approaching behind you, nor the way Satoru’s eyes were trained on you once again with the slightest hint of guilt reflecting in them.
“Mmmm, looks yummy.” Utahime praises as her eye lands on the pastry you had been staring down, the two men beside her nodding in agreement. You allowed yourself another moment to stare at the delicacy inside of the shop before turning to face your comrades, though you felt your stomach do a small flip as you finally registered the way Satoru’s gaze seemed stuck on you, and the unreadable look on his face. 
“Yeah…. Sorry guys, I just got a bit distracted. We should be heading back to the hotel.” You mumbled out your apology as you returned to your spot beside Utahime, trying to ignore the way thoughts of Satoru once again flooded your mind as you tried to make sense of his strange expression, or the unusual silence he was now emitting. 
But there was no way that bakery brought back the same feelings for him that it did for you, and you weren’t even sure if he remembered the time the two of you spent there so long ago at all. You were sure he had long-forgotten your love of that specific pastry as the years had passed, or the way he used to always steal a bite from you whenever you bought one for yourself. Those days had long passed, and you forced yourself to shake off his sudden change in attitude and assume it was a coincidence as the four of you saw all of your students to their sleeping quarters for the evening, before parting ways to get ready for bed yourselves. 
Though you were a bit sad to see the sight of an empty doorway as you made your way back to your hotel room alone that evening, you felt your heart rate pick up a bit a your mood turned to something more hopeful when you heard a quick knocking on your door as you finished up your skincare routine for the evening. Of course, your elusive secret santa was gone by the time you opened the door, but the scent that practically smacked you in the face as you reached for another pale yellow bag suddenly had your stomach twisting and turning once more as you felt your suspicions begin to raise.
And as you suspected, inside of the bag you were met with the same pastry you had just been admiring less than an hour prior, the sight making you a bit less happy than it usually would despite your gratitude for the gift as you began to realize that your secret santa had to be one of the other three people you had spent the day with. And despite your hopes that things weren’t as they seemed, the note taped to the side of the bag only caused your heart to sink further as it practically spelled it out for you, so early into the week of secret santa exchanges.
“These have always been your favorite, and now you have a whole batch all to yourself, so you don’t have to share. Though, I wouldn’t mind if you’d be kind enough to slip me a piece ;)
- Secret Santa”
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You spend most of the third day - another free day, thankfully - relaxing and trying to distract yourself watching all of your favorite movies and TV shows, doing practically anything to try and keep your mind away from your discovery last night. You did end up eating the pastry that you had received the night prior (at first the thought made you shiver, as the treat felt as if it weighed a thousand pounds with the loaded memories packed within, but the temptation had eventually been too strong to resist as it’s sweet scent bombarded your senses) but you were making it a point to stay in your room for the day unless one of your students needed you, determined to avoid Satoru as you ignored your emotions rather than attempt to process them.
The note he had left the night prior seemed to indicate that the self-depricating idea that you had clung onto for so many years of him forgetting your friendship was in fact false, and the thought alone had your head swimming with conflict and served to bring up more heartbreak than the reality you had created for the state of your relationship with him over the past ten years. 
If he had forgotten about you, drifted off to other friends and bigger responsibilities until your bond faded from his mind, it would at least be a pain you were used to. A pain you had desensitized yourself to through the years of pining and pondering of a friendship long lost within the seas of time. But the thought that he may still remember it all, could still recall the afternoons spent together and the secrets shared, seemed to hurt much deeper. Because that meant he had chosen something else over those memories, that they seemingly hadn’t meant as much to him even with the images still fresh in his mind.
It was a painful stab to the gut you weren’t quite ready to acknowledge, so you were content to play the fool for now as you distracted and tried to deceive yourself.
When another swift knock sounded out from the end of your room, late in the evening once more (just after you had returned from your brief venture out of your room to deliver Haibara’s gift for the day), you were truthfully hesitant to open the door at all. You were currently clinging on to plausible deniability that the note from yesterday may have somehow been a coincidence, that Satoru may not be your secret santa after all. But given how willing he was to completely give himself away as early as day 2, you had a feeling that you wouldn’t be able to live in denial for much longer once you saw what your secret santa had left for the third day. 
Nonetheless, you eventually worked up the courage to rise to your feet and slowly make your way to the door, staring down the baby-blue bag standing in front of you as if it were a weapon of mass destruction. A few minutes of deep breaths and self affirmations later and you were slowly, carefully removing the tissue paper from the small bag, only to be faced with a sight that instantly caused your eyes to sting with fresh tears.
A mint green DSI, and a small collection of games. An artifact you thought you had lost long ago, likely forgotten amongst some move between houses.
You barely even noticed the tears falling down your cheeks or the way your heart seized in your chest as you reached for the note, hand over your mouth in both awe and devastation as you read the inscribed words.
“Sorry this one isn’t new, I wouldn’t mind spending thousands on you but I thought you’d prefer this. You left it behind, and I haven’t quite found the time to return it yet. Figured you’d enjoy ;)
- Secret Santa”
This was a confirmation of every thought that had been spinning within your head over the past 24 hours, and as you held one of your favorite childhood toys in your hands for the first time in over a decade, you felt more conflicted than ever on how to handle your relationship with Satoru, or what your feelings for the man were at all any more.
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The following days went by in a similar rhythm, though the gifts thankfully became simpler and less nostalgic as time went on. (You weren’t sure if you could handle another late-night crying session as the result of any particularly thoughtful gifts).
Day four had left you with some typical teaching supplies, as Satoru had heard you complaining about the lack of traditional lesson plans within the Jujutsu education system and your desire to teach your students at least some of the things they’d learn in a typical Japanese high school environment over a faculty-wide dinner. 
Day five, he had gifted you with some skincare products he noticed were running low after showing up unexpectedly at your hotel room in the middle of the day, pleading with you to let him use your bathroom since he had forgotten his room key inside and Suguru was asleep. The two of you hadn’t spoken much, as he was quickly in and out of your room, but he breathed out a silent sigh of relief once he was securely outside your door as he thanked the universe that you hadn’t thought too deeply into his excuse. It would look pretty ridiculous of him to be insistent on the chance to see you for a moment if you had realized that he didn’t need to stay in a hotel in the city he lived in, after all.
Day six had been the most difficult for you to process since the emotional roller coaster of the third day, and it had been the catalyst for you to finally cave and explain to Utahime what you had discovered about your not-so-secret santa, and what he had done since your revelation. You had done your best to keep her out of it, as you knew she wasn’t particularly fond of Satoru on his best of days and had listened to many of your previous venting sessions about your forgotten friendship with Satoru prior to this exchange. But when you saw what awaited you in your bag on the second to last day of the exchange, and the note that accompanied the gift, you threw your efforts out the window as you finally sought advice from your best friend.
In the bag you were greeted with a complete collection of the Haikyuu manga and a small collection of high-quality lip balms (a collection you had been growing well before you lost touch with Satoru), along with a note much lengthier than the others.
“I don’t know if you’re still all that into this series, but I know how much you loved it when we were younger. Figured this would be better than that body pillow I always threatened to buy you, hopefully you’ll read through them and get to ‘experience the story all over again’ or whatever it is you nerds say.
The lip balms I remember you loving for some reason, but I’m hoping tomorrow I’ll give you a reason to use them. We’re supposed to reveal ourselves anyways, and I’ve got some things I’d like to say. So if you’re willing to listen to an idiot like me blab on about feelings and shit for a while, meet me at our favorite bakery tomorrow night at 7.
- Secret Santa”
You knew that you’d have to face him at some point, as you did eventually have to reveal yourself to your secret santa and exchange a final gift to one another. Yet you were unsure if you should go to this meeting or not, if you were ready to face Satoru’s feelings and demand the explanation you deserved for what had happened so long ago, especially in a place that held such sentimentality to each of you.
You had expected Utahime to talk you out of it, almost hoping she would as you went to here and finally explained to her what had been going on throughout this secret santa exchange. Truth be told, you were terrified at the thought of all your feelings for Satoru possibly being laid out in the open, and were hoping she would give you an excuse to bail.
Unfortunately, she did the exact opposite of what you had hoped, and encouraged you to meet with him in the hopes that you’d finally find some sort of resolution for the feelings you had been carrying in your soul for so long, and that they’d finally either be laid to rest or be given a chance to flourish into something much better for you. Curse her and her rationality, and the way she always had your best interests at heart.
It took nearly a full minute of standing outside the small bakery, your heartbeat ringing through your ears like timpanis ringing through your bones, for you to work up the courage to open the door and step inside, pulling off your winter attire as you glanced at the cozy Christmas eve decorations lining the walls. The bakery was quiet on such a late hour the day before a holiday, and it was easy to spot Satoru (early for once, a fact that made your heart flutter the slightest bit in your chest) at a cozy table in the corner, the same table the two of you frequented throughout your pre-teen years. He didn’t even try to hide the way his eyes lit up at the sight of you, overjoyed that you had actually shown up as he waved you over to your table. His greeting, however, was incredibly lacklustre compared to the week-long build up of tension and emotions between the two of you as an effortless grin spread across his lips.
“Hey.” Was the only word that fell from his lips as you sat down across from him in the booth, the same careless attitude that had always emanate from Satoru’s very being coming off of him now. But this time you refused to play along, refused to ignore the way he had tugged on your heart strings all week long and make casual, meaningless conversation the way you always did. 
“Don’t ‘hey’ me, Satoru. You know why I’m here.” You start, face fixed in a stern expression as you fought hard not to let your anxiety peek through onto your features. “Obviously I know you’re my secret santa, but I think we have bigger things to talk about here. Specifically, the way our friendship fell apart.”
Satoru wasn’t surprised in the slightest by the way you jumped straight into the heart of the conversation, he had seen the tension building on your face all week long as you received gift after gift from him. Hell, his own feelings had been much more difficult to contain than usual, with his desire to be close to you, to have you back in his life once more growing by the day. But Satoru was nothing if not unable to admit his emotions seriously, so his relaxed grin remained as he did his best not to let his heart get the best of it.
“Yeah, you’re probably right. I did say I had things I needed to tell you.” He ponders gently, taking a bite of a sugary cream puff laid on the plate in front of him before meeting your gaze with his aqua eyes. “Look, I was an asshole teen, and everything that happened was on me. None of it had anything to do with you.”
Now it’s your turn to be shocked, completely amazed that the Satoru Gojo who had never apologized once as a child was currently admitting complete fault. You were stunned into silence at his words, though your face suddenly showed a layer of openness to his explanation as he continued on.
“When we got to high school I got so wrapped up in making new friends and advancing my technique and all that shit. Honestly, I was a total jerk back then, I dunno if you’d have wanted to hang around me anyways.” He laughs at the remark, but you could tell that this was the real Satoru, briefly peeking through his walls that seemed to melt so easily whenever he was around you. “Plus I had always kinda liked you, but it never really seemed like you felt that way about me. So I used my new friends and my status as a way to not have to talk to you, I was just hoping that it would give me a chance to get over whatever weird crush I had because it would just be pathetic for you to find out about it. But then it went on for longer than I realized, and by the time I figured out how much we had drifted, my pride wouldn’t let me admit why I stopped hanging out with you in the first place. Dumb, I know, but that’s really all it was.”
Satoru seemed so casual throughout his entire explanation, as if he was simply recounting his work day rather than delving into the intricacies of his thoughts and feelings and the reasons why your friendship had fallen apart. And his reasons were stupid, a part of you loathed the way younger Satoru had been so stubborn in refusing to communicate his feelings that he split the two of you apart as a result. Yet another part of you felt so incredibly thankful that the split hadn’t been because of something you did, or because he had stopped caring. It was the most idiotic behavior you had ever heard of, yet you were quick to find it in your heart to forgive him when you heard the next words that fell from his lips.
“I’m sorry.” He mumbled, though it was clear enough for you to hear amongst the white noise of the bakery as he tried to hide the bashful look on his face at his words. It wasn’t often that Satoru Gojo apologized, and in fact it was a sight you had never seen from the man in all your time together, and it took everything in you not to interrupt him with words of forgiveness as he continued on. “I considered doing something lame, like pulling a “your gift is me” or some shit, but I got you a real gift instead. I’m just gonna say that I know for a fact that I loved you back then, and I’m pretty sure I do now. So take this gift, and I’m just the bonus, if you’re willing to take it.”
You were practically on autopilot as you took the final gift of the week straight from Satoru’s hands, no longer hidden beneath any bags or bows as your entire body felt as if it were on fire from within. You were completely unable to muster words at the moment as you took in everything you had just heard, trying to fit what he had said into the puzzle pieces of your own emotions as you glanced at the two tickets Satoru had given you, tickets to a concert for your favorite artist. 
“Hopefully you’ll let me go with you, but if you decide to kick my ass to the curb and never speak to me again, then you can at least bring a friend.” He told you as he carefully watched your reaction to your final gift, though Satoru was unable to fully hide the way panic spread throughout his entire body like a plague when he noticed tears streaming down your cheeks in waves. Before he could get another word in or even ask you what was going on, though, your eyes met his once more as your voice wavered with emotion.
“You are a complete idiot, Satoru. I spent years missing you and breaking my own heart thinking that you had just forgotten about me completely, that you didn’t remember out friendship at all. I thought my feelings would just be stuffed down and elft unsaid forever.” You chide him as your tears pour out, though the way your hand sets the tickets on the table before reaching out for his indicates that you have more yet to say. 
“You’re just lucky that those feelings hadn’t been stuffed down into nothing yet.” You continue as you sneak your hand over to interlink your fingers with his, relishing in the genuine surprise that took over Satoru’s face at the warm feeling. “And the fact that you actually apologized to me for the first time helped too.” You add on, squeezing his hand gently in yours in order to prompt him to look into your eyes.
“.....Does this mean you do want the bonus?” The man in front of you mutters out after a moment, clearly feeling overwhelmed with how emotionally charged the moment is as he tries to lighten the atmosphere with a joke. And it makes his heart sing in his chest when he hears your sweet laughter in response, a sound he had missed most in all the years apart as the both of you began leaning in from across the table.
“......Yes, I guess I do want the bonus. It’s Christmas eve, after all.” You respond with a smile, before taking charge of the moment as you press your lips into his. The kiss is short and sweet, and you know you’ll have to take the relationship slow as you re-learn each other’s personalities and quirks now that you’ve grown into adulthood. Its’ obvious that it won’t be an easy process, that you’ll both have to put in the work to make the relationship work and move past the mistakes of adolescence. But you also know that there will be plenty more kisses to come, because if your childhood friendship with Satoru and the torch you still carried for him left you with anything, it was the knowledge that, to you, Satoru Gojo was worth the work if you could wake up to that gorgeous, smiling face every morning.
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A/N: It’s kind of crazy to believe that it’s already the end of the year, and that this will probably be the last thing I write and post this year. I’ll release a longer post being all sappy over the new year later, but for now I just want to say that I’m so happy I found the motivation and excitement to return to this blog this year and branch out into so many fandoms, I’ve had so much fun writing and posting here and I look forward to continuing in 2024! Thank you all for reading this and any of my other works you’ve read this year, I’ve really appreciated the support and I hope I can continue posting good writing in the future :> 
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the-common-cowgirl · 4 months
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Greater of Two Evils - Part 5
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Summary: Reader returns to her childhood home only to move to a new home the next day. How will she cope?
Rating: Explicit
Pairing: Dark! Modern Aemond x Fem!Reader
Warnings: DUBCON to Consensual, AFAB reader, Smut (p in v, oral sex f&m receiving, orgasm denial, teasing, creampie, Dom vibes, choking, food play?), verbal arguments, cursing, tension, feelings of anxiety, feelings of hate, manipulation, Aemond not being a total jerk at the end? Lmk if there’s any I missed!
Word Count: 4790
A/N: This was split off of part 4, then I added some smut. Enjoy!
Masterlist
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Your childhood bed was warm and stiffer than you remembered but you slept well regardless. Something about being home, being safe, surrounded by familiar smells and sounds, allowed you to fully rest, but now, the sun had long since risen and it was time for a nostalgic breakfast. 
Pulling on some pajama shorts and a crewneck sweatshirt, you drug your sleepy self from bed, lumbering down the steps to the living room, rubbing your eyes. The smell of bacon permeated through the small cottage home  and as you neared the bottom of the steps, you heard your mother call your name from the kitchen as she had when you were growing up when breakfast was early ready; allotting you time to get out of bed and get downstairs before the food went cold. 
Sleep wouldn’t quite leave your eyes and you reached up to rub the drowsiness from them with your sweatshirt sleeve, yawning. Your mother scolded you lightly, “Dear, we have company, you should go upstairs and change-”
Your arm dropped from your face quickly to find that evading your nightmares wasn't an option in this personal hell of a life you were sentenced to. 
Silver hair. Eye-patch. Finely tailored suit.
Maybe that song your dad used to sing in the back garden was right, maybe the devil does in fact wear a suit and tie. 
“What are you doing here?” Your voice is flat and devoid of fear despite the fact you very much were filled to the brim with it. Maybe anger at him invading such a sacred place of yours took precedent… finally.
Your mom turned around with a hand on her hip, “That’s no way to speak to your-”
Aemond raised his hand, silencing your mother with a soft smile. The action made you nauseous; no one silences your mother so easily. “Please, it’s alright.” He turned to you, “I came here to meet your parents and ask formally, this time, for your hand in marriage.”
Your eyes widened and you looked at your mom. She shook her head with a sweet smile, “Honey, if you were running here because you were scared of marriage, you should have thought of that before you got pregnant. Now here, Mr. Targaryen is trying to make things right.”
‘Trying to make things right’ felt like a stab in the gut, fueled by betrayal. 
“Mom I-”
Aemond cut you off, “Perhaps we can speak alone?” He looks over to your mother with the smile of a snake and she returns it, mayhaps without the reptilian features. 
“Of course, I’ll be out in the back garden with your father,” she tells you before she wipes her hands on her apron and exits the room. 
You stare at Aemond as he stares back at you with his lone eye. He hears the backdoor open and shut before he speaks. “I told you to stay.”
You pull up a chair opposite of him. “Like a dog,” you bite back. “What did you tell my parents?”
A sly smirk pulls at his lips, “I think you understand the predicament we’re in.” He leans back, grabbing his teacup and bringing it to his lips, “your mother loves me by the way.” He sips, smiling like a Cheshire cat, lone eye studying his prey.
“She also prefers my brother over me so I’d take her approval with a grain of salt.”
He frowns slightly, bringing the cup back down to the table. “They know the baby is mine and they know I am planning on taking care of you, and it, financially.” His eye flickers up to you triumphantly, “And they also know that I proposed to you, my girlfriend of three years and you had your doubts and came to see them.”
You narrowed your eyes, “You told them we have been a couple for three years and they believed you?”
Aemond smirked, shrugging lazily. “Apparently you do not talk to your parents enough for them to know much about you.”
Anger rose within you, making you begin to sweat with loathing. How did Aemond seem to get away with every little thing? It was like he walked and the grass parted a path for him. He seemed untouchable; making your cause seem hopeless.
“Go upstairs and pack, we’re leaving.” HIs command was stern with no room for contest.
You shook your head despite this, “I’m not going with you. No.”
Aemond stood from the table slowly, towering over you. His hand snaked down reverently from the top of your hair, along your cheekbone, landing beneath your chin and pulled your face up to look at him. “I’ve done things in a quite unorthodox matter at the beginning of this relationship-”
“This isn’t a relationship.”
He barely contained a sneer, you felt the anger boiling just underneath his skin but he kept it from burning you…surprisingly. “Whatever you want to call it- relationship, understanding-”
“Containment-” you cut.
“-whatever,” his voice raised slightly, “you may call it.” He returned to his false softened hum, “I believe I can do better by you and our child. You have to give me that chance.”
Your eyes met his lone blue and you knew you had no choice….for now.
“Okay.”
He looked half shocked, probably suspecting more of a fight. “Okay? Okay. Yes,” he pulled his hand from you. “I will arrange for us to leave immediately. Go upstairs and pack what you need.”
You stood from the table, “All of my essentials are in Sunspear.”
Aemond pulled out his phone, bringing it to his ear. “Well, we aren’t going back to Sunspear so I’ll just buy new essentials unless anything cannot be replaced.”
You looked at him in confusion, “Where are we going then?”
Someone on the other end of the line began speaking so he mouthed what looked like ‘King’s Landing’ before he started barking orders into the phone.
Kings Landing.
The drive to the Crownlands took a few hours and every bit of that time was spent with Aemond on the phone, rearranging your life, unenrolling you from your college, and closing your account at your bank in Sunspear. With every call, you started to grow more and more anxious.
How is he able to do all of these things without my permission or consent?
At the final call, the one where he closed out your membership to the student credit union, he looked over at you. “We are close to my estate now.”
You remained staring out the back door’s window, “How were you able to do all of that without my permission?”
The car slowed and began to turn, Aemond leaned up to the driver, mumbling the code to the driveway gates. Once he leaned back, he looked sideways to you, “I thought you were well aware I had plenty of connections.”
A pit grew in your stomach as you drove through the gates of the estate. A large, white stone home sat proudly in the nicest part of King’s Landing; the homebase of Westeros’ rich, powerful and corrupt. A tall hedge bush ran along the property lines, behind it, you could see glimpses of an iron-wrought fence at least twelve feet high. Physically, there would be no escaping the property.
The car parked beneath the carport at the very front of the house, Aemond opened the door and exited his side, you followed; pulling the handle and exiting. Aemond rounded the car, grabbing your arm a little too harshly and leaning in next to your ear. “We are to be married soon, wait for me to open the door.”
His harsh scolding gave you chills as he pulled back from you with a smile as if nothing had happened. “Allow me to show you the manor.”
Red roses adorned the foundation of the home and when you stepped inside, the floors were marble. Nothing was out of place, everything was extravagant and lavish. Aemond had walked you through the entire first floor (where a butler or maid was scattered purposefully about every three rooms) before leading you upstairs. You had hoped the second floor didn’t have another random person who would pop out from behind a plant or tall vase just to add to your embarrassment as you were paraded through the home as its new captive; fortunately, there were none. 
Aemond led you to a set of double doors, pushing a single open and leading you through gently. “This is our room,” he stated plainly as day. 
You shook your head, “No. I want my own room.”
He fixed you with a look that scorched your skin. “Absolutely not.”
So you used his own logic against him with the words ‘be a river’ giving you the courage to do so. “Aemond,” you reasoned lightly, lighter than natural for you, “I uh, don’t want to assume anything but to my understanding… you want the image of a perfect life.”
His brow furrowed, immediately with shock and before it could resolve to anger, you spoke again.
“I see the white house, the roses, the perfectly manicured yard. I saw the butlers and maids downstairs alongside the decorations that I wouldn’t particularly attribute to your style - not that I know your style, we are just strangers whom you’ve decided should conceive-”
Aemond snorted, anger clearly beginning to rise within him but you continued on.
“I also saw the Seven Pointed Star several times throughout my tour. Decorations…books… and I know that’s the predominant religion of Westeros. You being a politician and all, I’m sure you want to look the part, even if you don’t believe in it, I can almost guarantee you don’t.”
“I do,” he retorted.
You smiled, taking a step toward him, “Interesting.” He looked at you with a thin veil of confusion. “Anyway, what I’m getting at is that it’s quite obvious that this house,” you gestured vaguely around you as you stepped closer to him, “is all for show. You moved me here,” pointing to yourself, “for show. I know your intentions, I understand what I am to you…so I ask you to allow me to have my own room until we are wed. If anything, it’s only for show.” You smiled up at him, feeling you aced him.
He simply smiled back, leaning down slightly. His smile made your triumph falter and fade. “I knew I liked you for a reason, you’re incredibly…perceptive.” His eye leveled you with a glance from your eyes, to your shoes and back up again. “Fine,” he straightened, “you’ll get your own room…until we are wed.”
You blew hot air through your nose, feeling anger festering in your pores. “And when is that?” 
Aemond turned from you, pulling his suit jacket off and placing it on the mattress. “Two weeks.”
Your blood ran cold, “Two weeks? How can you plan a wedding in two weeks?”
Aemond laughed as he loosened his tie, “I’ve had someone on it for a while now-”
“Show me my room please,” anger, resentment, hate boiled through your veins and ignited your heart. “I need some space.”
Aemond chuckled, “Take your pick.” He motioned toward the door, expecting you to find your own way out. You turned and began marching for the door when you heard him call out, “Just remember, you said the bedroom is ‘just for show.”
Turning back toward him, you glared. Of course he wouldn’t let you leave without an innuendo and threat. “Fuck you,” you spat and turned back for the doors, pushing hard. Before you were out of earshot, you heard him laughing to himself with a “soon enough” coming from his lips.
You picked the room furthest from his, on the other side of the second floor entirely. Locking the door as soon as you got into the room despite the fact that the door could be unblocked from the outside. So, for extra measure, you managed to push a dresser in front of the door, more effectively blocking yourself in. 
Safe.
The feeling of dread left you quickly and you felt safe enough to take a shower, wrapping yourself in your towel and laying in the soft bed. You check your phone for the first time today to see you have no messages or calls. You try to call your dad, explain why you left in such haste but your phone would not ring out. No phone service. No carrier.
The fucker turned off my phone too?
Bitterly anger turned into hopelessness which turned into tears. And like how most of your nights went recently, your tears lulled yourself to sleep.
A field of tall grass surrounded you as the soft wind blew your hair. You looked around you to see a river rushing along the base of the hill you were standing on. The river rushed proudly against the grey landscape pushing and pulling where it dared. Then suddenly, the river changed its course, pummeling straight up the hill for you. Sand and loamy clay was left dry where it ceased flowing. Now, at the bottom of the river lies the grass that surrounded you, held you, protected you. You had mere seconds to think before the river reached you and you had yet to think of anything but the cold waves approaching. Suddenly, the sky overhead was dark and thunder thumped hard against the sky. Thump. Thump. Thump.
You awakened to thunder, sitting up in bed. You look around the room in a daze from your previous slumber. The night is dark, starry, clear.
The room thunders again. 
Knocking.
Aemond calls your name from behind the doors. 
“Go away!” Your voice doesn’t tremble, you’re safe behind the doors with the dresser blocking you in. The sounds cease, you find sleep again with less ease.
In the morning, you stand staring at the doors after having moved the dresser, contemplating if your hunger is worth emerging from your hiding spot. The grumble in your stomach pushes you to open the doors and reassures you that Aemond won’t try anything stupid in front of his hired help. You walk to where you remember the kitchen is, bare feet padding against the cold marble floors, without seeing a single person. The sun has been up for a few hours now and you grow uneasy at the fact there aren’t people here to bear witness and pass judgment on Aemond if he were to do something inappropriate but the house is quiet…too quiet. You wonder if he is even home.
You stop in the middle of the kitchen, listening for footsteps or even life; all you hear is the ticking of a grandfather clock several rooms away. Aemond must not be home. 
Relief trickled through you as you opened the fridge, cool light flooding across your face. Picking the easiest thing, a yogurt cup, you closed the fridge then searched the multitude of drawers before you found the silverware drawer and plucked a spoon from it. Quickly, you headed back upstairs with your scavenged breakfast in case Aemond came back early. Opening the strawberry yogurt cup and dipping into it with a spoon, you ate a bite on the way back to your new room until movement stopped you dead in your tracks. 
Your eyes locked with Aemond as he was stepping out of your room. 
“What are you doing?”
A flash of a glare ran across his face, if you blinked, you would have missed it. “You’re not supposed to eat food outside the kitchen or dining room.”
You narrowed your eyes, reiterating, “What are you doing in my room?”
He challenged you, narrowing his own back. “Not. Your. Room. I own this house.”
“Sorry, my space in this hellscape you call a home,” you shifted your stance.
He took a step toward you from the door, “Don’t ever lock yourself in again.”
You laughed, “I’m not your free use slave. You can’t come in and fuck me whenever you want-”
Aemond shook his head, “I was worried about you last night, you had screamed in your sleep-”
“You good-for-nothing jackass…I don’t talk in my sleep, let alone scream. Quit lying and stay the fuck away from me.” Anger overrode your body as he took more steps toward you, causing you to fling the yogurt cup at him, splashing across his face and body. 
He was shocked for several moments, mouth hanging agape, before his eye settled on you; you trying to suppress your laughter behind your two hands clasped over your mouth.
“You little bi-”
Before he could finish, you turned tail and ran, gleeful you’d made an actual mess of him and feeling some sort of victory in doing so. You heard him swear behind you then, the thundering footsteps closing in quickly behind you. 
With nowhere to escape to, you ran into his bedroom, shutting the doors behind you with barely enough time. His pounding on the doors rattled the wood just after you had locked the handles. He called your name behind the wood and you just laughed again, feeling bested the beast in his own home. 
“You’re gonna have to be quicker than that- '' came your sing-song voice in a mocking tone. 
Immediately, the banging ceased. The speed at quick Aemond gave up his pursuit gave you an awful feeling in your stomach but thinking about it was short lived when you saw that in your valor of throwing the yogurt on Aemond, you had spilled a long drop down your shirt and thighs. Cursing to yourself silently, you made your way into the bathroom.
Flicking on the lights, in search of whatever vanity drawer Aemond stored his washrags in so you could wipe the pink yogurt from your only pair of clothes. You didn’t find it in any of the top drawers so bending down, you continued your search for something to wipe off the residue. Soon, you found the drawer containing the washrags and plucking one from the drawer, you stood, turning on the water and running the rag under it until it was fully soaked and warm. Only then, did you look up from the vanity countertop and into the mirror; jumping in fright.
Aemond was standing behind you, smirking. Like a cougar watching his prey from the trees.
You turned quickly, and tried to shove the wet rag in his face only for him to grab you and spin you around to face yourself in the mirror, your hands subdued tightly behind your back. You then noticed another door, slightly ajar, it looked like it led to a large walk-in closet that must have been connected to the hall. 
“That wasn’t very nice of you-”
“Leave me alone,” you struggled weakly in his grip. The pain in your wrist igniting once more.
He chuckled and pressed himself harshly against you, smearing the pink goo across the back of your shirt. “I think we need to clean up, don’t you?”
“Nope, all fine,” you gritted out as you struggled in his hold.
His nose came to press against your throat, you felt your heartbeat quicken as he inhaled your scent. “You, at least, need to clean me.” Without giving you time to process, he hauled you toward the shower, pushing you in and then stepping inside himself. You offered him only a quizzical glare before he turned the showerhead on and began soaking you through your clothes. You huffed and backed out of the water stream and he closed you in, water now drenching him and his clothes; he didn’t seem to care as he began to strip the wet clothes from his body. “Clean the mess you made and you’re free to go.” 
It seemed too easy, too simple. He definitely wouldn't leave it at that. 
Regardless, you began collecting water in your hands as he continued to strip. With trepidation, you moved your hands to his face, wiping a splatter of pink from his cheekbone; trying not to look at his smug expression. His skin was coarse against your fingers. Something about the action was intimate, close, you hated it; it made you feel at ease in his presence.
He bent down, stripping his underwear from his body, completely nude now. However, the rest of the mess was left on his clothes, his skin was clean now.
“I’m done,” you announced with no emotion, trying to conceal embarrassment behind impassiveness. 
He tutted gently, “You’ve made quite a mess of my cock too. You need to clean that up as well.” He glanced down to his member, returning his triumphant smirk to your face. 
You narrowed your eyes, “That’s your own doing. I’m not-”
He brought a hand up to your thigh, collecting some of the yogurt that hadn’t been washed away and rubbed it along his cockhead. 
“Seems like you did make a mess, sweet river, now be a good girl and this’ll all be over.”
HIs honeyed tone was laced with something addictive and once again, you felt yourself falling victim to whatever charm this snake held over you. When his hand came up to your shoulder and pushed you down, you found yourself falling to your knees for him while your glare never left his face. That was, until you were face to face with his manhood, tip smeared with pink. Your mouth watered against your wishes and your eyes glanced back up to him as water trickled down his toned abs, valleying around the base of his and his heavy sac.
Just do what he wants, a voice told you and you gave in.
Carefully, you stuck your tongue out, licking some pink from the bottom of his ruddy head. You heard him shudder at such a small action and it excited you; the thought of reducing him to your whim as he often did to you. So, your tongue swirled around his head again, taking just the tip of him into your mouth and sucking wet and slowly, letting saliva, mixed with yogurt and precum fall down past your lips to be washed down the drain with the rest of the water that fell off of him. You felt him buck against your mouth, releasing a small, barely audible whine when you pulled back from his charge. His hand flew to your hair, eye scrunched shut. He didn’t attempt to move you further onto his cock, rather, hold you steady. “Fuck- please,” he all but groaned as you continued licking and sucking just the tip. 
Smiling, you pulled off of him. “I think you’re clean now.” Your hands in your lap, his hand in your hair. He opened his eye and looked down at you with an annoyed, lazy glare. “Finish,” he all but demanded.
You shook your head. “That would make a bigger mess.”
He rolled his eye, “Okay, let’s see how you like it.”
And before you could process what he was doing, he pulled you up, pulling down your pajama bottoms and underwear in one swift motion, backing you against the cold, tiled wall of the shower and sinking to his knees before you. His mouth was on your cunt like a madman and he hiked one of your legs up with a strong hand, giving him freer access to your womanhood.
His tongue circled your clit like a vulture before he zeroed in, suckling gently. Your hands flew into his wet hair, entangling as you whined and threw your head back a little too harshly against the wall, making the back of your head sting in residual pain but you didn’t care, all you could focus on was the intense pleasure he was ripping from you.
His other hand came up to play with your entrance, lithe fingers dancing, teasing, but never acting in the way you wanted them to, needed them to. You ground down, trying to impale yourself on the fingers that played at your entrance to no avail. Aemond chuckled against your folds, pulling himself from them to look up at your ecstasy ridden face. 
“Don’t like it?”
You huffed, running a hand over your eyes, wanting nothing more than to hide yourself from his goading. “Shut up.”
“How about I grant both of your wishes while you grant mine?” He stood, pulling your top and bra off, depositing them in the heap of clothes at the bottom of the foggy shower.
His hands ran up your ribcage, stopping just below your breasts and cupping them. He placed tender kisses on each one, tongue running along the soft skin. 
“Which is?” Your breath was heavy. This is wrong but at the moment, it’s so right. 
“I’ll shut up and we both get to come,” he added a kiss to your collarbone.
“Are you actually asking me permission?” You could have laughed.
He suckled on the skin just below your ear, making you repress a breathy whine.
“I told you I’d treat you better.”
You chuckled this time, grabbing his wet hair and pulling him away from your skin so he could look at you. “Okay. Fuck me Aemond.”
His face cracked with a soft smile and he cocked his head, “Manners…”
You rolled your eyes and grasped his cock, stroking the velvety skin, pulling it closer to your aching core. “I think we’re long past manners…don’t you?” 
Aemond huffed a singular chuckle through his nose before he hiked one of your legs up and aligned himself, sinking into your core in a slow, purposeful thrust. You moaned at the feeling of him stretching you; how he made you feel so full. No one could make you feel like this and you were painfully aware that he knew it.
He began thrusting into you in earnest, chasing a high he had been denied by your lips and newfound victory in your cunt. He steadied himself with a hand on the wall beside your head as his rough pounding became faster, pulling and pushing against that delicate spot inside you that had you whining and wrapping your arms around his shoulders and neck. 
“Play with yourself, “ he commanded through rough thrusts.
Your brain was nearly too fucked out to comprehend he had even spoke.
He grunted, delivering a harsh thrust. “I said play with yourself.” He panted, “M’ Close and want you to cum on my cock to finish me.”
You obeyed a bit too quickly, moving a hand down between where you two were joined, rubbing your clit gently and sometimes, teasing him by moving further and caressing his shaft as if emerged and sunk back into your heat. 
“Fuck- fuck- don’t do that.”
You cocked your head to the side, bobbing with each snap of his hips, “Do what?”
Your playful ignorance ignited a more severe side of him and his hand came up and wrapped around your throat, “Don’t- fuck, you like that don’t you? You like it when I’m rough with you?”
It was true, the moment his hand wrapped around your throat possessively, you clenched around him and nearly came. You could be just as brazen though.
Before he knew it, your hands intertwined in his hair, pulling him close to you. Your mouth was on his lips, kissing him with a fever that took him off guard. Lips interlocking, you sucked on his plump bottom lip before forcing your tongue down his throat that he greedily took in.
Suddenly and without warning, Aemond thrusted forward, driving deeper inside you and groaning against your lips as he came harder than he ever had. You felt the hot spend coating your insides and nearly sent you over the edge as he pulsated, hot and heavy in your cunt.
His lips slowly fell from your own as he came down from his high and pulled back, looking at you with a strange reverie in his eye as if he was studying a new species of animal only he had just found.
His cock, still lodged deep inside of you as you ground yourself against him, making him break his trance and hiss in overstimulation; pulling out of you. “You lied,” you said simply as his cum started dripping down your thighs. “But I guess that’s all you ever do, isn’t it?”
His eye searched your own, a confused look on his face. “You said you’d shut up and we both got to come. Only you came and I didn’t. Oh, and you didn’t shut up. You talked a whole lot.”
He chuckled, turning off the shower and kicking the drenched pile of clothes off to the side, “Well, I know how I can fix that.” He took your hand and moved you to sit down on the shower floor. “Lay your pretty head on those clothes and spread your legs.”
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retnym · 1 year
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WORLD TOUR- .01
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"Gosh, you just couldn't keep our names out of your mouth."
Flashing lights, loud talking, humid air, crowds full of paparazzi; all screaming to get you to look their way. My breath hitched as I stood up straighter, feeling the fabric of my dress finally move down as it had been tight against my torso. My manager thought it’d be a good idea to go with a tight red dress for the premiere of my new movie. Something I highly wanted to decline but I didn’t know until the last minute. 
“[Name]! This way!” A dark-haired lady calls me, her microphone in hand. This was someone that my friend, Emma warned me of. Heading over to her, she gives a quick side hug and has us stand so the camera sees both of us. “How are you, you look amazing!” 
How am I? Well to be serious, I am horrible. This dress is squeezing me in what feels like all the wrong places. The flashing lights, it feels like I’m going to go blind with only seeing dots for the rest of my days. The screaming, having to look everywhere all at once. And last but definitely not it, missing home for this movie. Missing my best friends in Germany for America. 
“I’m wonderful, seeing so many familiar faces, it’s great." Lying straight through my teeth here. "How are you?”  Obviously putting it back to her I start to space out, the loudness of it all being the cause of it.
I wonder what Bill, Gustav, and Georg are doing. Hopefully thinking about me. 
Glancing around the lights are still bright. I wonder if their fingers ever hurt from clicking that button repeatedly. 
“[Name]?” My eyes flicker to her face. 
“Sorry, everything is so overwhelming. The shouting.” I explain, bringing back a smile onto my face. A fake one, of course. “Oh, I totally get it.” She laughs an obnoxious laugh I’m sure everyone hears and finds just as annoying as I do right at this very moment.
“So, how does it feel being away from Germany?” This question makes me raise my eyebrow for the splitest second. It was like she read my mind. “Well, it’s pretty normal to be away just due to all my productions being away or my tours being in the United States. Only thing I will say is I truly miss my best friends.” I tell in a sad tone, at the end though I bite my buttom lip. Picking the dead skin off of it as a nervous habit that most of my fans have even caught on to. 
She does another phoney laugh for the viewers. Gosh, if Gustav was here he’d be subtly hitting my arm or squeezing it as he tried not to laugh. 
“And your best friends, aren’t they in a famous German band. What are they called again?” She questions the name of my best friend's band? If you’re going to interview me that’s the one thing you should know! It’s all I talk about, Jesus Christ, this lady lives under a rock. “Tokio Hotel,” I say in almost an irritated tone but I caught myself in time to stop it and not make her embarrassed or have this end up on MTV. 
“Right, I knew that.” And again with the laugh. Its excruciating.
“How do you know them?”
How do I know them!? It’s all over Myspace! Look on Twitter! Look on Youtube! We have repeatedly told people, over and over and over! 
“We’re childhood best friends! Mine and the Kaulitz twin's parents also grew up together. Bill is my absolute best friend, he literally knows everything.” I laugh, talking about them gives me so much happiness, a nostalgic feeling even though we’re still around each other.
“What about the other twin, Tom?” My face faulters a tiny bit.
“Oh, he’s a friend as well. Growing up together how couldn’t we be?” I save myself from a lecture from my manager. She never understood our hatred for each other and because of that both of our managers told us to keep it off screen. 
The rest of the interviews were just questions about the movie or about my dress. It was like almost every interview. Most didn’t ask about Tokio Hotel because if they did I’d probably sit there for hours.
By the end of the night, after watching the movie I had gotten into my limo by myself. 
I didn’t want to stay with everyone else or go to after parties. I was getting ready to go back to the hotel, change into some comfortable clothes to go back to an airport.
Heading back to Germany, it will sadly take almost 11 hours on a plane. I also get to go back to my kitty, Springroll or Frühlingsrolle. I couldn’t bring her this time since it was just a week's experience so I left her to the twins. Hopefully, Bill didn’t leave her with Tom for too long she might’ve been starved or neglected for too many hours.
Mentally rolling my eyes, we pulled up to the hotel. I lazily got out of the vehicle to another swarm of camera flashes and screams asking me about the night. This paparazzi you can not say a word to. They will twist everything you say. They’re nasty monsters. 
I just want to go back home. 
“I missed you guys so much!” I laughed, hugging my best friends as they were gathered outside the Kaulitz’s house. “Dude we missed you too.” Georg pulls back, all of us following suit. Bill was still grabbing onto my arm with a wide grin. “We saw every single interview. Gosh you just can’t keep our names out of your mouth?” He teases, the other two guys laugh. 
“Did you see-”
“Oh we saw, we saw the one lady.” Gustav cuts me off, and my eyes gleamed before bursting into a fit of laughter. “You guys have no idea how awful that was!” I shouted tugging on Bill as he agreed. We all talked about what I missed or what they should’ve seen while I was in America. It was all pretty wild.
My mother being from Detroit Michigan we go sometimes every now and then. The twins would join sometimes but they’ve never seen every state like I have. 
“We have pictures of Tom with Frühlingsrolle while he was sleeping. He will never admit it but they bonded quite well when you were gone?” Georg explains, pulling out his phone to show me the pretty blurry pictures of the other twin with my all-black kitty laying on top of his chest while he slept. His hat was in his hand as his dreads actually laid down.
I smirk, my eyebrows raised in amusement just as the angel of a man spoke, one of the devil's children came out with my cat in her crate. 
“Here’s your brat of an animal.” He grumbles, dramatically handing it to me causing all of us to snicker. “What?” He scrunches his nose in confusion. “My brat of an animal?” I repeat.
Bill was practically cackling at this point. 
“Yeah? That’s what I said.” He was not getting to what we were saying so Georg takes out his phone again and shows the picture. The boy's face slightly dropped as we all laughed.
“That doesn’t mean anything.” He crosses his arms.
“It doesn’t?” I frown in a sarcastic way making him punch my shoulder. “Aye, unnecessary.” I shove him back.
“It’s okay to be a pussy lover, Tom.” Gustav lays a hand on his shoulder, I shake my head and Tom just plays with his piercing to cover the noticeable smirk he has to attempt to hide his laughter. 
“Oh, I’m a pussy lover. Just not [Name]’s.” He flips me off, I nod. “You could never get it even if you wanted to.” I roll my eyes. 
“Oh really?” He comes closer and I straighten my posture. “Yup.” I glare at him. 
“Never say never,” He shoves me backward a little bit but Bill was behind me to make sure I didn’t stumble further than I could’ve. Before I could say anything else, Tom was making his way back inside. 
After he left it was a tad bit awkward. Usually how it goes. Either we go into full blown fights or tiny weird arrangements like that. We couldn’t stand each other if it saved our life. Surprisingly that was longest we’ve been in area together without cameras or outside people and didn’t fight until the last second but still. 
A World record for us.
Later than I wanted so I apologize for that. I will try to have the second chapter out tomorrow. I hope everyone enjoyed this, it's fun to get back into writing like I used to:) Also the chapters will be longer:) this is just the beginning.
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yamujiburo · 6 months
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do you have a favourite piece of nostalgia from your childhood that isnt like, fandom related?
too many to choose frommmm
but i'm very nostalgic for this very particular time in my life that gives me a feeling that no other memory has. it's nothing really life altering or special but it was around the time my family and i had moved back to hawaii and we were still house hunting so we were staying at my grandparent's place in kaneohe. i vividly remember sitting in their yard listening to music on my psp (lol) and just chillin'. that memory always takes me back to that general time. i guess it was quite a transition but it's funny that i don't get that feeling from remembering the house we actually lived in over there, or my first day of school or meeting my new friends, etc. truly just sitting around.
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iiotic · 20 days
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The Burned Memories | Prologue
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❥︎ The Burned Memories | Navigation
Prologue | chapter 1 | chapter 2..
❥︎ summary - You, a woman in her mid 20s, moved in your hometown as your father decided to leave your mother alone. Feeling nostalgic you decided to take a scroll through your childhood. Remembering your childhood friend, that meant the world to you, you wondered if he still lived here. Still feeling a bit mad at him after he didnt fulfill his promise, you decided to find him.
❥︎ word count - 1.2k
please read the tws before deciding to read this story. You may find them in the navigation and remember your mental health matters!
I'd like to apologize for any gramatic or any other errors English is not my first language!
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Moving in your hometown was awfully hard for you. The feeling of nostalgia washed over you, as you saw the forest that you used to play in, when you were a kid. The trees have grown, indeed. You walked up to the old entry, that you and your friend created. It was extremely hard to expose the hidden and abandoned path for two small children. It took hours! However when you two finally succeeded, you had to go home since it was already late and you had to eat dinner.
You truly cherished the memories that you shared with your close ones here. You remembered every story like it happened yesterday. You were a bit shocked to see the path fully exposed. Back in the old days, it was only a little hole that only children could fit it. Half of you was happy, knowing that you won't have to crawl and struggle through the hole that didn't exist anymore. However the other half of you was disappointed, 'cause your hard work got wasted.
Deciding to take a scroll through the forest, you followed the familiar path. Noticing how half of the forest turned into an hunting area, you weren't surprised at all. The hunting season was just around the corner and you were not happy about that. You moved into your old household as your father decided to leave your mother alone. She needed your help and you provided it as you loved your mother dearly. He, himself found a better house in a wealthier area. Unfortunately for you, your house was very close to the once so familiar forest. When you were little everything looked so big and magical but now? The magic had dissapered from the once fairy tale space.
Turning around on your heel, you faced with an abandoned playground. Kids, including you, used to play here a lot. You were shocked when you saw it in its terrible state. The slide dirty with mud and weird black substances, rotted and once more, everything was terribly rotted. After a while of thinking, you began to understand why this place went abandonment. Really, whose idea it was to put a playground inside of a forest?
Continuing your scroll, you began to remember your old childhood friend. What was his name? You couldn't remember. You didn't believe that you forgot such an important thing. His whole face was a blur, yet you still remembered that charming smile of his. Somehow he always managed to make you smile and laugh. You started wondering if he is still as funny as he was in the past. Wait.. Does he still live here? Does he still remember you? You hoped that the answer to both of these questions were positive.
By the time you came back home it was already dark. Walking in, you greeted your mother, apologising for taking so long. She just brushed it off saying that "you don't have to spend all of your life in this house." Chuckling a bit you mentally agreed with her.
Looking around, your eyes were met with your luggage that you did not unpack yet. A sigh escaped your lips as you made your way over to your belongings. The truth is that you were too exhausted to unpack them, however you knew that they just wouldn't unpack themselfs.
Walking into your old room, that holds so much lovely memories from your childhood, you noticed a newspaper on the floor. April 11th, 1929, yesterdays date. Your mother must have opened the window in your room, and the newspaper must have flew it way in here. Dropping your belongings, you just noticed the cold temperature in the room. Freezing even. Closing the window you picked up yesterday's newspaper to look at it.
The axeman of New Orleans attacked again!
There's an axeman going around? How didn't you know that there's a murderer in the place where you grew up in? Anxious, you decided to sit down on your bed and read the rest of the article.
Time flew by and you grew more and more disappointed of the news you just read. No wonder father moved out you thought leaving the newspaper on your nightstand and rubbed your eyes. Tommorow will be a hard day and you knew that. The luggages didn't unpack themself yet so you had to finally do it. Wanting to forget about the informations that you acknowledged you moved to your belongings and started unpacking.
There wasn't really a lot of things there; just some clothes, hygiene stuff, basic writing supplies and some of your most important things that you could never get rid of.
9 pm. That was the time on the clock when you finished unpacking. Exhausted you rolled in your bed, not even thinking of changing into your pijamas. Your mind started to thrift to the events that happened today. The memories of your childhood were truly worthy being in an museum.
Just as you were about to fall asleep, your mind decided to remind you of him, once again. Wait.. What if he was killed my the axeman? You truly hoped that it wasn't true. You thought that maybe, just maybe you two could get the chance to catch up. However the promise.. You had no idea why didn't he keep the promise. Before you could think more about it, your eyes closed by themself.
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"Tag, You're it! " You giggled before running deeper into the forest. You heard footsteps mixing with your own behind you, signalling that he was chasing you. Turning, and making an unexpected turn, you failed to notice how your dress got all muddy. You had no idea that you would get scolded after you'd came back home by your mother.
You laugh, as you turned around to see that you successfully lost your friend. Hiding in a bush that slightly tore your dress, you waited for him to give up or to just walk by so you could scare him.
"Boo!"
You screamed as, to your suprise, your friend found you. "not fun.." You mumbled as he helped you get up. "You cheated!"
"I didn't!" He argued, giggling a bit at your indignation. "You're just too easy to catch."
"No i am not!" You gasped in annoyance.
Your argument went on and on, you accusing him of cheating and him defending himself as he told you that he just creeped behind. Before you knew it your legs were leading the way to your houses.
Soon enough it was time to say your goodbyes as you both were standing beside your homes.
"Despite everything, I enjoyed hanging out with you today, ..." Your younger self confessed to him. Wait, him? You clearly heard you say his name. Why couldn't you remember it? Why couldn't you remember his name.
Before you knew it, you were dragged to a pitch black hole. You wanted to scream, but for some reasons you couldn't manage to utter anything.You turned around as you heard a familiar voice calling your name. Nothing was there. You gasped when something dragged you by your legs, finally screaming to let you go.
You jumped out of your bed, sweating in a middle of the night. You could hear the birds chipp as the rain continued to pour rather aggressively.
It was just a nightmare
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taglist:
@sodavizz @nyx91 @lemonyboy97 @sirens-and-moonflowers @crescentparadise
hii!! The author here. I'm so so so sorry for the wait I had to plan this story out and I'm not very good at posting regularly!! I'm trying my best and I hope you understand. 🥹Also I apologize for such a short prologue but I promise the next chaoter will be longer. Love y'all!! 🫶🫶
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crustaceousfaggot · 2 years
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Why you should give Text Adventure games a try (and how to do so)
There is not nearly enough love for Text Adventure Games here on Tumblr. Or anywhere really. But especially here, I feel like you guys would really get a kick out of them. Here's why:
(quick note, I'm gonna be using the words Text Adventure and Interactive Fiction pretty interchangeably here. Technically that's not perfectly accurate, they are technically different things, but I don't care to explain the difference Just roll with it.)
So
Do you like weird short stories told through unconventional mediums? That's most of what Interactive Fiction is
You like story based video games but hate the finicky combat? Congrats, there is literally no combat skill required beyond the ability to type "hit guard with crowbar"
Blind or visually impaired? Since these games are (with a few exceptions) entirely text based, they work great with a screen reader!
Sick of profit motivated AAA titles with no creative integrity? Well, these games are almost always produced by a single nerd (usually a horrid amalgamation of computer geek and literature geek) with no budget and no responsibilities of the product they're making. And they're usually not paid, since these games are free. Text Adventure is a labour of love, and in most games you can feel the care and effort the creator has put into the game.
Sick of spending $20-70 on a video game? Lucky you, I've been playing TA for years and I have not spent a cent in doing so (Fallen Londen will try to make you pay. But Fallen Londen sucks and is run by bigots. Fuck Fallen London.) Games are either available free on a browser, or as free, small downloadable files (most of which can be played using the Parchment Interpreter)
Wish you read more, but reliant on the quick dopamine of digital media? Well now you can read while also being an active participant in the narrative.
Bad at puzzles? Me too! Games from the 80s and 90s, as well as more famous newer games, have walkthroughs and hints easily available online. Newer games tend to either have a "hint" command, or come with a walkthrough file.
Do you like weird surrealist horror? Well there's... A lot of it.
Okay, but where do I start?
So there are two types of text adventure. The one you might be more accustomed to, and which sees more modern use, is called Hypertext Interactive Fiction. The other is called Parser Interactive Fiction, it's generally seen in older games, as well as games that are larger, feature more puzzles, or involve more exploration.
Hypertext games
Basically, the game will give you a scenario, and then a list of options (hypertext links) to click on to decide what to do next. These are usually more beginner friendly since you don't need to fiddle around with parsers, but personally I find them a bit limiting. Nonetheless, if you're new to Text Adventure, they're a good place to start.
Some of my favourites hypertext games (summaries in green)
My Father's Long, Long Legs is an interactive horror story about family, unease, and loss. Really more of a story than a game, but still good. Very nice use of sound. It does have some visual aspects, so this one might not work with screen readers
Scene Kid Simulator is pretty much what it says on the tin. A cute, nostalgic, coming-of-age slice of life story from the POV of a 2000s scene preteen. Nothing special, but a fun time.
The Uncle Who Works at Nintendo is a strange, unconventional, witty, and heartfelt horror game. Your friend has an uncle who he says works for Nintendo. You're about to meet him, or so he says. A fun and spooky look at childhood, childhood friendships, and childhood lies.
16 Ways to Kill a Vampire at McDonald's is... A joy to play. The name says it all honestly. Witty, charming, tense, engaging, and emotional when it wants to be. I actually found this one through a lucky Tumblr Blaze, which makes sense since this is perfectly suited to Tumblr sensibilities. This one has more puzzle aspects than most hypertext games, but it's still relatively easy and beginner friendly. You're a vampire hunter. It's your night off, and you go to McDonald's. But there's something wrong with the customer sitting beside you...
Toadstools is a game about hunting mushrooms. You have trespassed in a national park and you are wandering blindly through the woods looking for rare fungi. Good luck :)
Parser games
Okay these fuckers are where I really get excited. These games have the classic flashing cursor line where you input text like "go north", "search bookshelf", or "kiss my husband", and the game's rudimentary AI parses your input to decide what happens next. These are my favourites. They really allow you the feeling of exploring the game world, immerse you in the protagonist and the story, using just text on a screen and simple inputs. This does make them considerably more difficult, since a) you need to decide the right way to phrase what you want to do, otherwise it won't work, and b) more possibilities means more chances to mess up and miss things. Unlike video games, your cursor won't light up when you see something important, you'll have to search stuff and work things out on your own But, in my opinion, it is so, so worth it. Summaries in red
The first text adventure game I ever played was One Eye Open. It's an extremely graphic and gory medical horror game (although I would consider it tasteful medical horror, in that it never derives horror from medical procedures, disability, or ooOoHh gross scary sick people) You play as a volunteer test subject for a medical research facility, having to unravel the mystery of the hospital's bloody past. It's good. It's fun. It's tense. It has some really dumb mechanics. Don't play if you're sensitive to descriptions of gore, death, or corpses. This one doesn't have a walkthrough, but I've played it enough times to know the puzzles by heart, DM me if you need help.
Anchorhead is possibly my favourite piece of interactive fiction I've ever played. It's incredible. You play as a newlywed woman, moving to the small seaside town of Anchorhead after your husband Michael inherited a mansion from some distant relatives. There's something wrong with the town though. There's definitely something wrong with your husband's mysterious ancestors. And you're starting to think that there might be something strange happening to Michael. Get ready for some wonderfully atmospheric and immersive Lovecraftian horror, action sequences that are incredibly vibrant for Text Adventure, and a super compelling mystery that the game lets you work out on your own. The puzzles here are hard. I'm not gonna lie, I used a walkthrough at several points during this game. But my god it's worth it. Big massive huge content warning here for mentions of incest, sexual assault, and pedophilia. Not in excess, and nothing explicit, but it will be mentioned as part of the story.
Little Blue Men is a short, strange, sci-fi-ish horror-ish comedy-ish game by the same author as Anchorhead, though the two games are wildly different. You are an office worker. Cope with it. Take The Stanley Parable, Stella Firma, and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, mash 'em together, and you have Little Blue Men. It's bizarre. It's evocative. It's pretty darn good.
Coloratura is a strangely beautiful sci-fi story. You're a weird little alien blob. You've been separated from your home and are trapped aboard a human spaceship. You need to get home, need to make the humans understand in the only ways you can: color and song.
Slouching Towards Bedlam is a brilliant little steampunk game about language, choice, cults, Armageddon, and triangles. This game has multiple endings. It's neat in that none of the endings are really "good" or "bad". Rather, you need to decide where you stand, and act in the way you think is best.
The Lurking Horror is the grandparent of horror interactive fiction, released in the late 80s. You're a tech student in university. Something more than electricity is powering the school's computers. Find it, but don't die along the way. Besides the comically archaic descriptions of computers, this game doesn't feel all that dated. It's tricky, puzzle-heavy, and charmingly surreal. (Fun fact, this game and another old TA game called Zork inspired the "darkness kills you" mechanic which would later be popularized in Don't Starve!)
Nine Lives is a very short, very weird, very cartoony game where you play a cat that is very bad at staying alive. Cw for non-graphic but repeated cat death.
Spider and Web is one of the most ingenious uses of Text Adventure as a medium I've ever seen. It's famous for having one of, if not the singular best puzzles in video game history. It's tense, it's fast-paced, it introduces you to mechanics slowly and then lets you test them out on your own. I won't spoil too much, but you play as a very badass spy, reliving your brilliant heist during an interrogation. This game even features a character destined to be a Tumblr Sexyman. It really has it all.
If anyone actually read through all this, and has even considered playing any of these games, I'll be a little surprised. This post turned out a lot longer than I wanted it to be. It was meant to just be "hey interactive fiction is a cool and underappreciated medium, go check it out", but this is my special interest, and not one I often get to talk about. I guess this was me infodumping to the only place that will listen, the empty void of the internet. But these games are fun. And they do not get enough love. Text games are a dying genre, if they're not dead already. Give them a chance, show them some love.
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spacebubblehomebase · 5 months
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ANOTHER "Fanfic Search Help" Request because I'm at the end of my rope and very desperate for some good ol' nostalgic read. Pls help me.
Kaishin pairing.
DCMK fandom.
Angsty and Dark.
Toichi lives sort-of???
Other world mishaps.
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This time the plot is mostly about Kaito Kuroba being sent to another world where the BO didn't ruin his life. I say "mostly" because this is a series of fics in AO3 and some of them focus on Shinichi's P.O.V. too. The biggest (heart) kicker is that in their original world, the BO killed off each of their friends and family one by one until it's just the two of them against the world with nothing but a few small tokens to remember each person they lost by. The two of them were always together, but they were in too much danger to prioritize the idea of being "together". Still, Kaito and Shinichi were each other's lifeline. At their last chance to keep Pandora away from the Crows, Shinichi made a choice that had him be disguised as Kaitou KID while he paralyzes Kaito from following so he, instead, can die in the thief's place. A sequence of mourning and magical mishaps happen after, which led to Kaito being sent to a world where BOTH his parents were still alive, but there's another him in it too. One who still has a crush on Aoko and had no reason to take on the KID mantle from his father. While he gathers his bearings in this new reality where he still has people to care for him, we later learn that another Shinichi exist here too. One that never took the Apotoxin, but is somehow just as miserable as his dead counterpart. Mostly homeschooled, this Shinichi never grew up being viewed as a "great detective" rather more as a "corpse magnet weirdo" who has no friends and got involved in an incident in his childhood that would traumatize anyone (except for one indigo eyed boy he met then who was adamant about his dad rescuing them. Huh... He wonders how that kid's doing now). Bullied and distant from even Ran and Sonoko, he lacks the confidence and self-assurance of our Shinichi who takes pride in the truth. Rather, this one is more afraid and saddened by it and is mocked for his bluntness. That's why this new world's Kaito never heard much of this Shinichi too, because he's not featured in the news for solving cases, but he's been ostracized for it. I just love the idea of how different people could turn out to be with just a change of perspective. This Shinichi is still observant and cares for people's safety, but because of how he was viewed as a negative instead of a positive, in this world, his strengths became a weakness and what attracted our thief Kaito never got to shine. Changing their meeting and this Shinichi's personality instead to meek and lonely. Not as driven and assertive.
Last time I checked, it's not finished, but that's fine. I love the concept too much! My biggest fear is that it's been deleted.
-Bubbly💙
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