#And if not then at least I’ll have experience to get a somewhat better school counseling job than if I had no experience

[spikeisawesome456]

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[planet-crait]

Part 1 analysis of Dev Dimmadone from Fairly Oddparents A New Wish. A couple of things I want to mention before jumping into this, I have not finished the first season. Last episode I watched was Pattys Possum Party Playground, but I have thoughts and I decided to share them before I reach the end so I can see how my thoughts change as the season goes on or after I finish the finale. Second I recognize I have some bias regarding Dev. I’ll go into more detail why but I heavily empathize with Dev and his struggles so it’s something I wanted to make clear before I started. I’ll also put a Trigger Warning for discussing abuse and my own experiences with it so please keep that in mind. Apologies for how long this gets I didn’t realize how much I had to say about Dev until I started writing. With all of that said let’s get into it.

Something that caught my attention very very early on regarding Dale and Devs relationship is it is painfully and abundantly clear Dale has no love for Dev. We see Dev adores and looks up to his father but no matter how hard Dev tries that love is not reciprocated.

It is unfortunately common for kids who are neglected at home to lash out at school and misbehave, it gets to a point where even negative attention is better than no attention. This is of course not healthy or good behavior but more desperate acts of a kid desperate for any sort of attention.

Growing up, I was in a somewhat not necessarily similar situation to Dev but I can somewhat see parts of myself in Dev? I’m not sure the best wording for it but I was not wealthy nor my family, but I was largely outcasted by my peers and ignored and bullied by them. It was hell. And while Dev isn’t bullied by anyone, he certainly is more the bully, he’s also very alone.

Despite being bullied I had my family who at least cared and I had the occasional recess person? I can’t remember their official title but they wherent teachers lolz. But regardless they took pity on me and let me hang out with them. For Dev though….he doesn’t have anyone in his corner. His dad doesn’t care about him, he has no friends and the teachers don’t care about him. He’s just painfully alone. No one has his back. The sins of his father are put on Devs shoulders regardless of how realistic it is to blame him for things. We see Mr. Guzman glaring at Dev in Lost and Founders Day

All Dev did was hand out bracelets his dad made but Mr. Guzman is suspicious, it seems, of Dev himself as if he is up to something bad with them. The animators actively choose to have Mr. Guzman look at a nine year old this way. He could have been looking this way at the bracelets but no. It was directed towards Dev himself. Despite him, for now, being friends with Hazel and seemingly behaving better Mr. Guzman doesn’t trust that Dev is changing and improving. Instead of being glad something changed with Dev, Dev is met with distrust and suspicion.

In that same episode Hazel assumes the worst of Dev and assumes he was behind everything that happened at the Founders Day Festival. She refuses to listen to him and even give him a chance to explain and decides he’s a bad person. Now this isn’t to say Hazel is a bad person for this, more it was unfair and so far I haven’t seen any real resolution to this. Dev almost seems to be held to a different standard in this regard, we see Hazel screw up big time in The Wellsington Hotellsington in regards to Winn and Jasmine and they forgive her right after she apologizes despite Winn not knowing her for long. Hazel similarly hasn’t known Dev for that long but won’t even let him apologize and storms off very angrily and seemingly never reached out to him to try and work things out.

No Dev does not either but I don’t blame him as much in that regard because Dev clearly has never had friends before Hazel. He doesn’t know really it’s okay for friends to fight and make up and still be friends. And with how Hazel blew up at him I was kind of thinking as well Hazel decided the bridge was burned so to speak and was admittedly surprised when she said in Battle of the Dimmisonian that they could still be friends (which I…question how accurate a statement from Hazel that is but I’ll get their I promise). It’s interesting to me Dev is worried about how Hazel perceives him despite them not being friends. Even though Hazel turned her back on him, he still wants some sort of connection with her even if he’s going about it in an unhealthy manner. Again negative attention is better then no attention, so even if it means fighting and bickering he’d rather take that than have absolutely nothing.

This kid has sky high walls he’s built, but they’re shaky and crumble at the slightest pressure. After only two days of being friendly Dev is willing to disobey a direct order from his father and put himself in harms way to keep Hazel safe. This is very likely the first time Dev has ever disobeyed his father, the man he is desperate to prove himself to and get some sort of love and affection from. He risks ever getting that from his father to protect Hazel, someone he’s not been on friendly terms with for all that long. Which makes him being so alone all the sadder.

I mentioned it in another post but Dev has a lot of love to give people who are willing to put in honestly what feels like the bare minimum of work to break down his walls. And it seems no one has even tried to get past them. He’s written off by everyone as nothing but a rich bully that doesn’t care when that couldn’t be further from the truth when push comes to shove. He’s willing to disobey his father, someone he still is desperate to win the love and affection of, to protect someone that matters to him.

Circling back to the point I mentioned earlier about my doubts regarding Hazel still considering Dev her friend. Now this may just be an oversight but…it still happened so I feel it’s okay to discuss here. In Pattys Possum Party Playground we see pretty much all the classmates we’ve seen previously hanging out and having fun, Dev however is missing. I’m not saying anyone has to invite him, but if you consider someone a friend…why not invite them? Maybe the background characters were thrown in to make it seem more like a party and to emphasize them then being alone. Why not include Dev then as well? Why is he left out of the fun with everyone? A line from say Hazel commenting his dad wouldn’t let him come would do a lot of heavy lifting to show how terrible Dale is and how rough Dev has it and show Hazel is thinking about him.

Again, Hazel doesn’t have to be his friend. But she said they could be friends which is why I mention this. I will admit this is potentially where my own biases come into play. I was the kid people said was their “friend” to get teachers off of their backs and I just didn’t realize this is what was happening and it hurt when I was excluded from things. If I was in Devs shoes I’d feel hurt I wasn’t invited to something everyone else was invited to. And I imagine it would hurt even more as someone already struggling to try and get some sort of love and affection from anyone really.

I hope I’m wrong and I hope we see more of Hazel and Dev rebuilding their friendship, but I’m concerned we won’t really see that or any consequences to that really play out. Again could be wrong I’ll have to wait and see in that regard this is just how I’m seeing things with my own biases as of right now where I’m at in season 1.

We know that Dev gets Peri because he is miserable due to his and Hazels fight and his father’s very public rejection of him. Godparents are supposed to help make things easier to deal with for their kids and help them navigate their difficult lives. Unfortunately, so far from what I’ve seen Peri and Dev aren’t a great match for Godparent and Godchild. I’ve only seen their dynamic for one episode, but when they first met, we see Dev is extremely exited when he first meets Peri:

However, something things to go very wrong because he goes from being sad but not wearing his sunglasses to being back in his sunglasses and being overall disinterested in Peri while Peri seems very frustrated and disinterested in forming any sort of bond with Dev.

I don’t know what all has happened between the pair, but for me it’s notable he wasn’t wearing his sunglasses when he and Peri first met and are wearing them again next time we see him. He was so excited to met Peri and I wonder if he wanted to try and have some sort of bond with him that was shut down. We don’t know obviously and it’s just speculation on my end but it’s something I wonder about.

When Peri notices his parents later on in the episode he’s so focused on himself he’s not even acknowledging Dev or his questions and seems uninterested in sharing about himself. For me, it reads that Peri is really only focused on granting wishes and not about with forming any sort of bond with Dev, something Dev right now desperately needs. He’s lonely and sad and lashing out because he’s been denied real affection for so long and doesn’t know how to connect with other people. It’s sad that his AU Pairs seem to on some level recognize this as they try and comfort Dev after Lost and Founders Day and acknowledge that they cannot give Dev what he needs.

I honestly think Dev would be much better off with a Godparent like Cosmo and Wanda or even Juandissimo, he needs a Godparent who is willing and knows how to connect with a kid like Dev who has a seriously troubled homelife and Peri doesn’t have the tools or knowledge to really help Dev in the ways he needs. I imagine based on what we’ve seen recently of what Jorgan thinks Godparents need to be for their Godkids I am not surprised Peri isn’t handling Dev the best. He was likely taught granting wishes correctly and quickly for their kids is what makes a Godparent good, rather than forming a connection and understanding their godkid. This isn’t exactly Peri’s fault, he’s new and inexperienced but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s not helping Dev either and granting wishes isn’t what he needs, he needs love and someone to be their for him that loves and cares about him.

A side note, I realize again this is more of a gag and not meant to be taken seriously but since I’m looking at all of the things that has happened to Dev so far I just have to wonder. In Battle of the Dimmasonian, Peri’s first instinct is to hide Dev from his parents when they ask if he has a Godkid.

Again I know this is just for a gag but don’t we all love playing the game of “find ways to emotionally devastate our favorite characters even more so we can give them comfort and put them back together again? No? Just me? Well I’m gonna do it anyways. If I was in Devs shoes in this moment I would probably be thinking that my Godparent is ashamed of me, that they don’t want to be associated with me or anyone to know that they where assigned to help me. We know Peri is anxious and doesn’t want his parents smothering him or being weird about his first godkid but Dev definitely doesn’t know this given all the questions he asked that Peri didn’t answer. In Devs mind this could be just another person rejecting him without giving him a chance. Another public rejection of him.

Again I know this is a nothing burger moment in the grand scheme of things but it’s fun to imagine something for it. This being the moment Dev realizes Peri is just another adult in his life stuck with him who doesn’t care about him. Dev falling into the mindset of “if he doesn’t care about me, why should I care about him?” Because angst is just a little fun to think about.

Dev is so desperate for love and attention he tries to get something for his dad by trying to make it work related in the hopes of Dale noticing and agreeing to do “work”. Asking to throw merch boxes back and forth, testing proximity sensors by holding hands this kid will do anything to get something from Dale but it’s not enough.

It’s hard to properly describe the devastation that comes from realizing someone who should love you, who you thought loves you never did. It’s a gut punch over and over again every time you look at them. This recently happened to me and to be frank I’m still not okay from it. You think someone has your back and cares about you but then you come to realize that you’re nothing to them. For me I swing wildly between rage and crying uncontrollably, for a kid as young as Dev I can’t even imagine what that knowledge is doing to him. And what’s worse is even when knowing you don’t matter to this person and that they don’t love you, your love for them doesn’t just….go away. It lingers, longs for some sort of proof that it was just a fluke, that they love you, that you’re not unlovable and the smallest scraps they throw your way have you scrambling to hold onto that, to show them that you are worthy of their love, but it never works, and you’re just tossed away again like trash. You start to wonder if it’s you that’s the problem. You think there has to be something you’ve done to warrant being treated this way. There isn’t though, but to accept that you would also have to contend with the person you love being a monster and it’s not an easy pill to swallow, it’s almost easier to see yourself as the problem and try desperately to try and “fix” whatever your loved one thinks is wrong with you. You live in survival mode just trying to get through it all and it doesn’t just shut off when you’re not around the person or people causing the harm it’s constantly running.

Since this is a kids show I highly highly doubt they’ll really truly dive into the trauma and after affects of dealing with emotional abuse. When I was a kid shows where willing to dive into these topics but shows these days tend to shy away from it (something I have issue with but that’s not the focus of todays post). I just more am sharing because I think some aspects are applicable to Dev.

Again I have a support system, I have friends who worry and care and let me vent and cry and try and deal with it all. Dev has no one in his corner. No adults looking out for him, no friends to offer comfort, he’s painfully alone and dealing with this sheer devastation, pain so bad it’s the tipping point for him getting a Godparent who unfortunately seems overall disinterested in really engaging with Dev in any meaningful way.

Previous posts have somewhat discussed the Dale situation but it was very uh angry for Dev so maybe I can try and write out my thoughts without wanting to commit a crime. Dale is a horrible parent. There isn’t any other way to put it. He’s a shit parent who emotionally abuses and manipulates Dev, who is desperate for his love and affection. Dev tries to sell acts of affection as work related to try and get attention from his dad and is willing to do insane things if it’s what he wants (he seriously considers eating a lizard. This kid is just so desperate for love). Dale emotionally manipulates Dev and tries to use his own past to guilt trip Dev and deny letting him just be a kid. Kids shouldn’t ever have to work, they’re kids they should be able to just be kids but Dale has Dev so spun around and desperate for love he’ll work if it means maybe his dad will love him. It doesn’t work but Dev is desperate and willing to do anything if it means getting even crumbs of affection from his father who can’t even be bothered to great his son and walk away without him forcing Dev to run to catch up.

Dale clearly has been extremely absent from Devs life overall, we see in Peace of Pizza just how excited Dev was when he thought his dad actually came for Dev.

He’s so happy and carefree and excited to see his dad come to support Dev and the anger when he realizes it’s not Dale hurts all the more. For just a moment he thought maybe his dad did care and want to be there for him but no, he doesn’t even care. It’s notable to me that when he finds out Hazel tried to trick him into thinking his dad came is when Dev really gets angry. He was mostly just playing games and such until that moment when he seems to get genuinely angry and I wonder if that comes from a place of deep hurt. The one thing he wants more then anything is for his dad to actually be there for him, and in his mind Hazel takes that desire and mocks him with it, trying to parade a pretend dad just to use him to get what she wants from him.

This next part is pure speculation but I just don’t know another way to explain this. After Dev revealed he’s lactose intolerant and him being forced to watch everyone else have fun and enjoy something he cannot have a why he was fighting so hard against letting them have one, Hazel mentions they could have ordered him a lactose free version which makes Dev freeze and comment he thought that was a myth. Now I know from a writing standpoint they wanted to make sure it’s Hazel who saves the day, however it carries a very painful implication of Dale likely actively lying to Dev about lactose free alternatives for Dev. I can’t imagine why he would do such a thing, maybe he thinks they taste or smell gross and don’t want them in the house? So he thinks it’s easier to just lie and say they don’t exist and eat pizza and such in front of Dev who can only watch in misery.

And yes I am assuming Dale likely would do this based off of when Dev talks about how he would have to sit and watch everyone enjoy pizza and not get any. He sounds like he’s talking from personal experience and with how sensitive to it he is it feels more like a reaction to something he’s had to deal with before vs a fear of it he has.

Regardless of it I’m correct or not, it is undeniable the school really spectacularly failed Dev in this regard and once again set him up for failure. What do I mean by that? In Peace of Pizza we see Dev show Hazel his allergy card.

(Yes I am going on a mini tangent here bare with me I didn’t know a better place to put this) now I don’t know about you but I have only ever seen allergy cards like this in either a school setting or perhaps at a large dinner where everyone is defaulted to being served the same plate of food and people with allergies or other dietary restrictions have a card so the server knows they have one of the special plates. This to me indicates the school knows or should reasonably know Dev can’t have lactose. Despite them reasonably knowing Dev can’t have pizza, they do not offer him any alternatives to enjoy as a reward. As a kid when something like this was done, an alternative was given to the kid with allergies so they could still participate in the fun and not feel left out, however for Dev it seems the default is he’s left out. He’s expected to and frowned upon for not participating in Kindness Day despite, in his eyes, him being actively punished if he does. While everyone else gets a reward to enjoy, he would have to watch and be miserable. No, this is not the end of the world obviously but it is incredibly unkind to Dev to not have anything for him that he can enjoy as a reward despite being expected to participate for a reward the school knows he cannot have and it carries an extra sting happening on a day literally called kindness day.

Yes I know that the school is trying to teach kids the importance of kindness so it shouldn’t be about the reward, but again it does feel wildly unfair to reward most students while seemingly singling out one to not get anything. They’re trying to teach kindness while refusing to be kind to one of their students. And further yes I understand this was done so we could see Hazel be a good negotiator and be the hero. Yes fine, but it is hard to ignore the implications this writing choice carries regarding Dev. It shows the school is extremely disinterested at best regarding Dev and his health needs and I don’t blame Dev for not wanting to participate if this is what the school does when Dev has an allergy restriction and can’t enjoy something for the entire class. Hazel has to be the one to wish for a pizza for Dev. It’s not Hazels job to make sure her classmates feel included and have fun. It shouldn’t fall on her shoulders to help her classmates, that should be on the teachers but they didn’t seem to notice or care Dev was feeling left out. The school could afford to buy a whole pile of pizzas it doesn’t feel unreasonable to think they could afford to do something so Dev doesn’t feel so left out.

Like I don’t know get him Oreos or something it doesn’t have to be big just something so he’s not the only one who doesn’t get anything. Again yes I realize the point was to have Hazel save the day and get her and Dev closer I understand this but that doesn’t change the fact that it makes the school seem to not care about a kid who is already severely emotionally neglected at home. They could have had the school offer an alternative that Dev didn’t like or if they wanted to keep this a secret have Mr. Guzman be the one to hand Dev the lactose free pizza and make some comment and realize he forget to tell Dev or something. Yes it’s not ideal to have him forget to say anything but for me it would be easier to hand wave away then absolutely nothing, and again it just adds onto Dev the feeling that he is unimportant and doesn’t matter. These moments of rejection and loneliness start to add up and get harder and harder to deal with emotionally.

Rewinding some for just a second but in Stanky Danky we do see a brief moment of Dale showing more love and affection to a sentient trash can than Dev. Once again it’s a short moment on screen for us but we can see Dev is pretty upset and hurt by this rejection.

Dev seems to bounce back from this pretty quickly, possibly he’s used to his dad behaving this way which is a whole other can of worms to open up but at this point, he’s not friends with Hazel and still has his walls up which I think potentially plays a part in this but I’ll circle back to that.

Then theirs the uh infamous statue scene that is emotionally devastating and no one besides Hazel and sort of Wanda seem to recognize how fucked up it is. Even still Hazel forgets all about Dev the second she wins the hat and once again, Dev is a lower priority than an inanimate object. Let me be clear, I am not angry at Hazel, she’s a kid at the end of the day and frankly it’s very easy to distract kids. She’s not a bad kid or friend here for getting distracted I’m just discussing from the Dev side of things that in this episode the two people that matter most to him have placed an inanimate object as their priority over Dev. Whether or not Dev realizes Hazel forgot about him for her hat isn’t exactly clear, but it happened and I talk about it solely because it makes my heart hurt and if I have to suffer so do you.

What’s interesting to me is we see Dev has been suffering for some time, but it’s only after Founders Day that he finally is given a Godparent. Arguably it’s likely the getting direct confirmation that boots are more important to his father then his own son, he bought them on the day Dev was born, seemingly if Devs math is correct, and that overshadowed Devs birth, but I find it interesting to explore some other factors that maybe make the blow feel even worse.

We know Dev hasn’t had a friend before Hazel, she’s really the first person that he called a friend. She helped bring down his sky high walls that his classmates seemed to intimidated by to even attempt to cross over. (I also wonder if somehow a fear of Dale maybe also involved with his lack of friends). And we also know Dale is at best emotionally distant which likely Dev impersonated to try and fit in better with his dad and to try and protect himself from getting hurt. However, Hazel breaks down that protective barrier he’s had on so when his dads statue is revealed and he and Hazel fight, it hurts more then it did previously because he doesn’t have that protection anymore and has to face the full brunt of that pain and rejection. Not only that but he is also, in his mind, losing his first and only friend despite him risking so much trying to keep her safe from his dad. Being rejected hurts, but being rejected while trying to do the right thing? Thats got to be an even bigger emotional blow.

I know some of what happens in the season 1 finale, I don’t know all the details or how we get their but I have a feeling Devs feelings of being unwanted and unloved potentially play a massive role in his breakdown. His school couldn’t care less about him, his dad is emotionally abusive, he doesn’t have any friends and every time he gets a glimpse of happiness it’s brutally ripped away from him. This is a literal 9 year old child, and he’s having to deal with being neglected and ignored by any person in his life who is supposed to really be there for him. It’s realistic to life kids slip through the cracks far too often, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less, especially knowing that things just get worse for him from here. All I can hope is season 2 gives him some relief and he gets someone in his life who genuinely cares about him and will be there for him.

That’s everything so far I have in regards to thoughts about Dev. I always love hearing other people’s thoughts and I certainly will have more as I continue with the season.

[unclewaynemunson]

Pt2 to the Wingman Wayne AU sequel :D (This one’s gonna be slightly longer than most of the other parts!) | You can read pt1 here | ao3 link

Robin would never admit it to Steve, but she is nervous. Like, really nervous. The level of nervous you get from having a date as a lesbian in a small town in the Midwest who has only ever dated one girl before – a girl she knew from the school band, which means they didn't actually meet each other on a date, which means that Robin technically doesn't really have any first-date experience at all – contrary to Steve, who has a lot of first-date experience.

What do people wear for a first date? How do they prepare? Should you even prepare at all? Do people come late, do they come early, do they bring a present, how do they greet each other?  

By the time she's finally changed into clothes that make her feel the right amount of comfortable yet attractive, her room has exploded into even more of a mess than it usually is: her whole wardrobe is covering literally every inch of the floor, another pile of clothes is thrown haphazardly onto her bed, and Polly is making herself comfortable on Robin's favorite soft cardigan, no doubt getting dog hair all over it.

She shoots another glance in the mirror, tugging at her collar and frowning at the way her jeans are fitting around her upper legs.

'No, you're not gonna get changed again,' she sternly tells her reflection. 'You're fine. This is fine. You got this.'

'You got this,' Rosalinda repeats from her cage in the corner of the room. 'You look great. You look great.'

Robin perks up at that; teaching Rosalinda to say “you look great” whenever Robin is looking in the mirror has definitely been one of the better decisions in her whole life so far.

She rushes over to the cage to treat the parrot on some nuts, but then she notices the clock and a string of curses escapes from her mouth as she starts frantically looking for her All Stars - which she finds buried underneath Polly’s butt.

Well, at least she has one thing less to worry about now: fashionably late is gonna be her very well thought through arrival time.

---

She arrives at Benny's about ten minutes late. As she haphazardly shoves her bike into a rack, she spots a curly-haired girl leaning against one of the parked cars with a somewhat bored look on her face.

'I'm so sorry,' Robin says, slightly out of breath as she rushes up to the girl. 'I'm literally the worst at time management and I couldn't find my shoes because my dog was sitting on them and then I lost my keys because I forgot to –'

'It's fine,' the girl interrupts her. To Robin's relief, her lips are curving into a smile – a very pretty smile, that is. 'Mr. Munson already told me that you were probably gonna be late.'

Something about that seems really unfair and Robin huffs.

'How does he even know that? I never even met the man! No one even bothered to tell me your name, and you already know all about one of my worst personality traits!'

'It's Nancy.'

'What?' Robin gives the girl a distracted look.

'My name.' She holds out her hand and Robin shakes it, even though she thinks that's a bit formal for a date – it is, right? Or is this normal date etiquette and is Robin indeed as clueless as she feared she would be?

'I'm Nancy,' the girl elucidates. Her hand is cold against Robin's, but not in an unpleasant way, and Robin can barely suppress a shiver. 'And my worst personality traits is that I always want to be right.'

Robin can't help but smile at her. 'Good to know, I’ll make sure to remember that in case I ever need to let you win an argument,’ she answers.

'You're Robin, right?'

'No, I'm Tammy,' Robin deadpans.

'Oh.' Nancy lets go of her hand, going wide-eyed.

'Kidding. I'm Robin. Sorry for that lame joke.'

But Nancy chuckles, and it sounds just as cute as her smile looks. All of Nancy is cute, actually: she's almost a full head smaller than Robin and wearing a colorful skirt paired with a purple button-down. A necklace with a ballet-shoe pendant is resting against the skin right underneath her collarbones, and her fine-featured face reminds Robin of a work of art: perfectly heartshaped, with sharp cheekbones, a pointed chin, and huge, deep-blue eyes that get this adorable sparkle when she smiles.

And unfortunately, Robin knows all too well what will inevitably happen whenever she's put in front of a girl as pretty as Nancy. It's like she can actually feel the words piling up in her throat.

'I have to warn you, I've never actually been on a date with a girl before. I mean, I've dated a girl, but not been on a date, like, with someone I don't know yet. I mean, it's not like I'm not out yet, alright, but in this town, there's only so many people you can be out to, if you know what I mean, so I couldn't exactly go happily dating around, and I've never really been interested in dating boys at all, so that never happened either – so what I'm trying to say is that I've never been on a date before and it's kinda making me nervous and I have this habit that I start rambling when I'm nervous, so you should probably just cut me off at some point or else I'll be passing out soon because I'm getting really out of breath and –'

'Take a breath,' Nancy finally interrupts her monologue. Her smile is less shy now and more amused, and Robin gratefully does what Nancy ordered her to do.

'It's okay,' Nancy says in a sweetly quiet voice. 'I'm glad you told me. I've actually never been on a date with a girl either. I've been in some relationships, with guys, but they didn't – they didn't really work. Um...' She points towards the door. 'Should we get –'

'Yeah, let's go inside,' Robin says, eagerly taking the chance to continue their conversation somewhere that's not a joyless gray parking lot.

They order at the counter and Robin lets Nancy pick a booth; they end up at the one in the most remote corner.

'Well,' Robin says, raising her Coke at Nancy, 'Cheers to Wayne Munson, I guess, for landing both of us our very first official date with a girl.'

Nancy chuckles and clinks her glass against Robin's.

'Cheers to Wayne Munson,' she repeats. 'I have to admit, I was very surprised when he called me. I only met him once, you know?'

Robin listens attentively while Nancy tells her how she met Mr. Munson at the plant, where he was working while she was on an assignment for the newspaper. It's surprisingly easy, to talk to her. They easily launch into this whole conversation about the working conditions and safety hazards down at the plant, both equally indignant about how the employees are treated there, and Robin fires all kinds of questions at Nancy about her job at the Gazette.

'I've been really lucky,' Nancy admits. 'Last year I got this internship at the Hawkins Post and that was... not great. I was basically the only woman and all those men thought I was only good for making them coffee and sandwiches. It's actually why I broke up with my boyfriend. He thought I should just “sit it out,” be grateful for the opportunity or whatever. Which I thought was fucking bullshit.'

Robin nods eagerly, her mouth too stuffed with Benny's heavenly burger to form an intelligible response.

'Anyway, I didn't sit it out – I went behind their backs for a good story and they fired me. But that's how I ended up at the Gazette. They make much better articles anyway – like the thing we did with the plant.' Nancy pauses to take a sip of her drink, and her eyes are lit up beautifully with the passion for the work she's doing. 'They care about this community, want to publish stuff that actually helps make it better. So I got to talk to Mr. Munson, and he had some really interesting things to say,' she said, coming full-circle with her story like a true journalist. 'But we didn't talk about any personal stuff, you know,' she continues. 'So I was really surprised when he called.'

Robin chuckles. 'Yeah, I haven't even met the man, I only know his nephew Eddie. He's supposed to have some sixth sense for matching queer people,' she tells Nancy while jokingly wiggling her eyebrows. 'That's how my best friend became Eddie's boyfriend. I wouldn't have been here if that dingus didn't tell me that it was gonna be worth it.'

The shyness is back in Nancy's smile as she holds Robin's gaze over their fries.

'Well, I think your friend might be right about that sixth sense,' Nancy says quietly.

Robin feels her cheeks heat up at that and looks away from Nancy's intense gaze.

'Don't tell him that,' she jokes. 'His ego is already annoyingly big.'

She looks back into Nancy's eyes and immediately feels fucking stupid for not taking her chance and say something heartfelt in response to Nancy's brave vulnerability.

'But no matter how much it pains me to admit it, I have to agree with you that he might be right,' she awkwardly adds. And luckily, it works: Nancy is beaming at her like the fucking brightest star in the milky way.

Pt3

Taglist: @munsonsuccubus @messrs-weasley @shrimply-a-menace @booksandsience @sadcanadianwinter @mightbeasleep

[catacamacat]

OMG your art is so good!!

do you have any tips? painting apps sugestion? I'll take ANYTHING!!!

have a nice day (er... night)

Heyy

Thank you so much! Means a lot <3

(Literally a lot, like… you ask me? Me of all people?)

I’ll try my best, pls keep in mind that i’m not a professional or anything, I’m talking about my personal experiences. I hope I didn’t forget anything

(Edit: IM SO SORRY IT’S SO MUCH, I’ve been yapping for the past one and half an hour since 4AM ToT you don’t have to read everything ofc, I still hope that everything makes some sense 🥲)

I’ll put most of it under a cut :)

Painting apps:

I have always used procreate for my digital drawings, but there are many good cheap/ free alternatives.

Since our school uses IPads to work it installed “Sketchbook” on our devices, and even though you can’t use all of the pens without paying there should be more than enough for free (I’ve never used a digital pencil that has been so comfortable to draw with for example)

But my favorite is and will always be procreate

Time:

I’ve been drawing for a bit more than 6 years, and sometimes I’m still very insecure about most of my drawings, I mean that when I look at them I’m just not happy or I think it’s not good enough…

But I always keep in mind how freaking horrible, like for real horrendously bad my drawings were in 4th grade when I started, and then I’m pretty happy with how far I’ve come ^^

Just know that this feeling will probably always be there, no matter if you’re a beginner or a pro, idk it’s just from my perspective, everyone has their own experience.

Inspiration:

For me one of the most important/ helpful things is inspiration. I personally am often very energetic when it comes to drawing something that plopped up in my head, it just brings the fun, you know?

For me my biggest inspiration so far to draw is TMNT. And I mean it, I don’t just say that because I’m hyperfixated to them. Ever since I’ve discovered the turtles far more than a year ago, drawing has been the most fun thing in the world.

For me the turtles are incredibly fun to draw, there are so many possibilities since there are so many different versions of them, and four of them. I don’t think I could ever grow tired of drawing them, and I think nothing has ever improved my art as much as them since they are so much easier and fun to draw than humans (imo)

There was a time period that last until around three weeks ago where I didn’t really was in the tmnt fandom anymore, idk how that happened but I hope it will never happen again. Anyway, I was trying to draw in anime- style or something like that, and as far as I can remember it was really hard and for me not really fun/ felt forced. The turtles always look how they are supposed to look, but humans… nah —~—

What I want to say is that you should also find something that’s fun for you to draw and that fills you with inspiration and energy.

Quantity:

A tip from me: draw every day

(but include breaks when you need it)

Of course it’s not always possible, but since I heard that tip somewhere on YouTube (also a really good way to improve) a couple of years ago, I was never able to forget it. I mean I didn’t do it of course, but somehow it still helped… in a way…yk?

I mean there are always times where you don’t draw, maybe over weeks and even months during art block or other reasons, but the more often you draw, the better you become at it.

(Btw I personally believe it’s impossible to draw every day, for me at least. But i don’t know, that sentence never left my mind and I think there has to be some reason for it)

People:

It can be really helpful to have people you look up to, especially in the beginning, for example was I a really big fan of Skottie Young (still am) and that guy who drew some of the TMNT idw comics (forgot his name rn), and trying to draw somewhat like them for practice really helped me to get better. It also can be good to have people around you that are artists. Can be

And now something somewhat more complicated:

Be careful about the people you are surrounded with, because according to what kind of person you are, they can really, really make you feel shitty about how you draw, or maybe bring you to a point where you don’t feel joy when drawing at all

Here’s what I mean:

For example take me. I don’t know how many people feel this way, but I’m for some unexplainable reason completely “allergic” to criticism. I know it’s not a good thing, but I also know it’s not really my fault.

Every time I’m drawing something, I just want to have fun with it, and for me it’s the most important thing when I draw. And having people around me all the way that have studied drawing, criticizing my work and telling me what’s wrong, maybe even make fun of it it something I really, really can’t live with. Of course it can be a really good thing to take those criticisms, but for me it was/is just annoying, like REALLY annoying.

For a long time I couldn’t really draw anymore when someone of that people was sitting next to me, and there have been quite a few of them. It completely took the joy of drawing away from me, no one should let that happen to them. (Luckily it’s better now)

Idk if that what I intended to say was said… 🤷‍♀️

One last, the most important thing:

Always have fun with and enjoy drawing <3

Good day/night/or whatever 💜💜💜

[n0ts0phism]

I'm gonna go ahead and copy the post's text here, just so my story doesn't have to be completely offloaded to another website. You can read it after the break.

An apology is in order. My work on this blog slowed to a crawl recently. I couldn’t muster up the energy to commit to writing routinely. It’s not that I didn’t want to, don’t get me wrong; I still have lots I want to say. My resistance to posting anything right away is because I don’t want to talk about exclusively negative topics.

But there’s one inescapable fact that has influenced my decision-making throughout Summer and Fall:

The job hunt where I live is demoralizing, yet despite that, I’ve been hyper-focused on it.

My mind is at odds with itself. If I’m investing too much time in a job hunt, it begs for me to stop. But it simultaneously urges me to keep going—because it feels like it doesn’t deserve to stop fretting about my employment prospects until I’ve applied to something. There have been multiple times when I’ve applied to a position that I knew I’d dislike or be a poor fit for. Whether it be due to my lack of experience, the complications of my disabilities, or having to account for my demented father when it comes to commuting—or doing anything outside of the house, for that matter—my job choices are limited. I’m trapped, others like me are just as trapped, and society only pretends to care about us.

I do at least have some advocates helping me through the job search and disability advocacy. And thanks to my father’s SSDI, meager as it is, I’m more financially stable than I would be living alone. But unfortunately, that job-hunting-first mindset has only recently decided to budge. So much time was lost on anxiety over employment, time that could’ve been spent on personal development in my hobbies. Or, more relevantly, that time could’ve been spent updating this blog, screaming into the void, and hoping someone would shout back.

There’s more to my outlook on this period of my life than the job hunt itself. While I’ve held down paid positions before, they collectively only lasted a little under a year. Both were retail associate roles, and both ended with me exiting on bad terms with my employers. For privacy reasons, I won’t give out the company names, but I don’t care if my former workmates find this. The writing from this point will be fairly rough and ramble-filled.

JOB #1

I was quite excited to start out working for this company. The staff seemed welcoming enough, to the extent that they wanted to get down to business and not fool around. It was all for the better, too; this was an office supply retailer that hired me just in time for the back-to-school season, and customers would be flooding in to prep their kids for the year ahead. It was nice growing accustomed to how things worked in this place; the training modules were decently thorough.

… But things started going downhill the second an abusive coworker made her opinion of me known on the same day. Going forward, I’ll refer to her as Kay. When we met, she not only didn’t greet me, but the very first thing out of her mouth when she decided to talk to me was “Do you not have work to do?”

I was on my lunch break. Because how dare I stop to take care of myself when my diabetes requires somewhat strict mealtimes?

Since then, Kay remained openly hostile and condescending towards me, rudely ordering me to get out of her way and dressing me down for even the slightest mistakes. Mind you, she was a fellow sales associate with no official power over me. It’d still be unforgivable if she were a manager, but her humbler role just makes her treatment of me worse.

Even so, Kay did have some seniority over me. She’d done good logistical work for the store over the years, and she was in the good graces of nearly every manager. At the very least, I wasn’t the only one who recognized how problematic this person was. But the store manager was too spineless—or rather, too willing to turn a blind eye—to discipline Kay whenever our coworkers voiced their concerns.

After the back-to-school season ended, business dropped off a cliff. There would be extremely long periods of nothing to do for me between customers, often as long as thirty minutes to an hour—which was frequently 25% of my shift for the day. The training modules did not prepare me for unstructured time, so, unless I was given furniture or a display to assemble… I spent a lot of the latter half of my six months in this store standing around and watching for oncoming customers.

Don’t get me wrong. I certainly tried to do more with my time, but I got conflicting information from my managers. Some of them wanted me to man the registers constantly and let other people complete other tasks, while others wanted me to venture out and do something other than wait, even if that meant leaving the registers unattended.

While this was happening, I’d stuck up for myself against Kay’s verbal abuse a handful of times. The first time, I politely but firmly told her to stop treating me like an idiot, after she began dressing me down for confusing one customer’s order for another. She backed off after that; I could tell she wasn’t used to retaliation in this setting.

Kay’s shock continued when, after once again ordering me to get out of her way, I snapped back at her—within reason--to cut it out. I seemed to be disappointing everyone at that point, between the managers and their poorly expressed and unfulfilled expectations, and now, this power-tripping bully once again displacing her frustrations with life on me. I had enough.

Of course, when word got around about what happened, I was reprimanded for my response. Never mind the fact that the head manager, Jay, said to my face that she knew this coworker was abusive due to past incidents, but did nothing to address it. From that point forward, all the managers grew increasingly passive-aggressive with me, especially one who also began displacing her frustrations about unruly customers onto me. I assume they and the others took Kay’s side because it’s easier to blame the new guy with the disability.

This isn’t just me playing a victim card here, or assuming the worst out of frustrated retail workers. I know definitively that they hated dealing with me and my diabetes. The nicest coworker I met there, Pim, was a retired nurse, and she relayed to me that Kay once vented to her about me and my diabetes. Considering everything else I’d heard about Kay by this point, I was deeply inclined to believe Pim, and still am; she had no reason to lie about this, and it lined up with Kay’s contempt for me too well. The managers were likely eating up every bad thing she was saying about me, like a pack of starved wolves.

There had even been times when my head manager snarkily asked about why I was taking my lunch break so early, despite the fact I had established my diabetes-related strict eating habits as early as the first week of the job. In fact, in times when I was manning the registers with nothing else to do, that manager asked me—and specifically me, no one else; I checked—to stand by the entrance and greet people. Another manager was confused about what I was doing one day, and when I explained, he seemed to have more questions than answers…

As you can imagine, midway through my final month in this job, I worked hard to find a new job and get the hell out of there. I managed to cut down my two-week notice to one week after finding something, and I left without saying goodbye to anyone except Pim—the one coworker who gave a crap about me and my struggles.

All this time, I felt I was losing my passion for illustration again. But as the first day of the new job and the last one of this current role both drew near, I started to realize my confidence was being pushed down by people who were bankrupt in good character. The best I had managed to do on the side were doodles of trees… So it was rather appropriate, then, that I managed to digitally paint on as my first finished piece done in the Krita program.

The victory was fairly short-lived, however, as complications with the second job began to arise shortly after its completion. But I still appreciate what it stands for: my growth in opposition to a world that wants me to kneel.

JOB #2

My second job was another retail position just down the street, this time specializing in home décor and gifts. It started as a temporary job for the holiday season, and I took to it like a fish to water. Business was constant, the register system was identical to the one in the first job. Sure, it was the exact work as before, but I liked it enough to transform it into a year-round position. The whole reason I did was because my coworkers seemed a lot more understanding about what I was going through.

Emphasis on “seemed,” at least when it came to the head manager.

Mills was a gossipy sort. Even during the interview, she asked me to elucidate on my negative experiences in the first job, and I, desperate to escape and find solidarity with someone, opened myself up all too willingly.  She was probably genuinely concerned at the time, but it’s also a product of her two-facedness. Based on her regard for her customers, this was someone all too willing to viciously deride someone behind their backs while putting on an insincere smile whenever they were in the vicinity.

She even expressed how prideful she was in the gossipy culture she cultivated for the store, something that was maintained by the encouragement for managers and fellow associates alike to text each other. I ended up being too open about myself, simply because Mills and some of the others were overly open about themselves. This set a bad precedent for me even long after this job ended. It probably had something to do with my autism, but I assumed this sort of honesty about job troubles would fly in every interview. Thankfully, I caught on to how wrong that was after only one.

A few months into the job, Mills requested I stop pulling out my insulin pump when attending the registers. From what I remember, she feared corporate would assume I was pulling out my phone in plain view of the customers. I complied, simply because I assumed she had my best interests in mind…. But knowing what I do know, this was probably the biggest red flag of the two before the actual fallout. Intended or not, this was flat-out discrimination. If I need to deliver insulin through my pump, it is infinitely more practical to deliver it on the spot.

I shouldn’t have to cater to a corporation’s inability to tell the difference when I’m only trying to take care of myself. Besides, if my blood sugar is out of range, that can often leave my motor skills impacted. Having to retreat to the back of the store to administer treatment in private meant I’d be liable to trip on something. This wasn’t a corporation that knew how to apply basic logic; they just wanted to protect their fragile sensibilities by refusing to acknowledge a person’s diabetes—which would be manageable if I was given the grace to do so.

Unfortunately, I was not given that grace. In March of this year, I had three blood sugar episodes across a time span of two weeks.

The first one was a persistent case of hyperglycemia—high blood sugar—caused by two failed infusion sets. Eventually, I requested I go home; the issue hadn’t been corrected by the time I arrived at work, and I’d spent an hour and a half sitting in agony in the break room as I struggled to recover. This was entirely fair, but it colored my coworkers’ outlook on me going forward, especially in the subsequent incidents.

The last two were cases of hypoglycemia—low blood sugar. This time, Mills pressured me into returning home because of a perceived attitude problem. I was visibly tired and sad because I was running out of energy, but I didn’t figure that out until after she made her decision. I didn’t feel like I was able to argue, so I once again complied.

The final incident saw me catch the low blood sugar this time… which meant having to take a second break to eat more food to make things right. Though she tried her best to hide it, Mills remained visibly and audibly incensed about this, questioning why I can’t just eat like everyone else, callously suggesting I upend my mealtime routine so I can make do with only one meal break alone. I tried explaining that it wasn’t feasible without serious consequences to my health, and while she seemed to accept my explanation, she seemed to remain unsatisfied.

I was correct. By the time I got home, my blood sugar was back in range, so I decided to apologize for what happened to Mills over text. The following is the paraphrased conversation:

Me: I'm sorry about the additional break I took tonight. Sadly, no matter how good my control is with my blood sugar, I'm going to end up burning through whatever food I’ve eaten, as doing work like that uses up a lot of energy. I was on my phone back there looking at potential food that could help with this. I'm going to try some of it out next time I have a longer shift like this. Mills: As I stated, it's my job to make sure that we comply with each other. You communicated to me clearly what you needed, and I, in turn, communicated the company’s break policy. It’s not more complicated than that. I need to communicate company policy. I do have worries. I might need to see if you may need some accommodation. Let's see where it goes from here. You might just not be able to do the job, and I'm waiting to see if we can work out some things. You must be able to hold your own... and I'm just not seeing it at this stage. We’ll discuss this when I’m next available.

It was probably a mistake speaking about this blood sugar issue in absolutes, but it’s true. When I’m low, I need food to keep it higher. And as for the response I got, I feel there’s an attempt to stay professional and understanding, but some of that frustration bled through, clear as day. And it’s even more insulting to read now after approaching M about this issue in person. She acted like the conversation didn’t even happen until I elaborated. It’s like dressing me down over text was the most unremarkable part of her day.

She had a litany of issues with me that went entirely unexpressed until that afternoon. I don’t want to toot my own horn and say I was a saint, as a handful of them were legitimate complaints. No one’s perfect, and there’s always room to improve. The only reason I know the rest were discriminatory was because I also asked for them in writing. Establishing a paper trail is useful in situations like these… And sure enough, most of the complaints traced back to my diabetes, just worded in such a way to avoid implicating it as the issue. And when I asked Mills about whether the diabetes was to blame, she instead fingered my autism.

No one aside from Mills was passive-aggressive with me during my last days in the store, but I no longer felt welcome. And by early April, I exited and didn’t look back for a second… And that unfortunately brings me to where I am today.

I’ve struggled to find a job ever since. Life with my father has grown harder, as his mental health has seen some sharp declines. I feel demoralized, resentful, and more than frustrated. It’s not all been doom and gloom, however. I managed to get an official diagnosis of my autism, and I’ve built quite a rapport with some friends of mine, both my one in-person friend and his family and a few online ones through Discord.

And, well… Like my grief with Tiger, I did manage to complete one art piece to embody how horrible those ten months were. The bullying, the rejection, and the anxiety of not being able to push forward…. It put me right back where I was in 2022, facing an imaginary monster in an epic fight to the death, a monster that restricted and taunted me for feeling I wasn’t good enough. A monster I tried drawing again right after the tree painting in 2023, but I couldn’t finish this other piece in time for the new year.

But, shortly before my 26th birthday, I found it in me to not only complete the piece but take some significant risks in doing so. I may be struggling now, but I can rest easy with this victory:

But for now…. I must keep going.

[kurooswifeyy]

Tetsurō Kuroo

“ Oh yeah, my little assistant? ”

P.S. This is my first time writing something like this on here so hopefully at least some of you are still able to enjoy it. ( T - T )

Proof Read! ^_^

Warnings : None! Just a bunch of teasing from kuroo!! (sfw, no smut, etc).

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Recently you had been looking for a job due to quitting your last one since your boss wasn’t willing to pay well, continuing to take advantage of your hard work. You finally decided today was the day you find a better job instead of sucking up to someone who was barley willing to pay you the minimum.

As you were walking around town you seem to notice a flyer on a pole saying “ Sports Promotional Division, now hiring! “

“ A job involving sports? “

You begin to think how hard could it be? Even though you weren’t always the greatest in athletics, you still decided to give it a shot.

Moments later you arrive at a building faced with a man at the front desk. He appeared to be the boss of the Sports Promotional Division.

“ My name is y/n l/n, earlier I saw a flyer regarding your company in need of staff so I wanted to look into any positions you might have open for me. “

The man looked up from his computer and responded with a smile

“ Hello, y/n! How good are you in the volleyball field? ”

“ I’ve played somewhat in high school, so I’d say I have a sufficient amount of experience. ”

He sighs in relief

“ That’s perfect, we have a position open that will suit you perfectly! “

The boss suddenly pressed a button to announce something on the intercom

“ Tetsurō Kuroo, come to the front desk “

A tall figure appears walking to the boss. His appearance was enough reason to make you want to accept the job no matter the task.

“ This man here specializes and works for our Volleyball Association in our Sports Promotion Division. ”

The handsome man looks towards you and gives you a smile

“And who might this beautiful lady be? ”

He greeted you, placing a soft kiss on the back of your hand. You couldn’t help but blush slightly. He was just so handsome, who wouldn’t fall for him?

“ My name is Tetsurō Kuroo, and you are? ”

“Are you seriously trying to win her over with your lame attempts of flirting, Kuroo? ”

Meanwhile Kuroos boss was yelling at him you let out a giggle. His relationship with his boss was as if they knew each other for years.

“ I was just beginning to work my way up into asking her out to dinner! ”

He exclaimed while getting an earful from his boss

“ Who knows? Maybe I’ll take you up on your offer . ”

You responded somewhat shyly

“ Alright, that’s enough out of you two. Kuroo, show her to her office. ”

Kuroo nods in agreement putting his arm on your back guiding you to your office

“ Kuroo no touching! “

His boss exclaimed

“ Ciao! “

Kuroo said as he ignored his boss while continuing to bring you to your room.

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[maywrites264]

Clock Out [Charisma House Fanfic]

About

- Has Kaname in it.

- Basically my idea for what would be a season 3 premiere.

- Shu Matsubara please consider me as a cowriter for official Charisma House episodes /j

- I have not watched every single episode of the series so if some stuff is wrong. Too bad I guess.

- Updates every Sunday

- Content Warnings: Um…none, I guess? Unless you count a somewhat intense argument between a mother and child? Also pedophilia is mentioned in (1) line.

Navigation

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Chapter 1 (Order Up!)

Working at a full time job can be a huge commitment for someone, as they would spend most of the day working rather than engaging in hobbies or things they enjoy. For Kaname Maeno, he was up for the task of taking a job to better his life. He only lived with his mom before starting work, and was an unemployed high school graduate with no interest in any higher education, as he’d much rather be playing video games in his room than doing anything else.

His mother was disappointed, because she knew her son had potential, he just wasn’t using it. Perhaps employment could be the key for him to get out of his hikikomori lifestyle. He could make friends at work, and seek higher opportunities once he makes a stable enough income. But of course, this is not the way things went. At least, not at first.

It had been about a week since Kaname started working at the café known as Caralatte, and it wasn’t super great in his experience. As a waiter, he had to take every order with a smile, but secretly hated every second. It seemed like every customer went out of their way to ignore him, whether it were the teenage girls thinking he was the most adorable little thing, or the old perverts who wanted to get close to someone who looked like a little boy.

But yesterday was somewhat pleasant…or at least it was better than the previous days. Kaname saw a face that he never met before, a boy who seemed to be around his age, with short black hair and an orange outfit. This person looked relatively normal, but he was prepared for the worst.

As the other waiters were busy with other customers, Kaname waltzed towards the peculiar man, praying that there would be no complications or complaints. He took a deep breath and flashed his usual fake smile. “Hi, my name is Kaname Maeno, and I’ll be your waiter for today. What will you be ordering?”

The customer smiled mischievously and tapped his fingers against the table, which Kaname saw as an obvious bad sign. Nevertheless, the mystery man didn’t make an impression that he’d cause too much trouble…until he started ordering.

“I’ll have a chocolate cake, a strawberry sundae, some caramel custard, a lemon meringue pie, 6 sugar cookies…” Jesus Christ…was this man ordering for a party? Or would he eat this all by himself? It seemed like this man was ordering faster than Kaname’s hand could write down, and just as it seemed like he finished, there was much, much more to write down.

Miraculously, the constant orders suddenly ended, giving Kaname (and his poor hands) a breath of relief. “W-will that be all, sir?” he asked, trying not to go insane from what he just witnessed.

“I’ll also have some ice cream, because today is my birthday,” the strange customer requested. Kaname sighed heavily, hoping the chefs won’t pass out from the intense amount of items they’d have to make in such a limited amount of time. Even the other clients looked at this man in shock, but he didn’t seem to care a bit.

“Alright, your total will be…uh…¥760,860…do you want a receipt?” Kaname asked, struggling to keep his polite tone at this point. In response, the client shook his head and laughed, acting like he could afford all this? Of course, to the struggling waiter, this was another gluttonous rich kid, just trying to test his limits. If he didn’t get a good tip, he’d be pissed.

After about two hours, all of the items the bizarre man ordered were ready. Kaname was prepared to hear a long rant about how the chefs took too long, or how something was undercooked, or some other outrageous complaint as he served the customer his food, but all he received was a “thank you”.

…huh? This was odd…it seemed like every other person he had to serve was rude and unpleasant, but this was the first time he heard a “thank you” from someone he had the “pleasure” of serving. Kaname tried not to hide his shock, but did seem a little embarrassed. He figured he’d at least show his gratitude, it was the least he could do in this situation, anyway.

“It’s my pleasure to serve you tonight. Have a happy birthday, sir.” As Kaname walked off, it was getting closer to closing time, and the amount of people looking for a sweet treat slowly decreased. He looked towards the window, seeing all the stars swirl across the sky…perhaps, it was a sign that the night was going to not be filled with pain. Maybe, for once, his mother wouldn’t have to yell at him for not going to work, or he wouldn’t have to be so angry. At least for tonight, things felt normal…

Fumiya walked to the Charisma Sharehouse with a smile (and some crumbs) on his face, fully knowing that it was not his birthday and had tricked the waiter into giving him a slight discount. He didn’t think much of it, it was basically routine for him. Just as he was about to make a right turn on the next street, he overheard an intense argument coming from a nearby apartment.

“You always come home from work so angry, why not put a smile on your face?”

“Smile? What is there to fuckin’ smile about? I spend at least seven hours every goddamn day puttin’ on this fake smile only for people to harass and berate me!”

It didn’t seem super important to Fumiya, who cared about the drama of someone they didn’t know? However…one of the voices seemed familiar, which pulled him in to listen closer.

“You have to understand that work isn’t always pleasant, sweetie. And besides, you only started recently. Who’s to say that you won’t end up liking it in the end?”

“I’m to say! And I hate this shitty job and everyone I’ve met here!! And you wouldn’t even care, because you just want me to make money, don’t you? So I can be a good member of society like everyone else?”

Eventually, Fumiya decided to pull himself away, but not before he heard a scathing “I hate you” from (what he assumed to be) the son directed towards his mother. But the Charisma of Good and Evil just decided to shake it off, it wasn’t that important…but that simple phrase stuck in his mind, “I hate you.” It kept circling in his mind, with the bearer of those words reminding him of the nice waiter he met earlier that day.

“I hate you.” “I hate you.” “I hate-”

PPPPPPPPPPPPPP! The sharp sound of Rikai’s whistle interrupted Fumiya’s muddled thoughts. “Itou Fumiya, if there is one thing you should not do, it is enter the house with crumbs on your face! Go grab a napkin and clean it up!”

Of course, Fumiya’s first instinct was to question what he did wrong. “Hmm? Why?”

“Because it is not sanitary to leave pieces of food on your face! What if one of the crumbs falls off and it attracts a bug?! Then our house will become infested, and they can easily reproduce at any moment! So, I am kindly requesting you to clean it up!” Rikai complained, readily pulling out his whistle to blow again.

Not wanting to have his thoughts interrupted again, Fumiya grabbed a napkin and cleaned the crumbs off his face, but Rikai noticed that the former had a strange expression while doing it. “Is everything alright, Fumiya-san?”

“Everything is fine,” replied Fumiya, not in the mood to discuss what he heard while walking home.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Rikai felt like the youngest Charismatic was lying, which wasn’t a surprise, because Fumiya lied like he was getting paid a million dollars every time he did so. But this specific lie felt particularly strange, because he wasn’t the type to seem bothered by anything. And yet, Fumiya was clearly bothered…

“No, something is wrong. Fumiya-san, you must tell me what it is,” Rikai requested, hoping that at least some clues will be given.

“Nothing is wrong at all,” Fumiya answered, keeping his nonchalant facade intact.

“Something is wrong.”

“Nothing is wrong.”

“No, something is wrong.”

“Nope, nothing is wrong.”

The two went back and forth with each other for a few minutes, before a small voice interrupted. “E-excuse me…” It was Ohse, nearly curling up into a ball out of embarrassment.

“Ah, Ohse-kun! You haven’t come out of your room all day!” Rikai was pleased with the fact that Ohse finally decided to check in on the others for the day. “What brings you here at this hour?”

Ohse seemed nervous, repeatedly stammering over his words for a few minutes before Rikai and Fumiya assured him that he could say whatever he wanted. “I-is it okay if my friend stays over for a bit?”

Fumiya seemed oddly pleased by this question, with another (at least temporarily) resident of the house to break up the flow of the daily routine. Rikai, however, grimaced immediately after Ohse made his request.

“After the last time we had someone stay over, I’m not too keen on letting anyone stay for an extended period of time.” Rikai paused after seeing Ohse’s disappointment. “Can you inform us on who this person is?”

This question made Ohse even more anxious, not sure if Rikai would approve of his answer. “Well, it’s someone I met online, but-”

Rikai immediately huffed in disgust, not letting Ohse finish his statement. “Someone you met online?! Don’t you know how dangerous the internet can be?!?! You can be scammed, or doxxed, or kidnapped! Ohse-kun, I surely do not approve of this behavior!”

“Wait!” Ohse interrupted, before the Charisma of Order could go on another long rant. “I may not know his full name, or have seen his face…I’ve only heard his voice, but we have spent multiple hours in games together, and we have been in voice calls and…and…he made me want to live just a little bit more…” He took a deep breath before continuing. “He got into an argument with his mom and said he just needs a few days in order to fix things, just please let him stay…!”

Argument with his mother? Fumiya thought. No, surely this couldn’t be the person he overheard saying “I hate you” to his mom, right? …right? He looked over at Rikai, who shook his head in anguish.

“Alright…but we need to make sure that our house is completely spotless for our new arrival,” Rikai demanded. “When is he coming?”

“Um…tomorrow…”

“TOMORROW?!?!?!” Rikai entered a state of panic, knocking on every door in the house in order to initiate a group cleanup session. Most of the Charismatics were not thrilled to suddenly be called into cleanup, but Iori was absolutely ecstatic!

The night was long and filled with yelling and arguments, but the members of the sharehouse managed to clean up just in time for their guest.

The next morning, the doorbell rang, with everyone at once rushing over to greet the new (temporary) resident. However, one of them wasn’t expecting who this guest would be…

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you all. My name is Kaname Maeno.”

Charisma Charge: Success

[revvnant]

Misconception: He didn't love his brother. Is that.... True?

send me a misconception you think people have about my character and I’ll explain if it’s true or not.

heehee. so i'm gonna say heated things in this post, anon, and it's not because you asked the question. i love this question. when i strawman in here i'm referencing things i've seen in the tags and on other social media over the years. anyways, my first response when people bring this up is usually. that is an extremely complex thing to ask a teenager in michael's position. now, i'm not saying michael is The Victim, given that evan is literally dead. i'm extremely pro-michael responsibility. while it looks like the argument over whether or not he's the bully brother has died off somewhat ( or maybe i've just cultivated my experience a bit better lol ) i used to see so many Fourth Afton Siblings and it drove me insane. i craved that moral ambiguity, that is to say the ambiguity of the action / motivation, and the cloud that it left hanging over michael's story. i liked how it served a narrative where michael callously disregarded his sibling's safety and it got him killed, only for michael to try to be the best brother he could to his sister and lose her anyways, and in much the same way. i loved that michael wasn't perfect and rankled at the push for him to be distanced from the incident because it felt like people weren't willing to say that michael could be both a victim of abuse and a bully who got a kid mauled by taking a malicious prank too far.

which brings me back to the complexity. while it does not excuse michael's actions and certainly doesn't bring evan back, i don't think it's... disrespectful? choosing a side?? to say that michael was also in a bad situation. like. based solely off what we see in the games, michael and evan are on their own. we always see them home alone in an empty house. evan walks to and from freddy's without supervision ( not super unusual, but also something that, at the time, was becoming less common -- i like it as a prelude to the mci, where parents would stop allowing their children to go out alone ). he's spending time at a venue he not just dislikes, but is terrified of, on the regular -- and we don't know why, but i've always assumed that either william is bringing him to work with him or michael is dragging him there after school ( with evan then being free to walk home if he wants to, but he's also clearly discouraged from doing so, given the number of times he tries to 'escape' ). and now he's having his birthday party there. at the very least, his father is negligent. the only family member we see him with is michael.

we're entering headcanon territory now, so be warned of that. while i do a lot of research to back this up, i will also be upfront in saying that i'm spinning a narrative because i think it's appropriate for the setting and want to explore it. hence, there's nothing authoritative here, and i understand if it's not people's cup of tea. that said, michael is the oldest afton sibling. in a lot of places, especially that part of america, eldest / older children are expected to help raise their younger siblings. given that we don't see william around, let alone a mother, i've always come away with the impression that michael was left with a lot of the daily care of the kids. get them to and from school, help with their homework, make sure they shower and brush their teeth, etc. to some people that may sound extreme or dramatic, but it's reality for a lot of kids. they're made to grow up more quickly than their siblings or only children out of necessity. this isn't a blanket judgment of this practice, because 1) utah is not the only place on earth this happens and the cultural context in other places is different, so i don't want to smear that and 2) teaching children some responsibility is not necessarily a bad thing in my eyes.

it is, however, a lot of pressure on a kid. i've made michael four years older than evan and eight years older than elizabeth. those aren't insignificant age gaps, but while he slots more 'naturally' into that parental role for his sister, he and evan are much closer in age. he's twelve when evan is eight, fifteen when evan is eleven ( where i've placed the birthday party in the timeline ). he wants to be hanging out with friends and doing his own thing, and he's being held back ( in his mind ) by having to watch his siblings and, horror of horrors, take his brother with him when he goes places. probably not unusual for where they're living, again, but still. this would normally lead to some inter-sibling resentment, but there are additional layers to this.

one, i think michael struggles in school due to his situation at home. i think both the absence of his parents and the responsibility of watching his siblings are crunching his brain, and he's mentally ill and dyslexic in a school system not designed to accommodate him. if he doesn't make sure his brother's homework gets done, he gets in trouble. forget his own homework. if william and diane are working late, he's responsible for dinner. then he has to get them to bed. once that's done, he can do his own work / shower / whatever else he needs to do. he's exhausted.

two, he is being abused. the degree to which varies from person to person but this is my blog and i say that william was physically abusive. not only do i think there's more than enough evidence of this in the games ( midnight motorist, his comfort killing children when he has kids of his own ), but secondary research has all but proven to me that you almost never see cases of child killing without abuse going on in the house. you just. as a baseline. are not simultaneously a kind parent and a child murderer. to have your own children and to be comfortable killing somebody else's children may seem like two separate things in fiction, which is why i'm not against people saying that william was 'only a little' / not physically abusive, but in real life that just... doesn't happen. and my blog for the sci-fantasy horror series about possessed bear robot is historically inspired so we all just have to live with that.

a few things with the abuse, though. firstly, michael is learning violence in the home. he is being conditioned to accept physical harm as the norm, and his father is setting the example that the right way to cope with your emotions is to lash out. and not only is mike experiencing the normal heightened emotional state of puberty, he's angry and confused and upset because his father is mistreating him. he's being hurt and he has no one to appeal to ( another big historical theme for me: a lack of intervention in hurricane; not their children, not their problem, and heaven forbid someone tell another man how to run his household! ), he can't get away from it unless he wants to pack up a little rucksack and flee ( i do believe this happened at least once and he quickly got found and returned to his parents ), so he just has to sit. and stew in it. and not understand why it's happening. because there is no good reason for it. i'm very much not like. 'william abused michael because michael acted out!' the opposite, in fact. michael acted out because he was being abused -- and because he was a teenager! and that idea always rubbed me the wrong way because, to be quite honest, abusive parents do not need a 'reason' to hurt their kids. they don't need an inciting incident. i know parents are people, but abusive parents -- parents with a pattern of violence -- are gonna do what they do regardless of how their kids act. they can say there's a reason for it, but if there isn't? they'll invent one. so there shall be no 'mike was a bully and william started punishing him more harshly' here.

secondly, michael has to cope with his situation differently than his siblings. evan is a crybaby -- and rightfully so, given what he's going through! he also lives with an abusive father, though i don't believe he's william's usual target; that house is a nightmare and he is in it with the rest of them. plus, his brother bullies him! i would cry! but i think the crying is something that michael grows to resent very quickly. michael isn't 'allowed' to cry; he's a 'man', his father expects more from him. michael 'has it worse' than evan, so what does evan even have to cry about? michael doesn't cry when he gets mistreated, and 'nobody's' mistreating evan. evan, as far as michael is concerned, is being waited on hand-and-foot by him. he's the one helping with the homework and tying the shoelaces and walking him to school and picking him up at the end of the day. he's the one losing sleep and weekends with friends to take care of him. what the fuck could evan ever have to cry about? by that logic, maybe michael should give him something to cry about -- like william gives him something to cry about. because that's what real men do.

thirdly, as implied above, michael is the barrier. he's the oldest, he's the one who looks like william, he's the puberty-riddled mentally ill punk-leaning problem child. he is his father's target of choice. and i think he took pride in that fact when it first began, that he could take it, that he could serve as a shield. but he's a child and that didn't last long. how could it? he was being hurt. he just does not have the capacity to be like, 'no, i can do this for their sakes and be happy about it, it's good that it's me and not them.' few adults can do that without developing resentment for the people they're 'defending' ( especially when that's not what's really happening -- they're not 'defending' their siblings / children / etc. from anything, they're just being attacked ). but michael can't fight back against william. william is a grown adult and his father. so he gets mad at the only person he can do anything against in this equation: the other victim.

so we have a kid at an age where he normally wouldn't want to be hanging out with his younger brother, but he doesn't really have a choice. maybe some teasing would be normal, but this boy has been subjected to violence, and has, in his frustration and confusion, turned this violence upon his only feasible target. and it is violent. it's horrible. but is this hatred? is this evidence that michael hates his brother? i don't think so. i think they are in a fucking horrendous situation and they're just trying to survive. i don't think removed and sweeping concepts like 'michael loves his brother' or 'michael hates his brother' ( as if the two are mutually exclusive? ) apply here. michael took care of his brother. you could call that love. michael tormented his brother. you could call that hate. michael intended to frighten and maybe even hurt evan, but not to kill him, and it still resulted in evan's death. did he do it out of hate? if hate here is shorthand for 'a desire to see evan dead', no. if it's 'a desire to make evan uncomfortable and upset', maybe!

but like. i dunno. abusive households are like a pocket dimension. you need years of therapy to unpack that shit. i don't think sitting down and casting judgment on michael based on whether or not one believes that he 'hated' his brother is fair or worthwhile. with all that going on above, it's not even a thought exercise i'm interested in, if the end goal is to rank michael as a Good or Bad person. rather, i want to explore what would lead to an incident like that. maybe michael loved his brother, but in that house, expressing that love in any sort of healthy way was not an option. and that's far more compelling to me than 'michael was born bad' or 'michael is an unfeeling monster'.

[jayfurr]

Major depression update, March 2024

Random thoughts about depression: I suffer from major depression. I have for most of my life, dating back to middle school at the very least. Depression causes me to have difficulty doing things I need to do. I procrastinate significantly more and I don't have the energy to do things I enjoy. Something a lot of people don't understand about depression -- it's not necessarily (or at all) linked to "feeling bad about something", though one hallmark of major depression is that one's brain goes looking for things to be depressed about and then points to those things as the "cause" du jour. Depression is an expression of biochemistry, life experience, stress, and so on. I imagine that I would probably have been very depressed even if I had led the absolute perfect life. My father had undiagnosed major depression. My mom's mom was institutionalized for most of her life due to symptoms that sound an awful lot like major depression. (The state of medical care in rural Florida was not always what one would have liked it to have been.)  You can't ignore the role genetics plays in mental health. What helps? Talk therapy (working with counselors) does not really help me. Medicine helps somewhat, but is not helping much with my latest bout of black moods. I've gone through extensive DBT (dialectial behavior therapy) training and am familiar with skills like radical acceptance, distress tolerance, and emotion regulation. It's just that sometimes those skills can only do so much. I would probably feel better if I started getting intense regular exercise. I've been pretty sessile for the last year -- partly because of my having been chair of my local Selectboard and always had things to do (and had a lot of stress as well), partly because it rained nonstop last summer, and partly because I made a ton of excuses all fall and winter. I have hopes that as the weather continues to warm I'll find it easier to get outdoors and get going for walks again. I'm heading to Bermuda on Saturday for a week's vacation and am, unfortunately, stressing about that. Our flight leaves BTV at 5:20 am -- that's leaves, not boards. Carole is not a morning person to begin with and will probably have been up late Friday night packing (she has depression too and she's terrible at tasks that require organizational skills like, oh, packing).  Once we're actually on the plane and in the air heading to our connection in Charlotte, I expect I'll feel better. Read the full article

[angeldcgs]

lips pursed as she weighed the compliment, having trouble accepting praise if it felt unearned, but unable to ignore the warmth that bloomed in her chest from being thought of as talented. “i’m sure you’re a much better writer than i am a pianist, but i’ll play for you if you let me read something of yours. seems like a fair trade, right?” even though it wasn’t her passion the way writing was his, frankie couldn’t bear to fail at anything, no matter how trivial, so she felt that deal would even out the stakes. having been out of practice since graduating high school, she was a bit rusty, but with her level of experience, it wouldn’t take much to get back into the swing of it. not to mention, she was constantly undervaluing her own abilities— she could never accept how incredibly gifted she was. ink black lashes fluttered as he elaborated on his feelings somewhat, still uncertain about just what it all meant. “but… like, in what way?” her wide eyed gaze held all the hope she could muster, willing to let his opinion of her make or break the way she thought about herself. already, frankie could feel her self esteem lifting ever so slightly just from the attention he’d given her thus far, but it could come plummeting back down to earth at any second. “i think…” she murmured in a trance like state, her lips moving before her brain told them to. “i think you’re the coolest person i’ve ever met.” so much of her life revolved around absolutes. rigid rules and a strict path to follow; she had to be all in or all out. because of that, she didn’t know how to feel things in moderation, constantly swinging from one extreme to the next with no happy medium. oz had made her feel good in the midst of her pity spiral, and for that, he may as well have been a god. “i guess i didn’t think about that… there’s probably a lot of pressure, being expected to perform. you’re just supposed to know what to do and actually be able to do it.” if things had been different and frankie had been a guy, the whole virginity debacle would’ve been exponentially worse. at least as a woman, she was expected to be submissive, so her timid nature likely wouldn’t be a problem with any prospective partners. and though she knew it was much to soon to be making those kinds of decisions, she knew she wanted that partner to be him. he’d said it himself, that it would be better to have sex with someone experienced, and that way they’d know how to make it feel good for her. “oh…” so many questions bounced around in her brain, though she refused to give voice to any one until she could sort them all into their own individual thoughts. at the moment, it was all a clustered jumble of words and question marks. “have you ever, um… have you taken a girl’s virginity before?” and did she like it? did he? the way he spoke about sex was so nonchalant, it lifted some of the weight she’d always attached to the idea. it didn’t have to hurt, or be scary, and it didn’t have to be some big dramatic occasion, either. sure, she’d prefer to fall madly in love, and share that deep physical bond with them knowing that they were just as devoted to her, but that just wasn’t realistic. maybe it could’ve been for her parents generation, but it was nothing more than a fairytale for hers, and the sooner she accepted that, the sooner she could get to enjoying herself.

she was right about to tack on a desperate, “please?” along with her request, but thankfully for her, oz complied before she had to. not before gazing down at her for what felt like ages, leaving her paralyzed under his fond scrutiny until he finally granted her the mercy of a kiss. her body’s response was immediate, curling into his side as she found a grip on his hair, fingernails gently taking against his scalp as she revealed in how soft and thick his curls were. the soft smack of their lips was almost more arousing than the physical sensation, letting out a low hum involuntarily. she wanted more already, and now that they were no longer on a public street and instead protected by the sanctity of his home, she could go for it, but there was some sort of mental block preventing her from acting on her most primal impulses. maybe if she’d had another drink or two back at the bar, or maybe if the cigarette he’d offered her had contained weed rather than tobacco she would’ve been able to break through that barrier and straddle him like her body was begging her to do, her skirt likely riding up in the process, bare thighs pressed to clothed ones. how long would it take him to feel her panties getting wetter? he could probably get her soaked without even really touching her, what with how sensitive she was.

"i don't, it's just a hunch i have" oz wasn't fond of watching people excel at things he was trying to be good at. it would be fine to see frankie's talent on a piano because it wasn't a skill he'd put much effort into honing but if she ended up being a better writer than him, then his jealousy would be too much for him to handle. he wasn't nearly as confident as he portrayed himself, or even as he tried to make even himself believe. her innocence would maybe get old to him sooner rather than later, but at that moment he still found himself besotted with it and he narrowed his eyes playfully at her and cocked his head. "like i like you, i think you're really something." the vagueness probably wasn't what she was looking for but he couldn't help himself from teasing, her cute little face was too much for him to bare going without. it wouldn't be true to say he didn't usually bring girls home, but he hadn't in a while and so it had to mean something that he'd broken that streak for her. he listened intently as she revealed more about how she felt about sex and it made him feel oddly protective, like he'd stumbled across one of the few girls in the city who hadn't been tainted by some other asshole guy. she was a clean slate, completely blank and ready for him to feed whatever he wanted, she'd eat it all up eagerly too just for the promise of proving herself. "it's a scary thing for anyone, i think it can be even more intimidating for the guys because of that expectation of us always having to enjoy it... kinda takes the fun out of it when you're worrying about not offending the other person." he did almost always enjoy it, it was hard not to but if it would ease some of her anxiety to know that she wasn't alone in finding it a nerve-wracking experience, then he'd play up his anxiety around the whole thing. "i can't really speak for girls, but i've heard that it doesn't always hurt... so long as you're with someone who knows what they're doing." he spoke casually, like he wasn't purposefully planting the idea of finding someone experienced after having just spoken about his exploits. virginity wasn't an important concept in his world but to someone as sweet as frankie, she probably had spent a lot of time putting merit on her first time and for that he couldn't blame her. they'd grown up in a world where you were ideally meant to be with the first person you kissed, find a high school sweetheart to shack up with and have a couple kids. to be in your twenties and alone, having not experienced a lot of what others had by that time and even more, it was frustrating and made the whole thing even scarier. though, with how she seemed eager to dangle herself in front of him, taunting him with her capability for being a sexual being, oz could imagine her deciding to just get the whole thing over with on a whim, maybe later regretting it but at least no longer having to think about it. he hummed in gentle amusement and brought his hand around to brush gently against her curls, admiring her state of drunken need for a long moment before finally curling his hand back around her cheek as he'd done before and brought her in for another slightly off-kilter kiss.

[sparklingpax]

Happenings

The little things...happenings of seemingly little importance. But in long and tiring course of life, it’s often those little moments of nothing which occur, that we remember forever. 

///

A/N: GUYSSS ok so I know I took an age and a half to actually write this, and yes this is actually the thing I polled about writing, but that’s because...this isn’t just one story....it’s a couple short ones! Tried writing just one, but I didn’t like that very much....at least, not alone. One you might have already seen, but I’m adding it for the sake of adding it....idk. Hope that’s alright ^^’‘

Point is......idk, this was a fun little experiment of writing I wanted to try out, and I just hope you enjoy it. I really really love the idea that the Decepticons were somewhat of a family, too. In fact, the way it’s like, highkey canon.....is so good qwq 💖 I didn’t really get to touch on every dynamic I enjoy, but I will eventually....and believe that because as you know with me, eventually always happens, even if it’s like a year+ of waiting.....sorry

And some extra things: 

Set in canon (disclaimer ig, I know the difference between hcs and actual canon and I understand that setting it in canon does not make it canon, but it is still in that setting...things have been crazy lately so I just felt like clarifying that!)

I definitely have a couple typos and oddly-written stuff here....I’ll be modifying it in coming days, but for now....please just ignore it?? ;w; 

The POINT of this was to focus on mundane things (a couple of exceptions) so...idk, sorry if that’s not to your taste?? Yay if you enjoyed it tho???? o///o’

Im...gonna put this here I guess: the only romantic relationship here is Giga/Mega....they’re literally married, anyway. As for everyone else...platonic friendship/familial type stuff! Just...to be clear! :]

All of these take place at like different intervals of time, it is not one big "linear" story

....anyway...with all that said....enjoy! 

///

“Would you please cut that out.”

 The boy across from him abruptly froze, making Hydra realize the sting of his tone. He hadn’t intended that, of course, but…he was busy…

 “Sorry for snapping,” he mumbled, not looking up from his laptop. “But if you keep tapping your pen like that, I can’t focus.” 

 Cancer seemed as if debating to pretend he didn’t hear him or to simply not respond. Well, maybe he was only left with one choice, he realized, as his quick glances likely gave away the fact that he’d heard Hydra. He opted to move his textbook to his lap and slowly put his head down on the table to read instead.

 They lapsed into silence, but an awkward one now. 

Hydra felt a twinge in his stomach. He didn’t really mean to snap at the boy, and part of him wished he’d left it alone altogether.

 Well…what’s done is done. 

Cancer had taken to the library area of their expansive base to catch up on some studying of his own. As he wasn’t exactly able to attend school…this was as best as it'd get for an education. 

Well...for now, anyway.

As he was self-studying, he’d also found he had a tendency to fidget as a method to focus better, and usually no one minded the noise it made because there was no one around. 

Today, however and unfortunately, he wasn’t alone in here as usual. 

 His eyes flitted up and down quickly, stealing a quick glance at Hydra. 

The man was staring intently at something on the screen, brow furrowed in thought. Every so often, he looked to his left, probably referencing a book of his own. Then, he’d type…fix his glasses, check the book again, and type, type…

 “Can I help you?” 

 Cancer gasped, realizing he must’ve been staring, and ducked his head back to reading his own book so fast…that he hit it on the table’s edge. 

“OW!!!!”

 His head against the wood coupled with the choked screech of an exclamation of pain made such a loud noise that Hydra jolted a bit and stopped typing. When the noise died down and was replaced with silence, he found his gaze ticking upwards, almost hesitantly. 

He found himself swallowing, wondering if the boy was alright. On the other side of the table, Cancer had his head down, and seemed not to be moving, except for…

 “Cancer-kun?” Hydra said rather softly. In fact, in a softer tone than he’d expected to give, actually. He made a face at this tangential thought briefly, then abandoned it immediately and tried again when he didn’t get a response. “Oi, Cancer, are you—”

 “S-s-s…sorry…sorry….” 

His brow furrowed again, fully with worry this time. Why was he…?

 “...Cancer?”

Oh, he realized suddenly, Cancer was crying. It took a moment for him to move again, taking a couple steps around the table and coming up next to Cancer, who seemed to shy away as he got closer. 

He’s crying, Hydra, you made the boy cry. Good job. 

 He felt a bead of sweat on his forehead as he realized he was far from well-versed in how to deal with something like this. But then, there was also common sense, which he thought to try. 

 First, I need to apologize. 

He made an awkward noise, adjusting his glasses. Then, he took a seat next to the boy. He was suddenly having flashbacks to similar experiences with Buster. Except then, the two had been young children, and he knew Buster closely…

“Are, uh…was that you?” 

You’re supposed to ask ‘are you okay,’ dumbass. What the hell was that? 

But it seemed to grab Cancer’s attention, and he peeked up at Hydra for a couple moments before rising, a hand gently over the spot on his forehead where he’d slammed into the table at full force. Hydra made another noise of surprise, then cleared his throat and tried again. 

“Cancer, are you alright?”

“Sorry–” Cancer responded right on the tail of his words, rushed and quick. He swallowed and stood to leave, a blush—of embarrassment, Hydra surmised—spreading across his cheeks. He began to gather up his textbook and note papers, and Hydra though to just watch him go, except…

Fix this, Hydra.

His eyes widened. He could also imagine how unhappy Mega would be if she found out—even if this had been an accident. Still, beyond avoiding her anger, Hydra felt a twinge of guilt. 

 “Cancer, wait,” He finally said, and thankfully, the boy froze again, staring at him. 

 Hydra awkwardly pushed his glasses up again before saying, “I shouldn’t have snapped, so I'm…sorry,” he repeated his earlier apology. “I was trying to focus, I was into my work…”

He wasn’t sure it was enough, but it was enough out of him for the moment, he thought. Hydra let his words hang in the air, saying nothing else.

For a couple seconds, Cancer looked away, said nothing. He seemed to be debating leaving with a wordless huff or staying. Then, he seemed to choose the latter, dropping his stuff back on the table,and plopping back down in his seat. 

His expression had now morphed into something of an indignant pout. Hydra winced when he noticed the color of the bruised spot when the boy finally removed his hand. 

“Er…do you need me to take you to—”

“This is nothing!” Cancer cut him off quickly. He still hadn’t looked back at him. Hydra let out a sigh on the quieter side, fishing for the words to say that might relieve the tension here…

“What were you doing anyway that was so important?”  

Eh? 

The sudden, mumbled question came as a bit of a surprise. Hydra rubbed the back of his neck for a moment in thought. 

“Well…nothing, really, just…” He shrugged. “Language study…” 

Cancer shifted next to him suddenly. He was staring intently at him now. 

“Wait—me too.”

“Oh? Which one?” He gestured at his own textbook. “I was studying Chinese, though I haven’t…made much progress at present.”

Cancer’s eyes sparkled, his reply treading upon Hydra’s last words– 

 “Oh, I can help!!” 

Hydra’s eyes widened.

Of course—that’s right, he remembered, Cancer had come from China in the first place. He spoke Chinese.

“You...would?"

Cancer nodded earnestly.

"I'd…appreciate that, Cancer-kun,” Hydra said slowly, with another awkward glasses adjustment. He seemed to relax a little in posture. “I really would. Thank you.” 

The boy practically beamed with pleasure at this proposition, the last few minutes seemingly all forgotten now. Hydra still felt kind of bad, however, which he also found odd because usually he didn’t really care. 

It was almost the same as…

“Stop saying that!!”

“Nii-san–”

“Shut up!!” 

“Nii-san, stop–that hurt!!!” 

He saw in his mind’s eye, the fuzzy memory of the face of Buster as a small child. 

It was on a cloudy day, many years ago now, on a day when they’d been fighting during recess at school. What it was about, Hydra couldn’t recall even then.

It had started as a simple scuffle, a few kicks and punches, but it only continued to escalate with every passing moment, until Hydra found himself, with little hesitation, putting Buster into a chokehold and twisting his arm. 

He’d felt nothing as he did that—until the piercing cry of the boy seemed to send a shock through his bones, and he jolted backwards, releasing him instantly. Unable to speak, he watched Buster stumble to the ground, staring up at Hydra for a moment before looking away quickly. He was trying to steady his breath, obviously in pain but not wanting to cry.  

There’d been a growing crowd of kids around them, their eyes boring holes into him from all angles.

Hydra was starting to feel so guilty he wished he could disappear.

He’d wanted to say sorry, to take it back…but the most he could do was grab Buster by the other arm and pull him away from the crowd, dragging him along until they came to a secluded area near the side of the school building, where they sat down in silence for a while. 

Hydra found himself still gripping Buster’s smaller hand, surprised that he was shaking.

He hadn’t meant to…he hadn’t…

“Hydra-san? Ano…”

The man jolted, realizing quickly he’d probably spaced out. He tried to keep a relatively neutral expression, looking around the room quickly before asking, “So…what language were you looking at?” 

 Cancer replied without missing a beat, “Japanese!”

Hydra raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “You’re already quite good at it, Cancer. Why?”

The boy shrugged.

“I’ve got a lot left to learn, and…I don’t know a lot of words…and stuff....” He looked to the ceiling briefly, as if trying to think of something. But, Hydra understood what he meant. 

 I still don’t quite have a complete handle on this language, but I’m pretty solid in a lot of it…

“I can…help you too, if you are ever…confused,” he found himself saying slowly. Cancer’s eyes lit up again and he moved closer, clapping his hands together. 

 “Really?!”

“Yes, of course, I–”

Then suddenly, Cancer seemed to remember something, and he spun around, grabbing his books and belongings. Hydra simply watched, not sure if he should continue speaking as he watched the boy scamper off in the direction of the door. 

But, before he left the room, Cancer came to a stop at the top of the steps to the exit, turning and smiling again at the Godmaster.

“Xièxie, Hydra-san! See you at dinner!”

Hydra felt a smile twist the corners of his lips. 

What a…funny kid.

///

Link to Mega/Giga story 1

Summary: uhhhhh.....fluff w them, kinda? Pretty scene descriptions? Ummmmm........yea! Please read, I liked that one ngl

///

Giga bowed his head, lower and lower until his forehead grazed the floor. 

It was cold and hard. Out of the corner of his vision, he watched Mega, Buster, and Hydra do the same. 

“Failure again! This is unacceptable!!” 

“Please, at least understand—that we managed to destroy an entire city, which was part of what you had hoped—”

“SILENCE!!” 

A tongue of electricity seemed to stretch out with rabid hunger, licking both of Giga’s shoulders, leaving behind thin lines of blood. Having experienced this many times, Giga uttered a grunt of pain, but nothing more. 

Beside him, Mega flinched, out of a combination of fear and concern, but did not dare raise her head. Her own skin seemed to tremble in uneasy anticipation, of its own lashing, if it were to come, that is. 

“Do not presume what I desire!” 

The sound of Devil Z’s voice reverberated in the skulls of all present in the dimly-lit, damp cavern. It sounded with a disembodied quality, not to unsimilar to the Decepticon emperor itself. It was not as soundwaves in the air, but rather a sound he allowed their ears to hear—something inexplicable, that sounded as if it rang around into the open air of the room, and at the same time, blasted only between their ears. 

It was a chilling, commanding sound. It faded slowly, every remaining wave piercing to the last. Everyone did their best to remain still and obediently silent. 

The dark frustration dripping from his tone felt akin to being in the crosshairs of a madman with a gun in hand—having taken aim at the head, with a trembling finger on the trigger. 

Giga and Mega knew their power, likely so did the Godmasters. If if were anyone else, they would not have bent a knee—they’d not have even batted an eye. 

 But they were at the moment, powerless in the face of this ruling being, who could kill them with but a fleeting thought. 

 In the face of their superior…but not their master. 

 “...and you will come up with another plan—quickly! I shall not be hindered in my conquest of earth due to mere insects!!” Devil Z snapped, when the last words had finally faded to quiet. After another pause, he spoke again, “or any useless underlings.” 

“Yes, Great Emperor!”

The four’s voices in unison echoed in the cavern, loudly and firmly so as to appease the Emperor. And, it seemed to work…a weight seemed to lift off the air—something that no one could explain, but which always occurred when Devil Z would at last leave their presence. 

It was a good feeling, and everyone remained still, near-flattened to the ground for a moment, before Giga made a noise and shot upright. It was an indignant noise, that reflected the feelings of the others in the room. 

One by one, they each lifted their heads and stood up again, not speaking for the moment. 

“How shameful,” Buster muttered, almost to himself, breaking the quiet. “We keep upsetting the Emperor with our failed endeavors.” 

But everyone, including Buster, knew that it was not frustration at their team that sparked Buster’s words. 

Perhaps instead, what he would wish to say, would be something closer to how shameful it was, that their Emperor did nothing to aid them. 

They were not privy to their leader’s ultimate goal, which was definitely something more than what they had been led to understand. 

They were lashed with insults, pain, and threats should they ever fail, no matter what they did or tried. There was no such thing as a small victory, which even months before there had been. 

But their leader had further grown more unstable. 

Unspoken was the thought: Is this what a great leader is? 

Frantic rage and frustration sparked the air when Devil Z spoke.

He contradicted himself, went with incautious courses of action that no longer had structure except for destroying as much possible, all at once.

“We will do our best to satisfy our leader’s orders, and we will crush the Autobots,” Mega said, with conviction enough that Buster flinched. But her eyes spoke a different story when she ran them across the other three standing before her. 

Hydra stepped forward, making a fist and raising it a little.

“Mega’s right, we will come up with a plan—we always do,” he seemed to reaffirm, patting Buster on the shoulder. 

Everyone seemed to speak in stunted words, as if someone was listening. 

It was as it had been for the last few months, when they had begun to fear their leader, but not in the sense of awe. 

 …

“Well then, everyone,” Giga said at last. “So we shall. But I believe there’s something more important, first.” He looked to Mega, who seemed to understand what he was hinting at, grinning a little herself. 

“You’re absolutely right, Giga-sama!” Buster exclaimed, eyes seeming to light up a little. "We’re having Cancer’s birthday dinner tonight, aren’t we?”

Giga nodded, with a low hum of affirmation.

"So let us get to work. We have only a few hours before the kids return.”

“You two can handle the table, correct?”

“Yes, sir!” Buster and Hydra responded, standing tall. 

“Then do so.”

With a nod, they turned and exited the kitchen, leaving only Mega and Giga behind. The pair worked in silence for a few heartbeats, the sound of Giga chopping vegetables against the sizzling of the pot Mega was stirring. 

“Perhaps if we dig a large hole in the forest and push Ginrai into it, we’ll satisfy our Emperor,” Giga mused with chuckle. “He’ll dent his chassis and…die!”

“Or maybe if we blow him up again, he’ll actually stay dead! Rid us of our troubles…”

They sighed at the same time, seemingly on the same train of thought. 

We have to deal with this, or die trying…what options to choose from! 

“Giga…” 

He turned at his name, finding Mega staring at him. Her eyes seemed to be chiding him gently, her smirk telling him not to worry about it. 

It was amazing how well they’d grown to know each other, where looks could say more than their words needed. 

“I know,” he huffed, returning to cutting the vegetables. “We have time to come up with something, and we will. Tonight is Cancer’s party.”

“And tonight is also a feast for everyone in this family to enjoy. We will not allow anything to…” she suddenly trailed off, unable to remember the saying she’d wanted to finish with.  

“I don’t believe that was it.”

“Rain on us?” Giga tried. He scraped the chopped pieces into a red bowl and began tossing them about gently. He could gauge what she was trying to say, of course, but it seemed he’d forgotten, too.

Humans and their odd idioms and sayings, he thought as Mega laughed in response. 

“Well, am I close?”

“I’m not quite sure…” she turned off the stove and leaned against the counter, lost in thought. 

“Darken our bubble?”

“That’s not a saying, is it?”

“Maybe not,” Giga put the bowl down and turned to face Mega, folding his arms. He realized this would greatly bother him if he couldn’t figure out what the saying was, and soon. The same applied to Mega. 

It was simply their nature, one could surmise. 

“Make waves in our…boat.”

“Isn’t it, ‘rock the boat’?”

“You’re right! Then just, ‘make waves’?”

“No, no, not that…”

“Rain over the water?”

“Eh?” 

“Be a…wet blanket.” 

 After a moment of silence, Mega burst out laughing, which made Giga start to chuckle. It was on the cusp of their tongues, and yet they couldn’t quite—

“Rain on our parade!” 

“Parade!” Mega said suddenly, eyes wide. Giga seemed to catch on immediately. 

They made the exclamation in unison, then dissolved into laughter. How ridiculous this might have been, but it was enough to get their minds firmly off the scolding and lashing from earlier. At least, for a few moments. 

When their laughter had subsided, Mega found her eyes ticking towards the fresh cuts on Giga’s shoulders, no longer bleeding, instead bruised a faint purple. Below it were the faded marks of other scars, all from failures to please their…’great’ leader. 

Giga knew what Mega was looking at and reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, letting his finger brush it gently. 

She had some of her own, and she knew they hurt like hell for a week at least. 

“If it means protecting them, then a few cuts don’t hurt,” he said softly. “Thank goodness the kids were out today, right?” 

Mega nodded, sighing. Her eyes spoke many words of worry and sadness. Giga’s seemed strained and apprehensive. 

Decepticons were not without honor, he had often thought. Yet everything they had been doing on this Earth as of late, under the command of Devil Z, even things of their own doing…had seemed only to put into jeopardy the very morals by which Mega and Giga navigated their existence.  

Much of what they were beginning to see—beginning to realize, rather—was further and further from the honor they had thought they were upholding. 

The honor…of the Decepticon cause. 

The honor of any great warrior.

The honor of any great leader.

 And that was a scary thought.  

 “We’ll fix this.”

“Yes, we will.”

“We are not his slaves.” 

Giga and Mega smiled,  in agreement, eyes glinting with a malicious sharpness. 

“And in due time, we’ll show him that.”

 “Exactly,” Giga nodded firmly. “Now, let us finish this dish. Tonight, we drink and feast!” 

 ///

 Wilder stood at the entrance to a huge, white building, staring at the tall, glass door that slid open and closed as people filed in and out, many carrying bags if they were exiting. Somehow, he’d never seen it before. 

 Then again, he wasn’t familiar with every store in the area. Still, a place this big…

 It was a mall, at the head of a busy street, with a noisy road of cars past the sidewalk. 

Buster marched from behind him and stood in front of the door, hands on hips and a triumphant look sparking in his eyes. 

“Welcome to my favorite store!” He announced gleefully, starting in. Wilder whistled in some amazement, and then followed him in. 

He’d been on his way back from lunch when he’d bumped into Buster on the sidewalk. Enthusiastic to hear the teen had the rest of the afternoon off, Buster asked if he’d be willing to go somewhere with him in the city before returning to headquarters. 

 Wilder actually didn’t mind hanging out with Buster, either. He’d planned to read manga in his quarters for the rest of the afternoon, but…he was also curious what the errand would be. And, curiosity winning out, he’d accepted the invitation. 

 “We’ve only one stop to make today!” Buster called over his shoulder. 

 The two of them got on an escalator. The lights and colors of the shops and walkways bustling with people danced below them, and Wilder was reminded of how it felt to stand atop a roof in the middle of the night, watching a festival parade go by with old companions, years ago.

 He turned his gaze forwards again, scanning the area of the floor they were coming to on the escalator. 

 “The…Uniqlo?” Wilder asked, as they got off the escalator and drew closer to a store with the name engraved to the sign above the entrance. 

 Buster responded with a chuckle, reaching out and patting Wilder on the back. He proceeded through the front, unzipping his jacket as he entered. For a moment, Wilder stood, studying the outside of the store, then he shrugged, and followed Buster in.

 “So, how are things for you here?” 

 Wilder was surprised at the sudden question, shrugging before he said anything. They walked through the first shelves of clothes in silence before Wilder finally spoke.

 “It’s a…home I didn’t really think I’d have,” he almost mumbled. It was like he had a hard time saying it, but not for the reasons one might think. And Buster immediately understood that. In some ways…he felt the same. 

He doesn’t know if it’s real—to stay. 

And really…Buster didn’t know either. Of course, he wanted—just as much as anyone else on their team—the victory of this war, to crush the skulls of the Autobots who kept causing them shame, defeat…pain. 

Buster regarded the boy, whose burning passion to do something with his life—to become something, someone…and smiled.

 “Wilder-kun,” he said, after some moments of silence had passed. “Would you like to know why we’re here?”

Wilder sighed and messed with his hair, the smirk on his face seeming to indicate his usual air of confidence had returned.

His young eyes sparked with energy again, not dark, reflective thought. Buster knew that well, too. 

Smile, not a sweet smile, but the smile of victory. Of confidence and power. One that pushes back against being used, and...being doomed to your fate...

Somehow, without saying anything, the look in Wilder’s eyes seemed to understand what Buster was thinking.

“Beats me,” Wilder responded, then held up a shirt. “But this shirt looks really cool.” At this, Buster chuckled, patting the teen on the shoulder and guiding him forward, shirt still in hand. 

"You're correct! We’ve got some work to do on your wardrobe, of course!” He laughed again, jovially. Someone looking at a row of pants gave the pair a side-eye, but didn’t say anything else. 

 Wilder continued walking, feeling some strange warmth he didn’t usually feel unless he was with Cancer and Bullhorn on a really good day. It was…nice. He momentarily looked back at Buster, seeing his blue eyes flicking from one section to the next, then back down at his feet. 

Those pompous Autobots are going down, Wilder suddenly had the fiery thought, fist clenching. If for no other reason, than to protect this…my only home. For that, I'll take down anyone I'm ordered to, or burn any building. Just you watch.

 “Well then, Buster-san, I’m in your hands. Let’s do this!”

“That’s what I like to hear!”

///

[lokiarc64]

Carnival Communication (Claw Communication 2)

“Carnival”

Yang: So how’s your first carnival Weiss?

Weiss: It’s somewhat tolerable.

Yang: I just can’t believe you’ve never been to one of these.

Weiss: Well my childhood wasn’t exactly like others.

Yang: Sheesh way to kill the mood Ice Queen.

Yang: Carnivals are meant to be fun, you gotta let lose and enjoy.

Weiss: You mean like your sister?

Weiss: “Points to Ruby”

Ruby: “Eating massive cotton candy”

Yang: Ruby don’t eat so much!

Ruby: HAHA, You can’t stop me!

Ruby: Nom Nom.

Weiss: “Scoffs”

Weiss: Have some dignity Ruby, your a team leader.

Nora: HEY!

RWY: “Glances at Nora, Ren, & Pyrrha”

Ruby: Hey guys, you’re here too?

Nora: Heck ya, this place is awesome, have you been to that slingshot ride?

Ruby: Yeah, I rode that with Weiss.

Weiss: That was a horrid experience.

Ruby: She screamed a lot.

Weiss: No I didn’t!

Nora: Yeah, Jaune threw up on that ride.

Nora: And the ride before that, and the ride before that, and the ride before that, and th-

Ren: Nora I think they get the point.

Yang: Speaking of, where is Vomit Boy?

Weiss: Yes where is your dunce of a leader?

Yang: Would it kill you to say something nice about the guy.

Weiss: Yes and yes.

Pyrrha: Well Jaune’s taking a break from the rides and playing some of the games.

Nora: He’s really good at them he won me a sloth plushie, soon I will have an army of these.

Ren: Oum, please have mercy when the day comes.

Ruby: Jaune’s good at carnival games?

Nora: Yeah he won Ren and Pyrrha prizes too.

Ren: “Holding Yoshi plush”

Pyrrha: “Holding stuffed bear”

Ren: He didn’t need to spend his lien for us.

Pyrrha: I like them it’s the thought that counts.

Ruby: Oh maybe he can win us prizes like last time.

Ruby: Right Yang?

Yang: 😠😠😠

Yang: “Crosses arms”

Ruby: Oh cmon, your not still mad about last time are you?

Yang (Angrily): I don’t want to talk about it!

Ren: What happened last time?

Ruby: Well Yang spent all her lien trying to-

Yang: “Covers Ruby’s mouth”

Yang: “Eyes red”

Yang: I SAID I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!!!

Jaune: Talk about what?

RWYNPR: “Glance toward Jaune”

Pyrrha: Hello Jaune.

Nora: Fearless Leaders back!

Nora: Did ya get me anything?

Jaune: Actually yes Nora.

Jaune: “Hands Nora sleeping sloth plush”

Nora: He’s so cute.

Nora: “Holding two sloth plushies”

Nora: I’m a proud mother of two.

Jaune: Hope you enjoy that one while you can Nora cause I’m not stopping anytime soon.

Weiss: “Rolls her eyes”

Weiss: Of course someone of your intellect would spend your time playing such childish games.

Jaune: Hey these games are difficult to win, luckily I was taught by my uncle to win each and every kind of carnival game.

Weiss: Please, as if you need actual skills required to win something so simple.

Pyrrha: Sorry to interject but many of these games are difficult in their own ways.

Pyrrha: The fact that Jaune has an understand of each and everyone of them is quite impressive.

Nora: Cause he’s the best!

Weiss: He’s the worst!

Jaune: Alright care to make things interesting?

Weiss: What are you rambling on now?

Jaune: You said it yourself, these games are easy, so if what you said is true then you would have no problem beating me at them.

Jaune: If you beat me in at least one game I’ll be your personal butler for the rest of the school year.

Jaune: But if I win then you have to go on one date with me.

Weiss: That’s absurd.

Nora: But you said it’s easy, so it shouldn’t be that hard.

Jaune: Whose side are you on?

Nora: Meh, which ever one wins.

Nora: Unless your scared Ice Queen.

Weiss: 😠😠😠

Weiss: Fine it’s a deal.

Jaune & Weiss: “Shake hands”

Weiss: Get ready to fix my meals for the rest of the year!

Jaune: We’ll see about that!

Jaune & Weiss: “Walk off”

Nora: She’s gonna regret that.

Yang: Yeah, she has no idea what Jaune is capable of.

Pyrrha: Yang your eyes.

Ruby: Cmon Yang, let’s go to the punching machine to blow off some steam.

Yang: Fine.

Yang (Mumbling): Finally something I’m better at than Vomit Boy.

“Ring toss”

Weiss: Why are there so many dirty bottles?

Jaune: You have to toss these rings onto the bottles, the more bottles you ring the better the prize.

Weiss: Seems simple enough.

Jaune: “Hands booth keeper lien”

Jaune: Two plays please.

Clerk: Right away.

Clerk: “Hands Jaune & Weiss 10 rings each”

Jaune: “Tosses 1st ring which wraps around bottle”

Weiss: If that dolt can do it then so can I.

Weiss: “Tosses 1st ring which misses completely”

Weiss: No need to fret Weiss, it’s only one ring.

“2 Minutes later”

Jaune: “Tossed every ring successfully”

Weiss: “Missed every bottle”

Clerk: Winner

Clerk: “Hands Jaune stuffed scarfed penguin”

Jaune: Thanks mister.

Clerk: “Hands Weiss tootsie roll”

Weiss: What’s this?

Clerk: We hand out pity prizes for losers.

Weiss: 😠😠😠

Jaune: Let’s go to the next game Weiss.

Weiss: Fine!

Weiss (Internally): Mark my word Arc, this is only the beginning.

“Balloon Pop”

Clerk: Step right up, step right up.

Clerk: Pop balloons with three darts to win a prize.

Clerk: You with the blonde hair and adorable hoodie, you wanna test your luck.

Jaune: Yeah me and my friend.

Clerk: Great.

Clerk: It’s 5 lien per person.

Jaune: Hands 10 lien to clerk.

Clerk: “Hands darts to Jaune & Weiss”

Clerk: Rules are what you expect, pop at least 6 balloons and you walk out with a prize.

Weiss: “Throws dart toward red balloon”

“Pop”

Weiss: “Claps hands”

Weiss: “Throws dart toward blue & yellow balloons”

“Pop”

Weiss: Just a few more.

Weiss: “Throws dart toward orange & green balloons”

Weiss: I got close that time.

Weiss: Well that should be enough to put Arc in his place.

Jaune: “Simultaneously popping several balloons with a single dart”

Weiss: 😦😦😦

Clerk: Winner winner chicken dinner!

Clerk: “Hands Jaune pig plush”

Clerk: Do hold it against him little missy some people are just more skilled than others.

Weiss: “Glares”

Weiss: “I will not be humiliated by Arc”

Weiss: “Grabs Jaune”

Weiss: Cmon, I’m surely to best you at the next game.

Jaune: O-Okay.

“Test your strength”

Jaune: This one is pretty self explanatory, just hit the puck and try to ring the bell.

Weiss: So be it.

Jaune: “Pays clerk”

Clerk (Quietly): Good luck ya scrawny bunch.

Jaune: “Hands Weiss hammer”

Jaune: Ladies first.

Weiss: “Scoffs”

Weiss: “Snatches hammer from Jaune”

Weiss: “Strikes puck”

Puck: “Kinda strong”

Weiss: That’s more than enough to beat you.

Jaune: We’ll see.

Jaune: “Takes hammer”

Weiss (Thinking): Please, he can’t even overpower Winchester in combat class I shouldn’t have to worry about-

“Ring”

Clerk: Hmph.

Clerk: Impressive.

Clerk: “Hands Jaune Pikachu plush”

Clerk: Your not as scrawny as you look kid.

Jaune (Confused): Thanks?

“1 Hour Later”

Weiss: How?!?!?

Weiss: How can someone so unbelievably idiotic and childish have such incredible luck?

Jaune: It’s not luck, I just learned about these games from my uncle.

Weiss: Oh well maybe your uncle can teach you how to be a decent huntsman or even better a decent human being.

Jaune: …

Jaune: “Looks down”

Weiss: I’m sorry.

Weiss: I let my emotions get the better of me.

Weiss: I don’t handle losing well.

Weiss: For me I was taught that winning is a necessity for my life, for my name.

Weiss: If I fail I dishonor my family’s name.

Jaune: I’m sorry to hear that.

Weiss: It’s just so frustrating.

Jaune: “Hands Weiss stuffed scarfed penguin”

Weiss: Why are you giving me this?

Jaune: Think of it as a sense of closure.

Jaune: I hug mine when I’m stressed and no ones there to help.

Jaune: It feels like there’s someone there for you when you need it.

Weiss: “Looks at stuffed scarfed penguin”

Weiss: “Hugs stuffed scarfed penguin”

Weiss: Thank you Ar- Jaune.

Weiss: This was admittedly a really fun day for me.

Jaune: Glad to hear that Snow Angel.

Weiss: “Smiles”

Jaune: So about that date?

Weiss: “Rolls eyes”

Weiss: Of course your still on that.

Jaune: “Smiles”

“With the others”

Pyrrha: Hey there something I’ve been wondering for a while now.

Yang: What’s that?

Pyrrha: Where’s Blake?

Yang: We don’t know, she said she was getting lunch but we haven’t seen her since.

“Meanwhile”

Clerk: Test you luck.

Clerk: Scoop up a fish and it’s your to keep.

Clerk: Who’s walking out with a new friend.

Blake: “Looks at gold fish”

Blake: “Licks lips”

[thebeautyoffanfics]

Can I request Hanako (or Amane Yugi), Teru Minamoto, and Akane Aoi (the male) with a female s/o who is literally invisible to people. (This totally not based on events that actually happened to me-)

Like some people, even her close friends, won’t even notice she’s there and if she’s has to asks something she tends to repeat it or stutter. She also tends to get forgetting or lost on school trips, etc.

This has happened for as long as she could remember and she’s use to it by now but sometimes it still hurts when they forget her

Headcanons please!

hanako x f!reader, teru minamoto x f!reader, akane aoi x f!reader

a/n: sure thing!! I feel like Hanako would understand that as a ghost, so I think I’ll write for him in his ghosty form! I hope that’s alright :)) thank you so much for requesting, and I hope these turn out alright!!

I’m really sorry if these are shorter or poorer than normal, and if they’re formatted strangely- I’m doing my best to get requests done on my phone (´ε｀”)

warnings: none?

word count: 1,414

Hanako <3

He understands, he understands more than anyone- so he thinks. I mean, he’s a ghost. He literally cannot be seen by anyone who isn’t an exorcist, near death, a fellow supernatural, or bound to him in some way.

Still… honestly, he gets pretty defensive over you-

They can’t hear him, but you can. (They can’t hear you, but he certainly can.) It’s honestly somewhat humorous, Hanako standing behind you, shouting that they’d better listen up!!

“IF YOU GUYS MAKE (Y/N) REPEAT HERSELF ONE MORE TIME?? Are they deaf, (Y/N)?? I think they’re deaf?????”

His reactions like that are half-joking-half-serious. He’s genuinely upset that they treat you like that- but he hopes that all his ranting and going on helps you to feel better somehow?

He can’t exactly follow you on trips, but! He makes Yashiro “Honorary (Y/N) Defense”! Meaning, since he can’t, she’ll defend you in his place!

You get interrupted or ignored? Hanako tells Yashiro to help you out, and (though she would any way) she’s raising her hand somewhat shyly- explaining that you were trying to talk.

Getting left behind on a field trip? Yashiro is sticking by your side! She turns around constantly, making sure that you keep up with her, and especially making sure that you get on the bus with the rest! As per Hanako’s request, and her own care for you, she’ll let you sit next to her.

Hanako is always very talkative, but he’s still very patient with you- he loves to have conversations with you, which is a big reason he doesn’t get why they treat you like that. You’re such a great person-! You’ve got such a cute voice-!!! Why don’t they listen-?!!!

To be honest, he finds your stutter kind of cute… he’s quite bold, so you being timid is something he doesn’t mind! Hanako doesn’t mind listening out for you- even if the other people aren’t in a relationship for you, isn’t it… basic human decency?? What happened to that???

“It’s really alright, Hanako. Things like this have happened since I was little- it hurts sometimes, but I’m mostly used to it.”

Hanako would then grab your shoulders gently, looking in your eyes with some determination!

“You shouldn’t have to be used to that!! I’m used to it because I’m dead, but you’re… alive. You can be heard and seen by everyone, yet they choose to not listen- it’s… ridiculous. I’m sorry that you have to deal with that, (Y/N)... really.”

Uncharacteristically soft moment, but it simply hits different for him due to personal experience. I’m sure as a human, the only time people saw him were when he was bullied, and now he’s- obviously- not seen by nearly anyone. It’s such a lonely feeling, and he genuinely hates that you can relate to it.

Teru Minamoto <3

It’s hard to not garner attention as Teru Minamoto’s girlfriend- so, people certainly acknowledge you once your relationship is made public/becomes obvious.

But! Before the entire school knew about the Prince having a girlfriend, Teru was… quite defensive over you- even before the two of you were a couple, he’d notice the way others seemed to step all over you. Ignoring you, interrupting you, forgetting about you.

Like Hanako, he doesn’t get it? You’ve got his attention, how do you not have anyone else’s? You’re so cute… and really do have a lovely voice, appearance, and overall are really pleasant to be around?? If anything you deserve more praise than he does-

He also doesn’t get it due to the fact that people acknowledge him a little too much-

Anyway, he tends to give that praise he thinks you deserve to you!

Meaning, he brags on you so much. Compliments you to your face, telling you how nice it is to converse with you- telling his family how lovely of a person you are. He even mentions it to classmates, which does start to earn others being more noticeable of your presence.

Not afraid to stick up for you in the least!! Who wouldn’t listen to Teru?? The moment someone interrupts, he’s politely making his way into the conversation- offering an “I’m sorry, I don’t think (Y/N) got her chance to speak.”

“Th-That’s okay, Teru. I appreciate it, but I’m used to things like that,” You told him after class, slightly embarrassed.

“Used to things like being ignored?”

“Yeah..?”

“...you shouldn’t have to be. I’d never be upset with you, but it does upset me that people have been so willing to pretend you aren’t there? I think you’re lovely, and nearly impossible to ignore. It’s simply confusing, I suppose.”

BRO if he, for some reason, isn’t on the field trip and you get forgotten- it’s game over for the chaperones will get their heads chewed off. Except he’ll be calm and collected while doing so- however, on the inside, he can’t express how upset he is.

“Is it not your job to make sure all the students are accounted for? What if (Y/N) had gotten lost? Do you not realize she could have been kidnapped? Should some low-life had decided to try anything strange, the blame would have been on you, and therefore our entire school. What would that do for both your’s and the school’s reputation?”

If he’s on the trip? You won’t be getting forgotten <3 Even you were to get distracted for a moment, he’s grabbing your hand and making sure you stay caught up with the class. Sits with you on the bus, and makes absolutely sure that you’re safe and with him!!

Akane Aoi <3

He worships the very ground you walk on. We all know how he treated Aoi? Well, now that’s how he treats you- maybe a bit less exaggerated and dramatic, but all that love and more is there!

So, he’s admiring you, and sees that you keep opening your mouth in an attempt to speak- only to have someone interrupt you, not even acknowledging that you’re there??

“Hey, (Y/N), what’s up?”

“O-oh, I was just trying to ask them something…”

“Oi, you heard her. Shut up for a moment and let (Y/N) get her question in.”

Most are somewhat aware of how scary Akane can be, so they’ll certainly listen whenever he’s there. Heck, people occasionally keep an extra eye open if they know he’s around- making sure they don’t unintentionally look past you.

If you dislike his very direct method, he’ll try to be nicer to others about it. But, he can’t help but get defensive- like our other boys, he admires you so much, and enjoys talking with you so much, that- by this point- others are simply missing out?? Like, it’s basically their loss for treating you like that. And it’s his mission to shower you in love and admiration to a point where others do the same- platonically of course, and boys better rethink anything that isn’t strictly “wow (Y/N) is cool, it’s cool that she’s taken by Akane.”

Cos, as we all know, if someone even says “oh, (Y/N) probably makes a cute girlfriend” it’s game over. RIP unknowing student, he had no mercy bashing their skull in </3

“Akane, it’s really fine, you know? Things like this happen been happening since... forever. I’m just not easily noticed, I suppose. I’m used to it!”

“Hmm... well, get un-used to it. You’ve got the most beautiful presence and voice of anyone I know! And, I want the class- for everyone- to be able to acknowledge that. You shouldn’t have to repeat yourself constantly, nor be ignored like that. Not on my watch, at least.”

You won’t be getting forgotten. He’s ahead of Teru, ahahahaaaa!!! If he isn’t on the field trip, he’s telling someone who will be to keep an eye out for you “or else <3”. The person wouldn’t even bother to question it- just nod and keep an eye out for you constantly. They even offer to have you sit with them! How sweet! Glad to know they value their skulls!!

If he’s on the trip, like the others, he’s keeping an eye out for you constantly. He’ll hold your hand the entire time, stopping as you pleased, but keeping an eye out for the group. He wants you to see what you want, so you will- all while staying with the class, or at least close to the class. If he, for some reason, were to lose sight of the class, he takes comfort in the fact that you wouldn’t be lost alone.

[anonymousewrites]

Adolescent Antichrist (Book 1) Chapter Three

Chapter Three: My Therapist Won't Be Happy

Warnings: None that I think

            (Y/N) yawned as they ascended the stairs between their apartment and Lucifer’s. Just as they reached the top, they could see Lucifer pushing someone into the elevator. At first they thought it was just someone he spent the night with (he had somewhat calmed down, at least that’s what Mazikeen claimed, but he still have people over occasionally), but when (Y/N) got a better look, they could tell it was Dr. Canaan. They frowned. Why is he here? Silently, they watched Lucifer try to push Dr. Canaan into the elevator.

            “Go, go,” hissed Lucifer urgently, obviously trying to hide the other man.

            “Alright, alright, but we need to discuss the—”

            “Yes, yes, now go!” Lucifer pressed the button for the elevator doors.

            “Who was that?” asked (Y/N). A flicker of distrust sparked. However, they went about her business of putting together lunch for school. Seem normal, and people tell you everything.

            “Just a man asking for a favor, a little overzealous if you ask me,” joked Lucifer. “Some people’s desires are quite intense!”

            Before their face betrayed their understanding of his lies, they steeled it in a smirk and chuckled. “Yeah, I can tell you that from experience.”

            Lucifer chuckled before checking his watch. “It seems it’s time to meet with the Detective.”

            “You’re actually leaving on time?” asked (Y/N). “That’s unusual.”

            “Well, this case is a bit more important to me than the usual murders,” said Lucifer. “A guard was killed in a storage facility, and something of mine was taken.”

            (Y/N) cocked their head. “What was in it?”

            “My wings,” said Lucifer casually.

            (Y/N) froze from where they were grabbing bread for a sandwich. “Wings?”

            “I cut them off as a ‘screw you’ to dear old Dad.”

            This a normal conversation, thought (Y/N) sarcastically. “And you just…put them in a storage container?”

            “Well, I wasn’t going to display them in the penthouse, was I?” remarked Lucifer, grabbing a jacket.

            “People would’ve thought they were art,” pointed out (Y/N). “People are pretty oblivious.” They finished their sandwich and put it into their lunchbox. “Good luck finding your wings.” I can’t believe that’s a normal conversation for me.

            Lucifer smiled as he stepped into the elevator. “I’m sure I’ll have them back soon.” The doors closed.

            (Y/N) tossed their lunch down onto the counter. “And I’ll have answers.” School can wait. Lucifer is lying about something, and I’m finding out what. They frowned. My therapist won’t be happy.

l

            (Y/N) stood in front of the office, deciding how to go about getting information. They needed to avoid Dr. Wilson but find out who Dr. Canaan was. He wasn’t Linda, Lucifer’s usual therapist. They had no idea what he specialized in. If they could find out…they could find out what Lucifer was doing with him.

            A problem he wouldn’t tell Linda about? Bad… (Y/N) frowned. And if Dr. Canaan wasn’t really a therapist? Even worse…

            Taking a deep breath, (Y/N) put the years of acting around their parents to use. With a nervous, shy look on their face, they walked into the office.

            “Hi, sweetie, can I help you?” asked the receptionist, smiling.

            Great, it’s a new girl. If (Y/N) wasn’t as talented as they were, they would have broken character and smiled. Having someone who knew them at the front desk would make this harder. They leaned over the desk, playing up their natural anxiety, to speak to the receptionist. “I, um, I’m here to see Dr…” She glanced at the schedule on the secretary’s desk. “Landon.” That particular doctor was completely free at that time. Strange, no Dr. Canaan scheduled for anything this week.

            “Alright.” The secretary checked the schedule. “Excuse me, but where is your family?”

            “U-Um…” (Y/N) glanced around nervously. They were legitimately having difficulty coming up with a cover story so played up their part of anxious teen.

            “Oh, no, honey, no need to be so nervous,” said the secretary, smiling kindly. “I just meant that Dr. Landon is a family therapist, I thought your family would be here.”

            I can work with this. “Well…that’s why we’re here…They might be a bit late…” (Y/N) looked down and fiddled with their hoodie drawstrings.

            The secretary’s eyes softened. “Don’t worry, sweetie, you can go right ahead to the office. It’s just down the hall. And I’m sure everything will work out.”

            Nodding hastily, (Y/N) turned and walked down the hall towards all the counseling rooms. More importantly, out of sight of the receptionist. That worked out well. I’ll have to remember the scared little kid character. They stopped and frowned. I wonder if it’s a bad thing that I’m trying to remember how to manipulate people… Deciding to put that problem aside (that might be another bad habit), (Y/N) walked down the hall. They read each of the plaques, but none said, “Dr. Canaan.” They did, however, come to a blank door. If he’s new, maybe he doesn’t have a plaque. Testing the doorhandle, they were pleasantly surprised to see it was open. (Y/N) entered and shut the door behind them.

            Looking around, they found a pretty barren room, but that didn’t say much since their own therapist’s office was kept neat and tidy. What is the standard for therapist offices? wondered (Y/N). They pulled some books from the shelves but found that they were just the DSM-5 and the standard books for a psychologist. The only unusual item was an old bible placed reverently on the desk. So he’s some sort of religious therapist, if this is real. What would Lucifer want with this guy?

            (Y/N) snapped to attention as footsteps sounded in the hall. They ducked under the desk. From the crack underneath, they could see a pair of heels and men’s shoes.

            “The lunch was lovely, Doctor,” said Dr. Canaan’s voice.

            “Well, I hope we can enjoy more in the future. As colleagues, of course,” said Linda’s voice.

            “Oh, and here’s what I spoke of earlier.” The shoes got closer to the desk, and (Y/N) held their breath. They stopped before going around the desk. Instead, the book was lifted. “I have lots of annotations and notes in this. It may help with understanding your patient’s metaphors.”

            That’s probably Lucifer. So Dr. Canaan does know him. (Y/N) listened carefully to their discussion.

            “Thank you, I need this. I’m hoping there’s something about wings in here since he claims to have ‘lost’ his own,” said Linda.

            “What do you think the wings represent?” asked Dr. Canaan.

            “Probably a form of freedom. Losing them might represent a sudden change in his life that has affected him negatively,” suggested Linda. “I’m still trying to connect the dots.”

            Dr. Canaan hummed, considering. “I don’t know much of his life—”

            Liar, you know him. No idea how, but you do.

            “—but he does work for the LAPD, perhaps something happened there. And…he did start fostering a child recently, correct?”

            (Y/N) felt their stomach flip. A sense of uneasiness washed over them. Am I a problem to Lucifer? Sure, they knew that Lucifer wasn’t speaking in metaphors about his wings, but the idea of him having a sudden, negative change in his life because of them hurt.

            “(Y/N)? Yes, Lucifer fosters them. I suppose I should explore that avenue…” Linda seemed hesitant. “It’s possible he has some unprocessed feelings about the sudden change of having a child around, but I think that identifying and working through those emotions will help.”

            Dr. Canaan hummed in understanding. “Of course, it’s better to be certain.”

            “Do you have experience in family therapy?” asked Linda.

            “A bit, yes. And unfortunately, I’ve seen foster families realize that they aren’t truly ready to take care of a child, even if they believe they are. I suggest you make sure that isn’t the case as both the child and the foster parent will be affected by the situation.”

            “Hm…I don’t believe it’s the case, but I’ll make sure.”

            “Of course.” They walked out of the office, and the door closed behind them.

            (Y/N) found it difficult to move. Does Lucifer want me? Was I just something that he thought was funny but is annoyed with now? Is he going to leave me? Is that what he was going to talk to Dr. Canaan about? He doesn’t want me anymore? They bit their lip to keep from sobbing.

l

            Amenadiel smiled at Linda as she closed her office door. His face fell after as he glanced at “his” office door. He had seen (Y/N), the child Lucifer fostered, duck behind the desk. And…he wasn’t proud of it, but he had immediately seized upon the opportunity to split (Y/N) and Lucifer apart. While he wished for (Y/N) to be blessed with a family, he needed Lucifer to return to Hell, and having connections to humans would make it more difficult. Amenadiel wasn’t pleased with lying, but it was worth it if he could make his Father proud and bring Lucifer back to Hell. He just had to make sure Lucifer and (Y/N) didn’t become closer.

[hanazuma-inactive]

Are you fine with top beta mreader and bottom alpha iwaizumi? Reader is model student in school and rumor tells that he is better than most alpha. Iwai who never interested about that kind of thing suddenly changed his mind when his inner beast screamed out for reader when he saw him in the library. That caught reader attention. So they have sex there, with Iwai trying hard to holding back his voice and he can only knotting at nothing when climax. After they were done, Iwai kinda light headed and Reader bridal carry him outside. I just think it will be cute 🐽

That's all 🛁

out of the ordinary (nsfw) top beta!reader x bottom alpha!iwaizumi

pronouns: he/him (FEMALE ORIENTED DNI!!)

warnings: slight degrading, omegaverse, reverse roles, knotting (not really), public sex (sex in library), slight overstimming

a/n: i can't find any,,,good iwa panels help. but this was an interesting concept especially the last part. i also love iwa with my entire life please 🧎‍♂️ sorry this took so long because it's pretty long around 1.8k words

_____

you were an exception, someone who's out of the ordinary. being born a beta, people didn't expect much from you. they had no reason to believe that someone who was a part of 90% of the world population was capable of doing anything extraordinary. however you were there to prove them wrong. ever since elementary going into highschool your grades were always at the top of the class and in some cases in the district. everyone was surprised to find out that you were only a beta instead of an alpha.

your achievements were spread all of the school board and among your classmates. most people respected you and some wanted to be you. your grades weren't the only thing you had, your looks were at least above average and nearly everyone who saw you wanted to fuck you, or get fucked by you. except for one person, iwaizumi hajime.

the spiky haired boy was never interested in this type of stuff. in fact he is the only alpha in the entire school that hasn't tried to hit on you or asked you out yet. unfortunately this just so happens to be the one person you were somewhat interested in. unlike the other betas and omegas you weren't exactly submissive. sure you were nice and friendly towards other people but in the bedroom? all you wanted was to make an alpha cry out your name and cum from your cock. it was an unrealistic fantasy due to how your society functions but you've seen it happen before and you wanted to experience it yourself.

the more iwa didn't notice you, the more frustrated you became. you tried all sorts of things to grab his attention. "helping" him with homework, which he denied many times. inviting him to hangout afterschool, also denied. and even as far as behaving unlike yourself, none of the above worked and you were quite upset about it.

until one day, when you were just walking to the gym you overheard iwa and his friend oikawa qtalking about something.

"c'mon iwa we all know you were head over heels for him when he was performing that day."

"shut up, it doesn't matter even if i do, he has enough alphas and omegas on his dick, he doesn't need another one. so what if i want to fuck him, who doesn't? you did too at one point but he turned you down almost immediately."

"jeez! calm down you freaking porcupine. all i'm saying is, next time you two are alone, maybe give it a shot instead of avoiding him. he's the first person that ever got you feeling like this and it would be too good of a chance to pass by, don't you think?"

"yah yah whatever i got it."

so the two were… talking about you?. there was no way right?! the one person you wanted attention finally gave it to you. it might not have been directly but he admitted it, and that's all you needed to know. so all the things you were doing did work after all. you were excited but you needed to keep your cool for now, and figure out a way to get you two alone. little did you know he was going to come to you all by himself without you even lifting a finger.

you strolled to the library afterschool to borrow to borrow a book your friend told you to check out that you know you won't be reading. while searching for the novel, you heard someone open the door of the empty library. it was pretty rare for anyone to be in the library except during class time so you wondered who it could've been. you peeked over the bookshelves to find a spiky haired male trying to find a book as well. it was iwa, looking for a book in the dystopia section.

this situation couldn't have been better. you and iwa were alone in a place where nobody usually comes. it was the perfect opportunity to do what you always wanted to do. you walked over to the other section to greet him.

"yo! how's it going iwaizumi?"

"it's going fine… thank you, i'm surprised to see you here though."

"oh yeah haha, just checking out a book."

iwaizumi looked away and directed his attention back to the bookshelf. you were a little upset and while thinking about something to talk about, he spoke again.

"h-hajime, is fine...by the way." iwa said while his face flashed a bright red.

hajime? his first name? we barely talked ever and now you guys are on a first name basis? you didn't mind of course, you a little surprised that's all.

"alright hajime! same goes for you too!"

he looked away again, gripping the book in his hand.

"alright, fuck it." he murmured under his breath. hajime turned around to you and pushed on onto the bookshelf behind you. his hand holding onto yours and his face red as a cherry. you were a little startled but this stuff wasn't exactly new to you so it wasn't as flustering to you as it was to him.

"uhh, hajime? y-you alright there?"

"i wanna fuck you alright?! there i said it. i'm not expecting anything because i'm the last alpha you haven't rejected. but still, i want to try. so…what do you say?"

it was all going better than expected. all the things you've done to attract iwa was finally paying off! you were excited but you needed to keep your cool before completely losing it on him.

"sure! i don't see the reason not to~ but…we are going to switch it up a little bit." you said with a smirk on your face. iwa looked confused about what you meant by switching up, but now that the person he liked agreed to have sex with him, he didn't care about what's about to happen.

you grabbed iwa's arms and pushed them behind his back as you turned him around, reversing the positions of you two.

"w-woah, what are you doing…y/n."

"i've always wanted to do this hehe, fucking an alpha and making him beg to cum as a beta, someone who is supposed to be below him in society standards. what do you say hajime? is this still the sex you were looking forward to? or are you gonna leave me here all by myself?"

there was fear and anticipation in iwa's eyes, eager to find out what happens next. as much as he wished it was the opposite way around he didn't want to lose the opportunity in his hand right now. reluctantly, he nodded and agreed, gesturing to get on with what you wanted to do.

gaining the signal to start, you aggressively pushed your lips onto iwa's, reaching into his mouth and soon intertwining your tongue with his. the other male let out stubborn whimpers as the kiss grew to be more sloppy. soon you broke it, leaving him panting for breath and a dirty smile on your face.

you licked your fingers and reached into the back of iwaizumi's pants. at first he jolted a little, not being used to his ass being touched as an alpha. you then started to move your fingers into his asshole. going deeper inside, hajime struggled with the pain that no alpha in this school will ever experience. hajime's grunts started to become moans, you put in more fingers as you found his pleasure point. massaging it and doing all the tricks you knew on it to make him feel as good as possible.

it didn't take long till a wet spot started to form on his pants and his eyes became hazy. you took out the finger and let hajime catch his breath before preparing him for the real thing.

"w-what's next…" hajime asked

"just close your eyes, i promise i'll make you feel good~"

he trusted you and shut his eyes, latching on to your shoulder. you revealed your cock and lifted iwa up so that his face would be facing you and his plump asshole would be right above cock. iwa was nervous, you could tell and that was the best part about it. gently you put your cock into his ass. it was still rather difficult even with all the preparation from earlier. iwa let out a small cry as you entered him, not used to anything so big inside him, or anything at all really.

"f-fuck that hurts…"

"i know, it'll feel good in a bit, alright? bare with me here a little. i'm gonna start moving."

you didn't even put into consideration that this was iwa's first time. you went at a moderate speed, sometimes slowing down and speeding up. iwa's hard cock leaking with precum and bouncing up and down on yours. it was such a pretty sight seeing the alpha cry pretty tears from all the pain and pleasure. of course you felt amazing too, iwa's virgin hole felt better than your hand or anything your dick had ever fucked.

iwa used one of his hands to cover his mouth. attempting to stop the people outside of the library to hear his moans.

"hajime~ people are gonna hear us if you keep being naughty like this~" you said with a cocky smile on your face.

he didn't say anything in response, barely being able to comprehend anything while getting fucked.

"c'mon...look at you, an alpha? being fucked by a beta in a library. moaning like a slut in heat, i might as well knot you while i'm at it hm?"

speaking of knots, the alpha was getting closed with nothing around his cock. nothing for him to knot. his cock enlarged in size as he reached his climax but a face of disappointment appeared because of the empty area around iwa's dick. he didn't even think it was physically possible until today looking at it right now in front of him.

hajime had his fun but you weren't done yet. right after he came you continued to fuck him and stroke his cock to overstimulate him. after you came inside you noticed that iwaizumi had already passed out from the pleasure. his own cum spilled on his stomach and his ass filled with yours. you stood still for a while, enjoying the view of the sleeping prince in front of you. to make this more fun for the both of you, you decided to carry the alpha in your arms as if he was your bride.

you got a bunch of weird stares and murmurs from the students around you but you didn't care. all the reputation that you built up could fall into shreds but you could not have cared less. now, the only thing that matters is the one person you wanted attention from gave it to you and is sleep soundly in your arms.

[amor-immortalem]

Replaced

Genre: Heavy Angst, Angst with a somewhat happy ending.

Warning: The following piece is my take on the replaced! au with Arella. Dark themes lie ahead. If you are triggered by feelings of abandonment, suicidal ideation, or outright suicide, this mini fic is not safe for you to read. Please continue at your own discretion.

A/N: I did it guys! I actually managed to break myself with this mini fic by digging into my own abandonment issues. It was fun- cathartic almost. Please enjoy! Also, spoilers for the lesson 16 incident.

What does it feel like to be replaced? If you were to ask Arella, she’d say it felt bitter and painful. Like someone was holding a white-hot branding iron to her stomach and pushing it in to the point it ate through all the layers of her skin and was now searing through her stomach or like someone was rubbing salt into a open, festering wound.

When Diavolo had announced to the other student council officers that a new exchange student would be joining their ranks, Arella was excited- especially when she found out the new student was a female- there was only so much Arella could talk about in a house full of men and one genderless individual that they would understand, all of them having been assigned male at birth and whatnot. So, another woman among their ranks would be a breath of fresh air for her. And it was for a time being- until the brothers had taken favor to this new human.

It started within months of this new exchange student arriving. One by one, her favorite demons started hanging around her more often. It wasn't like Arella could be mad at them. This human was novel and oh so different from Arella. She was everything Arella was not, from her blonde hair to her well-developed body- even her height, which matched closer to the brothers. She was everything human world media told a girl she should be. She even looked like she fit in with them- having taken to the Devildom like a duck to water even without being able to use magic.

Arella wants to be angry with this girl, but she can’t. This girl, named Melissa, was so sweet it was almost enough to make Arella sick. She was smart, innocent, and -above all else- selfless. It was apparent the boys adored her immediately. One by one, Arella was losing them to the charms of this new girl. The first to go was Satan, clearly smitten by her love of books and knowledge of obscure but very talented authors. The second to go was Asmo, often taking her out to clubs or on long shopping trips that often lasted well past curfew. And just like that the other brothers started to follow suit. Game nights between her and Levi? Gone. Drawing up budgets with Lucifer? Not anymore. Going out with Beel to cafes? Not in her wildest dreams. Naptimes up in the attic with Belphie? Hah! Fat chance. The last and most painful to pull away was Mammon- her first man. The one who swore he would always be there for her when she needed him. And oh how she needed him.

Just like when Arella had first come to the Devildom, Mammon was given the task of watching over Melissa by Lucifer. At first Arella tried to justify it as Lucifer worrying about the girl’s safety as even though his brothers had gotten better at controlling themselves, they still had their moments.

As time went on however, she started to notice the little things. Missed movie nights between them, date nights often forgotten about in favor of showing Melissa his favorite spots around the city, the loss of any physical intimacy. Soon, he stopped seeing her all together. Things that she and Mammon did together were now reserved for Melissa: casino trips, movie nights, pranks on Lucifer that would have the eldest chasing after them, running around the city until it was nearly what could considered to be the Devildom’s equivalent of dawn. She knew he was completely gone when she walked down to the dining room for supper one evening and overheard them just casually flirting. Mammon didn’t even make any attempts to dissuade Melissa’s advances. He remembered he actually had a girlfriend, right? Right?!

Or were they even a thing anymore? It had been months since they’d spent any substantial time together outside of classes and even then, he’d moved seats to sit closer to the new human. He’d either ignore her texts or straight up just ghost her altogether. As she listened to them, she had to push down the possessive tendencies that tried to force their way out of her. She pushed them back down into the flimsily locked box they had always been contained in and burying them down in the deepest parts of her mind, forcing herself to accept that she was no longer wanted- no longer loved by the family she thought she’d found. She returned to her room for the rest of the night and for the first time since the initial weeks after arriving here on her first visit, cried herself to sleep.

The next time she interacted with any of the Avatars, it was Lucifer ordering her off to school telling her that she had better not be late and tarnish the good name Lord Diavolo and the exchange programme. Arella only nodded and promptly left the house, not even bothering to finish her morning cup of tea. The walk to school was lonely, Mammon had left earlier with Melissa and it was then, with a broken heart, Arella decided she would leave them all to their new toy. They wouldn’t bother her. They didn’t need her. At least she had Solomon and the angels, didn’t she? No, it didn’t seem to be the case either judging by the mass of unanswered texts.

As she entered class, Arella took her usual seat only hoping Mammon would choose to sit with her for once, would just choose her for once in general. But it wasn’t meant to be. Of course, it wouldn’t. Why would he bother to choose her when there was someone who was much better for him than her? Someone who wasn’t selfish or possessive or... or... worthless... She subtilty looked over her shoulder to watch as they cracked jokes and laughed together and she felt tears pool in her eyes- heart aching at the thought that she would never have that again and the sweet memories she’d made with the demon. The spot she once saved for him was now taken by another demon.

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Two months more of this- it had been eleven since Melissa joined them. None of the brothers even looked Arella’s way anymore- often forgetting she lived in the house with them in the first place. When she tried to reach out to any of them it was Melissa needs this or Melissa and I are doing this, so she just stopped. She stopped eating, stopped taking care of herself save for basic hygiene needs. No one came to check on her. There were no texts, no calls, nothing. They’d gotten all they wanted out of her and now she was like a cast aside doll. She thought about reaching out to any of them but decided against it. They were demons and she was just an insignificant human. It's not like they actually cared and Arella was a fool for allowing herself to entertain the thought.

She should just go home. But where was home? The human world held nothing for her to return to. Sure, she had that degree in biochemical engineering to fall back on but after having a taste of true happiness, would she even enjoy a life doing that? Maybe she could just go back to her original plan. The plan she had made when she first signed on to the exchange programme. 23 years was certainly long enough to experience everything life had to offer, right? She always did tell herself if the year on the exchange programme didn’t work out, she’d end it all. The idea was sounding more and more appealing by the minute.

With her mind made up, Arella swung her legs over the side of the bed. A smile was painted on her face. Her cheeks stained with tears; emerald-green eyes bleary from all the crying she’d done over the past two months. No one would miss her. They left her- abandoned for the better human like she was an unwanted pet. What did she expect though? No one ever stayed. No one ever cared. No one ever loved her enough to begin with. She was always thrown away like the trash she was after her purpose was fulfilled.

With what little strength she could muster, Arella stood as she uttered a spell and a portal opened. She gladly stepped through it, finding herself in her childhood home as it closed- a place filled with nothing but suffering and pain for her. What a fitting place for her own painful end.

“Hello, Mum, Myles... I’m... home... Isn’t it lovely... that you were right after all? I’ll be with you... soon...”

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Missing his call on her D.D.D. was the first thing that Mammon noticed. He knew he hadn’t been the best boyfriend ever since the new human arrived and the demon felt guilty for that. He’d put so much energy into helping Melissa get a date with his younger brother that he hadn’t realized how much time had actually passed- how it had been almost a year since he’d done literally anything with his girlfriend. She was probably pissed at him and rightfully so. Now that he had actually looked at his calendar, there had been so many planned dates and movie nights he had missed with her and all he wanted to do was make it up to her somehow. She probably thought he didn’t want her anymore which couldn’t have been further from the truth. He missed her- missed hanging out with her, missed the dumb jokes they would crack and the laughter that followed, missed the pranks they would play on Lucifer that often ended up with them strung up from the ceiling together. He missed the late-night cuddles and having her tucked up under his arm at night as he held her close. The bed they had once shared was considerably colder now that she was no longer there.

Mammon made his way down to her room. That was the only place she could be. Arella never left her room anymore. She always left for school earlier than anyone else too, choosing to skip breakfast outright, so Mammon couldn’t even catch her to talk then. He thought about reclaiming his seat next to his human but every morning he found her chatting up another demon that had taken his old seat. He often felt his possessiveness spike most during those times but did he even have the right to feel that way after neglecting her for the past eleven months?

As he drew closer to her room, he could see Beel knocking at her door, asking if she’d like to go visit that new café she had mentioned a couple weeks ago. When there was no answer, the Avatar of Gluttony would frown, unsure if she was just asleep or just actively ignoring him. That was the second sign something was wrong. No matter what happened, at the end of the day, Arella was always happy to entertain their whims.

“She’s not answerin’ ya, is she?” The second-born asks as the sixth-born shakes his head, looking like an abandoned puppy on the side of the road. “I’ll go in ‘n see if she’s awake. I have to talk to ‘er anyway.”

Beelzebub nodded as he left back to the kitchen- likely to eat his hurt feelings away. None of them really had the right to feel this way after they’d just ghosted their favorite human though. As he opened the door, Mammon stopped dead in his tracks. She wasn’t there, her phone lay on the bed lit up with missed texts from Asmo and Levi.

Immediately, he took off for Lucifer’s study. If anyone would know her whereabouts it would be Lucifer, right? The family patriarch had the uncanny ability to know exactly where every resident of the House of Lamentation was at any given time so long as they were still in the Devildom.

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After considering her options, Arella was left indecisive. There were a number of ways she could end her own life. She wouldn’t lie, before the exchange programme she would fantasize about the many ways she could kill herself. Would it be by hanging like she found Myles? Or perhaps she could slit her wrists like her beloved mother. If the car in the garage still worked, carbon monoxide poisoning was a valid option too. There were sleeping pills up in the medicine cabinet- a large handful of those would definitely do the trick... Ah choices, choices. As she smiled to herself, the human wondered if any of the brothers had noticed she wasn’t in the house anymore. The chances were unlikely as they were all too busy with their new human but if they had, who was it?

Would it be Asmo, Levi, Belphegor? Surely, it wouldn’t have been Mammon. He’d long since moved on, probably enjoying the start of a new relationship with Melissa. It hurt that he couldn’t have been bothered to even break up with Arella in the first place. What happened to forever? Had it all been the honeyed words of a liar?

She shook her head. It was best not to think too much on it but she still couldn’t help it. Once she was gone- once their pact faded away- would he regret this? Would he regret losing the person who loved him so unconditionally that it was almost embarrassing?

With her mind made up, Arella grabbed a knife from one of the drawers in the kitchen and carried herself up to the master bedroom where she had found her mother four years prior. As she lie on the bed, she pressed the knife to her wrist deep enough to cause substantial bleeding. She drags the blade up her arm, watching as the crimson liquid gushed from the from the wound. She thinks it’s beautiful- a fitting end for a vile creature such as herself.

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“Lucifer!”

“What, Mammon?” The eldest didn’t even bother to look up from the ever-growing stack of paperwork on his desk.

“Did Arella have plans tonight?” The Avatar of Greed asks as his brother finally looks up at him.

“Not that I’m aware of, but I also haven’t seen her all day. As her mate, you should know, shouldn’t you? As far as I’m aware, Arella hasn’t left the house and is still in her room probably practicing her mag-”

In that moment, both demons felt a sharp pain shoot up their arm as if someone had taken a knife and was drawing a line up the inside of their arm. The same pain was radiating from the places where their pact marks were located. Mammon clutched at his chest as he fell to his knees, the symbol representing his girlfriend radiating with pain that reached down to his heart. If the screams of the others were anything to go by, they felt the same thing.

“She’s not in her room!” The white-hair demon manages to gasp out. What scares him most is that he can feel their pact fading away.

Lucifer’s heart leapt up in his throat as the realization hit him. It wasn’t her practicing magic that he had sensed earlier, it was her casting a spell. She opened a portal to the human world and had gone through. He now realizes the mistake they’ve made as he remembers back to the confession she had made to him over a year ago one night when neither of them could sleep and opted for a late-night cup of tea. She had told him that he and his brothers had saved her life that first year during the exchange programme. That if things hadn’t worked out so well, she had planned to take her own life. Back then, he thought nothing much of it since the problem had resolved itself. But with how they had essentially pushed her aside in favor of Melissa, she would have felt unwanted bringing the suicidal thoughts back full force. They had to get to her and fast before it was too late.

Always fast on his feet the eldest, opens a portal of his own, knowing of only one place she would go to take her own life. Both brothers would hop through, landing in the dusty house with a thud. The smell hit them faster than either of them could process it. Blood. And a lot of it at that.

Mammon was the first to scramble for the stairs while Lucifer made a break for the phone, having forgotten his D.D.D. on his desk in the rush to get through the portal. The second-born knows the layout of Arella's house too well, having been here with her multiple times before this. Back in better times when she knew just how much he loved her. As the smell of fresh blood grows stronger, he finds her resting on the bed, a smile on her face as the knife lay between her body and the arm that was still slowly losing blood.

Faster than a flash of lightning, the demon tore his belt off and was on the bed immediately. He took her arm, fastening his belt around the upper part in a tourniquet to stop the blood flow. He shook her frantically, tears spilling down his face freely.

“Arella! Arella! C'mon, baby, wake up! Please!” His voice came out in a scream and he could only vaguely hear his brother speaking on the phone with emergency services. “We’re sorry! Don’t leave us! Don’t leave me!”

With every passing second, Mammon could feel her life slipping away through the pact that was still searing his heart. This was the price of his actions- of all their actions. Her blood was on his hands, literally. He should have done more. He should have been there. He could have called or texted or even just picked up the damn phone when she had called him, but instead just like the blood that had slipped from her arm, the Avatar of Greed let her slip through his fingers. She was gone and there was no bringing his human back this time like they had when Belphie threw her body down the stairs after he’d strangle her to death. He and his brothers had spent all that time protecting her from other demons but they couldn’t protect her from themselves.

Once the EMT’s got there, the demon stepped back from the blood-soaked bed in a state of shock- a state of disbelief. There was nothing they could do for her now. She had no pulse, no signs of life. He dropped to his knees unable to believe that his human was truly gone. His throat felt tight as more tears came. He was only just able to register the feeling of the Avatar of Pride’s embrace as they cried together- something they hadn’t done since the fall, since Lilith passed.

The two demons were informed that the coroner would arrive to collect her body shortly as they left the room. Slowly they got up, Mammon taking her body in his arms as he fought back the urge to sob. The pair returned to the House of Lamentation with Arella’s body in tow, cradled carefully in her mate’s arms. As they stepped through, they were met by their brothers and Melissa. Even the Angels, Solomon, and the Royals were there waiting.

“She’s gone,” The eldest’s voice cracked as a pained grimace formed on his face, more tears slipping down his face. Mammon couldn’t even lift his head to look them in the eyes as the crying, wailing, sobbing started.

“We didn’t deserve ‘er.” The second-born chokes on his tears, feeling utterly broken inside. “We did this to ‘er. All... All seven of us did this... She reached out to alla us ‘n we ignored ‘er.” He’s the angriest with himself.

The prince and his butler only watch on, tears in their eyes. Diavolo remembers all the good times they’ve had with Arella. The way she made the lives of the Avatars better, the fun she brought to the student council meetings, the beautiful light she’d brought to the Devildom. She’d made such an impact on the lives of all of these demons and angels. As selfish as it was, Diavolo didn’t want to let any of that go.

“Bring her back, Barbatos.” He orders and his loyal servant steps forward.

“Place her on the ground, Mammon.” Barbatos says calmly, almost as if he’s done this a thousand times and for some reason the Avatar of Greed obeys the order.

Once she’s on the ground, the green-haired demon pulls open her mouth and takes Mammon’s hand in his, producing a dagger and slicing the white-haired demon’s palm tipping it to side and allows the blood to drop into Arella’s mouth. As the crimson liquid flows down her throat, the effect is immediate- Arella's body convulsing violently before she gasps for breath as the gash along the inside of her arm heals.

Everyone- demons, angels, and humans alike- stare wide-eyed at the scene. Lucifer looks up to his longtime friend in disbelief. He had just...

“Let this teach you all a very painful lesson. I’ve given her life as a demon, do not take this chance for granted. You will not get it again. She needs rest for now, but in a day or two, Arella will reawaken.” The prince’s voice is stern as he peers down at the former human who would now become a very powerful demon. “Treat her right this time.”

It’s with that that Diavolo and Barbatos take their leave. The rest was up to the brothers now to care for her and right the wrongs they’ve made.

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Next

The Bad Ending

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