#i have a list here of things to do and mermaids isn’t even on it
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Last Line Challenge!!!
rules: in a new post, show the last line you wrote (or drew) and tag as many people as there are words (or as many as you feel like).
i was tagged by the talented @alvivaarts !!! thanks so much for thinking of me <3
since i emerged from my long dormancy, i don’t know a large amount of people i know to be active buttttt i will try tagging @sinnabum45 [been loving your recent narumitsu], @californiatowhee [ditto bestie], @silvercap [art or writing?], and @thebrandywine [i mean i’d tag you in this post anyway, so….]. feel free to ignore if this ain’t your thing~~~
anyways here’s a page of preliminary sketches for a comic based on @thebrandywine ‘s [pull me under], a nivannedy mermaid au fic that has given me brainworms (told you i’d be tagging you in regardless, mav)
i don’t usually share at this stage because it’s all very rough and i only need it to make sense to me, which is why there are like… stick figures and also why I just freely write and draw over other writings and drawings. and i’m not sure this will go all the way to a finished state, if all these panels will make it, and if they will be in this order (i’ve already changed some things up…). like right now i am sort of unhappy with the sameness of all the head shots but … we’ll see, we’ll see.
also if all the pen scratches and scribbles didn’t give it away, this is done traditionally, mostly to force myself to just restart something that’s not working rather than attempting to noodle with it endlessly, which is a pitfall I can fall into with digital sketching. i really should not have used this particular ink tho, it has shimmer and it was clogging my pen something fierce x.x
#resident evil#mermaid au#pmu fanart#wip#my sketchbook#sorry if i didn’t tag you and you wanted to be tagged i never know who to bother#sorry if i tagged you and you did not want to be tagged i am bad at this!#also i am very tired if you don’t hear from me until march tbh do not be surprised#its so funny to me i got caught red handed drawing mermaids AGAIN#i swear i do other things#don’t i?#i must#i have a list here of things to do and mermaids isn’t even on it#how did this happen to me
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an assortment of disney sentence starters. a compilation of sentence starters from and inspired by lilo and stitch, lady and the tramp, lady and the tramp ii: scamp’s adventure, the little mermaid and the little mermaid ii: return to the sea. feel free to adjust as necessary but do not add to the list. thank you!
‘ i don't see how a world that makes such wonderful things could be bad. ’
‘ if anybody ever needed a muzzle, it's him ... ’
‘ have you lost your senses completely? ’
‘ i'd give anything to have what you have. ’
‘ i didn't mean it, {name}, i don't know what i was thinking! ’
‘ beyond those distant hills, who knows what wonderful experiences there are, and it's all ours for the taking. ’
‘ if you promise not to fight anymore, i promise not to yell at you ... except on special occasions. ’
‘ you ... saved my life. nobody else here would have dared to do that. ’
‘ you don't know what it was like. ’
‘ i see you haven't changed a bit. ’
‘ hey! watch where you're going, stupid head! ’
‘ you don't belong on the street. you won't last five minutes out here. ’
‘ wonder what they do around here for excitement. ’
‘ do we have a lobster door? no! we have a dog door! we're getting a dog. ’
‘ we're just going to forget this whole thing ever happened. ’
‘ how could there be anything wrong with something so wonderful? ’
‘ i'm not going home! you can't make me. ’
‘ did you lose your job because of me? ’
‘ if you want to leave, you can. i'll remember you though. i remember everyone that leaves. ’
‘ i just ... i just don't feel like i belong here. have you ever felt that way? ’
‘ i'm giving you a choice, you can come with me or you can return home. ’
‘ if your father knew about this place- ’
‘ if you ask me, she's a little strange ... ’
‘ everybody thinks i'm ... weird ... ’
‘ this is great. this is living! i never get to do this at home. ’
‘ why don't you go tell my father? you're good at that. ’
‘ stop criticizing me! that's all my mother ever did, criticize me! ’
‘ you're hiding something from me ... ’
‘ remember this: a human heart has only so much room for love and affection. ’
‘ i'm going to bust us out of here, if it's the last thing i do. ’
‘ i know you're trying, {name}, but you need to think about what's best for them ... even if it removes you from the picture. ’
‘ i've given you what you've always wanted ... they're the one who's been lying to you all these years. ’
‘ it wasn't built to keep something out ... it was built to keep me in. ’
‘ you've got no one to blame but yourself. ’
‘ well ... that's what comes of tying yourself down to one person. ’
‘ we could run off together. we don't need them. ’
‘ you're just like ... like your mother. ’
‘ it's about time you settle down. ’
‘ i thought we could sit out here and talk. ’
‘ i'm sorry i bit you ... and pulled your hair ... and punched you in the face. ’
‘ sometimes you try your hardest but things don't work out the way you want them to. ’
‘ i hope that you appreciate what i go through for you. ’
‘ take my advice and settle down with this one, huh? ’
‘ i should have been home hours ago ... ’
‘ i'm late because i had to go to the store and get peanut butter because all we have is stinkin' tuna- ’
‘ no, you don't belong there, you're better than that and that's what i like about you. ’
‘ you know, i really believed they had a chance ... then you came along. ’
‘ isn't it obvious? {name}'s in love. ’
‘ why didn't you wait at the school? you were supposed to wait there! ’
‘ that's the first time i've seen you smile in weeks. ’
‘ i know that's why you wreck things and why you're mean to me sometimes ... ’
‘ i was just like you when i was your age. ’
‘ i don't need you to shelter and protect me! ’
‘ you're not like the rest of us. you're good and kind. the streets will beat that out of you if you stay. ’
‘ you really want a family, don't you? ’
‘ i've got a very comfortable home, where i know you'll be loved and appreciated ... ’
‘ why do you act so weird? ’
‘ open up your eyes to what life can really be ... ’
‘ are you going to play dolls? ’
‘ this is great. i mean, i really love this ... adventure, excitement, danger lurking around every corner ... ’
‘ you don't have to be scared of me. i won't hurt you. ’
‘ we can't go in! the sign says- ’
‘ i need you to stay here for a few minutes. i'm going to be right back. ’
‘ i'm {number} years old! i'm not a child! ’
‘ hey, i brought you some pizza in case you were hungry. ’
‘ i'm not your girl. i don't belong to anyone ... ’
‘ i wish i could tell {name} how i feel ... but they'd never understand. ’
‘ you seem very familiar ... have we met? ’
‘ people treat me different. ’
‘ i know you've been keeping something from me. ’
‘ sometimes ... things have to change and maybe sometimes they're for the better. ’
‘ you didn't think they would miss you!? ’
‘ this is you and this is your badness level. it's unusually high for someone your size. ’
‘ all i ever hear is rules, rules, rules ... don't do this and don't do that ... ’
‘ everyone has trouble fitting in at your age. i know i did. i was a regular fish out of water. ’
‘ there's a great, big hunk of world out there with no fence around it, where two people can find adventure and excitement ... ’
‘ why did you keep the truth from me? ’
‘ i bet they've got a lid on every trash can ... oh, and a fence around every tree. ’
‘ we're a broken family, aren't we? ’
‘ if it wasn't for you, i would have wound up somewhere else... ’
‘ i'm the only one who understands them. you take that way, they won't stand a chance. ’
‘ our family is little now and we don't have much but if you want you could be a part of it. ’
‘ i'm going to stuff you in the blender, push puree then bake you into a pie and feed it to- ’
‘ when you're footloose and unattached ... well, that's nothing but the best. ’
‘ what are you doing out here? don't you have a nice family back home? ’
‘ don't you have a family? ’
‘ oh man, must have been horrible having someone care about you that much ... ’
‘ you have a home and a family that loves you. you're not like the rest of us, {name}. ’
‘ i'm just so afraid i'm going to make a total fool of myself. ’
‘ you're hiding something from me ... ’
‘ i didn't think they would miss me that much ... ’
‘ have you ever seen anything so wonderful in your entire life? ’
‘ i got to get to work. stick around town and stay out of the roads, okay? ’
‘ they aren't much of a family ... but what choice do i have? ’
‘ it's clear to me that you need them a lot more than they need you. ’
‘ i might not be a doctor but i know that there's no better cure for a sour face than a couple of boards and some choice waves. what do you think? ’
‘ you're such a pain. ’
‘ come to join the party? ’
‘ the world out there is full of traps. here? here you have a family that loves you. ’
#roleplay prompts#roleplay sentence starters#sentence starters#disney#disney sentence starters#mine: inbox prompt
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2023 Anything But Human Master list
That's about a wrap for the 2023 Anything But Human fest! Thank you to everyone who participated. It was a lot of fun, horror, and laughs. There are a few more people still writing so the list will be updated in the next week or so.
Updated Dec 2nd
Submission list page
AO3 page
Whether Land or Sea, You’re the one for me by dystopianRebel
Ariel isn’t the only mermaid to get a happily ever after.
the righteous dead by Aspen_Gray
Harry is resurrected, sewn together with thread and magic.
He remembers nothing except that he loves his savior, a man named Voldemort.
I will follow you into the dark by evaleon70 for queasy
Harry loves a good horror book, and this new one about a monster called Voldemort is now his favorite. Unknowingly, he calls out to the shadowy entity, and gains the monster's full attention and appetite.
caught in my web by queasy
Well well well, look who The Other Tom has finally caught.
tom's foolery by queasy for sujing
Harry is an absolute menace as a ghost. But Voldemort's guesses this is the price he has to pay for killing Harry Potter, and becoming the newest leader of the magical world.
to the grave by asterismal (asterisms)
Four times the denizens of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry speculate about the Dark Tower's ghost.
+ One time the ghost speaks for himself.
Therefore, Repay Evil with Blessing by evaleon70
Father Tom loves his position as a Priest - it is so much easier to kill with his collar. Harry has been watching him, and the Angel is far from pleased with the blackening soul inside those vestments.
Got lost in it, feels impossible by Soulseeker (Laserswordtraining)
Revived Harry’s horcrux, Tom is part-dementor with powers over emotions and memories. Especially Harry’s.
windswept by asterismal (asterisms)
Eleven years old, in a shack on a rock in the sea, Harry Potter learns there’s an entire secret world of people just like him. People with magic. People who are strange. Perhaps even people who are trouble.
Except, even here, no one is strange like him.
(At least, not yet.)
AKA: Three meetings between Lord Voldemort and the Boy-Who-Lived.
haunting you by queasy for purplemineralwater
Harry James Evans-Potter is Godric Hollow’s well-known wizard for any and all things spirits and the beyond.
He was given The Riddle Case last month, when one of their squib servants called him up in hysteria for help. What Harry first summoned was a sloppy job of some amateur necromancers or grave robbers, turned into something far more inexplicably horrific.
The Woods are Lovely, Dark and Deep (I have promises to keep) by evaleon70
Prompt fill for Anything But Human Fest:
"Lost in the woods surrounding their secluded village, James and Lily are found by the monstrous forest god Voldemort, who leads them back to safety in exchange for their firstborn child. When Harry is born they don’t give him up, and figure they’re safe as long as they keep away from the woods, as its creatures are somehow unable to leave. But even if V is unable to physically reach them, his powers manage to drain their lives before Harry turns two.
Being raised by the Dursleys, Harry grows up strangely fascinated with the forest, even if he knows he must never enter its domains (surprise: he ends up doing it)"
World Saving Distractions by SolidMisfortuneandThings
Voldemort was always obsessed with Harry. Now they finally know why. Severus Snape was the first one to figure it out and uses it as a distraction so that he could hunt down the horcruxes and be labled as a hero. Harry Potter is only a sacrifice anyways. Who cares how it happens?
Submission for Anything but Human fest
Prompt: Voldemort is more snakelike than he realizes and its mating season
In body, in mind, in spirit by Ciacconne
For the ABH fest. For the prompt: “Tom is a doll maker, and he creates Harry, his personal Pinocchio who thinks he is a real boy. What will he do when he finds out the truth? What was he made for? (for Tom's entertainment?).”
Green eyes
wooden fingers
green eyes
trembling fingers
searching
piece by piece
a world now known
Chemical or Magic (I can't let you go) by SquibNation10
For my prompt: Aliens!!
Voldemort's spaceship crashes on Planet Earth and of course, he has to find resources to rebuild his ship and later take over the stupid planet that dares mess with his plans!
Unfortunately, he meets a homeless Singer-wannabe Harry Potter who messes up his plans.
It features Regulus as the Star Elf, Luna as the Loveable Robot, Ambitious General Umbridge and a very Don't give a F Dr Snape.
Inspired by a convo with someone I had when they asked me about fanfiction:
"You spend all your time on remaking other stories because you have no idea what the real thing is- this is no art,"
"Maybe, but in my remakes, I never lose hope that I'll find art, and yeah okay it's never going to be an original... but it's mine."
treasures untold by asterismal (asterisms)
This close, it’s impossible to mistake for human. Perfect symmetry. Black scales that sweep across its cheeks and forehead, framing too-big eyes, round and wide-set; chips of jade that threaten to swallow inky black pupils. He swims closer, unthinking, and the creature poises to attack, needle sharp fangs bared. Deadly.
Dangerous.
In which Tom Riddle enters the Black Lake seeking a prize, and he finds one.
Listen Intently (Your secrets are mine to keep) by SquibNation10 for quiet-of-snow
The Rock is black and smooth, interspersed with emerald green jagged carvings, almost too beautiful to be a coincidence. Tom (later Voldemort) discovers this rock has an interesting magical signature.
He finds out the rock is a sentient being and can communicate with him.
The Rock wishes to be called Harry.
carve through the dark by asterismal (asterisms)
The creature’s face splits in a grin, its sharp teeth gleaming. “You may call me Voldemort, Lord of the Forest Below.”
“You’re Lord Voldemort?” The monster from Dumbledore’s stories (from all the stories, really), leaving him gifts? Helping him? Surely not. “Are you sure?”
Voldemort laughs. “What a rude creature you are,” it says, delighted, winding ever closer. “Yes, little faun, I am sure.”
“But Lord Voldemort has been hunting us for centuries.”
Its head tilts. It smiles again, and its teeth gleam. “Indeed I have.”
Harry’s heart flutters. “Oh.”
“Scared?” Voldemort asks, behind him now.
Harry feels its breath on his neck, and all the hairs there rise. He whirls, glares at the creature head-on. “Never!”
AKA: Faun Harry Potter meets infamous snake-man Voldemort.
reign down by asterismal (asterisms)
Harry Potter is being watched. Tom Riddle is in crisis.
These things are 100% related
Tomarrymort drabbles & stuff by abraginsky__2
One shots. Tomarrymort One Shots.
and all that you've made of me by LyingInSpirals
Anything But Human 2023 Prompt fill
As a child, Harry was possessed by the demon Voldemort. Even after a successful exorcism, the demon refuses to leave him alone, although he can’t touch Harry anymore and only Harry can see him. As the years go by, Voldemort’s threats of finally getting him seem more and more real, with the demon’s figure turning ever so slowly more corporeal.
the righteous dead by Aspen_Gray
Harry is resurrected, sewn together with thread and magic.
He remembers nothing except that he loves his savior, a man named Voldemort.
#harrymort#harry potter#tomarry#tomarrymort#voldemort#anything but human#hp fandom#lord voldemort#tom riddle#tmrhp
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I have the honor of being @arty-angel-things's secret Santa for the DCASS2022 event! I went a bit over the word minimum, but I had so much fun with this fic. It was a wonderful challenge to craft the prompt from your list of likes such as Mermaid AUs and Sun taking care of Y/N and helping them improve as a person! I did my best to incorporate several elements together and include Moon scaring Reader, of course, but nonetheless helping Y/N to become better as well!
I hope you like it!
Mayday In Paradise
FNAF Mermaid!Sun/Moon x Reader (SFW)
You can also read this fic on AO3!
Word Count: ~5,700
Warnings: Light Angst
~
You have no idea what you’re doing here, but you’re supposed to have fun. At least, that’s what Vanessa expects you to do. In truth, you’re growing wearier by the second.
The beach house is flawless, and it’s all yours for 14 days. You just flew in yesterday. As gorgeous as the tropical island, white-sand shore is, which is only a hop, skip, and a jump from the back porch of the rental you’re staying in, you’re getting trapped in your thoughts.
There’s a reason you never used your vacation days.
The company you worked for, Fazbear Entertainment, mandated that you use your vacation time by the end of the year or disciplinary action was going to be taken, as apparently, the government was breathing down their necks about their employee health and safety. When you bemoaned to Vanessa, your coworker, that you were going to be forced out of work for two weeks, she agreed, much to your dismay, that you needed the time off. She’s the one who suggested spending your Christmas somewhere down south where the weather is always warm and mild and the crystal clear, salt water is a mere stroll away.
“You need to do something nice for yourself,” she had said, smiling as you both hunched over her laptop during your lunch break, staring at house rentals and exotic locations.
You kneel on the edge of the wet sand, just where the tide laps up gently and brushes against your knees. The late morning sun is already blazing down on your shoulders where you had rubbed a great deal of sunscreen on as you really haven’t spent a great deal of time outside and fear how sensitive your skin will be. A tank top and shorts are proper beach attire, you think. You wear a nice little sunhat, too. Gazing out over the ocean, you touch the small canoe sitting on the shore. The boat was in the small shed tucked beside the garage of the rental, and the renter said everything was for your use, at your pleasure. Paddling around in the water is something fun, right?
It should be, but the longer you stay still, the more you drop into darker thoughts of leaving this beautiful place where time doesn’t grit between your teeth and the air is light and salty and you think you might enjoy yourself here.
You don’t want to get attached. You can’t. This isn’t your life. You have to go back to your empty apartment and wake up early in the cold to make it to work on time so you can talk to your only friend, Vanessa, and rinse and repeat until…
Until you die.
What a life you lead.
You groan quietly and bow your head, covering your face and incidentally brushing wet sand on your forehead. You don’t like to think and ponder about how pathetic your existence is. If you disappeared, only Vanessa would notice, but even then, you suspect she’ll move on because she has friends and family, and you are hardly a second thought, if that, in people’s lives.
This is why you keep up with the daily grind. This is why you work yourself to the bone so that when you go to bed at night, you have no choice but to sleep and not dwell on what is hopeless.
A bird chirps somewhere off in the palm trees, drawing you out of your internal collapse and allowing you to breathe in deeply. The waves gently wash up on shore. The horizon is endless and blue. What are you doing? You need to try to make the most of this before it ends and you’ve wasted it like you tend to waste other things.
Taking a hold of the canoe, you push it into the water, grunting with effort until it buoys. Your feet slip into the ocean. The warm, even temperature soaks your legs. Oh. You should probably get a life jacket on, but when you look back to shore and the empty beach house you’re going to sleep in for 13 more nights, you decide that you know how to swim. Not well, but you know how to. Climbing inside the little boat and setting off, you pick up the paddle laying at the bottom and begin heavy, slow strokes to sail through the small, peaceful slice of this paradise you’re intruding upon.
A peaceful rhythm begins as you paddle. The ocean is surreal—a rich teal color, sometimes cyan blue where it’s really shallow. You do your best to stay clear of a sandbar.
Something flashes just underneath the surface a little ways off from your canoe, a fin of some kind of fish. You can hardly see through the glare of the light reflecting off of the still surface, but then there’s another small splash—something frilled and yellow—but gone the next moment. Leaning forward, almost over the edge of the boat, you strain to pick up whatever was just underneath the surface.
A small bump and a loud scrap hit below the canoe. Your paddle hits something hard, not sand, but something unforgiving. Quickly, you push back and free the boat from whatever it hit, hoping with a cringe that it didn't scratch the paint on the canoe. You should have paid attention to where you’re going. The sandbar stretches a little longer than you had thought and you push around it to head further out to sea.
You paddle farther away, until the shore and the beach house blur into a thin line in the distance. Isolation is easy to find when the surface is calm. You inhale, and your chest feels much lighter than it had been earlier. The gloom that had clouded over your head slowly breaks apart and dissipates.
For a wild, frantic moment, you want to sail over the horizon and never come back. That mystical, other side would take you far away from the mundane and the trite, where you don’t feel so empty and worthless. You paddle harder. The minutes slip by, the heat soaks into your skin as you sweat slightly, and the shade offered by your sunhat barely keeps you cool.
Breathlessly, you stop. You’re farther away from shore, but no closer to where the sky meets the water. Laying the paddle down over your legs, you look across the ocean, as if it cares you're here, as if you’re even one ripple in its vastness. Your heart aches.
You wiggle your toes against the sensation of water. Though it’s warm, it’s cooler than the sun beating down on you.
Wait a minute.
You jerk your head down to find a steadily rising level of ocean seeping into the bottom of the canoe. Freezing in place, you stare as it slips higher, reaching your ankle. Then reality hits you as the canoe sinks deeper into the ocean, far more than it should.
Slowly, knowing that you’re not going to like what you see, you turn back to find shore a very, very long distance away. You’re far. Way too far for someone in just a canoe, not to mention one taking on water.
Uh oh.
You jump to your feet but almost fall overboard as the canoe titters dangerously. The paddle slips from your lap and lands into the wet bottom. Searching frantically, you drag your hands through the leaking canoe and rake your palms over every side, hoping for something, anything, to aid in dealing with this mess. You come up empty, though you do find a small, worn hole in the front of the canoe. Flashing back to that horrible scrap on the sandbar, you realize that this is your fault.
You didn’t bring anything with you—not a life vest, and your mouth grows drier by the second as you stand helplessly in the unstable boat as the surface level climbs up your shins.
You idiot. You stupid idiot.
In a last-ditch effort, you rip the paddle out of the water as the canoe begins to tip in the back, sinking dangerously further into the ocean, and paddle frantically. The boat is slow, struggling to move with the added load. Every shove you give is heavier than the last. There is no more buoyancy.
You drop the paddle and it slips overboard while you scramble forward, away from the devouring wave that’s starting to rush against your thighs. Panic sends your pulse upwards as you cling to the tip of the canoe as it angles slightly higher and the end sinks deeper. In the corner of your vision, something flashes through the water, red and swift.
Oh no. No, no, no. Was that a shark? They’re in these waters, you know they are, and you grow sick at the thought of being torn apart by layers of sharp teeth. Fear bleeds into you, sending your heart racing as you hold tight to the bow of your quickly sinking vessel.
Somehow, you didn’t see yourself becoming food for whatever native animals roam the waters around your vacation getaway. That’s so sad, honestly. You make a strangled noise, like a laugh that wants to be sob, but you can’t help it as terror takes hold. Vanessa might feel bad about suggesting you go here, but it’s not her fault. It’s your fault. If you weren’t so pathetic and lonely and just, not you, you wouldn’t be here, sinking.
The water crashes against your hips. Half of the canoe is submerged, tilting to a sharper degree as you whimper and look back to the thin line on the horizon that’s supposed to be land. You mentally balk. You have to swim. You don’t know how but you have to try and make it back to shore with whatever you just saw in the water.
The sinking feeling in your middle matches the finality of the canoe.
You close your eyes and inhale sharply, internally bracing yourself. Before you can unhook your hands from around the bow, something splashes close beside you.
When you open your eyes, looking over the end of the canoe, you’re met with an aqua-blue gaze, the color almost disappearing into the liquid hue lapping at the creature’s face. Bright yellow frills adorn his head in a way that reminds you of the rays that beam off of the sun.
You gasp as he blinks, then rises higher above the surface, revealing a grinning jaw full of razor-sharp teeth. The strange fish’s round and flat face tilt, the pale yellow color of its scales running down a slender neck adorned with red fins like a ruffle collar. Your arms lock around the canoe as you stare back. He slowly opens his deadly mouth; your mind screams at you to get away.
“You look like you’re in trouble, friend,” the fish cheerfully remarks.
You sputter, blinking rapidly, before registering that the water is overtaking the last of your precious floatation device. Scrambling, you furiously crawl on top of the very edge of the canoe before it, too, sinks.
“Get away!” you shriek, wishing you still had your paddle. You could have used it to wack that, that—whatever it is, back!
The fish-man thing slips away slightly, concerned but cringing at your piercing volume. He levels a soft gaze on you amid your fumbling panic.
Officially, the boat falls entirely underwater. You’re standing up, but your platform is taking you deeper. With no other choice, you kick off of it as much as you can to get a small leap through the water and away from that thing that’s smiling with way too many teeth.
You sputter as salt and liquid hit your face. Struggling, you kick and push your arms, splashing wildly. The fact that you’re a weak swimmer only pushes your frantic movements harder, and then something snags your foot, sharp points digging into your skin. You barely have a moment to inhale before something drags you under.
Through the burn of salt, you look down as your heart climbs into your throat. Glowing red eyes stare up at you from where the depth darkens the water and reveals another fish-man. A dark blue hand is wrapped around your ankle. This one is silvery and dark in the face, like a crescent moon hanging in the night sky. He bears a smile no less wide than the other one, and somehow, even sharper as he holds you in place just below the surface. Instead of frills, it has a thick, midnight blue appendage that reminds you of a nightcap trailing off of the back of his head, ending with a small, glowing bulb, much like an angler fish’s lure. His body is long and sleek, a darker color but his tail is dotted with designs in his scales, like stars. The sharp tips of his fins remind you of a shark.
A breath escapes you in a scream, swallowed by the sea in a burst of bubbles. You start thrashing wildly. The creature hisses and snatches your other ankle before pulling you deeper. You’re whipped downwards, forced to confront his terrifying grin. You freeze. The fish man looms in the water above you as his grip shifts to grab you tightly by the waist, reminding you how incredibly small and useless you are in the water. Red eyes paralyze you.
“Stop it,” he warns in a low, whispery voice, carried seamlessly through the water. “Be good, or else.”
Your wide gaze stings from the salt but you can’t look away, waiting for the creature to decide that it’s already reached ‘or else’ and take a bite out of you. A fire begins eating up your lungs. There is no more air left in you and the ocean is becoming darker by the moment.
Arms wrap around you, underneath your armpits, from behind. You jolt as your back is pulled flushed against a solid chest. The moon face creature narrows his eyes, irritated as if the fun was cut short.
“Moon, the poor thing needs air,” reminds a buoyant, chasting voice behind you before the other one releases your waist. In one flip of a tail, the yellow fish man lifts you to the surface.
Your head breaks through the water and you inhale sharply, choking several times before settling enough to register that a mysterious sea monster is still, very much, holding you tightly around your chest. Large hands, pale yellow, and arms lined with small red flowing fins on the outside that stop at the elbow, lower to your waist. Claws dig slightly into the fabric of your tank top.
Deeply breathing, you press your hands over the arms holding you in place above the water and sputter, “Don’t eat me!”
“Oh, we’re not going to eat you!” the voice behind you chimes pleasantly. “We’re not hungry.”
You tense. Panic flows once more through your veins but you’re distracted by the other fish man—merman, that’s the word you’ve been looking for—sliding up in front of you. He doesn’t break entirely through the surface, his mouth hidden beneath the slow ripples you’ve thrown out in your half-halted squirming. His red eyes bore into you, predator-like. You stiffen.
“Let me go,” you say quietly as you attempt to pry the sunny merman’s arms off of you, “Right now.”
“And let you sink again?” the merman behind you clicks his tongue disapprovingly. The dark blue one grabs your wrists with a small splash, forcing you to stop. Not that you actually got the yellow, scaly arms to budge. “Friend, you don’t seem to understand the danger you’re in.”
No, you’re well aware of the fact that two mystical and terrifying mermen are holding you captive right now, and that at their leisure, they could drag you under to drown or start tearing you apart. The water is dangerous because you are in it with them.
The blue merman rises higher out of the water, and immediately, you’re trapped in his shadow. His teeth flash in the light. When he tilts his face, the thing at the back of his head drapes over his shoulder.
“You think you can make it that far?” amusement fills his rasp.
You whimper as he slowly flexes his grip around your wrists before easing up slightly. You kick out once and hit something solid that you can barely make out in the water, something yellow and red striped that then jerks slightly. You’re pretty sure you hit the one holding you. Your thought is confirmed when the arms around your waist tighten.
“Be nice,” the yellow one’s voice lowers, becoming slightly darker, and you don’t miss the warning. His tone alone freezes you in place. “You need to mind your manners so we can keep helping you.”
“Help… me?” you breathe out. You tug on the silver and dark face merman’s grip, but he doesn’t budge.
“Get back to shore,” he says, his starry ‘hat’ glistening wet.
You glance momentarily around, back at the sun-like merman and back to the more moon-esque one.
“Why?” The word slips out of your mouth before you consider, maybe, not questioning the two sea creatures holding your life in their hands, and thus causing them to change their minds.
Two pairs of eyes, one red, one blue, fall on you. It’s very hard to swallow suddenly.
“You looked like you were having a bad day, friend,” the sunny one says simply. “There’s no need to let it get any worse!”
“We’re not hungry,” the moon fish says, echoing the sunny one’s words from earlier. Your face falls in horror before he snickers. You grow still as he turns over your hands and works your fingers open, unfurling your fists. Is he messing with you? Does he find it funny to scare you? You can only stare and wonder as he slides his hands over your palm to loosen the tension in the lines.
“O-okay.” Your fingers tremble until he finally releases your hands. In a smooth descent, he sinks below the water, red eyes still watching, ominously close.
“That’s much better, sunshine. Hold on, it’s a long way for you,” the one behind you says, very closely, and you glance over your shoulder to see his ever-sharp smile grow in excitement.
“Wait!” A spark of anxiety hits your chest, fearing the merman holding you is about to go under, too, but your outburst is silenced as he hikes you up, pulling you tighter against his chest as he falls onto his back. Water splashes over your arms and your legs. A small noise of fright escapes your throat before you inhale sharply, holding the precious air in your lungs. You flail for half a moment before registering the stern but gentle reprimand from the yellow merman. Holding still, you’re acutely aware of the water lapping at the edges of your body as he swims steadily with flicks of his tail, keeping you above the surface. The sky overhead is a perfect, crystal blue.
Tentatively, you exhale. A blazing heat not due to the sun setting over your face. It’s strange and almost intimate how he holds you so securely to him, and it immediately reminds you of those cute videos of mother otters holding their young on their bellies. Except, it’s you, and you’re clutched by a merman.
You’re lying on top of his body. When you glance down, you realize his tail is brightly striped in scarlet and yellow, with flowing, translucent red fins outlining his sides and expanding into a beautiful, full tailfin of the same colors.
“Stay right there. Don’t move, friend! It’s so much easier when you listen to us, isn’t it?” he hums encouragingly.
Slowly, slowly, you give in to this wild turn of events with a stark air of incredulousness. Your head reclines against a bony ridge on the merman—a slender collarbone, you think. Underneath your feet, the rhythmic motions of a tail working through the water become a familiar motion.
“You’re really taking me back to shore?” you ask dumbly. You're not even sure if you’re still alive or maybe this is an odd dream, something your sun-fried brain cooked up to give you a boost of serotonin, but that doesn’t fit right either. You can’t remember the last time you had a pleasant dream.
The merman’s short chuckle rumbles underneath your back.
“Yes,” the arms around you press a little tighter, “and I must insist that whatever destination you had in mind out on the ocean wait until you learn to not sink your boat.”
“I didn’t have a destination,” you mumble, embarrassed at his slight jab at your obvious mistake. Quietly, you berate yourself for your foolishness.
“You looked very determined to get somewhere , friend,” he says, voice lowering slightly as if pondering the idea of you lying to him.
Were he and the other one watching you from underneath the water? You guess that’s possible, but that doesn’t explain why he’d care to. You’re nothing special. The only eye-catching skill you’ve flaunted so far is being hilariously bad at being aware of your surroundings until it’s too late.
His claws dig deeper into your sides and you realize he’s expecting an answer, one you scramble for before blurting out, “I was getting away!”
“Away?” You can hear the frown in his voice, but you can’t picture his grinning maw turning upside down, so you try to peek up at him. “Away from what?”
You only manage to get a look past his shoulder into the water. The glimpse reveals a dark shape keeping up with the sunny merman’s steady swim, glowing faintly with a yellow hue in small patches. Looking back to the sky, you desperately hope the moon merman doesn’t get hungry anytime soon. You cling a little tighter to the arms holding you above water.
“I don’t know,” you confess. It’s a pathetic answer, and you know it wouldn’t be accepted by anyone, much less a merman who’s the only thing keeping you from a watery grave. You feel a small brush of something wet and solid on the top of your head—one of the yellow frills, maybe, framing his head.
The small motion unlocks your mouth with a watery key of fear, and you gush, “I don’t want to be here! But I don’t want to go back to my empty apartment and I don’t want to go back to work but it doesn’t matter where I go because it’s always me. I can’t get away from me and my stupid face and the stupid things I do!”
You exhale and your chest is tight, crushing your lungs. One hand lifts from around your middle, and you start. The claw digits take a hold of your chin and push your head up, up, until your eyes are tilting all the way back and you behold the merman sitting up slightly from the water, his face upside down in your vision.
“Be nice,” he warns softly. Water drips off of his fins as his aqua-blue eyes emphasize his point.
You can’t gulp at the angle you're pushed in, but when he lets go of your jaw, resuming his hold on your torso, you swallow dryly.
“I… I wasn’t being mean to you,” you give meekly. You immediately cringe, and desperately wish you would have just left it be.
“Be nice to yourself,” he soothes. Another brush of something wet and slippery against your hair gives you pause like he’s pressing his cheek against the crown of your head. This time, salt water trails down the side of your face before the touch lifts away. The merman flicks his tail once more with you in his arms.
Oh.
You turn your head to the side. Gazing out across the teal ocean, you pretend to not notice the dark shadow following just below you and the merman. You’re not sure what all of this means—if there’s some grand point, but it feels better. Not great, not peachy, but you’re definitely not thinking about what you were thinking about this morning.
That's a slight improvement. If only you could confirm whether or not the scary sea creatures were going to eat you or not. That would be the final factor in determining how well you’re doing right about now.
By the time your skin starts to burn since the sunscreen has long since washed away, the merman, who you’ve started mentally referring to as Sun, if only because he called the other one Moon, slows down gradually. You tense. The water is shallow here, the sand just a few feet below the crystal teal water, but you’re not ready to believe that it’s as simple as the merman said.
Claws around your middle flex as he gently says, “The shore is right here, sunshine.”
You’re not sure why he’s calling you that, or how it can cause so many flutters in your stomach, but slowly, he slides you off of him. You start to scramble for a handhold, fearing that even at this depth, which you’re not even sure you can touch the bottom, the mermen could drown you or easily enjoy a human meal. Quickly, before your panic can increase tenfold, you’re eased into another pair of arms. These are deep blue and silver, and you immediately cling to the wet shoulders of the other merman. Moon.
You look up and immediately suck in a quick breath at his sharp smile. He cranks his neck down, eyeing you closely before his red gaze narrows. Half a sensible thought reminds you to not struggle despite how hard your heart pounds. He might still eat you.
“Land,” he says in his low, whispery tone. Turning your head slowly, you find the white-sand shore and your beach house, sitting patiently. It’s only a few strokes away. Gradually, you turn to face him again, hyper-aware of his intense grip on your waist. The water laps at your neck but he’s all that keeps you afloat, and you still hold desperately to his frame.
The other one, Sun, sweeps around you. The smooth sensation of flourishing fins brushes against your calf as he eases to your side. Moon shifts slightly, angling you enough that they both face you. Your eyes dart between the mermen. Parched, and struggling with a dry mouth, you swallow roughly. Two pairs of magical and impossible eyes watch you. The ocean ripples with all three of you floating close together.
“Thank you,” you speak carefully as Sun had warned you before to mind your manners. “Thank you both for helping me.”
“You're welcome,” they speak in unison, one chipper and one low but not so spooky. Softer, even.
“Can I…” you hesitate as Moon’s hands dig slightly into your hips, but you’re not sure what else can be done. Either they eat you, or they let you go. Your heart skips a beat. “Can I swim to shore, now?”
The sea creatures share a glance, teeth always bared in a sharp grin, but the yellow one looks a tad discontent, unsatisfied. Nodding his head silently, the blue merman seems to be answering an unspoken question between them, but you’re not sure what. Are they agreeing to take a bite out of you? Your hands clench on Moon’s slick shoulders. Anxiety spikes in your pulse.
“Of course,” Sun says, tilting his head and dripping salt water off of his frills, “but first, what’s your name?”
You stare for a few moments too long. It would be considered rude if you weren’t certain your jaw was slack and your eyes wide in disbelief. At least, they appear to believe your genuineness. Sun’s eyes crinkle with worry and Moon parts his jaws slightly, revealing just how deadly the entirety of his mouth is.
“Your name,” Moon repeats tersely.
It sputters out of your mouth. The fact that it’s yours and they want to know it causes you to flinch internally. It’s nothing. It’s just your name.
The flow of water being pushed below gives away how Sun flicks his fins, pleased. Moon tilts his head as if chewing on the letters before deciding it’s good enough. You look to Sun, still wondering if the heat has baked your brain or if maybe this is a weird version of heaven or hell. His aqua-blue gaze softens.
He lifts a hand, claws dripping wet. You start to lean back but Moon’s grip tightens and you’re held in place as the yellow merman brushes a wet strand of hair away from your face, over your forehead.
“Let’s not repeat this little accident,” he says, the rebuke clear in his tone but he chuckles lightly.
“A-alright.” You nod once.
Moon pulls you close and your foot brushes against a sleek fin far below. His tail. He bares his teeth but mirth glows in the crimson of his gaze.
“Be good.” His hands rise from your side and cup your face. Firmly confined, you quickly grab tight to his wrists as he stares directly into you, not through you, but straight into your core. As if he refuses to let you not be aware of his intensity.
“I-I will,” you promise weakly.
“No,” he murmurs and taps a claw against your bottom lip. “ Be good .”
You glance down reflectively, but you can’t see much but the sensation of wet, sleek palms holding you above water.
“To you?” you try in your confusion.
“To you .” He emphasizes and taps once more, this time dropping to your chin. You resist the urge to lick your lips, well aware of how salty and dry they will taste.
Oh. Oh.
Maybe the world has gone mad. Maybe you’ve finally snapped and this is what fantasy your mind has driven you to.
You still don’t have an answer as Moon starts to push you backward. The water flows gently around you as Sun easily keeps with the leisure speed as if they’re both dragging out this time. You flick your eyes between them, then the first brush of sand hits the back of your heel, and you jerk slightly. Moon begins to release you, but you panic.
This—whatever this is, is about to end. This bizarre and mystical encounter with creatures that should not exist. How can you return to the mundane now? It’s as if you’ve been kept in the dark and have finally emerged into the world, only to be blinded by the light.
You don’t even know what they call themselves!
You let go of one of Moon’s wrists to snag Sun’s arm, touching the red fins floating off of his limb, who startles. Moon eyes flash in surprise and then something unreadable as you cling to him tightly.
“What are your names?” you gasp, barely standing on your tiptoes and keeping your mouth and nose from falling under. Without Moon’s support, you’re only just keeping your head above the surface.
They both stare at you. It would be all too easy for them to break your grip or even drag you under and back out to sea to drown, but they stay, watching your desperate attempts to keep them long enough to give them proper names.
“Moon,” he says, just as the yellow merman called him. He twists out of your grasp but snatches your wrist before your mouth falls under, relieving you of your pathetic struggle as he easily supports you.
“I’m Sun,” the other one gives gently—just as you thought! He, too, frees himself of your distress-fueled hold and instead pulls you closer, cupping your elbow so that you’re lifted on both sides, floating between the two. “You should rest away from the water for a while, sunshine”
“Okay, okay,” you breathe out. There are a million more things you want to ask but they push you backward until your feet scrap against the sand. They slip back, fins flicking underneath the surface. Their touch leaves you, and quickly, you become cold.
Moon ducks slightly, his mouth sinking below the waterline but his glowing red eyes stay on you as you quickly work your way backward. Until, finally, you’re standing in waist-deep water. Floating higher in the water, Sun watches you. He tilts his head, eyes upturned with quiet amusement as you trip over your own feet. Splashing, you catch yourself, surprisingly. You look back and the pair have drifted deeper, though you stay in the shallows, fingers clenching and grasping.
Moon sinks under first, then Sun, but you swear you can feel eyes on you as you stare out over the ocean. The heat of the day tilts. Orange begins burning at the edge of the horizon. You’re in desperate need of a drink and need to lie down.
Be good.
You pull yourself out of the ocean and stumble onto the shore, dragging your feet. Exhaustion slams into you as adrenaline and the need to survive wane. Something cold is left in its wake.
What did you stumble upon? Or rather, what did you sink into? You’re not that lucky to suddenly be confronted by magical creatures, much less helpful ones—even if they are very, very intimidating. Why your name? Why did they ask about your name? Why do they care to know? You’re no one. You don’t think anyone would have noticed you had drowned except for Vanessa, and even then—
Be nice.
You look back out over the water. A chill rolls over your skin and you hug yourself, realizing your sunhat is long gone. It must have gone under with the boat amid your panic.
Okay. Okay.
You slowly take yourself to the back porch of your beach house and wonder, how exactly, you’re meant to exist with the knowledge that mermen exist. Maybe if you could see them again, you could discover a way to cope with this new reality.
A soft blossom of warmth fills your chest.
Be good. Be nice.
You’ll do just that.
#DCASS2022#arty-angel-things#sun x reader#sun x y/n#moon x reader#moon x y/n#mermaid au#mermaid!sun#mermaid!moon#ao3 link#Mayday In Paradise
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flowers willingly die [yjh]
summary: each morning for their anniversary, jeonghan saw his dad give his mom a bouquet of roses. she never paid much attention to them, but he did. knowing fairly well that they died while bathing in the sun, packed in a half-full water glass. to him, that is what flowers meant. timely beauties that he adores from afar.
so, while travelling the world, he compared a lot of things to that vacant feeling, but he had never given a bouquet of flowers to someone.
not until he had seventy-two hours to spent with someone he liked.
title: flowers willingly die
pairing: yoon jeonghan x reader
genre: pilot!au ; guitarist!au ; small town!au ; strangers to hook-ups!au ; slice of life!au
type: angst ; fluff ; drama
word count: 7k approx.
note: this is a request from my ko-fi! if you want to support me and write something for your fave, please do request over there!
Laughable are the tips of his fingers, freezing red, holding onto a ‘margarita’ that no one dares order in Dorothy street. Men here are booming voices, bumping fists on tables filled with whiskey glasses that half-empty themselves before they are off to another one. Quite like their wives, waiting at home with children that will grow to be just as bored of the sinking ships and the freezing summers that never meet the light of the day. It’s surprising that a man like him arrives at such a place, and she can’t say that she’s not a little bit intrigued.
With a suit that fits his slim legs like a second skin and a pair of shoulders that beg to be held on, she lets her calloused fingers trail on her guitar, plucking a few strings, imagining the soundtrack of him. Roaring screams and mermaid lullabies is what she is used to imagining in her songs, but that face is one of a man that has never done half of the work that people in her town do. Word has it that he’s a pilot; high nose, long strands of black hair, and a pout on his lips that, frankly, is quite kissable if she does say so herself.
He’s the booze after a break-up. The decision that no one wants to make, and when he sends a smile that is worth a million diamonds to the woman by the counter serving him another stupid drink that will probably be too expensive for the matters that he wants to partake in, she knows that he’s trouble.
She plays for the little pennies that she earns, trying to play it off as if she’ll be something bigger. It’s her and her guitar, and a few men that have only broken her heart. Her ex-boyfriend is still on her contact list, fresh off a new start as she revises every once in a while to check if he has texted again. The big surprise that isn’t really so is that he hasn’t, so the fickle heart of a musician stares at that pilot a little too long, basking on the face of another person. Someone much different from the men here and their small brains, their big muscles, their terrible idealization of a woman to be that. Pretty little skirts, flirty smiles and then, a goddamned wife.
He must be freezing, but he doesn’t show it that night. She’s wrapped up to the core, with a beanie covering the tip of her ears and her fingertips rubbing on the guitar every once in a while to stop the cold from seeping through. His black suit is thin enough to let her imagine the worst when he approaches her, sipping on his drink and lulling his head to the side when he takes a seat next to her on the stage that no one looks at.
She’s played in this bar for the past three years and no one has ever sat beside her. Not unless it was her ex-boyfriend, pretending that he was interested in what she was trying to make her life out to be.
“It’s been a while since I’ve actually heard live music, you know?” The pilot encounters, spreading his legs and letting the glass lull in between his thighs. “I don’t think I even remember what a guitar sounds like in person.”
“You’re missing out on life, then.” She responds, though she quirks an eyebrow in the process. “Though that’s detectable on the fact that you’re drinking whatever New York housewives drink in a place that seethes sweat and whiskey.”
He chuckles, the tips of his ears growing red, the few strands of his hair that still hold onto the gel that he had applied probably earlier on the day moved by the action of his hands. “You’re calling me a weak drinker?”
“Rather different, I’d say.”
“Is that bad?”
“Not really. Tired of seeing the same things around here.” She comments, biting on that side of her lip that had been scalded by the coffee that she had earlier this morning and perhaps, it’s a bit swollen, because he looks down at her mouth and smiles wider. Trouble, she says. “Though a pilot like you has probably seen plenty of things. Had the greatest of drinks, too.”
“I’ve seen enough of the world to know that it’s both pretty and so…dark, too.” He shrugs, wetting his lips with his margarita. “The nature that I see will die someday, and the skies are so tall that I can’t reach them even when I’m close. That’s deep, now that I say it, but it must be the alcohol getting to the little brain cells I have left.”
She laughs at his antics, licking her lips and thinking a bit about it. If life was so ugly, and so short at the same time, why did we pursue it as if it lasted forever? Why did pain haunt us so badly, starting with heartbreak, if it was only…a matter of time before we disappeared with it?
“I like that. As dark as it is, it’s real.” She continues plucking on the strings, jutting her chin forward. “I imagine you’ve heard better musicians, but I can play any song you can think of.”
“No way.” He counterparts, only to have her sighing.
“Never doubt a woman from this side of town. What I tell you is the absolute truth.” And yet, no one has ever taken her seriously. Those four walls that consist of the cramped town at the seashore of the beach are starting to get too cramped, and this new addition may be just what she needed.
“Photograph by Ed Sheeran?”
“Too easy.”
“I may be a little of a cliché.”
“Unimaginable.” She rolls her eyes, letting a small giggle out. “Who am I dedicating it to? Any wife back home that you miss?”
He shakes his head, pressing a hand to his cheek and looking at her with a lulled look in his eyes, as if extremely in peace with the place he finds himself in. “To Jeonghan.”
“Oh, a husband?”
“Damn no.” The pilot excuses. “It’s my name. I’ve never had a song dedicated to me.”
“Pure lies.” Though she starts playing the tune of the song, only for the two of them to be heard, as if those two connected pair of eyes create an island that only them can visit and travel through.
“I’m not a liar.”
“What man isn’t?”
“You’d be surprised.” Jeonghan licks his lips, painted in the sweetest red shape, chapped because of the cold, and she lets herself be taken by the music, seeing him take small sips of his drink and hum along to the tune.
He asks for one more song.
Then another one.
Finally, another.
Hours spent singing in between the two, sharing drinks, smiles, eyesights that could be confused with anything and everything. It feels nice to be looked at, cherished in a way, treated as though she is special. How easy it is to forget in these positions that at a first instance, we show the best of us. Attraction makes us act in such a way as human beings, but Jeonghan, for that night, seems truthful.
A flower begins to bloom then.
Brown. So brown she could drown, with speckles of stars that gleam and mirror the sight of her, with her hair a mess and scattered on the hotel pillow on the second day of his stance. She’s not naked, god forbid that she is, but she could very-well be by the way he looks at her, with pupils dilated and his smiles mixing with little kisses shared in between sighs and calls of her name.
She had only fallen for brown eyes. The significance of them is rather interesting, if she remembers what Grandma Lore used to say back when she worked at a little music shop. The old woman had passed away four years ago, but her stories had stayed with the town. She said that eyes, in ancient times, were the meaning of a person’s soul in their past life. Those who got their heart broken plenty of times had darker eyes, while lighter eyes were saved for first-love owners and heartbreakers themselves. Quite believable, granted that Grandma Lore’s ex-husband had light blue eyes and had left her and their four daughters alone for a one-night stand.
Brown eyes meant trouble when they were accompanied by a rough voice, but she can’t think. Not when she feels herself being kissed this way. She’s used to the impatience, the short kisses, the ‘it’s better not to leave this behind’ kiss that promises that everything will be alright, but there’s no excitement within them. She knows how she got here, with a little booze on their system and the rays of sunshine that slip through the cracks of the window of his hotel room giving them another day to fuck things up with feelings. Feelings that come with touch.
Jeonghan is exciting to look at, but even when she looks at him, bruises his lips in little kisses and intakes of breaths when she feels him trail down to her neck before going up to her cheeks again, never getting too far, she knows that he’s not him. He’s not that ex that she looks forward to meeting every single day, the man that is so close, somewhere in these dull streets and yet, somehow so far away.
It feels like cheating, but then she looks at the phone that she laid on the bedside table, she hears Jeonghan calling her name and then, it feels like loneliness. This man doesn’t know her, and the man who does isn’t interested enough to call her again, so she presses a hand to his chest, her other palm resting on his nape and turning them around until her thighs look for leverage on his slim waist, undoing two buttons of his shirt and splaying her freezing fingertips on the warm skin.
“Tell me you think I’m beautiful.” The plea sounds pathetic, but it’s been a while since she has heard it. She can only imagine that his eyes mirror his own, vacant of feelings, thrilled and excited by a new face, but not feeling anything else. Though, it is gorgeous when he rests a hand on her back and replies in a lingering breath:
“I’d be blind if I didn’t think you’re absolutely gorgeous.” Jeonghan says those words like he means it and she relishes on them. On being gorgeous, accepted, craved for and thirsted after. She feels like a ray of sunshine, not the lukewarm moonlight that she had been painted as the past few years.
With more fervor, she clings onto the collar of his shirt. “I’m sorry.”
“We don’t have to keep doing anything if you don’t want to.” Jeonghan retorts. “We can go anywhere you want. A few more kisses, or no kisses at all. I’m okay with anything.”
She blinks back possible tears, masking it with a tender kiss to his lips. How nice it would be to have someone that looked for her, that seeked that delicate touch in the middle of the night when nightmares of losing her were taking over his sleep. But Jeonghan is not that, just a nice card to play pretend with, and she feels bad for even thinking that way.
Picking the bottle of wine up, stolen from the bar in Dorothy street, she takes a sip of it before chuckling softly. At herself, really. “I’m okay with kissing, is that okay with you?”
“More than perfect for me.” Though, Jeonghan licks his lips, tracing her own with his thumb and then, opening her mouth slightly. “When was the last time someone called you beautiful?”
“Huh?”
“You seemed relieved to hear it when I told you just a few minutes ago.”
She can’t hide it from him and perhaps, that’s why Jeonghan flies planes. He’s so ahead and above every other man that it’s surprising. “It’s been a few months.”
“I understand.” Jeonghan grabs the back of her neck, pulling her closer to tug at her bottom lip before marking it with a chaste kiss. “I’ve seen the stars from up close and they can’t compare to you.”
It’s a lie. Of course, she knows it’s a goddamned lie, but it sounds so good. Jeonghan is a midnight getaway, the reason why she feels at ease in his arms, letting herself be embraced, touched, caressed. He doesn’t know that her pupils darken not because of him, but because she wants him to look through them and know that her heart is begging not to be broken again.
Brown eyes, maybe Jeonghan had been broken, too.
Haven’t we all?
Jeonghan knows he only has forty-eight more hours in this place and yet, he wakes up a little earlier than expected today just to go buy fucking flowers. Yes, he’s surprised himself. He hasn’t ever bought flowers, not even for his place back at home because he rarely stays there, but it seems like the right thing to do today.
The whispers of the wind touch his ears and remind him that he should’ve gotten a thicker coat to go outside, but after he dropped her off at her place yesterday when it was a little too late in the morning, and yet not foreseeable with how dark these skies are in this town, he knew precisely where to get her. Seated in her front porch, on a rusty chair that shrieks whenever she pulls herself forwards and backwards, with her guitar in her lap, a coffee cup on the side that has lost its steam and a notebook that she barely touches.
Her hair is a mess, but he waits for the moment when she has to refill her cup to get out of the old car that he rented just because he wanted to feel like he had some control while staying where the Devil forgot to visit. She gets up, extending her arms and giving a glimpse of the waist he dared touch yesterday, curves of sin that would never be his, covered in a plaid shirt soon after when she slips back home.
He places the bouquet on top of her guitar, ripping a paper from the notebook and grabbing her a-little-too-short pencil before jotting down a few words that he barely thinks about. Jeonghan knows that they are an impossibility, that even if he stayed in this town, the rooted insecurity that grows from within her speaks of a heart that has been tainted by too much hope and too little results, but he still writes it. Because that’s what cowards don’t do; try even when there are no outcomes to be expected.
He rushes back to his car, though he’s certain he hears her calling out his name in a shout while rushing to the automobile. He sits there, smiling at her through the dirty mirror only to see her quirk a hand up that accompanies a wave of her eyebrows. Then, he juts his chin forward, pointing to the obvious until she sees it. The bouquet, which she seems too scared to hold as her hands hover into nothingness.
Maybe, this town was too small to see how big her smile could get, or she had never been one to make the right choices. Perhaps, that’s why a talent like hers goes undiscovered. Because she never took the time to listen to anything more than the deafening silence that welcomes a place that doesn’t know about talent. She grabs the flowers in between her hold, looking at them with what he thinks is a lonesome tear grabbing onto her bottom eyelashes not to drop. Soon after, she’s grabbing the note and looking at him with a crooked smile on her face.
It reads, “A shooting star told me they were envious of how pretty you look today. XOXO, Han.”
She grabs her notebook soon after, scribbling onto a page and then, turning the image towards him. He reads quickly, after pressing his face to the steering wheel to hide the blossoming cheeks from both embarrassment and a little bit of cold.
In enormous letters that are not as pretty as her smile, she responds: “Watch them with me tonight, then.”
He raises both thumbs in the air, though she crooks her arm to call him towards her. The car suddenly becomes less interesting as he moves over to where she is, every step falling on crumbling leaves that try to stop him but he can’t. He wraps his arms around her waist, just like how he learned that drives her crazy, and he kisses her. Because not knowing each other is what makes this easier. Knowing that there won’t be a fight that will ruin it all or a ceiling that unites them both with the strings of their hearts, makes a kiss so much easier. Lighter. Better than anything he has ever had.
“You like coffee, I imagine.” She prompts, only to have him nodding.
“I prefer breakfast with it, though.”
“You’re not pretty enough to start ordering me around, you know that Jeonghan, right?”
“A man can always try.” He prompts, though he presses a lonesome index finger to her ribcage before tickling there. That smile could heal hearts and stop wars if she damn so wanted to. “I will help you make breakfast, because judging by your face I imagine that you haven’t eaten much.”
“You’re not wrong.”
She plucks a rose away from the bouquet, twirling it in her fingers before placing it on top of his ear. She moves his black hair away from a moment, fixing it until it stayed still before smiling softly at him.
“Would you believe me if I told you I’ve never gotten flowers?”
Yes, he wants to tell her. The bleeding parts of her soul tell him so. “It’s a shame you haven’t.”
“Well, there’s always a first time.”
And a last with him, too.
A woman in love has such a recognizable face. It’s one of those features that Jeonghan will never forget. Not when seated on a picnic cloth under the moonlight, near the beach-shore that he had avoided at all costs. Not a lot of people are around, but a bonfire nearby had been enough to take her attention away from him and pull away from the hold he had around her shoulder.
Vacant, but he felt the paddering of her chest. He could have heard it, too, but her void glance still looked toward the man sitting by the bonfire, with a beer in his hand and a palm through his hair. He’s seated in between two women, not too close, not too far away, but he watches her mouth tense when she sees them. At first, she brings her knees up to her chest, then she unravels them and spreads them behind her. She does this various times, not finding comfort. Not in him, not in the man she’s clearly in love with, not in herself.
He looks fickle. Small, skinny, with a wide smile and somehow, that easy-going personality that he knows is eating her alive. He turns her back to her, this stranger, that is, and that kills her. She’s not up her feet, but watching far away instead, blinking softly before looking down and smiling at herself. A smile so big and beautiful that Jeonghan knows it’s an absolute lie.
“I’ll tell you something,” Jeonghan professes, rubbing the tip of his nose and then, blowing a sigh into the dense air. “I’ve loved kissing you from the moment you granted me permission the first time. It’s nice, you know, we both know that we can’t promise each other much…but every time you get closer to me, it feels like you are feverish to get rid of her thoughts. Like you are a second away from moaning someone else’s name against my mouth.”
Those idle eyes widen like the moon in its fullest form, and he really looks at her for longer than he should. Such a beautiful woman should not be suffering from a man that is too busy ignoring her. “I’m sorry. Gosh, Jeonghan, that must feel awful.”
It does, but also: “It doesn’t.”
“I…We broke up a few days before you came here. I…It’s difficult, you know?” She questions herself, licking her lips and then, looking up at those stars in which she belongs. “This town is so small that I expect to see him at every second and a small portion of me wishes that when his gaze lays on me, Jeonghan, he just…thinks about what he missed out on. That he remembers how small he made me feel and suddenly compares the woman he made me to whom I used to be and just weeps on wanting me back.”
She stops then, looking at him with a foreseeable shame before she whispers.
“And it’s awful. God, I feel pathetic just telling you how I want him to crave for me, but I spent months just wanting him to look at me. Getting ready. Applying that lipstick shade I know he likes. Spreading a perfume that gave me a headache just ‘cause I wanted to be remembered.”
“Men don’t work like that.” Jeonghan responds. “I don’t think anyone does, really. The more you crave for someone, the less the universe gives them to you. Because humans are polar opposites, not manifestation tactics.”
She scoffs. “Oh, trust me, I know. It’s just the stupid part of me that wants a reaction, because he couldn’t even give me that.”
His hand spreads on her waist, kissing her temple and at that moment, he feels her shake. Because that’s what had been done to her. Tainted, broken, left behind, scared of being touched in a way that feels utterly romantic or safe. “I’d give you everything in the few hours we have left.”
She chuckles. “I hate lies, Jeonghan. I’ve been told too many of those.”
“I’m not lying to you. We can be everything in so little and then, be nothing at all for each other. It’s the feelings you hold, even if it’s just for a second.”
“It’s easier for you to let go,” She assumes, as he has learned she does often. “You’re on a plane, away from this stupid town, looking ahead of everybody. Making stops, just living…”
“Living, leaving, sounds about the same but it hurts just as much. Do you think I enjoy knowing that at the end of the day I have nobody? Because everywhere I go there are hundreds of people I meet, but they are just hundreds of more people that don’t give a shit about who I am, who I will be or else.”
“That’s a way to put it.” Her hand spreads across his cheek, sighing. “These hours we have left may feel like a lifetime if we let it.”
“Not really. I feel like they’ve passed by rather quickly, if you ask me.”
“The best moments pass like that.”
But he’ll never be him, and for some reason, he’s okay with it. His lips spread across her own, hearing a few voices from afar, but he doesn’t care when he pulls away and he sees her with her eyes closed yet, as if relishing on it. Trying her hardest to forget. Only a few more hours left and he won’t see this face again.
Another kiss will do to remember her taste.
Four years later.
Moving around should feel like a task. It is, actually. She crosses and uncrosses her legs, looking at the notebook in her lap and questioning the lyrics she wrote for the demo that the agent had been interested in. Her flight to New York feels a little eternal, if she’s certain, and it gives space to her mind to start thinking about how horrid the lyrics were. Talking about drunk goodbyes and an ex-boyfriend that is sadly most of the meaning behind her songs.
The plane-ride feels eternal, as well, and so much different from the gray skies that she is used to seeing. She moves her feet, swinging them as if she’s a child waiting for lunch, licking at the inside of her cheek and closing her notebook. Alright, it should be good enough. Now, the only thing she can think about is going to the bathroom.
The stripes of her gray and white sweater twirl with every heavy step she gives, as if she doesn’t really want to move forward in life. The future is as scary as a movie can get, and she’s not ready for her to notice that it’s an inherent reality. She ignores the people around her; the snores and the soft music, pushing the curtains away and coming face to face with the bathroom, only for her to get a glimpse of the pilot.
Through the numerous buttons and mirrors on the board, she can see the reflection of a man she knows a little, not well enough, but a reminder nonetheless. The strands of black hair she had held onto when kissing him are much shorter, covered by the hat from his uniform. His coat lays on the backrest of his chair, speaking softly with the older man by his side.
Yoon Jeonghan.
Or how he liked to have her calling him: Han.
The first thing she does is open the door to the bathroom and lock herself up as if she just saw a monster itself. Truth be told, coming face to face with glimpses of her past is a little embarrassing, no matter how long or short the stories were. It’s something that most people should feel. How does one react when a person has caressed every crevice of your mouth with their tongue? It’s a little personal, if she does say so herself.
But then comes the warmth that came with him. She wouldn’t want to say that she has healed completely, lacking trust in herself and others, but Jeonghan holds that kind of power with him. He feels like the world has stopped and she has no need to run away. He’s a bird in the air, flying aimlessly, just holding onto the thread of knowing everything will be alright at the end. Not letting sadness or loneliness stop him.
Hence, after peeing she starts thinking of the million ways she could make a fool of herself. She could greet him once the plane arrived with a kiss, and he could move away. She could say ‘hello’ and he would be unable to recognize her. God, does he even remember her? Does he know that she keeps the flowers that he gave her trapped in between the pages of the lyric notebook she completed years ago and she sees it every December 16th to remember when she met him?
The flight comes to an end and she rushes out of it as purpose overflows her. Perhaps, her perseverance is both her greatest and worst personality trait. She goes to the airport with her hair done a mess, hunting for flowers until she finds some faux ones, returning to the plane at the same time that the captains were getting off board.
Then, he comes face to face with her. High cheekbones, rosy lips, and cheeks that are not as red as how they were in the cold December nights they spent together. It would have been great if Jeonghan was the one to break her heart, because something tells her that he wouldn’t have. Perhaps, the matinee of their relationship would have ended in the two of them just growing apart, but great friends nonetheless. He wouldn’t make her feel as if she was unworthy of love.
“Han.” She breathes out the nickname and Jeonghan raises his eyebrows. He’s surprised to see the bouquet of roses in her hold, and how she gives it to him with her eyes half-closed. “Long time no see.”
“Indeed.” Though he does smile like he did at those times, as if he had never changed, even four years later. He looks different in a better lighting, even more beautiful than she remembers, but when she looks at how his long digits wrap around the bouquet of flowers, something catches her attention.
Diamonds are promises, she had once heard someone say, and while Jeonghan’s band doesn’t have pearls or diamonds, it’s such a pretty gold that it steals her breath away. He’s engaged. Yoon Jeonghan has found love even when high in the air.
“I’m surprised you’re here in New York. Wouldn’t take you for much a traveller.”
He had moved on, and somehow, she’s not bitter about it. She’s angered that she hadn’t been brave enough to get on a plane and say ‘fuck it’, perhaps being the one that moved on herself. She nods.
“I have this small opportunity of recording an album after sending some demos out. Gotta sing for an agent in a record label and see where that leads.”
“Damn!” Jeonghan expresses, laying the bouquet of flowers on one of his arms like a baby before wrapping his arm around her shoulders and smiling against her hair. “I can’t wait for the moment I hear your songs on the radio.”
“Yes.” She answers, pulling away from him and grabbing his hand to trace the ring. “I could write something for your wedding when it happens. Doesn’t look much like a wedding ring just yet.”
Jeonghan cackles, looking down at his hand and smiling gleefully. A fool in love, he had turned out to be, and what a beauty it is to see that he had found someone that was willing to fly oceans and skies just to see him.
“That’d be awesome. I’d dance the shit out of that song.”
But not with her.
It’s never with her, isn’t it?
So with a curt nod and a smile, she lets go of his hand. As it should. “I’ll keep it in mind. I’ll go grab my luggage before someone steals it, okay? It was nice seeing you, Han.”
“Nice seeing you, too.”
Two years later.
With a bottle of champagne propped to her lips and a crowd of cheering fans waiting for her outside at the avenue she will be playing in, she feels a lot lonelier than she should. There is still a man that doesn’t look her way seated a few feet away, trapped in his phone and taking pictures of the enormous gifts she had received from people all around the globe that can’t stop listening to her songs and falling in love with whom they think she is.
She’s ready to get on stage, her guitar oiled up and her gears still turning after boozing herself up the slightest, but even with so much love around her, she knows her wounds still haven’t healed. No one looks her in the eyes, neither do they touch the portions of her heart that feel the loneliest. She’s gorgeous to the people around her, cladded in dresses much too expensive and makeup that makes her look like anyone but herself. Everyone wants to be her friend, her lover, they are discreetly envious of the relationship she has had in the past two months and how the newest it model is in love with her now.
And yet, every bouquet of flower that she receives just withers. Dies willingly, as if to express just that detail is timely, and there is nothing that she hates more than how short ‘forever’ truly is. She will lose all of this someday, and the fear of that thought alone has her standing up and grabbing her guitar, foregoing the bottle of champagne and moving away from backstage to get to talk through her songs.
Though, she stops by the door, turning around and pressing a hand to her waist. It’s Valentine’s Day and Hyuk, her boyfriend, hasn’t looked her way for more minutes than the ones they spent doing it in the bathroom. That’s what she is, just another body for people to look at.
“Did you get me anything?”
The question is a bit superficial, she knows it, but maybe the answer would be something more than empty kisses and posed pictures. It could be a letter from the bottom of his heart or a comparison to the stars.
Hyuk lifts his squared chin, shaking his heart as a laugh racks his body. “We have more than enough for us to celebrate with thanks to your fans.”
“But what about you?”
“Sorry baby.” Though the apology is as empty as it can get. “Maybe, some other time I can think of something to give you?”
Maybe, it’s a pattern in her. It could be her fault, for all she knows, that she always picks the wrong men. Or it could be the universe that never gave her the chance to meet a good man for more than a few days. People passing by, faces to be forgotten, and a heart that will never be mended all partake in the same voice as she gets on stage and sings her heart out.
The crowd goes crazy. She smiles. And it’s all a fucking lie.
Seven months later.
Jess looks gorgeous in the morning, and Jeonghan doesn’t get to see that sight often, with his back pressed to the counter as he sees her wear that same summer dress that she had thrown over her body on their first date. Her recently dyed red hair falls over her shoulders in messy waves, lips dry and barely painted in a bit of pink as she cuts off the old flowers that had grown in their garden.
“I don’t like that you cut the flowers.”
“They’re already dying, babe, and they will only stay as weeds.” She replies, dirtying her knees with sweat pooling at her forehead. Though, the pair of garden scissors she is using glides on the root of the rose she had been cutting, smiling at him with her plump lips. “You’re a little too fond of flowers.”
Jeonghan shrugs. “Dad always gave them to my mom on their anniversaries and she never paid much attention. I liked taking care of them before they rotted.”
Jess stands up at that moment, getting closer to him with a bouquet of dead flowers in between her fingers. She gets closer to him, looking straight into his eyes, for she’s a bit taller than him, before she takes one of the flowers from the bouquet.
“Reason as to why you always give me flowers.”
“Indeed. You wear them in your dresses often enough for me to know that you love them.”
His wife chuckles at those words, slipping a flower over his ear and giving him shivers all around his arms and back. It’s like he is thrown back to that haunted town near the beach, when a woman that deserved more love than she got slipped a flower into his hair and looked at him as if he was the most gorgeous person in this world. Perhaps, for that moment alone, he was.
“And yet, you’ve never gotten a bouquet of flowers yourself. I may start to think about giving them to you as a gift.”
He doesn’t tell her that he has, wrapping an arm around her waist and hiding his face on her neck. He smells her scent, just like flowers, and yet, his mind goes back to the bouquet he had gotten. To this day, he brings one of those fake flowers with him on the plane, just to know that flowers willingly die each day.
But some are memories that never leave us.
She never leaves him. Not in her songs, and not in the flowers.
playlist: prickled - mino ft taehyun.
ojos marrones - lasso.
august - taylor swift.
older - 5sos ft sierra deaton.
can i be him? - james arthur.
back to december - taylor swift.
hello tutorial - zion.t ft seulgi.
the one - taylor swift.
boyfriends - harry styles.
love of my life - queen.
glimpse of us - joji.
#jeonghan scenarios#jeonghan x reader#jeonghan#seventeen scenarios#seventeen x reader#seventeen#kpop scenarios#writing#seventeen au#jeonghan au#jeonghan angst#seventeen angst#pilot!au#slice of life#guitarist!au
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Aruani fic. Armin is nervous about his first date with Annie on Christmas. Asks advice from his friends.
i don't write aruani a lot so thank you for this!!! it was fun!!! happy holidays :)
holidate to-do list
aruani. college au.
2205 words.
read on ao3.
Armin's friends are piled up on the couch. Some are even seated on the floor because of the lack of available seats, but they don’t seem to mind. They sit in the dark, attentive as if they’re waiting for a movie to start when in reality they’re awaiting Armin’s upcoming presentation. The nervous marine biology student fidgets nervously in front of them, adjusting his sweater vest and tugging at the sleeves of his button up. In one hand he holds a clicker for his upcoming presentation.
One of Armin’s friends, Reiner Braun, raises his hand. “Can I ask that we skip over the reproduction cycle of whatever rare aquatic animal you’re going to be covering today?” he asks. “Because I think all these fish are cool and all, but hearing about how they reproduce really makes them seem so much less majestic afterward and I would like to cling onto whatever little wonder I have left for the world.”
“Weren’t you the one who said you would fuck a mermaid or a fishman?” Ymir asks. She’s sitting on a stool beside the couch, one arm thrown casually over Historia’s shoulder.
“That’s different,” Reiner says dismissively.
Armin clears his throat. “So, two things. First thing: this isn’t about fish or any kind of marine life. Second thing: If I were to give a seminar about marine life, I couldn’t possibly leave out reproductive cycles as they’re essential to any organism’s life cycle.”
“I guess that’s fair,” Reiner sighs.
“We are gathered here today to discuss a very important issue,” Armin continues before hitting the button on his clicker so that the slides appear on the blank wall behind him. The title slides have falling snowflakes and the words Planning the Perfect First Date in Times New Roman. “I am requesting your input on how to plan my perfect first date with a Miss Annie Leonhardt.”
The group of friends let out a chorus of oohs and Connie remarks, “Oh, I was wondering why she wasn’t here.”
“Not me,” Mikasa says. “I just assumed that you intentionally left her out.”
Mikasa and Annie’s rivalry is a strange one. The two are very similar: intelligent, of few words, and intensely loyal to their friends. Maybe it’s because they’re so similar that they clash so often. If Armin were to pick an incident that instigated the unspoken rivalry between the two girls, he would probably have to cite that time in the freshman year when Eren had given Annie a passing compliment in the gym. The funny thing is, Eren had forgotten what he had said as soon as it left his lips and Annie didn’t care enough to pay attention to him. It’s a bit unclear why Eren complimenting Annie had soured Mikasa’s opinion of the icy blonde so much, but the memory of it had left a lasting bad impression. The two had never been on good terms to begin with, and that incident had permanently doomed any goodwill between them.
“Why can’t you just ask Annie out normally?” Eren asks, belatedly throwing up his hand. He only ever participates in lectures if Armin’s giving them out in front of friends, much to his professors’ exasperation. Otherwise, Eren’s brain goes on autopilot. The only reason he’s getting passing grades in his courses is because Armin keeps dragging him to study sessions in the library every other day.
“That is an excellent question, Eren, but I would appreciate it if you guys would save any questions you might have for the end of my presentation,” Armin says, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose with one hand. “You may find that the answers will be presented in my slides, and anything that isn’t covered can be explored in the Q&A session at the end.”
“I’m confused,” Marco says. “I thought you and Annie were already dating.”
“You are one of the only person who can tolerate her for extended periods of time,” Mikasa points out, which isn’t … untrue. If there is one thing that differs between Mikasa and Annie, it’s that Mikasa is much more sociable than Annie, who prefers her social circles to only consist of two or three people at most.
“I thought you two were dating, and I’m pretty much Annie’s best friend,” Mina adds.
“I know that being best friends with Annie is impressive, but you do know that you’re only competing with Armin for that spot, right?” Reiner asks. Unlike Mikasa, Reiner is on good terms on Annie or at the very least Reiner doesn’t seem to butt heads with Annie as much as Mikasa does.
“No, we’re just … it’s not official anyway and I wanted to ask her on the perfect holiday date to cement our status as an actual couple,” Armin says. He’s desperate to turn the attention back to his presentation, but it’s difficult with a large group of people with short attention spans.
“Holi-date!” Connie and Sasha shout in unison before bursting out into laughter.
“Look, Annie is special to me and I want to show her that I think she’s special in return,” Armin says. He clicks through a bunch of his introductory slides. They might never make it to the end at this rate, so he should just skip to the most important slides.
Armin skips straight to the slides with a list of Christmas-themed date ideas and stands nervously at the side, his hand bouncing nervously against his thigh. He shifts from side to side and waits for his friends to read the slides.
“These are just a few examples of what I was thinking,” Armin says after an appropriate amount of time has passed. He fiddles with the clicker in his hands and looks down at the floor in front of him instead of his audience. His oral presentation skills have improved since entering university, but they’ve completely evaporated now and he can only stare at the floor and stammer like a new university student introducing himself at orientation and struggling to think of a fun fact.
“That’s more than a few. That’s an extensive list. I bet if you printed it out, it’d be a foot or two in length,” Jean says, and Armin winces.
“I suppose I was a little enthusiastic about putting this list together,” Armin mumbles. He looks desperately at his friends. “Can you please help me decide what I should do with Annie on our first date? Deciding is one thing, but I also have to prepare for it to make sure everything is absolutely perfect.”
“Armin, it’s a really long list,” Historia says.
The slide is filled from top to bottom with text in 8 point font. Armin’s friends have to squint to read the activities listed, and Armin curses himself for not printing out a copy of the slides for everyone like he had initially planned. No wonder this is going horribly.
“How about we all vote for the ones we like and whichever one is the most popular is the one Armin goes with?” Mina suggests.
It’s not the method that Armin would have went with. He would have preferred that people picked the date activity they thought would be the best and have everyone defend their choice in a structured debate, but Mina’s suggestion would probably save a lot more time and frustration.
“Does everyone have pens and paper?” Armin asks, although he thinks he already knows the answer. He and his friends may be university students, but they’re also horribly underprepared when it comes to the spontaneous need for writing tools. He sighs and passes out pens and paper to all his friends.
“In our defense, you told us we didn’t have to bring anything,” Sasha points out, and she’s not wrong. Armin just didn’t expect nearly everyone to come completely empty-handed.
“Sasha and I brought popcorn,” Connie says, holding out a bowl of popcorn that he and Sasha had prepared in the kitchen before the presentation started. He offers some to Armin, who shakes his head, and Connie moves on to offer it to the rest of their friends.
After everyone is done writing down their choices on their papers, Armin reads them all and tallies them up. Somehow, he ends up with even more choices for holiday dates than he had started with, but he probably should have expected it. It would have been too easy if things ran smoothly.
⋆꙳·̩̩͙❅*̩̩͙‧͙ ‧͙*̩̩͙❆ ͙͛ ˚₊⋆
Armin waits outside of Annie’s apartment complex, shivering in the cold. The outfit Historia had chosen for him is better than any outfit he’s ever put together himself, but it’s not as warm as the puffy winter coats he typically wears. He huffs on his gloved hands and his hot breath against his freezing hands gives him a little bit of warmth.
Armin had allowed Historia to pick his ensemble today because Jean and Historia had been fighting over what Armin should wear to his first date with Annie. Jean argued that he should be able to pick the outfit as a fashion design major. Historia made the argument that she was consistently the best dressed person in their friend group to which Jean scoffed and said if everyone had as much money as Historia then everyone would be dressed just as nicely. To prevent the squabbling between his friends from growing into a full-blown argument, Armin had quickly suggested that Historia choose his outfit for when he asked out Annie and Jean pick his outfit for the date, and his two friends grudgingly agreed. So far, Armin has found that Historia has great style but doesn’t think very much about the practicality of the outfits she puts together.
“If you were going to wait outside in the cold, you should have worn a thicker coat,” Annie says, her sudden appearance making Armin jump. She raises an eyebrow as she takes in Armin’s wardrobe. “You look … nice.”
“Th-thanks,” Armin manages to respond. He’s not sure if he’s stammering because of his nerves or because of the cold. “I probably should have asked to meet in a café or somewhere warmer.”
“Oh, that’s fine. I don’t really mind the cold,” Annie says. She’s dressed in a knitted sweater and jeans, but she doesn’t seem to be shivering at all. “Did you want to go somewhere?”
“Ye-es,” Armin says, his voice breaking in the middle, and he coughs to clear his throat. “Actually, first I wanted to ask you out.”
“Ask me out?” Annie repeats. She purses her lips, head tilted slightly.
“Well, yes. Because, you know, I like you. A lot. And I want to go out with you,” Armin says. He had told himself he wouldn’t get nervous. After all, he and Annie spend so much time together that they’re practically dating already. Asking her out on an official date shouldn’t be that different, and yet he finds himself speeding through his words as if to get through his embarrassment as quickly as possible. “So I came up with a list of activities we could do together.”
Annie takes the list of holiday date ideas that Armin had printed out. It’s printed on two sheets of paper, front to back, and in 8 point font with half-inch margins. She has to bring the list closer to her face to read it. It’s impossible to tell what she’s thinking as her blue eyes scan the first page.
“They’re just … silly Christmas-themed date ideas, but I think it’d be fun if we could do one together,” Armin hears himself ramble. He doesn’t know if it would be better to just shut up or keep talking, but he decides that he’d rather avoid an awkward silence so he continues to talk. “I had a list and I had my friends vote on them. I thought they would all converge on one particular idea or maybe gravitate towards the same ones, but everyone had a different favorite. And then some people thought it would be a great idea to suggest even more date activities, and I couldn’t just ibgnore them after they’d been suggested -”
“Just one?” Annie asks, looking up from the paper.
Armin blinks. “What?”
“I can only pick one?” Annie asks. She tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. “Why don’t we just do all of them?”
“All of them?” Armin isn’t sure he’s heard correctly. “You … would you want to do all of them?”
Annie shrugs and glances down at the list again, flipping a page and then turning it to the back. “Well, I normally wouldn’t do a lot of these, but if it’s with you … I think it could be fun.”
Armin can feel his heart begin to flutter in his chest. “I … yeah, we could do all of it. I’d … I’d really love that.”
Annie smiles and raises a hand out for Armin to take. “Well, we’d better get started if we want to finish these anytime soon. You have a lot.”
Armin sees Annie’s hand extended towards him and he takes a moment to marvel at the sight of it before bounding over happily and taking his girlfriend’s hand, excited to begin checking off their Christmas date list together.
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ᴡᴀᴛᴇʀꜱᴏɴɢ
POSSESSIVE!JOEL X SIREN!READER - WATERSONG.
[PART FIVE TO THE SIREN SERIES].
WORD COUNT - 4,020.
RATING - G+. [mentions of sex, canon typical violence and angst].
SUMMARY - an emergency shift causes the patrol group to clear-out a large number of infected outside of jackson, unaware of how vast the number was going to be, causes a last minute escape that makes people in the group separated and you stuck in the middle of no where with joel, leaving only the both of yours pent up sadness and heartbreak to explode.
if you want to join a the last of us/joel miller discord here you go! 𓆩♡𓆪
feedback would be appreciated! +what do you think of shiloh?
“I think you would like Shiloh,” you contently smiled from the open kitchen, Ellie had currently been in the living room while you had made snacks for the movie you two were about to watch, Ellie had insisted that the both of you should watch Aquamarine due to Cat’s taste in mermaid/siren movies, you had found it cute that Ellie had taken interests of things her girlfriend had liked but you had hoped that Ellie wouldn’t lose a part of herself for the relationship. She was a girl who was interested in action and planet movies, you had an idea to look for a movie that at least had one of those themes.
Uninterested, Ellie had shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t think I would.”
Dramatically, you had pouted at Ellie’s response, during the moment you dragged yourself to the sofa Ellie had sat on, you had slumped the main snack bowl against her lap, Ellie wasn’t someone who ate much, but whenever she was around you, she’d eat an entire horse, mostly to satisfy you, purely because you had noticed the lack of refreshments she would take in, and it upset you. Plus, Ellie didn’t want you to nag her, yet, she had found the snacks you would usually make for her tasty.
“He’s interested in the things you are,” you commented, “he draws and he paints,” you gradually listed, “he draws and paints me every time, after this I’d show you some of the pieces, he’s made of me you’d love it.”
Yet, you’d have to be careful of the pieces you’d show Ellie, aside from some of the Siren art he has made of you, Shiloh had imperceptibly created pieces of you where you had been naked, there had even been a piece where you had your legs wide open and his face between your legs, your cheeks had steadily flustered at the piece of memory. Being with Shiloh was an adventure, it had been two weeks since you two had been together and during those two weeks the both of you had been having endless of sex.
No matter how much Ellie was intrigued by the piece of information, she restricted herself by being bought into Shiloh’s charms and skills. “Joel has been miserable without you.”
Promptly, it was your turn to shrug your shoulders, “it was Joel who broke up with me not the other way round.” Your voice was strong and forward, and Ellie had noticed the bitter look you had on your face during the moment you had turned on the movie, your lips were pressed into a thin line and the hiemal and aloof expression you had on your face had made the young girl inquisitive to what had happened between the two of you.
“Why did you two break up?” Ellie asked, her voice hadn’t been curious but you could tell that she was dying to know.
“There were just some differences,” you replied, your answer short and curt and evidently not enough for the younger girl.
“I feel like you guys are hiding something from me, like there’s something else,” Ellie pleaded, she couldn’t keep her faux uncurious look on her face any longer, Joel had been the same, he was vague about the reason the two of you had broken up and it had drove Ellie insane. She had hated secrets, and currently Ellie had felt like a child between a parent’s petty divorce.
Once more, you had bumped your shoulders, your eyes had been glued to the screen, hopeful that she would drop the subject. “The other information isn’t important.”
Annoyed, Ellie sat up, she was quick to reach for the controller, and once she got her hands on it, she studiously paused the movie. “I deserve to know,” her voice had turned less whiny and had transformed into a tone of strength, you had moved your eyes away from the paused screen and looked at her, your cold eyes slightly melted at Ellie’s upset demeanour. “I deserve to know because I’m used to having the both of you around at the same time.”
“And now I can only be with one of you at a time, and I hate the change.”
Dismal, you had sadly smiled at her argument. “It’s the beginning, so things will be awkward and not go in ways you’d want, but I promise you, it’ll get better,” and after that, you retrieved the controller from the auburn-haired girl to resume the film but Ellie hadn’t been done with her part of the argument.
“It’s been two months.”
Slightly annoyed, you had dropped your shoulders, you had sometimes hated how Ellie could be so adamant as a mule, but there would be moments where you had loved and admired it. “Ellie, I love you, and because I love you so much, there’s going to be some information I’ll have to hold back because I love you.”
Rudely, Ellie had scoffed and covered the both of her hands, hopeless. Clearly, she hadn’t understood your approach but she had assumed that you weren’t going to tell her what she had wanted to know. The truth. “I’ll tell you when you’re older,” you smiled, you had jokingly nudged Ellie who had childishly pouted at what you had just said, but then, you had reached for her hand and pressed her small hand against your lips. “Ellie, do you love me?”
“I do.”
“Then you should understand where I’m coming from, there’s probably some secrets you would never tell me.”
Weakly, Ellie had gleamed, you were right, Joel had made Ellie promise to not tell anyone about her immune bite, she had assumed Joel had also made sure that you were a part of the “anyone”.
“Do you now understand where I’m coming from?” You asked and while Ellie gently pulled her hand away from your clasp, she slowly beckoned her head.
Happy, you had pulled Ellie into an embrace, it hadn’t been a surprise when Ellie jokingly fought you off and the moment you two were ready to watch the movie, the young girl leaned against your body, slightly in crave for the motherly warmth you emitted. “So, will you come to the dinner Shiloh will be at tomorrow?” You had comically fluttered your eyes which caused Ellie to stick her tongue out in disapproval, but the younger female had eventually given in and had agreed that she would attend next day’s dinner.
You had presently completed your weekly trading; people normally came to exchange with you because of the variety of fishes you had and you weren’t really picky or definite about the type of things people would give to you. Aside from eating the chum, people commonly came to you because they wanted fish pets for themselves or for their kids.
It had been early within the day and most people were working within their shifts, you had looked at your small watch and had noted that during this hour was one of the first breaks Shiloh had from his hospital shift, you had recorded that he had already made his way towards you and the second his body was close to your figure, the both of you had brought each other into a kind kiss.
The juncture Shiloh had pulled himself to you, there was a message in his eyes that told you he had something to say. Your eyebrows furrowed as your head had immediately flooded with overwhelming words, perhaps he couldn’t come to the dinner today and Alex had him doing longer shifts, you wouldn’t be surprised if Alex did that, Shiloh had quickly showed that he was an excellent staff member, he was needed.
“There’s an emergency patrol shift,” Shiloh candidly explained, “it’s the same patrol group we were in before, you need to get ready now.”
Irritated you had tucked in your lips, Shiloh briskly apologised to you, he was just informed of this now, if he had known before, he would have told you, but whenever Maria wanted something to happen, it had to come to pass. “We were supposed to have dinner together, Ellie agreed to come as well.”
Hesitant, Shiloh placed his hand against your left shoulder, his gaze sorry. “I’m sorry baby, but Joel and Maria came to terms for it to be now, go home, get your things and come to the gates, everyone else is waiting for you.”
In response, you dramatically huffed ere you peeled yourself from Shiloh’s grip, you carried yourself home to obey his orders. You were quick to pack your things, you had mainly focused on Joel, and on how he had en masse wanted the shift to happen now, you had speculated if Ellie informed Joel of the dinner the three of you were to share today and he used the emergency shift to block the small event, nevertheless, you had tried to push the thought in the back of your mind. Joel wouldn’t have done that, would he?
You had gently cursed in your mind, you had assumed many conclusions that all involved Joel’s intervention to stop the dinner from happening, mayhap your subconscious wanted you to feel that Joel still cared in a way. Still, it was no good thinking that way, the two of you were over and that was final.
It didn’t take long for you to catch up with the rest of the squad, Shiloh had kindly prepared your horse for you, last time, the group didn’t have their horses and Gabriel thought that this time having mares would aid in any abrupt situation. You were given a horse within your third week in Jackson, it was Gabriel that had given the stallion to you, and he informed you that the horse’s name was Mira, which had meant of the Ocean, the name had originated from Sanskrit and the moment he had told you what the name meant you fell in love with her.
Gabriel had informed the squad that a duo who patrolled before had mentioned that there was a large group of infected that had to be cleared out. Of course, the two of them alone couldn’t do it so the best they could do was return to Jackson and warn the leaders.
“Apparently, this might take more than three days,” Shiloh muttered, you had been between Shiloh and Bella, you three were seen as Jackson’s tightest trio or loudest with how terrible the three of you could get when drunk. “The town getting sick for a week probably caused this to happen, no one available to do their shifts so the numbers of infected multiplied.”
You had observed Shiloh wasn’t in the front with Joel and Gabriel; Shiloh had his reasons to be at the back with you and Bella. The first reason was him wanting to look after you considering how you almost died during the previous patrol shift, even though you are someone who could heal faster than everyone else, you weren’t invincible. Yet, the second reason had included Joel, not chiefly because Joel was your ex, it was because Joel had displayed Shiloh a more standoffish and menacing persona of his.
Joel had found out about the secret nights you would share with Ellie, after the fatherly rounds of questioning, the girl had eventually given up and told Joel that every week she’d come over to your home. He wasn’t unhappy about that, nevertheless, the girl had blabbered on about a dinner she was supposed to attend that included both you and Shiloh, and that’s what got Joel upset. First, Shiloh would take you and now he was planning to take Ellie? Joel didn’t mention how he did not want the dinner to happen, and he tried his best to hide the grimace that had wanted to rip his face, the moment Maria informed him of the emergency patrol, the man was happy enough to make sure the clear out happened today, the day of the dinner.
“I don’t think it was a good idea to come with horses,” Bella muttered, she wasn’t that much of a fan of horses but she tried her best to bond with the horse that was given to her.
Compared to you, you had liked horses, along with Shiloh; aside from creating portraits of you, Shiloh liked drawing animals, and since horses were the usual faunas that were seen, he had numerous sketches and paintings of them. “I think it’ll get everything done quicker,” you responded, and calmly, Bella fixed into your comment and stared straight ahead of her.
“How was life before moving to Jackson?” Bella inquired, even though the two of you were close and had shared private information with each other, the red lipped woman had been barely familiar with your history.
You had wondered what had caused Bella to ask now, mayhap it was to kill time since the patrol would take more than a day if Shiloh was correct. “I was travelling most of the time,” you shortly replied in attempt to keep it as vague as possible, during this era, it was odd for someone to travel around America in relations of the infected.
“What brought you to Jackson?”
Slowly you twisted your face towards her, you had wanted to tell Bella so badly that it was because of Joel and Ellie, still, mainly Joel. Silent, you had returned your gaze straight ahead, during the movement, your eyes shyly trailed over the figure of Joel whose back posture sat tall on his horse, Old Beardy, timidly, you had tucked the bottom of your lips behind your teeth, aware that both Shiloh and Bella watched your restrained movements.
“Did you know Joel before you came here?”
It was Shiloh who had asked that, and without turning to face him you had gestured your head. “Yes,” you politely responded, silently apprehensive your hands were tight around the reigns that were strapped around the horse you were on top of. “But don’t worry,” you forcefully smiled, you had quickly washed the inarticulate and jittery feeling that had initiated to build up in your body. “I’m with you now Shiloh.”
Comically, Bella clicked her tongue. “Don’t start being insecure now,” Bella teasingly catered, if she could annoyingly poke Shiloh’s skin, she would, but you had been sandwiched between the two of them, thus Bella couldn’t. In response, Shiloh rolled his eyes to Bella’s teasing and continued on riding his horse along with the group.
As thirty-minutes passed the patrol group had arrived to where the duo who had previously appeared in their shift commented about how this place had much infected that had to be cleared out. Everyone had noticed that there had been shops that had been barely touched, so Gabriel had instructed everyone to get off their horses and begin to look for supplies.
“Be careful!” He carefully asserted as he openly waved his hands to signal everyone to spread out and search for items, and so people were quick to submit to his orders; you had been beside Bella, the two of you too focused on finding rations to speak, but there had been some silent conversation, where you or the other would nudge and point in directions that might have supplies.
Plus, the two of you had to be extra careful if this place had as much as infected the duo implied of. Howbeit, you had believed that the partners that had been here in their previous shift were telling the truth. Whenever a place had a plethora of items, it was usually because there were dozens of undead creatures, hiding and waiting to leap at you within the perfect moment.
Responsively, the short moment of you picking up rations had been a success and you were sure you were going to have stuff aside from fishes to trade when you got back to Jackson. Even if your fish trading was a success you wanted to add something new to your business. When the both of you were assured, you had enough rations to supply till the end of the month or even have rations that could to last for two, the both of you and Bella beckoned your heads at each other to signal that it was right to leave the place.
As the two of you with conviction left the store, a loud slam had startled and jittered the both of you, truthfully, the two of you weren’t spooked because of the loud noise, it was veritably because of the outcome the loud noise had created. The dozens of screeching and scratchy moans that had emitted down the area becoming louder each second.
“Fuck, someone must’ve closed a door recklessly,” you rigidly muttered, your sharp eyes keen enough to see the large horde of infected race towards the sound. Briskly, both you and Bella pulled out your guns, prepared to mow down the infected with the rest of the patrol group.
The group had gathered together, bullets and pistols jumping and bouncing out of the artillery to strike down as much as infected as possible. “I didn’t know there’d be this much!” Gabriel crazily yelled, his voice booming through the crossfire, he had turned to the people and aggressively instructed everyone to go back to their horses and get ready to aim from their mares.
Quickly, people hurried back to their horses and obeyed Gabriel’s command, from the top of their stallions, people were abrupt and agile to shoot down the monsters that had hungrily paced towards them. Luckily, people had mowed down a good number of infected, but it wasn’t enough for them to remain in the same place and shoot, the people had to run and without second thought you had turned your horse and paced it down to the safest place; the echo of another horse followed you down the forest you and your horse entered, but your mind was too focused on survival to look behind to check who it was.
Withal, the second you were sure you had reached a safe place you had gently urged Mira to slow down and stop. You didn’t know how long you had been on top of Mira, but you had to make sure that your horse could relax, along with the person behind you.
As you turned around, your eyes examined the person who paired themselves with you, Joel. You hadn’t said anything to him, you didn’t want to, this wasn’t the time to complain so all you did was turn your body so the back of your head could face him and so you could drown your mind to focus on surviving the night.
You were a Siren, so you had the ability to not get as tired or as hungry as quickly compared to humans, you had the skill to continue the quest of returning back to Jackson, but for now, Joel couldn’t. The forest you and Joel had found yourselves in was vast, Joel had still been tired and he wished he could joke about how he was turning into an old man so you could reassure him like you would before, but there was a look on your face that made him hesitant to speak, perhaps it was his inner self calling him a coward, he had thought he had always been a coward, especially with how frightened he was when he found out what you actually were.
You had avoided his look, but you could feel the way his eyes burnt into your skin.
“What are your plans after this?”
He had finally broken the silence; the silence had been so awkward that you had wanted to dig a hole and bury yourself in it. Even though you had been bitter that it was Joel who paired himself with you, there was an itch in your soul that was actually glad you were with him.
In response, you had scoffed, you didn’t say anything but had targeted your eyes towards the ground, you had currently rested your back against one of the trees, your legs pressed against your chest and your backpack laid lazy beside you.
“Right, sorry,” he whispered, and as kickback you had looked further away from him. “How’s your relationship with Shiloh?”
“My relationship with Shiloh doesn’t concern you,” you brutally answered, his audacity to inquire your relationship with Shiloh, had sparked an anger inside of you, briskly, you eventually turned to look at him, your eyes sharp and narrow. “You’re such a dick,” you spat.
“You’re right.”
“You’re such an asshole.”
“You’re right.”
Frustrated you had brought your hands to your eyes, balked to why he didn’t feel as intense as you, however, that was thing about being a Siren, you might take time to get tired or hungry, but when it came to emotions, they came quick and you felt them, fiercely. “I hate you.”
“You’re lying.”
Angrily, you rolled your eyes, as you had wiped your waterworks to get rid of your bitter but heartbroken tears, you once again turned away from him.
“I was scared,” Joel truthfully spoke, “I was shocked to learn what you were and I couldn’t control my emotions.”
“How was I supposed to react? Learning that my lover was half fish?”
By the tone of his voice, you could tell it wasn’t a rhetorical question, Joel had candidly wanted to know your answer. “I’m not your lover,” you responded, your tone harsh and brutal.
“If I could turn back time and change the way I had reacted I would,” Joel candidly responded, “but I can’t. But if you just give me the chance to make it up to you, I would.”
“You don’t need to make it up to me anymore, I’m with Shiloh now.”
“Figured.”
His speech had been forward and crude, you’d be stupid if you couldn’t tell Joel was sour at the fact that you were together with Shiloh, but you had kept it to yourself, your chin had rested against the top of your knees and you had pushed the bottom of your lips behind your teeth. Mayhap it was your pride that didn’t allow yourself to grant Joel the path to make it up to you, or it was the fact that you knew your worth. Yet, it wasn’t like being with Joel had taken any value from you, you were a Siren, your worth had pierced into the sky and nothing could change that.
“Do you wonder how Shiloh would react when he finds out you’re a Siren?”
Hastily, you glanced at Joel ere you returned your gaze to the floor. “He already knows.”
Shocked, Joel scoffed, your comment shocking enough to pull the man up to his feet. “He already knows?” He thoroughly repeated as he walked himself towards you, “are you willing to tell everyone in your life what you are? Willing to put yourself in danger?”
You shook your head, “no,” you responded, your body posture full of defence. “He knew before I could even tell him and he accepted me right away. He loves what I am and he doesn’t make me feel shitty about myself.”
“How did he find out?”
“It’s none of your business.”
“I just want to make sure your safe.”
Over it, you jeered at his comment. “It’s a little too late for you to play protective boyfriend, Joel,” you painstakingly commented, your blunt words were like fire to him and you could tell your backtalk had hurt him with the way his eyes dulled in dismal. “I don’t need your protection; I can protect myself, and Shiloh would never hurt me.”
Once again Joel opened his mouth persistent to speak, but you had enough of his unwanted security. You didn’t want to speak to him and you didn’t want him to speak to you. “Stop it,” you thoroughly ordered, “just go back to your seat and get some sleep, we need to focus on returning to Jackson, and when we get back, we can go our separate ways, you stay out of my life and I stay out of yours.”
if you want to join a the last of us/joel miller discord here you go! 𓆩♡𓆪
songs that fit this chapter ⬎
⟶ olivia rodrigo - jealousy, jealousy.
⟶ d4vd - romantic homicide.
tag list ⟶ @minaxcarter @amethystwonders11 @am-3-thyst @bronwennsblog @milahnoz @moonlightdivine
feedback would be appreciated!
masterlist
♆
#joel miller#joel miller x reader#ellie williams#joel miller fanfiction#the siren#joel miller x you#joel miller fanfic#the last of us hbo#the last of us#the last of us game#the last of us fanfiction#the last of us x you#the last of us x reader#tlou#tlou2#tlou x reader#magenticsiren
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I want you all to know that the way I find fic to read is absolutely bonkers.
I’ve seen a few posts recently (including a poll or two) about fic searching strategies and habits on Ao3) so I’m thinking about this, and I just feel like sharing.
So, I used to just scroll through fandom tags, search by character or ship like a halfway sane person.
But then, for the sake of some personal research I went on a kick of searching by additional tags--things like Hanahaki, Possession, Mermaid AU--to see distributions of what kind of fics and fandoms different tropes and kinds of stories were common in. It was very interesting. I have done absolutely nothing with this research other than internalize it into my understanding of How Fandom Interacts With Stuff. It wasn’t even research related to the Metatext Guide. I’m just Like This.
This is a pretty long explanation, so buckle up and continue under the readmore if you want a glimpse into how weirdly my brain works.
Anyway, I have discovered that searching by tag both does a better job of providing fics that scratch an itch for a certain vibe (which is more often what I’m hunting for than anything about particular characters) and usually provides results that, by filtering, I can narrow down to a much shorter list to actually hunt through. (I find it frustrating and overwhelming to have like 20+ pages of results to go through for a given ship or something. It’s partly choice paralysis but mostly frustration that so many of those results will be things I’m not interested in and the need to comb through them by hand when I can’t readily narrow the filters further and the chances of missing something I really would like in between all the chaff, or from later pages of results because I’ve just given up.)
So what I do is pick a tag, search it, then click on it in the tagblock of whatever fic shows up in my initial search. This takes me to a results page of all the fics tagged with that tag, its variations, and any tags that stack under it.
This is usually a lot of results, but that’s okay. Now we filter like we’re goddamn sea sponges.
Most of the filtering I do at this point is Excluding. I will set the language (usually to English because that is my first language), set a length range depending on how I’m feeling, set a recent date rage if this is a tag I’ve looked at before and I don’t wanna reread, etc. But mostly it’s going down the Exclude section of filters, checking the boxes for fandoms I’m not interested in, ships I don’t like, the “Major Character Death” warning because I’m rarely here for that, “Reader” and “You” under Character because I personally cannot stand reader-insert fic, tags I’m not into, etc--then hit apply filters to reload the refined results, and repeat this process until the top 10 tags shown for every section in the filters is something I’m fine with.
At this point, I copy the URL from my search page and open another copy of it in another tab, Include something--usually a category (like all the m/f fics) or an additional tag (all the Hurt/Comfort)--and then do the whole Exclusion process again with that subset of results. Doing that, i can almost always whittle down to less than two pages of results to actually comb through--opening fics that look promising as I go. Once I’ve done that, I close the second search tab, Exclude the secondary search’s Included tag from my main search, then do all that again with a different Included tag’s subset of results.
Yes, the multiple rounds of filtering takes forever. Yes, I am aware this is a bizarre way to hunt for fics--the fact that it’s such a pain to do is a constant reminder that no one expected anybody to use the search and filter system like this.
I’m dyslexic, though. The round after round of filtering isn’t as draining on me as sitting there, reading through page after page of summaries and tagblocks--especially because I find the tagblocks difficult to parse, even with a dyslexia friendly siteskin on that does help. I don’t necessarily trust myself to catch a tag I don’t like; it’s more reliable for me to filter the living daylights out of things. (This is also part of why I simply do not read fics without summaries.)
If I’m in, say, a Mistaken Identity or Mutual Pining kinda mood, it usually doesn’t matter to me if that takes the form of Deep Space 9 or Sailor Moon--or, hell, with some tags, especially less common ones, I’ll happily read fics for fandoms I’m not even in, which can be a cool way to expand my horizons.
And, developing this method of hunting fic has given me a way to narrow down and section out overwhelming numbers of results when I do want to search by fandom, ship, or character. Like when I recently dove into Trigun fic for the first time.
So yeah, that’s how I search Ao3, in case anyone was wondering.
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Ai Mikaze (All Star)
Translator: Momo (twitter: peachandrabbit)
Proofreader: Nadie (twitter: nmoniag), Raz (twitter: agnadance)
Editors: Whitney (twitter: whitormiss), Terry (twitter: turtlemudge), Mae (twitter: itoshikimaegirl)
Chapter Two — Amabile Humming
November has arrived.
After Mikaze-senpai finally accepted our partnership, I started helping him with his work as promised.
Under his guidance, I’ve been composing the four-part song.
I’ve also been working on the background music for the movie Mikaze-senpai is in. In other words, normal film music production work.
Lots of work, all at once.
I’ve filled my notebook with two people’s work schedules. My schedule is written in red ink, while Mikaze-senpai’s is in blue.
Haruka Nanami: I’m running out of blue ink so much more quickly….
There would be no end if I wrote the description for every single job, so I'm summarizing them.
Even so, the amount of work I have pales in comparison to Senpai’s workload.
Just this week alone, there will be filming of the movie first on the list, a variety show appearance, a magazine interview, a photography shoot, the production of his own music CD… et cetera.
This year, he began appearing in the media more often, too.
On top of that, he agreed to coach me….
For all his delicately-intelligent appearance, he has to be quite tough to handle such a packed schedule.
Haruka Nanami: He’ll work all day and then check over my compositions in the evening….
After checking today’s schedule one last time, I leave the house.
Ai Mikaze: I said you’re doing it wrong. How many times do I have to tell you? Use your head a little.
Haruka Nanami: I-I’m sorry!
Mikaze-senpai doesn’t pull his punches.
Today he’s looking over the four-part song I edited based on what he told me last time, but….
Apparently, I didn’t fix it quite the way he wants it. I hastily edit it right then and there, but, once again, it isn’t right….
Ai Mikaze: How can you be so bad at remembering things? Not enough memory in your hard drive? Or maybe your CPU isn’t powerful enough? Are you an 8-bit?
Haruka Nanami: 8-bit…?
Every so often, Mikaze-senpai will use unfamiliar words like that.
Ai Mikaze: Hmmm, don’t worry about it if you don’t get it. Explaining would waste too much time. Here, I’ll go over what you need to fix again.
Haruka Nanami: Um, let me write this down!
Ai Mikaze: Of course you should write it down! Sheesh, your composition skill isn’t bad, so how come you make flubs like these…?
Haruka Nanami: I’m sorry….
Although Mikaze-senpai is as strict as the rumors said, his teaching method is also very thorough.
I do my absolute best to follow along with his detailed explanations.
While working on composing the song, we take the time to discuss our upcoming schedules.
Haruka Nanami: The filming at the ocean the other day was amazing! If I recall correctly, this weekend’s scene will also be on-site at the beach. I wonder if filming will be done at the ocean more often now?
Ai Mikaze: That’s right. It’s about a mermaid, after all. Other than the underwater scenes, which will be done in CG, I believe most of the scenes will be filmed on-site. Haaah, I’m not fond of the ocean, though.
Haruka Nanami: You don’t like it?
Ai Mikaze: The ocean breeze makes me feel all sticky.
Mikaze-senpai replies with a sigh.
Haruka Nanami: True, it messes up your hair and makes your skin feel rough. Is… that the only reason?
Ai Mikaze: Eh? Ummm… I don’t like the salty smell. And I just feel like… I don’t have any good memories of the ocean.
He “feels like” he doesn’t have any good memories? What a strange way to put it.
Haruka Nanami: Maybe you got stung by a jellyfish when you were little or got swept away from the shore by the waves?
He hums as he thinks it over.
Ai Mikaze: I don’t have any particular memories of why, I just… I’m not fond of it. I don’t know why myself.
Haruka Nanami: I see. If you’re not fond of the ocean, why did you take the role of the mermaid?
Ai Mikaze: It was for work, so what else could I do? I’ll do anything if I’m ordered to.
He huffs and crosses his arms.
Here I’d thought him capable of anything, a model of perfection, but it turns out he isn’t fond of the ocean….
Haruka Nanami: Wow…. What a surprise, I didn’t think there was anything you couldn’t handle, Senpai.
Ai Mikaze: Well of course there is. I am technically a living being in human form. It’s not like I care about you finding out about this part about me.
For the first time, he looks a little embarrassed.
Ai Mikaze: I had a thought. Since we’ll be spending a lot of time together for a while, there are several things I have to inform you about. For example, regarding food—
As Mikaze-senpai is about to tell me something, the recording room door opens swiftly.
Reiji Kotobuki: Heya! You two having a good time working on the song!?
Haruka Nanami: Oh, Kotobuki-senpai!
Reiji Kotobuki: I just finished up work in the area and thought I’d stop in on my way home to see if I could help!
Kotobuki-senpai stands in the doorway with a huge smile.
Ai Mikaze: Reiji… If you’re here to tease us, then no thanks. We also don’t need your help to make this song.
Reiji Kotobuki: Aww c’mon, I’m part of the unit too, lemme have my say! Here ya go, I brought a gift~
Haruka Nanami: Wow, thank you so much for your kindness!
Inside the box that Kotobuki-senpai brought is a bunch of different-colored macarons.
Haruka Nanami: They’re so cute! Um, Mikaze-senpai! You should choose first!
I run up to Mikaze-senpai with the box in my hand.
He glances briefly at me and the box and then turns his head away.
Ai Mikaze: No thank you. I prefer not to intake food when I don’t have to. You have it instead.
Haruka Nanami: I… see?
Perhaps because he’s an idol he’s concerned about his weight?
Reiji Kotobuki: He’s always like this, Kouhai-chan. Don’t worry about him and help yourself! So, how’s it going?
Ai Mikaze: So-so. It’s not bad.
Reiji Kotobuki: My, oh my! Dearie, did you hear that?! Listen here, Ai-Ai calling it “not bad” translates to “pretty good!”
Haruka Nanami: Eh?! I thought for sure I did awful because he was so angry earlier….
Next to me, Mikaze-senpai puts a hand to his head as I gape at him.
Ai Mikaze: Geez… everything feels out of whack when you show up, Reiji.
After that exchange, Kotobuki-senpai joins us to give his input regarding the unit song.
Haruka Nanami: Thank you so much for your help when you’re so busy, both of you!
Once we’re done checking over the song, I stand up and bow to express my gratitude.
Mikaze-senpai is transferring over the song data onto his laptop.
Reiji Kotobuki: Before I forget, I’ve got a request for Ai-Ai here! You mind singing through Kouhai-chan’s song once?
Mikaze-senpai looks up from his laptop.
Ai Mikaze: You mean the unit song? Just me? Why? You could sing along with me, you know.
Kotobuki-senpai gives that question a moment’s thought.
Reiji Kotobuki: Uh, well, I kinda wanted to hear how it would sound first to get the feeling of it. You’re downright perfect at singing. I wanna follow your lead and all!
Ai Mikaze: The song isn’t complete yet… but I guess one time won’t hurt. You mind getting things ready?
Haruka Nanami: Alright! Um, do you need the sheet music?
Ai Mikaze: I remember it from looking at it earlier, so I don’t need it. I’ll sing. Can you start the music?
From the way Mikaze-senpai is drumming his fingers on the table, I can tell he wants me to hurry up.
Haruka Nanami: Y-yes! I’ll get right to it. Just a moment, please!
I scramble to get things ready and start the music.
Mikaze-senpai’s clear voice echoes in the small room.
Haruka Nanami: He really is amazing….
Perfect skill. An incredibly clear voice that resounds throughout the whole room.
This is a song that I wrote…. That thought sends a flush of warmth through my chest.
Reiji Kotobuki: Aine….
Haruka Nanami: Huh?
The voice behind me brings me back to my senses.
When I turn around, I see Kotobuki-senpai staring intensely at Mikaze-senpai.
Reiji Kotobuki: Aine….
Kotobuki-senpai’s lips barely move.
Aine...? Why...? Why does that word seem to resonate in my head…?
Ai Mikaze: How’s that? … Hey, what’s that look for?
I become aware that the music has stopped.
Reiji Kotobuki: Eh—o-oh, sorry ‘bout that! … I was just thinking about an old acquaintance, that’s all.
Ai Mikaze: You’re the one who wanted me to sing, and here you are thinking about something else? You DID listen properly, right?
Reiji Kotobuki: Yep, I did, thanks. And thanks to that I’ve got the gist of it. Sorry for putting you up to it!
Ai Mikaze: All I did was sing, it’s no big deal. Anyway, I’m heading home now.
He reaches for his laptop.
Reiji Kotobuki: Ah—just a moment! Can I ask you something?
Kotobuki-senpai pops up from his chair to call out to Mikaze-senpai before he can leave the room.
Reiji Kotobuki: You don’t happen to have any siblings, do you, Ai-Ai? Like for instance, a much-older brother…?
Ai Mikaze: None. It’s always been just me.
Reiji Kotobuki: Huh, that so….
Ai Mikaze: There you have it. I’m heading out now, good work.
With those words, Mikaze-senpai disappears from the room.
After that, Kotobuki-senpai leaves as well, as bright as ever and acting as if nothing has happened.
I am curious about why Kotobuki-senpai seemed off towards the end of the song….
Was there something wrong with Mikaze-senpai’s singing?
Several days later, I receive a text from Senpai.
Haruka Nanami: “Tomorrow, if your schedule is open, I’d like your help,” it reads.
It is a simple text with just that request. Still, I have no reason to refuse.
The next day I go to Mikaze-senpai’s studio to help him with work.
Thanks to the map he sent me, I can locate it without trouble.
Haruka Nanami: It looks like it’s a fifteen-minute walk from here. Since it’s my first time visiting, maybe I should bring some kind of gift?
Since I have a little extra time, I decide to take a look around at the shops on the way there.
As I reach the main street, I stop in front of a sweets shop.
Haruka Nanami: Hmmm…. Wouldn’t something sweet be best?
What should I get?
Select the phrase!
Fruit gelatin (+0 Love)
My eyes land on a row of colorful fruit gelatin.
Haruka Nanami: Jelly of this sort is probably low in calories. This might make a good choice.
There is orange, pear, peach…. I wonder what kinds of fruit Mikaze-senpai likes best.
While thinking to myself that I should have asked him before, I continue looking over the various jellies until my eyes lock on one in particular.
Sweet Potato Yokan (+0 Love)
Haruka Nanami: It looks delicious, but it might be a little too plain.
A sign beside it reads in bold letters: “Great as a gift!”
Considering I am planning to buy this for a fifteen-year-old young boy whose tastes I don’t know, it is probably a little too mature as a snack.
Haruka Nanami: Okay, let’s try the shop next door.
Special Jumbo Cream Puff (+0 Love)
Haruka Nanami: It’s huge….
Whipped cream is swirled with custard cream in this fascinating double cream treat.
It is topped with large strawberries, making it very appealing to me, but….
Haruka Nanami: It’s probably too calorie-heavy.
Mikaze-senpai seems to be concerned about calorie consumption. Is there anything a little lower in calories?
I wander around a little, searching, until my eyes land on….
I pick up a jelly marketed as “marine jelly.”
Haruka Nanami: It’s so cute…!
Is it designed to look like the ocean?
Inside the cup, two different-colored jellies—aquamarine and a light emerald-green—are stacked on top of one another.
On the very top is a white mousse.
Several tiny shells and starfish made of sugar are nestled inside the jelly.
Haruka Nanami: I wonder if this looks a little childish?
Come to think of it, Mikaze-senpai said before that he wasn’t fond of the ocean, so this could help him become fonder of it, even just a little….
I purchase two cups of jelly and head for his studio.
Ai Mikaze: Once you’ve finished organizing that data, let me know. It needs to be sorted by song classification.
Haruka Nanami: A-alright!
As soon as I arrive at Mikaze-senpai’s studio, I am put to work.
My first task is to organize the music he has composed over the last three months. Most of it is just background music, but there is quite a lot of it.
That aside….
I take another look around Mikaze-senpai’s studio.
Although it’s his workplace, it seems almost too nice of a studio for one person.
The room itself is large and open. On the far side are two control rooms, including multiple recording booths.
There are shelves full of files, a corner for meetings, and a minibar.
There is even a tennis table, which I assume is for relaxation.
Mikaze-senpai is seated at the desk in the far corner of this room, which seems to be the main work area.
Sitting in his chair with his knees folded to his chest and arms around them, he types intently on his keyboard.
I wonder if Mikaze-senpai always works alone in this large room.
Haruka Nanami: Um, excuse me, Senpai?
Ai Mikaze: Hm? Are you done already?
His hands don’t stop typing as he replies.
Haruka Nanami: Ah, no, not yet. I was just wondering, do you not normally have an assistant to help you?
Ai Mikaze: I don’t. I always work alone. In fact, I’d say you’re the first. Whether you’re helpful or not is a different matter.
Haruka Nanami: Ack… I’ll do my best.
I return my focus to my own task and start working.
Haruka Nanami: This computer is amazing. I’ve never seen a screen like this, and its processing speed is so fast.
Mikaze-senpai has lent me this computer to work with. I’ve barely touched it, but I already have a feeling it is a very high-performance computer.
Ai Mikaze: Oh, that? That has the OS for a supercomputer I developed myself for my personal work. Let’s just say its processing speed is vastly higher than yours.
Haruka Nanami: What’s a… supercomputer?
Judging by the word "super", I imagine some really big system, like a bunch of computers connected together....
Mikaze-senpai spins his chair around.
Ai Mikaze: Your assumption is pretty close. Really, everything you’re thinking shows on your face….
Before I can ask how he knew what I was thinking, he’s already answered me.
Haruka Nanami: Am I really that easy to read? How embarrassing….
Ai Mikaze: Honesty isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but the ability to negotiate is also important at work. You should work on that a bit too.
He returns his gaze to his computer monitor.
Haruka Nanami: Ack… okay.
Haruka Nanami: I’m finished, Mikaze-senpai. I sent the email just now.
Somehow I manage to finish one task and send an email.
Ai Mikaze: Right, on to the next one. This folder contains hit songs from the past fifty years. I need you to sort them by genre.
Before I say a word, a large file is sent to my computer.
Sort hit songs by genre?
Haruka Nanami: When you say by genre, do you mean like by rock or pop, for example?
Hmmm, but what kind of genres could there be?
I begin counting music genres on my fingers.
Haruka Nanami: Ah but… I wonder what I should do if there are songs that overlap two genres?
At my mumbled question to myself, Mikaze-senpai heaves a long sigh.
Ai Mikaze: Haaah… Why don’t you decide that for yourself? You’re not a machine, are you? That’s why I asked for your help here.
Haruka Nanami: Understood….
It seems he heard me.
Okay, I’d better start thinking about this so I can be of use.
With that in mind, I return my attention to the computer screen before me.
Several hours of working like this pass.
Haruka Nanami: My head… I’m getting a little dizzy….
I am at the limit of my ability to focus.
Unfamiliar work combined with the nerves from working alone with Mikaze-senpai has drained me.
Unable to take it much longer, I am almost ready to collapse onto the computer, when....
Ai Mikaze: Oh, it’s three o’clock. Well then, it’s break time.
Mikaze-senpai finally looks away from his computer monitor.
Haruka Nanami: Yes!
I’m saved…!
With a big sigh, I stretch against the back of my chair.
Haruka Nanami: Hm? You aren’t going to take a break, Mikaze-senpai?
When the sound of typing continues, I look over at Mikaze-senpai to see that he has yet to stop working and is still facing the computer.
Ai Mikaze: No, I’m not.
Haruka Nanami: Aren’t you tired?
Ai Mikaze: Nope.
Haruka Nanami: Your eyes don’t hurt—
Ai Mikaze: Not at all.
The only sound that resonates in the room is the clicking of his keyboard.
H-hmmm. Will he be okay?
I observe Mikaze-senpai as he continues to work.
Although I don’t know how much help I’ve been so far, I have to wonder how he handled work like this before I started helping.
What appears to be manuscripts and various documents are piled up on his desk.
But rather than being disorganized, everything is neat and angled precisely, as expected of him
Haruka Nanami: Senpai, are you making sure to get enough sleep? And what about food? It’s not good to push yourself too hard.
Ai Mikaze: I can go without sleep or eating just fine. If you’re free enough to worry about others, go back to work. Or help yourself to some coffee. It’s self-service.
He points to the coffee maker in the corner of the room.
Haruka Nanami: Alright….
He’s unapproachable.
I envy his superhuman capabilities, but I am still worried.
I watch him from behind as I prepare coffee for myself.
Once I’ve brewed some coffee from the barely-used coffee maker, I remember something.
Haruka Nanami: That’s right, I bought a treat earlier.
I raise my voice to call out to Mikaze-senpai from behind, who has continued working.
Haruka Nanami: Um, Senpai? I brought along a snack that I bought earlier….
Ai Mikaze: A snack? Are you mentioning that because it’s three o’clock? It’s alright, go ahead and eat it.
Haruka Nanami: That’s, um, that’s not what I meant. I wanted to share it with you. It’s jelly….
I set down the coffee and the marine jelly on the bistro table towards the center of the room.
Ai Mikaze: I already told you that I try not to have too much food intake.
Mikaze-senpai turns his head and his eyes fixate on what’s in my hands.
Ai Mikaze: ... Why’s it blue?
Haruka Nanami: Pardon?
Ai Mikaze: Jelly’s a food. What’s the purpose of coloring it an unnatural color for food?
At last, Mikaze-senpai stops working and turns his chair to face me.
Haruka Nanami: This is called marine jelly. It’s blue because it was designed to be reminiscent of the ocean.
Ai Mikaze: Huh…. It certainly looks like it’s made of gelatin. Why are there several different layers?
I suppose now he’s asking about how it’s made?
Haruka Nanami: I’m guessing each layer was made separately and then stacked on top of one another. Oh, it’s probably supposed to look like the surface of the ocean down to the depths.
Mikaze-senpai accepts this with a nod and picks up one of the cups to peer at the gelatin from the side.
I pour a cup of coffee for him too.
Haruka Nanami: With those shells and starfish suspended in the jelly, it’s really cute, isn’t it?
Ai Mikaze: Cute…. This is… cute? I didn’t realize shells and starfish could be considered “cute”….
Haruka Nanami: The other day you said you weren’t fond of the ocean, so I bought this in hopes it would help you like it even a little bit.
Ai Mikaze: I’m interested.
Mikaze-senpai stands up to approach at last and takes a seat at one of the bistro table chairs instead.
Haruka Nanami: Yay, that’s great! I’m sure this marine jelly’s delicious! It’s from a popular sweets shop. Here, I’ll get it ready.
As I open the jelly packaging and flip it onto a plate, Mikaze-senpai watches intently.
Once the jelly is placed, he cautiously pokes it with a coffee spoon.
Ai Mikaze: Hey, you try to eat it first.
Haruka Nanami: Eh—why?
Ai Mikaze: I want you to make sure that this food is safe.
As he says this, he scoops up a bite of jelly with his spoon.
Haruka Nanami: Y-you want me to test if it’s poisonous?!
Ai Mikaze: It doesn’t seem to be quite that dangerous, but it’s a type of jelly I’ve never seen before. So, just to be safe.
He extends the spoon towards me. The jelly jiggles from side to side.
Haruka Nanami: That’s… I bought it myself and I’m pretty sure it’s just normal jelly. There shouldn’t be a problem with eating it yourself, but….
Ai Mikaze: If that’s the case, then you should have no problem. Here you go, open your mouth.
Haruka Nanami: Um….
Upon meeting his eyes, I freeze up.
Ai Mikaze: Hurry up, I am telling you to open your mouth. Do you understand? It won’t go in if you don’t open your mouth.
He pokes the spoonful of jelly against my lips.
Haruka Nanami: Um, I have my own portion so I’m good! It’s fine!
Ai Mikaze: Nope, not good enough. The test is pointless if you don’t sample from my portion. Open up. I’ll feed it to you.
Haruka Nanami: Ngh… okay….
I hesitantly open my mouth.
With that leeway, Mikaze-senpai slips the spoonful of jelly he’s holding into my mouth.
Haruka Nanami: Hnn—mph….
Ai Mikaze: How is it? Does it taste good?
The mouthful of jelly is slightly tart and citrusy, like grapefruit and lemon.
The creamy mousse is sweet, softening the tanginess of the jelly.
Haruka Nanami: ... It’s delicious.
Mikaze-senpai withdraws his hand and nods several times.
Ai Mikaze: Good. Then I’ll have some too. Thanks for the gift.
After politely putting his hands together, he also begins to eat.
T-that surprised me….
He just wanted me to taste-test, but what he did reminds me of how couples feed each other food….
I take a sip of coffee while feeling my face turning red.
Mikaze-senpai continues eating his jelly as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
Looking again, I notice he is carefully separating the jelly into each layer.
From those jelly chunks, he scoops out the shaped sugar pieces and sets them neatly aside.
Haruka Nanami: Aren’t you going to eat those?
I point out the sugar candies as I say this. It doesn’t look like he plans to eat them.
Ai Mikaze: Eh…? These are shells and starfish. I can’t eat them, can I?
He gapes at me in surprise.
Huh? He is… joking, right…?
Haruka Nanami: Um, these clams and starfish are actually made of sugar. They’re perfectly edible.
Ai Mikaze: Oh, I see. I thought they weren’t edible. Hmmm…. You’re right. It’s sweet.
He picks up a starfish and pops it into his mouth.
… He can be surprisingly naive, it seems.
Mikaze-senpai, when he is eating jelly like this, actually appears to be acting his age for once.
He’d probably get mad if I said that aloud, but he really is acting younger than usual.
That is an expression completely different from the typical strict-and-scary Mikaze-senpai.
Haruka Nanami: Does it taste good?
This time, it’s my turn to ask that question.
Ai Mikaze: It’s… probably good… I think.
As he says this, Mikaze-senpai eyes the remaining chunks of the jelly on his plate and the shells and starfish candies he lined up on the table.
Although he’d added “probably”, it’s a better reaction than usual.
It seems that it was a good idea to buy that jelly after all.
I pick up my own spoon and begin eating my portion of jelly.
Ai Mikaze: This seems like something Natsuki would like.
Mikaze-senpai muses out loud.
Haruka Nanami: Oh, you’re right! Shinomiya-san is very fond of cute things, after all. And since it’s an unusual type of jelly, I imagine Syo-kun would enjoy it if he received it as well.
When I say this, Mikaze-senpai looks up from his jelly.
Ai Mikaze: That’s right, you graduated with those two. You must get along well with them.
Haruka Nanami: I do! Even when we were in school together, Shinomiya-san and Syo-kun were always helping me out when I needed it. Actually, I still receive lots of advice from them….
Come to think of it, they both said you were a great senpai to them.
Ai Mikaze: That’s kind of surprising. I was certain they weren’t fond of me... at least that’s what I thought.
Haruka Nanami: That’s not true! They say that your strictness is your way of showing your concern and that what you say is always precise!
Flustered, I refute him.
Ai Mikaze: They told you that? Heh, and here Syo was always putting up a fuss during the Master Course.
Mikaze-senpai wears a slightly wry smile as he recalls dealing with Syo-kun and Shinomiya-san during their Master Course.
Haruka Nanami: He did say he had a lot of complaints at that time.
It feels like the conversation about mutual acquaintances lightens the atmosphere.
Haruka Nanami: Um, Senpai! Is it alright if we talk for a little while longer as we eat?
I take the chance to propose this idea and learn more about him.
Ever since becoming partners, the only thing we’ve ever done is work, leaving no chance to talk and come to better understand one another.
There might not be a better chance to talk casually like this for a while.
At my words, Mikaze-senpai glances at the studio clock.
Ai Mikaze: ... Sure, as thanks for the snack. But only fifteen minutes.
Haruka Nanami: Oh…! Thank you! Um, then….
Select the phrase!
Ask about his music (+20 Love)
Haruka Nanami: How long have you been performing music?
True, his singing and music composition are downright perfect, but judging by his age he couldn’t have graduated from Saotome Academy.
Where could he have studied music?
Ai Mikaze: How long…? Hmmm. Since I was born, I suppose. After all, I was born to make music in the first place.
Haruka Nanami: Since you were... born? That would be awfully early….
And he even says he was born to make music.
Then again, come to think of it, one of my first memories is playing the piano.
Haruka Nanami: Um, I think I understand what you mean! I was also raised with music!
Ai Mikaze: You were too, huh? Then you might be able to understand me.
A very slight smile appears with his quiet murmur.
Ask about his family (+0 Love)
Haruka Nanami: Where is your actual home? Do you live with your parents?
He told Kotobuki-senpai that he had no siblings, so I wonder about what the rest of his family is like.
Mikaze-senpai’s family must surely be as beautiful as him....
Ai Mikaze: Home.... I don’t live very far from where I was born, but there’s no one else in my family. Or rather, there wasn’t anyone else to begin with.
He answers without any particular emotion.
Haruka Nanami: Eh—oh, um, I’m very sorry! So you… don’t have any family at all.
That might have been an insensitive question I just asked.
Feeling guilty, I timidly look back up at him, only to see Mikaze-senpai casually spinning his spoon around.
Ai Mikaze: It’s no big deal. What I don’t have, I don’t have. I do have the professor as a guardian. Oh, and I guess Shining too. So there’s no problem there.
The professor…? That must be his guardian’s line of work.
Haruka Nanami: By “Shining” you’re referring to the company president, right?
Ai Mikaze: Right. Even without a family, I have no difficulties with my everyday needs.
With a nod, he takes another bite of jelly.
To be working like this from such a young age… he probably is going through a lot of hardship.
Ask about his living situation (+10 Love)
Haruka Nanami: How is your living situation right now?
I’ve never seen him in the agency dorms at least, and now that the Master Course is finished, he isn’t living together with Shinomiya-san and Syo-kun either.
Ai Mikaze: My living situation...? You mean you want to know where I live?
Haruka Nanami: Yes. I was curious about where you’re currently living.
Ai Mikaze: “Where”...? Here. I live here. This is my home.
Haruka Nanami: Eh—HERE?! But isn’t this a work studio!?
“That’s right,” Mikaze-senpai replies with a nod.
The entire room is sparkling clean.
When I take another look around, I can’t even find any signs that anyone is actually living there.
There are a decent number of studios on the first floor of the building, but they’re mostly filled with music equipment.
Haruka Nanami: Um, where do you usually sleep?
Ai Mikaze: When I take a break, I just stay at my desk. For the rare times I need to completely power off, I lay on the sofa.
There is indeed a sofa where he points, but it doesn’t look long enough for Mikaze-senpai to sleep on, judging by his height.
Haruka Nanami: ... You aren’t uncomfortable sleeping there?
Ai Mikaze: Not at all. The room temperature doesn’t change, and I have all the machinery I need. It’s quite comfortable.
He tilts his head in confusion.
Is that the case?
I also tilt my head, unable to picture his normal living habits.
Ai Mikaze: Is that all you had to ask? Anything else? You still have plenty of time left.
I am not prepared for the question in return and briefly flounder for a response.
Haruka Nanami: Eh—!? Um, then… what are your dreams?
Whoops, it feels like I am conducting an interview for a magazine or something.
I feel like wincing at my own lack of variety with these questions.
For a brief moment, Mikaze-senpai considers the question, then opens his mouth to reply.
Ai Mikaze: A dream…? I don’t have one. I do have a goal and various things I want to work on, though. What about you? Do you have a dream?
Haruka Nanami: Me? My dream is….
Select the phrase!
To remain in the agency (+0 Love)
Haruka Nanami: It’s not exactly a dream, but my immediate concern is remaining at the agency….
I mumble this with uncertainty.
Ai Mikaze: That’s true. In your case, you’re prioritizing avoiding your problems over having dreams.
Ahh, he’s concluded that I don’t have any dreams....
To debut (+10 Love)
Haruka Nanami: I’d say my dream is to debut with a song that I wrote....
Right now that’s my number one dream.
Helping out Mikaze-senpai and composing BGM tracks is fun and a great learning experience….
I want the audience to hear my music!
To that end, I need to work hard and have Mikaze-senpai acknowledge me, but….
Ai Mikaze: I see, so your dream is to debut. A wish that has a low chance of success, thus, a “dream.”
Haruka Nanami: Um… did you just say that I have little chance of succeeding…?
Ai Mikaze: I think I understand a little better now what a “dream” is.
Haruka Nanami: That’s… good to hear.
Ouch, that hurts a little.
To write music for idols (+20 Love)
Haruka Nanami: I initially aspired to be in the entertainment industry because I wanted to write a song for a particular idol.
I think back to before I attended Saotome Academy when I answer.
I’d decided I wanted to write songs for the idol on TV I looked up to.
Thinking that, I’d enrolled at Saotome Academy.
Since then various things have happened and I ended up being unable to fulfill that dream, but….
Haruka Nanami: Right now, even if it’s not that person, I want to write songs that make idols sparkle and will entertain the audience.
I want to become a great composer. That’s my dream!
Ai Mikaze: Maybe it’s because your goal is different from mine, but I don’t really understand what you mean….
However, you looked really excited when you were talking about your dream just now. Is that what’s different, maybe?
After our talk about dreams, Mikaze-senpai spends some time thinking about something.
Ai Mikaze: I don’t quite get it. My goal is to produce a million sales hit, but that’s less a dream and more just a specific goal.
I don’t understand the feeling of aspiring to something so abstract.
To be honest, I can’t really understand “emotion” to begin with.
Haruka Nanami: You can’t… understand emotions?
Those words draw my attention.
Ai Mikaze: Nope. I’m sure I would grow in maturity if I were to understand them thoroughly.
Mikaze-senpai speaks with unusual nervousness.
Come to think of it, Shinomiya-san did say that Mikaze-senpai doesn’t have enough human expression.
When talking to him, I’ve noticed that he isn’t very expressive and seems downright flat.
The reason for that could be due to his lifestyle until now or how he was raised, or because of something I don’t know….
Haruka Nanami: But I think you’re already amazing. Your singing ability is incredible, and the music you compose is so good. I can learn a lot from it.
Senpai, I think you are perfect.
Ai Mikaze: I wonder about that. This time I was assigned a completely new, far more difficult project: acting.
It’s a big challenge.
Haruka Nanami: You’re talking about the movie filming, right?
“Right,” he replies with a nod.
Ai Mikaze: If I’m to act correctly for that movie, I need to understand romantic love. That’s something unknown to me, so it’s really tough.
He has to understand the feeling of romantic love?
Haruka Nanami: Umm, this might sound like a strange question, but…
I decide to put the question out there.
Haruka Nanami: … Does that mean you’ve never come to like someone or fallen in love before...?
Ai Mikaze: That’s right. I’ve never understood the feeling of loving or intimately caring about someone.
Haruka Nanami: I-I see….
In other words, Mikaze-senpai wants to effectively perform this new line of work and act in a movie, but since he doesn’t understand how it feels to be in love and to care about another person, he is a little troubled.
… I think I’m getting the idea.
After a period of silence, Mikaze-senpai glances at the clock.
Ai Mikaze: Question time is almost up. Do you mind if I ask one last question instead?
Haruka Nanami: Um, y-yes, go ahead!
Ai Mikaze: How would you describe the feeling of falling in love with someone?
At the sudden question, I am at a loss for words.
Haruka Nanami: I-I think that that question might be a little beyond me….
Ai Mikaze: I want to know more about that feeling. Will you teach me?
Despite my answer, he stares intently at me, expectant, and I search hurriedly for an answer.
Haruka Nanami: Love is…
Select the phrase!
Cherishing them (+15 Love)
Haruka Nanami: I think that “loving” someone means wanting to cherish them and considering them important.
Ai Mikaze: Important… for me, my fans are important, but is that “love?”
Haruka Nanami: Hmmm, I don’t think that’s the same… after all, you have a lot of fans.
If among those important people you had someone who you cherished above all others, I think that would be “love.”
At my answer, Mikaze-senpai tilts his head.
Ai Mikaze: Someone I’d cherish above everyone else… umm. I don’t understand after all.
Not wanting to be apart (+10 Love)
Haruka Nanami: Not wanting to be apart. Wanting to always be together…. I-it’s something
I don’t really understand yet either….
For example, I love music. Because of that, I want to always be able to make music. I hope to always be with music.
I think love is basically like that…?
Maybe because he isn’t satisfied with the response, Mikaze-senpai looks away in thought.
Ai Mikaze: What you’re saying is that choosing of your own volition to be with something is to “love" it?
He thinks it over to himself after saying this.
I am not sure if I properly conveyed things, but then again “love” is a difficult thing to explain.
Feeling your heart race (+0 Love)
Ai Mikaze: Hmmm… Do you feel your heart race being with me now, for example?
Haruka Nanami: Huh?!
That definitely makes my pulse jump, but that is out of surprise.
Ai Mikaze: You… do sort of get that feeling, don’t you?
He asks this emphatically, to make sure.
When I don’t answer right away, Mikaze-senpai backs away.
Ai Mikaze: Hmm. All living humans have a heartbeat, so it’s too imprecise as an evaluation standard.
Haruka Nanami: Well, um, you’re right about that…
Senpai doesn’t look like he’s kidding around, so I am at a loss for words.
Ai Mikaze: What’s the matter? You’re making an odd face. Why not drink some coffee and calm down?
Unlike me, who has gotten flustered, Mikaze-senpai speaks calmly.
Ai Mikaze: It’s a really tough topic. I think understanding “love” is an assignment that will take a while.
After speaking curtly, he elegantly scoops the remaining jelly on his plate into his mouth.
Ai Mikaze: I don’t really get “like” in the romantic sense, but… I think… I like this jelly.
Mikaze-senpai murmurs quietly.
I’ve been able to interact with him face-to-face and come to understand him a little for the first time.
At first he seems perfect, but now I could see that there are things he doesn’t understand and lacks.
Haruka Nanami: Um… I know I’m not good with words, and I don’t understand romantic love very well myself, so I can’t give a good explanation anytime soon, but….
I’ll help you however I can until you do understand! You can ask me for help with anything!
I say this with the desire to support him, even if it is just with this one thing.
Mikaze-senpai sets down his spoon and narrows his eyes.
Ai Mikaze: Haha, what’s with that all of a sudden? So weird. You’re also kind of a strange one, aren’t you? Though not as much as I am, of course.
Right, let’s get back to work. If you don’t pick up the pace, we’ll be working all night.
Haruka Nanami: Ah... that would be a problem! I want to sleep in my own bed tonight!
Ai Mikaze: In that case, better give it a push. You seem to be having trouble sorting that data, so let’s have you work on arranging this music instead.
Haruka Nanami: Ah! Right!
On the table sits Mikaze-senpai’s untouched coffee, as well as the plate that held the jelly he ate.
For some time after that, I continue to travel to his studio and work with Mikaze-senpai.
I converse with him a little during work breaks.
Mostly we talk about music, but his knowledge of music is astounding and I lose track of time chatting.
By and large, I am learning more than I am able to be of help. Still, I feel like I’ve made some progress as his partner.
Today’s schedule includes filming for the movie. We arrive at the filming location.
In truth, the scene that was supposed to be filmed was changed abruptly. We were suddenly given a new script this morning.
This means that the Mikaze-senpai, in the lead role, has a lot to relearn.
Haruka Nanami: Are you doing alright, Senpai?
Ai Mikaze: Quiet. This much should be fine if I read this through once.
Mikaze-senpai is in the middle of reading through his script at an incredible speed.
True, he does have an amazing memory, but will he really be alright…?
Reiji Kotobuki: Wanna read it aloud with me? That’ll make it easier to remember.
Ai Mikaze: No way. Now’s not the time to butt into other people’s business—are you sure you remember your own lines?
Come to think of it, Kotobuki-senpai had a lot of lines added to his script as well.
Reiji Kotobuki: Ngh…. Not… yet. Gahh, so harsh! You broke ol’ Rei-chan’s heart….
Ai Mikaze: I’m not all that harsh. You’re just taking this too lightly. Buckle down already.
Mikaze-senpai lets out a sigh and returns his attention to his script.
Assistant Director: We’re starting rehearsal in a few minutes! Mikaze-san, please stand by!
Right as Mikaze-senpai finishes reading his script, the AD calls out.
Ai Mikaze: Yes, understood! … Here you go.
He closes his script and hands it to me, then heads for his place on set.
The filming begins.
Today they are filming the scene where the mermaid boy first comes to the girl’s home.
Mikaze-senpai has said that filming is a big challenge to overcome, but….
He runs through the garden of blooming flowers, turns the corner of the house, and meets the girl.
The moment he sees the girl, the look on his face is a mix of surprise and joy at being reunited with her again.
Ai Mikaze: There you are. Ever since that day, I’ve longed to see you again....
Mikaze-senpai smiles gently.
After that, he perfectly recites long lines of dialogue that he only just memorized from his script a few moments ago.
Haruka Nanami: Wow… Mikaze-senpai’s so talented. And he’s remembering his lines perfectly!
Reiji Kotobuki: Phew, that’s Ai-Ai for you. Looks like we’ll have this one wrapped up in one take.
Kotobuki-senpai, with his script in hand, murmurs to himself while watching Mikaze-senpai.
Talent A: Acting is what’s most important. Anyone can memorize and recite lines.
This particular actor is glaring at Mikaze-senpai.
Haruka Nanami: Umm….
If I remember correctly, he is a coactor. He is… kind of scary.
Kotobuki-senpai leans over to whisper in my ear.
Reiji Kotobuki: It’s tough to be popular~! Don’t worry about him, okay? You just focus on your partner’s acting.
Haruka Nanami: O-okay….
I nod several times.
The filming continues at an exceptionally smooth rate.
The final scene of the day involves the heroine.
Ai Mikaze: I’ll come see you again. Wait for me here.
This is where he is supposed to take the heroine’s hand, lean over, and kiss her forehead.
Except Mikaze-senpai very suddenly leans in close to her face.
Ai Mikaze: Hm...? Why’re you leaning away? Hold still—
When his co-star automatically pulls away, he firmly catches her arm and pulls her towards himself.
Ai Mikaze: Ngh?!
He pulls her too close and their foreheads collide with quite some force.
Both topple to the ground from the shock of their collision.
Ai Mikaze: Whoa, I-I’m sorry! Are you okay?!
Flustered, Mikaze-senpai quickly sets to helping his fellow actor up.
The director calls a swift cut and the staff rushes to check on them.
Talent A: How lame… the heck did he think he was doing?
Once again, I hear that voice from a corner of the studio.
After that, they attempt the scene over and over, but he can never get the timing—or pausing—just right.
Director: Hmmm, well, I guess since we did just redo that whole section of the script, it’s only to be expected….
Eventually the director waves his hand to the staff and actors.
Director: Let’s continue with this scene another day. We’ll move on to filming the scenes with Kotobuki-kun instead for now.
Reiji Kotobuki: Okay, okaaaay~! I’m aaaaall ready!
Kotobuki-senpai’s bubbly voice lightens the atmosphere.
That day, on the way home, I stop by Mikaze-senpai's studio for a while.
Haruka Nanami: Is your forehead alright?
Ai Mikaze: Ugh... it’s fine.
He is sitting on the couch when he says this, a conflicted look on his face as he is lost in thought.
I assume he’s bothered by his acting difficulties today.
After today’s filming, he apologized to the rest of the cast and to the staff.
He didn’t say much on the way home.
He never is one to talk excessively, but this is enough to worry me.
I set my things down and take a seat beside him on the sofa. After a while, Mikaze-senpai glances at me.
Ai Mikaze: Hey, um. Why’d my co-star move away like that? Did I do something?
From the way he asks me this, it sounds like he is deeply confused.
So he is worried about that after all….
Haruka Nanami: Um, th-that’s because… you might have come on to her a little too strongly.
Ai Mikaze: Even though I acted exactly as the script said? Hahhh… I’m stumped. So how should I act?
Haruka Nanami: Since you need to be more romantic about it, maybe take it slowly and go through the motions step by step, one at a time.
Mikaze-senpai sinks back against the sofa, thinking hard about my reply.
Ai Mikaze: Take it slowly…. If I do everything slowly it’ll take too long. What things should I focus on?
Haruka Nanami: How about how you…
Select the phrase!
Kiss her (+30 Love)
I get embarrassed and I can’t bring myself to say “kiss.”
Haruka Nanami: Um… At the very least I think it’s best that you, um, take the end very slowly.
Ai Mikaze: Take what slowly? Just say it.
Ack…. It’s embarrassing to say, but I’ll say it to help Mikaze-senpai.
Haruka Nanami: Right at the end you should… slowly bring your lips closer to her forehead… to kiss her.
Ai Mikaze: Got it. Do you mind if we practice that kiss scene right now?
Haruka Nanami: W-what?!
As soon as he finishes speaking, Mikaze-senpai turns to face me so that he has one knee on the sofa.
Haruka Nanami: J-just a—please hold on a moment, Senpai!
He is so much taller that he towers over me and I become overwhelmed and freeze.
Passionate about acting or not, this is a little…!
Ai Mikaze: Come on, hold still or I won’t be able to do this right. Hmm... So where should I put my hands?
He waves one hand as an example.
Haruka Nanami: You should probably… put your hand on my shoulder....
At my answer, he carefully sets his hand on my shoulder. The warmth from the contact makes my heart leap in my chest.
Ai Mikaze: Like this? Now I just have to follow up, but… in your case, your bangs are kind of in the way.
Haruka Nanami: Maybe you should brush them to the side with your other hand.
Mikaze-senpai does as instructed and pushes my bangs out of the way, and then brings his lips closer to my forehead.
Take her hand (+0 Love)
Haruka Nanami: If you just grab her hand out of nowhere, I think she’d be really startled. That’s why, when you take her hand….
It is clear by how Mikaze-senpai’s brow furrows that he doesn’t quite get it yet.
Haruka Nanami: You should take her hand gently and try to keep your actions soft and steady.
Ai Mikaze: Gentle, soft and steady…. Let me borrow your hand for a moment. You mean something… like this?
He carefully grasps my hand.
Haruka Nanami: That’s certainly gentle, but… hmm….
… Huh?
Haruka Nanami: It’s okay to let go now.
Mikaze-senpai stares me in the eye, not saying anything.
Perhaps he has gotten into his role.
Somewhat faster than I expected, he bends towards my forehead.
Look her in the eye (+15 Love)
Haruka Nanami: While you’re making eye contact, make sure to move slowly so the actress knows your next move.
Ai Mikaze: Eye contact.... I see…. Like this?
His beautiful eyes peer into mine.
Haruka Nanami: Eep…. Somehow this is really nerve-wracking….
Being so close to him has my heart racing.
Ai Mikaze: You’re nervous? That can’t be good. It’ll make it hard for my partner to act.
The whole time our gazes are locked.
… It is making me tense.
Haruka Nanami: N-no, it’s fine. I’d actually say this is… the correct response in this situation, in fact it’s a good sign, but....
With my heart beating so fast, it is kind of hard to form the right words.
Ai Mikaze: If you say so, then I’ll believe you. Next is…
His face nears my forehead.
… At this rate... is he really going to kiss me?
Haruka Nanami: M-Mikaze-senpai! Stop! Let’s stop here for now!
Ai Mikaze: … Why?
Haruka Nanami: To refer to the sc-script! I don’t quite know the details yet!
Unless I know what will happen next, I can’t give you proper advice!
Ai Mikaze: Hmm... that’s true. Alright. It looks like you have a talent for giving advice on acting.
Haruka Nanami: D-do you think so?
Ai Mikaze: I understand the concept of descriptions like “gently” or “romantically,” but I don’t really know how those words translate into actions.
Haruka Nanami: I… see….
This might be what people mean when they say that understanding a maiden’s heart is difficult.
Ai Mikaze: I’m appointing you to be my acting advisor. I feel like you’re qualified for the role. Will you help me out?
Haruka Nanami: Help you out…?
I feel like this is the first time I’ve ever heard him say that.
It thrills me.
If there is any way I can assist him as a partner, then….
Haruka Nanami: I will! I’ll do whatever I can to support you!
“Good,” replies Mikaze-senpai with a nod.
After that, we rehearse the troublesome scene repeatedly.
It turns out that it isn’t the moment of the forehead kiss that is giving him trouble, but instead the actions leading up to it.
We end up practicing the scenes that come before and after as well.
The day of filming that scene arrives. We stand in a corner of the set, waiting.
Ai Mikaze: One last check. At this point I should tilt my head at this angle like… this, right?
Mikaze-senpai leans close to my face.
Haruka Nanami: Eek!
My heart rate jumps at being close enough to feel his breath, and I turn my face away.
Ai Mikaze: Should I take your surprise to mean I didn’t get it quite right yet?
Haruka Nanami: No, um, it’s not that that was wrong, I mean, that was actually really good, just, um, doing that in a place like this…!!
Ai Mikaze: This is rehearsal. Repetition is the most basic part of practice. One more time, now hold still.
His argument is perfectly sound, but that doesn’t change the fact that practicing something like this here of all places is a little….
Ai Mikaze: So I tilt my head like this…. Next, place my hand on your shoulder. Finally I need to gently press my lips to your forehead…
Reiji Kotobuki: Let your love~ ♪ Ring far and wide~ ♪ Odorokimaaan~ ♪ … Oh, morniiin’! Eh, w-wai—whaa?!
Haruka Nanami: Hyaaaah?!
I leap away from Mikaze-senpai.
Kotobuki-senpai’s eyes are as big as saucers.
Haruka Nanami: U-um, this is—this is for Mikaze-senpai’s acting…!
Ai Mikaze: Nothing to be so surprised about. This is just a rehearsal, that’s all.
Mikaze-senpai cuts across my words with his straightforward statement.
Kotobuki-senpai nods awkwardly three times, and then gives an awkward cough.
Reiji Kotobuki: O-oh... r-right! All’s well then. That reminds me, Ai-Ai, you gonna be alright today? Think you can manage?
Ai Mikaze: Manage what?
Reiji Kotobuki: I was all set to offer you advice on your acting, but looks like you’ve already worked on it with Kouhai-chan here, huh?
Haruka Nanami: Y-yes. We were discussing the specifics again just now.
Reiji Kotobuki: That so? Good to hear. And lookin’ good too, sounds like you’re coming along well as partners.
Ai Mikaze: Coming along well… as partners?
Reiji Kotobuki: I’m talking about how you’re supporting each other like that. Well done, well done!
Next to the grinning Kotobuki-senpai, Mikaze-senpai seems to be thinking about something again.
Ai Mikaze: Supporting one another… a give-and-take relationship. In other words, there are merits to this partner relationship after all.
Haruka Nanami: Mikaze-senpai? The filming is about to begin…
Ai Mikaze: Right, I’ll get going. Will you watch everything carefully? I want to hear your thoughts about it afterwards.
Haruka Nanami: Yes, of course!
With a nod to me, Mikaze-senpai heads onto the set with confidence.
The day’s filming ends without incident, with the problematic scene resolving successfully.
That scene with the forehead kiss is so romantic that I blush just watching.
Kotobuki-senpai, who comes over to watch, keeps mumbling that it’s embarrassing him.
It’s extra embarrassing for me when I think about how I helped rehearse this scene….
I’ve read the lines of this scene enough that I can quote them almost perfectly.
The director is pleased, saying it went well.
For a time, I’d been worried about how things would turn out, but for now we are in the clear.
While I am waiting for Mikaze-senpai after filming is over, Kotobuki-senpai walks over to me after he’s finished getting ready to go home.
Haruka Nanami: Oh, good work today!
“Hey, hey!” Kotobuki-senpai calls with a wave of his hand.
Reiji Kotobuki: Nah, I didn’t do much today. You’re the one who’s really had it tough, haven’t you? All worried about Ai-Ai like that.
Haruka Nanami: No, really, it was nothing! Besides, you were also concerned and trying to help Mikaze-senpai out, weren’t you?
Since this is the first movie Mikaze-senpai has been in, Kotobuki-senpai has been casually supporting Mikaze-senpai both during filming and off camera.
I hadn’t noticed he was doing that until recently.
Reiji Kotobuki: Haha, that’s about all I could do for him. I haven’t been in the entertainment industry this long for nothing!
That said, I’ve been thinking that Ai-Ai’s role is a pretty tough one.
Haruka Nanami: Is it really?
Mikaze-senpai’s role is the mermaid.
In order to reunite with the now-grown girl, the mermaid sacrifices his voice in exchange for a human form and goes to the human world.
That’s why, during the latter part of the movie, he has to act completely without speaking.
The emotions of the mermaid prince, the lead role, are complex.
However, Mikaze-senpai is still young, and this is the first time he has ever acted for a romantic role. It’s no wonder Kotobuki-senpai says this is tough.
Reiji Kotobuki: Back when I first got this job from Shiny-san, he shocked me by saying, “Mikaze is playing the lead for this movie.”
To be honest, I kept thinking, “Will he be alright?” Oh, uh, Ai-Ai’ll get mad if he hears that, so let’s keep this a secret, okay?
Haruka Nanami: But Mikaze-senpai’s very studious and is working very hard.
Reiji Kotobuki: Mmhmm, Ai-Ai’s a real hard worker. He’s been taking this job quite seriously.
But, you know… when I see him giving his all like that, I actually start to get worried.
Haruka Nanami: Worried? Why is that?
After a long moment of silence, Kotobuki-senpai opens his mouth again.
Reiji Kotobuki: A while back, I had an idol friend whom I was very close to.
The word ”had” catches my attention.
Reiji Kotobuki: He was an incredible singer and actor, a real genius in my opinion. But you see, he was much more sensitive than most people, and one day he had this really tough role….
And then he just up and vanished.
Kotobuki-senpai says it so off-handedly.
Haruka Nanami: He… vanished?
Reiji Kotobuki: That event was in the news, actually. Have you ever heard about it?
Haruka Nanami: No…. I’m sorry, I didn’t know anything about anyone vanishing like that due to work.
Reiji Kotobuki: He would get totally sucked into his roles. In this case, he fretted over the role all on his own, and then, in the end, he just vanished into thin air.
Kotobuki-senpai stares at the ground as he says that, his expression a little pained.
Haruka Nanami: So something like that happened….
Reiji Kotobuki: Yep. To be honest, Ai-Ai acts just like him. In fact, even his appearance and singing voice are the same.
Haruka Nanami: Even his singing voice?
Reiji Kotobuki: That’s why when I first heard Ai-Ai sing I was in total shock. Like, “Whoa, he’s totally like him!”
And now we’re going to be singing in a unit together. Every time I look at Ai-Ai, I’m reminded of that friend of mine.
Haruka Nanami: Really? That’s… that’s just....
Reiji Kotobuki: No matter how similar they look, there’s too much of an age gap for them to be the same person.
So I thought maybe they might be brothers, but when I asked about it, that theory was thrown right out the window.
Haruka Nanami: Oh… you mean that time you asked that question out of the blue.
That day at the start of the month when Kotobuki-senpai asked Mikaze-senpai if he had any siblings, after hearing him sing the unit song.
Reiji Kotobuki: Well, it’s just a coincidental resemblance, that’s all.
Ai Mikaze: What is…? What are you talking about?
I jump and spin around. There stands Mikaze-senpai.
Haruka Nanami: M-Mikaze-senpai! You’re back!
Kotobuki-senpai’s usual smile appears on his face, and he waves a hand dismissively.
Reiji Kotobuki: Nothing important, just some small talk is all! Oh hey, you’re done filming for today, right? Want to go over our script together for the next scene?
Ai Mikaze: No, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.
Mikaze-senpai responds just like always.
Reiji Kotobuki: Ahahaha, looks like I’ve been dumped! Alrighty then, see you next week~ I’ll leave the rest to your partner here.
Haruka Nanami: Eh, what?
Waving wildly, Kotobuki-senpai calls out, “Laterrrrr~!” as he heads off.
Ai Mikaze: It looks like you’ve been tasked with something, but what?
Haruka Nanami: That it does….
Ai Mikaze: If anything, I should be the one entrusting things to my partner. How weird.
Mikaze-senpai cocks his head.
When I get home that night, I set to work on the unit song once more.
Haruka Nanami: This month has just flown by, so it’s about time I got this song finished.
Kotobuki-senpai’s words come back to me as I work on the song.
After watching him from up close, I understand now that Mikaze-senpai is always serious, hardworking, and studious.
In return for his guidance, I need to work hard and support him as his partner.
Haruka Nanami: Perhaps I should gather up these documents…
I pick up the documents for the Christmas Live that Mikaze-senpai has collected.
There are a lot of them, but I can finish them up if I go through them steadily every day after work.
Of course, if Mikaze-senpai were to do it, he’d probably have them all done in a flash.
Haruka Nanami: This is just practice by repetition! Mikaze-senpai said so himself!
By using the method I learned from him, I finish sorting the documents.
It’s good that autumn nights are long.
In the evening, after a day’s work, I can quietly help with Mikaze-senpai’s work.
Several days later…
Haruka Nanami: Good work today….
Composition Mentor: Whoa, are you okay, Nanami-san?
I am suffering from lack of sleep and overwork.
Haruka Nanami: I’m fine. I can handle this much without a problem.
Three days ago, a sudden request for assistance came in, along with the need to redo another project.
Today I’m helping as the assistant for a composer that Tsukimiya-sensei introduced me to.
I also do this three days a week. This job is usually on days when I’m not helping out at Mikaze-senpai’s studio.
Composition Mentor: Anyway, in regards to the drama BGM I had you compose the other day, the length of it will need to be changed.
Also, we’ve decided to leave half the BGM composition for the movie to you.
Haruka Nanami: What, really!?
According to him, the test BGM that I composed went over well with the director, and this means my name will appear in the movie credits.
My name will appear in a movie that Mikaze-senpai stars in….
Haruka Nanami: Thank you very much!
I bow deeply.
On returning to my dorm room, I message Mikaze-senpai, who is probably still at work.
Haruka Nanami: I’ve been asked to compose some of the movie’s BGM. … There we go.
My Composition Mentor complimented me recently, telling me I’ve improved. That might be thanks to Mikaze-senpai’s instructions.
And I’m almost finished with the work I have right now.
As sleepy as I am, I feel fired up to give it my all for just a little longer.
Haruka Nanami: But… I feel a bit chilly....
I shiver from a sudden chill. Well, it is already November, so that shouldn’t come as a surprise.
I can just put on another layer to warm up and then continue working.
By the time I finish and submit everything, it is nearly dawn.
Haruka Nanami: I did it….
However, as soon as that thought crosses my mind, everything before me starts swaying and fades to white.
Hm…?
Am I… on my bed?
When I come to, I am lying on my bed.
When did I go to bed?
The moment I slowly lift my head, I hear a voice from right beside me.
Ai Mikaze: Oh, you’re awake.
Haruka Nanami: Huh!?
My eyes widen at the sight of Mikaze-senpai.
He is crouching next to my bed, resting his face on his hand with an elbow on the bed.
Ai Mikaze: Good morning. Then again, considering the time, I suppose good evening is more appropriate.
After standing, he touches my neck and peers at me closely.
Ai Mikaze: Hmm. Your complexion’s much better now. Pulse, breath rate, and level of consciousness are also normal, but your temperature seems high.
I think I get it now.
Haruka Nanami: Um, did I happen to pass out?
Ai Mikaze: That you did. You were lying on the floor when I got here. Extreme fatigue. Lack of sleep. Weakening immune system. Add it all together and you got hit with a fever. It looks like a cold.
Haruka Nanami: A cold…. I see.
I feel feverish, and my throat hurts. I am also still wearing the same outfit I’d had on when I’d passed out.
As my thoughts clear, I realize something.
Haruka Nanami: Excuse me, Senpai, but how were you able to enter my room? I’m sure I locked the front door properly.
Ai Mikaze: I opened it myself.
Haruka Nanami: Huhhh!?
Ai Mikaze: I’m very dextrous, you know. It’s a simple matter to open a lock like that one.
He twirls his finger while making that off-handed reply.
Select the phrase!
You shouldn’t do that kind of thing! (+15 Love)
Haruka Nanami: Y-you shouldn’t do that! That’s unlawful entry—it’s socially inappropriate, you know!?
Ai Mikaze: But if I hadn’t come in, you’d have been left on the floor. That would’ve been a problem.
He lets out a sigh.
Haruka Nanami: W-well, that’s true, but….
Did you come here because you were worried about me?
I’m impressed you unlocked it (+0 Love)
Ai Mikaze: That was the first time I’ve tried it myself, but it seems I can do it if I try. I wonder what I can use this skill for.
Haruka Nanami: Maybe you can demonstrate it on a variety show?
Wait, that’s not the point!
Dextrous or not… (+10 Love)
Ai Mikaze: Do you want to learn too? First, you press your finger to the keyhole... like this….
Mikaze-senpai raises both index fingers in a strange pose as he explains.
Haruka Nanami: No, I’m fine, thank you.
Just how many different skills does he know?
I ask while lifting my body from the bed.
Ai Mikaze: I came because no matter how many times I called, you didn’t answer. When I stopped by to check, all the lights in your room were on…. Could you not cause so much trouble?
Haruka Nanami: I’m sorry….
Ai Mikaze: It’s fine. In any case, you need to stay put until your fever goes down... and with that said—
Haruka Nanami: Senpai, what are you—eep!?
He sticks a cooling sheet to my forehead and pushes me back into bed.
Ai Mikaze: That should do it. Now if you just get some sleep you should recover on your own.
Grrrowl....
Haruka Nanami: … Ngh.
Of all the times for my stomach to growl.
Silence falls.
Ai Mikaze: “Dinner preparation” shall be added to the list for Project Caregiving. I’m going to borrow your kitchen.
Haruka Nanami: Eh, you are!? I can’t make you do that!
When I try to jump to my feet, he forcefully throws the blanket back over me and shoves me back into bed.
Ai Mikaze: This is a Mentor Order. Sleep!
Mikaze-senpai leaves the room.
Haruka Nanami: Is this… udon?
Two hours have passed since I was made to rest by the Mentor Order.
On being called downstairs to the living room, I find that the table has been neatly set with a small bowl and a single set of chopsticks, evenly spaced from one another.
Ai Mikaze: I have data that udon is suitable for proper care of a sick person. It’s easy to digest, as it’s made with water, salt, eggs, and white powder… that’s what I used, right there.
Haruka Nanami: Ah, flour. Wait, does that mean this is all handmade?
“That’s right,” Mikaze-senpai replies with a nod.
It is hard to believe that the beautiful, flat-sided udon noodles that float with the eggs in the broth are handmade.
Haruka Nanami: It’s so well done. This looks delicious….
Ai Mikaze: That’s enough staring, now eat up. This is the first time I’ve ever made udon, so I’m not sure if I did it right.
He also takes a seat.
Haruka Nanami: I think this is more than good enough. Thank you so much for this meal!
I pick up the chopsticks and lift an udon noodle to my mouth… and notice something.
Haruka Nanami: Semhai, d'you ha'en to cut th'noodles?
At my question, he tilts his head.
In fact, the noodles are really just one very long noodle, and no matter how much I slurp it up, I can’t see the end.
According to Mikaze-senpai, he had the data for the width of the noodles, but he didn’t know how long to make them. And so, this result.
Ai Mikaze: Well, it’s said that in cases like this you have to just suck it up in one go. Do your best.
I’m not sure whether to call him skillful or clumsy. This udon is very unusual, but it tastes delicious.
As I eat, Mikaze-senpai watches me with apparent interest.
Ai Mikaze: Just to be sure, it does taste good, right?
Haruka Nanami: Yes, of course. It’s delicious… and more importantly, it’s something you made for me.
Ai Mikaze: How is something that I made different from something I didn’t make?
Haruka Nanami: Well, your kindness in cooking this makes me happy, for one. It makes the udon taste even better.
Ai Mikaze: Kindness, huh…. As long as it tastes good, I’ll consider it a success.
Mikaze-senpai rests his chin on both hands as he continues to watch me eat.
Haruka Nanami: Um, when you stare at me like that, it’s, um, it makes me kind of nervous….
Ai Mikaze: I want to know how you react, to make sure I’m doing a proper job of taking care of you. No need to be so stiff in your own home.
Haruka Nanami: That’s true, but still!
This might be the first time I’ve ever been so tense in my own home.
Ai Mikaze: My kindness, was it? If something like that can make you happy, then it might not be such a bad thing.
Haruka Nanami: That was delicious. Thank you very much.
Now that I have eaten well, I feel more energized than before.
Ai Mikaze: Well? What were you even doing that resulted in you lying unconscious on the floor?
He points to the spot on the floor in front of my laptop.
Haruka Nanami: Uhh… I finished all my own work yesterday. There was also the retake which I also somehow managed to do....
Ai Mikaze: Listen here, you’re not as strong as I am, so you can’t overwork yourself.
I took a look at the documents you finished, and… those were originally mine, weren’t they?
Haruka Nanami: You looked at it!? But it wasn’t finished yet!
Ai Mikaze: That’s for sure. Even the parts you finished were crudely done. If you have the time to do work that you’re not responsible for, spend that time taking care of yourself.
Oh shoot, I made him mad….
Ai Mikaze: First and foremost, the thing you should be focusing on is the unit song. You’ve been making progress, right? May I hear it?
Haruka Nanami: Y-yes! Of course!
I hurry to prepare the music.
SONG: "QUARTET NIGHT" (S Rank)
Ai Mikaze: I’d give this about 80 points.
Haruka Nanami: Then, umm… you consider 50 points as a full score, then I got 160%...?
Ai Mikaze: Uh, no, this time it was out of 100 points. You can’t exceed 100% here.
In other words…
Haruka Nanami: I got a high score?
Mikaze-senpai scribbles a flower mark on my sheet music sitting in front of my laptop.
Ai Mikaze: This isn’t half bad, but… let’s see, how about doing some research on what’s popular in music right now and adding that?
For example, you could change the timbre of the synth drums and make it sound a little more sparkly, like this....
When Mikaze-senpai makes the change he’d suggested, the music immediately begins to sound brighter.
Ai Mikaze: The piece needs to sound like something you would write, but it’s also important to analyze data and properly incorporate good technique into your compositions to create a good piece.
Haruka Nanami: That’s very good advice….
Is this the result of his daily research and analysis?
Ai Mikaze: This much is only natural. Alright, I’m going to go clean up.
While I sit there, amazed, Mikaze-senpai stands up from his seat next to me.
Haruka Nanami: Um, I’ll take care of the clean-up. Please sit down again….
As soon as I say that, he sets his hand on my head and holds me in place.
Ai Mikaze: When you’re that shaky on your feet? Absolutely not. I’m not giving you permission.
Haruka Nanami: Alright… I’ll leave it to you.
With a silent nod, Mikaze-senpai heads for the kitchen.
I totter back to the sofa. Truthfully I am still a little shaky from the fever.
Shortly after, I hear the kitchen faucet being turned on.
I can’t just let myself be taken care of like this; I need to hurry up and get over this cold.
Ai Mikaze: Hmmm, hm-hmm, hmm-hm-hmmm, hmmm~
… A song?
I can hear a light melody coming from the kitchen.
It seems like even Mikaze-senpai hums. Curious, I find myself listening closely to the playful tone.
Ai Mikaze: Huh? The dish soap isn’t coming out....
The song stops abruptly.
Now that I think about it, I am almost out of dish soap.
I quickly stand up and stride to the kitchen.
Haruka Nanami: Excuse me, there’s another bottle of dish soap under the sink—!?
As I speak, my feet get tangled up, and I lose my balance.
Ai Mikaze: Wha—whoa!?
When Mikaze-senpai hurriedly tries to support me, he also loses his balance, and we go down hard.
After a moment, I realize I’ve landed on top of him.
Ai Mikaze: … Nnnn….
And what’s more….
My lips are pressed directly to his.
Haruka Nanami: ...!?
I jerk back.
Spices and kitchenware are scattered around, and right before me is Mikaze-senpai.
Ai Mikaze: … Hahh… what are you doing? This is exactly why I said I didn’t need any help….
Haruka Nanami: I-I’m so sorry! … Um, here—!
In a panic I reach under the sink and pull out a bottle of dish soap.
Haruka Nanami: Here’s the dish soap.
Ai Mikaze: Now isn’t the time to be worrying about the dish soap.
We stare at one another without moving.
Eventually Mikaze-senpai places his hand on my cheek, and then lightly bumps his forehead to mine.
Ai Mikaze: Did your fever go up again?
He speaks while our foreheads are still touching.
After that, Mikaze-senpai hands me cold medicine and applies another cooling sheet to my forehead.
Neither of us bring up that kiss....
Instead we chat for a while about work-related things.
The sudden home visit comes to an end at last, and Mikaze-senpai prepares to leave.
Ai Mikaze: I’ll be going now. Take care.
Haruka Nanami: Oh, no, don’t worry about me. Please take care on your way home.
I escort him to the front of the dorms and Senpai bows to me graciously.
He is being very proper, but it must have been quite a sight to see in the middle of the street.
Ai Mikaze: At this rate you’re going to make all that caregiving go to waste. Hurry up and return to your room.
Haruka Nanami: But after all you did for me, I absolutely have to see you off.
Reiji Kotobuki: Huh…? What’re you two doing in a place like this?
As we banter, I hear a familiar voice from behind me.
Haruka Nanami: Hm?
When I turn around, I see Kotobuki-senpai staring at us from across the road.
Ai Mikaze: Reiji? What about you, what’re you doing here, on the roadside?
Reiji Kotobuki: Oh, I popped by Otoyan’s place to hang out for a bit and now I’m headed home. Kouhai-chan, what happened to your forehead?
Haruka Nanami: Ah! The cooling sheet!
I totally forgot I had it on. It seems I headed out without taking it off.
Ai Mikaze: Really, what do you think you’re doing…? Is your head not working right from the fever?
Haruka Nanami: I’m sorry….
Observing our interaction, Kotobuki-senpai chuckles and nods his head in some silent affirmation.
Reiji Kotobuki: Ohoho, I see~ Would this happen to actually be a date, but you’re just saying you’re taking care of her?
Haruka Nanami: H-huh!?
My face burns up, as if my cold has come back in full force.
Reiji Kotobuki: Naughty, naughty~ Romance is forbidden for idols, you know~?
Mikaze-senpai’s eyes narrow and his face scrunches up.
He steps in front of me and faces down Kotobuki-senpai.
Ai Mikaze: It was nothing. Sure, we kissed—but it wasn’t a date—she was just feeling sick so I made her some udon and took care of her for a while! Got it?
Reiji Kotobuki: Ohhh, I see, you were taking care of her while she was sick! Udon, aha, I see, that’s delici—eh? EHHH!? K-kissed!?
Mikaze-senpai speaks so fast that it seems Kotobuki-senpai has trouble keeping up, and ends up in a panic.
Haruka Nanami: M… Mikaze-senpai…!?
Everything he said is the truth, but he dropped a major bombshell in there!
Ai Mikaze: Everything we did was completely normal behavior for partners. So it’s nothing, nothing happened, nothing’s wrong!
His words are intense, and as he speaks, Mikaze-senpai takes another step forward right up to Kotobuki-senpai.
Reiji Kotobuki: O-okay, I got it, I understand, so just calm down! I’ll hear you out! Yep, let's do that, please go ahead!
Kotobuki-senpai concedes to Mikaze-senpai with no hesitation.
Ai Mikaze: You’re going to keep it a secret that you met us here. That is all. Problem solved.
Reiji Kotobuki: Okay. Got it.
Mikaze-senpai nods once, satisfied.
Ai Mikaze: Good. Well then, good night. I’ll see you some other time.
Haruka Nanami: Y-yes, you as well.
He spins on his heel and strides off.
Haruka Nanami: Umm… Kotobuki-senpai...?
Reiji Kotobuki: Hahaha, it’s alllll good! I’m famous for my tight lips! They don’t call me Rei-chan the Clam for nothing!
Haruka Nanami: I, uh, I see.
I get a feeling that there is a misunderstanding somewhere.
Reiji Kotobuki: But seriously, that was a real surprise. Details aside, that Ai-Ai was actually taking care of you, huh?
For some reason he looks happy.
Reiji Kotobuki: Far as I can tell, you’re the first he’s done that for. Anyhoo! I’m off now. And, umm. Take care!
He heads off down the sidewalk again, waving his hand as he walks.
Haruka Nanami: The first person… he’s done that for?
For some reason, hearing that makes my heart race uncontrollably.
The next day, I get a text.
Haruka Nanami: Hm, it’s from Mikaze-senpai.
Maybe it’s a message about the schedule?
Good work. This is Mikaze.
Sleep is essential for recovery from a cold.
If there’s anything you need, make sure to contact me right away.
That’s all. I look forward to working with you in the future.
Haruka Nanami: It looks like he really is worried about me.
The message is short and to the point, but this is the first personal text I’ve ever gotten from him.
My chest grows warm.
Chapter End
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Legend fan fictions I have read and liked (pt. 1???)
After weeks of scrolling and reading, I’ve gone through 38 pages of fanfictions. Approximately 700+. I didn’t read all of them, and I’m not even close to being done, but out of the ones I did read, here are my favorites (all found on Ao3):
Six Note Lullaby by FactorialRabbits
This one is about a battle that bests all the Links but Legend. Legend, who gets his hands on Time’s blue ocarina, travels back in time countless times to save them. It’s very well written, and sad but with a happy, hopeful ending.
One Step Forward, Two Steps Sideways by FantomoDrako
A Legend-meets-the-chain fic, of which there are not many! I thought this one stayed pretty true to Legend canonical character, and it was a pretty great take on how they came together as a group.
Where’s A Jabbernut When You Need It? by Kastaborous
This one is really funny! The chain interacting, but everyone speaks a different language (translations are included).
Trust Fall by FactorialRabbits
An excellent story, hands down, especially if you’re just looking to read about Legend suffering :D
You Think I Would Know By Now, Wouldn’t You? by Hyah-lian(CondensationOnGlass)
This one is just a really wholesome little snippit of Hyrule and Legend being bros and it gave me life
Day Trip by Sky_The_Lofty_Nutcase
Just some wholesome Wars and Legend being bros, with some background Time being the good father that he is.
Hard Is The Heart That Feels No Fear by FactorialRabbits
A really wonderful story that reminds the reader of Legend’s person. He may be the greatest of Hylian heroes, but he is still just Hylian. It really is a good and wholesome story, pls read it.
Scales, Wings and Mythical Things by FantomoDrako
I’d say I’m almost ashamed of loving this one as much as I do, except Im really not. Mermaid Legend, but not cringy! The whole story isn’t Legend centric, hut it often pans to Legend’s pov and it’s really a fun story!
Of course, there were some stories that I had a neutral opinion of, because they were almost good but something about them just didn’t do it for me. I’m listing these here because who knows? Maybe you’ll like it much better than I did :D
Dying As If Dreaming by CluelessMoose
Legend is suddenly unable to sleep, and his decline in health is steady. This one is actually really good, especially if you’re just here to watch Legend suffer. It’s only down here because the ending was really unsatisfying to me. Other than that, I really liked this one and have my fingers crossed that the author will add a second chapter or smth :D 10/10
Lion-Hearted, Rabbit Soft by CluelessMoose
Literally just Legend gets injured in rabbit form. Excellent writing, the only reason it’s down here is because the characters weren’t the same with the ones in my head, but that’s absolutely just me and I know everyone else will love this one. 10/10 again :D
These are just a few, so please let me know if this was helpful at all and you’d like me to do a pt. 2 or smth like this for a different character. I was originally going to wait until I’d gone through all 197 (yeah. It was 192 before but there are more now) pages to do this, but it’s taking forever and idek if my efforts will be appreciated enough for it to have been worth it. Lmk what you think :)
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Questions for Tami
How many books have you written?
This is a fair question. Any new reader who finds my work on a store isn’t going to immediately know that I have other pennames, or that I frequently publish short stories in magazines. The reader who stumbles over my fanfiction on AO3 isn’t going to know I have flash fiction on Tumblr or even a website.
To keep track of all my work, I have a spreadsheet that notes the title, what penname, when I finished it, how long it is, and where I’ve first published it. It has more details, but the important part is I can open that spreadsheet and scroll down and down and tell you…
I have written 116 things.
These things are a mix of novels, novellas, and short stories. They don’t include my fanfiction or flash fiction. Most of these things are available for purchase—although a few are on submission or just waiting in line to be published.
It has been on my to-do list for some time to make a complete reading list available for download on the website and I just haven’t gotten to it yet. Now is as good a time as any, right? Here’s a list: https://www.tamiveldura.com/biblio/
An Act Of Piracy (Historical PNR)
Blood In The Water
Ruin & Will
How Santa Stole Crampus
The Mermaid King
The Hunger Of The Deep
Queenships (Scifi)
Perihelion
What The Sun Sees
Ice Dragon Queen Wedding
Hellhounds (Urban Fantasy)
That’s Princess Hellhound, To You
HORNETS (Mil Scifi)
The Last Flight Of The Hornets
Space Sushi
Solvarg Pursues The Moon
The Queen Is Dead, Long Live The Queen
Revenge With A Side of Power Armor
A Message From The Gods
Jumperverse (Sci Fantasy)
Chasing Dragons
Tentacle Awareness
Attack of the Space Vampires
Leviathanverse (Scifi)
Flight of the Sunbird
Test of the Judgment
Maj And The Outlaws (Scifi)
Murder Is A Family Business
The Trinordia Dragon
The Right Genes For Robbery
Trafficking in Killers and Clones
It Takes A Village To Feed A Dragon
Life Is A Hallucination
The Bone Witch (Urban Fantasy)
The Call of the Grim
How Not To Raise The Dead
Taco’s Tuesday
Playground Monitor
Summoning Trouble
Blind Date With a Hellhound
Tidewater (Contemp M/M)
Dawn Patrol
Remaking Josh
Rough Recall
Wild Untouched
Zodiac Forces (Mil Scifi)
Closer Than Touch
Spring Tide
Running With Bulls
Smuggler’s Dispatch
Smart Birthday
Black Trans Fairy Tales (YA Fairy Tale Retellings)
Cinder Ella
Mer Made
Beauty’s Beast
Powyrworld (M/F PNR)
Dragon Star
Dragon Solstice
Rescued By The Dragon Assassin
Ether City (M/M PNR)
Fated To The Wolf
A Valentine’s Omega
The Dragon Heir’s Omega
The Dragon Heir’s Secret Wedding
Dragon Fire Soulmates (M/M PNR)
Heartfire Ignited
Red Stars Crossed
Stand Alone Novels
Zero Day Exploit (M/M contemp)
Stand Alone Novellas
Beauty Makes A Beast (F/f Fantasy)
Serenity (M/M contemp)
Deathwatch (YA Fantasy)
Stand Alone Short Stories
A Brand New Day (scifi)
Afterglow (fantasy)
A Gift From The Muse (horror)
A Gift Of Family (M/M contemp)
Between The Shade (fantasy)
Border Planet (scifi)
Carrot Cake (horror)
Catch A Tiger (scifi)
Colors of Resistance (contemp)
Dreamers (M/M fantasy)
En Memoriam (M/M PNR)
Glitterflies (fantasy)
Infestation (Mil Scifi)
Jinniyo (fantasy)
Living City (scifi)
Mansion GetAway (Mil scifi)
Mech Vs. Aliens (scifi)
Occult Awakening (paranormal)
Personal Best (contemp)
#PixiePocolypse (fantasy)
Problem Child (fantasy)
Professor Polter In The Computer Lab With The Banshee (YA GameLit)
Simulation (scifi)
Sovereign Inheritance (PNR)
Tea Ceremony (fantasy)
The Art of Magic (Fantasy)
The Best Dragonrider (fantasy)
The City At The Bottom Of The Lake (Fantasy)
The Eminent God (urban fantasy)
The King’s Fortune (fantasy)
The Law of the Jungle (F/F … ? Contemp?)
The Light of Shiva (urban fantasy)
The Wolf and the King (PNR)
To Heaven And Back Again (fantasy)
To Light A Bonfire (PNR)
Tree Day (mystery)
True Night (fantasy)
U And Me In Summer (F/F Contemp)
What We Do For Love (fantasy)
Collections
Fanged (M/M Vampire)
Natural Adaptation
Master Aviator
An Executioner’s Absolution
Mile High
The Catch
Enchanted (YA Fantasy)
Pale Horse
Final Wishes
Once Upon A Harvest
Afterlife
Clytemnestra
The Forever Storm
The Summer Rite
Dark Mirror
The Whole Truth
What The Redwood Sees
Double Vision
The Queen’s Offering
#writeblr#author#indie author#published author#original fiction#science fiction#fantasy#urban fantasy#YA#paranormal romance#gay romance#lesbian romance#queer fiction#short stories#novellas#novels#series#questions for Tami
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Ranking the 10 Showtime transformations because why not
Note that this is based on gameplay. If it was based on design, this list would be widely different. Mild spoilers as I mention the number of levels + a few elements in some of them.
(1.5k words below)
10. Swordfighter Peach: The more trailers I saw the more I expected this one to be rather dull and repetitive, and yeah it was. All you do is run and press a button, sometimes having to wait before pressing it. It probably doesn’t help that I’m not into beat 'em ups. The design and aesthetic are really cool, but the gameplay really gets dull.
9. Mermaid Peach: Ok so while I absolutely adore this game and would buy a sequel/DLC in a heartbeat if Nintendo released one tomorrow, there are two big issues I have with it. You can’t skip the in-level cutscenes and dialogues (which makes going back to collect everything very tedious) and the game is way too short.
Tbh I would’ve loved to have at least eight levels per transformations, but regardless I do think we should have had at least five, that way not only would the game be longer but we could also have had more game mechanics for each transformation, as there was a lot of potential here and it feels like the game only scratched the surface of what could be done with them (ngl I’m very curious about the scrapped content of this game).
The way I see it, the first and second levels stay the same, third you start in the transformation and it introduces a new mechanic, fourth is the Sparklas rescue level, and fifth is a play done fully with the Sparkla by your side, as I feel like having one long/full level with each Sparkla would have made one specific cutscene more effective since we would’ve seen more of them as a result.
Going back to the topic of Mermaid Peach, thing is, while each transformation had more potential, I’m still very satisfied with what we ended up having for all of them, including Swordfighter. Mermaid is the exception tho, as unlike the others it feels like an actual waste of potential, not helped by the first level being a complete slug in its first half and the Sparkla level being ridiculously short.
Like that transformation is just a whole lot of nothing. You either move some fishes or do a not-actually-a-rhythm-game concert, both of which aren’t the most interesting thing. Tbh I should probably put it below Swordfighter but I do like controlling the fishes, especially in the second level, so it gets some points for that. But it’s still a very “nothing” transformation.
I think the issue is that they didn’t fully commit to their ideas for it. Like we get a few puzzles but they’re way too short and easy, same with the concert that isn’t much of a minigame. I feel like had they pushed for longer or more complex puzzles and done something different for the concert, it would have been a better transformation. Or at least make the puzzles of the first level better, as I do like the way they handled the second level’s fight-oriented section.
And unrelated but huge props to whoever did the opera singing bc some of the notes they hit are high!
8. Mighty Peach: It’s basically the same issue as Swordfighter. You run around and attack, rinse and repeat. But this time it’s more satisfying and there’s more gameplay variety. Also the boss of the second stage had so much effort put into them and I can’t help but love it for it. Still all about running and punching, but it’s more fun.
7. Kung-Fu Peach: Same deal as Swordfighter and Mighty. Now I’m putting it above the other two bc they do try to give you different ways of fighting on top of some platforming, and going down the polls is very satisfying when there are tons of enemies. I also find the bosses to be better than Swordfighter, even if in both cases it’s just “press the attack button at the right time”. I think it’s the animations, it’s just more fun. The boss for the Sparkla rescue is especially enjoyable. But yeah ultimately it’s still a lot of running and punching.
6. Figure Skater Peach: This one was weird to rank bc I do really like the gameplay, they did a really good job at mixing up minigame with fighting, plus the boss is fun. But at the same time the levels themselves aren’t all that good imo.
I think this transformation might suffer the most from only having three levels. Like I wish we had more exploring/"platforming" the likes of the first level (the section after the performance but before the boss), but at the same time I like the parade float idea of the second level. The first level also has a fairly long “tutorial” (the performance section) but at the same time I get why it’s there. So yeah, I guess the issue is moreso how little levels they are, making the flaws of what we have stand out more.
On that note, I found the controls to be a bit janky at times, especially when it comes to turning around, but I’m willing to forgive some of it since it’s ice physics + gives some more difficulty (even though I’m not the biggest fan of when the difficulty comes from jankiness rather than lack of skill)
The sparkla level is amazing tho!
5. Patissiere Peach: The transformation I expected the least of and ended up genuinely surprised by how enjoyable it is. You don’t even do that much, there’s only two minigames that are played out three times, but for some reason I still love it. And I like how tight the timing on the cookies is on the second level, in general they don’t leave you much room to mess it up which I like.
4. Cowgirl Peach: It’s basically the opposite of Figure Skater. I don’t find the gameplay itself all that interesting but the levels are so good and manage to use said gameplay very well, which really makes up for it! The second and Sparkla level in particular are really good, I really enjoyed them!
3. Dashing Thief Peach: Look I grew up playing Mario games, of course I’m going to enjoy the 2D platforming levels. But yeah those are really fun! Love the vibes, cool levels, and I especially like the Sparkla one as it really feels like they’re testing you on every ability with the four different rooms + the escape. Really enjoyable transformation!
2. Detective Peach: I had no idea what to expect of this one and am still surprised by how much I love it. I don’t know if this is the mystery angle, the fact you can skip dialogues and even go straight to the answer if you want to without needing any clue (which makes replaying the levels way less tedious), the Junior detective that I can’t help but love, the fact you can check on everything which makes my monkey brain happy, Peach’s “I’m smarter than everyone else” face when getting the answer that I find hilarious, or level 2 as a whole (especially the very beginning and “cutscene” at the end), but yeah I adore this one!
The only negative I can say is that there’s little replayability once you know the answer, which I’m assuming is an issue with the genre in general so it’s not like the game could have done this differently, and the Sparkla level which is way too short and easy. Other than that, love it!
1. Ninja Peach: Like I said for Dashing Thief, I’m a big fan of platforming. And this level is all platforming on top of really fun infiltration. They also somehow managed to make auto-scrolling sections fun, which I really like (I think it’s the speed that makes them enjoyable).
Speaking of infiltration I’m also a big fan of all the silly animations Peach has when sneaking around (the two branches clearly not made of grass, the wall disguise that doesn’t hide her hair, the bamboo, the shoes when walking on water, the log with hair when spotted, trying to walk sneakily in that one section from the second level), you can tell the people working on the game had fun with those!
Also the “scroll usage” sections are incredibly satisfying, especially the one from the second level. The Sparkla level is also very fun, tho not my favorite. But yeah, it’s just a very fun and satisfying transformation!
(Note that I’m aware of how dumb it is to complain about some transformations “not having much going on gameplay wise” or “only being two buttons to push” when literally every single one of them is just pushing two buttons, but the difference lies in how much variety they were able to get out of each transformation on top of the genre for each, both of which make for a more or less enjoyable experience depending on the transformation.
For example, both Swordfighter and Dashing Thief only have two buttons you can push, but Swordfighter ends up being exclusively about fighting enemies, while Dashing Thief has a few puzzles, some quick action moments, a gliding section and some “rail sliding” (no idea what else to call it). It’s still just pushing two buttons, but they got more variety out of it, hence being more interesting.)
#Princess Peach#Princess Peach Showtime#Princess Peach Showtime spoilers#Super Mario#Flor talks#there's something funny about me putting all the fight-oriented ones at the bottom given my previous Peach posts#but in all honestly this really has less to do with Peach and more to do with me not liking beat 'em ups#on that note the main takeaway here is that I need to play more puzzle games#making this is tempting me to rank all Sparkla levels; but it feels kind of useless to do so#one thing I'd say about a Sparkla levels list tho is that the shortest ones like Mermaid and Swordfighter would be at the bottom#while my top 3 would be 3. Patissiere 2. Figure Skater and 1. Dashing Thief#bc A. these levels make full use of everything you do with those transformations#and B. you get to work alongside the Sparkla which I greatly enjoy
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(Last Updated- 4/6/24)
The Basics …
I. Check the introductory post before requesting
↳ My pinned post is the go-to for checking what I currently accept. If I accept non-JoJo’s requests, drabbles, headcanons, matchups, it’ll all be listed front and center. Any request sent to me disregarding it (sending in a headcanon request when they’re closed, for example), will be deleted.
II. Multi-fandom (well, kind of)
↳ My blog is primarily focused on JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and my writing will certainly reflect that as well. That being said, there may be times when I open my writing to different fandoms (those of which I will list further down this post).
↳ I have yet read parts 8 and 9 of the manga (I’m very slow at catching up to things). As of now, I write for characters up to part 7.
III. Reader specifics
↳ If a gender is not picked out for the reader in a request, the reader will be written as gender neutral. If a specific set of pronouns aren’t given, the reader will be written to have they/them pronouns. AFAB and AMAB is preferred to be specified as well. Remember that someone’s gender is not necessarily a signifier of their pronouns or sex. For example, a fem!reader does not guarantee she/her pronouns.
↳ Race-specific or ethnic-specific reader requests will not be accepted. It's not in my wheelhouse of expertise, as I fear I would only end up stereotyping the experiences of others if I attempted to do so. As it stands, I currently do not have the understanding to deliver on those requests.
↳ Matchups are only ever for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.
IV. OC requests
↳ I do take requests for your OC and your preferred s/o. Adding additional information on your requested OC is certainly appreciated. However, if you have posted information on the OC previously on your blog it isn’t necessary. I will do what I can to familiarize myself with your character before beginning to write the request. Take note that these requests may take longer for me to complete compared to others.
↳ OC requests are only ever for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.
V. NSFW and/or dark content
↳ Sexual content is allowed, therefore NSFW requests are accepted.
↳ Underage characters will be aged up and clearly depicted as such in the work itself. I am not going to write the characters as they are and just say they’re aged up in the description- I will make it clear within the work itself every single time.
↳ Most kinks I’m open to writing for. Shoot me a request even if you’re unsure. If I find something i’m uncomfortable with, I’ll be sure to add it here.
↳ Yandere content is also allowed. I will always give a disclaimer about it; such relationship dynamics are never to be sought after in real life. Please, keep yourselves safe first and foremost.
↳ Any potentially triggering content will be given a warning on my part. Anything from swearing, to substance usage, to suggestive material, and anything/everything in between. As the writer, I feel it is my responsibility. If I ever miss something, notify me immediately so I may correct the mistake.
VI. What isn’t allowed
↳ No pedophilic or inscestual relationships allowed. No bestiality either.
↳ Most mental and/or personal struggles I’m open to. That being said, I will write nothing on eating disorders, whether it be explicit or implied.
↳ Monster characters/AUs are not allowed. No mermaids, werewolf, ghosts, or otherworldly-types. The character DIO (and the Pillar Men?) is the only acception by nature of their characters in universe.
↳ This is very specific, but I will not be doing romantic writing for the character Joseph Joestar at all.
Fandoms and Characters …
↳ Favorite characters of mine to write for will be highlighted in red; if a character listed appears in a later part that is also included (examples: Jotaro Kujo, Dio Brando, etc.)
I. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
↳ Part 1: Jonathan Joestar, Robert E. O. Speedwagon, Dio Brando, Erina Pendleton.
↳ Part 2: Joseph Joestar (platonic only), Caesar Zeppeli, Lisa Lisa, Suzi Q, Kars, Esidisi, Wamuu.
↳ Part 3: Jotaro Kujo, Muhammad Avdol, Noriaki Kakyoin, Jean Pierre Polnareff, Hol Horse, N’Doul, Mariah.
↳ Part 4: Josuke Higashikata, Okuyasu Nijimura, Koichi Hirose, Rohan Kishibe, Mikitaka Hazekura, Yuya Fungami, Yukako Yamagishi, Tonio Trussardi, Yoshikage Kira.
↳ Part 5: Giorno Giovanna, Bruno Bucciarati, Leone Abbacchio, Guido Mista, Narancia Ghirga, Pannacotta Fugo, Trish Una, Diavolo/Doppio, Risotto Nero, Prosciutto, Melone, Ghiaccio.
↳ Part 6: Jolyne Cujoh, Ermes Costello, Foo Fighters, Weather Report, Narciso Anasui, Gwess, Enrico Pucci, Miraschon.
↳ Part 7: Johnny Joestar, Gyro Zeppeli, Diego Brando, Hot Pants, Mountain Tim, Funny Valentine.
(Once again; the rest mentioned is only on occasion for the time being. I will also update the list below more in the future)
II. Cowboy Bebop
↳ Spike Spiegel, Faye Valentine, Jet Black.
III. Ouran High School Host Club
↳ Haruhi Fujioka, Tamaki Suoh, Kyoya Ootori, Hikaru Hitachiin, Kaoru Hitachiin, Takashi Morinozuka.
IV. The Way of the Househusband
↳ Tatsu, Masa.
V. Baldur’s Gate 3
↳ Lae’zel, Shadowheart, Astarion, Gale, Wyll, Karlach, Halsin, Minthara, Raphael.
#my writing rules#jojo’s bizarre adventure#cowboy bebop#ouran high school host club#the way of the house husband
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Weekend Top Ten #615
Top Ten Songs from Pixar Films
Disney is always associated with music. The very concept of a “Disney song” is so ingrained into our cultural perception of the company, that we even have multiple sub-genres within; the “villain song”, the “I Want song”, the “comedy song”, etc. Not all Disney animated films are musicals, and not all the musicals are the same, and if you go back earlier than the Renaissance the style itself hadn’t solidified in any way, but all the same; you say “Disney song”, chances are people know what kind of thing you mean.
The same is not true of Pixar. When the company first rose to prominence in the late nineties, they felt in opposition to the standard Disney formula (despite Disney releasing all their films and, eventually, buying them outright). Disney animation was just about starting the downswing towards the end of its Renaissance era; the standard pattern established by the groundbreaking likes of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast was, arguably, starting to wear a bit thin through repetition (although I’ll definitely go to bat for late-Renaissance-era bangers like Tarzan and The Hunchback of Notre Dame). Pixar films weren’t musicals, they weren’t fairy tales, they weren’t literary adaptations or allusions. They were modern, they were comedies, they were buddy movies; they had wit and verve and contemporary references. However, right from the start, they still had songs.
Because we think of the “Disney musical” versus the “Pixar comedy”, I think we tend to overlook just how excellent some of the music in these films was, right from the off. Toy Story was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song (although it did lose to Pocahontas), and it was an accolade the studio would receive a number of times, even winning on more than one occasion. But these songs weren’t the kind of breakout Broadway bangers Disney was producing; they were, more often than not, non-diegetic, songs that functioned the way a musical number might, but were merely “on the soundtrack”. Jessie doesn’t actually sing “When She Loved Me” in Toy Story 2; there’s no evidence the characters “hear” the song at all. But as a narrative device, it serves the same purpose; it imparts emotional information in the most powerful manner possible. Even when characters in Pixar movies do sing, it’s in a “realistic” manner – like, they pick up a guitar and sing – rather than the emotional explosion of a traditional musical number.
All this is to say that Pixar films have some tremendous songs and this is a list of them. It isn’t score, though; these are all proper songs with words and that. And I’m not allowing songs that were already written. These have to be new songs that debuted in the film. And that’s that!
No apologies if some of these make you cry, by the way.
When She Loved Me (Toy Story 2, 1999): I think this I the moment when the sophisticated, mature themes that underpin a lot of Pixar’s stories became very apparent. After what was essentially a knockabout buddy comedy in the first Toy Story, this really rammed home the subtext: the toys were us, parents, saying goodbye to children. There’s an inherent tragedy at the core of the Toy Story films because children will, inevitably, unthinkingly abandon their toys, but the toys will never truly abandon the children. This is heartbreakingly illustrated in this song, a tender ballad of loss that rings all too true.
Remember Me (Coco, 2017): oh Christ, here we go again; a song so good they feature it three times in three different ways. Presented initially as something of a love song, it is revealed to be an incredibly heartfelt lullaby to a child from a parent who has to go away. The simple refrain and Latin guitar helps make it feel like a classic song, something from our own childhoods. Its later use in the film is one of Pixar’s most eye-watering moments, and that’s saying something.
Lava (Lava, 2014): is it a cheat to have a song from a short? Hell no, it’s where Pixar began and it’s where they still love to shine. Lava was put out alongside Inside Out and I don’t think I’ve ever consistently cried more often in the cinema. A somewhat jaunty Hawaiian melody tells a story that feels like a creation myth, with two lovestruck volcanoes missing each other across millennia. The life-affirming triumph of love in the face of tragedy is a nice change of pace from the sadder songs we’ve had so far, but it’s no less tear-jerking.
Touch the Sky (Brave, 2012): ah, thank goodness – this isn’t sad at all! Probably one of the more under-sung songs on this list (no pun intended) it’s a stirring Celtic ballad about freedom. Whilst in some respects it’s a little on-the-nose, its evocative melody contains a lot of passion and also reminds me of the songs from Lord of the Rings, which in turn reminds of the Lord of the Rings movies, and that’s a good thing.
If I Didn’t Have You (Monsters, Inc., 2001): the first outright jaunty number on this list (and the first Pixar song to win an Oscar!), it’s a hoot as Billy Crystal and John Goodman do something of a riff on the old Frank ‘n’ Dean-style buddy-buddy duets. A beautiful pean to friendship, it’s funny and sweet and a minor bop, and is also one of the few songs here sung in-character.
Un Poco Loco (Coco, 2017): Coco is so great it’s the first film to pop up twice on this list (spoiler: it won’t be the last). This song is a blast, a really funny, silly love song about being besotted and willing to do anything despite it seeming crazy. It works so well in the film as a cathartic bonding moment for our two heroes.
Nobody Like U (Turning Red, 2022): amazingly – shockingly – this wasn’t nominated for Best Song at the Oscars. Turning Red – Pixar’s best film for maybe a decade – goes deep on the early-noughties nostalgia, no more so than in this absolutely pitch-perfect parody of a boy band. The central characters’ desire to see 4*Star sing this boppy number rings so true, and absolute top marks to Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O’Connell for making a song that really could have been sung at the MTV Awards in 2002.
You’ve Got a Friend in Me (Toy Story, 1995): the classic is here at last! With a kind of charming, louche swagger, Friend in Me is a delightfully plodding little ditty about, well, being a great friend. Randy Newman’s deep, dulcet tones are iconic (and, ahem, ripe for parody), but are also warm and – yes – friendly. There’s something about those opening bars that just makes you feel nice.
I Will Go Sailing No More (Toy Story, 1995): from triumph to tragedy with this, another oft-overlooked minor banger in the Pixar songbook. Telling the story of Buzz’s sad realisation of his own toyhood, it charts the quixotic attempts to achieve the impossible. The use of sailing as a metaphor – when obviously Buzz wants to fly – carries connotations of epic historic voyages, something melancholy and timeless; like Buzz will never board the grey ships to the west.
Le Festin (Ratatouille, 2007): a beautiful French ballad that perfectly recreates the sort of song you think of when you think of a film set in Paris. The lyrics obviously sound better in French, but they compare life and love to food, and celebrate the hero finally getting to enjoy a feast. It’s dead good.
Well, there you go – ten great tunes from, er, seven great films. Next week: Christmas!
#top ten#films#movies#animation#disney#pixar#songs#music#pixar songs#toy story#coco#ratatouille#brave
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Blood Defied - 1: Protego (Ominis Gaunt x OC)
Chapter List | Next Chapter >
War brought her to her demise. Muggles had cast her aside, then wizardkind did, too. Trapped, unsure of where to go, Credence Painter had tried to appease both worlds: the horrible racism of her American home life—natives and whites fighting for territory—and the cruel torment of Muggle-borns. Like herself, left dejected, outcast, and seeking solace.
Now in Hogwarts, she tried not to think about her mother’s sneering face, the blame and guilt associated with dabbling in the darker arts. She was a Ravenclaw and, as she came to see, Ravenclaws were considered the “smart” House in the University of Hogwarts. Credence looked back upon her past, all the stupid mistakes she made, getting mixed up in foolish things, and couldn’t figure out where she was supposed to be “smart”. All she saw was failure, death in her wake, and blood staining her hands.
Her hands—clutching a novel—threatened to tremble. Flesh scrubbed clean, it was almost as if she was an ordinary student. Destined for nothing. She wanted to keep it that way. The fewer eyes upon her, the better. However, seeing as she’d come from America, that was a bit difficult, as her fellow students often bombarded her with questions.
This afternoon was no different. As she sat in the Central Hall, resting in front of the mermaid fountain after a grueling lesson in Potions class, she’d already had someone walk up to her and ask about America. Basic questions: What’s America like? Do you guys have a magic school there? Oh, wow, what’s Ilvermorny like? Why did you come to the UK? She answered them all to the best of her abilities.
She was hoping to bury her face in her book, though it was Sherlock Holmes and many people were unfortunately interested in her Muggle novels. So when another voice called for her attention, it didn’t seem like anything special.
“Are you the new student?” he asked.
She looked to him, and noticed immediately that his eyes were pale and unfocused. He looked sort of toward the ground, his blonde hair gleaming yellow in the sun. His robe ousted him as a Slytherin.
“Yeah,” she answered. “That’s me.”
“May I sit?”
“Of course.”
Despite his lack of vision, he found the fountain bench without issue. “I don’t mean to probe, I’m just curious about America. What’s it like?”
“Oh, it's great. We ride elks, shoot our guns in the air, and run with eagles.”
“You wha—Oh, I see,” he said with a chuckle, “that’s sarcasm.”
“Sorry, couldn’t help myself. Been asked this question a million times today. Really, America is hardly different from here. Except that Americans like to be in everyone’s business. It’s pretty tiresome.”
“It’s always sounded interesting. The people seem nice enough—”
“Don’t let their outward sociability fool you. The people in America are pretty closed-minded.”
“Oh? You included?”
“That’s the thing, isn’t it? People who are closed-minded don’t know they are. So even if I said I’m not, it might not be true.”
He laughed. “I was only joking. But now I see why you were sorted into Ravenclaw.”
“Oh,” she said, her gaze falling to her book. “I’ve never been good with social cues. Sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize. I’m Ominis, by the way. Ominis Gaunt.”
“Credence Painter.”
“Hey, Gaunt!” called another.
Ominis’ face soured instantly.
The other student, a Hufflepuff, asked, “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Chatting with a friend.”
Grimacing, the Hufflepuff asked, “Why would you want to be seen with her?”
“That’s none of your concern, Black.”
"Maybe not mine, but what would your family think if they caught you getting chummy with someone like her?"
Credence kept quiet. This guy seemed like nothing but trouble. She’d seen that antagonizing glare in many people’s eyes, looking upon her like she was something disgusting. She wanted nothing to do with it and didn’t want to rile him up more. It seemed Ominis, however, had different ideas.
“‘Someone like her’?” Ominis repeated, standing. “The hell’s that supposed to mean?”
“You know exactly what that means.”
Ominis’ fists clenched. “Don’t start with me.”
“Ominis,” said Credence, “maybe I should go.”
“There’s no need for that,” he replied.
“Oh, let her go,” said Black. “You shouldn't be caught dead talking to her anyway. Could you imagine the scandal? Being seen with some dirty mudblood."
Gasps and whispers erupted around them. Credence had never heard the term before, but given the implications of it and Black’s snarling lip and contempt, she knew. She’d had the same treatment before. Without warning, Ominis bashed his fist into Black’s cheek. Black staggered back, grasping his wound as even more gasps and murmurs erupted from the small but growing crowd.
Black whipped out his wand and cast a spell at an unarmed Ominis. Credence jumped in and cast a wandless Protego. The spell ricocheted off her shield and hit Black in the chest, knocking him to the ground.
Credence snapped her gaze to Ominis, who now had his wand out.
"Are you okay, Ominis?"
"I'm fine."
"Keep your eye on the fight, mudblood!"
“Expelliarmus!” shouted Ominis, flinging Black’s wand across the foyer.
Black only took a step or two toward his wand before Professor Sharp rushed up the stairwell.
"That's enough of this fighting! Black, Gaunt, Painter, what's the meaning of this?"
"I'm sorry, sir," said Ominis. "Things got out of hand."
"Gaunt punched me, Professor," said Black. "I was only defending myself."
"You were antagonizing us in the first place,” Credence said. “Calling me a—what was that word again? A mudblood."
“You need to learn to mind your business, Painter,” spat Black.
"Enough!" snapped Sharp. "Fifty points off all your Houses. If I see any more fighting between you three, you'll all be sent straight to the Headmaster. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir," they replied in tandem.
Black shot her and Ominis a nasty sneer. "Don't think this is over. Especially you." He glared into Credence's eyes. "You'll regret this."
Black stormed off. This wasn't the first time she'd been derided for being a Muggle-born, though she'd hoped she'd never need to relive her days in Ilvermorny again. What a fool she was to believe that was even possible.
"Credence?" Ominis asked. "Are you all right?"
"I… I should go."
She scurried off, refusing to look back. Ominis was too kind to get mixed up in her drama. She would never forgive herself if he got hurt because he continued associating with her; she would rather go the rest of her academic career alone than let that happen.
The next day, heading to her Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Credence heard how quickly rumors spread. The fight between her, Black, and Ominis was a major source of gossip, and though people tried to hide it by getting quieter when she passed, she still caught a lot of what was said. Most of it was accurate—Black called her a mudblood, Ominis retaliated, a fight broke out. But some of it, Credence had no idea where it came from.
“I heard she was flirting with Black and Ominis got jealous, that’s why he punched him,” said one guy in a small group of students. The others seemed to be eating his rumor up. How people thought she was involved with Black or Ominis in any way made Credence wince.
Another group had a similar story but the other way around. This group clammed up the moment they noticed her coming. She wished she could just shove her face in her book and pretend like nothing was happening, but she’d misplaced it after the fight. Credence needed to mourn the loss of that book before she could move onto another—a completely harmless habit, until today.
Luckily, when she walked in through the doors of DADA, the students inside were chatting about actual schoolwork and not rumors. Once she was past the threshold, the doors shut behind her.
“All right class,” said Professor Hecate, an older witch that walked with a hunch but spoke with immense confidence and power. “Looks like everyone is here now. We’ll be practicing wandless, non-verbal protection charms today, so let’s partner up.”
Chairs scraped along the hardwood floors as Credence looked around the room for a partner of her own. Maybe another Ravenclaw would be best, since she already spent time with them in the common room. But as she stood with indecision, she was running out of options fast.
Her eyes landed on Ominis and her heart jumped. She quickly looked away. Oh, please not him, she’d done enough damage to his reputation already. He’d been talking with another Slytherin, an auburn-haired fellow. Maybe she would get lucky and he'd partner up with him—
“Hey there,” said Ominis.
She smiled uneasily. “Oh, hey.”
“You left this in the Central Hall yesterday.”
He handed her the Sherlock Holmes book and her heart jumped with joy. She could’ve hugged him, but she instead settled for hugging the novel.
“Thank you, Ominis! I’ve been looking for this!”
“No problem. Did you want to be my partner today?”
“Oh, um, sure.” Damn her issues with saying no…
Professor Hecate walked up to them. “Mr. Gaunt, if you need her to use vocal spells—”
“I know when the spell is coming, Professor.”
“All right.” Then she turned to the classroom, flicked both wrists, and the furniture pushed up against the walls. “Everyone pick a side and face your partners!”
“Don’t go easy on me,” Ominis said to Credence with a cheeky smirk. “I’ll be able to tell.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
She couldn’t help but smile. Maybe she was just on a high about getting her book back, but he was— Well… She pulled out her enchanted satchel and stowed Sherlock Holmes in his proper place, then headed to the opposite wall. She faced Ominis, who seemed less anxious than some of the others, making Credence wonder just how good he was with wandless magic. She wished she could imitate his fearless attitude, rather than shuffling her feet.
Professor Hecate stood proud at the front of the classroom. “To my left is Side A and to my right is Side B! Side A will be using their Protego first. Side B, please get out your wands for your basic cast, I don’t want to be sending anyone to the hospital wing today. No funny business, either! Basic casts and Protego only. Ready? Cast!”
Credence thrust out her wand and a red spark traveled swiftly across the room (though, she noticed, hers was one of the slower spells). At first, it looked like Ominis was going to miss his chance, and plenty of the other students cast their Protego early. But Ominis’ Protego expanded forth at the perfect time to completely absorb her spell.
“A perfect Protego,” said Professor Hecate with a regal and soft round of applause. “Excellent work Mr. Sallow, Mr. Gaunt. Twenty points to Slytherin. Oh, Ms. Fimble, please do cast Protego earlier.”
Fimble, a Slytherin, was one of the few who’d failed at casting Protego. Credence felt her palms sweating, hoping she wouldn’t be one of them, too.
When it came time for Side B to cast Protego, Credence’s heart was racing. Professor Hecate gave the signal, and Ominis’ basic cast launched at her so fast—far faster than her own, faster than a good portion of their other classmates’. All fear left Credence. She was taken back to the wars, the fighting—a sudden calmness hitting her, instinctual, almost predatory. An acrid taste hit her tongue. Her Protego shot out without her needing to move, at exactly the right time for her shield to absorb his attack.
As the purple glow of her shield faded, and she just barely heard the teacher praising her and another Ravenclaw—Arman? Amit?—she returned to the present, breathing a little heavier. Professor Hecate clapped again for them, getting more of Credence’s attention as voices returned to her ears.
“A perfect Protego! Good work Ms. Painter, Mr. Thakkar. Twenty points to Ravenclaw as well! Mr. Hobhouse, be careful with that ricochet. The four perfect Protego casters, please practice amongst yourselves.”
She and the others congregated to their own space a little farther down. Ominis and the auburn-haired guy, Sallow, briefly conversed before Sallow rolled his eyes and paired off with—Arman? Amit?—Thakkar.
“Your Protego was amazing,” Ominis said to her.
“Thanks, so was yours. How did you know how close the spell was?”
“You know what they say. When one sense is gone, the others pick up the slack. Spells have a very specific scent, you know.”
“Really? I guess I never noticed. I’m sorry, that wasn’t insensitive, was it?”
“No, not at all. Buuuut let’s get to work before Hecate loses her mind.”
Going back and forth with Ominis helped ease Credence’s brief lapses of reality. Through his laughter and encouragement, she stayed more in the present. She even found herself laughing when Sallow told them to “quit flirting” and Ominis responded by outright flipping him the bird. Hecate scolded him briefly, but even through his apology, he was still grinning.
By the end of the class, all those nasty rumors about Black had faded away. It was just a bad, fleeting memory now, covered over by Ominis’ voice and smile. She knew she shouldn’t be getting attached, but he sure was making that difficult.
#ominis gaunt#ominis x oc#sebastian sallow#hogwarts legacy#harry potter#original character#original female character#original characters#parselmouth#parseltongue#romance#hurt and comfort#angst#survivors guilt#guilt#grieving#grief#fear#war#love#snake#snakes#animagus#ravenclaw#slytherin#college au#hogwarts university#fanfiction#writing#fanfic
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Diabolik Lovers || Dark Waters - Kazemi Ecstasy Route [Ecstasy 07]
--Scene starts in the dungeon under the church
*Footsteps*
Goki: Now this is upsetting. You two don’t look as miserable and hopeless as I thought you would.
Kazemi: Sorry to disappoint you.
Kou: Yeah, why don’t you come in here beat us up a little? I’m sure that would solve all your problems~.
Goki: Fufufu I pass. Sharing a cell with an angry vampire and a cursed mermaid is not in my to do list.
Kou: Aww, come on now~. I’m sure you’re dying to try. In fact...
I think you’re dying to have her for yourself... aren’t you?
Kazemi: Kou...
Kou: What? It makes sense right? He’s been so desperate to have you... In fact the only reason why he wants to kill you is because he can’t have you, isn’t that right?
Because you decided she’s a threat to you... You’ve decided you hate her just to deny the fact you still want her... right?
Go-ki-kun~
Goki: ...
Kazemi: ...
(Goki...?)
Goki: ... I didn’t decide she’s a threat. I know that for a fact. If it wasn’t for that man’s warning...
Kazemi: What man?
Goki: Why should I tell you?
Kou: Well, we’re going to die soon anyway, right? So why not tell us already?
Goki: ... ...
Fine...
Back when we were kids... we used to play together all the time.
Kazemi was the most beautiful girl I had ever met and... I liked her a lot...
One day... I noticed her fangs starting to grow... And when I asked... She said it was a natural thing and that they would become big and strong one day... like her father’s...
Of course I already knew she wasn’t a normal girl. While playing she’s always use her powers to control water.
But that day... I went home terrified... I didn’t know what to think...
It was then that weird old man showed up to me.
--Flashback starts
Traveler: Hello, young one.
Young Goki: Hello... Who are you, sir?
Traveler: Oh I am simply a traveler passing by. I could not help but notice your long face. Is something the matter?
Young Goki: It’s nothing, really.
Traveler: Is that so? And who happen to be that little young lady you were just with?
Young Goki: ...!
No one! She’s... just a friend!
Traveler: Fufu No one? How can someone be no one and a friend at the same time?
Young Goki: ... I... I'm going home... I shouldn’t be talking to strangers anyway...
Traveler: Be careful, young one.
Young Goki: !!
(He... He grabbed my arm out of nowhere...)
Traveler: I have seen creatures like that little girl... Cruel sea creatures who will lure you in with smiles and singing and then eat you before you know what is happening.
Watch yourself. Do not fall into her spell and stay away from her mother. Otherwise... I cannot imagine what horrors await you.
Goki: ... ... ...
--Goki runs away.
Traveler: ... Heh...
--Flashback ends
Goki: After that I told my mom everything that man told me. She didn’t seem to believe me, but she probably mentioned it to some of her neighbors, because the next day...
Kazemi: They set fire to my house...
Goki: ... Right...
You disappeared for two years... So I thought you had died with your parents.
But then you showed up again...
Kazemi: And you pushed me away!
Goki: Of course I did! If I didn’t, I would have become one of all the bodies you left behind all these years!
*Slam*
Kazemi: I NEEDED HELP!!
I was terrified and you weren’t there for me!
Goki: And I’m glad I wasn’t! Now I can finally rid the world from the filthy monster you are!
--Goki leaves.
Kazemi: ... ...
Monologue
I couldn’t believe my ears.
My friend... My beloved friend was the reason my life was ruined.
If Kou wasn’t right next to me I’m sure I would have lost it.
I wanted to kill him. Even if is costed my life, I wanted to end his life right then and there.
But I knew better. After all a true predator never attacks without a strategy.
--End of Ecstasy 7
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