#Also I guess this takes place a few years after the movie and Mario and DK actually became friends

[stripetkattelalala54-gf]

4 times Mario protects his friends and brother + 1 time they all protect him

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

So far, the 2024 animated domestic box office shows me one thing...

If you want a big gross, it's still a sequels/franchise game with this medium at the movies, post-COVID outbreak.

KUNG FU PANDA 4 really kicked things off theatrically, and took in $57m over its early March opening weekend, and INSIDE OUT 2 sits among the big leagues with its colossal $154m opening.

Anything more original or based on an untested IP... Same situation as 2022 and 2023, really. Small openings, but if audiences like 'em, then... Leggy runs. See BAD GUYS, MIGRATION, etc.

Speaking of MIGRATION... Most of the first quarter of the year was MIGRATION's post-holiday legs, as it was an audience favorite and was literally one of the only movies to take the family to during the winter... If they hadn't seen WONKA already. Fitting for a movie about ducks, ahem, migrating to a place where it's warmer. It's like FROZEN: Make an animated movie about characters in a cold place wanting things to be warm again, and release it near Thanksgiving/Christmas... Really pushes those winter blues away. (Unless you like winter.)

IF, with its CG cartoon characters, was a real surprise opening at $33m and legging its way past $100m domestic. That has been acknowledged by some of the press, even if it'll still be a "flop" in Hollywood math at the end of the day. The adult, and even older adult/senior turnout, that I see for this one at the cinema I work at... All childless... Something about this movie has struck a chord with audiences in a way a lot of recent animated family movies seemingly haven't. I guess live-action just does make it easier to digest for some...

Elsewhere, THE GARFIELD MOVIE scored $24m for its three-day and has legged itself nicely despite the existence of both IF and INSIDE OUT 2. It's an agreeable little movie, I found it to be alright. Whether it's faithful to the spirit of the comic strip (and many cartoon adaptations, particularly from the era where Lorenzo Music voiced Garfield) or not, the families have consistently chosen this one weekend-to-weekend. Cartoon, cats and dogs, slapstick, recognizable characters even if you don't read funnies in the papers, fits the bill just enough.

DESPICABLE ME 4 will kick off the second half, and should be big. Gang's back together, as it's not a prequel, could make MINIONS numbers on opening weekend or around the unadjusted amounts of 2 & 3 ($83m and $72m respectively), sure to explode worldwide too. Illumination hasn't had a financial miss yet. DESPICABLE ME 4 also looks to be their newest movie for a long while, as nothing is scheduled for 2025 (first time they've skipped a year not counting the early COVID years, MINIONS 2 and SING 2 were made for 2020 in mind), and the MARIO sequel drops in April of 2026.

TRANSFORMERS ONE and THE WILD ROBOT open close to each other in September, but I suspect both will open okay and then leg it out from there. GARFIELD and IF co-existed fine together, and they currently co-exist fine with INSIDE OUT 2. If audiences like them and money's not too tight, they'll both make back their budgets. I'd imagine neither of them cost too much... And honestly, I'm here for it. I'm totally okay with a bunch of animated movies making sub-$100m totals domestically and around $150-300m worldwide, and still making back their money. The antithesis of what the Diz wants out of seemingly any movie they put out.

On the subject of smaller titles: Anime titles continue to do their business, too, i.e. new DEMON SLAYER clipshow, the SPY X FAMILY movie. Year after year, more so than ever before I'd argue. Give 'em a wide release for a few weeks, the base will show up.

MOANA 2 is sure to be massive, MUFASA I think gets saved by worldwide grosses and Christmas legs, SONIC 3 should do great, and then there's THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM. I think that'll be an interesting one to track, I don't think it's primed to be an opening weekend winner despite being a LORD OF THE RINGS film. Remember, SPIDER-VERSE 1 opened with an okay $35m in the December frame, MUTANT MAYHEM with $28m. LORD OF THE RINGS is largely associated with live-action for most audiences, despite there being a few animated adaptations made well beforehand. THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP, should it actually get the theatrical release GFM has been gunning for, I think opens small too but then legs it up... Again, I hope they make back their budgets, once again showing that little guys are every bit as important as the big guns. It's just cool that movies like ROHIRRIM and EARTH BLEW UP are getting theatrical releases to begin with, that would've been unheard of ten years ago.

Maybe 2025 changes course, and we see more original stuff open higher than usual post-outbreak. ELIO is the one I continue to be curious about, as it's Pixar's second-ever original movie to get a theatrical release post-outbreak, after ELEMENTAL... Which despite its legs, Disney now deems a flop. Pixar films used to get $45m+ on opening weekend down pat with the originals, the last to do that was COCO was back in 2017. ONWARD fell behind at $38m, cut right off by the pandemic a weekend into what should've been its run. Prior to COCO, INSIDE OUT made $90m on its opening weekend, and BRAVE made $66m. Not too shabby!

For some more context, we'll do Pixar originals starting w/ MONSTERS, INC. back in 2001, the first original of theirs to crack $40m on opening weekend:

MONSTERS, INC. (2001) - $62m

FINDING NEMO (2003) - $70m

THE INCREDIBLES (2004) - $70m

CARS (2006) - $60m

RATATOUILLE (2007) - $47m

WALL-E (2008) - $63m

UP (2009) - $68m

BRAVE (2012) - $66m

INSIDE OUT (2015) - $90m

THE GOOD DINOSAUR (2015) - $39m

COCO (2017) - $50m

ONWARD (2020) - $38m

ELEMENTAL (2023) - $29m

Does ELIO return to the days where a Pixar original could almost easily make $45-70m on opening weekend? Or is it ELEMENTAL redux, and Iger arbitrarily tries to find some other thing to blame the failure on?

2025's kinda sparse when it comes to these kinds of animated movies. Everything else - not counting sequels like BAD GUYS 2, ZOOTOPIA 2, and SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS - is associated with some pre-existing franchise, like SMURFS and GABBY'S DOLLHOUSE. There's also DOG MAN, the book series by Dav Pilkey, a spin-off of his iconic CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS series. DreamWorks adapted that into a movie back in 2017. No features are set for March, April, or May, possibly in anticipation of an animation strike very soon. July and October are also without a new theatrical animated movie at the moment. WILDWOOD, from Laika, is without a distributor or release date, but it's eyeballing 2025. That'll be their first feature since MISSING LINK, that came out in 2019, whoooaaa...

Either that, or it's more of the same. I think post-outbreak, audiences are still pretty choosy with theater visits. Again, because of money and because your experience could very well suck and be a waste of $60+ for a family of four. It frustrates me to no end that the press natters on and on about movies being the death of movie theaters, when it's the damn movie theaters themselves. Like an elephant in the room, or in the auditorium. The cinema chains are using an outdated, decaying model that doesn't serve audiences nor them. And I would know, I'm in those very trenches myself! Understaffed, poorly-equipped, management can be erratic, etc. Some of us break our backs so that anyone who comes in doesn't have a hangup about something.

But no, it's always the movies that have to do the work. You flop, it's your fault, or the marketing's fault. International Cinema Day was coined two years ago, in August 2022...

August 2022 was kind of a wasteland month. A lot of the new movies opened very badly, or merely just existed. Movies like EASTER SUNDAY, THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING, THE INVITATION, etc.... And on that low-price day... Every movie was jam-packed, down to the front rows... I dunno, making a gamble of an experience more affordable gets more people coming? Just a thought??

So, if anything, INSIDE OUT 2 doing as well as it did meant that people really wanted to see that movie. Despite their experience possibly sucking, they went in droves to see it. That was one worth gambling on. Much like BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE, much like KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, much like DUNE: PART TWO... But maybe people wouldn't narrow their choices to 3-4 movies a year if the experience was better and/or more affordable.

It would really serve animation well, methinks.

[shnowyfox]

Mario movie spoilers my thoughts on the Mario movie

Damn right it's the super MARIO movie, and not the super MARIO BROS movie because Luigi was like. Barely there. Like. He was there in the beginning and somewhat at the end but during the plot he was literally just in a cage while the rest of the characters complained about how royally fucked they were. Literally he hardly talks during the cage scenes he just makes😰 faces while they explain how much they're going to rot and die in prison.

And. As much as I love Queen.. they did not need that many songs in there. Like. A few of them are good timing and stuff! Great timing even! But I just didn't think there needed to be so many. And I need a hero didn't hit nearly as hard as it did in oddysy.

They also didn't really flesh out the history of peach and bowser, like, obviously he's an evil douche who just thinks he's entitled to her but like.. the way they talk its like.. do you know each other or not? It feels like Hater/Dominator from WOY again ngl..

Also hate how they made Donkey Kong voiced by Seth Rogan. Gawd dude. Like. Ughhh man. Like. Oough. I would've took the rock over him 😔

Speaking of voice cast. Chris Pratt as Mario is worse than we thought. He does an Italian accent for like. The commercial with Luigi and then they never do it again except maybe with some of the slow motion scenes where he said "mama mia". (There were too many slow mo scenes too gawd) and they got the original super Mario in the movie!! As a whole ass different character tho!! Like, my brother said that "Oh you wouldn't expect the original voice of sonic in the sonic movie, you like sonics voice in the sonic movie" Yeah because they didn't get rid of the accent and replace the voice with Chris fucking Pratt. Sonic's voice still fits him! Mario's is so freaking weird!!

And toad.. ohhh toad.. dude I'm glad they didn't give him his original voice but like.. honestly I would've gotten Jack McBrayer? When I heard toad rambling I just thought "man, wander could totally go off like this."

Also thought the toad general's voice was kind of out of place but it's alright I guess he doesn't have many lines.

Also gotta dock points for no Luigi bowser love story in the b-plot it totally could've been like Mario thinks his brother is getting tortured in a cage and meanwhile he's talking to bowser about his feelings like "dude my brother ain't gonna take peach from u he's demiromantic" and bowser is like "what is demiromantic" and Luigi is like "have you ever heard of lgbtq" and then Mario busts in to save him and they're all like "no its okay me and bowser are going to get married. Though we were wondering if we could do it at the mushroom castle? Bowser says it's very lovely this time of year." And then Mario peach and bowser all become qpps and have brunch together.

My brother complained about like a quarter of the movie being Mario Kart. I think it might have been a bit much too but I wasn't as bothered as he was.

It's hard to say I hated it. I don't dislike it. I kind of like it. It's like. Okay so positives are the animation, peach being an absolute girl boss and having a nice backstory (though idk how they gonna write Daisy in if they ever continue the story in a sequel), the references to the games, and Mario saying "it's a Mario time" and totally marioing all over.

Some kid at the theater looking at the poster with us was like "that's not what peaches Crown looks like in game" and I was like "Mario also doesn't have individual strands of hair in the game" and he was quiet after that for about 10 seconds before continuing to infodump about the poster and it's references.

[carcrash-white]

TLDR: The early fall of the Soviet Union in Goncharov mirrors the fall of the USSR in our timeline weirdly closely, but I think this is more to do with the movies themes of nihilism, capitals disfigurment of desire, and of course inevitable death more than the writers being prophets.

Just watched Goncharov for a 3rd time (going through it with everyone else I guess) and I have to say it's eerily prescient how close the Fall of the Soviet Union in this movie mirrored what eventually 20 years after it release. Goncharov doesn't seem to focus on it, but a few things I was able to gleam:

The Soviet Republics seem to have declared independence following an economic crisis of some sort. Unlike in our world however it seems like The Soviet Unon attempted to atleast occupy some of these breakaway Republics. Though this seems to have been unsuccessful, with the USA offering some form of material surport. The mention of Mario being a Partisian in Yugioslav then later delivering aid in the "shiny new Marshall Plan" is were I got this Idea, though the further might be referring to WWii. Still him saying that the "Yanks turnt the Medeteranian into the South China Sea" during his infamous political rant also surport this interpretation. Also in the bathtup Katya laments to Sophia that hard times lead to lead to worse times lead to war growing up (or something along these line, no one talks about how thick her accent is in this), but this might be a stretch. It could also simply be another reference to WWii.

Regardless, the Soviet Union seems to have collapsed peacefully all things considered. Considering Goncharov was written in the late 60s-early 70s this is a strange prediction to make and an even weirder one to get right. Morelli's monologue to Goncharov towards the end (which I'm putting in my second place spot of favourite monologue ever

Also mirroring our world, in Goncharov the USSRs fall leads to the enrichment of criminal elements and the rise of a powerful mafia. Unlike the above this is stated out right several times. Multiply mafia characters talk about how they "moved in" once the cops stopped getting paid. One of the mafioso's is an ex Soviet cop as well I believe. There is also Andrey's whole rant about "taking back what was ours from those who stole it from us" which leads to Katya losing her shit laughing (also Goncharov smiles at this which I think is cute, though he stops when Andrey look at him).

Finally Neoliberal Capitalism seems to have become the dominant force over most of the world, or atleast our main characters and Naples, Italy. Like in the later Goodfellas, it really seems like the Russian mobs reckless pursuit of profit is going to do it in the same way it did in Henry Hill and co. Goncharov laments to Andrey how insane it was for them to take on the Neopolitan mafia, and he replies that what is insane is that they are winning.

Who knows I might watch this again and fleash these out some more, but what I am overall trying to say is that this movie seem to accidentally predict what I dont think anyone in the right mind would claim in the early 70s- that the rapidly growing USSR would taper off and fam apart.

While weirdly prophetic, I don't think 1972s Goncharov mirrors our world because it was written by a genius alt-history author, I think it was the setting required to have a strong Russian Mafia running around 70s Naples, and that the circumstance of it falling reflected the central theme of Goncharov- all things good, bad, tired, or beautiful must come to and end when the clock strikes there anointed hour.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 292: You Say Jeans

Previously on BnHA: Horikoshi was all “well anyway here’s that Touya reveal I foreshadowed like a million years ago, viva la 2020.” Dabi was all “hello world, I’ve killed 30 people and today I’m going to explain to you all why” before he proceeded to explain ABSOLUTELY NOTHING but everyone was so distracted by his tale of child abuse and hero conspiracies that they didn’t much seem to notice. Can’t Ya See-Kun’s Shark Friend was all “IS THIS THE END OF HERO SOCIETY AS WE KNOW IT”, and Horikoshi was all “STAY TUNED”, and then Dabi set himself on fire and leaped off of Machia’s back like the chaotic evil, I-just-bleached-all-my-brain-cells weird little fire man he is, ready to burn everyone to crispy bits before they could even react properly to his whole big revenge speech. Fortunately he did not succeed on account of THE RETURN OF THE JING, THE JOAT, BEST FUCKING JEANIST, back from the dead by popular demand in what critics are calling “the best fucking comeback since Jesus himself.”

Today on BnHA: Best Jeanist snatches up Machia and the rest of the League with his fiber steel cables before you can say “more like BEAST JEANIST amirite.” Dabi gets all worked up and lights Hadou on fire which is a real JERK MOVE, and is all “THIS RIGHT HERE IS ALSO ENDEAVOR’S FAULT”, which, NOT SUPER CONVINCED ON THAT, BUT OKAY. Anyway so then he burns up all the cables holding him which is crazeballs btw, and then he and Shouto start fighting, and so basically the whole thing is a literal hot mess and we’ll see how that goes. Meanwhile Tomura wakes up and summons some Noumus, and poor Jeanist has to deal with those on top of the still-attempting-to-rampage Gigantomachia, and everyone else is all “we can’t help you on account of we’re all half dead”, and so it’s looking really bad. And then -- and I can’t stress enough how much I don’t even have the faintest idea how to segue into this next part -- the chapter ends with Mirio!?! just sort of POPPING UP OUT OF THE GROUND all, “SURPRISE, BITCH”, and it literally was so surprising that I am still just kind of speechless. WELL-PLAYED, I GUESS, lol wtf.

lol okay so the first page in the RHA scan is just the “three musketeers” movie promo image that we all already saw a few days ago. but it does confirm that (a) it is indeed a movie, and (b) that it’s set for a summer 2021 release! how exciting

okay so now back to our special Dabi edition of Making a Murderer

“ray of hope” oh hell yes. SAVE US MR. JEANIST

I guess he had a TV in his private hero jet or something?

gotta say, “dammit Dabi” does not even remotely sound like Authentic Best Jeanist Dialogue to me though. gonna need Caleb to see to this. well but what do you guys think? does Best Jeanist curse?? I personally feel like he’s one of those guys who NEVER EVER swears no matter what, except under the most hilariously trifling circumstances. like he’s eating an avocado one day and he accidentally stains the cuffs of his beloved jostume green and he’s all “FUCK”

btw how fucking rich is Best Jeanist though that he has his own fucking plane? the thought just suddenly occurred to me, you know? like even Endeavor, whose agency has its own on-site luxury apartment suites for all of his interns, still drives around in a dinky little car that Bakugou has declared to be too small. which, I guess we know why he felt that way now, seeing as the guy he previously interned with apparently gets around in Jeans Force One

anyway so back to the part where Jeanist shows up to save the day!! YEAH JEANIST WOOOOO

ILU JEANIST YOU REALLY ARE THE BEST!! HUGS AND KISSES!!!

lmao we just saw Gigantomachia take out like a hundred guys not ten chapters ago. and Best Jeanist shows up and takes him down in like two seconds. HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES LEAGUE OF VILLAINS. BET YOU’RE WISHING YOU’D TAKEN HIS QUIRK NOW, AFO. GET FUCKED YOU OLD SPUD

KACCHAN IS SO HAPPY TO SEE HIM AWW

SIDE NOTE, IIDA, YOU AND I ARE GONNA HAVE WORDS LATER ABOUT YOU ACTUALLY AGREEING TO PUT HIM BACK DOWN. YOU DO UNDERSTAND THAT THIS CHILD IS STILL DRIPPING BLOOD ALL OVER THE PLACE FROM HIS MULTIPLE STAB WOUNDS, RIGHT? WAY TO ASSERT YOUR AUTHORITY THERE. I THOUGHT YOU WERE THE CLASS PRESIDENT NOT THE CLASS CLOWN, COME ON NOW

LMAO DABI IS FRANTICALLY TRYING TO DO THE PLOT MATH

SHOULDA CHECKED MORE CLOSELY MY GOOD MARK. LOOKS LIKE YOU MISSED THE “MADE IN CHINA” STICKER ON THE BOTTOM. YOU HAVE BEEN BAMBOOZLED. OR ACTUALLY, I GUESS THE MORE ACCURATE WORD HERE IS JAMBOOZLED, AHAHAHAHA. JEANS

HOLY SHIT DABI

I legit almost thought that was Tomura for a second. you two look so alike now with the white hair and the crazy eyes

meanwhile, Shouto is still crying and it’s a lot to take, you guys. lotta feels

ffff come on Jeanist you better do something awesome again here, the mood of the chapter is starting to slip now

YES, GOOD, THAT’LL WORK

WELL YOU TELL ME, SPINNER. I GUESS THAT MEANS BEST JEANIST IS OFFICIALLY THE STRONGEST CHARACTER IN THE SERIES NOW. SORRY I DON’T MAKE THE RULES

ffff now Spinner is trying to wake Tomura back up. nah, how’s about we not do that

OH MY GOD HADOU YESSSS

MY GIRL OUT HERE WITH THE “NO THANK YOU” BOUT TO CURBSTOMP THE BIG BAD WITH HER QUIRK KSFHLKLK WHO HERE HAD “HADOU SAVES THE DAY” ON YOUR WAR ARC BINGO CARDS, YOU LOVE TO SEE IT!!

HEY!!!!

fucking son of a... fffkfkff... someone please reassure me that fire isn’t Hadou’s weakness. someone. anyone. also could someone please dial an ambulance and send them to Horikoshi’s house. but not just yet. first I’m gonna need you to wait about fifteen minutes or so while I take care of some things

well all right then, Dabi. so you wanna go on then and explain to us all how this, too, is somehow Endeavor’s fault?

oh I see, you’ve decided that since he’s responsible for “creating” you, everyone you hurt and kill is in truth really being hurt and killed by him! well now, that sure is convenient as fuck I guess

(ETA: that’s a nice effect with the panel sides getting all warped by Dabi’s quirk though, just noticed that.)

amazing how quickly you used up that sympathy card my guy. Shouto please kick his ass, I’m fucking done lol, you can all sort out the rest in therapy later

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE DIAL BACK DEKU’S EMPATHY STATS JUST A LITTLE BIT, HOLY --

“TODOROKI-KUN IS HURT THE MOST”, HE SAYS, WITH HIS ARM BONES SHATTERED INTO LITTLE TOOTHPICK-SIZED PIECES. I MEAN, HE’S PROBABLY TALKING MORE ABOUT MENTAL ANGUISH GIVEN THE CONTEXT HERE, BUT STILL. THAT’S ENOUGH HEROICS FROM YOU ALREADY FOR ONE DAY

NOOO JEANIST

LOTS OF SMOKE IN THE AIR RIGHT ABOUT NOW AND MY BOY’S STILL DOWN A LUNG. GOD DAMMIT

“if the number one suffers a total loss here, this country will fall to pieces” well okay, real talk though, I think the “country falling to pieces” part is pretty much unavoidable at this juncture. you all are just gonna have to try your best to pick up those pieces after the fact and see what you can do with them. if I were you I’d be less worried about the number one’s reputation and more concerned with the half-dozen child soldier interns who are still on the field and very much at risk of being burned to death should you suffer that “total loss.” please try to keep it together here for them

OH FOR FUCK’S

I really thought RockLockRock was gonna come into play here. USE YOUR QUIRK TO LOCK THE ROPES IN PLACE YOU DIP!! if he seriously just sits there and does nothing when his quirk could be the deciding factor I am cancelling his useless ass cute kid or no cute kid shfkjdls

(ETA: is he even there?? did he and Manual just hightail it out of there?? “well good luck, children.”)

also, we’ll put this aside for now to perhaps speculate about later, but what’s with Tomura remembering his dad’s house yet again in that far right panel?? and being itchy again?? I still have yet to fully work out the psychological mechanisms at work as far as his itchiness goes, so I’ll admit this is intriguing to me. it seemed like it was connected to his decay quirk, but then why is it acting up again now. what is this lol

yuh oh

forgot about these guys. looks like these heroes aren’t having such a fun time

oh fucksticks

excuse me ma’am but I don’t like this. you do know that my kids are all there, right. all burnt and impaled and broken-boned and the like. well except for Iida. he’s fine still. BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN I FEEL LIKE WATCHING HIM GET TORN APART BY FOUR HIGH ENDS, WTF

HORIKOSHI YOU MOTHERFUCKER I SWEAR TO GOD

god fucking... okay look. Horikoshi. you win, okay!? congratulations, you win, this is your show and we’re all just sitting here at your mercy. fine. go ahead and just kill off everyone ever, then!! what am I even gonna do about it. stop reading?? fuck

this whole thing really went from zero to fucked before I could even blink huh. I really thought this was gonna be a turning point chapter for the heroes. shows what I know I guess??

meanwhile this motherfucker is just SCREAMING

ngl, if I wasn’t currently terrified on account of things suddenly taking such a drastic turn for the worse, this would be the coolest fucking thing I’ve ever seen. Jeanist my man, I hype you up like it’s my job because you are the greatest fucking meme character in the history of time, but make no mistake, you are also highkey WORTH ALL THE HYPE AND THEN SOME

seriously, though. don’t fucking mind him you guys, he’s just standing here in the coolest pose of all time taking on Gigantomachia all alone with one fucking lung because the substance pumping through his veins is COLD-BLOODED LIQUID DENIM, and DENIM FEELS NO FEAR

Best Jeanist really needs to get his own theme song. -- oh my god I just finally thought of a title for this post. lmao and it’s the dumbest thing. omg

MEANWHILE THE TODOROKI BROS ARE OFF IN THEIR OWN DRAMATIC LITTLE FIRE WORLD

which one do you think is the Mario and which is the Luigi. well, but I mean, Dabi clearly thinks that he’s the Luigi though and that’s why he’s so mad. nobody wants to be Luigi. what a life

THAT’S IT, SHOUTO!! POINT OUT ALL OF HIS HYPOCRITICAL BULLSHIT, I WANT ANSWERS

JUST TO CLARIFY, IT’S THAT NATSU, NOT SOME OTHER NATSU!! SO WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF!!

OH, WELL IN THAT CASE

BUT OF COURSE. THAT WOULD MAKE IT ALL WORTHWHILE, holy shit. okay I’m just gonna go ahead and say it, Dabi is a piece of work. I really thought this arc would make him more sympathetic at long last, but it seems like it’s doing just the opposite?? this is like an anti-redemption arc. I don’t relish the thought of venturing into the fandom tags once I finish reading this lol

(ETA: well folks, I’ve done it. and actually it was pretty interesting because there are apparently like ten different things that people are mad about, and so it’s like. each post is a new adventure lmao.)

so Shouto is all “BRUH HAVE YOU COMPLETELY LOST IT” and Dabi is all “YES”, basically? like, he says he’s completely lost his feeling for anything. omg. but you were so sweet. how does that even happen

“finally I can kill you” okay for real what the heck is your damage bro?? can we not. I like Shouto just the way he is, un-killed

oh shit and now the Noumus are here

cue Bakugou diving in to save his mentor, STAB WOUNDS BE DAMNED!! actually it would make more sense for it to be Iida, but if Kacchan is really fixin’ to go full Shounen Dumbass here then he might as well go all out, y’know

-- unless of course, Deku decides to activate another quirk??

“last I checked, the main character of this series was still me” OH? WELL I SUPPOSE THAT IS TRUE, SO PRAY TELL, WHAT HAVE YOU GOT LEFT UP YOUR SLEEVE YOU SUICIDAL BRUSSELS SPROUT

fucking love how he’s all “HAHAHA WITH MY NEW QUIRKS I CAN STILL DO STUPID SHIT EVEN WITH MY ARMS AND LEGS GROUND TO A FINE POWDER” btw. what can I say. Deku gonna Deku

FMMFHDKUHK W H A T

HOLY SHIT. HOLY FUCKING SHIT. WHAT THE WHAT. QUE THE FUCK

(ETA: okay look, all the love in the world to the brave scanlators who take time out of their lives to translate the leaks every week just so we can read the chapter a couple of days early like the addicts we are. that said, translating Mirio’s signature “POWER!!” -- which was already written in English in the original scan -- to “POG-CHAMP” is just a whole new level of wtfuckery from them lmao. is the Lida person back at it again?? amazing.)

MIRIO!?!?! SHOWS UP TO SAVE THE DAY?!?! POGS HIMSELF UP OUT THE GROUND TO BEAT THE NOUMUS LIKE IT AIN’T NO THING. JUST LIKE WE ALL PREDICTED!? I’M SORRY, DID YOU NOT SEE THAT COMING?? YOU MEAN TO TELL ME YOUR DAILY HOROSCOPE FROM ASTROLOGY DOT COM DIDN’T HAVE THAT ONE IN THE CARDS?? WAS IT NOT OBVIOUS?? TODOROKIS PLUS BEST JEANIST EQUALS MIRIO??

hot damn. Tintin really saw the writing on the wall with the impending Dabi Discourse and was all “NOT SO FAST” lmao. “HERE’S A BRAND NEW THING FOR YOU ALL TO DISCOURSE ABOUT�� MIRIO YOU WILD CHILD. YOU GLORIOUS THUG

MEANWHILE LET’S NOT FORGET WHAT MIRIO HAVING HIS POWERS BACK ACTUALLY IMPLIES. HOLY SHIT. SUDDENLY WE CUT BACK TO ALL MIGHT’S OFFICE, ALL THE WAY BACK AT UA. ERI BRANDISHES HER TOKOYAMI-GIFTED BUSTER SWORD, A DETERMINED GLEAM IN HER EYE. “I HEARD YOU WERE TRYING TO HAVE A GIRL POWER ARC WITHOUT ME.” OH. MY. GOD

[skylarmoon71]

Leonardo x Reader- Oneshot (TMNT 2014/2016)

So in honor of black history month, I decided to write this Fanfiction. 

As a black woman, it is important to recognize and be proud of who I am. And to all the beautiful black women out there, be proud and thankful for all we’ve achieved. I hope my readers will enjoy this little fiction as much as I liked writing it. There is also a little information about my hometown in this.

Enjoy!! 

"Hey Leo did I leave my.."

"Right here."

Leo was holding your pack of hair ties in his hand. He smiled, and you flushed, taking it with a small thanks.

"You saved my life, I always lose these. Just bought them too." You were so excited for the movie night yesterday that you came right from the store with everything that you shop for that evening. So of course when you got home and couldn't find them, you assumed you left it with the turtles.

"Alright guys quit flirting." Raph buzzed passed, and at that moment you were thankful for your dark skin, because it would be that more embarrassing if Leo could see you blush. Leo brushed off the comment, just shrugging his brother off.

"Don't mind him, he's just mad cause Mikey beat him again in Mario Kart." you giggle, following Leo to the living room.

Easy days like this were nice. Saturdays were what you looked forward to. Friday nights you'd all get together and watch a movie, and Saturdays were reserved for pure relaxation. You moved over taking a seat next to Mikey, and his grin grew wide as he looked at you. You smiled, despite your slight confusion. "Do I have something on my face?" you chuckle.

"Nah brah, it's just your hair." your eyes widened, and you reached over wondering if maybe it was getting unruly again. "Oh crap is it crazy!" you asked, self consciously. You had it loose today, curls falling at the sides. It was puffy and curly at the same time. Almost like a kinky afro. Generally you'd pull your hair back in a high bun, or even a side one. But you couldn't find your ties earlier, and you were really not feeling it to comb through it today.

"Are you kidding! Your hair is amazing, everytime you come it's like in a different style." This time, you were surely blushing. "O-Oh..thank you..." It was no secret that you had untamed hair. You loved it though. Growing up there were people that made you feel a bit insecure about it. Most of the kids at your school had such tamed and straight hair, while you had curly kinky locks. At times it was a challenge styling it, and it did take a while on most days just to get it under control, but it's what made you, you. Your hair was your heritage, your strength.

Leo was watching you from his spot, and he couldn't help but agree with Mikey. It wasn't just your hair that was different, it was everything. He remembered the first time he asked Master Splinter about the differences in humans. He was a kid, probably nine or ten. He didn't know much but what he'd seen Donnie show him when they'd sneak to the surface to peek through the drains.

Looking back he realized just how everyone varied. Hair, skin, eyes. It was so fascinating to him. He loved it all. The diversity, to him it was incredible. As sad as humanity was sometimes, there were occasions that they would surprise him. The world was far from perfect, but there were moments where unity just inspired him to fight harder for the citizens.

You were a clear example of that. Meeting you was not just eye opening but also educational. He'd forever be willing to learn new cultures. So whenever you gave him or his brothers a small history lesson when they questioned something you did or said, he found that he was that more intrigued by you. They'd known you for just a few months, yet it felt like years of friendship. They were still learning more about you, everyday. Now that he thought about it, you weren't born in New York.

"(Y/N), you said you were born in the Caribbean right?"

The way your face spark to life never fails to make his heart pick up.

"That's right, I'm surprised you remembered that. Think I told Mikey the second time we met. He wanted to know why I talked so funny."

"Yeah, what was the name of your country again." Raph questioned from across the room. He was presently doing pull ups on the metal bar.

"Trinidad and Tobago. That's where I was raised, I moved here with my parents four years ago."

"Dude say that thing you did last time." Mikey called excitedly. You rolled your eyes.

"What thing?" Leo asked curiously.

"The way they say what's up is so cool. (Y/N) says it's english but it sounds completely different."

Now Leo really wanted to hear. His sapphire gaze turned on you, and you nibbled on your lip.

"I-It's isn't anything great it's just a greeting."

"I'd like to hear, if you don't mind of course."

You didn't mind at all. Leo was your weakness.

"Wais de scene."

"Seee!! You can't tell me that's english!"

Mikey was jumping up off the chair laughing and now so were you.

"You sounded different too." Leo notes. Your accent was different from the New York drawl he used too. It was nice.

"Can you tell us more." He really did love to learn, and maybe just between him, he kind of liked your native tongue.

~~~~~~

The boys were on patrol, so you figured you'd have more time to yourself. You opted for taking a shower. You'd gotten out a few minutes ago and now you were spraying your hair with olive oil as you ran your fingers through the curls. Your hand shifted to the small container of hair food, dipping in and placing it on your scalp, making sure to get it through the roots. You were glad Leo placed this mirror in his room. You had no idea why though. He didn't seem like the self absorbed type.

"I knew it would come in handy." His voice startled you a little. He closed the door on entry, and you dropped your hands. "H-Hey, I'm sorry I didn't think you guys would be back yet. I wasnt messing with your stuff or anything I just need to use the mirror and yours is so big so I thought why not and I-"

"You don't have to explain yourself, I asked Donnie to set it up here for you." you raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Really?"

"Yeah, you're here a lot, and I know girls like styling their hair. I was hoping I'd finally get to see you actually doing it. I've always been curious about how you get it to look so beautiful."

He really did know what to say to make your heart flutter.

Damn that smooth talker.

"Gosh, are you guys on a mission to embarrass me today, you've been complimenting me since this morning and it isn't even my birthday. " you pulled your hair up into a high bun, reaching for a hair tie to keep it in place.

"Wait!" you froze, looking at him.

"S-Sorry I just...I like the way it looks when you leave it down. It's so puffy, kind of cute..." his words trailed off, and you slowly dropped your hand.

"W-Well I guess if you like it then I don't mind. " you couldn't maintain eye contact, so you turned to the items in front of you. Closing the lids of both hair products, you shift over to the sink you wash your hands from the oily substance. When you were done, you reached for the hand cloth, before you could grab it, Leo was behind you, and his hand rested gently over your palm. Your body stilled, pulse increasing.

"Leo.." it was said with so much uncertainty. You weren't sure how things got to this, heck, you weren't expecting it, but you weren't complaining. His hands ran down your arms slowly. With your back still facing him, there wasn't much you could do but hope your breathing wasn't too labored. You'd spent so long trying to keep your feelings for him under wraps. If nothing but to ensure you didn't risk your friendship. Right now though, friendship was far from your thoughts.

"I wasn't being completely forward earlier, it isn't just your hair that's beautiful. " Your heart gave a thump, and when he urged you around slowly, you couldn't bring yourself to look away from him. "Your hair, skin, eyes, lips.." the last word was said longingly, and you swallowed the lump in your throat. "It's a challenge for me sometimes, I envy Mikey's ability to just say what's on his mind. I can barely look at you for too long, otherwise I'm afraid how much harder it'll be for me to hold back." So he was holding back too, geez, and here you thought this attraction was purely one sided.

"What if I..don't want you to hold back Leo.." His blue eyes glimmered, and you swore your knees would buckle just from the intensity of his stare. His hand raised to your cheek, and you released a sigh. How many times did you imagine this scenario in your head. Hundreds? Maybe thousands.

"Then I won't." he closed the space with those three words, and you leaned into it. Leo's arms were secured around your waist as his soft lips covered your own. Your hands gripped at his shoulders, and you tried to keep them from venturing. If they strayed, you weren't sure you'd be able to trust yourself not to grope every inch of his taunt muscular body. The kiss started off slow, innocent even. It was your first one together. You were both trying to savor it. Having longed for this, it felt like a dream.

After a few moments, that tentative demeanor changed to one of dominance and hunger, one that needed to be satisfied. Leo backed you up, not breaking the kiss for even a mere second. Leo's hand around your waist moved to the small of your back, and you gasped when it landed on your butt. He heard the sound, pulling back.

"Should..I..stop.." he forced out between pants. You shook your head, diving back in. Leo groaned, giving your cheek an appreciative squeeze. The action made you open your mouth, and his tongue slipped in. You moaned, and Leo took another step forward, this time he turned, and you let out a soft sound when he fell back in the bed, pulling you with him. He barely seemed affected, taken by the sensations.

You straddled his body, parting to admire his hazed look. Your chest was still heaving, and you wanted nothing more than to join your lips again, but you just liked looking at him. Those azure orbs that were almost penetrating you. His hand ran up your thigh, and he smirked at the way you bit down on your lip.

"Did I mention that I like chocolate?"

You giggle, "I sort of figured it out hotshot." you snark back. You squeaked when he suddenly switched positions. You were now bound to the bed, literally. He pinned both your wrists, that confident smile never leaving.

"I also like being in control." That comment did wild things to your body. You didn't mind at all. He pressed into you, and you whimpered needy. "L-Leo.." you wanted him, needed him now.

"Don't worry, I'd never leave you all hot and bothered, no matter how arousing it is to watch."

"Stop talking and kiss me!"

"So bossy." He taunted.

"Leo!"

He leaned down, giving your neck a soft kiss.

"Save your voice, you're gonna need it."

You gulped, and Leo took your breath away before you could fully think about it.

You were in store for a very...busy night.

[biggest-stupidhead]

Bad Timing (Levi x reader) Part 11

Summary: How do you tell your friends that you’re falling for your big brother’s best friend? 

Word Count: 8.2K (longest one yet) 

__

The next few days flew by in a snowy blur. Most of your time was spent wrapping gifts and packaging baked goods to deliver to family friends. You grunted as you leaned heavily on top of the Tupperware container as you shoved in more sugar cookies. This particular batch was going to Erwin's coach and his family. The sound of wrapping paper tearing made you cringe, turning around you saw Hange holding up the two uneven lengths of paper. She smiled sheepishly at you before shrugging and taping the pieces together once more. Your mom and Erwin were currently out shopping at the mall, which was a good hour away from the hick town you lived in.

You and Hange had already been out shopping the other day. It had been very stressful shopping for all your friends and family. You were glad to have gotten the ordeal over with. Although it was stressful, you had enjoyed picking out the perfect gift for your loved ones. Some highlights included: a camera lense for Armin, a set of chain necklaces for Mikasa, a turkey hat for Sasha, a safari hat for Connie, and your personal favorite was a set of fancy tea cups for Levi.

You really had outdone yourself this year, even going as far as buying Erwin supplies that he would need for College. For Hange you had purchased her a fresh set of glassware for her experiments, since she was majoring in Chemistry and enjoyed doing work outside of the classroom you thought it was a fitting gift. Hange held up her finished product proudly, judging by the size of the box you guessed it was a pair of shoes.

"I can't wait to give these to him!" she gushed as she set the box to the side and began folding a sweater that the two of you had purchased for your mom.

"Yeah I'm sure he'll love them." you agreed. You weren't the only one who had splurged this year. Hange had bought Erwin a fresh pair of cleats for his freshman season at college.

"I hope so!" she chuckled as she boxed the sweater and the pair of earrings for your mom.

"What did you ask for this year?" you asked as you set the stuffed container of cookies to the side.

"Oh nothing special." Hange waved her hand dismissively. You weren't surprised, she wasn't exactly interested in possessions. She valued knowledge above most things, so the closest you could get to filling that need was to give her books or items that helped her learn and shit. You had learned that the hard way, a few years ago you had given her a nice bracelet, which was currently collecting dust on her dresser.

"Well what about your parents, are they doing something special this year?" you inquired, you knew that she had learned to appreciate knowledge from them. They used to go on trips and spend Christmas soaking up the culture of wherever they went. One of their most notable trips was to South America, Hange's favorite trip to date. They hiked in the jungle and learned about the environment and shit.

"Aw sadly no, they wanted to take a break and focus on their research here." She shrugged as she wrapped the box in snowman wrapping paper.

"Really?" you mused, although Hange's family was unconventional you admired their free spirit.

"Yeah, I'm particularly interested in my mom's project, she's studying these penguins in South America right now-" she continued to ramble on about her mother's studies and her father's work. Both of her parents were very active in the zoology community. Hange's rant was cut short by the sound of her phone ringing, she apologized before answering the call, walking out of the room for some privacy. Which you thought was odd, she usually wasn't so private with her phone calls, which at times could be annoying. You brushed it off as most likely being a conversation about gifts. You picked up your phone, taking the opportunity to answer the text that Mikasa had sent you earlier that morning.

"We'll be over around 7." her text made you feel giddy with excitement. Although this year would be a bit different you were still excited to see all your friends.

"See you soon!" you responded, you realized that it was probably a good idea to start dinner for your mom. She should be home any minute but still you set about preheating the oven for the casserole and the ham. Thankfully the Jeagers brought dishes as well, Carla made a mean pumpkin pie. You weren't expecting Kenny to bring anything other than booze. You fell into an easy rhythm as you prepared the vegetable casserole. It couldn't have been more than an hour later that your mom and Erwin stumbled in the door and dropped the bags down by the card table where we had been wrapping gifts. Your mom was quick to wash her hands and start the mashed potatoes as you checked the ham. Hange had began to set the table with Erwin, a christmas playlist had been playing to set the mood.

The Jeagers arrived right at 7, just in time. Grisha's arms were full with gifts, Carla toted two pies, Eren held a board game, and Mikasa had two bottles of red wine with ribbons around the necks of the bottles. Hugs and formalities were exchanged as they entered and put their gifts under the tree. Carla joined your mom in the kitchen to finish carving the ham. You and the other teens finished setting the table as everyone trickled into the dining room.

Just as the ham was placed on the table and glasses of wine were poured, the doorbell rang once more. Kenny had arrived, surprisingly only thirty minutes late. He had a huge bottle of vodka and another sizable bottle of whiskey. Your mom greeted him, taking the liquor from him and pointing him to his seat. Now that all guests were accounted for you began to dish out food and recount the past holidays that your families spent together. It didn't go unnoticed that Kenny was a tad uncomfortable, but thanks to Grisha's easy going nature and Carla's friendliness, he slowly eased up. Of course you and the other teens had your own conversation separate from the adults.

"-Do you remember that one year that I creamed you guys in Just Dance?" Hange gloated as she waved a forkful of ham in Eren's face.

"Ugh yes, but only because that was the year that Mikasa's ankle was sprained." Eren deflected, lifting his own fork to push hers from his face. Mikasa blushed and shoved a spoonful of mashed potatoes into her mouth.

"Well I guess we'll just have to see if that was the real reason after a rematch!" Hange teased before biting into the hunk of meat.

"I guess we will." Eren narrowed his eyes as he watched Hange chew the meat.

"We should play Mario Kart first, I want to redeem myself." Armin was quick to change the subject. Always quick to avoid possible conflict.

"Yeah I totally creamed you last time!" you gloated a cocky smile on your lips.

"W-What! No I had the most wins!" Eren's eyes were alight with anger. He was too easy to piss off.

"Wrong!" you said in a sing song voice.

"Knock it off you two." Erwin scolded from across the table, Eren's cheeks flushed when Erwin scolded him but you simply rolled your eyes. In the last few months Erwin had taken to hovering over you and your friends. It was strange, he had never shown so much interest in your social life until recently. At first you had been eager to tell him what was going on in your friend group, but now it was becoming annoying.

"Lay off Erwin, it's all talk." you scoffed with a roll of your eyes. Erwin's eyes hardened at your snarky tone, your guests eyes flickered between the two of you as you glared at one another. Until finally you snorted and looked away with a shake of your head.

"Uh...so who wants pie!" Armin, ever true to his anti confrontation nature filled the thick silence between the teens. Meanwhile the adults had continued to yammer on about all the hot hospital gossip.

"I-I would." Eren played into Armin's excuse to change the subject.

"Yeah sounds good." you sighed, defeated. Armin scrambled out of his seat and ducked into the kitchen, returning a few moments later with the pies. He dished out three pieces onto you and Eren's plates before serving himself. By the time he had returned, Hange had already changed the topic to the party the following day. You sat in silence as she rambled about the logistics for the party at your house.

"I think that Nanaba is bringing mac and cheese, Mike is probably going to bring those snicker doodles that he always makes-" You tuned her out, not interested in her current rant. Tomorrow's party wasn't the party you were really excited for. So you instead turned to Mikasa, hoping to talk about your plans for the 26th.

"So what time are you going to Annie's? Would you like to ride together?" you asked as you angled yourself to face her to better tune out Hange.

"We are heading over around 9, and sure I'm driving." Mikasa responded as she stretched to serve herself a piece of pie.

"Perfect, are you spending the night there?" you quizzed, unsure if you also wanted to spend the night there.

"No, we were going to go back to Armin's but I can drop you off here if you want." Mikasa answered as she took a bite of pie.

"Alright that sounds good!" you agreed, knowing that Mikasa was always a reliable designated driver.

__

Dinner had gone relatively smooth, despite the tension that now hung in the atmosphere between you and Erwin. The rest of the evening was spent in the living room opening gifts with a Christmas movie marathon playing in the background. The Jeagers left around eleven, which was later than they usually stayed. Kenny took the guest bedroom in the basement, since he was spending Christmas day with your family anyway. You checked your phone with a heavy sigh, already it was twelve am. You contemplated texting Levi to tell him happy birthday, but you weren't sure he would be awake. It was already six in the morning in France, and usually he got his three hours of sleep between four and seven in the morning. But you decided that if he didn't answer you could leave him a voicemail or shoot him a text. So after you changed into your pajamas and had snuggled beneath your covers, you pulled up Levi's contact, your thumb hovering over the small phone icon. Finally you just said 'fuck it' and pressed the button, the phone rang three times before he answered.

"Hey." his voice was thick and gravely as he spoke, immediately you felt bad. You knew that you must have woken him up and you cringed internally.

"Hey happy birthday!" you greeted, making sure to keep your voice low so you wouldn't disturb Erwin and Hange.

"Tch thanks." Levi mumbled, you pictured him running a hand down his face as he tried to wake up.

"you're welcome birthday boy." you teased as you fell back onto your pillows.

"shut up." Levi scoffed, you could hear his footsteps as he walked through the apartment, presumably to get his morning cup of black tea.

"you know you love it." you sighed.

"keep telling yourself that." Levi's voice was becoming clearer now that he was more awake.

"I think that I will." you answered with a light laugh.

"you still going to that party tomorrow?" Levi interrogated, you groaned. You had almost forgotten how he liked to stick his nose in your business, even when he was across the fucking ocean.

"Yeah what about it?" you huffed, feeling a bit defensive.

"Shouldn't you stay with your family or some shit." Levi sounded frustrated.

"My mom said I could go." you pouted childishly.

"Whatever." Levi grunted, and you frowned, unsure of where his frustration was coming form.

"Aw come on no need to be jealous, I'm sure you can find some rager in Paris. Not like you'll be missing much here." you chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

"Hmph." Levi scoffed, you could hear the tinkling of his spoon as he stirred his tea.

"So....when are you due to be home?" you asked, deciding it was best to change the subject.

"Next week." Levi's tone was clipped.

"I'm so jealous." you sighed dreamily.

"Yeah Paris is way better than Shiganshina." Levi responded nonchalantly, you weren't sure if he was being serious or sarcastic. Either way he was telling the truth.

"No need to rub it in my face." you chuckled.

"Tch." He scoffed, you liked to imagine him smiling as he did so, even if he wasn't.

"Well I hope that this next week goes by fast, as much as I hate to admit it I've... missed you." you confessed, the tips of your ears scorching hot with embarrassment. The silence was deafening as you waited for him to say something, hell anything even if it was making fun of you.

"Whatever." he huffed, the butterflies in your stomach fluttered at the sound of his baritone voice.

"Just don't stay out late tomorrow." he quipped and you frowned, why did he care how late you stayed out?

"No need to worry about me, I'll probably just stay sober with Mikasa." You told him, only half honest.

"Never said I was worried about you." Levi sighed.

"Hmph fine be like that." you scoffed and rolled your eyes, not surprised with his response.

"Be like what?" He asked, genuinely curious what you meant.

"Like an ass." you quipped.

"Tch I'll quite being an ass when you stop being such a brat." Levi snapped, clearly you were approaching dangerous territory.

"Okay okay chill." you muttered, backing down before things got too heated.

"You're the one that brought it up.." Levi pointed out.

"Yeah and now I'm regretting that" you sighed, wishing he wouldn't be so stubborn for once. He sighed as well and you heard a small clatter on his end of the line, you figured he was starting the dishes.

"Look I've got some shit to do, I'll call you later okay?" Levi's voice was a tad strained and in the moment of silence you heard the sound of Isabel and Farlan bickering in hushed tones.

"Y-Yeah sure of course." you couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.

"Happy birthday Levi." you wished him once more.

"Thanks, talk to you later brat." and with that he hung up, leaving you totally alone in your dark room. You plugged your phone in and rolled over onto your side, he could be so annoying. You inhaled sharply and decided that you would enjoy the party tomorrow to it's fullest. What he didn't know wouldn't kill him.

___

"Hey can I borrow your lip gloss?" you asked Mikasa as you leaned forward to apply another coat of mascara to your lashes.

"Sure which one?" she asked as she pulled her hair into high pigtails on top of her head.

"The cherry one." you answered after a moment of contemplation. She finished her hair before reaching into her makeup bag and pulled out the tube of clear gloss.

"Thanks." you said as you took the make up from her. You didn't usually put this much effort into your appearance when you went to parties but you figured since it was the first time you would be going to Annie's that this was a special occasion. Also you had a sneaking suspicion that two of your exes would be there and you at least wanted to look hot if you were going to get black out.

Plus Mikasa was also dressed up, she wore a tight fitting black top with long sleeves and a low cut neck line that showed off her pale collarbones and neck. She had chosen to wear a choker that had metallic studs surrounding the black leather along with some other layered necklaces. To match her top she had selected a red plaid skirt and some torn tights. You weren't dressed nearly as edgy as she was, but you too had gone for a grungier look. You'd opted to wear a tattered pair of mom jeans along with a black cropped tank and an oversized flannel to cover your shoulders.

You sighed as you finished applying the gloss and frowned, Eren and Armin were in the next room over blasting Post Malone. You assumed that Eren was on aux since Armin usually listened to Surfaces or Khalid.

"You ready?" Mikasa asked as she pulled on her Doc Martens and double checked her earrings.

"Yeah." you assured her as you stood up to grab your small backpack with an extra change of comfy clothes in case you ended up staying the night. The two of you left the room and knocked on Eren's door that was down the hall.

"Just a minute!" Armin's shrill voice sounded a bit panicked but Mikasa simply shrugged and headed towards the kitchen. The Jeager's house was a ranch style house with one main floor and a nice basement. The two of you waited patiently in the kitchen for the boys, it was already well past nine. You scrolled through your snapchat, most of the stories were the regular group picture of friends having a sleepover, the druggie kids showing off their weed, and of course Sasha and Connie posted a video showcasing the house party at Annie's. From what the short video showed, her house was dark except for some LED lights that flashed through multiple different colors. The music was deafening, and the kids that you could see seemed to be swaying to the pulsing music.Sasha spun the camera around as she knocked back a shot with her arm around Connie who blew a puff of vapor at the camera.

"Looks fun." Mikasa scoffed, you knew that she preferred more low-key parties.

"If you end up not liking it we can always dip." You shrugged, knowing that this wasn't exactly your speed either. Mikasa hummed in agreement and turned to look down the hallway as Eren's door opened. The boys emerged from Eren's room, Eren wore a pair of black jeans and a dark forrest green long sleeved shirt. Armin wore a baby blue knit sweater with a collared shirt underneath and black jeans as well.

"All set?" Mikasa asked as she turned to pull out a bottle of titos with a cute little sweater over it. You smiled at the cute accessory and nodded.

"Yep!" you said popping the p as the four of you all made your way out to Eren's car. You slid into the back seat next to Armin who was fiddling with the hem of his sweater nervously. Eren resumed his hype music as Mikasa backed out of the drive way. Eren pulled out his puff bar as soon as the car was out of the drive and took a long drag. Mikasa scoffed and cracked the window for him. He blew the billow of smoke out the window and reached to turn the music up. He reached back and dangled the puff for you to take, after a brief moment of hesitation you accepted it and cracked your window before taking a hit. Armin watched with wide eyes as you inhaled and blew the vapor out the crack.

"Since when did you vape?" Armin asked, his mouth agape in awe.

"I don't...at least not regularly." You admitted sheepishly.

"That's what they all say." Eren chuckled, smoke curling out from his lips as he smirked.

"Shut up I'm serious!" you snapped a playful smile on your face. Thankfully Annie's house wasn't far away, about a twenty minute drive. You pulled up to the house, it was huge. Standing at least three stories tall, with a long winding driveway. Mikasa pulled up behind one of the many cars in the drive way and parked the car. Mikasa led the way around to the side door, which was unlocked, piled of shoes littered the hallway. The sound of loud music greeted you as you walked into the kitchen on the main floor to set the alcohol you'd brought down. The real party was in the basement.

The lights were off, leaving the only source of light to be the flickering LED lights, you couldn't even tell who was who. The air was heavy with the mingling aromas of cologne, vapes, and weed. Armin practically clung to you as the four of you waded through the crowd to get to the seating area in the center of the room. As you got closer the overpowering scent of weed assaulted your nose. There on the large L shaped couch was Annie, she held a large bong to her lips as Bertolt held the lighter under the weed, she inhaled deeply and the bong bubbled. She pulled back and blew a puff of smoke right in Reiner's face, the blonde's face scrunched up in disgust as he turned away to cough.

"Yo." Annie greeted Mikasa who leaned down to dap her up. Once Annie had greeted Mikasa she turned her attention to Eren who was eyeing the bong.

"You want a drag?" Annie offered, patting the sofa next to her. Eren nodded and dropped down between her and Bertolt, who once again struck the lighter for Eren. Mikasa rolled her eyes and waited patiently for Eren to finish his drag. Once the bong was out of the way she lowered herself down onto his lap and pulled her puff bar out to take a long drag. Armin shifted awkwardly behind you and tugged on your sleeve.

"Want to go get something to drink?" he yelled over the booming music, you glanced at the bong longingly but decided that Armin needed you right now so you nodded in agreement.

"Sure." the two of you pushed through the crowd to the minibar where an impressive amount of liquor was waiting. You poured some Bacardi into a glass of and added some pineapple and orange concentrates before handing the cup to Armin. He thanked you and quickly got to work on finishing the mixed drink. You poured yourself a rum and coke and then two shots of Malibu for you and Armin to take. The two of you knocked back the shots before wandering back over towards the couch. The crowd had thinned out a bit, something about watching a movie in Annie's in home movie theater.

"-No that's bullshit, I know for a fact that you pissed your pants in the second grade Eren!" your eyebrows shot into your hairline at the words leaving Annie's mouth.

"Just because I'm quiet doesn't mean I don't notice shit." She huffed as she lifted the juul in her hand to her lips and took a long drag.

"I-"

"Just take the L Eren we all remember." Bertolt shook his head and chuckled at Eren's flushed cheeks. You glanced at Mikasa, usually she would defend Eren but she seemed content to let him struggle through this one on his own, still perched on his lap.

"We've all had accidents before." Armin said with an awkward chuckle as he sat down beside Annie, who looked at him with a blank expression.

"Like that time you tripped down the stairs and broke both your legs in fourth grade?" Annie quipped, a small smirk curling onto her lips. You choked on your drink at Annie's remark, she was an absolute savage.

"Exactly..." Armin flushed, lifting his own cup to his lips. Your phone buzzed in your pocket, but you were too invested in the conversation to be bothered to pick it up.

"Want a hit?" Annie offered the bong to you, you nodded. Although you'd never had weed before, you'd tried asking Levi for some of his but he always denied you. Annie held her hand out to Bertolt who placed the lighter in his open palm. She packed some more weed into the bowl before handing you the bong.

"You ever done this before?" She asked as she kneeled in front of you. You shook your head,

"Okay so I'll tell you when to inhale, and you've got to take a huge breath so you can get the smoke in your system. But then you'll have to take another breath to get it in your lungs." she instructed as she pressed the weed deeper into the bowl.

"Okay." you agreed, she nodded and struck the lighter, holding the flame over the weed in the bowl. You pressed your lips to the mouth piece and waited for her instructions.

"Inhale." she said once the weed was lit. You sucked in a big breath and the water in the bong bubbled. The smoke burned the insides of your throat as you inhaled it, you pulled the bong off your mouth and sucked in once more to get the smoke into your lungs. She nodded in approval as you coughed, smoke curling out of your mouth.

"Not bad for your first time." she commented as she took the bong from you and passed it to Mikasa who took a long drag before passing it to Bertolt.

"Thanks, that stuff burns." you coughed, Annie sat down next to you on the couch and draped her arm over the back. You felt the buzz from the weed and the shots you'd taken earlier, making your head spin a bit. Annie's thigh brushed against your own, you tried to focus on what she was wearing, a pair of grey sweats and a cute cropped peachy colored tank top with spaghetti straps.

"I like your top." you complimented, her hand fell from the back of the couch to your shoulders.

"Thanks." she said, turning to gauge your reaction to her touch. You swallowed a bit nervously, you'd known Annie since kindergarten, but you'd never really been friends before, she was always so quiet.

"I always thought you were a good kid." Annie smirked, her eyes a bit playful.

"What made you think that?" You giggled, shuffling closer to her.

"Your brother is like the school's golden boy, and you are always in all the honors classes." she shrugged, you frowned. You were used to people coming up with these assumptions. She was right though, you did take honor classes, but that didn't mean you couldn't party!

"I guess...But that doesn't mean that I don't enjoy partying." you countered.

"I suppose." she chuckled, taking a hit from her juul and blowing the smoke away from your face. Your phone rang in your pocket and you frowned, as you dug it out of your pocket. Your frown deepened at the sight of Hange's contact lighting up your screen.

"Hang on I should take this." you apologized, moving to stand up to find a quiet place to answer the phone. Annie snatched your wrist and pulled you back down on the sofa, the room spun as you fell back down and slumped against her shoulder.

"Slow down there sweetheart." Annie chuckled as you leaned against her.

"I got to go answer my-"

"Nah just stay here, enjoy yourself." Annie pulled you closer, but your head was too foggy to protest, thoughts of your phone already fading into the back of your mind as Annie held the bong to your lips once more.

__

"She's still not answering." Hange chewed on her knuckle as she glanced at Erwin who was gripping the steering wheel. His brows were knit tightly together with worry, Levi shifted in the back seat, tapping his fingers impatiently.

"This is stupid, she can wait until tomorrow to see me." Levi huffed, trying his best to sound indifferent.

"Oh don't say that Levi." Hange frowned as she looked back at Levi, her eyes deep with worry.

"Don't worry about it." Levi grunted, turning his attention back to his phone. He opened snapchat, and scrolled through the stories. His eyes widened slightly when he stopped on Sasha's story, the video of the party played, he found himself looking for your silhouette among the swaying bodies. He tapped on his screen, expecting to move on to the next story, only to find a new video, added to her story less than ten minutes ago. A video of you with a red solo cup in one hand, and a juul in the other. You were leaned up against a blonde girl who was pushing a bottle of Pink Whitney against you, the pink alcohol sloshing in the glass.

"Come on (Y/n) finish it off!" Sasha encouraged as the other kids on the couch picked up on her chant.

"Finish it, Finish it." the crowd cheered as you sat down the cup and took the bottle from the blonde. You looked at the camera as Sasha shuffled closer.

"No pa-paparazzi please." you giggled, hiccuping half way through your sentence. You lifted the bottle to your lips and tilted your head back, the liquid spilled down your front, making your skin glisten in the colorful lights as you chugged the alcohol you managed to get in your mouth.

"Fuck yeah!!!" Sasha jeered, spinning the camera around to her face. The video ended and Levi felt his blood boil. He'd never seen you so out of it before and he hated it. He hated how easily you had given into doing something so stupid, he hated the sight of the juul in your fist, he hated the way the girl's arm was tightly wrapped around your waist, but most of all he hated that he wasn't there.

"Wait, I think Sasha's snap map is on." Hange mumbled, her phone screen casting a pale glow over her glasses as she zoomed in on Sasha's bitmoji. Sure enough Sasha's bitmoji was on the map, surrounded by at least twenty other bitmojis gathered in one location.

"Okay let's head that way then." Erwin sighed as he started the car and backed out of his parking spot in the airport parking lot. Erwin pulled out of the small airport that was about thirty minutes away from your town and set off towards Annie's house. Thankfully Annie lived on the outskirts of town so it wasn't as far of a drive. It wasn't long before Erwin was pulling up a long winding drive that was full of cars. He parked at the back of the line of cars and got out of the car with a heavy slam of his door. Levi slammed the back door of the minivan as hard as he could, the two of them marched up the driveway silently with Hange following nervously.

"You guys please slow down it's icy out here." Hange begged as she slipped on one of the steps to the side door. The three of them piled into the house, Hange knew it was bad when Levi didn't bother to kick his shoes off before continuing towards the basement steps. Erwin stormed down the steps, the music getting louder as they descended. Erwin paused at the bottom of the steps to take in the scene, cups littered the floor, the room was hazy with smoke from juuls and the scent of weed clung to the air. A group of partygoers was crowded onto the couch, Levi's eyes narrowed onto the back of your head.

"Yoooo that's ice cold." Eren's loud voice could be heard over the music as the teens passed the bong between one another.

"No it's the truth." you slurred, the empty bottle of alcohol still in your fist.

"Well sorryyy that I forgot that I had gum in my mouth." Connie said, waving his hands in front of his face.

"You're an idiot." Sasha laughed boisterously as she shoved a handful of pretzels into her mouth.

"damn straight." Annie agreed, taking the empty bottle from you and setting it on the coffee table. Erwin stalked across the room and stood behind Bertolt, who was now on the floor. The conversation came to a halt at the sight of the uninvited guests.

"Woah I think I'm seeing things." you said, tilting your head downwards as you tried to understand why you were seeing your brother.

"Me too." Reiner agreed, his own distant gaze honing in on his team captain.

"Get up we're going home." Erwin's voice was cold and commanding as he glowered at you.

"I don't wanna leave." your eyes hardened with denial. Erwin stepped over Bertolt, once he had moved your eyes landed on Levi, who was glaring at you with those dark eyes.

"I'm definitely seeing things." you grunted as Erwin pulled you off the couch and away from Annie's warmth.

"Hey man she said she didn't want to go." Annie snarled, jumping to her feet, her icy blue eyes sharp.

"Yeah well she's drunk as shit and doesn't know what she's saying." Levi snapped back at Annie, who had a hand clamped down around your arm. Hange shifted nervously behind the couch as she watched the scene unfold.

"You need to leave." Annie growled, pointing a finger at the stairs.

"That's what we're trying to do dumb ass." Levi growled, taking a step closer to the circle of teens.

"Leave her alone she can make her own decisions." Reiner quipped, rising to his own feet.

"Stay out of this Braun." Erwin ordered, releasing you so he could turn and face Reiner.

"I'm just saying, she chose to come here on her own and she's enjoying herself so let her be." Reiner shrugged.

"She's had enough tonight." Erwin countered, shifting his gaze back to you as you swayed on your feet.

"No I haven't" you frowned up at Erwin.

"Yes you have. We're leaving end of discussion." he said with finality, once more reaching for your wrist.

"I'm not leaving Erwin." you protested, pulling yourself free from his grasp. He snatched your wrist once more and tugged you away from the circle. You gasped and stumbled after him, the protests of your friends echoing loudly in your head. Erwin hauled you up the stairs and out the side door, Levi and Hange close on your heels. He only slowed once you were walking down the driveway. You wrenched yourself free once more with a strangled cry.

"I said I don't want to leave!" you screamed, a few tears sliding down your cheeks.

"You always embarrass me in front of my friends just give me this one night!" you cried, the cold air making your face beet red.

"You'll thank me later." He said simply before turning to continue down the driveway.

"No I won't I'm going back inside." you turned on your heel and marched back towards the door, only for Levi to catch your wrist.

"You've had enough for one night." He scolded as you struggled against his hold. Hange chewed on her bottom lip with worry at the sight, this was not how she planned your reunion.

"Levi let me go." you said with finality as you met his eyes.

"No, you're going home." Levi's voice was tense.

"No I'm not."

"(Y/n) you're going home and that's final." Erwin sighed, running a hand down the side of his face. You spun around and glared at him.

"You're not my fucking dad Erwin so quit acting like it! Jesus it's so annoying I'm tired of it!" you screamed, your chest heaving with frustration, your breath coming out with puffs of vapor. Hange and Levi stood deathly still, knowing that the topic of your father was a sensitive one.

"Fine be that way." Erwin snarled and marched to the van and climbed in with a slam of his door. Hange rushed to get in the car without a second glance over her shoulder. Levi remained firmly rooted to the ground, his hand still wrapped firmly around your wrist as you cried.

"Get out of here Levi." you sobbed, shaking your arm to throw his hand off. He finally let you go, his head tilted down to the ground. You huffed, wrapping your arms around your chest before turning on your heel and stalking back towards the house. Levi stood there a moment longer just listening to the sound of your receding footsteps before he padded back to Erwin's car and slid into the backseat.

__

Your head was spinning as you pressed your back against the bathroom door, your lip quivering as you tried to contain your tears. You knew that you'd hurt both Erwin's and Levi's feelings, you also knew that they were only trying to help you. But there was only so much help you could except from them without them toeing the line between helpful and overbearing. You slid down the door with a whimper, you hugged you knees to your chest and rested your chin on top of them. A knock startled you out of your moping,

"(Y/n)? You in there?" You groaned when you recognize Jean's voice.

"Open the door please." He said softly and you felt more tears fall down your cheeks as you reached up for the knob to unlock the door. The lock clicked and you shuffled to lean agains the wall so he could open the door.

"Hey" he said as he stuck his head in, his amber eyes soft with worry.

"Hey" you sniffled, turning your head up to meet his gaze.

"What's wrong?" He asked, slipping into the small bathroom and closing the door behind him. He crouched down in front of you, his elbows propped on his own knees as he got onto your level.

"Well for starters, you kissed someone else when we were talking." you said a bit venomously. He cringed and plopped down to sit criss cross applesauce instead.

"I'm sorry I know that I shouldn't have done that but, I've been really confused....like sexually I guess." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and your frowned.

"I know, but it still hurt my feelings." you mumbled, a few fresh tears falling from your watery eyes.

"I shouldn't have led you on like that, it was a real jerk move." Jean agreed, his eyes still soft and comforting. You'd missed being his friend you realized as you sat on the cold tile.

"I've missed talking to you." you spoke your mind, managing a small smile.

"Me too, let's be friends again?" he proposed, offering his hand to you. Your smile grew wider as you extended your own hand to grasp his. You shook hands briefly.

"So are you and Marco a couple now?" you asked.

"Sort of.." Jean chuckled.

"You want to go back to the party now?" He asked, jutting a thumb towards the door. You nodded, although now you were beginning to sober up. He stood and offered his hands to help you to your feet. You accepted his hands and he pulled you to your feet. The two of you walked slowly down the steps to rejoin the circle of teens in the living room. Jean stopped at the bottom of the stairs his hand held loosely in your own. He squeezed your hand, asking for your attention. You turned and faced him, a questioning look on your face.

"You've got some-" He chuckled, lifting his thumb to his mouth and licking it before wiping away some rogue mascara off your cheeks. You gasped in mock offense as he wiped away the makeup.

"You're not my mom." you teased, pulling your face free as you turned to head back into the fray, trusting that Jean got all the black marks off your face.

"Nobody could replace Angie." Jean agreed as he followed you into the basement. The group of previously rowdy teens was now subdued due to your brother and his meddling party crasher friends.

"Hey look who's back!" Reiner greeted, causing all the heads to turn back to you. You smiled sheepishly and dropped back into your seat next to Annie.

"You alright?" She asked, her eyes scanning you meticulously for any signs of injury.

"Yeah I'm- I'll be alright." you stumbled over your words as the group watched you carefully.

"You want a uh beer or something?" Connie asked, lifting up an unopened can.

"No she doesn't you idiot!" Sasha snapped, elbowing Connie harshly.

"Ow well I was just trying to make her feel better!" Connie cried, turning to tackle Sasha. The two began to tussle, rolling around on the floor grunting as they struggled. You smiled, the pair never failed to make you happy. Annie draped her arm over you again as the boys began to place bets on who would come out victorious.

"If Sasha wins you've got to drink one of Connie's mixed drinks!" Eren said, leaning over to Bertolt who scoffed, his boyish features contorting with disgust. Connie was known for making the worst mixed drinks.

"You're on Jeager." he reached over Reiner and the two shook in agreement before turning their attention to the scuffle.

"Come on Sasha!" Eren jeered as Sasha bit down hard on Connie's hand. The boy yelped and tried to desperately pry her locked jaws off his hand. He gave up quickly and resorted to hitting her head with his closed fist, his face wild with panic.

"Tickle her neck" Mikasa suggested as she lifted a red solo cup to her lips. Your eyes widened in surprise, Mikasa usually kept quiet during these scuffles, unless of course it was Eren being thrown around. Connie's free hand flew down to Sasha's armpit and immediately Sasha released his other hand to roll away from him. Connie regained the upper hand, pinning Sasha beneath him as he tickled her ruthlessly. Jean groaned and slapped a wad of bills into Reiner's open palm as Sasha slapped the ground in defeat. Connie threw his hands into the air and rolled off Sasha who was fighting for breath.

"Traitor" she moaned, her brown eyes glaring at Mikasa who shrugged indifferently. Eren groaned and frowned at Mikasa.

"Why'd you do that?" He asked as Bertolt looked relieved. Mikasa shrugged once more a sly smile on her face as Eren pushed her off his lap.

"So" Connie jumped to his feet and clapped his hands together.

"About that drink." he turned and strutted over to the mini bar, followed by a sulking Eren and a smug Bertolt. You turned to Sasha who was now straddling Mikasa her hands around Mikasa's shoulders as she jostled the girl.

"Come on Mikasa why'd you sell me out like that?" she whined as she shook the girl, Mikasa's drink sloshing in her cup. Mikasa smiled as her eyes drifted to the group of boys, Connie had a large bottle of Tito's and a two liter of Mt. Dew in his hands as he inspected the two, his face scrunched up with concentration.

"Come on Sasha it's not like you wouldn't do the same if it were me." Mikasa scoffed with a roll of her eyes. You snorted at Mikasa's response, knowing that she was indeed correct. Sasha gasped and shook Mikasa harder.

"I would never do that to you! Besides you would win in any fight you fought." Sasha objected, leaning back on Mikasa's lap her arms extended.

"Psh whatever." Annie scoffed, a playful smirk on her lips.

"Not all of us are masters at kickboxing." Sasha pouted as she climbed off Mikasa's lap and dropped onto the empty space next to her. You knew that Mikasa had participated in the sport for the past few years, but you were confused when Sasha looked between Annie and Mikasa.

"What you didn't know?" Annie asked with a smirk. You shook your head,

"No I guess I don't know." you laughed as Annie licked her lips and she threw her arm back over your shoulders.

"Mikasa and I are on the same kickboxing club." She shrugged as you settled back into her side. Your mouth opened into an 'o' shape in realization as Annie dug her juul out of her pocket and took a hit. Mikasa nodded in agreement, her eyes shifting back over to the boys, who were laughing loudly as Eren chugged a cup of mystery liquid.

"Really? I had no idea." you said as you followed Mikasa's gaze. Eren was now leaned over gagging as Armin patted his back with a worried expression.

"-You dodged a bullet there!" Reiner quipped as he patted Bertolt's back as the tall boy watched with a disgusted face.

"Hey where did Ymir and Krista run off to?" Sasha asked, whipping her head around to look for the pair.

"Probably making out in some corner." Reiner scoffed as he dropped back onto the sofa, the rest of the boys rejoining the group as well. You nodded in agreement, it was no secret that the pair had been seeing each other recently.

"Guess so." Sasha sighed, slumping back into the sofa, throwing a glare at Connie who was now seated next to her with an arm over the back of the couch. Eren and Armin were the only once unaccounted for, you assumed that they had fled to the bathroom given the state Eren had been in after drinking Connie's concoction. Jean had managed to slip away with all the commotion, probably to return to Marco. Annie sighed, glancing at her phone with a frown, it was well past three at this point and you were starting to feel the fatigue.

"Well I think that I'm heading off to bed." Annie yawned, the others seemed to be mellowing out as well.

"You guys can crash here or my brother's room is open as well as my sisters rooms." She said as she stood up. You immediately missed her warmth as she lingered by the couch.

"I call Eric's room!" Sasha perked up, also standing up to run towards Annie's younger brother's room.

"No fair!" Connie yelled, giving chase. Mikasa sighed and stood up as well.

"I'd better go check on Eren and Armin." She mumbled as she stalked off towards the bathroom.

"Are you staying the night then?" Annie asked you as you also stood up, not sure if you should go after Mikasa.

"I'm not sure, Mikasa was going to take me back to her place..."

"You can sleep in my room with me." She offered, tilting her head towards the stairs. You bit your lip as you weighed your options. Mikasa had been drinking and smoking and you knew that she wasn't stupid enough to drive so you figured that you weren't leaving any more.

"We'll sleep in Sarah's room." Reiner said as he and Bertolt began to retreat up the stairs. Leaving just you and Annie in the basement living room, she raised a brow as she waited for your answer.

"No pressure." She said as she began to walk towards the stairs.

"Yeah I'll sleep with you." you blurted as you jogged to catch up to Annie. She smirked at your wording and you flushed.

"Not like that!" you slapped her arm as she led the way up to the top floor which was a maze of closed doors. She slipped into one of the closed doors, into a large bedroom with a queen sized bed in the center of the room. She emptied her pockets before climbing into bed, pulling the covers back for the both of you. You slid into the open side and sat your phone on the bedside table. Annie sighed with relief as she nestled into the covers, scrolling through her phone as you closed your eyes in an attempt to sleep. After a few minutes Annie put her phone down and rolled over, now her front was facing your back.

"You awake?" She whispered, you rolled over to face her as well.

"Yeah" you answered, resting your head on your arm as you focused on her features as best as you could in the dim lighting.

"You wanna make out?" she asked, your eyes widened in shock. You weren't sure if she was being serious or not.

"For real?" you blinked rapidly as Annie shuffled closer and pushed a lock of hair out of your face.

"I mean yeah." she huffed a shy smile on her face. You pursed your lips in thought, you had never kissed a girl before, and it wasn't like the thought of doing so had never crossed your mind. You shrugged and leaned slightly into her touch.

"Yes or no." She said as she propped herself up on her elbow so she was looking down on you.

"Sure." you agreed, she leaned down as soon as the words left your lips. Her lips were so soft compared to the boys that you'd kissed in the past. Her hand that had been in your hair now traced over your cheek bones as she licked your bottom lip. You opened your mouth for her to slip her tongue in, the taste of weed and pink whitney mingling on her breath. You met her tongue a bit timidly as she licked your bottom teeth. She pulled back after a moment to readjust herself so that she was now laying down on top of you, caging you in her arms as she leaned down to kiss your chin.

"You're so cute." she mused, her lips pressed against the corner of your mouth.

"You're really pretty" you breathed as her lips hovered over your own once more before connecting her lips with yours once more.

[tmntgirlie]

TMNT x Reader

Prompt: It seems that a brother of your S/O has a bone to pick with you

Leonardo’s S/O

You had been dating the Fearless leader for a few months now

As every relationship, you had your ups and downs with Leo, but it generally was a very smooth relationship

You found yourself taking after some of his mannerisms

It took a turn when you began treating his brothers not only like your brothers, but how Leonardo treated them as well

You were a little bossy

Leonardo found it endearing that you mimicked him in that way, but you saw how Donatello now looked at you

He started to ignore you when you walked into the room

It made you uneasy

You didn’t realize how when you talked to them, your tone started to change

When Mikey started calling you ‘Miss Mini Leonardo’, you got the hint

You had been taking it too far

You finally approached Donatello

He refused to look at you

“Look, I know you don’t like me. The least you can do is acknowledge that I exist”

Donnie was not having it

“You fail to realize how you’ve been treating us. You may be dating our brother, but you aren’t him. We don’t need another leader in the family”

His words stunned you

Sure, Mikey had called you a mini Leo, but it finally stuck

You sighed

“I’ve been getting ahead of myself”

“It’s normal to mimic your significant other’s mannerisms, but that doesn’t mean you treat us like he treats us when we’re on duty. Treat us like family. I’m sure Leo feels the same way”

You took his words to heart

In the coming weeks, you caught yourself sounding bossy in front of them

It happened a lot

It didn’t sound right for you to bark orders at them

You caught yourself mid-sentence sometimes, took a deep breath, and changed your tone

Even Leonardo noticed, giving you small glances and smiles as he saw you disciplining yourself

One day, Donatello approached you

“Thank you for listening to me”

All you wanted was for them to like you as much as Leo did

Well, maybe not that much

Raphael’s S/O

Dating Raphael was like a dream

He doted on you, was so affectionate, he truly treated you like his Queen

Well, in isolation at least

Outside of the bedroom, he was mainly possessive of you, wouldn’t let you out of his sight

You noticed Mikey look at the two of you often

He never smiled when he did

You just figured he was jealous, wanted somebody for himself

One day, you finally asked Raph what Mikey’s deal was

He never talked to you

“He thinks you’re taking me away from him”

You take Raph away from Mikey?

You didn’t quite know what to say

After all, Mikey had spent all of his years with Raph

They grew up together, for Gods’ sake

You’ve only been in their lives for a couple months, tops

When you approached Mikey, he tried to act nonchalant about it

“What? I’m not looking at you guys or anything”

Lying through his teeth

But you were stubborn, and you didn’t back down

He finally admitted it

“I like you alright, Y/N, but I feel like you’re changing Raph”

“I’m changing him?”

“He never just wants to play videogames with me anymore or go boarding. He just wants to spend time with you”

As he continued to speak, you could sense something different in his voice

Mikey was scared he’d never have his brother again

Did you really change Raphael that much?

You didn’t know what to say to him, so you just nodded and ran back to Raph’s room

It was basically your room as well now

When you explained to him what Mikey said, you had to hold him back from charging out to talk to Mikey

“Don’t make it worse, please”

“Baby, he thinks you’re changing me. Does he really think you have that much power over me?”

You gave him a look

Yeah, you did have that kind of power over him

Maybe it wasn’t such a good thing

He sighed

“You’re right. Whatever. I guess I have been spending more time with you than with my brothers recently”

That started a conversation on what you and him could do differently

You had basically moved in at that point, so there wasn’t a time where you weren’t glued to his side

You both decided that he needed to detach himself a little from you to spend more time with his brothers

They were his brothers, after all

You respected the fact that in reality, you were just a girlfriend

They were brothers for life

Plus, there were some things you could do for him that his brothers absolutely couldn’t

Donatello’s S/O

Not a day went by that Donatello didn’t pull you into his lab to show you something new he had made

Sure, most of the things weren’t completely groundbreaking, but he usually made them for you

And you absolutely loved them

Oh, the thought that went into these things that he made for you

One day while Don was showing you this new feature he added on your phone, Leo stormed in

He was not a happy camper

He began questioning why Donnie was wasting his time making things for you when he could be doing so much more for his brothers

They had needs for new things, too

Leonardo was used to Donnie reporting everything to him, making things at his request

Now, he was constantly either with you or making something he thought you’d like

Donatello instantly got defensive, saying that everything he made for you, he made some other version for his brothers

He wasn’t picking favorites

But Leonardo was not having it

No, in his mind, brothers needed to come first

Brothers needed the most up-to-date tech and gear for the benefit of the family and New York City’s safety

Yeah, he went there

Brought up the whole safety of the city thing

You didn’t have a single word to say

You had never asked Donnie to make something only for you and not his brothers

Donnie was right- when he made something for you, he made stuff for his brothers as well

Now, we won’t get into the quality of the items

He did sometimes give you the best version over his brothers

That was Leonardo’s problem

The conversation ended with you leaving in tears

Leonardo and Donatello remaining in the lab, death glares flying all over the place

“I’ll create what I please. You may be our leader, but you’re my brother first. Respect my priorities. Just because I love her doesn’t mean I love any of you less”

He had never admitted out loud that he loved you before

Now Leonardo was at a loss for words

He had no idea you guys were in love

In his brain, he somehow thought… Something else

He really thought that you were somehow taking advantage of Donatello and his knack for tech and science

As Donatello continued, Leo caught that that was not the case

You finally came out of your room, eyes still a bit pink and puffy from crying

You really did not like yelling

Leonardo found you and started showering you in apologies

Man, could that turtle apologize

Better than YouTubers really

You accepted his apology, but sternly stated that his tone from earlier was not welcome in your ears

Leonardo nodded

“I think Don is looking for you. Don’t distract him too much”

It was a joke spoken too soon, but you let it go

You knew Donnie could make it better

Michelangelo’s S/O

Dating Michelangelo was like a nonstop party

He was always up for anything you wanted to do

A Marvel movie marathon?

Hell yeah

Playing Mario Kart until you could barely see straight?

Obviously

In the mood to be smothered in love and affection?

Mikey was your guy

You couldn’t think of a time in your life when you felt happier

Every day with Mikey was your new favorite day

A couple weeks into your relationship with the youngest turtle, you noticed one of his brothers scoff when you suggested a new activity for the two of you to try

You tried not to let it get to you, but as the weeks went on, it happened more often

Raphael, it seemed, had a bone to pick with you

At first, you thought it was the fact that you kept Mikey busy playing games with you or trying new recipes

When you offered Raphael a controller to play along, he always said no

Maybe it was just you, but it seemed like Raph flat out didn’t like you

Now, you weren’t the most confrontational person

But this was the best relationship you’d ever had, and damn it, nobody was going to ruin it for you

One day you had offered Raph the controller to play along with you and Mikey

When he said no, as expected, you huffed

“What is your problem with me?”

That was not the right thing to say

Oh, not at all

Raphael absolutely exploded on you

Rambling on about how you were a huge distraction for Mikey, how he was less motivated to train, all he ever wanted to do was spend time with you

Wasting his time with you

You could feel something in the pit of your stomach

You swore you weren’t going to cry

You were surprised when Mikey stood up for you instantly

“What are you talking about, bro? Y/N is the best thing that’s ever happened to me! Why can’t you just let me be happy for once?”

Raph didn’t say anything

“Our whole lives has been training, staying secluded, staying in the sewers with nobody to talk to but ourselves. Fuck me since now I finally found someone that not only accepts me, but wants to spend time with me and loves me for me”

You hadn’t yet said that you loved him yet, but it was pretty obvious

“Be happy that I found someone to put up with me, bro”

Mikey pulled you closer to him, eyeing his brother in a way you didn’t think was possible for the youngest turtle

Was this his defensive side?

Oh, you liked that

Raphael clicked his tongue

“I guess. Good for you, Mike, finding someone to put up with you that also beats you in Mario Kart”

Mikey scoffed

“She’s just that good. She’d beat you, too!”

Raphael wasn’t having that

He snatched the third player controller and gestured at you to start the race

It definitely took you by surprise, but it really shouldn’t have

These guys were passionate, they were all each other had

You hoped Raphael wouldn’t hold your relationship with his brother against you any longer

[imaginesbymk]

“Something’s Wrong with Mr. Pink.”

Reservoir Dogs One Shot

Summary: There’s been spark between you and Mr. Pink, but he’s one to shield his emotions. He realizes he’s starting to lose you, but he’s out of ways to win your heart. Desperate, he approaches Mr. White for help.

Pairing: Mr. Pink x Fem!Reader

Tags: swearing, sexist remarks, smoking + mentions of drug use (marijuana)

Non Requested

Word Count: 2,054

Author’s Note: as you can tell, quentin tarantino movies have been on my list!!! the reader is codenamed Miss Beige!! i never thought i’d have this much appreciation for steve buscemi until now, he’s such a cool guy :(((  also thank you @myriadimagines​ for checking my title capitalization aksnskdns - leave a like/reblog + feedback!!! <333

MR. BROWN gave Mr. Pink a ride to the next meeting, and the whole trip there, Brown rambled on and on about God knows what. It came through one ear and out the other for Pink. Brown didn’t seem to notice because of his investment of his proven theory of a movie he had seen and wanted to share it with someone. 

If he wasn’t listening in silence, Pink would always have something to say. It would usually be a comment, an opinion on something about social life. This one afternoon, he bit his tongue, despite the guys knowing his mind was occupied, even Nice Guy Eddie raised a brow. It didn’t start the day they were all given your colour coded names. It didn’t start the day they reviewed the plan of the heist with each other. It all started when you two were unintentionally left alone at the large dining table, moments after the guys had walked out the restaurant for something.

“Pink’s a pretty colour.” You gave him a reassuring smile, stirring your straw in your milkshake.

“To you.” 

“And to anyone else who would want to be codenamed Pink!” you scoff. “Sexist.”

“Easy for you to say, you’re Miss Beige,” he says, his mouth full of his toast. 

“And I happen to like my name. It’s a pretty colour,” you paused. “Just like pink.”

Pink huffs, swirling his coffee mug. “I can’t wait to smoke.”

“Lucky.”

“My buddy sets up Thai sticks like it’s one of those model boats in a bottle. It’s so fragile to him, and he saved one for me. Something tells me I owe him a shit ton.”

“You smoke Thai sticks?” you ask. “Your poor lungs.”

“Nah, I gotta smoke outta one anytime after coffee just for me to either black out or jump off the Empire State building by the time we hit Easter.”

You chuckled.

From the windows of the restaurant, you could see the guys standing outside their parked cars including Nice Guy Eddie and Joe, talking to each other about whatever. You could see their mouths moving, Nice Guy Eddie using a lot of hand motions at Mr. White, and Joe calling someone on the phone.

This wasn’t the first time you spent a limited amount of minutes alone with Mr. Pink. At Uncle Bob’s Pancake House, you two did sit close to each other, except Mr. Blue sat in between the both of you, and you had to lean forward to see Mr. Pink if he was speaking or if you two were giving each other looks if someone said something stupid.

If you were that childish, you would've considered the five minutes of alone time with Mr. Pink a first date - without the formal introduction. You two didn’t give each other your names because of Joe, but you wouldn’t mind slipping it out.

Silence, and then-

“I know this really cool café near my apartment. We should check it out sometime,” you blurted out.

Pink was in the midst of swallowing his food. He chokes on his ketchup dipped toast, taking his coffee mug to chase the contents down his throat.

“Wait a minute-” Pink cleared his throat, then cleared it again. “Are you-” he cleared his throat for the final time. “Are you asking me out?”

“Y-yeah,” you sheepishly smile, holding in your breath. “I mean, we can go get coffee, hang out at my place afterwards - it’s just a five minute walk - and sit on my couch, listen to K-Billy’s Super Sounds of the ‘70s, you can smoke your Thai stick, I wouldn’t mind...” By looking at Pink’s face made you trail off your words. You knew where this was going. 

“You couldn’t ask Brown or Orange?”

“No, I wanted to ask you. We’ve been talking lately, we seem to get along, thank God, and you’re really cool. Even when you can be an absolute dick almost all the time, you haven’t scared me off. Just one date, it won’t kill us.”

“A date...” he frowns a bit. “With you?”

“What’s wrong with me?” your heart sank.

“Nothing’s wrong with you, Miss Beige. Ya just got the wrong idea. We’re here for a job, not to hook up. If you want to suck someone off, try your luck with Mr. Blonde. Besides, I go for chicks at a bar. I know from experience, they’re always coming in hot - first come, first serve typa’ shit.”

“Right. My bad.” You felt yourself shrinking now, fighting the urge to get up and make a dash outta there, somewhere to scream in embarrassment, whatever emotion it was. 

“Excuse me.” Mr. Pink gets up and walks away, just as the rest of the guys start making their return to the large table.

“Where did Mr. Pink go?” Mr. Orange asked.

“Little men’s room, I’m guessing.” You sighed, sliding the milkshake away from you. “I’m full.”

“Something’s wrong with Mr. Pink. Did you guys get in a fight? We were only gone for five minutes,” Mr. Brown laughs.

You sat in silence, staring down.

“Nah, I bet she finally put him in his place and he’s crying like a baby in there,” Mr. Blue said, lighting the cigar in his mouth with a match.

“Most definitely not.” Mr. White shook his head, patting his pockets in search of his lighter. “That man’s a smartass, and smartasses like him know how to shield themselves. He’s fine. If anything, he can walk his ass home.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Pink calmly entered the restroom, placed both hands on each side of the tiny sink, stared at his reflection in the dirty mirror, and screamed in anger. 

He jumps when he notices a man had appeared from one of the stalls just a moment ago, staring at him worriedly.

“WHAT?!” Mr. Pink snaps.

If someone treated him like a friend, he goes along with it if they weren’t weird or creepy. If someone told a joke, he’ll laugh if it isn’t corny or cringeworthy. But if someone admitted their feelings to him? Let alone ask him out?

That was the thing: Mr. Pink doesn’t like the idea of vulnerability. He’s aware that it’s unavoidable, it’s human nature - he just chooses not to give into it. Mr. Pink won’t waste a breath giving anyone the impression that he’s easy to get along with and that he’s a kind of guy to not act like a complete jerk half the time, because that’s not true. Not on his behalf, at least. 

“Mr. White,” Mr. Pink approaches him in the vacant room at the hideout one day.

He knows people can judge. So he naturally survives on witty remarks, being a sarcastic ass most of the time, and coffee, coffee, and more coffee. Coffee times six. 

Mr. White finishes combing his hair in the small mirror, nodding at him as a response. “You all right, son?”

But at the same time, his heart was telling him he wants you all to himself.  “I got a problem...”

"SO you want my help?” Mr. White said, a few moments after Mr. Pink had explained the situation he was stuck in. “You’re completely hopeless right now? Gosh, is it my birthday already?”

“You’re full of shit,” Pink mumbled.

“Thought you’re s’posed to be a fuckin’ professional, like you said?” Mr. White chuckled. “I would have thought you would know what to do by now.”

“What am I, the Dalai Lama? I don’t know the answer to everything.”

“I mean... I kinda figured something was goin’ on between you two, I tried to warn her,” White shoots him a blank stare.

“Warn her?” Mr. Pink scowls. “Like I’m some fuckin’ tiger on the loose?”

“I did tell her: Listen, honey,” Mr. White grimaced, as he saw you like a sixteen-year-old teenager not knowing better than to get her heart broken. “Are you one hundred percent sure you like Mr. Pink? He’s a pretty cynical guy. You know he doesn’t tip waitresses?”

You shrug.

“Look, I know I can be very close to myself while very outspoken but,” Mr. Pink sighs. “I mean, c’mon, you’ve seen Miss Beige. Who wouldn’t want her? One time, she called in sick for a job she worked at just to play Super Mario World.”

“You could go there and apologize to her.”

“It’s not that easy, White.”

“How so? Just tell her you freaked out but you had a change of heart.”

“No, man. I could have accepted it right there and then, I could be taking her out somewhere, a place she likes, or that café she was talking about. But no, I turn into the cold piece of shit I always am ‘cause I’m a fucking-” Mr. Pink kicks the rusty chair in anger. “-idiot!” He kicks it again, hurting his foot in the process. He cries out in pain and hops away to the table for balance.

“Mr. Pink, it’s not too late to win her heart. If you really like her, and I can tell you’d take a bullet for her, then brush the professionalism aside for one second and make your move.”

“How?” he chuckles, taking a seat in the chair he had just kicked.

“Well, you can start by introducing yourself.”

“Already done.”

“No I mean, your name.”

“Whoa, whoa whoa. What we’re not gonna do is that.” Mr. Pink ran his fingers through his hair, turning his back to White to therapeutically stare at the light pink tiles on the walls. 

“Why not?” White shrugs. “I told her mine. And it’s-”

Mr. Pink turned around. “What?”

Mr. White furrowed his brows. “Huh?”

“You told her your name?” he said. In his mind he prayed Mr. White gave her a fake name on the spot.

“I mean, not just her. Mr. Orange, too. My first name and where I was from, it was a normal conversation.”

“...WHY?!” Pink’s voice echoed in the warehouse.

“Orange asked.��

“You know what Joe said, we’re not supposed to reveal any personal info about ourselves!”

“Joe said this, Joe said that- fucking teacher’s pet,” Mr. White mocks.

“What the hell were you thinking, White?” he shouts.

“How else can you and Miss Beige take a step further if you can’t even tell each other your fuckin’ names? Just introduce yourself, Pink. That’s one way to start,” Mr. White says.

“And what if she doesn’t like my name?” He could only come up with such a question like that.

“What is your name?” 

“Fuck you, man.” Mr. Pink stood up from the chair, earning a chuckle from his colleague.

“All right, if you won’t tell me your name, then tell y/n. Y/n should be the only one who can know.”

Mr. Pink turned back to him again. “Y/N?” he says. “That’s her name?”

Mr. White nods. As heated as Mr. Pink was, he knew one day your name would have to fall out of his lips and not a colour, and he wouldn’t mind that. Y/N...

Mr. Pink wouldn’t mind that one bit.

FROM now on, the café near your apartment complex would be your go-to. It was a café not too small but not too big, and no one would bat an eye if you showed up in your pajamas. The following Saturday you went there alone, sipping your coffee and turning to the second page of the morning paper. 

What sucked was the fact that after you were turned down, you came to think that Mr. Pink wouldn’t be able to see how cool the interior was. He sure was missing out. Sure his Thai stick won’t be stinking up your living room while throwback songs from the ‘70s play on the radio, but indeed, sucks for him.

“Shit, you were right, y/n. This place is pretty neat.”

The newspaper crinkled when you lowered it down. Standing at the foot of your booth was Mr. Pink. This time he didn’t have on his silly Hawaiian shirt like last time, and no, he didn’t ironically wear pink as a kind gesture. He did look good in a white tee, though. 

You had to smile. He knew your name. And you wondered how...

“Oh, Mr. Pink. Morning,” you nodded.

He takes a seat in front of you. “C’mon, we’re not at work. Just call me—”

THE END

—

TAGLIST: @locke-writes

[where-dreamers-go]

“Game On” Riley Poole x Reader

(A/N: SURPRISE! A prequel to the Riley Poole x Reader Series! It’s a surprise for me too. Welcome to Ben Gates’ circle of friends prior to going to the Arctic Circle to find The Charlotte. This can be read without having read the series that goes through the movie National Treasure. Written for @girl-next-door-writes Bingo challenge! Bingo Card: Mutual Pining Warnings: Poker game. Word Count: 2,472 words)

Strategy. Confidence. Restraint. Three words perfectly fit the poker game on Ben’s dining table. Ever since your best friend had met Ian Howe, a man who believed in the Templar treasure and had pockets of money, the group of you had played poker on weekends. Not every weekend of course. There were only so many rounds of bets you were willing to have. Even if this time you brought cookies for a snack.

Although in truth, you had been playing more for a few months and sitting through more games than otherwise willing. Why? An incredibly intelligent, funny, and handsome man who was officially a part of Ben’s circle of friends.

Riley Poole. Thank the Universe that you helped Ben with his computer, you thought as you stole a glance to your right. Didn’t think I’d be having this much fun.

Sitting in your best friends’ apartment was a greater comfort than Ian’s home. Sure, you’d known the man for more than a year, but Ben had been your friend since you were in school. Around a decade of friendship meant you knew him. You knew him well.

“Ben,” you said calmly.

“Hmm?”

“You’re bluffing again.”

Ben’s eyebrows raised a fraction before speaking. “I fold.”

In only a moment, Ian chuckled.

“You might not be the best player,” Ian told you. “But you can read Ben like a book.” His chuckling doubled as Ben made a face.

“Maybe we should return (Y/N)’s library card.” Ben suggested with a smirk.

You scrunched up your face in disapproval.

“Yeah, but they can still buy books and stay in a library to read them.” Riley piped in.

You sent Riley a smile and pushed a box of crackers closer to him.

“Alright,” Ian spoke up. “Can either of you beat a Four of a Kind? Riley?”

Biting into a cracker, Riley shook his head and laid his cards down. “I fold.”

“(Y/N)?”

“No,” you grumbled. “I fold.” Reluctantly, you set your cards down.

He’s gonna start prancing his way out by the time we’re done.

Shoulders back and a smug grin on his face, Ian revealed his cards. A three, a nine, a queen, and a king.

“What?” Riley exclaimed.

You dropped your forehead to the table.

Not again.

“They’re not even the same suit. You lied.”

“I win again.” Ian stated as the poker chips could be heard being pulled to his side of the table.

“Next time we’re playing Mario Party,” you groaned as you picked your head up off of the table.

“I am not playing that.”

“Afraid you’ll lose?” You countered.

“No. I simply don’t want to play.”

You made a short sound of acknowledgement in your throat.

“You have a Nintendo 64?” Riley asked as everyone tossed their cards to the middle so that Ben could take his turn to shuffle and deal.

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t know you had one. Why didn’t you say anything?”

“You never asked.”

“How was I suppose to know to ask if you had one?”

“Conversation?”

“Save the bickering for the game, shall we?” Ian interrupted without glancing up.

You gave the man a pointed look.

It was times like those that you weren’t entirely sure if he was playing along or actually annoyed. There were times when you honestly could not tell.

Worse case scenario, he’s always annoyed with me and Riley talking. He’s usually not this way when it’s just me and Ben.

Having finished shuffling the deck, Ben dealt the cards out to each of you.

“As a head’s up, this is my last game.” You said after checking the time.

“You’re not working overtime again, are you?” Ben asked.

“No.”

“(Y/N)…”

“I have to double check an e-mail and double check a few things. Respond to a few more e-mails. Stuff.”

“That’s working.” Riley said.

“I know. I know.”

“At least you’re making sure everything is done properly. Some times that’s hard to find in some people.” Ian added.

“Thank you.” You reached for a cookie and—

Crunch

You peered over to your right and saw Riley’s eyebrows knitted together as he ate another cracker. His eyes were trained just above his cards.

That was a little louder than normal, you thought as you ate the cookie. Mentally shrugging, you checked out your cards. Oh, okay. Not bad so far. Hmm.

“Any chance next time we could play Twenty-One?” You asked.

“Blackjack?” Riley nabbed a cookie.

“Yeah. Though if Ben says ‘no’ he indirectly admits his many defeats.”

“Hey. That’s a game of chance.” Ben pointed a finger at you.

“And strategy.” You added.

“It is older than Poker.” Ian said as he waited for Ben to add more cards to the table.

Ben eyed his own cards. “You know,” he started. “Playing cards were actually invented before 1000AD by the Chinese. The cards didn’t have numbers…”

Turning your head to the right, you caught Riley’s eyes. You gave each other knowing looks as Ben continued giving facts. That could mean two things: Ben was confident or he had a pretty good hand of cards. If Ian had picked up on that through the many games, neither you nor Riley knew. However, you were willing to play more logically to win.

Game on, Ben.

Riley slid the box of crackers closer to you. The box was moved just enough that when you leaned back, Riley subtly tilted his cards.

You had a better cards. You took two crackers and gave one to Riley. He returned his sights back to the center of the table with a nod.

Now to figure out Ian and Ben. Can’t always let one of them win.

“Riley.” Ben said.

“Hm? What?”

“Your turn.”

“Oh, right.”

You reached for more crackers to munch on as the four of you continued playing. Looking up for only a second, you saw Ben smiling and his smile only widened when he caught your eye. You raised an eyebrow in question. He glanced over to Riley then back at you. Acting on immediate reaction, you tossed a cracker at your best friend’s chest. Unfortunately he didn’t drop any of his cards so that you could see them.

Stop it, you thought. Too bad we don’t have telepathy. Then again, that could backfire with comments, but we could team up during poker. Also would save money on the phone bill. Hmph.

With more cards in your hands, your chances of winning were dwindling. It was not a big deal. But you really wanted to win.

Darn it.

“(Y/N), I hope you’re better at bluffing than giving instructions over e-mail.” Riley said, catching you off guard.

“Wha—Hey.” You pulled your cards closer to yourself. “It’s not my fault they don’t know what the icons mean.”

“You should have explained that first.”

“I’m not Internet one oh one.”

Ian rolled his eyes. “Can we get back to the game?”

Hiding your smile as you ducked your head, you muttered, “We already went over this.”

“Bluff.” Riley murmured.

Ben cleared his throat and said, “Your turn, Riley.”

That e-mail was likely not going to be easily forgotten. Then again, it did remind you that a specific e-mail, from the same co-worker, had finally been sent to you earlier in the day.

Could have had it done last week.

A couple of days ago, you had given Riley a personal museum tour and treated him to lunch in exchange for helping you type up an e-mail explaining how to send a document as an attachment to a co-worker. It wasn’t that you didn’t know how to send the e-mail. It was that you didn’t know how to explain it for the third time. Or rather how to explain it in a way that the co-worker would understand the instructions given.

The game went on for another ten minutes until Ian and Riley were at a showdown. Ben and yourself had folded, knowing you were both beaten.

“Alright, show your hand.” Ian said confidently.

Both men turned their cards face up. A Three of a Kind versus a Flush. Riley won the game.

“Aaaay!” You patted Riley’s arm repeatedly for more than a moment.

Riley shuffled a bit in his seat before sitting a little taller.

“Good game.” Ian pushed his cards away.

“Good job, Riley.” Ben congratulated his friend.

Pulling the chips to his side, Riley grinned. Victory was sweet at times.

“Hey, sorry to cut this short, but I have to get going.” You stood from your seat and grabbed your plastic container of cookies to seal them.

Can snack on the cookies later, you thought as you smoothly placed one in front of Riley. He won. Prize given.

You pushed in your chair.

“I-uh better go too,” Riley said. “I don’t know how traffic is going to be. It’s dark.”

“Okay, Riley,” Ben replied. “Don’t forget your jacket.”

“Thanks.”

You walked passed Ian, saying, “Any chance you can teach Ben to bluff?”

“Not something you can teach.” Ian answered as he gathered up the cards.

“I don’t need to bluff to win.” Ben added in as he lead you and Riley to the door. Always the nice host.

“Bye Ian,” you waved.

“I’ll see you two later.” Riley said.

“Drive safely.” Ben patted his friend on the shoulder.

“Don’t stay up too late, Ben,” you teased as you walked out the door.

“Bye, (Y/N).” He laughed. Behind you, Ben had shut the door as Riley followed you out.

Two steps away from the door and Riley walked up beside you.

“I can’t believe how many times Ian bluffed.” Riley said. “He must have taken almost half of the chips.”

“I’d say I’m surprised, but I’m not.”

He nodded. Many thoughts running through his head no doubt.

“You didn’t do so bad today,” you added.

“I could have been better. I just can’t tell when Ian’s lying or confident or confident in his lying.”

“There’s little difference.” You murmured as you two reached your apartment’s door. Stopping for a moment, you considered your next words.

Eh. Do it.

“Remember that e-mail you helped me with?”

“Yeah.”

“Would you like to see what they e-mailed me back?”

“How bad is it?” His shoulders slumped.

“What makes you think it’s bad?”

“Because you’re asking if I want to see it and you’re already laughing.”

Oh, I guess I am. You thought as your grin widened.

“You’re right. It’s pretty bad. In a really weird way.”

“Great,” he said sarcastically. A small smile edged its way onto his face. “Let me see it.”

Turning, you quickly grabbed your key and unlocked the front door. Once you pushed it open, you let Riley inside.

“Just give me a second to grab my computer.” You said.

Front door shut and cookies placed on a flat surface, you fast-walked to another room to grab your laptop.

It was not the first time Riley had been in your apartment. It was not even the only time he had been in your home without Ben present. As it turned out, you had made friends with Riley almost as fast as Ben did. There was something that just clicked. Similar interests, shared knowledge, and good old companionship that was refreshing.

Walking out of your room, you spotted Riley sitting on your couch with his glasses on. Your laptop was already up and loading your e-mails.

“Ready?” You asked.

“They didn’t put any attachments, did they?” Riley watched as you placed the computer on the coffee table.

“You’ll have to see.” You sat beside him.

A couple of clicks and you had opened the message from your inbox.

“Hey. There’s actual attachments,” Riley observed as he scrolled to the bottom of the e-mail. “Uh. Um. Were they only suppose to send you the documents?”

“Yeah.” You nodded and bit back a grin. “Click on that one.”

He clicked on the one that had caught his eye.

A large picture of a large cat lounging on an armchair filled up a part of the screen.

“Holy Lord.” Riley looked to you. “Please tell me not all of these are cats.”

“Just two cats.”

Riley groaned.

“I got the other ones they needed to send. Thankfully. I’ve been needing these possible layouts for the next exhibition for a week now.”

“We’re going to have to teach them how to remove an attachment before sending an e-mail now.”

It was your time to groan.

“You don’t want them sending Lord knows what else next time, do you?”

“No.” You sighed. “But…that means I have to mention the cats.”

The moment Riley made eye contact with you, you both started bursted out laughing.

Out of all things to send you, they sent you pictures of cats. Perhaps you should be thankful it was not anything else. Who knew at that point? The question at hand was how to word your next e-mail? It was suppose to be a follow-up message about which layout of the museum space was better not another how-to.

“I’m getting paid to say, ‘delete your cat photos…from the e-mail’.” You wheezed. Trying to breath between laughing and speaking was challenging.

“Maybe….maybe send two e-mails?” Riley’s grin was still present. “One for work and one for clicking the small ‘x’.”

“Yeah, but at this point you should be charging them for tech support.”

“Put that in your next e-mail.”

You bumped his arm with your own.

“Just saying.”

“If they ask for more help I’ll let them know. How’s that?”

“I’ll get the documents ready.”

You covered your mouth as loud laugh escaped you.

Oh goodness. I hope he’ll do it anyway.

Smile only partially fading, Riley gestured to the laptop. “Let me know if their lack of technology skills makes your instruction skills disappear again. But not on your day off.” He removed his glasses and stood up.

You followed suit and walked him to the door.

“You really shouldn’t put in more hours than they’re paying you.”

“I want the new exhibition to be perfect.” You added as you leaned against the opened door. “But you’re right.”

“Can’t work for nothing. Especially when you’re suddenly working free tech support.” He stood out in the hallway.

“Hey,” you said. “Thanks for hanging out today. It was really fun.”

A smile returned to his lips. “I had fun too.”

“Drive safely, alright?”

“I will. See you later.”

“See yah, Riley.” You waved before finally shutting the door. With a lopsided grin, you locked the door and skipped over towards the cookies. Perhaps your winnings will be more than chips won in a poker game some day. Maybe something a little more meaningful.

~~~

(If you love my writings and want to support me, I have a Ko-Fi where you can buy me a coffee. I would be eternally grateful.

Best wishes and happy reading.)

~~~~~

DreamerDragon Tags: @cubedtriangle

Riley Poole Tags: @darkenwolfy @wesleeporstudy @yearning-warmth

Riley Poole series Tags (Would you like to be added to Riley Poole Tags?): @imacuteprincess @gingerlaserbeam @sledgy14 @thecaptainsgingersnap 

**Let me know if you would like to be tagged in insert readers, either through replies, ask, or message.**

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

I had a thought.

It's been almost a year. Looking back on it, it seems to me that Universal and DreamWorks were so gosh-dang quiet about RUBY GILLMAN (comma) TEENAGE KRAKEN simply because it opened a month after the release of Disney's live-action LITTLE MERMAID remake. "Ya think??" Yeah, it's probably obvious, but I'll go into detail anyways.

Now, I'm not gonna dredge up the unnecessary and needless noise that briefly surrounded these two movies... But I do think the similarities, namely a redheaded mermaid, did play a part in everyone's hesitance to let the world know: This movie actually exists!

Not until 3 1/2 months before its release date, anyways. Again, such an unusual rollout for a high-end animated movie that cost roughly $70m to make.

TEENAGE KRAKEN apparently was in development in some form at DreamWorks since the mid-2010s, which seems feasible, given how long these things take from conception to completion. Very rarely are they fast-tracked, like say, THE EMOJI MOVIE was. Tony Leondis created the pitch for that in early 2015, and three studios got in a bidding war over it. Sony was the winner (Paramount and WB were the other candidates), picked it up ASAP, greenlit it right away, and within two years the movie was in multiplexes... That was... Quick!

But usually, it's a lengthy development-to-production cycle. No one outside the walls of DreamWorks knew what this sea monster movie was until scooper sites started "reporting" it in mid-2021. The LITTLE MERMAID remake already was known to the public well before that. It had gotten its late spring 2023 release date a few months after these scoops about GILLMAN got out. MEET THE GILLMANS, it was known as, for a long time.

By this point in time, DreamWorks' schedule was pretty clear-cut. BOSS BABY 2 was pretty much out, or coming out. BAD GUYS was spring 2022, PUSS IN BOOTS 2 was penciled in for fall 2022. Both announced a while before that. Universal had Illumination's SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE pegged for Christmas 2022, and then an untitled DreamWorks movie set for April 2023 would follow that. That was going to be RUBY GILLMAN, TEENAGE KRAKEN... Which would've placed it a little over a month before Disney's Memorial Day release of THE LITTLE MERMAID.

However, RUBY GILLMAN could've been a fall 2022 release...

At one point in time, DreamWorks had THE BAD GUYS scheduled for September 2021. That would be followed by PUSS IN BOOTS 2 in April 2022, probably followed by RUBY GILLMAN in the fall... TROLLS 3 already had the fall 2023 slot by this point, one could guess that the spring 2023 movie could've been... I dunno, THE WILD ROBOT? ORION AND THE DARK, even? Possibly KUNG FU PANDA 4.

Often times, movie slates get domino'd in animation-land. Usually, DreamWorks' slate changes didn't really effect Illumination's. They typically lock the 4th of July frame and the Christmas frame.

COVID-19 certainly played a part in things getting pushed back, for DreamWorks. If you remember, BOSS BABY 2 was initially thought to be a late March 2021 release. That date was inked shortly after the first movie arrived and surprisingly broke out in the spring of 2017. It moved to September 2021, pushing BAD GUYS to April 2022... Then it moved up a bit, as an experimental day-and-date release in July 2021. Occupying the slot MINIONS 2 was originally looking at. It didn't make back its money theatrically, but a third BOSS BABY is coming, so DreamWorks essentially must've said "mulligan". (It also helps that the first movie and the TV series do consistently well on streaming.)

So by the end of 2021, we were looking at BAD GUYS as an April 2022 release, PUSS 2 as a September 2022 release, and something yet to be titled after that in April 2023 in addition to TROLLS 3 in November of that year. Illumination's MINIONS sequel, after two major COVID-19-related delays, was set for July 2022, and SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE would follow Christmas week... All seemed to lock together, even though DreamWorks was still being mum about what Untitled April 2023 Movie was...

But then... Illumination delayed MARIO. To April 2023, the slot that RUBY GILLMAN was looking at. This was done to coincide with the Super Nintendo World theme park opening... So, DreamWorks moved right into the ripe Christmas frame with PUSS IN BOOTS 2.

Feasibly, they could've moved RUBY GILLMAN up to January or something, and kept PUSS 2 in September... But they opted to give PUSS 2 the Christmas frame, thus a long, record-breaking leggy run. Worked out perfectly for the kitty, but it ultimately sunk the sea monsters.

MARIO taking April meant that RUBY GILLMAN had to move, so Universal chose late June 2023. 4th of July frame... That Illumination's MIGRATION originally occupied... MIGRATION took this past Christmas slot. All feel into place after that, but poor RUBY GILLMAN now was opening after LITTLE MERMAID... And I think Universal/DreamWorks just kinda tossed it off. Didn't announce its existence at all until about 3 1/2 months before release, as if they could wipe their hands of it and move onto the next few movies. THE WILD ROBOT and DOG MAN have been announced and have concrete release dates, well ahead of schedule. The latter was known to be in development for a long while, too. WILD ROBOT is a fairly recently announcement. ORION AND THE DARK was known about at least half a year before its Netflix debut. And that's a streaming movie, not like a big theatrical performance was expected of it.

I bring this up now because I keep thinking of the untitled Thanksgiving 2024 WDAS movie, and how the Disney Co. still hasn't officially revealed what it is... And there are nine months to go. Again, usually these things are announced a year or so in advance. If they aren't ready after being unveiled to the world, then they simply get delayed... But, Disney's curiously cutting this one pretty close. Heck, ENCANTO, STRANGE WORLD, and WISH were cut pretty close as well. Relatively speaking. Usually a WDAS is known about 2-3 years in advance. I'm sure we'll learn about what it is soon, but that they're still being this quiet about it makes me wonder. And given other things going on with WDAS itself, I get a little concerned, ya know?

Or everything's ginger-peachy, and they have a strategy for it, the movie itself is fine, and it speedily introduces itself via a teaser trailer sometime soon and then sticks the landing. Maybe it's ahead of schedule and it will be done before mid-2024, in anticipation of the possible animation/VFX strike. We shall see.

[sinkix]

♡ Haikyuu!!│Boys as your Roommate HC’s Pt.2│Ft. Kuroo, Bokuto, Kenma & Kageyama ♡

Since the last one did well I decided to do another 2am shit-post consisting of my bby HQ bois as your roommate so I’m v sorry if it’s messy and seems like rambling but honestly what did u expect. <(￣︶￣)> The more I write these the more I just want to summon satan and make them come to life man I love them sm.

You can find Pt. 1 here

E N J O Y ~ <3

◃:✮.❃⭒ ◃:✮.❃⭒ ◃:✮.❃⭒ ◃:✮.❃⭒

Kuroo:

So. Damn. Annoying

But in like, the best way possible??

Constantly teases and irritates you while cooking or when it’s your turn to do the chores.

“(Y/N)-kuuun I think you missed a spot”

Proceeds to show swabbed finger with the tiniest speck of dust on it with the biggest shit eating grin he can muster

You have constant competitions who can clean more thoroughly and rip into each other as a result.

I mean there’s worse things to compete over I suppose??

He likes to make it a habit of waking you up by throwing his HUGE ASS BODY ON TO THE BED IF YOU OVERSLEEP.

WHOLE BED JUST CREAKS AND DIPS UNDER HIS WEIGHT.

Wraps his arm around you and gives amazing cuddles tho so its worth it

Borderline suffocating you though just so you get up.

Also, don’t wake Kuroo when he’s had only a few hours rest

just, don’t. If you value your safety.

Last time you tried to haul him out of bed in this state he threw a pillow at you and BITCH WENT TO GRAB THE ALARM CLOCK NEXT but u dashed out the room before he could lob it. 

Speaking of which, pillow fights. 

so many.

 Y’all are always throwing random stuff at each other just to startle one another

You both make a conscious effort NOT to aim for the head though so I guess its ok???

The aroma of coffee always greets you in the morning and it’s become hella comforting since you’ve just come to associate that smell with him.

His bed head is 1000x more extreme in the morning which you tease him relentlessly for and def has bags under his eyes but it looks cute.

sleep deprivation but make it chic.

He is much more of a night owl i’m making it canon idc - however usually has to sleep early due to club activities starting first thing in the morning.

He wakes up especially early because he knows he not only has to haul himself up at an ungodly hour but Kenma as well since he NEVER gets up on time otherwise.

Kenma lives a few blocks down from you guys and you often kick it as a three.

Sometimes he stays over just to save the extra effort of Kuroo going to his place.

It’s always v chill with the three of you as you get on really well and just play mario kart till 2am.

which again, big mistake. They end up nearly being late to practise so it’s kinda counter productive lmao

worth it though.

Kuroo is a salty loser js and will definitely wave his arms in front of you or shove his ass in your face to block the screen so he can overtake you.

Sometimes forces you to go on early morning runs with him but it’s actually really nice since you watch the sunrise together while sitting for a water break in an empty field

Almost poetic if it wasn’t for the constant teasing and bickering like an old married couple.

Kenma is VERY thankful you have become his new victim for those morning run routines.

Bokuto:

SCREAMS FROM THE ROOFTOPS EVERY DAY

MY GOD

Actually pretty quiet in the morning?? Like the lil owl is just waking up so he usually just mumbles a good-morning and rubs his eyes its so damn cute

Usually pretty good about getting up on time but some days he needs a kick up the backside to get him out of bed.

He fully made you drag him out of the covers once before he was even willing to entertain the idea of getting up.

those 30 seconds felt like a 30 minute workout since he is so HEAVY.

I feel sorry for the neighbours on that day tbh

“Bokuto-san wake up.” 

“NNNgg-aaagGGHHHHH AGGAAASHIII”

“It’s (Y/N) you dumbass G E T U P”

You aren’t safe for long though because ONCE HE’S AWAKE HOMEBOY IS RARING TO GO.

Frequently makes y’all pancakes for breakfast with a frilly pink ‘best chef’ apron on and it’s fucking hysterical. 

actually has several aprons and one of them has a stock image of abs printed onto the front.

Pancakes is the only thing Bokuto is competent at so don’t expect anything else without the kitchen combusting

His pancakes are SO damn good tho like bitch who taught you to flip like dat.

Does a lil shimmy with his body and throws it back each time he flips so it basically aggregates as a performance too since hes so extra

One time the pancake landed on the floor and he was in emo mode for a whole day LMAOOO

boy was spiking while mourning the fallen soldier.

Akaashi was so confused as to why he walked into practise in such a solemn mood.

had to stifle his laughter once you told him the reason.

For some reason you have this tradition to play board games on a Friday night

Obvs you have to let him win and be a cocky ass bc otherwise he will be sad until the next morning.

sis will be in a slump while brushing his teeth over losing a game of monopoly.

Doesn’t expect you to come to practise with him but is always grinning like a dork the whole way there when you accompany him.

His game is always A1 on those days so Akaashi is eternally grateful.

Often tries to make you go to the gym with him SINCE Y’ALL BEST BELIEVE BOKUTO BABY AIN’T SKIPPIN LEG DAY.

Actually a really good workout partner though, he’s so hype and encouraging.

Grocery shopping is a nightmare, y’all come back with 3x as much as what was on the list while Bokuto just looks really sheepish and guilty like a dog who shredded up the sofa.

Kageyama:

Your conversations are very minimal at first until he adjusts to living with you.

Hella private with his living space and his bedroom

You always suspected he’s got some like weird alien cult meeting from Fiji going on in there with how shady he acts sometimes.

After a while though he’s pretty chill and doesn’t mind TOO much when you invade his personal space or go through his stuff.

I’d still be careful though an angry Kags is not a pleasant one.

He’s a minimalist, so if you ever get decorating done it’s usually you that takes the reigns since as long as it’s got a roof, a stove, a bathroom and a bed he could literally not give a fuck.

Unexpectedly easy to please over the smallest things, make a meal for him after a long day of practise and it’ll be hard for him to contain an appreciative smile.

Do NOT pull him up on it though bc he will get defensive 

just embrace it bro you won’t see it often.

V good at getting up on time and hella quiet in the morning when going about his routine, it’s easy to forget he’s in the house a times so at least he’s considerate.

Honestly doesn’t care whether you come to practise or not it makes no difference to him. Though the closer you both get he will sometimes wait for the moment you walk through the door and mentally slap himself for doing so.

Sometimes plays music in his room but it’s always really quiet and hard to decipher unless you press your ear up against the door.

The boi plays some BOPS though which is really surprising???

Usually takes charge of stuff like grocery shopping, cleaning etc. 

Control freak™️ here to assist your household services. 

He’s pretty dense though with these matters and needs some guidance at times lmao

Will not get the item on your list unless you CLEARLY SPECIFY AND INCLUDE THE WHOLE DAMN TITLE OF THE ITEM

You’re surprised he doesn’t request you illustrate the fucking bar code.

In the end you sometimes end up caving and just either going with him or going in his place.

Once he warms up to you y’all like cracking little jokes at each other and pulling one another’s leg.

if you get up even the slightest bit late he’ll just throw a lil “good afternoon” with a smirk on his face.

Sometimes he will come and chill with you on the couch to binge watch shows and it’s just a really relaxed atmosphere.

has really good taste in movies and series??

Honestly just a hella respectful roommate as long as you respect him and his privacy in return.

You once stuck his knee-pads in the washing machine on a high temp and they came out ready to fit a 6 year old.

You still suspect he holds a grudge to this day.

He also tried to give them to Hinata and never have you seen him more genuinely offended lmao.

Kenma:

The pair of you always end up oversleeping and it’s a genuine problem ur the definition of a disaster duo.

If it wasn’t for Kuroo strolling into your sleeping quarters most mornings you guys would sleep till the suns ready to set again.

Bless up Kuroo.

Constant video game marathons and y’all always compete to top each others time

It’s basically just the speed-run side of YouTube but under one roof.

Cannot and will not cook he is too LAZY for that.

Only thing he will do is stick an apple pie in the oven.

He’s courteous though he leaves you like,,, a 1/8th slice

smh.

You mostly get take-out or you’re the one that ends up cooking.

Veeryyyyy quiet, only noise in the household is the occasional snicker or lil conversation.

he has such a soothing voice hnnnnnnnnnggggg

The only time it’s remotely loud is when you play video games but even then the volume is quite low.

You usually end up crashing in his room from playing games till the crack of dawn and Kuroo frequently scolds the two of you.

you don’t listen though lmao.

For some reason you both end up in a hugging position when you wake up and neither of you have addressed it.

Except for the sus side eye look Kuroo gives the pair of you when he finds you like this.

He knows if he mentions it you’ll both infiltrate his apartment and choke him out with a console cable lololol.

You order most of your groceries online bc Kenma’s social anxiety will skyrocket and not allow him to be in a store full of more than 10 people, poor bby.

It works out for you too since why tf go there when you can have it delivered to your door.

You often binge watch anime together and he has GREAT taste mind you.

You made him watch a romance anime once and he secretly enjoyed it.

Since then he will very awkwardly request to watch them occasionally and you can’t help but smile.

The only time you clean is when you have to, like bins brimming with trash before you decide to take them out.

You accidentally broke his fav controller once and he didn’t talk to you for a week LMAO.

Still handed you one to play split-screen though so you knew he wasn’t entirely resentful.

[clockworkgraystairs]

Christmas Dinner || Jurdan X-mas in July

AHHHH there is more Christmas!Jurdan!!!!!!!!! 🎄🎄

Rating: T

Summary:  The Duarte's are hosting their Christmas dinner and Vivi sets a trap for Jude to bring his boyfriend and introduce him to the family.

I guess this can be considered a little prequel to You got me trippin? 

This is also my first time posting somethin in 1st person sooo...let’s see how it goes lmao

Tags:  @jurdannet @jurdannetrevels @slightlyrebelliouswriter23 @sweetlyvillainous @aesthetics-11 @thesirenwashere @jurdanhell @demydreamer-otaku-and-book-lover @nightbringer @b00kworm @mysweetvillain @thefolkofthefic @yafandomsdotnet @vanessa172003​

[if you wish to be tagged/untagged or if I forgot to tag you pls let me know!]

A massive thank you to Becca @sweetlyvillainous​ for betaing this for me!! Love u 🧡

Masterlist             Read on AO3

This is a terrible, terrible idea I keep repeating myself.

If I’d shown a little more steadiness with my sister I wouldn’t be in this situation. I knew she was nervous about presenting her girlfriend to the family, specially to our father. And because she is extra as hell, she couldn’t choose another date that wasn’t on Christmas Eve. For weeks now she’d been texting me, grumbling about how was she going to be able to pull it off. I told her to relax and just go with it.

What I didn’t expect though, was for Vivi to arrive out of nowhere to the school where I work, talking nonsense about me bringing a fake date to dinner with hopes of taking the attention away from her. 

After spending 15 minutes trying to convince her it is not necessary for me to do that, her insistence is such I end up babbling how bad that idea is since I already have a boyfriend, and fake dating someone else would certainly create problems.

Big mistake.

Looking at me with something like betrayal in her eyes, now she starts questioning me about that boyfriend who I’d never talked about before. I bite my lip. When it comes to personal stuff I prefer to keep it private, even with my own family. I have my reasons. 

And just because luck is not on my side today, in the middle of her inquiries I hear a faint “Hey, babe!” behind me. I groan. Of course. Of course he had to arrive in that moment. 

We both turn to look at him. Cardan approaches us wearing that mischievous grin reserved only for me, so different from the polite smile he uses with his students. His hair is tied up in a bun as he also wears it for work, few curls escaping it in the most adorable way. 

With a pang of panic, I notice Vivi noticing how dumbfounded I’m looking at him. Her eyes light up in a way that I know means nothing good. I frown at her. 

“I was looking for you on the cafeteria, one of your students told me you were here.” He pauses. “I- didn’t notice you were busy though, sorry.”

“Not at all!” Vivi says with exaggerated enthusiasm. “I’m Jude’s older sister, Vivi! You must be her lovely boyfriend.”

“Oh, yeah I am. Nice to meet you!” If I didn’t know him so well I wouldn’t notice the slight blush on his cheeks or the way he looks at me in contained alarm.  

It’s too late by the time I put the pieces together. When I realize what is about to happen, my sister is already handing Cardan a rolled piece of paper.

“I came to make sure Jude invites you to our family Christmas dinner! She’s so absentminded sometimes isn’t she?” 

I’m going to kill her. Slowly.

Horrified, I stand there and see Cardan take the invitation, grinning. His polite, charming smile.

“I wouldn’t miss it,” He says. “Thank you so much Vivi.”

My sister turns to me and whatever look it’s on my face makes her hesitate. Although, not enough. She claps her hands once and makes an excited squeal. “Well I must go now! But I’m so excited you’re coming to join us Cardan, see you there. Ciao!”

With that she turns and leaves.

-

So here we are. My boyfriend driving by my side, as we are about to arrive to my parent’s house.

My knee bounces without control as I twist my scarf between my fingers. At any moment now, I’m sure my heart is going to bolt out of my chest. 

“Jude dear, is everything ok?” He asks. I notice I’ve been quiet almost the entire road.

I turn to look at him. He looks dashing, even if it’s not a strictly formal dinner he always finds a way to dress as it was. Black ensemble and green scarf that stands out his pale skin, though his nose and cheeks have a touch of color because of the cold weather. 

“Yeah it’s just... My family is a little,” I pause. “I don’t know how to explain it.”

We are not the type of family that introduces romantic partners, ever. My twin sister tried to do it some years ago with a terrible and embarrassing outcome. At some point in the middle of breakfast, she’d asked her daddy to pass the salt. Both our father and Locke moved to grab it at the same time. What came next, well… if that Locke dude had restrained himself to make a sarcastic and really tacky comment about it, maybe he would still be welcome in the house. Alas, he is not. 

Ever since that day, every time someone brings a guest to the house my father gets in a mood that is pretty uncomfortable for everyone. Sooner or later he makes everyone run.  Not exactly the first impression I want Cardan to have. 

We’ve been together for some time now, about eleven months. But the topic of introducing our families has never been on the table so far. I know he comes from a problematic family even if he doesn’t talk much about them. As for me, I have to admit I’ve grown so attached to him that I’m terrified of Madoc, or any other of my relatives, scaring him away.

He takes my hand in his, warming it, and smiles softly. “It’ll be ok. Breathe.”

I sigh, hoping he’s right and grip his hand tighter.  

The inside of the house looks as if Santa’s bag had exploded. There are lights and ornaments everywhere. Even the tree is bigger than previous years. A delicious smell of food fills the place. As I stare in awe I hear voices coming from the living room.

“Jude? Is that you?” Hurried steps sound in the wooden floor and a few seconds later my little brother appears wearing an absurd red and white onesie. He crashes against me and I laugh, hugging him back.

“You do realize that’s for little kids don’t you?” I ask. “It looks good on you, though.”

Oak scoffs and pulls back. “Well of course it does. I look good on everything.”

Cardan chuckles next to me and for the first time my brother notices him. His eyes and mouth open widely, blinking at him and then turning back at me. Once. Twice.

“Jude,” He murmurs. It cracks me up how shy he can get around new people. “Who’s this?”

Ah, here we go. I take a deep breath and grab Cardan’s hand again. 

“Don’t be rude,” I warn him. “His name is Cardan. Cardan, this is my brother Oak.”

Cardan greets him, extending his hand to him. Oak shakes it, visibly puzzled. “And Cardan is…?”

“My boyfriend.” 

A slow, mocking and devilish smile spreads on his face. I swear to god that kid was taken out from the movie Cheaper by the Dozen. All the shyness is suddenly gone.

“You and Vivi are really trying to give dad a heart attack today aren’t you?” He turns to Cardan and adopts a serious expression I almost believe. “Please tell me Jude doesn’t call you daddy.”

“OAK!” I hiss. I look at Cardan and he gazes back with amusement, I notice he’s biting back a laugh. 

“WHAT? I need to know earlier if I need to take my phone out, last time I didn’t have time to record when dad…” He motions with his hand. Yeah, I remember.

“She doesn’t.” Cardan affirms. Mimicking my brother’s mischievous smile he asks. “Is there a story there I need to know?”

Oak hesitates, even though I’m sure he’s dying to spill it out.

“Taryn would kill you.” I remind him.

“She’s not coming. For what I’ve heard, either it’s Locke’s turn to visit his family or something about dad running him under the car if he dared appearing. I’m not sure.”

Great. 

“What if I beat you at Mario Kart?” Cardan asks, pointing at the console resting next to the tv. 

Oak squints at him. “Are you challenging me?”

“It’s not a challenge when I know I’m going to win.”

Turning to me, my brother grins. “I like him.”

-

I know this is the first time I’ve brought someone home, but still I don’t know if I should be offended at my parent’s surprised faces. Oak had to tell my mother twice that Cardan is my boyfriend before she nods in understanding.

On his side, Cardan is being the full gentleman. To be fair he always is, but I notice the extra effort he’s doing today. It warms my heart. The only sign of nervousness I notice in him are occasional deep breaths he takes when he thinks no one is watching.

We get to meet Heather too, who is adorable and I honestly don’t know how on earth she fell in love with my lunatic sister. In a matter of minutes Cardan is already friends with her which helps with her evident tension. Vivi seems to relax as well. 

Christmas music plays on the background as we eat. This is probably my favorite part of the evening. Don’t get me wrong, I love gatherings with my family but food calls me on a spiritual level. Cardan knows it too, chuckling at my excitement while I’m serving us mashed potatoes. 

“So, Cardan.” My father starts, serving the wine. My heart leaps in my chest, oh no. “You met my daughter at work?” 

He nods. “Yes sir, I arrived there about two years ago. I teach preschool and first grade.” Winking at me he adds. “Jude used to hate me.”

Madoc turns to me, frowning. “What happened?” I roll my eyes, classical worried dad.

I take a long drink from my wine and shrug. “Nothing, he stole the ‘best teacher award’ from me, on his first six months. I’m pretty sure he bribed the students that year.”

To my surprise, my father barks a laugh. We all stare at him wide-eyed. 

“Keep repeating that to yourself, love.” Cardan teases. “It was a clean triumph.”

“You’ve always been competitive Jude, that’s no secret.”  Vivi adds. “It’s nice to finally meet someone who can pull up with that.”

I turn to glare at her. You and I are going to talk later. She sticks out her tongue at me. 

“Do you guys have sex?” 

“Oak!” My mother shouts as my father and I both choke on our wine.  

-

When Cardan parks the car outside my apartment it’s already past midnight. 

Surprisingly, this turned out to be one of the best Christmas celebrations I’ve ever had. My boyfriend somehow managed to not only avoid any uncomfortable moments around my family but also to wrap them up around his little finger. With jokes and tales about us the night had passed incredibly fast. 

Toasts were made, hugs and gifts were given. By the end, we were sprawled on the floor wearing silly sweaters and watching the merciless Mario Kart match between Oak and Cardan. It ended up in a tie. Rematch was already set for New Year’s Eve.

It was everything I never thought it would be.

“Well, did Vivi’s plan work?” Cardan asks.

I turn to find him already looking at me with a knowing smile on his face. Still, it doesn’t reach his eyes.

“C’me on, you weren’t really planning on inviting me to your family’s dinner. Something was surely going on the day she gave me the invitation.” 

Sighing I whisper. “I’m sorry.” 

He knows me too well, more than I even know myself sometimes.

“Don’t be, it’s not a topic we usually discuss.” He shrugs, reaching my hand with his. His thumb makes slow circles on my skin “Still, I should’ve asked if it was ok with you. Forgive me if I crossed a line.”

“You didn’t. I just wasn’t planning for you to meet my family yet.” I regret those words the moment they leave my mouth, knowing how they sound. Cardan doesn’t let go of my hand but he stops his ministrations. “Wait, that wasn’t…”

“Jude, it’s ok.” He says, turning to the windshield. I know him well enough too, and notice the touch of sadness behind his words. 

“No it’s not. Please listen.” I insist, my heart is beating fast now. That look on his eyes is exactly what I tried to avoid the whole night. “The reason why I wasn’t thinking to introduce you to my family is that they’re ridiculously hard and annoying with every new person that visits. And this is the first time I took someone home and…I don’t know, I-”

“You thought I’d leave?” He turns his gaze back to me, warily. 

At the beginning of the day I did. But I don’t find the words to admit it, so I don’t answer.

After a moment of silence he asks “Do you want to know why I agreed to go?”

I swallow and nod. Cardan inhales deeply..

“We’ve been together for some time now. And you know, you must know, I’m not playing around Jude.” I start to say something but he silences me with a soft finger against my lips.  “I love you. If I agreed to whatever scheme your sister had in mind it was because I wanted to show you that I’m not going away. No matter what.”

“My family…”

“They love you. It’s only natural for them to ask what my intentions are… and maybe tease us about it too. I’m willing to admit your dad is a little scary. But not enough to make me run away.” He winks, cupping my face.“There is nothing on earth that would make me want to run away, Jude. That’s how much I love you.”

Feeling my eyes sting I blink. “I love you too.”

We’ve said those words before. But I find that they acquire a different meaning, somehow deeper. My chest is suddenly too small to hold everything I feel for this man. He’s not going anywhere. He loves me. I’m grinning like an idiot and I’m proud of it. 

I lean to rest my forehead against his. “Since it’s our first Christmas together… and you already met my family.” His smile widens at that. “Would you like to stay the night?”

“There’s nothing I would like more.” Cardan angles his head to give me a kiss that I accept gladly, coiling my arms around his neck.  “I usually spend Christmas alone, I guess it’s time for new traditions.”

We remain entwined for some minutes, it fastly turns into something hotter and desperate. I’m already straddling his hips when I pull back a few inches. I bet my lips are as swollen as his. He is looking at me with hunger… and love.

“How about a tradition in which we spend Christmas night undressed and watching some crappy Netflix movies?” I suggest.

My toes curl when he leans to bite my lobe and purrs. “Yes, please.”

[jar-full-of-pixel-hearts]

Hi Marie! I love reading your stories and I was wondering if you could do a story with Ben and the reader spending time together during quarantine

In quarantine with you 

Ben Schwartz x Reader

A/N : Thank you for you request ! Even if quarantine isn’t a fun time I try my best to make it light and stick on what I think a quarantine with Ben will look like. I remember from his interview that he usually wake up early and he was eating a lot of frozen Reese cup so I try to incorporate it in there. I struggle for a while with the “ Spending time together” not knowing if you was intended romantically or just friendly, so I just mix them up a little bit except for the end. I hope you will like it and let me know as an anon or not ! 

* I tried my best to put a pandemic time line following the evolution on the quarantine rules, but since every country had different quarantine time and outside rules it could happen that it didn’t fit, so please excuse me in case of mistake. 

* English is not my first language, I tried really hard to correct myself but, I hope you will excuse me if some mistakes are still there.

—-

When you had wished to pass more time with Ben, you never thought at a quarantine in an international pandemic. When the news broke that the virus was spreading, pushing the government to close the border and every public place. You were discussing by face time, trying to book at least a weekend with the busy man. 

“ Well, what do you think of that ? Instead of a weekend you come to my place and we spend this isolating things together.” He had offered,showing you his best puppy eyes look.

How could you have answered no to that. 

Almost two week now after your temporary move in. You never had been so happy to have accepted the invitation. Of course, at first you both had some difficulties, trying to accommodate you in this new domestic arrangement and new pandemic rules. But, after a few days of being woke up as early as a bird in the morning by the sound of Ben waking up. He starts to naturally close the door of the room and leave the store down, letting you sleep for at least a few hours more. For your part, you tried to avoid as much as you can the corridor leading to his office, letting him write in peace or passing his many interviews without outside noise.

After a few adaptations, your cohabitation works as well as a symphonie played by a brillant orchestra.

“ Piouff, one interview done, next one is at four,did you eat already ?” Ben asked you, entering the living room where you were binge watching one of your favorite series on Netflix.

“ Yes, I leave you a plate in the fridge. How did the interview go ?” 

“ Oh good thank you i’m starving. It went pretty well, their questions were great. We had some fun “     

“ Mind playing a game of Mario Kart after you eat, i’m in the mood to kick your ass “ You joke, enjoying the sound of his laugh. 

“ Did you lose like ten times already ? It admirable that you still think you can kick my ass in a game I had mastered” 

“ I feel lucky today I guess” You reply amuse “ Go eat, I will set up the Switch “ 

“ Okay then “ 

Moments like this were some of your favorites. Simple, sometimes childish, moments when outside life problems seem to vanish, leaving only the two of you laughing or cuddling. 

Of course, you also had some rough times, scared of what would happen in the future and how you will get out of this pandemic situation. But, each time, you were here for each other, trying many different ways to make you feel better or chase the scary thought away. 

When Space force goes on Netflix, you made an effort, hoping to make him laugh by throwing a parody of a movie premiere. You had prepared every detail, from the popcorn and other snacks( mostly frozen Reeses cup)  in a little D.I.Y bucket, to the fake red carpet ( previously the bath mat), to a print page of the Space Force logo tape to the wall, finishing by you in the only pretty( not sundress) dress that you had put in your luggage. 

The whole assembly of things put together in the living room was oddly looking like the house birthday party of a five years old kid. But, he totally loved it. You knew that public events like premieres weren't the favorite part of his job. But, after two months of hearing him sigh of how much he loves wearing his casual clothes, but already miss his button up shirt and nice clothes. You couldn't stop smiling when, after discovering the surprise, he had run upstairs, coming down only after putting on one of his suits and a tie matching the tone of your dress.

You also make fun of the whole situation that was his quarantine hair. Once a while, seeing him pushing them out of his face or struggling to arrange them, mostly ending up rocking a baseball cap in the house.You had jokingly asked him if he thinks they had their own life or if he already lost something in the vast forest of his dark lock. 

“ I really should cut them off” He once announced one day, at your own despair while his head was resting on your thigh during a movie “ They became a little bit out of control”  

“ Cutting your hair ? Did you though at the poor little fairies living in it. They will lose their home” You joke, laughing as you pass your finger in the soft mass.

A smile blooming on his lips,he closes his eyes, clearly enjoying the sensation on your fingers. 

“ We could relocate them, keep the hair we had cut and make them a home in that” He laughed. 

“ We ? You want me to do it ?! Murder your beautiful hair. Not sure I will be able to do it” 

Lifting his upper body on his elbow, he gave you one of his sad looks. 

“ Please, they will grow back but right now they drive me crazy.”    

“ Fine “ You sigh with a half smile“ prepare the garage I will take a towel and the scissor “ 

Unexpectedly, you came out proud of the result. 

And then, as another month passes and some public places reopen. You found Ben more often in his though, looking at the horizon for no particular reason. At multiple times, you had tried to ask him if it were okay, but each time, he came back to his natural happy state, assuring you that yes, he was going well, he was just thinking at his writing.

Until one night when lost in his thoughts, he looked at you biting his lips, clearly fighting an unusual nervosity. 

“ Do you know what I was thinking ?” He suddenly asked you while you were reading at the end of the couch. 

“ No “ You reply, lifting your eyes off your book.

“ You could stay here”

“ Isn't that what I have already done for three months now ? “ You ask, confuse. 

“ After all this I mean...permanently...moving in…” He finished, putting the controller on the table, facing you. 

“ Are you sure ?” You couldn’t resist asking. 

“ Yes, I never thought of thinking of it for weeks now. And every time my answer is that we are good together, I'm happy that you're here...I'm happy with you in general…” 

Putting your book away, you get closer putting your lips on his, joy busting like bubbles in your chest. 

“ You make me happy too..“ You reply after your kiss, smiling.

“  So...it’s a yes ? “ He asked, smiling but unsure . 

“Of course it’s a yes, I can wait to move in ! “ You laugh. 

“ Well, at the clothes on the floor in the bedroom you already did” He joked laughing when you gently hit him with a pillow. “ Do you think I will let you hit me, wait a minute you will see !” 

Laughing, you end that night on the floor, planning your new life together.  

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[ryqoshay]

OTP Ask Meme (Impatient Edition) YuuAyuSetsu

And yet again, I know the point of these things is to wait for followers to Ask questions from the list, but reading though this one got me thinking too much. About all of my flagships. And I wanted to answer all of the questions. And not wait for a handful to maybe be asked.

So again, credit again goes to @lonelypond​ for this version coming across my dash. Reblog that version if you want to do this thing correctly.

Also, just because I’ve already answered these here, I’ve expanded on some for various reasons and left others short if I believe the reasons are obvious. So if you still want to do the whole interactive thing, you can still ask for clarification or whatever.

And finally, there will be spoilers ahead for Tri-Arame, both for scenes I’ve written and posted, as well as some that remain in my Notes and WIP Warehouse. I’ll try to remember to link to the chapters mentioned.

1. Who wakes up first?

Ayumu. The comfort of sleeping next to or between her girlfriends has caused her internal clock to be uncanny in its accuracy, such that she no longer needs an alarm, as depicted in Early and Bright. Yuu doesn’t need an alarm either, as if the smell of cooking breakfast or brewing coffee isn’t enough to wake her, Ayumu will do so eventually. Setsuna will wake up sometime after Ayumu and before Yuu.

2. Who wants to stay in bed just a little longer?

Yuu is always happy to spend a little longer in bed, if for no other reason than to cuddle with whoever is there with her.

3. Who takes longer getting ready?

One could argue Setsuna, but that would primarily be because Ayumu is taking her time enjoying styling her hair.

4. When they can’t sleep, what do they do?

Probably watch anime.

5. Who falls asleep while watching a movie?

Ayumu, especially if she is comfortable and warm in between Setuna and Yuu. Yuu might fall asleep depending on the genre of movie.

6. Who falls asleep last, watching the other with a small affectionate smile?

Depends on the night’s sleeping arrangement, though more likely Yuu or Ayumu.

7. Who comes up with the cheesy pick-up lines?

Yuu intentionally. Setsuna less intentionally as she honestly thinks quoting some anime or manga line is cool; neither Yuu nor Ayumu are willing to dissuade her as they find it adorable.

8. Who gets extremely competitive playing Mario Kart?

Yuu and Setsuna like to make just about anything into a friendly competition. As of Betting For Play, they start including little requests winner gets to make of the loser. Ayumu joins the fun from time to time but is nowhere near as competitive as the other two.

9. Who accidentally pushes a door instead of pulling?

Setsuna, if she is focused on talking about anime/manga/idols/etc with Yuu or Ayumu.

10. Who sets the other’s ringtone to something loud and obnoxious behind their back?

Yuu

11. Who rearranges the bookshelf/DVD shelf in alphabetical order?

Setsuna likes her doujin collection organized properly so she can quickly find her favorites when she wants to reread them again.

12. Who does the hands-over-the-eyes “Guess Who” thing?

Yuu. I can see Setsuna doing so after she is more comfortable with her girlfriends.

13. Who points out a dog when they see one?

Setsuna

14. Who’s prone to road rage?

Setsuna, but only if Ayumu and/or Yuu are passengers with her; her desire to protect those she loves kicks in. If she is alone in the car, she might grumble a bit but it won't ruin her day.

15. Who’s prone to wearing socks indoor (or to sleep)?

Ayumu, and possibly Setsuna. We've seen barefoot sleeping Yuu in canon.

16. Who reminds the other to put on sunscreen before going to the beach (or pool)?

Ayumu

17. Who carries all the important documents while traveling?

Ayumu

18. Who gets the window seat?

Probably Setsua. Then Yuu and Ayumu get to enjoy watching her excitement from the view.

19. Who puts their cold hands/feet on the other?

Yuu intentionally. Setsuna unintentionally.

20. What do they argue about the most?

Less an argument, more a heartfelt disagreement, but they all maintain a concern about doing their fair share or that they’re somehow holding the other back or whatever. The other two then have to reassure them they’re doing fine.

21. Who’s clumsier?

Setsuna. Ayumu to a lesser degree.

22. Who texts more often?

Yuu and Setsuna

23. Who is better with kids?

Setsuna is best at keeping kids entertained and happy, with a story or a song or other sort of performance. Ayumu is best at tending to the kids’ needs, like feeding and calming them down when they’re upset or applying first aid. This isn’t all to say Yuu is bad with kids, just that the other two are better.

24. Who’s the better cook?

Ayumu, by far and away. Yuu is capable of the stereotypical bachelor level of cooking. Setsuna is prone to extreme experimentation, but if supervised by someone like Ayumu, she is capable of producing something edible.

25. Who mistakes salt for sugar?

Setsuna.

26. Who puts the fork in the microwave?

Possibly Setsuna

27. Who cooks at 2 in the morning?

Either Yuu or Setsuna

28. Who lets the microwave play the loud beeping sound at 1 a.m.?

Yuu, though she would be quite apologetic about if it woke anyone up.

29. Who licks the spoon when they’re baking brownies?

All of them.

30. Who likes doing the dishes?

Ayumu and Yuu are fond of doing them together. Setsuna is happy to take one of their places as she falls into the routines of the other two.

31. Who has bigger cravings? What are they?

I would say Yuu for idols, but I believe Setsuna matches or possibly exceeds her. Setsuna for anime and manga and doujin, in addition to idols of course. Ayumu initially just for Yuu, but then later for both Yuu and Setsuna. For food? Yuu and Ayumu have a canon fondness for Kope Pan and I imagine they pull Setuna into this desire over time.

32. Who remembers what the other one always orders at a restaurant?

Ayumu

33. How do they eat ice cream? What’s their favorite flavors?

They each get different flavors with the express intent of trying some of the others. Not sure about favorite flavors yet.

34. Do they go on dates? What are they like?

Absolutely. Ayumu prefers peaceful walks in parks or window shopping in the mall. Yuu also likes those things, though more because it is time spent with Ayumu, and eventually Setsuna, than for the activity itself. Once introduced to idols, she keeps track of local performance schedules and insists they go regularly. Setsuna loves hitting up the comic and game shops and has reservations for Comiket as soon as they’re available. She also loves the idol Lives, obviously.

35. What do they smell when they smell Amortentia?

Yuu smells the slightly gasoline-like smell of the dye Ayumu helps her use, the pyrotechnics used on stage during certain performances, and Tamagoyaki. Setsuna smells the sweat produced while performing under the heat of a spotlight, tabasco chilies, and the lingering scent of Yuu and Ayumu left on Ayumu’s bed. Ayumu smells the fabric softener the Takasaki family used for their laundry, Yuu’s hair, and Setsuna’s hair.

Tamagoyaki is the sweet, rolled egg omelet we see Ayumu feed Yuu in an early chapter of SIFA, or possibly Ayumu’s Bond Episode, I forget. Either way, I like the idea of that being a simple dish Ayumu learned to make at a young age and got Yuu hooked on her version of it over the years.

For Setsuna, I wanted to be more subtle with the tabasco thing, so I could hint at it instead of stating it directly. Thus, I looked up the ingredients for Tabasco… and what do you know, it’s made from tabasco chilies, which themselves are named after the state of Tabasco in Mexico. So yeah, a brand named after its main ingredient, which is named after the region where it is grown. No getting away from the name there.

Also, yes, Ayumu gets two hair entries, one for each girlfriend. I don’t care if it’s cheating or a cop out or whatever. I love the headcanon that she is obsessed with hair, so of course how it smells would be something that resonates with her. And she would absolutely be able to tell the difference between Yuu and Setsuna in a blind scent test.

36. Which one is the secret snuggler?

Setsuna is decidedly the most “needy” in her snuggles, though Ayumu can have her moments. Yuu loves all forms of physical contact, but that really isn’t much of a secret to anyone.

37. Which one offers their jacket to the other when they complain they feel cold?

Setsuna, with her desire to be heroic and cool. And Yuu, having grown up with Ayumu who gets cold.

38. Who reaches for the other one’s hand while driving?

Ayumu

39. Who leaves little notes in the other one’s lunch?

Ayumu. (Bonus: What does it say?) Cute, little affirmations of her love for her girlfriends.

40. Who is the most affectionate?

Yuu is the most open about it with Setsuna coming in a close second, but only after she is more comfortable in knowing she isn’t impressing herself too much on the others. Ayumu loves her physical affection, but is more reserved in initiating it; more sensual intimacy on the other hand…

41. Who is the big spoon/little spoon?

After a few weeks of rotation and figuring things out, they settle on Yuu being the big spoon to Ayumu while Setsuna snuggles into Ayumu’s chest, as first portrayed in Late Return Night. If, however, Yuu and Ayumu exhaust Setsuna during intimate activities, leaving her passed out between them, again, Yuu will roll her toward Ayumu and be her big spoon instead, like in Betting For Play.

42. What is their favorite feature of their partner?

If asked, Ayumu would probably say she loves Yuu’s gentle, supportive smile and Setsuna’s heart-igniting, passionate smile. However, if actions speak louder than words, her girlfriends’ hair might be considered her favorite feature. Yuu loves Ayumu’s adorable blush when she is teased and the fire in Setsuna’s eyes when she performs. Setsuna loves Ayumu’s braided bun, enough to want to emulate it sometimes, and Yuu’s excited expression as she cheers from the audience.

43. What is the first thing that changes when they realize they have feelings for the other?

For Yuu? Honestly, not much, in either case. She had little desire to rush anything and was happy to take it all at a casual pace. Not much changed for Ayumu either when she realized she loved Yuu as they were already spending a ton of time together anyway. However, upon realizing she had feelings for Setsuna, she resolved to finally move past her jealousy over the bond Setsuna had formed with Yuu; how successful she is with this is part of her character development in TA. Setsuna tried to walk away from the other two when she realized her feelings for them were stronger than just friendship and she was afraid of coming between them. They pulled her back in. And she let them.

44. What are their nicknames for each other?

Currently, I only have Yuu not using any honorific with Ayumu, as opposed to -chan she uses was her peers and juniors, and eventually her seniors after they’ve all graduated. I figure she has been referring to Ayumu as such for so long that changing, even to add -chan, would feel strange, even if she constantly calls Ayumu cute, making the honorific fitting in that regard. Setsuna uses -san with everyone, even her girlfriends and Ayumu uses -chan in a similar manner to Yuu, though with Yuu as well.

I have seen other authors use the alternate reading of the kanji for Ayumu’s name and have her girlfriend call her Pomu. I’ve also seen Setsuna shortened to Setsu, as Ai does in the anime. And while I am not opposed to someday adopting either or both of these to my own writings, I am awaiting what may or may not be revealed in the second season of the anime before I finalize how the trio refers to one another. Even if that means major retcons to what I’ve already written; just add them to the list…

45. Who worries the most? Over what?

Probably Ayumu. However, as mentioned above, all three worry about contributing enough to the relationship. Prior to officially dating, Ayumu and Setsuna worried that they were getting in the way of the other being a happy couple with Yuu, as revealed in Change Overnight.

46. Who initiates kisses?

Yuu, as mentioned above, is quite happy to initiate physical affection of all sorts, both in public and in private. Setsuna is more willing to initiate hugs and welcome home kisses, though is more hesitant with other types of kisses. Ayumu is similar to Setsuna but swaps for good morning kisses as the type she is more comfortable initiating.

47. Who says I love you first? How did it happen?

Yuu drops the more casual version quite often, and with just about everyone she is remotely close to. She probably starts adding the more serious version occasionally, with just Ayumu and Setsuna, as she feels their bonds have strengthened to that point. Setsuna is not quite as liberal with the casual version as Yuu, but definitely uses it more with Yuu and Ayumu. She probably doesn’t use the more serious version until after they’ve made their relationship official. Ayumu realizes she hasn’t said it at all, not even the casual version, prior to them dating, and decides it’s high time to start, as revealed in Change Overnight.

48. Who tells their friends/family about their relationship first?

They probably tell their friends at the same time. For family, I would imagine Yuu has no problems saying something right away. Ayumu likely isn’t far behind. Setsuna… I’m still working through my thoughts on her family, to be honest.

49. What do they do when they’re away from each other?

In When One’s Away, Ayumu started a practice to send one of Yuu’s sleepshirts and one of her own stuffed animals with Setsuna when she goes out on tour. She also has a set of wireless charging mounts that allow the three to share a conference call so they can see and hear each other before falling asleep at night. If Yuu is the one away, swap her shirt for one of Setsuna’s. If Ayumu is away, she would swap her own stuffed animal for one of Setsuna’s. This is to make sure no one feels completely left out, since it is rare that the three would be separated completely and more often only one would be away at any given time.

50. Who gets overwhelmed by small acts of kindness?

Setsuna and Ayumu.

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Ratigator

Debut: The Super Mario Mario Bros. Super Show!

When you think of rats, one can only think of one place- the rat capital of the world, New York City, baby! Yes, the Big Apple’s untamed sewers are home to a large amount of undiscovered fauna, including (but not limited to) rats, alligators, and perhaps a strange, mutated combination of both! Hence, Ratigator. He’s the pet (?) of Mario & Luigi in the live-action segments of the Super Show, though his presence is never really explained. Does it need to be? Like I said, anything can happen in New York!

We’re first introduced to the Ratigator in the episode “Alligator Dundee”, where the distressed Ratigator claims to be being chased by a scary monster in the sewers- enter the titular Alligator Dundee, a parody of the film Crocodile Dundee (I guess!), played by Paul Elder with a not-particularly convincing Australian accent. He’s after a mysterious sewer beast, and he needs the brothers’ help!

As you can imagine, plenty hijinks ensue, and after Mario & Luigi trap Alligator Dundee in a net, they clear up the misunderstanding and explain that Ratigator was their pet all along. Dundee gives up on hunting the creature and decides to enter the movie industry, marry a beautiful American woman, and change his name to Ratigator Dundee! And so they all have a good laugh about it, and pet the Ratigator. Alls well that ends well!

But that’s not the last we see of Ratigator! You really think they’d make a puppet like this only to use it in one episode? 

Yup, here’s Ratigator again in an episode called “Mario Hilbillies”, which features Mario & Luigi’s hillbilly cousins, Mario Joe and Luigi Bob! Oddly enough, they look exactly the same as Lou Albano and Danny Wells, and never appear in the same room as the regular Mario brothers- crazy, huh? I wonder what that could mean! And then there’s this lady named Ellie Mae, who pets the Ratigator in this picture, and apparently she’s supposed to be a reference to a character named Elly May from a sitcom called The Beverly Hilbillies? This show has so many weirdly specific 80s references, I just can’t keep up! I wasn’t alive in the 80s!

As a side-note, this episode also confirms the existence of a furry Rat Fish! Could that be what Ratigator eats? Either way, I’m sure most New Yorkans in the audience have seen one before, right? 

Here’s Ratigator once more in “Baby Mario Love”, carrying a leash and asking Mario to take him for ‘a crawl’. See, he’s like a dog! Just like every cartoon animal! Mario refuses because he’d already been for a crawl earlier that day. This scene also features Luigi saying “Hey, watch your language, there are reptiles present!”. Which if anything, confirms that Ratigator is a reptile? Do with that information what you will!

Now get this! Mario isn’t the only one in this show to have a live-action, hybrid rat as a pet! Thanks to King Koopa’s Kool Kartoons, we know that King Koopa has a pet rat-dog(?) named Ratso! We don’t really know if he’s part canine, but in the show’s intro he’s played by a dog in a costume, which is just adorable! I love when they get dogs to do things like this, like how Xenomorphs were almost played by dressed-up Whippets, but you can still tell it’s a dog with doggy movements! 

In the show itself though, Ratso is played by a puppet in front of a curtain, who awards prizes to a few lucky people in the audience! I sure wish I could find a better picture of him, but Koopa’s Kool Kartoons is a cryptid of a show that’s barely available online, and certainly not in good quality! So until then, we’ll just have to pray the original Ratso puppet is lying in a studio somewhere, waiting to be discovered...

So there you have it! A comprehensive guide to anything you’d need to know about rats related to the Super Mario Bros. Super Show! Uhm, now I forgot why I made this post. Oh yeah- have a ratty new year, everyone! Be sure to welcome in the Lunar New Year with your favourite rats. And if you’re lacking in rats, then just know that New York City will always be there for you! Badda boom!