#happy to have gotten a mostly wholesome hopeful ending out of it though | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

chubbology · 3 years

Text

The Right Path

prompt: just wholesome and sweet wg

Jay knew he wasn’t the most remarkable guy. He’d never gotten the best grades in school; he’d never been great at sports. His hobbies were humble things like reading science fiction and playing fantasy games and going on walks late at night.

Moving back to his hometown after his college graduation, he struggled to find work. He ended up doing sedentary graveyard shifts that allowed him to eat on the job, and as a result, he gained almost forty pounds, becoming chubby for the first time in his life. It bothered him, getting too thick for his clothes. Working at a job he didn’t like. Being alone most of the time.

He felt sorry for himself, but he didn’t complain to his friends online; he just hoped, as he ate fast food on the way home again, that things would get better soon.

Of all places, he met them at a bookstore. Their name was Devon, and they dressed androgynous and plain, although their personality was like sunshine. Jay, an unconfessed romantic, just smiled wistfully as Devon told him a dozen reasons why the book Jay just picked up was the best he’d read in years. Devon, while not especially short, was lithe and cute, and - it was too nerve-wracking for Jay to ask for their number, even if only to keep in contact with a potential new friend. Instead, he thanked Devon and bought the book and got a milkshake on the way back, damning himself for being such a coward.

Later at home, he snacked on too many chips, then made himself a microwave mac and cheese dinner. He unbuttoned and unzipped his painfully tight jeans as he ate; he would have changed clothes first, but sometimes the anticipation of eating overwhelmed all thoughts in his mind. Including thoughts about Devon, thankfully. Forgetting he’d had a milkshake already, Jay found a bag of Halloween candy in the back of his pantry and started to work his way through it, right there in the kitchen. He ate chocolate after caramel chocolate with a one-track mind: to eat away his thoughts. It mostly worked, although sometimes he had to eat two or three at once. His shirt rode up a little, and he touched his distended belly. Even when the bag was empty, he craved more. His hands itched to eat. His tongue yearned to taste. Even with his button and fly undone, his jeans squeezed him.

The next time Jay saw Devon at the bookstore, he was another thirty pounds heavier. His hips and belly spilled over his waistband, stretching his t-shirt. His thighs naturally pressed together and his butt protruded quite a bit. He felt as overweight as he looked - even more so upon seeing that Devon looked as thin as ever.

Yet, despite Jay’s insecurities, Devon was the one who seemed shy as they talked, discussing books, then games. They migrated to the sitting area of the bookstore and Jay had to tug down his shirt a few times. His butt didn’t really fit in the narrow armchair, and his thighs warmed up quickly with his belly resting atop them. Jay worried that his moobs - which had grown particularly chubby in the last couple weeks - might be off-putting, but Devon kept talking with him like there was nothing more he wanted to do.

Even though Jay had already made up his mind to ask for Devon’s number this time, it was Devon who asked. So Jay, flustered as he was, gave it to him and tried his luck by asking them if they wanted to get something to eat. Devon agreed. Even better, Devon didn’t pick some health-food place, but claimed to be as ravenous as him. So they ordered two pizzas for delivery back at Jay’s apartment.

Jay nervously ate his whole pizza that night, then most of Devon’s - but only because Devon insisted. When Jay made one little self-deprecating comment about always eating too much, Devon said nonchalantly, “I say go for it. People should eat as much as they want. In my opinion, it’s not a bad thing to gain weight.”

Jay was so stunned he couldn’t even reply. They enjoyed the rest of the evening, talking and gaming and, in Jay’s case, snacking again later. Jay suspected this was the beginning of something.

They hung out more. And more. Soon they had their first kiss and started going out officially. As Jay got comfortable with having Devon around, he got comfortable with eating more often around him, too. As a result, Devon got comfortable with offering him food, bringing him food, encouraging him to eat more, to eat again - sometimes even talking Jay into eating when he wasn’t hungry. Jay wasn’t oblivious to what it all meant about Devon’s preferences, but he didn’t have the guts to confront them about it. Plus, he was happy to not hold back, and his cravings for sweets and snacks had only become more intense.

Jay never denied Devon anything, and so he outgrew his clothes again.

This time, though, Jay found he didn’t mind. Devon praised his body constantly, and only encouraged his hearty diet. Eventually the two of them did have a conversation about Devon enjoying feeding him, and of Jay enjoying being fed, and Jay got bigger from multiple stuffings throughout the weeks, he got happier, too. Even when he eventually got so heavy that waddling and panting became a way of life, he was no less happy: he and Devon laughed at diet commercials, learned to bake together, had sex after Jay got stuck in the closet doorway. In a deep, visceral way, the two of them revered the experience of Jay letting himself go completely.

For the first time in a long time, Jay felt truly accepted and loved, and as the months and years passed, he found a better job and left his old one. He didn’t ignore his family and online friends so much. He stopped with the sad internal monologues about the trajectory of his life and started telling himself that he was on the right path. Because he was. Regardless of any high weight or low income, if he was supported, and supported himself: he would do well in his life.

“Wow,” Devon said one Saturday morning, as Jay put away his fourth stack of pancakes. “You’re amazing.”

They were enjoying a big breakfast and the warm, springtime weather out on the patio of their new apartment. They’d both gained significant weight over the winter, but while Devon was only just entering chubby territory, Jay had to spread his legs to allow his belly to hang between them. His second chin sat out fat and permanent. Jay felt like a new person. Someone who didn’t try so hard to conform. Someone he honestly liked.

“I know,” Jay shrugged, smiling as he took another bite.

---

Thank you to the reader who commissioned this work!

I'd love to write more. Check me out <3 etsy.com/shop/Chubbology

#weight gain #fic #male gainer #nonbinary feeder #named

464 notes · View notes

fics-n-stuff · 3 years

Text

A Nice Christmas

Thanks to @gayhistorynerd for the prompt, see here (I kind of deviated from it a little maybe a lot but the story still stemmed from this prompt)

Pairing: Wilhelm × Simon

Summary: Wilhelm may have denied being in the sex tape, but that doesn't mean that the world has forgotten. The Christmas break proves to be difficult for both Simon and Wilhelm, one suffering from ongoing harassment and the other feeling completely isolated, and they find that they can't help but be drawn back to each other.

Word Count: 4.5k

A/N: This took me so long to write because I got writer's block right after I started it. This doesn't have a super happy ending because I wanted to try and keep it pretty realistic, but it is pretty sweet and wholesome.

Taglist: @probablyprocrastinatingrightnow @rika90 @angelwilhelm

Wilhelm had never felt more alone than he did being home for Christmas break. He spent as much time as was physically possible holed up in his bedroom, not wanting to see or talk to anyone, especially not his mother. He hadn’t turned his phone on for three days, he had bitten his nails down to the nailbeds and he hardly had any appetite. The ache in his chest was constant and unyielding.

He lay in the dark most of the time, his curtains closed throughout the day and only sometimes opened at night to let the moonlight in. Besides that, he didn’t have much idea of how time was passing.

He did know that it was Christmas eve though. And it must be the morning because nobody had come to drag him out of his bedroom to join the celebrations. A cursory peek around the curtain confirmed that, as Wilhelm saw that the sun hadn’t even fully risen yet.

A deep breath settled the stone in his stomach, and he reached for his phone with a shaky hand.

When the device turned on it immediately started going crazy with notifications, and Wilhelm felt his heart rate increase with every buzz.

5 messages from August

Ignore.

10 messages from Mamma

Ignore.

2 missed calls from Felice

Wilhelm paused in swiping away the notifications. Felice had called him twice and sent him three messages. He clicked on the message notification, sitting back against the wall and holding in a breath without realising it.

Felice: Hey Wille, how are you feeling being home?

Felice: I just wanted to check in but I can’t get a hold of you, I hope you’re doing alright

Felice: You probably don’t want to talk but you can call or text me whenever you do

Wilhelm sighed. Of all the people that he thought that he could depend on, Felice was the only one that he still had. He swallowed the lump in his throat and called her back.

It rang for a while before she answered, and he’d almost decided to hang up the call when it stopped ringing.

“Wille, good morning.” Felice greeted, cheerful but clearly tired. “Merry Christmas.”

“Yeah, merry Christmas Felice.” Wilhelm replied feebly. His voice was hoarse from disuse.

“Are you alright? Do you want to talk about something?”

“Uhm, I- I don’t know, I just... I don’t know.” He stuttered, wrapping his free arm around himself.

“Okay, well, what are your plans for today?”

“I’m not sure, I haven’t really been talking to anyone. What, uh, what are your plans?”

“Oh, you know, just the usual. We’ll watch Kalle Anka's Jul and play some games before dinner, then we’ll open presents.” She explained. The tinny sound of her voice through the phone was actually quite calming.

“What about for the rest of the break?”

“Um, I’m going to New York to see Maddie for New Year, so that’ll be fun. And I’m going back to Bjärstad on Boxing Day to see Sara. I’m gonna stay there just for one night.”

“So you’ve been talking to Sara a lot then?” Wilhelm questioned, moving to bite at his almost non-existent nails.

“Yeah, of course.”

“Has she said anything about Simon? Do you know if he’s alright?” His words came out more rushed than he had intended. Clearly, he was more eager for some sort of information on Simon than he had thought.

“Um, she hasn’t said much but I think he’s pretty okay.” Felice replied, but it was followed by a small sigh that let Wilhelm know that there was more to the story. “Sara says that things have mostly gone back to normal, but Simon goes out a lot less and she’s had to make her Instagram private. I think they’ve had a few people show up at their house.”

Wilhelm swallowed hard, a feeling of guilt crawling under his skin. Simon’s Instagram account had been private ever since the video had been leaked, so it seemed that now people had found Sara’s too. They had attention on them that they had never signed up for, and Wilhelm knew that it was his fault and he felt terrible for that.

“Okay.” He replied shakily. There was a short silence before Felice spoke again.

“How are you, Wilhelm? Really?” She asked.

“Lonely.” He answered. “Listen, I have to go. I need to take a shower before someone comes demanding that I take part in the Christmas celebrations.”

“Alright well, call me back whenever, okay?”

“Yeah, okay. Bye, Felice.”

“Bye, Wille. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas.”

Wilhelm ran a hand over his face, letting out a groan of frustration and sadness. Why couldn’t he just be a normal kid?

He stared down at his phone in his lap, gnawing at the nail of his right thumb in contemplation. With a shaking breath and trembling fingers, he picked it back up, opened his conversation with Simon and typed a short message. He dropped his phone in mild panic as soon as he hit send, and rubbed his hand over his chest as he took a deep, steadying breath.

+ + +

“Simon, wake up. Rosh and Ayub will be here soon.” Sara’s voice stirred Simon from his sleep and he rolled over to look at her. She was already dressed.

“What time is it?” He asked with a yawn.

“Nine o’clock. Get up and come help with breakfast.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m getting up.”

Sara rolled her eyes and left the room, and Simon reached out to his bedside table blindly until his hand landed on his phone. He squinted at the screen as he sat up, faltering when he saw the notification on the screen.

Wilhelm: Merry Christmas Simon

He felt his heart race as he stared at the screen, only snapping out of it when he heard Sara shouting at him from downstairs. He blinked, dropped his phone and set about getting dressed.

Every Christmas eve since they were ten, Simon, Sara, Rosh and Ayub would have breakfast together and then go for a long walk. It was tradition for them at this point, but Simon found himself unable to feel excited for it this year. It was all well and good to pretend like life was going on as normal, but it was hard not to feel uncomfortable when people stared at him everywhere he went.

Rosh and Ayub arrived just as he and Sara were finishing up making breakfast, and they exchanged Christmas well-wishes as they sat down to eat.

“You’re being real quiet over there, Simme. You alright?” Ayub asked after a while, and Simon realised that he’d been completely zoned out.

“Sorry, just thinking.”

“About Wilhelm?” Sara questioned. Simon pushed a bite of food into his mouth and shrugged.

“You have to move on, Simon.” Rosh said. “I know you care about him but he’s not worth all the trouble that he comes with.”

“I know. That’s why I ended things.” He replied. “It still sucks though.”

“You’ll get over him eventually.” Sara told him, putting a comforting hand on his for a few seconds before going back to her food. Simon smiled slightly.

He didn’t tell them about the text.

Despite all of that, he was in high spirits when they set out for their walk, happily joking and laughing with his friends, and they made it half an hour before he heard the first comment.

“That’s the guy from the sex tape.” Muttered a girl to her friend as they passed, and Simon felt the smile fall from his face.

“Just ignore them.” Sara told him, wrapping an arm around one of his. He nodded, but it had gotten to him. For the rest of their walk from that point, Simon felt like every person that they passed was looking at him and judging him.

They walked both Rosh and Ayub back to their houses before heading back to theirs just a bit past noon. They had almost gotten home when they were approached by a group of teenagers probably slightly younger than them.

“Are you the guy from that viral sex tape?” One of the boys asked unabashedly, the group coming right up in front of Simon and Sara and blocking their path.

“Uh, I don’t want to talk about that.” Simon replied stiffly, still trying to be polite.

“Oh my god, it is him!” A girl exclaimed.

“Was it actually the crown prince in the video?” Another chimed. Simon felt lightheaded.

“He already said that it wasn’t.” He deflected, trying to sidestep the group.

“Yeah, but there’s a lot of people that don’t actually believe him.” The girl laughed; actually laughed, as if this hadn’t been an earth shattering event for Simon.

“If it wasn’t Prince Wilhelm then who was it in the video?” A boy asked, and that was when Simon spotted the phone filming him and his stomach dropped.

“I’m not discussing my sex life with a bunch of strangers.” He scoffed in disbelief, shouldering his way past the group with Sara close behind him. “Please leave me alone.”

“You could just tell us if it was actually the prince or not.” One of them pressed, the group now following after Simon. “If it wasn’t him then you don’t have anything to hide.”

“Oh my god, did the royal family pay you off? Did they make you sign an NDA!?”

“Were you, like, boyfriends? Or was it just a hookup?”

Simon kept walking, keeping his head down and not answering any of the questions being hurled at him. He could sense that Sara was just as tense beside him. The group followed them for a full block before Simon finally lost his cool and came to a dead stop, turning to face them.

“I’m not going to answer your questions. The fact that you’re following me is not going to make me answer your questions. I’ve had my privacy majorly invaded once already and now you’re invading it again. I’m trying to enjoy Christmas with my sister and you’re chasing me with a camera, I’m sick of people harassing me.” He fumed, making sure to meet the eye of every one of them at some point. “Whatever you choose to believe is not my problem. It doesn’t matter whether you think that the crown prince is telling the truth or you choose to make up some type of theory, I deserve my privacy.”

He didn’t wait for any type of response before he turned around and walked away, thankful to find that they weren’t going to follow him anymore.

“You handled that well.” Sara said quietly once they had turned the next corner. Simon didn’t reply.

When they got home, he went straight upstairs without a word. He slammed his bedroom door shut and buried his face in his pillow, unable to hold the tears back any longer.

By that same evening, the video was viral.

+ + +

I bet that girl was right and the royal family made him sign an NDA

If he didn’t want people to think it was the prince he would have just said that it wasn’t so either the prince was lying or this guy is seeking attention

He’s literally a kid why can’t people just leave him alone??

I don’t care if it was the prince in the tape or not, this guy is hot

The way he said that people are making up theories makes me think that it actually wasn’t the prince in the video

I feel bad for this guy, getting followed around like that must suck

Wilhelm scrolled through the captions and comments on the seemingly endless posts of the video of Simon, feeling like somebody had a vice grip on his heart.

The first time he saw the video had been right after Christmas Eve dinner. He’d had a full blown panic attack and locked himself in the bathroom for half an hour. When he came out, his mother had tried to talk to him about the politics of the situation and he had immediately retreated into his bedroom once again. He missed Erik desperately.

He hadn’t been able to sleep, he'd only gotten about three hours of broken, fitful sleep all night, and now he couldn’t pry himself away from his phone. He knew that it was bad for him, he knew that it was making him feel terrible, but he wanted to know what people were saying.

He had been hesitant to text Simon, especially since he hadn’t received a reply to the merry Christmas text that he had sent in the morning, but in the end he mustered the courage to reach out. He had asked how Simon was doing and apologised for getting him into this situation. He wasn’t surprised when no answer came.

Christmas day was proving to be probably the worst day of Christmas break for Wilhelm. His chest felt like it was bursting open and like it was an empty chasm at the same time. He didn’t eat breakfast or lunch, he didn’t respond to the knocks that came at his door. He felt like he was trapped in a glass box and someone was shaking it.

Wilhelm didn’t know how long he had been scrolling through multiple different social media platforms when his phone buzzed in his hand and an incoming call appeared on the screen. He faltered, sitting up and almost dropping his phone, when he saw that it was Simon. He ran a nervous hand through his hair as he raised the phone to his ear.

“Simon?” He croaked.

“Hi, Wilhelm.” The reply came through the phone, and Wilhelm felt his shoulders relax at the sound of Simon’s voice.

“Hi. H-how are you.” He fumbled, and Simon sighed on the other end.

“I’m okay, I guess. As okay as I can be after... well, you know.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry for putting you in this situation.”

“This wasn’t your fault, Wille.” Simon muttered. “I just wish things were different.”

“Why, um... why did you call?” Wilhelm asked. There was a short stretch of silence that rung in his ears before Simon answered.

“I just wanted to hear your voice, I guess.” He confessed, and Wilhelm couldn’t help the soft smile that pulled at his lips. “Honestly, I was kind of surprised that you didn’t delete my number or something.”

“Why would I have done that?”

“I don’t know, I guess I just thought that you weren’t supposed to have any ties with me since you said that it wasn’t you in the video.” Wilhelm winced at that.

“It's not like my contacts list is available to the public.” He replied, trying to keep his tone light. “I’m not gonna let that kind of thing get in my head again.”

“Is your mum mad?” Simon asked, and now it was Wilhelm’s turn to sigh.

“I’m not sure, I kind of shut myself in my room so that I wouldn’t have to deal with her.” He answered tiredly. “How is your family?”

“Uh, shaken. Sara’s off in her own world with her sketchbooks and mamá can’t go for more than an hour without checking on us both, but we’re handling it.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologise.”

There was a silence again. Wilhelm ran his hand across his leg, back and forth in a soothing motion, not sure what he should say but not wanting the conversation to finish. In the end, Simon spoke first.

“Did you mean it, what you said before you left for the break?” He asked softly.

“Yeah, I did.” Wilhelm answered without hesitation. “I know it wasn’t a good time to say it, and you probably didn’t want to hear it, but I just had to say it out loud. At least once.”

Silence again. Wilhelm heard Simon sigh, and pursed his lips nervously.

“I miss you.” Simon said.

“I miss you too.” Wilhelm replied with a nervous yet relieved chuckle. “I miss you a lot.”

Another pause.

“Where do we go from here, Wille?” Simon whispered.

“I don’t know.” Wilhelm mumbled. “But I... I want to fix this. Or at least just try to fix it. You don’t deserve to be harassed like this, and it’s my fault and I feel terrible.”

“It’s not your fault.” Simon reassured with a sigh. “It was everything else. We still didn’t do anything wrong, and that includes you.”

“No, I did. I promised we would be in this together and I broke that promise.”

“I understand why you did it. And I’m not mad at you. Honestly, having thought about it, you probably made the best decision for my sake too. I mean, I’m getting harassed enough as it is already. I can’t imagine what it would be like if you had told the truth.”

“I’m still sorry anyway.” Wilhelm said softly, and Simon chuckled. “So, um, Felice told me she was visiting Bjärstad tomorrow.”

“Yeah, her and Sara have gotten close. It’s nice, you know, that Sara’s made friends. And Felice is cool.”

“Yeah, she’s great.”

There was silence again, and Wilhelm bit at his nails thinking that Simon was done with the conversation.

“Are you alright, Wille?” Simon asked after a while. “I know this is your first Christmas without Erik, and I guess things with your mum might be a little... well, I just hope you’re okay.”

Wilhelm swallowed. He could lie, pretend he was fine and wave away Simon’s concerns, but he knew the lie probably wouldn’t hold up. Or he could tell the truth and admit how painfully lonely he was, how much he hated being home because the palace felt empty without Erik and how much he longed to be with Simon with every fibre of his being.

“I’m coping.” He sighed, settling for a middle ground of vagueness. “It’s lonely here. The ceilings feel too high.”

“Have you had stuff to do?”

“No, not really. I haven’t really been in the mood for Christmas, but I guess none of us are particularly festive this year anyway.”

“Would you - I mean, if you would even be allowed to, but maybe if you could – would you want to come down here for a day?” Simon asked, and Wilhelm could just picture him fidgeting nervously as he stumbled over his words. The image brought a smile to his face.

“Yeah, I’d like that.” He answered softly. “I’ll try and convince my parents.”

+ + +

Going to Simon’s house had been an absolute no go with his parents. “Just too risky” his mother had said. However, with enough persistence, he managed to wear them down to a compromise.

That was how he ended up in a car on his way back to Hillerska the day after Boxing Day. While Simon’s house had been absolutely off the table, it would be easy enough to get back to Hillerska without being seen. The only people who were there during the break were security and the people who came to take care of the horses.

He had been worried at first that the inconvenience of it would make Simon not want to bother, but when he texted to ask if it was okay he had been met with a quick agreement.

A security guard unlocked the door for him when they arrived, sworn to secrecy of course, and he headed up to his room to wait. He didn’t realise he was biting his nails until there was a knock at the door and he was knocked out of his anxious thoughts.

The door opened slowly, and Wilhelm felt like all of the air was knocked out of his body when he saw Simon step inside, dressed in his beloved purple hoodie under the coat that he took off and draped over the back of a chair that was within reach. The door clicked shut behind him, and silence hung in the air.

“Hey.” Simon greeted finally, and Wilhelm took a deep breath as if he was just remembering how to breathe at all.

“Hey.” He echoed. “How are you?”

“Better.” Simon nodded. “Did you get into a fight with your parents?”

“Yeah, kinda.” Wilhelm muttered. “It’s fine though.”

Simon crossed the room and took a seat beside Wilhelm on the edge of the bed, a good few inches of space between them. It felt like miles.

“You look tired.” Simon commented.

“I’ve been having a hard time sleeping.” Wilhelm replied weakly, eyes downcast, fidgeting with his hands. “I get that way sometimes. It’s fine.”

“Is it?”

He looked over to find Simon watching him, and he practically crumbled under his gaze. He took a very unsteady breath and shook his head.

“No, it sucks.” He mumbled. His hand drifted back up to his mouth and he gnawed on the nail of his thumb nervously.

“Wille, you’re bleeding.” Simon said, gently grabbing his wrist and pulling his hand away from his mouth. Wilhelm looked down at his thumb and saw a bit of blood pooling in the side of the nailbed, becoming aware of the taste of it on his tongue.

“Oh, I didn’t notice.”

“How much have you been biting your nails?” Simon questioned, pulling Wilhelm’s hand towards him to get a look at them. Every nail was jagged and uneven, bitten down to stubs. The skin around them had been bitten at too.

“I don’t know, I do it without realising.” Wilhelm shrugged. “Probably a lot.” He resisted the urge to curl his fingers around Simon’s hand and blinked back the tears that threatened to fall.

“You shouldn’t have to bottle everything in, you’re destroying yourself.” Simon murmured.

“I don’t have anyone to talk to.” Wilhelm’s voice broke halfway through his sentence, a single tear managing to fight its way from his eye. “I used to be able to talk to Erik about at least some of it but now he’s gone and I don’t have anyone, and sometimes it feels like the ground is falling out from under me and I just don’t know what to do.”

He didn’t notice that he was hyperventilating until Simon pulled him into his arms. Wilhelm’s chest was tight, rising and falling rapidly against Simon’s body. Simon's arms were wrapped around him tightly, and Wilhelm was suddenly overwhelmed with how much he had been craving a hug as his hands grasped at the back of Simon’s hoodie and he hid his face in the crook of Simon’s neck.

Wilhelm had always been told not to cry. Ever since he was a child, whenever he began to cry he was told to stop. The seed had planted itself in him when he was very young, but the fear of letting himself cry didn’t truly grow until he once saw an article in a tabloid. He was barely eleven and he had fallen and hurt himself at an event. He had hardly cried, just a few tears and red cheeks, but the tabloid had had plenty to say about it. He hadn’t let himself properly cry since, except for when Erik died. Even then, he had waited until he was completely alone before he let his weakness show. But now, with Simon, he felt an overwhelming need to let his tears fall.

“I’m so sorry.” He whispered into Simon’s shoulder. He could feel the tears coming out of his eyes but they weren’t falling down his face, instead absorbing into the fabric of Simon’s hoodie.

“It’s okay.” Simon soothed, a hand moving up to stroke over the Wilhelm’s hair.

“I never wanted any of this. I never wanted to be a prince.”

“I know.”

“I just wanted to feel normal. Just for once.” Wilhelm said through his tears. “You made me feel normal.”

Simon furrowed his eyebrows, sympathetic. He loosened his hold on Wilhelm and leaned back, sliding the hand that was on the back of Wilhelm’s head forward to rest against his cheek.

“You made me feel normal too.” He replied softly. “At school I was a social outcast because I’m not rich, and at home I have to take care of my mom and Sara. When I was with you, I didn’t feel like I had to take care of anyone or watch where I was stepping. Well, except that one night.” Wilhelm huffed a slight laugh at the comment, lifting a hand to wipe the tears off of his cheeks. “I’ve never seen you cry before.” Simon commented.

“I’m not supposed to.” Wilhelm replied with an awkward chuckle, his head tipping forward in embarrassment. Simon sighed through his nose and lightly touched his forehead to Wilhelm’s.

“You have to cry sometimes, Wille. Everyone cries.”

“I’m not supposed to be everyone.”

“Okay, but sometimes you need to stop worrying about what you’re supposed to be.” Simon told him. “I know you know that.”

Wilhelm took a deep breath. This close to Simon’s face, he could feel his breathing too. He wanted to kiss him, but he didn’t know if that would be okay. He nodded slightly, covering Simon’s hand on his cheek with his own.

“Yeah.” He breathed.

When Simon leaned forward and connected their lips Wilhelm responded automatically, though it took his brain a few seconds to catch up. Once his brain did catch up, his hand took hold of the back of Simon’s neck and pulled him impossibly closer, holding onto this moment like it was his last. Maybe it would be the last time he got to kiss Simon; he couldn’t know. He hoped it wouldn’t be.

“Thanks for coming to see me.” Simon said when they broke apart.

“Thanks for wanting to see me at all.” Wilhelm replied. “I really missed you.”

Simon hummed, a faint smile playing at his lips. He watched Wilhelm for a few moments before kicking off his shoes.

“Come here.” He said, shuffling over the bed towards the wall. Wilhelm followed suit and allowed himself to be guided down to a lying position, Simon’s chest against his back and arm around his waist. “You need to sleep.”

“It’s the middle of the day.” Wilhelm protested, weak as the protest may have been.

“People have naps all the time, and you know that you need it.” Simon said firmly, adjusting the pillow under his head with his free arm and finding Wilhelm's hand to hold in the other. “It doesn’t have to be for long, okay?”

“Okay.” Wilhelm nodded, feeling suddenly very relaxed. He took a deep breath settling into the comfort and warmth of Simon’s body around his as his eyes fell shut. “This is nice.” He mumbled after a while.

“Yeah.” Simon agreed softly. “Go to sleep, Wille.”

It wasn’t long until he felt Wilhelm’s breathing change, signifying that he had fallen asleep. He smiled, fondly but with an edge of sadness to it, and pressed a light kiss to Wilhelm’s shoulder before closing his own eyes. They would deal with the rest of the world when they woke up.

#young royals #young royals netflix #wilmon #wilhelm x simon #simon x wilhelm #young royals fanfic #young royals fic #simon young royals #simon eriksson #wilhelm young royals #wilmon fanfic #felice young royals

220 notes · View notes

hockeyboysiguess · 3 years

Text

a partridge in a pear tree -> a jersey under the tree | b. boeser

a/n: happy december 1st everyone and welcome to the first day of 12 days of christmas! as a reminder here is the whole list. these will be posted every other day through christmas eve. this one is where this whole thing started, a gift for my bestie bae, the apple to my peanut butter forever, @brockadoodles. i hope you like it most of all!

word count: 3,740

wine drink pairing recommendation: hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows

warnings: pregnancy. some seriously wholesome content.

You took a deep breath and pulled the sleeves of your sweater over your hands, then pushed them back up again when you started pulling at the threads at the edge. Your sweater didn’t deserve to take the brunt of your stress in that moment. You bounced your foot up and down nervously instead as you waited what had to have been the longest three, absolutely agonizing minutes of your life. When the timer on your phone went off, you lurched forward to grab it, turning it off, as your other hand reached for the small, plastic test. You took a deep, centering breath before glancing down at the word in the small window.

Pregnant.

You were actually pregnant. You knew everything had felt wrong for a few weeks now, food didn't taste the same or sit right, you were absolutely exhausted all of the time, and you had snapped at Brock a time or two for well-meaning actions. You knew something was wrong, but your mom had been the one to have to tell you to take a test before going to the doctor’s. You had told her it wasn’t possible; you and Brock were doing the opposite of trying since you had only gotten married over the summer. You agreed to wait. That single word, which came with a lifetime behind it, wasn’t in the plan for another few years, but it was here now and it would be your reality in seven short months.

How were you going to tell Brock?

You knew he would be overwhelmed, his eyes glazing over as the timeline of his life abruptly shifted forward several years, yanking him right along with it. You knew Brock though; you wouldn’t have married him if you didn’t know him as well as you did. You knew that glazed over look would give way into a smile so broad it practically broke across his face. The waiting a few years, the shattered plan, was mostly you with a dash of Brock trying to make you happy. If you suddenly changed your mind and wanted to try for a baby tomorrow, unnecessary now, he would’ve dragged you to bed that instant. In full truth, your husband had baby fever as soon as he slid the wedding band onto your finger, probably before that really. Brock was going to be over the moon. You didn’t have any doubts about it, you really just needed to get yourself on board with this more than anything, this new timeline.

You grabbed your phone, fingers hovering over Brock’s name in your contacts. You debated calling him then, letting the nervous words spill out of your mouth, letting him wash away your concerns with words of love and affirmation. But you knew Brock. You knew Brock wanted the cliché, cute surprise. His scavenger hunt of a proposal set the standard for how big news was delivered, a cliché bang of sorts. You were more of a whimper than a bang sort of person, but you could lean into the cliché of it all for him.

Instead of calling him, you dropped your phone into your purse and grabbed your keys, needing to make a last minute trip in order to make this happen before he got home later that day from his road trip for the Christmas break. Two stores and one confused holiday worker later, you had everything you needed for your last minute announcement, letting the excitement of the anticipation of seeing Brock’s happiness calm your nerves in place of him doing it in only the way he knew how. Slowly but surely, as you carefully wrapped everything up, you could feel yourself getting more excited, hands shaking a little as you wrapped. A family with Brock was always the real plan; everything else was secondary, including the timing of it all.

You and Brock had found each other by chance, a complete accident four years prior to the day actually. A department store the day before Christmas was a terrible place to be, but it was the only place in your area that said they had the last gift you needed before you could head off to spend Christmas with your family. You spotted it in the store, the last one on the shelf, and made a beeline for it. As your hand reached for it, a large hand reached for the item as well, grabbed onto it the same time you did. You both recoiled, and turned to face each other.

You would have been furious with him if it wasn’t for the everything about him when you saw him. Blond hair peeking out from a gray beanie on his head, blue eyes that reminded you of the sky the morning after a snowstorm, bright and beautiful, and a small baby in his arms who was already reaching out for your hair, even though he didn’t know you at all.

“Whoa, Easty, don’t grab the pretty girl’s hair,” he laughed as he intercepted the baby’s hand on its way to fist into your hair. “Sorry about Easton. His parents are trying to teach him not to grab, but you can see it’s not going well.”

He readjusted the baby in his arms, hoisting him up a little higher, before continuing, “I’m Brock, by the way, and this is my nephew, Easton.”

“Um, hi,” you mumbled out, tucking your hair behind your ear as a blush rose to your cheeks as you added your name at the end of your half statement. You had a warmer smile for Easton though. Brock, a terrible name for a cute boy who liked babies to boot, who on the other hand was trying to take your gift that you needed. He was on the naughty list for sure. “Hi there, Easton.”

“I see we like Easton best,” Brock laughed, picking up on the stark difference in the tones you used. “Look, you want that, right?”

Brock pointed up toward the shelf where the gift you desperately needed sat, taunting you, daring you to reach out and grab it. You nodded in response to Brock, unsure where he could possibly be going with this.

“How about I let you have that if you’ll grab a drink with me?” Brock asked you, completely stunning you in the middle of a department store in the middle of the holiday season, a lawless place where one should always expect the unexpected.

“I’m sorry?” you laughed, a look of disbelief clear on your face.

Brock let a lazy smile roll across his face, “I get a drink with a pretty girl for the price of a Christmas gift for one of my cousins who would probably break it the day after I give it to him? Yeah, I’m coming out on top here, if you say yes.”

You had said yes and the rest was pretty much history, an accidental meeting led to all of this, so maybe the accidental baby you were carrying just in time for Christmas was just the right thing for the two of you, a nod to your past in the setting up of your future. Just as you finished tying the bow around the box, the front door jingled, the sound instantly followed by barking from Milo and Coolie, and then followed by cooing from your husband at the pups.

“Hey bud, hey bud. Yeah, Dad missed ya too,” he managed to get out as he was being practically tackled by the pups, like they did whenever he came home.

You slid the surprise gift under the tree, tucking it in the back, before Brock could notice you were adding one more gift after you said you were done a few days ago. You lifted yourself off the floor, tucking the wrapping paper under the couch to hide it from Brock, as he rounded the corner into the living room. Brock looked at you like he always did, like you were his entire world, like you were his first breath of fresh air he’d had in years, like you were the living embodiment of a Christmas miracle. He shuffled across the floor to wrap his arms around your waist, and you gasped as he lifted you up. He laughed, but you were just panicking that maybe your stomach wasn’t as flat as you thought it was and he was going to find out about the biggest surprise he was ever going to get a little earlier than you wanted.

“Hey, baby,” he breathed out as he set you back down, tilting his head down in one another motion to capture your lips in a soft kiss.

“Hey, handsome,” you smiled as you pulled away from his kiss, a hand threading into the long strands of hair at the back of his neck.

Brock smiled down at you, and gave you another quick kiss before saying, “How were the last couple days? Were the pups good for you? Do I need to be bad cop with them?”

You laughed and shook your head softly, “Brock Boeser, we both know you’re not capable of being the bad cop with anyone, let alone Milo and Coolie.”

Brock was laughing as he kissed your forehead, “Sorry you’re going to have to be the bad guy all the time when we have kids. Whenever that is, no pressure.”

Your heart picked up in your chest and your breath caught in your throat. You tucked your face in his neck to try and hide the expression on your face, letting the ease with which Brock brought up kids calm you. He wanted this baby, even if he didn’t know they existed yet. Your nerves that maybe he wouldn’t want this baby were just misplaced anxiety coming from your own feelings about becoming a parent yourself; they weren’t about him. Brock was here, again, being your perfect partner, comforting you and assuring you, even though he had no idea he was actually doing anything at all.

Sliding into bed next to him later that night, his heavy arm slung over your stomach made you as nervous as when he picked you up earlier, even though nothing had changed since that afternoon other than everything that had already changed since the morning. Brock kissed your shoulder and relaxed into his pillow, letting his eyes flutter closed. He was out less than a few minutes after closing his eyes, as per usual. Your husband was a creature of habit, and you were about to throw the most welcome wrench into his routines that you ever could. Your nerves had shifted into ones of excitement, of wanting a beautiful thing to happen on the morning of Brock’s favorite holiday. You wanted to see him open that gift. You wanted to see the moment he realized everything was changing, the moment he realized he was going to be a father, the one thing he’d wanted for so long, under the lights of the Christmas tree, and the dawn of a winter Vancouver morning in late December.

All you had to do to get to that moment was sleep, but it was the one thing that eluded you most of the night. The combination of excitement, nerves, and the fact that this baby seemed to have the goal of making you incredibly nauseous all of the time, all working in tandem to rob you of sleep. You tossed and turned most of the night, and slept terribly when you did manage to sleep, but it was Christmas after all Brock didn’t feel any shame in waking you up when he normally got up. He woke you up with a soft kiss to your shoulder, and a comforting arm around your waist.

“Merry Christmas, baby,” he mumbled softly against your shoulder when you stirred.

“Merry Christmas, husband,” you breathed out and you felt Brock smile against your shoulder. He loved when you called him by his favorite title, his words not yours. “What time is this?”

Brock laughed lightly against your skin, “Early,” which was what he said when it was before seven thirty in the morning whenever you asked, “but it’s Christmas early, so it’s appropriate today.”

You groaned, making him laugh deeper in response, “Still not sure how I married an early bird?”

“But you love meeeee,” he muttered against your skin, voice soft with an edge of youth that perfectly fit the holiday, his days old stubble scratching across your skin as he talked. “And I love you so much.”

“I do love you,” you smiled as you spoke. “It’s the only reason I can tolerate you waking up this early on days that aren’t Christmas.”

“Well, today is Christmas, so we’re putting our matching pajamas on. I’ve got Milo if you take Coolie, and we’re opening some presents, baby!”

One torn set of dog antlers, one discarded set, two embarrassing adult pajama sets Brock loved so much, and two cups of coffee since neither of you could function without it, later, and you and Brock were sat by the Christmas tree together, legs crossed, each with your first present for each other in yours laps. You had an order in mind for Brock’s gifts, saving the last addition, the announcement of your new addition, for last. Brock usually just grabbed whatever was closest to him with your name on it and handed it to you.

“Sorry I still can’t wrap things,” was how he handed you the first one, snagging the box with his name on it off your lap in one smooth motion.

“Wouldn’t be from you if it wasn’t wrapped like you ran over it with your car first,” you joked.

“Ho, ho, ho,” he rolled his eyes. “So kind of you, wifey.”

“I’ve got to keep you honest.”

You smiled brightly at him, earning yourself a quick peck on your lips before he ripped into your impeccably wrapped present, sending bits of paper and ribbon everywhere. You eyed Milo carefully as he started ripping up some of the paper Brock had torn off the box, but he wasn’t creating more of a mess than Brock was making himself, so you let it slide under a watchful eye. Brock loved his first gift, and his second, and his third. You cried at the first, and laughed at your second, and your entire chest felt warm with your third thinking that Brock Boeser was made for Christmas. He was warm and unfailingly kind and hopeful in the face of absolute hopelessness. You didn’t really believe in the idea of the magic of Christmas, chocking it all up to people making the holidays feel special simply because they wished for them to be special, but you believed that sometimes people were greater than the sum of their parts, of even their experiences, of their very atoms. There was something else to Brock Boeser, something so indescribably wonderful, that had drawn you to him in the first place, and that reminded you of what people said was the magic of Christmas. It was pure and good and so astoundingly bright that you thought maybe Brock Boeser was made of stardust from better stars than anyone else you’d ever known and maybe Christmas was made for Brock Boeser instead.

You were just hoping that your little surprise was going to make this Christmas his best one yet, rather than derail Brock’s favorite holiday and every repetition of this holiday after.

“Okay, I know we said three gifts,” and Brock was already groaning as you reached for the small box you hid behind Coolie and Milo’s gifts at the back of the tree, “but I had to get this one. It’s technically not really for you actually, but it’s kind of for you.”

Brock gave you a curious look, eyebrows furrowing down and lips pursing, but you waved him off and shoved the pristinely wrapped box into his hands. You grabbed your phone and opened up your camera, knowing if you didn’t film this moment and it was as good as you hoped it would be, you would regret it for the rest of your life. If it wasn’t as good as you hoped, well, you could always delete it.

“Oh, we’re filming me open a present that’s only sort of for me?” Brock laughed as he asked the question and you just shrugged in response and waved him on. “Okay then, weirdo wifey.”

You rolled your eyes as he opened up his last present. Your breath caught in your throat as he popped open the tape keeping the lid on the box down. Your eyes bounced back and forth between his left hand and his right as he slowly pulled at the tissue paper, going painstakingly slowly for the sake of the camera. You groaned at his actions and whined his name, which just made him laugh, but at least he finally picked up the pace. You watched with your breath held and your body tense as his soft blue eyes looked over the contents of the gift. His brows furrowed together in confusion as his shaking hands picked up a small Canucks jersey, an incredibly small Canucks jersey that wouldn’t fit anyone in your household with your shared last name on the back.

“Baby, what is this?” Brock asked you, his voice tense, his emotions screaming behind the wall he’d haphazardly built to try and keep the hopefulness out of it, but it was seeping in through the cracks in streams.

You took a deep breath, your first one since he’d started opening the present, and whispered, “I’m pregnant, Brock. We’re having a baby.”

Brock’s bottom lip quivered as he looked at the small jersey in his shaking hands. His brows softened and his chest started to heave as his breathing picked up.

“You’re serious, right?” he managed to get out. “You’re actually pregnant? We’re actually having a baby?”

He lost his voice a bit at the end, pitch going so high that he thought you didn’t even understand him, but you were listening and watching every single facet of him right now to miss what he said. You nodded slowly, letting out an unsteady breath as you did. He wasn’t angry, not that Brock had ever been angry with you even once in all the time you knew him. He was far too patient and by the time his patience wore thin, he loved you too much to ever be angry with you. But you couldn’t place how he was feeling, the emotions flashing over his face in the faint light of the Christmas tree and the Vancouver sunrise too complicated and changing too quickly for you to understand.

You understood when Brock dropped the jersey and reached for you. It wasn’t really a reach. It was a tackle, your back ending up flat on the rug with Brock hovering over you.

“We’re having a baby!”

Brock’s voice shot up several octaves and decibel levels when he shouted. A wide, gorgeous smile broke out across his face, one so true and joyful you’d only seen it a handful of times before; when you agreed to be his girlfriend, when you agreed to marry him, and when he saw you walk down the aisle. But here it was again, his “overwhelmed to the point of absolute elation” smile. And with the Christmas lights making a halo of light twinkle around his head from your position on the floor, Brock looked like every bit of the angel he was to you.

“A baby, baby,” he breathed out as he slowly sat back on his heels, pulling you up with him, keeping your faces close. “We’re having a baby, baby.”

You nodded as his hand reached out to cup your face, “We’re having a baby, Brock.”

“Well, you’re having a baby,” he smiled at you softly as his thumb ran over your lips. “I’m here for physical, moral, and emotional support.”

“Thanks for acknowledging that I’m doing all of the heavy lifting here,” you laughed with a teasing roll of your eyes.

“Are you happy?” His question was so soft, so hesitant, you always didn’t catch it. “I know you didn’t want this for another couple of years and I just, I’m thrilled, I’m over the moon and the stars and the whole freaking universe that we’re having a baby, but are you happy?”

Hearing Brock’s words, feeling the steadiness of his hand on your cheek, and the excitement absolutely radiating off him, you knew you were happy. The prospect of becoming a parent was terrifying, especially when you hadn’t been trying to become one, but knowing Brock Boeser, the man you loved more than anyone else you had ever met, the man that outshone all the lights on the tree and the stars in the sky, the man that was made of brighter stardust than anyone else, the man that Christmas could only hope to be as magical as, was your co-parent. And what was there to worry about after that?

“I’m so happy,” you told him, your voice shaking as tears began to fill your eyes. “I’m so, so happy.”

Brock nodded as his eyes matched yours, glassy and threatening to overflow with tears as he pressed a soft kiss to your forehead. He slowly pulled back and lowered himself down, bending over until his face was in front of your stomach. Brock let out a long, slow breath before reaching out a hand to place gently on your still flat stomach.

“Hi, little one. It’s me, Daddy.” Brock’s voice cracked at the last word that left his lips and your first tears spilled over. “Your momma and I are so happy and so excited you’re on your way and we can’t wait to meet you. Thank you for showing yourself for Christmas. You’re the best gift I’ve ever received in my entire life. Can’t wait for next Christmas already, even though this one isn’t over, because you’ll be sharing it with us then. We love you so much, little one.”

The tears were flowing freely as Brock looked back up at you. There was so much to do, so much to plan, so much to figure out, but right now it was just you and Brock and your little Christmas surprise, the best gift you had ever received either.

“Merry Christmas, Brock.”

“Merry Christmas, baby, and Merry Christmas, baby.”

#brock boeser #brock boeser imagine #brock boeser fic #brock boeser writing #nhl fanfic #nhl fanfiction #nhl fic #nhl blurbs #nhl imagine #Hockey Fanfiction #hockey writing #hockey imagine #12 days of christmas fics

413 notes · View notes

anniebibananie · 3 years

Note

love your ray and heather story! i don't know if you're accepting prompts, but would you write something about heather finding out about ray running into the fire for her?? I just need that SCENE

thank you! i'm so happy you enjoyed i wish i could leave you my love.

also ty for the prompt it's been a while but i do love writing prompts so here you goooooo

[side note: wyattnash on ao3 (if someone knows their tumblr lmk) also wrote a oneshot for this premise: Blame it on the Flame]

my heather & ray playlist for listening as u read

***

It's been two months since Panic ended. As much as Panic ever ends for someone who has played it, or for Carp where Panic sometimes feels like its secret beating heart. The one thing that keeps the youth of this town alert, alive, aching for bigger and better things.

Panic may be dumb, but sometimes Heather thinks it's the one thing that reminds them all they have any say at all in their own lives.

"Heather! You dropped this," comes a voice from behind her, and Heather turns. Drew is holding out the pack of crayons she'd just bought from the pharmacy, which clearly fell from between her arms. "Seems important," he says with a kind smile.

"Thanks, Drew." Heather sighs as she reaches out and takes the pack, stacking it back into the crook of her arm with the toilet paper rolls and bottle of ibuprofen she'd just purchased.

Lily is out of crayons, and Heather can't forget the expressive hope in her eyes when she'd asked for more. Her and Ray had started drawing together on afternoons when he was over, and Heather wasn't going to be a contributing factor in ending that wholesome activity. Something they both seemed to enjoy.

"Lily would be sad if her and Ray couldn't work on the town map they've spent the last week drawing together. I've never seen either of them so focused on anything." She puffs out a breath.

It came as a surprise at first to see Ray so tender with Lily, so receptive, until Heather thought about it and realized maybe it wasn't a surprise at all. Ray, at his core, is a sweet person who simply had built a million protective shells around it. That's what kind people who live in the dirt were forced to do. Heather got it.

Drew's eyebrows quirk up. "You and Ray going well then?"

"Hm?" Heather tilts her head. She knows what he's asking, but Heather isn't ready to spill her guts on the sidewalk to Drew. Even if she likes Drew.

Because what her and Ray have has grown into something tender, too. Something she holds so closely and dearly to her chest that sometimes she's afraid if she holds it in the palm of her hand someone might grab it away, tear it before she can stop them.

Drew rolls his eyes. "You're not tricking anyone. He's such an asshole sometimes, but when we all saw him run into Graybill's house after you? I've never heard anyone scream someone's name like that. Dude was so into you even then."

Her eyebrows scrunch, meeting in the middle. "Graybill's house? What are you talking about?"

Now Drew is the one confused. "No one ever told you? As soon as we realized you and Natalie were missing he ran straight back into the fire. I can't believe no one mentioned it."

The conversation fades quickly after that, Heather making some passing remark, and the two saying goodbye companionably. But Heather can't stop thinking about it. The image of Ray running straight into the fire, calling her name, trying to save her from danger.

That was after she'd upset him. Even then he cared. Which isn't really a surprise, either, she supposes, but it does something to her heart. Makes it tighter, the fondness tightening something wicked in her chest. The inescapable feeling she has for him even more irrevocable.

***

She returns home to find Ray and Lily already in place. Heather ditches the toilet paper and other odds and ends into a nearby chair, tossing the crayons onto the coffee table they're circled around.

Ray looks up at her with a smile, dimple on display, that makes a smile of her own grow across her features.

"Thank you, Heather!" Lily sings, and Heather shoots a look her way before going to kiss the top of her head.

"Course, bug." She pauses to look at the map. They've made good progress. It has streets and houses drawn out but also little things. A book colored by the library. A pair of scissors by the hairdressers and a little heart Heather knows Lily must have drawn for their mom, even now. "Ray? Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Ooo," Lily jokes, though her head remains dipped forward in concentration.

Ray holds out his hand, and Heather releases a huff of breath as she pulls him up to standing. He kisses her briefly, hands still connected between them, and she rolls her eyes.

They make their way to the kitchen, where Heather gets a pot of water boiling for dinner before turning around and kicking her foot at his leg.

He tilts his head, crowding closer to her. "What's that for, Nill? Gonna reprimand me?"

She crosses her arms, mostly because she wants to maintain some distance while she says what comes next. Ray can be too persuasive when he closes in, making her forget words she wants to say.

"You ran into the fire at Graybill's." It's not a question because they both know the answer.

She watches his face, and there's that wrecked look again he'd given her after she asked about the words he said on the bridge. Like she's seen a part of him he hadn't actually anticipated anyone getting a glimpse of, and he dips his head. It comes to rest on her shoulder for a second before he pulls back.

"How'd you find out?"

"Not telling." Her lips twist into something between a smirk and a smile. "You don't get to get hurt because of me, okay? That's not love."

He hums, clearly not agreeing, and Heather is mad at him almost. The fact that he believes his life to be more disposable than hers, but she supposes she's honored, too. That Ray would be willing to do that for her and not seek thanks, not even needing her to know it.

"My only regret is I couldn't save you." He shakes his head, looking out the window over the kitchen for a minute instead of at her. "But you didn't need me, hey? Did it all on your own like the badass you are."

"I am a badass," she agrees. He turns his head back with a laugh, and he flows like water when she pulls him in by the belt loops to kiss her. "Thank you, but you don't do that again, okay?"

"Panic is over, remember? No more opportunities to throw myself into the flames for Heather Nill."

Which isn't an agreement, and Heather thinks it's wrong anyways because Panic is never over for them. Panic is a game they're alway playing, trying to keep themselves calm to get through all of the challenges Carp throws at them.

But she loves him. She really does, and she thinks she'd probably do the same if she had to. The way she'd gotten behind the wheel for Lily. The way she'd jumped from a cliff for freedom. She would do a lot for the people she loves.

"You're an idiot," she reminds him, words meant to be sharp but coming out fragile anyways.

His smile is radiant. "Yours, though," and he kisses her again against the counter.

Yes, she thinks. You are.

#nillhall #heather x ray #panic amazon #panic tv show #annie writes #my fanfiction #prompts #nillhall prompts #i love them just like as a reminder #i just love the idea of ray and lily coloring together ok #sue me #heather nill

77 notes · View notes

foxzcomics · 3 years

Text

DSMP Sanders Sides AU?

This is an AU me and my friend came up with (they don’t have a tumblr, if they do get one I’ll tag them), this is very much a Work in progress (W.I.P), but we’ve had some fun with it. The basic premise is that every member of the SMP has their own sides. It’s a known fact, so it’s not weird to see someone talking to themself. People can’t see each other's sides, you can only see your own, (Tommy can’t see Ranboo’s sides, but Ranboo can see his own sides) (I hope that makes sense) I won’t go too in depth in this post, just a basic overview of what me and my friend came up with. We haven’t done all the characters in the SMP, these are all the ones we’ve done so far.

The characters we have done and their sides are under the cut.

Starting off with Tommy sides, we have: Tommy has two Chaos sides, Disk Innit, and Patriot Innit. Disk Innit embodies mostly harmless fun, mainly when Tommy started the drug van with Wilbur, the cartel, and silly money making schemes that tend to involve drug dealers. Disk Innit doesn’t want to hurt anyone, he just wants to annoy them or make them laugh. Patriot Innit is a different story. He causes problems on purpose, and likes to cause others issues. Patriot Innit is the one who gets into the wars and conflicts, and even starts them. However, he is very loyal, and will fight for what he cares for till the very end. Loud Innit is the embodiment of just how much Tommy screams and yells, and other such things. He embodies the need for attention, for people to see Tommy and acknowledge him. He hates being ignored, and people disagreeing with him. He’s known to buddy up with both chaos sides a lot. Clingy Innit is well, Tommy’s clingy side. He’s a very shy side, and doesn’t fully interact as much. He’s the one who calls others clingy, and when people call him out for being clingy, Clingy Innit will back off fast (mostly replaced with a chaos side or Loud Innit). Clingy Innit hates the idea of losing those he cares for, and has strong opinions about everyone. They buddy up with Loud Innit sometimes when they’re feeling brave, which isn’t often. Finally, we have Exile Innit. This is the side that deals with most of Tommy’s trauma. He’s the fight or flight, the one who eats the gapples when he feels the slightest bit of danger, the panic from an unexpected noise. He’s the opposite of Loud Innit, preferring to slink away and keep safe rather than be seen or heard in fear of being hurt again. He rarely works with the other sides, preferring to stay secluded.

Then we have Awesamdude. His sides are: Dad, the one who cares a lot about any of the children on the server, mostly Tommy. He worries about Tommy constantly, and is very protective over him and the other children. He is stubborn and refuses to give up on those he cares for. Warden, the one who runs the prison. He’s strict, uncaring, and his top priority is the prison and making sure Dream doesn’t escape. He does care about the others, but they're not his top priority. Warden doesn’t get along with the other sides, he wants to, but he puts his job first. So he’ll listen to the other sides when he can, as long as it doesn’t hinder his work. He and Dad have a rocky relationship, Dad thinks he could care more, Warden thinks Dad cares too much about the others. Then he has Valentine. Valentine cares deeply for Ponk, and wants to save him from the egg, and to spend as much time as he can with Ponk. Valentine and Dad get along, but Valentine and Warden have a horrible relationship, and have even gotten into physical fights with each other. Sam has a hard time with his sides, as they never seem to get along, and it makes things much harder than it has to be.

Badboyhalo’s sides are: Wholesomeboyhalo, a kind hearted and sweet demon. He just wants to make sure everything is kid friendly and doesn’t like conflict that much. He cares deeply for his friends as well. Wholesomeboyhalo represents just the overall vibe that BBH wants to keep around himself, where people are happy and don’t make crude or mean jokes. He’s happy most of the time, and a joy to be around. Annoyedboyhalo is the side for whenever BBH gets annoyed about anything. He’s quick to call people out and not afraid to yell. He and Wholesomeboyhalo are friends, as annoyedboyhalo wants to keep wholesome happy, and mostly shows up whenever someone curses or is crude. He’s also very petty, and almost constantly stressed out. He needs sleep. LANGUAGEboyhalo wasn’t originally a side. He was kind of the fusion of Wholesome and Annoyed, and with it being common for them to work at the same time when yelling at anyone who makes an adult joke or says any curse words, LANGUAGE just, ended up popping into existence to fill the role. LANGUAGEboyhalo shows up whenever someone curses or says anything suggestive. He gets along with Wholesomeboyhalo and Annoyedboyhalo, though he doesn’t like Tommy. Piningboyhalo came around when they met Skeppy, mainly because of how Skeppy and Bad’s lives are intertwined. He cares deeply for Skeppy and is very protective as well. He’s also been nicknamed ‘clingyboyhalo’ and ‘jealousboyhalo’, and has given up on fighting the nicknames. He’s willing to do anything to keep Skeppy safe. Anything. Dadboyhalo is a combination of when Wholesome and LANGUAGE have influence. He isn’t an actual side, but is distinct enough to have the nickname. Typically ‘shows up’ when Sapnap is around. T̹̅-̱͍̠̼̎͐̈̈́_̧̤̟́̿̚ ̧̧͈̥̬̏̈͊̐͘5̣̪̰̇̿͞!̭͛ ͔͖̺̳̓̅̿͡ ̛̹͇͒̍͟_̳̣̝̩͙̈́͆̒̑̒

We also have Skeppy’s: Clingy is very attached to all of Skeppy’s friends, and willing to fight for them to the death. He’s the one who is connected to BBH’s life, and the one who gets jealous over things. He doesn’t like even the idea of losing the people he cares for. Chaos, also known as Chaos in Control, or Let’s Cause Problems on Purpose, is Skeppy’s chaotic side. He likes to crack jokes, make pranks, and in general be absolutely feral. He and clingy sometimes butt heads, as his antics get’s Bad angry, and that makes Clingy sad. Flirt is an interesting side. Flirt only flirts with BBH, which is odd, because there are no sides that have only one purpose. Flirt likes to hang out with Chaos, when they team up it typically ends in an angry BBH, but Flirt seems to get distant after that. Skeppy and the others don’t really like to talk with flirt often. No one asks about the side. _͚̦͕̑́͂7̪̼́̎͑ͅ-̡̨̗̥̔̓̓͡ ͔̤̼͊̀̉̓͢3͈̺͓̞̇͐͐̾g̡̘̏͆͒ͅ_̨̹̼̙̓̈́̄̎

#tommyinnit #dsmp #dream smp #tommy innit #badboyhalo #dsmp bbh #dsmp tommy #dsmp au #au #sanders sides au #dsmp x sanders sides au #awesamdude #smp sam #smp skeppy #skeppy #op doesn't know how to tag #if I need to add triggers tell me #this was fun to come up with #sometimes to avoid the world you come up with AUs with your friends

59 notes · View notes

hypmic-writings · 4 years

Note

can you do MTC (seprately) drunk hcs? like their s/o taking care of them and what kind of things they say out of the blue that they usually don't say to their s/o,,,? thanks!

━━ ∘◦ ☆ ◦∘ ━━

Pairing: Samatoki Aohitsugi x reader; Juto Iruma x Reader; Riou Busujima x reader

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: Inebriation

A/N: Did I ghost write this? Because drunk headcanons are my absolute favorites ugh yes, thank you so much for blessing me with this request, anon! Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it~

⋘ ──── ∗ ⋅◈⋅ ∗ ──── ⋙

Samatoki Aohitsugi

When Samatoki gets drunk, he gets more happy, but also more rowdy

when he comes home, he’ll be pacing around the apartment going on about how he spent the night at a bar drinking more than anyone and how he is the best at everything. Ever.

his cheeks always flush with a light pink color and he’ll get a little bit more smiley touchy with you as well

“See babe? Aint chu proud I drank the best?”

“Toki, please, I can’t breathe, you’re hugging me too tightly.”

“THAT’S CAUSE I’M THE BEST DAMN HUGGER EVER TOO!”

when you’re taking care of him, make sure that you give him lots of hugs and kisses and he’ll be much more easy to handle

if you pet his hair and call him a good boy he literally might cry because he loves you too much

he’ll get angry if you try to get him to do something he doesn’t want to do, like sleep or drink water

so you’ll have to come up with creative ways to get him to do things like giving him a kiss as a reward or making him think it’s his idea

trying to get him to take a shower while drunk never works and has resulted in many injuries, so you’ve given up at this point

you always help him change, but ever time he insists he doesn’t need your help at first until he gets stuck taking off his shirt after which he’s calling for you to help him

his words are always slurred and he still cusses like a sailor, but once you’ve gotten him in bed he’ll become much more docile and loving

if you get up to leave he’ll grab your hand and ask you to stay with him for a little bit longer, his cheeks turning much more pink

Samatoki will pull you into his drunken arms tightly so that you can’t escape while mumbling out all of the reasons that he loves you

he might even tear up a little, but will refuse to cry as he goes on about how he’s loved you since the moment he met you

some of them are really corny and cheesy, and he’ll never remember those moments the next day, but you will

keep them as knowledge that even though Samatoki is more of a man of actions than words, he’ll always find his own way to love you

just don’t lord it over him too much otherwise his embarrassment will turn to frustration when he’s sober

Juto Iruma

When Juto gets drunk, he gets more flirtatious at first and then loses his filter almost completely

the flirtations are something you can handle because he has a bit of that when he’s sober

but the fact that he has no filter can get dangerous - especially if he’s outside the bar talking to other people

“How was boys night?”

“It was great except that Samatoki is a light-weight and an absolute idiot both sober and when he’s drunk”

“Juto, stop being mean!”

when you’re taking care of him though, he’s surprisingly good at doing what he’s supposed to do

mostly that stems from the fact that he wants to do all of the things he has to do (i.e. take a shower, brush his teeth, drink water, etc.)

the man likes to take care of himself, okay?

because he’s much more open to talking when he’s drunk, these end up being some of the best heart-to-hearts you have with him

you never push him to tell you anything he doesn’t want to

but with Juto drinks, it’s as if his walls are dropped and he’s much more likely to talk about himself and his past

you get to learn a lot in these moments about how he sees himself, his faults, and his aspirations

as he’s sitting on the couch sipping water and you drape a blanket over his shoulders, you’ll notice him getting a bit more tense so you’ll sit down beside him

he’ll immediately throw an arm around you and pull you in closer while you take off his glasses and let him relax a little

before either of you know it, hours have passed and you’ve just been sitting in each other’s arms, talking with each other

sometimes these moments can get emotional and hard, but at the end of the night, you’ll both be so happy that you can trust the other so fully

it really helps the both of you realize how much you love and depend on the other and those late night talks are low-key therapeutic for both of you

Juto will probably more sober at the end of it than drunk, but he’ll still thank you for your time in a charming way before kissing you and telling you that he loves you

it’s not something you get to hear from him a lot when he’s sober, but those three words slip out quite a bit more often when he’s drunk

Riou Busujima

When Riou gets drunk, he gets a bit more talkative at first, but then he gets sleepy

Like Samatoki, Riou will always have more of a pinkish tint when he’s drinking and you find it absolutely adorable

due to his size, he’s a heavy-weight, but because he doesn’t drink very often, it balances back out

when you’re taking care of him, even through his haze of drunkenness, he understands what you’re doing for him and he loves you for it

he’s constantly muttering ‘thank you’ and ‘sorry’ under his breath so just reassure him that he’s not causing you any problems

ever the diligent soldier, he’ll do everything you ask of him with a smile

sometimes you’ll run a bath for him and just sit there talking with him and spending time together while he bathes

because he’s more talkative, he’s more prone to saying wholesome, embarrassing things

one time he spent an hour just pointing at every part of your body and explaining why he loved it so much

he’ll answer any question you ask him with absolute sincerity when he’s drunk and it’s so genuine it makes your heart hurt

he’s really good about drinking water and eating, but the one thing that’s always difficult is getting him changed

regardless of how tall you might be, Riou is a big, tall man so helping him out of his clothes has proven to be a difficult feat in the past

“Can you put your arms up for me?”

“Like this?”

“Um...okay wait, let me get a chair real quick”

Riou gets sleepy pretty fast once you’re done with the nightly routine though and you’ll want to make sure he’s in his bed and not sprawled out on the couch

the one thing he does drunk that he never does sober is giggle

you’re not sure how someone with a voice as deep and commanding as Riou can giggle, but he manages to do it and make it sound absolutely adorable

he’ll only do it when you’ve gotten him in bed and he’s snuggled up under the covers with his outstretched hand on your cheek

he’ll offer more words of love and affirmation than he normally does in a sweet and sleepy tone that makes you swoon

you’ll always remember those nights fondly even if he doesn’t remember them much at all

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

245 notes · View notes

writingfeatherduster · 3 years

Note

Prompt: Frisk buying Grillby snacks to try on the Surface. He doesn't have the heart to tell 'em he doesn't like most of it.

This is probably one of the most wholesome prompts I’ve ever gotten regarding Undertale. I hope I did good! Here you go!

I Love the Taste of Ash! Warnings: throwing up, sort of? It’s implied a bit near the end. Word Count: 973 Summary: Grillby forces himself to participate in a taste test.

Grillby liked slow afternoons. Business was business, however it was nice to have some time to clean up after the lunch rush and make sure he was prepared for dinner. On weekdays, he tended to have plenty of time in the afternoon, seeing as most monsters were still at work, just getting back from work, or picking their children up from school.

Speaking of children…

Grillby heard the door to his bar open and set down the pan he’d been cleaning (by sterilizing it with fire magic, of course. He’d wash them with soap and water, but he never touched the stuff). When he went into the dining room, he smiled, immediately going behind the bar and pouring a glass of apple juice for one of his favorite regulars. “Hello, Frisk,” the fire monster greeted kindly, “How was school today?”

Frisk hopped up on a barstool with a serious expression, tossing their backpack on the bar counter. “No time to talk about that,” they declared. “We need to have a serious discussion.”

“Oh?” Grillby was worried as he set the juice in front of Frisk. Did something happen at school? Was Toriel unhappy that Frisk stopped by in the afternoons? She’d seemed perfectly fine with it so far.

“I need you to answer a question.” Frisk folded their arms, locking eyes with the bartender. “Have you. Ever tried. Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.”

Grillby paused. That… was not what he’d been expecting. When he finally spoke, his answer left Frisk absolutely appalled.

“What… is a Cheeto?”

That was all the prompting Frisk needed to open their backpack, spreading several bags of chips out on the bar and ignoring Grillby’s mumbled comment about how he didn’t allow outside food. In the human’s opinion, Grillby was the best cook in the whole Underground, and now that monsters were free, he’d become one of the best cooks in the WORLD! It was an absolute travesty that he still hadn’t tried some of the greatest, messiest, and unhealthiest junk food that the surface had to offer! They told him as much as they gestured to the wide selection of brightly colored bags in front of them.

“Did you spend your whole weekly allowance on this?” Grillby asked, though looking at the sheer number of chip options made the question mostly rhetorical.

“Nevermind that!” Frisk picked up a bag of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos from the pile and opened it for him, thrusting the bag towards him insistently. “Look, these ones even have ‘flame’ and ‘hot’ in the name. You have to try them.”

Now, Grillby had tried human food once since he’d been on the surface. Sans had taken him to a human diner where they ordered a pizza to share. The bartender had enjoyed the atmosphere of the place, but when the pizza arrived, he discovered (rather unpleasently) that human food had a fault that made it impossible for the fire monster to enjoy. Remembering the evening made Grillby understandably hesitant to try the snacks Frisk was offering him. But…

Frisk looked so hopeful, eyes glittering with excitement as they awaited Grillby’s reaction. The thought of disappointing the little human made the bartender sigh. He was going to regret this later.

Reaching into the bag, he took out one of the oddly-shaped chips(??). “Why are they dusty?” he asked with a hint of skeptasim, the powder somehow already all over Grillby’s hand.

“It’s part of the experience,” Frisk insisted. “Besides, the powder is the good part. It’s what makes them spicy!”

“Spicy. Right.” Grillby eyed the snack for a moment, then glanced at Frisk again, who nodded encouragingly. Well… no backing out now. The bartender braced himself, then put the Cheeto in his mouth.

As soon as Grillby closed his mouth around the chip, the searing hot flames that made up his body turned it to ash in his mouth. Monster food was usually infused with magic, which protected it from some of the odd properties of a monster’s body while they ate. Human food didn’t have any magic in it, and the fire inside Grillby’s body wasn’t the same as the fire that made up the outside of his body. He could be touched without burning the person touching him, but if they (for some reason) but their hand in his mouth, they’d pull it out with third degree burns. Cheetos and chips in general were already dry. Putting one in his mouth, Grillby was pretty sure he would rather eat a mouthful of sand.

Determined not to fail Frisk’s expectations, Grillby pretended to chew and then forced himself to swallow. It took everything in him not to gag, and he couldn’t help the small cough that escaped him. He managed a weak smile when he looked back at the human. “Y-you’re right, it’s a little spicy,” he managed.

“But how did you like it?” Frisk asked, scooting forward on their barstool.

Oh, the things Grillby did for this child. He gave them an awkward thumbs up, which seemed to satisfy Frisk. They cheered, reaching for another bag. “Okay, if you liked those, Takis have to be next!”

Later that evening, Grillby would find himself coughing up ash in one of the toilet stalls of the bar while Sans rubbed his back, mumbling something about how he should probably close early. The bartender would have to agree, but he didn’t regret his choices. One night of stomach pain was worth it, to make Frisk happy. Still… He made a mental note to come up with some evasive excuses to save himself if the human ever asked him to do something like that again.

Thanks for reading! I hope this was good and lived up to your expectations.

If anyone wants to send me a writing prompt, asks are open! Leave me a comment if you wanted to be added to my tag list for Undertale related writing!

#dustyfic #undertale #grillby #frisk #undertale grillby #undertale frisk #undertale fic #ask answered

22 notes · View notes

coreyww · 3 years

Text

Info on slice-of-life/dramedy Omori fic I'm writing, "Mari Doesn't Die at The End"

[That title might not be 100% final but that codename made me chuckle so hard that I'm not sure something will top it]

So I'm currently about ... I would say half-way through the rough draft of the first chapter now and I'm pretty sure this is going to be something I will want to follow through on so I think it's safe to talk about.

My favorite Omori content since I finished the game has been stuff that skews towards wholesome, basically anything with that kind of "Sunny and his buds are hanging out" energy, so I wanted to make a fic that was almost entirely that. I also wanted to write Mari because I found the hints at her past character pretty interesting to explore and because honestly her relationship with Hero is adorable. So I found a way to do both. The fic starts a little while before ... you know, Stairs, and is mostly slices of life with Mari as the main character, though it is largely an ensemble cast with Sunny, Hero, Kel, and Aubrey also having their fair share of focus. The first chapter that I'm working on now being one that introduces the dynamics between everyone during this time frame through the lens of Sunny and Mari getting a little too absorbed in an especially challenging video game. (Also if you enjoy like ... you know, Hero/Mari Cute Shit there's gonna be quite a lot of that, I honestly didn't realize I eat that up as much as I do prior to writing this, but I totally do. Like the first chapter is more Mari and Sunny focused but even then I still manage to like ... already have a good amount of them being cute even when its not the main focus. And the second chapter is gonna have even more. Basically what I'm trying to get at is I'm lowkey shipping trash).

One thing I do want to emphasize is that though this will primarily be a comedy and be more lighthearted fair than the actual game, I do still fully intend on having drama sprinkled throughout, one of the main threads I intend to establish early on as being the contrast between Mari's confident and cheerful exterior and the all-too-relatable anxiety and doubt underneath, leading her to constantly push herself to an unrealistic standard. This will not be the only heavier theme gotten into but I certainly plan on that being a primary one. The chapters will mostly be episodic with some multi-parters thrown in, all while still having subtle continuing story arcs running throughout. I plan on having the story be mostly canon-compliant at first but I will be marking it as an AU as it will diverge in minor ways later. I will leave it as an exercise to anyone reading the title to guess what the point of diverge could possibly be. So that's the game plan. At the rate I'm going I'm hoping to have the rough draft done within the next week and get it posted within a week following. I'm writing after a lengthy hiatus and I've had a ... NOT GREAT track record of Writing Checks I Can't Cash so I don't want to make promises, but I would like to shoot for getting out one decent sized chapter out a month (talking like 5000 words or over) for as long as I can do this. Pretty excited since it's been a while since I was this energized about a project and I'm glad it seems like its turning out okay so far. If you guys like the sound of this already, let me know and I'd be happy to answer any Asks you might have as well! (Thank you for reading)

#omori #omori fanfic #omori mari #omori sunny #omori spoilers #omori heromari #fanfic #my fic #my fic updates #omori game

4 notes · View notes

theblackbirdsgemimagines · 4 years

Note

Ramble away, cause I feel the twisted head rot, I kinda wanna see what you think about our bois. ~ a pocket sized dragon hops in excitement.

A POCKET SIZED DWAGOOOOOONNNN 😭💞💞💞 That’s so BLESSED, and tysm omg, I’m very glad to just spill out my barking on every boy, bc yEAH THE BRAIN ROT SKDHAKDB

THE BRAIN ROT IS SO REAL LOL

Everything I breathe ends up relating to TWST in some way, like at this point just let me take my friends, cousins, and pets, and of course Lulu and Seb, and I will have 1. A Gottdamned Harem, 2. So Many Children, and 3. NEVER WANT TO LEAVE. Kwfhskdhjwek

Ok this is gonna be long bc I gotta cover all my boys, so rip lol.

Dorm Leads:

Riddle

GOD, my Fucking Baby, my CHILD, my SWEET BABY BOY, I’M 👁💧👄💧👁

I would die for him, beetch, he is PRECIOUS ♥️

He reminds me of how I feel Ciel would behave if S/O took the place as Sebastian’s contracee, too, so like 🥺 Lots of feels 😭

Is Son, I have adopted him now. If you mistreat him, don’t ever speak to me or my son ever again. I’ll FIGHT his MOM, don’t TEST me. I’m his new mom now. His BIRD mom. So proud of him, he’s like...one of the few that’s actually shown growth in canon after his overblot kshdkadjs

Leona

👁💧👄💧👁

.....I am a Mere Simp....

Ya’ll.... I swearh to ghOD I simped hard for Scar back when I was a wee thing, I did NOT expect to simp for him AGAIN LATER IN LIFE, what the FUCK aidhskdhskdj

Like shit bitch, damn, you may not be king of Afterglow honey, but you can be king of my heart if you wAnt to bb....

Leona: *smiles once, even if it’s smugly*

Me: *WEEPING* Look at hiiiiiiim!! My sunshine booooooy! 😭

Does this make me a furry

Probably

I am too Simp to Care Anymore

I HESITATED TO GET ATTACHED BC THIS BOY LOOKS LIKE A FUCKIN WOMANIZER IF I EVER SAW ONE, BUT HE DRINKS HIS RESPECT WOMEN JUICE EVERY SINGLE MORNING AND I WAS A GONNER SNDJAJDHSJ

FUCK

Call me a Herbivore again, bully me //SLAPPED

Azul

He secretly a lil shit sometimes, but tha’s ok, it’s mostly in a silly way, especially post overblot~ UvU

The sweetest bby everytime I read fanposts on him, like god, ah 💜💜💜 WHOMST COULD BULLY SUCH A CUTE CHUBBY OCTOBABY I’LL FIGHT ALL OF EM!! A sweetheart 10/10 would be his friend 💗 Not making contracts with him tho, lol

...ok maybe SOME after his overblot, but they’re able to be easily reversed now, so it’s way more chill andhsjdj

Kalim

FUCK!!!! F U C K!!!! BABYYYYYYY!!!! BABY!!!! I HAVE ADOPTED HIM IF YOU TOUCH HIM YOU D I E

He is literally so sweet, anytime anyone was like “you’re so nice it’s annoying” I WAS READY TO COME FLYING IN TO BITCH SLAP THEM LIKE AJDHSKDHSJ (even if I also loved them lol)

Like NO you are WRONG whfksjd

He has also grown so much, and I am proud ♥️🧡

Vil

Jesus Christ, canon Vil is Hurting Meeeeee ajdhskdhsj

My fave fanon Vil is the one that recognizes all different types of beauty, though~ uvu and is v encouraging to anyone that may be struggling with self hatred 💜

Canon: Vil is pretty~.

Me: Wow, wtf???? He IS so pretty... How rude I didn’t think you were serious! Wow him??? Pretty??? Wow??? Wow...

Idia

I’m not sure yet, as I haven’t seen him very often, but of the few times that I have: BIG same, huge mood, and Me FUCKING Too, goddamn akdhakdj

Idia is my Anxiety and Anime Nerd personified tbh lol

What Ortho is to him are what all my comfort characters are to me, honestly.

Like what would you like bby, you want that singing voice?? Ok here comes a synthesizer just special for you~. Ily, mwah~ u3u 💕

Malleus

HEAVY BREATHING

Ok maybe it’s just the lack of story/info out on him yet, but I don’t currently simp as hard for him compared to Leona, I’ll admit jajdkajd

BUT BOY HOWDEY DO I EVER STILL S I M P...

He Is Baby... And I Lob Him....

I am going to smooch those horns and forehead crown of beautiful scales 🖤🖤🖤 I am going to do it!!!! Here I go!!!

HE CAN HAVE ALL THE ICE CREAM AND TAMAGATCHI DATES HE WANTS I’M- 😭

This man is too precious for words, and I have so much childhood nostelgia to ‘enchanted’ woods, and being in the mountains, so he has Old Fae Friend vibes to me~🖤

DRAGON FORM DRAGON FORM DRAGON FORM DRAGON FORM DRAGON F-

Ngl I ship him and Leona a lil bit lol

No, not just bc that makes a poly with my two faves easier, but that is a bonus factor jadhajdj

Vice Dorm Heads:

Trey

Oh my god, the Daddy to my Mommy with all these newly adopted lil kids of ours, ya know??? What a wholesome sweetie and funny lil shit jahdksdh~

I love him, I would gladly make tarts with, AND for him 💚💚💚

The kind of boi who I’d ship HARD with anyone he started dating bc My God it would warm my heart So Much 💞💞

Ruggie (unofficial but may as well be at this point lol)

He took a while to grow on me kadhskdhsj

But I think he’d be a sweet, if a trouble-maker of a friend to have~.

Dank you for taking care of my sweet lion bby, honey, I’m sure Farrena is a sweetheart, but boi I hope he gets his shit together to fix up where Ruggie lives 😭

I think if I met his granny, I’d CRY jadhajsh 💗💗

Leech Twins (?)

Idk if they’re vice leaders, but who cares lol

THESE are the older Big Brothers in every sense of the word. (My canon ages most everyone up just a bit, save for Riddle, Ace, Deuce, Kalim, Jamil, Cheka, and anyone already 20+)

The ANNOYING older big brothers, lol.

The ones that hug you to death (Floyd), or use you for an arm rest (Jade), and specifically Do the thing you asked/told them NOT to Do.

This is fine with me tho, I’m an only child, please give me the experience of annoying older brothers lol 💙💚

Jamil

I used to hate you bby, I’m so sorry akdhskdhs

I’ve adopted him now, and I’m v proud he’s trying, but making clear what his boundaries are, and trying to come out of a shell he was made to be in for so long 😭

AND HIS DANCING IS SICK LIKE HONESTLY I’M SUCH A PROUD MOM 💗💗💗

Rook

God. FUCKING Rook, lol.

IDK IF I SHOULD TRUST YOU, but I also kinda wanna be your friend akdhakdjs

HE CONCERNS ME but he also seems nice and v sweet sometimes, lmao

Blz don’t stalk me tho 😬

STOP SHOOTING YOUR ARROWS AROUND SCHOOL YOU BLOODY HEATHEN FRENCH PRISS, YOU ARE GOING TO KILL SOMEONE

Also, if he DARES hunt cute animals around me, especially BIRDS, I am going to GRIP him jahdkahdsk

He’s like if Lord Druitt was a Little More Nice and a Little Bit Less Creepy ajdhak

Lilia:

GOD.

I LOVE THIS FUCKING GRANDPA.

I. FUCKING. LOVE. THIS FUCKING. GRANDPA.

I absolutely hc him as nonbinary w/masc pronouns, I absoLUTELY do.

I adore him, I love him, I haven’t gotten a squish (hardcore desire to be someone’s friend, lol) this hard for a character since AngelDust, I-

Pwease be nonbinary friends with me, Lilia 🥺

THE ONLY PERSON HERE SHORTER THAN ME, BUT I’LL TAKE IT AJDHAKDHJS

Anyone know Corpse and how he plays Among Us? That’s how I see Lilia playing his video games with friends and I JUST I JUST I J U S T

The Spencer to your Carly.

He and Crowley are free to compete as Dad with me too like honestly kshdkadjjs

He’ll always be granpa tho uvu 💚💖🖤

Extras:

Ace

God, the Fucking Annoying Middle Brother that pranks you ALL THE DAMN TIME, but I love him andhakdhsk

Deuce

THE BROTHER THAT WILL BEAT UP YOUR BULLIES 💙💙💙 SWEET BABY BOY

The Josh to Ace’s Drake. The Cody to Ace’s Zack. The Freddie to your Carly and Ace’s Sam.

If he and Ace started dating, tho, I would CRY.

But regardless who they end up dating, it’ll be slow burn friends to lovers, and literally the most adorable shit to watch EVER 💞💞💞😭

Cater

Seems Like A Womanizer But Actually Drinks His Reapect Women Juice And We Stan That 🧡

Can always count on him to help tou get the best Magicram shots, bless you Cater 🧡🧡

Also rly wanna be his friend, ngl 😭 Even IF he pranks me a lot kadhakdhsj

Jack:

H E AV Y BR EA T H IN G

Ngl my feelings for him are in the air IDK IF I WANNA SMOOCH OR NOT YET I JUST KNOW I LOB HIM HE GOODEST BESTEST BOY 💛💛💛😭

If all three Savannaclaw bois got in a cuddle pile with me, I would Not Be Mad

How can I give this boy love, tell me and I will Do It

Gift him all the cacti’s he WANTS💛

God he drinks that respecc women juice bright and early on his run every morning, you KNOW he does 💛💛💛

I wawnt to pet his ears an tail an fwuffy wolf form 😭

I WAWNT TO SEE THE BOY SMILE AND BE HAPPY 💞💞💞

Sebek

CHILL CHILL CHILL CHILL CH-

He is a v devoted guard tho, we love to see it UvU

I don’t have more info on him hekdhskdj but his fanmade content seems v v sweet~ 💚

Silver

HE ATTRACTS BIRDS AND I CRY ABOUT IT PLEASE BE MY FRIEND AND TEACH ME HOW 🥺🥺🥺

Him being raised by Lilia and Malleus literally gives me so much Fucking Seratonin....... God 💞💕💗💗💞💞💗💗💕💞

Ortho

IS BABY????? IS BABY!!!!!! I’M LOVE HIM I’M ADOPTING HIM IS BABYYYYYYY 💙💙💙💙💙

Cheka:

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

He is so FUCKING CUTE what the FUCK!

Leonaaaaaaa... 🥺 Your NEPHEWWWWW 😭

I might steal him from Farrena tbh, lIKE MY CHILD NOW~ 🧡🧡

I just sob and hug him every time I see him honestly 😭

Teachers:

Dire Crowley

Ohhhhhh god oh god oh god

Be my dad. Please. Be my dad. PLEASE be my dad. Ya’ll think I’m joking, I’m not. Please adopt me. Fuck. Fuck. FUCK.

This man as a father gives me so much dopamine and oxytocin and seratonin??? I have been weeping for WEEKS, please adopt me, Sir

Fathers with zero braincells being wrapped around a daughter’s little finger makes me so weak, and I am just here with Daddy Issues like ajdhakdhsj BLEASE ADOPT ME MISTER BIRD MAN

Crewel

Ew.

Forgive me, I haven’t seen much content with him in it/that could be considered wholesome, bUT JADHWKDJSJ

UncoMFORTABLE

Please keep the kink talk out of the classroom, S I R

Call me puppy one more time, see what happens, I’m not scared to fight a teacher akdhakdhsj

Trein

The Dad Figure that tries to be the stern part to Crowley’s blumbering kahdkqrhsjdj

Don’t feel as much attachment to him emotionally, but I like him~

Just let me pet your cat sometimes and give you holiday presents, and we’re cool~ ♥️

Vargas

Found the womanizer //SMACKED

And of course, I can’t forget Grim~!

He’s grown on me, and if anything happens to him I will kill everyone in the room, and then myself 😭

I will pet and snuggle and hold him all he wants and feed him all the tuna his heart desires uvu 💙

#THIS TOOK A LONG TIME FORGIVE ME JADHSKDHSKDH #MY PHONE WAS LAGGING IN TYPING AFTER A WHILE I WAS LIKE KEEP GOIN BESSY ANDHSJJD #twisted wonderland #twst dorm leaders #twst vice dorm leaders #dire crowley #leona kingscholar #riddle rosehearts #azul ashengrotto #idia shroud #vil schoenheit #malleus draconia #asks #answered #THANK YOU FOR GIVIN ME MORE OF AN EXCUSE JSADBJASDN #<3 <3

43 notes · View notes

ichika27 · 3 years

Text

Mairimashita! Iruma-kun s2 ep20

Another light-hearted episode! We’re not yet in the next big arc, I guess.

Ameri’s dad came over to personally tell Iruma that the reporters have gotten restraining orders and can’t bother him for an interview about what happened at the park anymore. Iruma is relived to hear this as it meant he could go home now.

He asked about Ameri but her dad angrily replies that Ameri is busy studying.

lol She’s studying alright - studying on how to create the perfect date for her and Iruma!

This girl is using manga as reference material. Haha well, her powers involve imagination and will power after all.

Ameri was too nervous to actually ask out Iruma (even though Iruma had told her that they could go somewhere with just the two of them before). Iruma made the first move and messaged her about their day out himself.

She happily tells him of where they’d meet (but kept the location of the place they’re going to a secret) and also reminded him that this time, it’s just supposed to be the two of them (so no friends tagging along).

Ameri's dad was passing by and catches her picking out clothes she’d be wearing on her date. He immediately realized what it's about. Dad instincts right there! He’s totally not ready for his little girl to grow up.

The day of the trip is here! This is where they’d be spending their time: an aquarium + pool combo.

Ameri basically planned a pool episode with just the two of them. Also, Ameri, that line is supposed to be for Iruma! You got in there first.

Iruma is happy seeing her current appearance by the way hehe. He's a teenager after all, it can't be helped (he's not the only one who thought so cause other visitors were certainly mesmerized by her beauty).

Oh no! How could this go to lewd territory so quickly! lol jk. Her plan involves this as a first step (after the surprise date setting) and her main goal is to get bridal carried... and maybe even get a kiss if she’s lucky. She's having trouble easily getting a hold of Iruma's hand though because if you haven't noticed yet, they have this big height difference and his hand isn't easy to reach. With that, she hasn't given up but says she'll try harder.

She’s just too tall and he’s too short lol.

This is also part of her plan cause in the manga, the couple did this with the guy holding on to the girl while they go on the waterslide. Actually, since she's the one pursuing and she's the taller one, she had been taking the guys role in her plans. Their supposed moment in the slide doesn't last long though since the ride was too fast and so it was over quickly.

They got their hearts racing but because it was some kind of thrill ride.

Next is playing in the water. She was nervous about this but Iruma initiated by splashing her with water. It was supposed to be fun but she's too strong and ended up splashing a little too much water on Iruma.

I mean, I knew it was gonna happen but I didn’t expect how powerful the attack would be. That was a tsunami she hit Iruma with and not a splash of water.

Beach volleyball time! *Fly High by Burnout Syndromes plays in the background*

Ameri tries holding her strength back this time around but she's just too powerful. Fortunately (or not), this doesn't affect Iruma and he decides that he'd play seriously. It ended up not being for purely for fun anymore haha. On the other hand, I’m glad to see Iruma being competitive and not panicking anymore about demon-related stuff.

The next part is eating a parfait like a couple!

The food in this world is weird though. I kinda saw this coming after seeing all of the food in the show so far but really... what the heck is that? It’s still alive lol.

The parfait attacked them and ended up feeding Iruma itself... which is weird. This was the last of her plans and now she's kinda unhappy none of them went as well as she hoped.

Souvenir shopping next!

Iruma picks out stuff to get for his friends and family back home. Above is a picture of Ameri feeling jealous when Iruma was picking something out for Clara. Don’t worry Ameri, you’re way ahead of Clara in the race.

Aww Iruma was worried that Ameri is working too hard in the Student Council and today he wanted to help her relax and have fun for once. He noticed that Ameri doesn't seem to be having a lot of fun though.

Iruma makes Ameri realize that the time they had was fun but Ameri isn't satisfied. She had fun but it's not enough. After all, she has bigger goals!

She has one more thing up her sleeve - watching a divination show. The creature (that looks like some kind of water dragon thing) has the ability to find a good couple with great affinity. She’s hoping that she and Iruma would be picked as a good couple cause that’s romantic, right?

Of course, this is a comedy shounen anime. You shouldn’t expect things to go so well.

Mako-chan is hungry and immediately grabs onto Iruma. She's hungry from her diet and quickly found the only member of the audience she can eat - the human. Iruma realized that the perfume he uses to hide his human scent might have been washed off by the water and so Mako-chan was able to single him out (surprisingly, other demons hadn’t).

Ameri saves Iruma from being eaten by delivering a powerful kick on poor Mako-chan. And with that, she got to be part of a bridal carry... just in reverse like everything else lol.

The staff apologized to Iruma and Ameri and gave them year round passes as compensation.

Aww... Mako-chan is sorry about what she did, too and Iruma tells them it's okay and that he's not mad. Ameri is sad though and Iruma also noticed she's injured.

He asked if she could walk and she answers "If I say I can't... will you carry me?" Oooh! Ameri is really going for it! She tried taking her words back but Iruma tells her that it’s okay, he’ll carry her.

And after that he used his powers to adjust her weight and then he actually did it! While carrying her, Iruma tells Ameri that he had a lot of fun the entire day. Honestly, I thought Iruma was gonna change his own looks to be like, big and hunky to carry her but he just changed her weight. Surprising but not bad.

Despite all the setbacks, this turned out to be a successful date after all!

Okay... so I guess this means Ameri really is the endgame? She’s the one Iruma will end up with some day? Because this entire season had been hinting at it. There were scenes and episodes dedicated to the romance blossoming between them (at least, mostly on Ameri’s side). And now there’s a date episode. Unless the author gives focus and development around Iruma the other characters who like him, then this is gonna be the only ship that would make sense. This is the one with on-going development that story-wise, it should get a pay-off or it’d feel like everything set up was a waste.

Honestly, I’m not a Iruma/Ameri shipper. I did mention before that I ship Iruma with either Azz or Clara so shipping moments between Iruma and Ameri doesn’t really do much for me. I do think it’s cute and this show gets wholesome when it has to be that it’s impossible to hate even parts of the story I’m not really into. I did enjoy this episode a lot cause it was cute and I am happy Ameri’s hard work paid off.

I guess I’m just disappointed? I mean in a way, why bother giving Iruma alternative love interests (a harem, actually since there’s more than one girl and so it’s not just a love triangle) if they’re all gonna be shot down this quickly.

On the other hand, I feel kinda bad for Ameri’s dad cause he can’t stop this development lol. His little girl is growing up! He should at least be happy that she fell in love with probably the nicest guy in the demon world (and he’s also the future demon king hehe). I was actually expecting him to follow them in their date or something but I guess he does respect his daughter’s privacy which is nice. Would’ve been funny to see his reaction though.

Next episode is about Grandpa Sullivan! Hmm... another relaxing episode again, I’m guessing?

Thanks for reading! I’m excited for the next episode.

#Mairimashita! Iruma-kun #welcome to demon school iruma-kun #sana_post

2 notes · View notes

andy-the-8th · 3 years

Text

Stars and Stripes and Sea Creatures

Part 8 of Creatures That Defy Logic

Read on AO3

Whit reflects on the summer so far while preparing for the 4th of July, before meeting up with everyone for the fireworks. We meet Sam's sister and her cool college friends. Jess gets to do cool sousaphone things.

There's a Brink! crossover - it's more of a quick cameo.

A/N: I may hate America but I do enjoy a wholesome 4th of July summer scene

Whit was standing in the kitchen, carefully moving cups of red and blue vegan jello and tubs of non-dairy whipped cream from the fridge to the center of the counter. It was 4th of July and he and Sharon were going to be preparing a dessert tray to bring down to the cove to watch the fireworks and band performance with their neighbors. While neither of them were exactly what you'd call patriotic, it was still one of the main social events of the summer as much as it was in any small town. The tourist guide boat was closed for the day, with most of the harbor blocked from usual traffic out of safety concerns - the fireworks were launched from a set of rafts in the middle of the harbor, and naturally the town administration wanted to keep boaters and swimmers away from the explosives. Whit was always glad to have the holiday off each year - in the tourism business, holidays usually just meant more work, more people, and ruder customers.

In the month since Cody left, the Griffins had slowly adapted to a new rhythm in the house. Days came more easily first, with work, social obligations, and day-to-day chores around the house and the boats to keep them busy.

The nights were harder. Any parent would worry enough when their kids first start spending the nights outside the home - at a friend's house, away for a school trip. When your kid is spending 24 hours a day for three months and could be anywhere in the ocean, that worry is justifiably magnified.

Whit didn't tell Sharon about his nightmares - it was rare that they kept anything from each other, but he didn't see it doing any good. They were never very specific (or prophetic, as some might believe) - he could dismiss them as his brain simply de-fragging anxieties of the day. Images and ideas that were innocuous enough by daylight, or to anyone who didn't have a 13 year old at large in the open ocean - sharks, whales, Marianas Trenches, tidal waves, ice bergs, tropical storms - and those were just the worries that everyday science had already confirmed. Worries of safety, security, open ended but ominous.

And then there were social (supernatural?) concerns, which both Sharon and Whit had at times discussed to some extent or another. What was mermaid culture like? Did Cody have more family out there? Were they being welcoming to him? Was there a school? Was he making friends? Would there be any way for him to communicate any of it to them if when he came back? Would their language even have words for it all?

Sharon had burned through almost every book in the library about lifestyle tips targeting empty-nester parents. Bohemian and alternative as she may be, she nevertheless was no stranger to research, especially making use of strategies to find natural, healthy solutions to life's problems. And in that search, the best analog she had found to what they were going through was parents of students going away to school for the first time. Many of the concerns were applicable, at least in theory. For the most part, the books helped more than they hurt. Universities out of town generally didn't have a risk of sharks attacking your kid, but there was still advice for parents concerned about safety. Most college kids wouldn't go away and learn a telepathic secret language, but there were still strategies for adapting to your child's social and cultural changes when leaving home for the first time. In fact, the most difficult difference between these hypothetical scenarios and the one they found themselves in was not the existence of merpeople - it was the age of the hypothetical child in question. Sure, trusting your 18 year old to go out into the world and make good choices, knowing you're a phone call away from home, is hard enough. Sending your 13 year old out into the ocean, with no way of knowing where he'll go or how he'll come back, was another matter entirely.

Still, they had each other, and their faith in their son, to get them through it. The Griffins were definitely changed, but as they promised their son and each other, they'd be alright.

Especially considering that this wasn't going to be a permanent change - at the outset, it felt like an eternity before Cody would be coming back. The house felt very large and very empty, and they both felt strangely out of step with the rest of their friends and neighbors, all so genuinely curious about how Cody was doing at this swim training in Australia, always asking how they were doing with him being gone so long. The first few weeks had them feeling very, very lonely, even together.

That was before John Wheatley, of all people, came over one night with a lasagna. He had made it himself, more or less, with Jess's oversight. It had been his late wife's favorite comfort food recipe - Jess had even reminded him to make it vegan, in case that was still Sharon's diet of choice these days. When the big clumsy fisherman had showed up with a big tinfoil tray on their front step, with his small clumsy son right behind him, Sharon had been more than happy to have them in, to insist they stay even though they had only intended to drop it off for them. Whit was surprised at her hospitality more than anything else, given how their last encounter a few weeks before had gone, but followed his wife's lead on how they were navigating their new relationship with the Wheatleys. John and Jess had stayed for the evening, the four of them sharing the lasagna, Jess eventually fitting right in to the conversation with the adults, perhaps sometimes more than his father. It was at first a relief to just socialize with other people who knew the same secrets, but after a while, the Griffins realized they'd grown to genuinely become friends with Big John.

Which was a blessing for several reasons, not the least of which that Whit and Sharon hadn't really realized how close Jess and Cody seemed to have been. Most of Cody's other friends had always been kids from the swim team - friends, like most boys their age, whose connection seemed mostly founded on shared activities. Doubly so as sports players, Cody's other friends had always had a healthy level of competition and rivalry with him and with one another.

Maybe, if there was any truth in what Sharon and Whit heard about Sean Marshall these days, a little less than healthy sometimes.

Jess at their first meeting was a polar opposite of Cody's usual friend group - it definitely had made sense when Cody first introduced them that he was there as a randomly-assigned partner for a science project. For one, he spoke with them openly and very matter-of-factly, almost more comfortable with adults than he seemed to have been around other kids his age when they saw him at school. He was quite straightforward and polite, if very enthusiastic at the opportunity to talk about anything related to marine biology. He was just as interested in hearing Whit and John discuss boating practices or their experiences at the harbor, or patiently listen to Sharon's various spiritual health and natural healing theories, and would light up with the chance to talk about whatever they were learning.

But the one topic that Jess would light up about more than any other, even more than marine biology or sousaphone, was Cody. Naturally, about him being a merman, but just as often it was about him as a person, from the time they'd spent together since the science project. It was kind of weirdly comforting as parents, to hear one of your kid's peers talk about how kind and respectful they had turned out. It was one thing for a teacher or coach to compliment your child, but other kids don't have the filters or obligations to do so. John hadn't been kidding when he'd said how important Cody was to Jess.

Whit had more than once wondered, somewhat apprehensively, if there was some kind of other double meaning to what John had said on the dock - if Jess maybe liked Cody a bit differently than the other boys.

Not that there was anything wrong with that, he always said to himself. And really he never got that impression from Jess - he was just very earnest, and as far as they could tell didn't really have other friends. And he was 13 - kids were all a little weird around that age. Whit hoped that that wasn't going to be the case, mostly for Jess's sake - if they were such good friends, Jess would probably be completely crushed if he had those feelings, when Cody didn't return them.

Not that there would be anything wrong with that, Whit thought again. It didn't really matter, since it wasn't the case.

Sam had also been coming by the house once in a while, when she was walking home from work at the greenhouses. Whit and Sharon had known her through the swim team forever, before she and Cody were "an item" as Whit liked to jokingly call it. It was a lot to put on a 13 year old girl, having such a secret and not sharing it with anyone but her boyfriend's parents, the weird marina guy, and his nerdy son. Even if it was only an 8th grade relationship, they knew they could trust Sam - she cared enough about Cody that she wouldn't ever want to see anything happen to him.

Over the last few months Sharon had gotten lunch a few times with Lindsey Brathwaite, when they were both free. "Meeting the in-laws" she had joked the first time they went out. Whit had already known Lindsey via the Department of Natural Resources - he was one of the few commercial boaters who always prided himself and his business on following all environmental protection regulations and then some. It was one of the reasons they didn't serve snacks on the boat - no trash or food waste to dirty the water and harm the reefs. Lindsey had a bit of a reputation among the commercial boaters and fishers in the harbor - she was smart and relentless when it came to protecting the environment, and held the respect of most of the town for it. There was a reason Mahone Bay had some of the most beautiful shores, some of the healthiest reefs, all along the coast.

Maybe that's why a mermaid would drop her baby off here, Whit thought with a smile.

On the counter, Sharon had laid out 26 clear plastic wine glasses - a spoonful of whipped cream, then blue jello, then whipped cream, then red jello was to go in each glass, then put them all back in the fridge to keep them fresh for that afternoon. Whit was just finishing up putting them all together - he'd zoned out a bit reflecting on all the changes over the last month.

Sharon came in through the back door, (reusable, biodegradable) grocery bags in hand. "Whit, you done with the parfait?"

"Just finishing, putting them in the fridge now."

"OK, I ran into Lindsey at the farmers market, I invited her to come to the fireworks with us if that's alright"

"Oh sure!" It would be nice to get a chance to talk to Lindsey outside of a work context.

"Her other daughter is in town as well, so we can maybe meet her, if she and Sam will be there too. Not sure if they'll have other plans though."

Whit finished putting all the glasses back in the fridge. "I'm sure we'll be appropriately embarrassing like any teenager's parents are supposed to be." Sharon put the bags on the counter and smiled at him at that. "Did you hear anything from the Wheatleys?"

"I think John is tied up at the boat yard with so much extra traffic in the harbor for the holiday. Jess is playing sousaphone with the school band before the fireworks though!"

Of course he would be. Truly no better event for a sousaphonist than the 4th of July.

"Good for him, I'm sure he'll be excited for that."

"Yep. Can you help with these so we can get ready to go?"

Whit moved to the other side of the counter, helping sort through the groceries, arranging things on platters per Sharon's instructions. They'd be ready well before it was time to head down by the pavilion near the water.

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

The band finished their latest number, an up-tempo arrangement of "This Land is Your Land," with a cymbal crash and a sustained sousaphone honk. The crowd clapped for the group of 15 or so middle and high schoolers on the big white gazebo that over looked the harbor - some of the spectators on the folding chairs, some on picnic blankets. Anything the band might lack in musical talent - which might be a good bit - they certainly made up for in heart. Standing up in the back corner with his horn, Jess was dressed like the others in red white and blue - in his case, what appeared to be a glittery blazer, covered in stars and stripes. Definitely looked like he made it himself, but it caught the light well enough, and its homemade quality added to the charm. The rest of the band was a wide variety of outfits - a mix of T-shirts and shorts, denim, suits or dresses their parents probably picked - but it all somehow went together.

They'd made their way through "America the Beautiful," "Yankee Doodle," and "My Country Tis of Thee" with varying levels of success. "This Land is Your Land" was the penultimate in the setlist, right before the mayor's comments, then would play "The Star Spangled Banner" for the start of the fireworks.

Sam watched as the mayor got up to the podium, started some bland speech on patriotism or something.

"God doesn't this small town jingoism just make you gag" Jackie snorted from the other end of the blanket. Sam and her sister had met up with Jen and two of Jackie's other friends, Vanessa and Maria, to go down to the fireworks together.

Jackie used to have red hair like Sam and their mom, but had since cut it short and dyed it black when she moved away to school. She looked way more goth than Mahone Bay usually was used to seeing, with her black lipstick and white foundation making her look much paler than usual. She also usually wore black these days, tomboyish outfits of denim, band shirts, and (ethically sourced) leather. Today's outfit was no exception.

"Totally. They always leave out all the terrible shit this country does in speeches like this." Vanessa turned around to face Jackie, gathering her long braids in her hands and back behind her shoulders as she repositioned herself on the blanket. She was doing a political science major, which unsurprisingly had made her usual contempt for the state of the nation even more viscerally infuriated.

Jen reached in the cooler for a lemonade, and passed one down to Sam on the other corner before taking her seat beside her. Jackie and Vanessa continued their cultural critiques in the background.

"Weird we'll be in high school next year!" Jen was looking at the band, a mix from all the different grades. "Let me tell you, high school boys are awhole 'nother story."

"Jen, do you even know any high school boys?"

"I mean technically all the ones in our grade count! But that's beside the point anyway,"

"Hey kids, let me teach you something" Maria spoke up, interrupting Jen's usual interest in discussing boys and gossip at any large social event. Maria dressed a bit more like Jackie, though with more pops of color, choker necklaces, tons of rings. She had also dyed her hair, hot pink streaks over her natural dark brown, contrasting with her olive complexion. Even if it wasn't her style, Sam couldn't deny Maria always looked cool, in that quirky-alternative kind of way. She even had a nose piercing. "Did you ever hear of the Bechdel test?"

"The what?" Sam could tell from Maria's tone that they were about to learn some allegedly-cool college-girl facts of life, like how when Jackie wanted to talk about love languages, or zodiac signs for aligning the spirit of one's womanhood, or unlearning implicit biases.

"The Bechdel test. You apply it to movies to see how feminist they are. Has to have two female characters, they have to have names, they have to talk to each other, and they have to talk about something that isn't a man."

"Mar, that's not a solid test for how feminist something is -"

"I know, I know, the point is that the bar is SO low, makes you really think."

Vanessa nodded back at that, her point made. From a fashion standpoint, Vanessa had really embraced the pan-Africana look in college, dramatic flowy prints on shirts and dresses. Today she wore a long yellow shirt over jeans, the golden color bringing out the highlights in her dark skin. How did all of Jackie's friends manage to grow up so cool and pretty? Sam turned back to Maria, who was finishing her point.

"My point is, can we try to have this picnic blanket pass the Bechdel test for like, 5 minutes?"

Jen blushed and turned away - Sam put her hand on her shoulder. "Thanks for telling us Mar, sorry we're not enlightened yet."

"It's totally cool, just like, now you know" Maria gave them an exaggerated wink and finger guns. The older girls went back into their previous discussion while Sam turned back to Jen.

"So how are things at the dog washing place?" Jen's summer job was at the Pup'n'Suds that had just opened up - they had their main location way over in LA, but one of their staff had moved over to Mahone Bay sometime last year. Small town and small businesses - made it easy to know things like this, even as a part time high schooler with a summer position.

"Going OK actually! Honestly I always loved the dogs of course, but what a wild company culture. They apparently sponsored some kind of X Games skating team last year?"

Jen and Sam continued off of that, both sharing various stories from work, consciously passing the Bechdel test through the remainder of the mayor's speech, now long past anyone paying attention anymore. Jen someday hoped to be a veterinarian - her interests and Sam's just happened to complement each other like that. Fauna and flora.

The speech finally came to an end, with the mayor turning it over to Mr. Payton and the school band to start the national anthem. Sam saw Jess resolutely stand up straight as they started, as usual executing all 3 honking notes of the sousaphone part with the seriousness of a surgeon.

The band actually played this one pretty well - clearly this was where most of the rehearsal time had gone. On the last "land of the free/home of the brave," Sharon nudged Whit a bit, pointing at the band - in a surprise part of the arrangement, the sousaphone joined in on that final melody.

Jess's face was bright red, cheeks puffed out, every bit of concentration on getting the melody right for the finale. Maybe it was intentional, maybe not, but the sousaphone kind of overpowered the rest of the ensemble by the end of the short phrase.

It got some raised eyebrows but Jess looked so excited and proud when the music closed and the crowd applauded. Sharon managed to get his attention from the crowd to wave - Jess was clearly surprised, but immediately waved back, beaming and still blushed from the performance.

"Well that was a bit unexpected," Lindsey said, laughing a bit, turning back to the picnic table once the band finished. "Never heard quite that much tuba in the national anthem before."

"Sousaphone" Sharon and Whit said together. Their other neighbors at the table, Cynthia and Jack Williams, both chuckled in surprise at that. Sharon and Whit made eye contact with another and smiled, raised eyebrows - both realizing that they unintentionally had exactly matched the way they'd said merMAN semi-regularly just 2 months ago.

Lindsey kind of smiled nervously, surprised at the emphasized correction. "OK, sousaphone. That kid did a good job at least."

"Yeah, that's Jess. He's friends with Cody and Sam actually" Sharon supplied helpfully. "Good kid. Can get a little overenthusiastic, but he's a good friend."

"Oh OK. Sam had mentioned him coming by the greenhouse once, but I'd never met him."

"How is she liking the job?"

The conversation moved easily from there - the rest of the evening unfolded with welcome normalcy - just talking about their kids, work, the fireworks, anything really. Whit relaxed a bit, settling next to Sharon, sharing in the conversation.

They weren't really patriotic, but the holiday was always a good excuse to share time with people away from work. They certainly spent enough time in the house together - they'd needed a chance to decompress and just be adults for a while. He put his arm around his wife as they both looked up at the last blasts of the fireworks. He turned to meet her gaze under the final lights.

"Hey. I love you."

Sharon smiled at him, a bit confused. "I know?"

"Gee thanks, Han Solo."

"Sorry hon. I love you too. Just was surprised - what brought that up?"

"Well I thought we agreed we were going to be the embarrassing teenager parents tonight, as expected."

Jackie, Sam, and the other girls had walked back up to where Lindsey was at the picnic tables, blanket rolled up under one arm. Sam awkwardly waved over at them, saying something to Jackie, who rolled her eyes.

"Ah OK. Love you too Whit."

Yeah, kissing under fireworks definitely counted as an embarrassing-parents move.

END NOTES:

I may hate America but am always down for a wholesome 4th of July scene

"Not that there's anything wrong with that" is indeed a reference to that Seinfeld episode

Sam thinking her sister's friends are pretty is *probably* not anything to read into

might have based Jess's ridiculous red white and blue glitter blazer on something I once made as a kid....might not have

#the thirteenth year #dcom #disney channel original movies #fanfic #4th of july #mermen #mermaid #sousaphone #bechdel test #brink!

1 note · View note

igirisuhito · 4 years

Text

Title: Collar Relationship: Hinata Hajime/Komaeda Nagito Rating: Mature Summary: Komaeda and Hinata decide to go through some of their old possessions. Hinata has a burning curiosity. Trigger Warnings: PTSD, Flashbacks, Triggers

[Ao3 Link]

‧̍̊·̊‧̥°̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥‧̥��̊‧̍̊ ♡ °̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥ ·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙·̩̩̥͙*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ °̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥ ♡ ‧̍̊·̊‧̥°̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥‧̥·̊‧̍̊

"Oh! I… I didn't realise I even kept this."

Komaeda mused to himself as he reached into the cardboard box in front of him, struggling to pull out the object he was so intrigued by. He jiggled it slightly, shifting it out from beneath the things weighing it down, before finally yanking it out with a triumphant grin.

They had been encouraged by Kirigiri to sort through some of their things as a form of 'spring cleaning.' Hanamura had experienced a panic attack upon finding a familiar electric knife which led to the remnants realising just how much stuff they still owned from their despair days. So Togami, the good one, took charge and paired them up to go through their things together.

Hinata knew all he owned was his reserve course suit and the barrette he had taken from Nanami. They were what he had awoken with, after all, since he had brought nothing else to the island. So he was just here to help Komaeda sort out his things.

Hinata returned the smile before gazing down, curious as to what had gotten Komaeda so intrigued. The other boy's fingers were now wrapped around a heavy steel collar. From the front, a long metal chain dangled, dragging across the wooden floor noisily as he brought it closer to examine.

"That's from your time in Towa city, right?" Hinata watched him closely, anxious that Komaeda may be set off by the object.

A small sound escaped him, an involuntary noise that was rather croaky and high pitched. It only further deepened Hinata's fears, the seconds feeling as though they had been dragging on forever since Komaeda last spoke.

Cautiously reaching out, Hinata gently placed his hand on the small of the boy's back. "H-hey…it's alright…"

It was an understandable reaction, one that didn't surprise Hinata in the slightest. Komaeda was still rather prone to despair spirals even after all these years of being isolated on Jabberwock. But that's why they were doing this, why Hinata was here; to make sure he wouldn't hurt himself when something brought back memories of the atrocities they'd committed and horrors they'd lived through.

Komaeda made the noise again, and again. And before he knew it, he was giggling. It was a happy giggle, not like the ones that cracked through the depths of his soul and spewed from his mouth like toxins during a breakdown. The light-hearted and wholesome sound left Hinata finding himself confused, but pleased Komaeda seemed okay.

"I'm sorry, it's just…I really let myself wear just whatever huh? Despair does awful things to people." A bright smile had stretched across Komaeda's face, one of genuine warmth. He wiped at the tears in his eyes, seemingly unaware that Hinata was currently skating right off the side of his emotional half-pipe.

You literally sawed off your own hand but you're more upset about how you wore a collar…?

Deciding to keep that thought private, Hinata asked something else instead. "So uh... was it more of an edgy thing or a kinky thing?"

Komaeda's head snapped around to playfully glare at Hinata. "It wasn't kinky! Do you really think so lowly of me, Hinata-kun? Even in throes of despair I could never be so depraved as to force my sexual desires onto those around me, especially not the Warriors of Hope." He paused, a couple of breathless laughs escaping his lips. "I couldn't have done something like that, they would have bullied me for it in an instant. Children are merciless…"

"No no, you know I don't think of you like that, Komaeda." A small chuckle left Hinata as he thread his fingers through the front of his hair. "They were really awful kids, huh?"

"Victims of circumstance."

"I mean, they did kill thousands of people."

"So did you!"

"Yeah but I--!" Hinata sighed loudly in defeat as he realized the worthlessness of arguing about such a thing. "No...You're right."

Seeming pleased with his victory, Komaeda smirked cheekily as he set the collar down on the floor beside him. With that over with, he returned to rummaging through the box.

Hinata, however, didn't seem to be able to let it go. His eyes were still fixated on the shiny metal, poring over every detail and slight scratch. "Does it…hurt to wear?"

"Hmmm," As Komaeda spoke he continued sorting through his items, not stopping to look up at the other. "Not really, but if you have children yanking at the chain all day it's likely to cut into your skin a little."

"I see…" Even as Hinata gave a gentle nod of acceptance, he didn't seem to be able to peel his eyes away.

Something about that collar intrigued him, something he couldn't put into words. Perhaps it was purely just because of how odd the garment truly was. It weighed on his mind with a strange familiarity he couldn't place, one that he could only guess was due to his merge with Kamukura. A past memory?

"Do you want to try it on?"

The offer was enough to snap Hinata from his daze, heat rising in his cheeks as he shook his head wildly. "N-no…that's weird…"

Komaeda picked up the collar again, the metal making a soft tink against his fibreglass fingers. He unclasped the collar, allowing it to bend into its two halves before holding it out towards Hinata's neck. "I'll help you put it on."

Swallowing hard, Hinata stared at the metal nervously. Looking at it made him feel strange. Fuzzy, almost as though a static was settling over his brain. Was he getting…close to remembering something? Or was he… turned on by it? After all, a human on a collar and leash was unnatural, yet a popular fetish. And Komaeda was someone he was sexually attracted to...

He could sit and ponder the possibilities for hours, but it would be an unproductive use of time. Hinata expelled all the thoughts swirling around in his head, instead focusing on the situation right now. This strange feeling intrigued him, despite the fact it made him anxious as hell for no discernable reason.

As per usual, Hinata's curiosity outweighed his anxiety. "O-okay…"

With a small smile, Komaeda shuffled a little closer. He pressed the cool metal to the front of Hinata's neck, watching as the chain pooled in his lap. He then closed the collar before doing up the clasp with a loud click.

Hinata seized, every muscle in his body suddenly tensing with an intense sensation of panic. The kind of panic that made you think "This is it, I'm going to die."

The world seemed to fall out from beneath him, quickly being replaced by a vibrant green room, filled with the noisy hum of electronic equipment running and observational monitors beeping.

Strange men in white coats were looking down at him, faces going unrecognised.

"N-no…"

This will be the final part of the procedure. Are you ready, "Hinata-kun?"

"N-no!! Don't touch me!"

He furiously attempted to swat away the arm reaching for him, but he couldn't. After all, they'd strapped down any part of his body that was capable of movement. His left cheek itched immensely from the electrode stuck to his skin.

"It's okay, Hinata-kun." The procedure will be mostly painless, it's likely you won't remember a thing. This the final stage, after this you will be released and reborn as the Ultimate Hope.

I'm barely hanging on as is. I-If you take away any more I'm going to die. I'm going to forget who I am…

I don't want to forget her!

Hinata desperately tried to grab at the restraint around his neck. He could feel his knuckles against his skin as his fingers gripped onto the metal, but he knew his arms had been restrained.

It didn't make sense. None of this is making sense. What is going on?

Somebody pulled his hands away, probably angry at his lack of cooperation. Fingers dug sharply into his chin and lips, forcing his mouth open as they pressed hard against his teeth.

Why were they doing this? This wasn't part of the plan.

He let out a loud noise of discomfort, struggling to shake himself free of whatever held him. But before Hinata could push free of their grip, something hard was forced into his mouth.

Huh?

His mouth was suddenly so...cold. Ice cold. Stinging and burning into his tongue. He thrashed and whined, attempting to remove the object from his mouth, but instead his jaw was forced shut.

"Hinata-kun!!"

Who is that? The voice sounded too young to be one of the surgeons.

"It's not real! Whatever's going on right now is just an illusion!"

He could almost laugh. He must be in denial, hoping that this nightmare wasn't turning out exactly the way it was meant to. After all, it was him who wanted this

badly.

"The Kamukura project ended a long time ago! You're safe now, Hinata-kun!"

The… Kamukura project?

Ah, that's right. I've already become Kamukura Izuru. I've been Kamukura Izuru. There's no reason for this to be happening.

Then that means…

This isn't reality.

Click. The soft sound of the collar's clasp being undone was what finally pulled Hinata back.

He could feel the ice melting against his tongue. The restraint had been removed from around his neck, yet the sensation of pressure and cool touch of the metal still lingered.

He should… try to open his eyes.

Cracking one open, Hinata found himself surprised by the flood of bright warm sunlight. The sharp contrast between that and the harsh neon green of the neuroscience institute surprised him.

It was almost as if the warmth of the world was welcoming him with open arms.

He could hear seagulls, the rhythmic thud of the washing machine, the sound of metal chain clattering against the wood floor and heavy breathing.

Ah, that was his own breathing.

A mess of fluffy, white hair was above him, knelt down and leaning over him with a look of panic on his face. It was a familiar scene, one that reminded him of the time when he woke up on the beach within the simulation.

"Komae-dah…"

The boy moved the instant he heard his own name, practically throwing himself at Hinata in a tight hug and pulling him upright off the floor. As Komaeda pressed his chest as close to Hinata's as possible, he whispered apologies quickly and harshly, fast enough to barely sound like coherent words.

"I'msosorryI'msosorryI'msosorry!!"

Despite his best efforts to speak, Hinata's voice was barely above a whisper. "I-it's alright…not your fault…"

He was still shaking and his hands were grossly clammy from all the sweat. He wiped them on the back of Komaeda's shirt and hugged the boy in return.

"I-I should have known…" Komaeda mumbled, squeezing tighter.

Hinata wasn't sure of what to say to reassure him, he really didn't want Komaeda to fall into one of his deprecation spirals, not right now. His head was pounding and he could still feel the electrodes attached to various places on his head and chest.

"Ko-maeda...I think I'm still…"

Komaeda leapt out of his arms, shuffling back a little before grabbing Hinata's right hand. "Ah sorry, I was…scared. But please don't worry about me right now Hinata-kun. Focus on getting yourself back down."

After nodding in response, Hinata took a deep breath and glanced around the room. He idly scratched at his left cheek as he took note of the objects around him.

Bed. Bookshelf. Messy stack of books. More fucking books. There's a gas mask under the- breathe. There is no gas mask under the bed. It doesn't matter. There's a coffee table. A desk that we added more recently.

Hinata swiveled around on his butt

The obnoxiously see-through bathroom. The toilet, bath, shower, towels. I think…I think I'm okay.

He let out a long sigh, relaxing his body enough to let himself fall back and lay down on the floor. Letting go of his hand, Komaeda continued to watch him cautiously. "Are you okay, Hinata-kun?"

He nodded. Still feeling a little uncomfortable with using his words, he opted to idly suck at the ice cube, reveling in the cool water dribbling down his throat.

Komaeda simply laid down next to him, wearing a gentle smile on that pale face. "We can stay here as long as you like, this was my last box of stuff anyway. If you wanna talk about it, you can. If you don't, that's fine too."

"I…" Despite the ice cube in his mouth, Hinata's throat felt unbearably dry and tight. "You were right. In your assumption…"

"Ah, so it was about the Kamukura project then." A soft sigh escaped Komaeda, one of dismay rather than frustration. "I couldn't think of anything else that would cause that kind of reaction. And I don't believe Kamukura did much during his time as a remnant."

Nodding again, Hinata found himself bringing his fingers to his neck. The skin was irritated, sore. He could still feel the collar sitting heavy on his Adam's apple, slowly crushing his esophagus…

"Hinata-kun."

Right. He took a deep gulp of air, having not realised until that moment he'd even been holding his breath. He was so grateful for Komaeda's attentiveness to detail that seemed to continue to save him time and time again.

"Do you like the weather here on Jabberwock Island?" The question came completely unprompted, out of the blue.

Hinata recognised this from one of their therapy sessions with Naegi, where he helped them learn methods on how to cope with these kinds of incidents. A subtle reminder of where the person was wrapped in a question designed to distract oneself. It seemed Komaeda had finally bitten back his curiosity in order to prioritise Hinata's fragile mental state.

"It's a lot like Japan's weather during the summer. Humid. I've never liked humid weather, it makes me sweat too much." He decided it best to answer the question, actually giving it a solid amount of thought. "Though it can be really nice when it rains and there's a humid heat, the atmosphere feels so strange."

Komaeda found himself smiling a little as he analysed Hinata's reaction. "Ah, I can understand that. The tropical thunderstorms we get here are quite interesting."

"It'd be nicer if they didn't trigger Saionji's panic attacks." Finding his mood suddenly souring again, Hinata muttered to himself.

"Trauma has unusual effects on people." Komaeda let out another one of those dry laughs, the kind he did when remembering something less than pleasant. "You and I both know this well."

There was a moment of silence in the room as Hinata blinked a few times, attempting to fully process the words as they were spoken.

"Yeah… I uh, I shouldn't have said that. It's not her fault, after all."

"You're allowed to have these kinds of feelings, you know? You're allowed to be angry that these things happened to us." Speaking in a tone of full yet agonisingly painful sincerity, Komaeda gently placed his right hand over the stump on his arm. "You're only human. You've always been human. It's better for you to express these emotions, especially after what just happened."

"I know… I just…" Gesturing vaguely, Hinata trailed off for a moment, unable to find the right words to describe his thoughts. "I just feel bad about everything that's happened. I'm kind of responsible for all of this. There's so many things that I wish I could change, wish I could have… done differently, I guess."

The other boy paused for a moment before speaking again, an expression unreadable to even Hinata painted onto his delicate features. "Hinata-kun…may I touch you?"

Hinata nodded in consent, and Komaeda wiggled himself closer. He wrapped an arm around Hinata's waist, humming softly as he snuggled up against the other.

"In all honesty, I just wish… I wish I didn't stop you at Hope's Peak. I should have let you shoot her. We wouldn't be in this stupid fucking mess if I just let you." Hinata's rage surged suddenly and he dug his fingers tightly into the fabric of Komaeda’s loose green jacket.

The anger within him eased as he clung to the other. Taking a moment before he groaned and buried his face in the other's chest, reciprocating the hug Komaeda had graciously offered him.

Once Hinata had noticeably cooled down, Komaeda spoke up again. "I don't think I was ever capable of killing her, even if you hadn't stopped me. My luck never planned for me to have an easy ride."

"Still, if I hadn't helped her at all-"

"Nothing would be different." The sudden stern tone made Hinata flinch. "You played less of a role in the whole thing than you care to admit, Hinata-kun."

Ah, he wasn't wrong.

All he had been used for was to manipulate the Reserve Course and put pressure on the faculty. She had other means of doing it and his denial to get involved would have just brought Enoshima more despair.

Hinata sighed loudly, moving his face up to Komaeda's neck and nestling his face into his untamed ivory hair.

"You're right…I'm sorry."

"It's fine, we all feel that way sometimes." Komaeda whispered, looping his other arm around Hinata.

As compelled as Hinata felt to object, he decided to accept it. Enoshima would have found other pawns to play her sick game with. They were lucky enough to just be alive.

They laid there in comfortable silence for a short while, basking in the warm rays of sunshine streaming through the window. All that could be heard was the sound of one another breathing and the ocean waves rolling into shore.

Fingers were threaded into the back of Hinata's hair, stroking through the strands soothingly as he succumbed to Komaeda's familiar touch and allowed himself to calm down. The gentle hold put him more at ease, pulled him back into reality, back into a world where everything was okay. Where there were no doctors here to hurt him, no anti-social scientists ready to break into his head, no creepy girls giggling as they tried to bludgeon him with a baseball bat.

It seemed as though Hinata's breathing had begun to slow down, his grip loosening as he was no longer desperately attempting to ground himself against Komaeda. It seemed he had calmed down enough to maybe talk about it, so Komaeda decided to pop the question.

"So, it was the collar that triggered it? Or a coincidentally timed flashback?"

"The collar. They used something similar to strap me down when they imbued me with my talents." As Hinata began to speak, his voice took on a dull and logical tone. "I believe any kind of restraint would likely elicit a similar reaction."

It wasn't unusual for Hinata to speak differently when recalling the operation or any of the events during the Hope Cultivation Project. It was as if he were trying to distance himself from the memories, to put up an emotionless front in order to make it hurt less. But at the end of the day it was more likely that he just saw things from an impersonal perspective.

Kamukura was always like that.

He never truly believed himself to be a part of society, a person of talent, a human. He was simply an outcast. Everything that he did or that had happened to him were just things that took place, nothing more, nothing less. Whoever's hands it were that dealt these actions meant little to him. The fact Hinata still tended to do this was likely just another side effect of the merge. Komaeda was just grateful that the tone of Kamukura's voice didn't frighten him anymore.

Before Komaeda's thoughts could spiral too much further into the contemplation of Hinata's actions, he spoke again.

"I'll keep that in mind. We'll make sure to add it to your profile's information, okay? That way this shouldn't happen again."

"Flashbacks are an inevitable part of having PTSD." Hinata mumbled the words into Komaeda's neck, seeming deflated.

"I know, but figuring out what triggers them helps." He ruffled Hinata's hair in an attempt to comfort him. "Once everyone knew not to use a hand saw around me, my stress went down immensely! I'm still so grateful everyone would do something like that just to ensure the comfort of somebody as worthless as me!"

There was another grumble from Hinata, who seemed unamused by Komaeda's comments. "You're not supposed to say stuff like that about yourself anymore…"

"And thus proves therapy isn't a perfect science either. At least it improves things bit by bit with time, like your triggers will." Knowing Hinata wouldn't be able to object to the argument, Komaeda found himself smirking a little.

He was right.

Hinata sighed loudly and snuggled closer into Komaeda's arms, groaning softly all the while.

"I know you think it's your job to protect all of us, Hinata, but having these issues doesn't make you weak. You're an Ultimate!" Upon seeing the other wince, Komaeda chuckled softly before directing his reassurance down a different path. "You do so much for our class, and we all love you dearly. Everyone wants to help you the best they can, Hinata-kun."

"Hm… do you think they would want to help me out with how cold my mouth is now?" Hinata squeezed the other boy tightly, keeping him firm in his grip.

"I can think of at least one who might-- Ah! Hinata-kun!!"

A cold tongue laved across the skin of Komaeda's neck, causing him to yelp and squirm. He attempted to push Hinata away, but was unsuccessful when the other boy suddenly rolled on top of him, straddling and pinning him in place. Leaning in close, Hinata eyed Komaeda's lips.

"May I?"

There was a soft huff of defeat from the boy beneath him, followed by a breathless laugh and that ever familiar smile.

"Of course."

Hinata pressed a light kiss to Komaeda's lips, causing the other boy to grin even wider as his cheeks flushed pink. "I love you."

"I love you too."

There was a moment of peace, perhaps the first true peace the two had felt all morning. Hinata felt hyper-aware of everything in the silence; the now lack of gentle thudding and swishing from the washing machine, which must have finished without them noticing. Dust particles danced in the golden rays of sunlight that always seemed to cut through any curtains they hung up. The gentle grey of Komaeda's eyes as they glistened slightly with tears after being the victim of a tickle assault, the slight red flush of his cheeks, the way his messy hair looked so nice with his bangs pinned back in order to keep the hair from his face and show off more of his forehead.

A warm sensation bubbled in Hinata's chest as he leaned his weight further onto Komaeda, allowing himself to relax with a soft sigh as he nuzzled further into the other boy. It felt as though he could fall asleep right there, completely calm in this perfect little world of theirs. Of course it couldn't last forever, but even so, it felt as though things were gonna be okay.

As long as Hinata and Komaeda were together, things would turn out okay.

It was no surprise that Komaeda was thinking the same thing, staring into those gorgeous mismatched eyes of his. There were scars on Hinata's face, scars that would continue to serve as painful reminders to both him and everyone around him. But Komaeda loved those scars, he loved every part of Hinata Hajime and Kamukura Izuru. No matter how many times they disagreed, fought, or got hurt, they always found solace in one another.

Komaeda had to pause to piece his train of thought back together. "Now, how about you get off me and let's pack everything back away, okay?"

With a gentle nod, Hinata shifted off the other's torso. Despite his mixed feelings on the loss of comforting heat and weight from Hinata's body, Komaeda sat himself up before rising to his feet and extending his hand towards the other. Hinata took another moment to recollect himself, before taking his hand and carefully rising to his feet.

Together they packed away all those memories, memories that would haunt them for a lifetime.

Your Handbook has been updated!

#Danganronpa #Komahina #komaeda nagito #Hinata Hajime #Ficgiri #Hinakoma

19 notes · View notes

of-wrens-and-whirlwinds-blog · 4 years

Text

Cakes For All!

Commission for the spectacular @adorkable-m3 ! I added some filling because I didn’t want it to be too short, I hope you don’t mind, and I especially hope you like this! Commission info is here!

Aziraphale was having a lot of fun, but he really did miss Crowley.

It was easy enough to miracle up ingredients, and he truly needed to; his first batches of cakes, biscuits, and muffins were all disasters and took up all his flour. He used just a little bit of a miracle to make his third cake come out well, but it didn’t taste as genuine as the cakes he got from humans. So he frowned and started his next.

He wished Crowley was here to be his taste-tester. For a being who didn’t like eating, Crowley could still put any critic to shame. But Crowley was still napping. Aziraphale sighed heavily and started his next cake.

When he finished a batch of anything, if it was disgusting, he miracled it away to various farms he knew of, to be put in with the animal feed. Pigs and cows don’t care if the sponge is dry, or if the cupcakes are sloppy. If the batch was good, he miracled it to various people in the neighborhood who he knew were having trouble getting food. Surely they would appreciate something filling and wholesome, even if it was just carrot cake.

He got very invested in this hobby, even going so far as to leave off all miracles and simply hope. He tried not to have expectations. As Crowley had discovered first, expectations were almost like miracles for them. So to improve his skills organically, he must force himself to be ambivalent and let the world work.

It was so very hard, though, when he just wanted some nice eclairs for breakfast...

It was June 28th when his phone rang louder than usual. Exasperated, he snapped his fingers to put the oven and the currently-baking biscuits on hold, and left the kitchen, wiping his hands on his apron fastidiously. If it was another solicitor or Shadwell or someone equally annoying…

“Hello, Mr. Fell speaking,” he said in foreboding tones when he picked up the phone.

“Hey, angel,” Crowley’s sleep-fuzzed voice said. “Is the world fixed?”

“Unfortunately, not quite,” Aziraphale replied, smiling as his spirits suddenly rose at the sound of Crowley’s voice. He decided not to tell Crowley that he was early. “There’s a lot of other things happening and it’s all quite horrendous.”

“Mmph. What’ve you been up to, baking?”

“Yes! And the odd miracle here and there. Oh, but first I must tell you about my first sponge!”

Aziraphale prattled on quite happily about his baking adventures, as Crowley made appropriate grunts and exclamations. How wonderful, to have someone to appreciate his processes.

“...And you can’t slither out of tasting my devil’s food cakes.” Aziraphale ended firmly. “I’ve been practicing just for you.”

“Oh—thanks,” Crowley replied, sounding puzzled. “When should I come over?”

“I think that’s entirely up to the authorities. But I shall continue practicing! This is a delightful hobby!”

They spoke more, but eventually Crowley declared he was going to read more about the latest scientific discoveries of space and then go back to sleep. Aziraphale sighed, but did not protest overmuch. It was to be expected, really.

The biscuits should be done by now, yes?

Adam and his friends called Aziraphale individually to thank him for the care packages that were entirely sweets, pastries, and jam, all of them sounding quite sincere. Aziraphale was rather touched by their thanks. It wasn’t too hard to put together boxes of treats for them; the hardest part was getting postage, since all the stamps he had were expired. Ah, well. He was glad they enjoyed the packages, especially when Wensleydale let slip that ever since his grades in his physics class had slipped by three points, his parents had been very cool towards him. And Adam—when he was outside of Tadfield, his influence lessened, and the perfection of the area faded; this was reflected in his parents having very tense conversations with him over Face-Time about when he was going to give up his arts degree and get a technology one.

Pepper was quite frank with Aziraphale that she enjoyed the ginger sweets, but her girlfriend had eaten them all, so if Aziraphale was planning to send more, he’d have to double the amount. Aziraphale promised solemnly to do so. Ginger biscuits would be welcome too, wouldn’t they?

Brian seemed to be very sniffly, and eventually admitted that his parents had stopped replying to his electronic mail and it was nice to receive kind words from someone other than his friends. Aziraphale immediately decided to write him a real letter instead of just a warm postcard wishing him well, and maybe bake him a lemon tart.

Anathema called him to chat about witchcraft, and casually dropped her own thanks for the breads and cookbook he’d sent to her and Newt. Newt was extremely happy to do something other than watch Netflix and read and garden, and Anathema was rather glad (meaning also extremely happy) that he wasn’t an anxious mess from being trapped inside. Baking seemed to calm him and he tended to experiment for the sake of experimentation. He’d broken three electric mixers so he’d gone back to hand-whisks and spatulas, but he was always proud to put well-made food in front of his lover.

Aziraphale knew exactly how that felt.

Slowly, Aziraphale’s baking evolved into consistently decent, and occasionally excellent. He was quite proud of himself. It was odd that he hadn’t gotten bored yet, but he didn’t mind. He tried making Russian shuba, but it wasn’t as satisfying as pastries; so he went back to his favored recipes, mostly the ancient ones that he remembered from long ago and which bits of were still surviving and archived. He even submitted careful suggestions to various scientific and historical researchers about how these recipes were made, and received many calls and letters in return about his methods and where he sourced his ingredients and what sources he was drawing from—because he made too much sense to just be making things up.

It was fun, and interesting. On the first of July, Crowley woke up fully, and complained about the continued shelter-in-place, and Aziraphale said cheerfully, “Well, if we can’t visit each other, at least let me tell you about my latest success with French pastries, especially crullers!”

#Good Omens #Aziraphale #Good Omens fic #writing commission

16 notes · View notes

macklives · 5 years

Text

session 81 end

wow, okay, first things first

AC!!!!!

shes so fucking cute holy shit i love her so much i dont even know where to begin??

i mean i guess its because im so used to troll snark and the way they just? banter constantly? seeing someone who is a literal ray of sunshine is so refreshing and wholesome and pure. god she’s great. shes a cat, she knows her stuff. she’s strong and theres also this guys???? who shes scared of?? and tells her what to do??? yeah no, idk who it is but let her make her own decisions lol

maybe its just over exaggeration or whatnot, and hes not bad but first impressions do a lot to me and right now the only thing i know about this guy is that AC needs his approval for everything. i guess ill see where that takes us. hopefully nowhere bad. but AC seems like she can take care of herself and knows how to be a good decent troll and i love her for that. wow it literally took me one dialogue to like her. damn, that was fast. jesus.

you know who else is great?

terezi.

yeah i know right. and that whole trial thing, which yeah i guess half the time i was confused by what the fuck is going on since i still cant grasp the idea of how alternia works, but i enjoyed myself with lemonsnout and how terezi roleplays and how much she gets into it. seeing a character that passionate about something is so sweet and nice.

god this was just a nice overall session

which i say, while i completely forgot about the banter TA and karkat got into

right, that happened. oh my god. they both literally stomped all over each other, dissed one another, still made up in the end because apparently thats their friendship and i guess it just works like that. depends on the friends you have, i guess.

its funny though, not gonna lie

and karkat as of now is just being a prick and honestly?

like more than usual, which i guess is weird to say but i mean from present time to beginning of hivebent karkat. not that its uncommon for him to be a prick, he is, but seeing him go through the non-linear pattern with john is mmmmh interesting to say the least. though we havent seen his first trolling, just him constantly going “oh god what did i say, i was dumb” u know, not in those words but thats basically what he means.

ooh im gonna analyze, i feel like analyzing right now my fingers have already typed so much as it is MIGHT AS WELL

and our candidate will be *drum rollll* karkat wow predictable (its below the cut because this is literally irrelevant now to the session)

okay, lets lay out the shit we have already. as i said before, the way he talks presently to john (meaning in the future) is so different than how he speaks to everyone now. of course the “i hate the world” personality is still there, and hes still just regular karkat, but karkat talking with john is patient to some extent and tells him what he needs to know for the game, lowkey kinda chills out once they started talking about movies or growing up as huh, didnt he say larvae or smth?

okay that whole grub thing makes sense now as i just wrote that but i am still confused as to what the FUCK that is implying because i dont think it crossed my mind this much, im repressing it for now until it comes up later.

anyways, back to what i was saying. he was so DIFFERENT than the way he’s acting now which is bitch and moan and like? stfu karkat lmfao. i mean, its not THAT big of a difference in character, because i know he’s still his grumpy old self, and theres a lot of potential.. for growth? not sure if we’ll get it but i like to assume we will get character growth from these characters with fucking 8000 pages talking about them. but a story needs that growth and with karkat being just a straight up angry dude, in MY EYES, he should.. have growth, no? idk HOW he will grow, but im basically just taking what i have right now which isnt much but i analyze things for fun sometimes so let me be.

that being said, because its so early on, im not sure where homestuck is gonna go and i dont have much to go on but being in the psychology course shit happens when you have limited information and you gotta pin point what makes a person a person and how do they cope with things to grow further into life. many of my assignments involve limited info so honestly, not that hard.

but it is something that ive noticed, the way karkat is different as he grows which possibly means the whole veil thing happens later later on in his life and we havent yet seen that small growth become patience and not whining every time he doesnt get what he wants. but growth is common and it mostly likely happens to everyone, so its not like wow this is a surprise and a plot twist, more of something that i just wanna write for the sake of writing it. i hope that makes sense? i dont exactly know where im going with this. i just mean that im basically going to analyse karkat a tiny bit so idk how to otherwise explain it but you’ll get where im going with this as i type more lmao.

anyways, so karkat literally said “pretend i dont think highly of my friend’s talents” as if he’s visibly trying to force himself from all emotions and bash on those who do (reference: “stop being sensitive, its repugnant” or whatever tf he said while TA replied with “hypocrite”) i take that as a key word. so honestly, while that was the smallest thing ive gotten from this session, its the thing im most curious about actually and i actually havent mentioned lol. because what ive learned in psych, which this is just common knowledge but i did an assignment on it so like?? could be useful?? is that people who hold off their emotions tend to hold off others as well, so there is no chance of mirroring each other. in other words, if someone is happy and starts to laugh and goof around with another, the emotions will mirror that other person subconsciously. like an addictive laugh. theres also another way to show mirroring, which is to mimic another person's actions, allowing another to establish a sense of empathy and thus begin to understand another person's emotions. in this case, im using TA and karkat as example. people who suppress emotions tend to see emotions as a bad sign and if somebody else portrayed any sign of it as well, they’ll basically say “gross what are you doing” because theyre so used to concealing it away, that they dont want others to think theyre into the whole mushy shit. so they pretend to hate it, pretend to not even be slightly affected by general sensitivity..

which basically means karkat is a softie, and even if he’s a prick right now, meeee thinks john, from earlier convos, is growing on him because john himself knows how emotions work and while i dont think troll culture does know much about it, considering the BLOOD AND CARNAGE thing, he is in fact growing and even if thats obvious, and you all know it, i am new to homestuck and am trying to see that for myself. its noticeable to some degree. he may always still be a jerk, but i am waiting to see how he slowly starts to accept things around him and to finally show what hes hiding inside. even if its just going up by a few percentages, i see its there and im hoping VERY HOPING he has the biggest character growth!

in other words, why else do i think this?? well nobody who watches romcoms can be that fucking aggressive. you need some sap in you to like it.

on that note, ill probably analyze alternia’s system and rules in another post later throughout these next few sessions because i feel it needs to be talked about and the way everything just.. is so different and doesnt seem right, you know?

thats it for now goodnight

#homestuck #homestuck liveblog #hs81 #hs81 end #tfw you get so into the analysis simple shit doesnt come to mind like tagging or putting a title

111 notes · View notes

theliterarywolf · 4 years

Text

2019′s Animation Hidden Gems

So, another year has come and gone. And, in regards to animated content, we had a sizable smorgasboard of offerings both on the mainstream end and the Indie scene.

I figured I would go over some of the ones that caught my eye that I don’t see many people talking about or, if they are talking about them, they’re focusing on shitty e-drama rather than the content in of itself.

So, let’s begin!

... Just going to use a ‘Read More’ break due to the length of this post as well as spoilers for certain things within.

Tuca and Bertie

So, we’re just going to acknowledge the fact that Netflix’s cancellation of this show before it even had the chance to hit its stride (which coincidentally timed in with the team behind it, the same team behind Bojack Horseman, getting the rights to unionize -- but I’m sure that’s just a coincidence~) was one of the shittiest things they did this year, right? Right.

Anyway, Tuca and Bertie was one of those shows that, while it took me a good few days to finally watch it (due mostly to Netflix burying this show underneath those damn Ted Bundy movies and that fucking Beyonce concert/documentary/what-the-fuck-ever), was definitely a front-runner for adult-centered animation this year.

While the wacky animation styles can sometimes throw initial viewers off, by the time the series is halfway through you’re fully engrossed in how it helps to tell the stories this show wants to focus on.

While, yes, the show was a little heavy-handed in one of the early episodes about women in the workplace (that whole scene of Tuca screaming obnoxiously in the board-meeting to signal that no woman had spoken in 30 minutes was kind of grating even though the message is sound), the series as a whole is a great change of pace in regards to having adult animation centered on/aimed towards women. The characters work great together, the sound design works wonders, and Netflix cancelling this show despite they themselves not promoting it is such a damn crime.

My personal favorite part/episode: While the episode “The Jelly Lakes” was a great, poignant display of showing Bertie opening up about her past trauma and sexual abuse, the episode that I always resonate with during rewatches of this series is “Plumage”. The way that it tackles not only reconciling with addiction but emotional/psychological abuse and how it often comes from sources that are on the outside beneficial hits so close to home. The fact that it was handled with tact and respect while still being in this wacky world of talking bird-people was amazing.

Sound and Fury

I... am just going to come out and admit it, my brain still hasn’t 100% wrapped around the ‘what does it MEAN?!?!’ aspect of this animated album but, damn it all, is it a feast for the ears and eyes.

I honestly can’t talk about it too much because half the enjoyment comes from watching it for yourself.

My personal favorite part/episode: I can’t quite remember what the song’s name was, but visually it was the section that focused on the homeless veteran basically being left outside to die while the city is about to be decimated by a nuclear bomb. The fact that the segment shows everything, right down to how the cat he tries to rescue agonizingly burns to death when the bomb hits, has stuck with me.

Love, Death + Robots

Well, you guys didn’t think I was going to let 2019 pass without me gushing about one of my favorite animation anthologies of the year, did you?

Seriously, I am so glad that Netflix has greenlit a second volume for this project because it really is the type of stuff I like to see: collections of vastly different stories using different mediums and styles.

While two of the entries aren’t as strong as the others (”The Witness” and “Ice Age” freaking suck, don’t @ me), the bulk of the anthology is immensely strong and well-executed and no amount of people whinging about ‘myeh, it’s too sex-filled and violent~’ is going to ruin that.

My personal favorite part/episode: The segment “Suits” still takes my award for best in show, but I still like the series potential of “Shapeshifters” and the attempt at cosmic horror in “Beyond the Aquila Rift”.

Satellite City

I hate, hate, HATE that my initial exposure to Sam Fennah’s creative world, much like other people’s first exposure, was via that DAMN Nostalgia Critic review for The Wall!

But, in all seriousness, Fennah’s web-series as well as the book that he’s been working on are so excellently crafted.

The character design: I’ve gushed so much about the character design that doing so again here would be a crime. But it really is wonderful seeing monster designs that think ‘monstrous’ first and ‘marketability’ second.

The voice acting: everyone in here does an exceptional job with their performances and giving life to not only the characters but the world surrounding them. Seriously, they’re all amazing and I can only hope that their talents are showcased in other projects.

The animation: the fact that it’s all done and rigged by one person is awe-inspiring enough but the way that Fennah works to make sure that the characters don’t stick out too much from their real-world sets is incredible.

The writing: It would be so easy for a series like this to stick to wacky hijinks, violence, and toilet-humor, but no. We have excellently crafted, mature dialogue, we have incorporated world-building that doesn’t rely on exposition dumps, we have diction that rivals some of the commercial hyper-hits of the current year.

Seriously, I wish that more people watched this series; it’s so good..!

My personal favorite part/episode: This relies on some spoilers, but I have to talk about what I think the highlight of the series. While the episode “Slice of Life” gives a good display of the core cast in a day-to-day setting with Lucy Lacemaker giving an incredible monologue about the nature of life and immortality at the end, no where else does the work behind the craft of Satellite City shine more...

youtube

Than in Episode 20 - “The Order of Things”. Satellite City centers around the Kivouachians, a species of unworldly creatures who have been around for billions of years but, due to war and betrayal, lost their homeland and have been scattered across the Earth.

During this war, many died, many were punished, many were tortured, and many were left to deal with horrific trauma and PTSD.

While this episode has the connecting tissue of informing others that the series’ antagonist has escaped her prison, it also centers upon the heavy issue of destructive, toxic relationships and how people can let themselves waste away and decay just because they can’t find it in themselves to let go of something that may ‘make them happy’.

We also get a dialogue from Lucy Lacemaker about the nature of art and imitation, but it’s simply the cherry on top of the sundae that the prior themes build up.

... Seriously, j-just go watch the show; put has-been critics out of your minds and just go appreciate this series for what it is.

Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss/Holidaze

God, I can only be in awe of and respect Vivienne for getting to the point that she has gotten to. Two well-received animated pilots, an adorable holiday special, industry ties, and a portfolio that surely can fill two phone books at this point.

Seriously, though, Hazbin Hotel is great: an adult animated show with an interesting art style, engaging characters, and a world that I really want to see more of.

Helluva Boss is great too! That show has a more intimate cast and less insanity so if the barrage of visuals in the prior turned you off, then the latter would probably be more your cup of tea.

Finally, Holidaze is fucking adorable. It boggles my mind that people were getting upset at this special for coming out and doing something different when most complaints against HH and HB were ‘ugh, she really can’t do anything aside from “offensive people in hell are offensive because HELL, lol”’. Well, here you go! Something wholesome and cute and heartwarming!

Some people just want to bitch and moan, I swear...

My personal favorite part/episode: See, here’s where it gets tricky. I love the feeling I get from Holidaze. I love the characters from Hazbin Hotel. I love the setting/premise of Helluva Boss.

But I wouldn’t want all of those things crammed together.

So, all in all, VivziePop and her colleagues have done an amazing job with these shorts and I can’t wait to see what 2020 has in store for them.

Dororo (2019)

Look, man! I get it, okay?! When it comes to anime where the main character in a feudal-era Japan setting goes around killing demons, everyone and their grandma was gushing over Demon Slayer.

And, you know what? Demon Slayer is a good show; it has really good animation and Nezuko is best girl.

... But fuck ALL OF YOU who slept on Dororo (2019), man! I get it, Amazon having the streaming rights to it made it all sorts of awful to try and keep up with, but even so this show was way too ignored by people.

Which is a damn shame because in regards to revamping classic anime IPs, this is right up there in ‘damn, they actually did a good job’ along with Casshern Sins and Devilman Crybaby.

My personal favorite part/episode:

... Have I mentioned that the theme song for this show is an absolute BANGER?!

youtube

That’s all I have for now. I still have yet to watch things like Klaus and I Lost My Body, and I was unfortunately unable to watch Promare due to not having the funds for it when it was in theaters, and -- Oh my fucking GOD, I’m just now finding out that Netflix has Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie after trying to find a way to legally watch it for ages.

But I hope that I was able to introduce some of you to some animated pieces that got a little overshadowed this year.

Here’s hoping for more amazing stuff to grace our eyes in 2020!

#animation #art #cartoons #anime #web series #film

64 notes · View notes