#I originally edited this to be funny but I decided serious was better

[spicyvampire]

"You were right about everything. It's okay to be mad at me." "It's alright. I know you meant well."

LAWS OF ATTRACTION (2023) EP. 4

[mrpenguinpants]

Please go out with me for tax benefits!

— When you randomly pointed to a handsome man and declared him to be your boyfriend, you didn't think it would get this out of hand. You just wanted a couples discount!

— Alhaitham, Ayato, and Kazuha

-> Part 2: Overdue Bills [Masterlist]

This was originally written for my upcoming "Help me break my engagement by marrying me instead." fic but I got carried away and it became too plot-heavy. So I made a new one. Most of these have nothing to do with money, I just thought the title was funny.

Alhaitham

You blame Kaveh for this. This is entirely his fault and you will not be convinced otherwise. If he hadn't opened his big mouth to Alhaitham about the fact you've been spouting that he was your boyfriend, then you wouldn't be in this mess. It wasn't even that serious, it's not like you were actually emotionally invested with the man and this was all a delusional dream. You barely knew the guy aside from the multiple rumors about him in the first place. You just needed to access some limited-edition books for your thesis and his name happened to be the easiest way to get ahold of them. Sure, you may be lying to authority for the better half of a year about your relationship with the scribe, but it's not your fault they didn't ask questions. If you happened to threaten to tell your very scary and very influential "boyfriend" about this "mistreatment", that's just a byproduct if anything. But now you have a very irritated silver-haired man crowding into your personal space asking why the hell you're announcing to the world that you're both in a relationship. It's creepy. He called you creepy. Is this where you roll over and die in shame?

You swear you didn't think it would get this out of hand. You just happened to spot him in the background while the librarian was giving you a hard time and your dumb brain-to-mouth filter was taking a break that day. So you just blurted that you were Alhaitham's partner and that he would be very upset to hear that you were being treated this way. It's not completely far-fetched, Alhaitham seems like a very, very, private person and on the off chance you were telling the truth? Well, the poor librarian didn't want to lose her job. Besides, it's not like you were planning on doing anything illegal and you don't think you're the absolute worst person to be fake-dating.

By some stroke of luck, or maybe he felt too much pity for you, Alhaitham decides to cut you a deal rather than get you kicked out of the Akademiya. He gets multiple love letters, confessions, and heart-eyed individuals trailing after him all the time. Frankly, he's getting tired of it and since you've already taken the liberty, he won't say anything if you don't say anything. Though he makes it clear that if you ever do anything embarrassing, you're taking the fall and he's going to pretend he doesn't know you. A bit harsh but that's only a safety net. Plus it's not like you actually want to date him so he wouldn't have any commitments. The added bonus is that since he's well-known for having a...rough personality, you don't need to act affectionately with the man or go the extra mile. As long as you have each other's backing, you'll get to check out any textbook you want for free and he gets to be left alone. So for both your benefits, to the rest of the Akademiya you and him are a couple.

You should have known this deal was way too good to be true. As soon as people hear that Alhaitham acknowledges that you're his partner, they're on you like rabid fungi. In comparison to the scribe, you're far easier to prod and poke for any gossip and your quiet day-to-day life is suddenly thrown into the wind. Multiple people a day come to bother you about what it's like to date the moody man. It gets to a point where you have to actually dress incognito just to go and get some coffee. Seriously, didn't people have deadlines and exams to prepare for then to hound you down to talk about your fake love life? Alhaitham is no help either, only shrugging off your complaints and telling you that this is what you agreed to.

He's a horrible partner, fake or not. This isn't your storybook romance where he suddenly falls in love with you, he straight up ignores you sometimes! If anything, this entire situation has stopped you from feeling intimidated by him. Before you wouldn't dare approach him, his appearance and body were enough for you to shy away. You're impulsive, not blind. Alhaitham is drop-dead gorgeous but now that you've reached such an absurd situation it stops intimidating you. You begin to regularly pester the man because you know that even though you're both not actually dating, it would look really bad if he shunned you constantly.

He actually doesn't mind you. Unlike Kaveh or anyone else who interacts with him, you know how to be quiet and independent. Most of the time you both sit in silence, the only noise between the two of you being the flipping of pages and the scratching of ink against paper. If you ever do speak, it's always with a purpose. It's just a bonus that while everyone stares at your table, no one ever approaches. If they need to speak with him, they see your body right next to him and they decide to come back at a later time when he's alone.

Over time, he finds himself seeking you out instead of the other way around. He's come to find your presence comforting and it's the only time when he can actually sit down and read. Being an observant person, he starts to notice your little habits. For one, touch seems to be how you interact with others. You always bump elbows whenever you greet him, pinching his half coat whenever you want to drag him to see whatever captured your attention, and nudging his arm with your hand whenever you need him to bend down so you can whisper something into his ear. He's honestly surprised and concerned that he doesn't push you away with your skinship. If it were anyone else, he would have sent them a sharp glare and pushed him off but he doesn't for you.

All things must come to an end eventually and you've finally finished writing the last sentences for your thesis. Your pat on the back is the firm shut of a book as a deep sigh escapes your lips. Tired but relieved. The goodbye is uneventful, you simply tell him that you don't need him to pretend to be your boyfriend and he's free to live out the single life. He just nods and with that, you're gone.

No one says anything when they notice that Alhaithem sits at a table alone for the nth time that week. There are a few whispers back and forth about how you either got fed up with this attitude or he realized that he was way out of your league. Either way, everyone assumes you and Alhaithem are no longer together and his routine before you arrived settles back in. Yet, he feels off. He refuses to call it longing, you both were hardly affectionate in the first place, but he feels a bit lonely without your presence beside him. it's been plaguing his mind ever since you packed your things and left. He's hardly been able to concentrate on his book, rereading the same sentence for the fourth time before snapping it shut. Letting out a deep sigh, he runs a hand through his hair before setting it against his closed eyes. What's gotten into him?

"Is this seat taken?"

His eyes shoot open, turning around to see you with an armful of books looking expectantly at him. You look nervous and he can't lie to himself that he doesn't find that just the slightest bit endearing. He can tell that you're struggling to carry all of them from the slight shake in your hands.

"I thought our deal was over?" he says this but he gets up anyways to take the books out of your hands and places them on the table. You just roll your eyes at him because of course that's what he would say first and push forward. You're probably the only one who would act so brazenly in front of him besides Kaveh but he doesn't find it irritating when you do it.

"What? So I need to be in a relationship with you just to sit at a table? I know your ego is big but not thattt big," you stretch your words as you settle comfortably into your seat.

He wonders when he started thinking of that specific chair as yours.

"No. I suppose not," he says with an exasperated smile as he sits back down. You beam back at him as you shuffle your chair closer to him as you open your textbook, your fingertips gave that familiar tug for him to lean in closer.

"Good, because I need some help with this section. I have no idea what the hell "bloom" is."

Ayato

Although Valentine's day was mostly celebrated in Mondstadt and Sumeru, Inazuma still liked to dabble in the festivities during the day of love. Various couples' discounts on tricolored Dango or limited edition books from the Yae Publishing House. There was one popular series in particular that was having a huge discount to celebrate the holiday and even though you weren't in the market for a partner, you weren't going to pass up on such a steal. Only for your excitement to fall flat when the lady informed you that the discount was for couples only.

You can't believe this. You just stood in line for hours only for them to tell you this now? What kind of shady place was this? Of course, they didn't advertise the specifics of this sale, they knew this book was popular. People waiting in line wouldn't just walk away once they found out and they would end up paying full price! Well, two can play this game. You randomly gesture off to the side, saying that your boyfriend was just standing off to the side because he wanted to grab some refreshments. You aren't really looking where you're pointing, too busy digging through your pouch and counting your coins of mora before a sharp gasp stops you. The lady quickly bows and beams at you with a mega-watt customer service smile. She hands the book to you free of charge while profusely thanking you for your patronage. You look off to the side but you don't see anyone, but you weren't going to say no, so you shrug and take it. A free book is a free book.

To be fair, you were making it really easy for the Archons to mess with you. You hear whispers around you that you can't make out, anytime you glance at passing people, they quickly bow and shuffle along. You have a horrible sinking feeling forming in the pit of your stomach and you quickly rush home so you can avoid whatever the hell you just caused. Unfortunately, word travels fast in Inazuma, and every shop you pass by you're being confronted left and right with sales pitches and gifts of appreciation for your partner's hard work. All of which you decline, half of it because you're not actually in a relationship and the other half because you have no interest in their gifts. But you've already dug yourself this far in your grave so you just give a hasty no thank you as you try and dodge everyone who looks at you with that glimmer in their eyes. Who did you point at to receive this much praise?

Ayato is greatly confused when people approach him to congratulate him on his engagement. He wasn't planning on getting married any time soon, his duties as the Yashiro Commissioner taking up most of this time. Did the elders set someone up for him without informing him first? He's curious about who his mystery person is but everyone he asks doesn't seem to know where they went. Apparently, his fiancee is shy but humble, declining gifts from various shopkeepers no matter how expensive they are.

That's until one of the children points in your direction and his eyes slide over to you who looks just as confused as him. He's never seen you in his life and you don't look like anyone from a significant clan. He gets clued in that you boldly announced your relationship with him when you were checking out a specific book meant for couples only. Ah, he's starting to understand now. He offers a piece of candy for the helpful information as he makes his way over to you. His mysterious fiancee.

As soon as the man in front of you says Lord Kamisato's name, the uneasy weight in your stomach drops. You quickly spin on your heel to see the pale blue hair and amused light purple eyes. Oh. Oh, Archon's above, please, out of everyone you could have pointed to, please don't make it be the Yashiro Commissioner. You're about to burn this book into ashes and do a ceremony to banish whatever youkai were stored within the pages if you manage to make it out of this alive.

If Ayato was upset about this situation he's found himself in, it would be immediately wiped away because you look like you're about to collapse. He's trying his best to not laugh at your torment right in front of you, but the mix of emotions that's so openly displayed on your face is making it hard. It's obvious that you didn't mean for this to happen, you've just tripped and fallen into a web of misunderstandings. Too entangled to explain yourself without making a fool out of yourself.

If looks could kill, this storekeeper would be dead on the floor twice over. This man calls out to the Yashiro Commissioner, and just to add salt to the wound, proudly congratulates him on his engagement with you. You said nothing about an engagement, you're far too young to be thinking about that thank you very much. But Ayato just nods along with that ever-pleasant smile without bothering to correct the situation. You're not sure if you should be thankful or not. He might be planning your murder in his mind so you stay silent as well.

When Ayato's gaze shifts to you, you do what any creature does when they're in danger and there's nowhere to run. You hide. You automatically raise your book to cover your face so you don't need to look at the source of your embarrassment. Although it does nothing to hide just how red your face is, you don't see him and that's good enough for you. But this also means you don't see the questioning glance the storekeeper shoots Ayato about your behavior, to which Ayato gives a pleasant smile and waves a hand to dismiss the situation.

"Please excuse my fiancee, we didn't mean to announce our engagement so early," Ayato muses, and the storekeeper nods in understanding while you bring your book down low enough to peer over the edges of the pages. Is...is he covering for you? He looks down expectantly at you but when you don't move, he awkwardly coughs into his fist and tilts his head toward the shopkeeper.

"A-Ah yes, that's right! It was a slip of the tongue and I hadn't realized I said it out loud. Please excuse my behavior," you bow and you can hear Ayato turning his head to snort into his hand. This is awful. You think you would prefer if he just outted you so you didn't need to show the world how awful your acting skills are. This is why you read plays, not star in them. But the shopkeeper nods in understanding, apologizing for saying your engagement so loud for others to hear before you're leaving with Ayato's arm wrapped around your waist.

"I'm deeply sorry. There was a discount for couples only and I just pointed in a random direction and it just happened to land on you. I swear I didn't mean to start any of this," you quickly rush out as you bow before Ayato as soon as you're out of sight from the public eye. He still has that annoying look in his eyes but you're completely at his mercy right now. The smug bastard definitely knows that.

"It's no trouble at all. I found the situation quite entertaining," he chuckles before looking you up and down. Okay...a tiny bit weird but you suppose your actions are worse. There's a long silence between the two of you as if he's pondering something and you've had enough of today's events.

"Um...well if that's everything I'll be getting out of your hair. Please enjoy the rest of your day Lord Kamisato," you mumble as you turn to leave but his hand hooks onto the back of your kimono and drags you right back.

"Ah, ah. It would make a bad impression if my fiancee suddenly left me on Valentine's Day. Oh and please, call me Ayato," he smiles that same polite smile but his eyes tell a different story entirely. His smile even widens at how hard you're biting your lip as you match his with a strained one. For Archon's sake, you just wanted to buy a book, how did you get into this mess?!

Kazuha

As soon as Inazuma's borders reopened, you were jumping on the fastest ship back to Liyue. You even got extra lucky that your good friend Beidou happened to be on the pier and offered you a well-deserved ride back to your home free of charge. You've been so homesick but unable to leave due to the regulation the Electro Archon placed, so to say that you were excited to finally go back was an understatement. Although the Crux Fleet was mainly an armed carrier delivering goods between places separated by sea, it did occasionally transport passengers if they paid enough. It only made sense that others would be like you and wish to return home as soon as possible. It's too bad that one of them happened to take one look at you and decide that you were born to be his.

It's an incredibly awkward affair. This wealthy businessman doesn't appear to mean any harm but he's incredibly dense with no sense of social awareness. Although you've politely declined his advances, he doesn't seem to stop. Even when Beidou herself threatens to throw the man overboard, he just keeps his distance and makes heart eyes at you. Unfortunately for you, Beidou can't actually throw him into the cruel watery depths no matter how much you plead with her. The man seems to be an important figure from Snezhnaya so she can't exactly treat him badly. Thus you spend most of your time ducking away and running away from your creepy admirer.

You're usually not so bold but the mix of overwhelming homesickness and just wanting to get this journey over and done with, all of it compels you to act rashly. If your new admirer can't take a simple no then you'll find a different way and show him you're off limits. You've seen the man who sits on the crow's nest, you believe Beidou said his name was Kazuha, whose been a part of her crew for a while now. You've only made passing small talk with each other and he seems like a nice person, at least you hope so. Because as soon as his feet touch the ship's deck, you're throwing yourself at him. You have to give him credit, he has lightning-fast reflexes and is a lot stronger than his demeanor expresses since he manages to catch you and stop you both from sprawling across the floor.

You make a show of throwing your arms around him and whining about how he doesn't spend enough time with poor dear you. You can tell he's infinitely confused so you lean in and whisper into his ear about your creepy stalker who can't take a no. Your eyes desperately plead with him to play along with you, just until the ship reaches Liyue Harbour. It only takes Kazuha to look over your shoulder and lock gazes with said "stalker" before he's turning to you with the most tender smile on his lips and a soft apology for being neglectful. A promise to spend more quality time to make up for his behavior. You swear that should have been an omen because you feel your heart stop for a second right then and there.

It's not completely out there. As the lookout, he would have to stay up in the crow's nest most of the day, and given how soft spoken Kazuha normally is, he doesn't look like the confrontational type. But he does make good on his fake promise and you find yourself spending most of your time in the crow's nest with Kazuha rather than ducking into the shadows of the lower deck. Kazuha is a relaxing presence and you can understand why he stays up here rather than with the rest of the crew. The gentle sea breeze brushes through your hair and it's so peaceful all the way up in the sky. You're almost jealous that he has an anemo vision because you think you'd love to stay in the winds forever.

He's also a gentleman through and through. You're not entirely sure if he's just pretending alongside you or if that's just how he normally acts. You think both options are equally plausible and endearing. At some point, you forget that you're supposed to be doing this for show to keep a creepy man away from you and you genuinely start to seek him out. It's during one night when you watch Kazuha whistle a tune through a leaf that you realize just how deep you're in. Now your position is reversed and you start to feel like the creepy heart-eyed stalker. It's something that you must absolutely not let happen, not on your watch.

Your sudden distance from Kazuha leaves him a bit hurt. He knows that this originally started as an act but he felt that you and him were getting close to each other without any ulterior motives. That all your talks of your dreams and aspiration were real and meaningful. But now that you've suddenly pulled back, he question's if everything was made up in his head. It's not like you owe him anything, he decided to help you out from of his own volition. Beidou can only look at this scene painfully at her two idiotic friends pushing themselves away from each other because they can't sit down and talk it out.

She drags the two of you into a private room, her only warning to fix your emotional angst or she really will throw you both overboard. You both know she's entirely serious so you both obediently nod as she slams the door closed.

Beidou leans against the wooden crates with her head propped up with her arm. She should probably stop watching, she's being far too nosy with her friend's love life, but what kind of friend would she be if she wasn't? She hopes you both managed to talk it out and realize that you're both crushing hard on each other. She had been far too busy with Liyue fastly approaching to check in on your progress but from the looks of things, she thinks everything went well. With the red cheeks and your fingertips linked together, it's so cute that she wants to gag on her wine. Don't get her wrong, she's happy for you and Kazuha, but any more of this puppy love is going to send her into an early grave.

"You're not going to stay in Liyue?" she overhears you say. Huh? She honestly thought that Kazuha might pitch a tent and finally settle down with you but the small shake of his head and your fallen expression says otherwise. Damn, talk about a heartbreaker. But he gives you a soft expression, something really vulnerable, and his hand comes up to caress your cheek- and that's her cue to turn away. That's something that even she knows she shouldn't be watching. She instead takes another swig of her cup.

"Captain."

She looks up to see Kazuha standing beside her, the air of nature and sea breeze clinging to him wherever he goes. She politely doesn't bring up the charm clutched tightly in his hands.

"You sure about this kid?" Beidou asks, her eyes still trained on her empty cup of booze. She doesn't need to look to know that he's watching your back disappear into the crowd longingly.

"If I try to force something I know I'm not ready to finish, it would only lead to disaster. Right now isn't the right time. But I'm sure in the future, our paths will cross again," Kazuha nods to himself solemnly. This time Beidou does look at him before she shows a fond smile herself before she brings her arm back and slaps it against Kazuha's back. It's loud and hard enough to jolt him out of his temporary sadness.

"If you ever need a ride back to Liyue, just let me know. We'll get you there in no time lover boy," Beidou grins cheekily as Kazuha flushes a bright red. How cute, he can't even be honest with himself huh?

[barren-heart]

The Hidden Love Story of What We Do in the Shadows: How The Internet Fell in Love with Harvey Guillen’s Guillermo de la Cruz

I think it’s fair to call this show what it is: a comedy.

The actors have said it’s themselves: the show is 50% improv, 50% script. A lot of what we see is a brilliant collaboration of talent, writing, and the actors saying the funniest thing they can say about something in that moment.

According to Harvey Guillen, some scenes would last 30 minutes each if they didn’t cut it down. That improv is what makes the show what is it: the funniest show on television.

What’s interesting about this little Shit and Fart show (affectionate), is the heart of it all: Guillermo.

Originally the show was looking for an older man to play Nandor’s familiar. The character had worked for his master for 20 years, not 10 as we see in the pilot episode.

Harvey got an audition randomly. At a wine and cheese night of a friend’s, he was invited to audition for the part. It was random, but also, it was fate.

Let me explain.

Harvey Guillen auditioning for the role of Guillermo

(I actually have the full audition tape of Harvey’s if anyone’s interested.) Link below!

Harvey didn’t “fit the part” (Harvey’s words) whatsoever of this character and decided to dress himself to look older, putting on what he calls his Harry Potter glasses and parted his hair down the middle.

The Guillermo we see in the pilot was all Harvey’s idea of what that character should be and the costuming department just ran with it. It’s also fun to point out that to those who don’t know, Harvey created Guillermo’s last name even before he knew he’d play the show’s Vampire Slayer.

I mention this because I don’t think they (showrunner, producers,etc) expected Guillermo to become such a fan favorite. Which kinda explains why his character is the punching bag of season one and why it somewhat changes as seasons go by.

I mean, we don’t even see Guillermo in this season one poster (we don’t see Colin Robinson, either. But I feel like I could write an entirely other post about that character and why I think he’s genuinely the best and most consistently written character on the show. But I won’t right now).

I think they expected Guillermo to be a one-note side kick, which is fine. Many of Harvey’s previous roles were nearly background characters (think Benedict Pickwick in The Magicians).

But, Harvey’s take on the character coupled with his talent at being both comedic and dramatic really shined through. And I think that’s where you start to see that maybe they could do more with him than just being the funny guy in the background.

I also think that’s why you start to see some threading of a more serious plot when it comes to Guillermo’s storyline because of Harvey’s range.

Who would’ve known a funny bit like being a Van Helsing descent in a house full of vampires would get you compelling scenes like the familiar fight The Night Market, Nouveau Théâtre des Vampires, and the Nandor and Guillermo fight in The Portrait?

Harvey mentioned having to train for these and wanted to do his own stunts! And he does them well!

Did they imagine Guillermo being such a badass in the pilot? Probably not. But he is and people took to it. The serious fight scenes (even with bits of comedy filtered in) really stand out in their own as excellent action scenes.

Along with badass scenes, Harvey delivered compelling emotional scenes like Guillermo’s coming out (which Harvey actually cried in as well as other cast and crew, and they had to edit it to not make it too serious), the scene he left Nandor for Celeste, and many scenes in S5’s Exit Interview.

I also think they didn’t anticipate his chemistry with Kayvan Novak. It’s brought up a lot in interviews with them and everyone can tell that they genuinely are really good friends in real life, which makes acting together on screen that much better.

(Funny enough, he was supposed to do a chemistry read with Kayvan before shooting and wasn’t able to meet him until they were on set for the pilot. )

I think in some ways, even though the show wanted it to be a funny Gaston and Lefou type relationship, Kayvan and Harvey had undeniable chemistry you couldn’t deny.

And I think that began to grow with their character’s evolving relationship. From master and servant to friends to sometimes the show and network alluding to them being in a romance (Guillermo’s drunk love confession, Marwa liking what Nandor likes, the Network making videos about shipping Nandermo).

And even Paul Simms (the one who is being grilled for That’s His Boss quote), also said “Guillermo and Nandor is the greatest love story in modern television.”

So yeah, I think originally they started the show with the intention that it was supposed to be similar to the movie that shares its name. The Nandor/Guillermo drama of Shadows the TV show would be so out of place in the movie. The whole Guillermo vampire arc, if it was movie inspired, would not be as dramatic as they have made it in the show.

Looking back to the pilot, I can see that they really tried to make it as close to the source material as possible. But I think it took off in a direction that even the creators didn’t imagine it would go. Just a silly little comedy show about silly little vampires. And don’t get me wrong, it still definitely is.

But the show has evolved. And for better or worse, Nandor and Guillermo’s relationship will be one of the most compelling things about the show and I’m curious where they are going to take it now.

I guess this turned into a bit of an Harvey Guillen appreciation post and honestly, why not? Look at that adorable face.

[izanori]

9 more testament-related yonkoma coming right up! the previous 8 can be found here

how to read yonkoma + translation notes + etc under the cut ^^

How to Read Yonkoma/4-koma (<- means "4 panels"):

short answer:

long answer: here

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Translation Notes:

lil hanamaru: was titled Hanamaru-kun in the original text. a hanamaru is a flower drawn on japanese kids' schoolwork when they do a good job, like a gold star. since the comic shows the flower very obviously here, i couldnt lie to you all and title it Lil' Gold Star, and i think we have no other flower-related equivalent to this, so ive decided to use this as an opportunity to teach those who dont know this little japanese culture fact. feel free to google what a hanamaru looks like!

among us: this was titled Infiltration in the original text. because im quirky, i changed it to Among Us. when people complain about translators adding in stuff that didnt exist in the original text, this is exactly what theyre talking about. im so sorry. i have to reference amogus every chance i get (fwiw: i can do this because its just comedy. i wouldnt randomly add funny references during more serious scenes)

how about a bout: original title was something like "You're Fighting!?" but uhhhh. okay, i dont even know why i changed the title of this one 😂 i think at the time i couldnt think of a way to translate the title, so i came up with something punny and related to the subject matter. just now as i reread the original text i understood it, but i like my pun better than the original and dont feel like going back and changing it. do you forgive me? 😿

memory over the material: in the very first panel, testament says in the original text something like "you can't erase me physically or any other way." because this is all comedy, i added a reference most tumblr users should get to add to the mood.

i think thats about it! tldr, i think im funny and sacrificed direct translation for comedic effect when i felt like it. common industry practice, really. i wouldnt be so loose when translating if this wasnt all comedy!

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i wanted to add that if you want to follow me to see when i next share a translation, you should follow @cicistash instead of this blog. ill put all translations there... and art in the future, but ill tag the art so you can filter it out.

thank you so much for reading my translations! im sorry for the long wait between the first one and this! i hope the next one comes much faster. and sorry if it looks ugly, of course, im new to editing scans and such

[noblesandsstories]

Pale Pastels: The Start of a Joke

Astarion x Original Fem!Tav

->Humor, nothing too serious yet, Fleur being her silly little self, mentions of a dagger, mindflayer parasites, canon divergence.

Border by: @adornedwithlight

AN: Holy delays Batman. I'm so sorry for how long this chapter took. I know I did that poll a long time ago and nothing came of it, but I got hit by a lot of stuff at once. Plus the intro of Gale threw me for a loop for a while before I decided what to do with it. This has barely been edited, sorry. Gods willing, I'll be faster with the next one, though I don't have too much of an idea for what to do there. Anyways, enjoy!!

A high elf was hovering over the unconscious woman, trying to figure out what to do next. It had not been long since she herself awoke on the beach, the half-elf being the first living creature she found, even if barely.

She was breathing. That meant she wasn’t dead, yet. But she had yet to wake.

The redhead bent down, reaching out and lightly shaking her shoulder. The unconscious woman’s eyes fluttered open, and looked around as if in a daze, soon focusing on the woman standing over head.

“Rise and shine, sleepyhead! Hope I didn’t ruin any good dreams,” she chirped, a friendly smile on her face.

The woman on the ground blinked for a moment, before replying, “I wasn’t really dreaming anything. Where are we?”

“Haven’t got a single clue. Hopefully we’ll find a settlement or something soon enough,” the high elf offered her hand. “We haven’t met properly. I’m Fleur.”

The half elf took the hand, using the momentum to stand. “Shadowheart.”

“A pleasure, though I wish it were under other circumstances. Don’t forget your little trinket.” 

Shadowheart momentarily gawked as Fleur handed over the artifact. She didn’t remember seeing her reach for it, or even get near it. But she was still coming to her senses, and a tadpole in her head was probably not helping.

“Thank you,” Shadowheart took it, shocked that there were no questions being flung her way.

But Fleur seemed more preoccupied observing their surrounding and what was left of the ship. 

“Hell of a landing. And I’m assuming our Gith friend decided she had better places to be. Wish her all the best, even if she wasn’t the most pleasant at first introductions.”

Shadowheart snorted, “Gith are not exactly known for their friendliness. I’m sure she’s probably forgotten all about us.”

Fleur released a dramatic sigh. “Oh well. We’ll probably want to get moving, if you’re feeling like you can travel right now, of course. There looks to be a lot of rubble around, maybe we can find something to let us know where we are.”

“We?” Shadowheart was already unsure about this. Working with an elf dressed as a bright pink clown felt to be pushing her limits.

“The way I see it, we don’t even know for certain this is Faerun. We could be in the Fey Wilds for all we know. And I don’t think us moving independently is a wise idea if we don’t know where we are,” she reasoned.

She quickly added, “I won’t force you, and the gods know I can’t hold you captive.” She glanced at her mace.

Shadowheart realized she hadn’t seen the elf hold a single weapon outside of a dingy hand crossbow the entirety of knowing her. And she couldn’t even wield that.

“No, you’re right. Especially with this parasite problem. Best to stick together.”

Fleur grimaced, “Fuck, I forgot about that.” 

The dignified air and formal appearance so quickly fell to what can only be described the look of a kicked puppy, Shadowheart couldn’t help but to laugh.

Fleur's shoulders relaxed slightly, a small twinkle in her eye.

“My sorrows that funny?” She teased.

“Absolutely hilarious,” she countered. 

“Glad to be of service. Now shall we?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The odd pair kept to the outskirts of the crash at first, maneuvering around the brush and debris left behind. And of course, freeing the dead of any thing useful. Survival and all.

“Do you recognize anything?” Shadowheart asked as she gathered a small sample of a plant nearby. According to her, it had some healing properties when prepared right. 

“No, and that’s saying something. I’ve been all across Faerún a few times.” She pocketed some gold from a body and made sure the walking brain corpses were actually dead. 

“Oh? Are you a traveler?” 

“Of sorts. Traveling circus,” she beamed as she said this. 

Shadowheart did not look surprised, it definitely explained Fleur’s odd clothing. And bright colors.

“HELLO?”

The two stopped at the shout of someone’s voice, looking around to see who could be yelling.

“Hello?” Fleur called out, before her eyes caught on a purple rune, glowing with magic. And a hand sticking out.

“Is someone out there?”

Shadowheart and Fleur looked to each other, confusion on their faces, before Fleur advanced towards it, eliciting a hissed “Careful!” from her companion.

“Are you in, uh, this?” Fleur asked, projecting her voice.

“Gods, finally! Yes I’m here. I need a hand,” the voice came.

Fleur paused, her head tilting slightly. She turned to the half elf behind her.

“Do you think you could pull him out if I try to stabilize the rune?”

Shadowheart thought for a moment. It was not a completely unreasonable idea. She had seen twigs that looked stronger than Fleur, but she couldn’t deny she had magic. It seemed like a solid enough plan.

“Tell me when to start pulling,” Shadowheart replied, stepping forward to stand next to the elf.

Fleur reached out, touching the tune with one hand, in the other little lights began to flicker and sway. She hummed very quietly under her breath, the lights beginning to dance around her fingers. 

The crackling of magic began to subside, and Shadowheart took that as her cue grasping the hand and beginning to pull.

In seconds, a man flew from the other side, pushing her backwards. Fleur darted forwards, grabbing at them in a feeble attempt to regain balance. In the end, the trio fell to the ground. 

For a moment, they all just laid there in silence. Before Fleur started hysterically laughing. 

Shadowheart and the man from the rune looked over to her.

She finally wheezed out, “With how our luck is going, we’ll end up back in Avernus, with nothing but a dream!”

And then he started laughing as well. Soon Shadowheart couldn’t help but crack a smile.

After their laughter wore down, Fleur turned to the man. “So who might you be?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Astarion heard the group before he saw them. Three voices, two he recognized from the ship, they weren’t even trying to be quiet. He triple checked his dagger was where he needed it to be. He, once again, considered poison, but if he accidentally nicked them before he got information, he’d be stuck with no answers.

The group rounded the corner, their leader being a bit too hard to miss, in a pastel pink outfit with flaming orange hair. The half-elf was with her, but instead of the gith, their third was a human in a bright purple robe. 

“Help! I need help!” He cried, trying to sound as pathetic as possible.

The pink one turned to him, said something to her companions and bounced forward.

“What is it?” She called as she approached.

“Thank the gods,” he sounded weak even to his own ears, “I cornered one of those brain things.”

She rolled her shoulder. “Alright, alright. Let’s see…”

She creeped forward, her hand dropping to her side with a roll of her shoulder, footsteps hardly making a sound. Just as she went to peek around the brush, a boar sprinted out, making her jump back.

Astarion took this as his chance, grabbed her around the chest, pressing her towards him, and brought his dagger up.

Her hand came up at the same time.

And then he was blind.

“WHAT IN THE HELLS?” He cried, stumbling back as she pressed away. 

He heard a silvery laugh, his guess from the half-elf.

“What is this?!” He demanded as he wiped at his eyes.

“Oh hush,” the pink one chastised, “For a man who was about to take my throat out, you make a fuss when someone gets one up on you.”

“It’s in my damn mouth,” he began to spit trying to get it out. 

The male human joined in on the laughter.

He finally fumbled for his handkerchief and managed to wipe the substance away from his eyes.

He was greeted to the pink one, looking less than amused at him, and his handkerchief stained a vast assortment of colors.

“Is this PAINT?” He shrieked.

The laughter doubled.

“Serves you right,” the pink one scolded. “Here I am, trying to be nice, and you decide to throw it back in face. Should have let the boar handle you.” It sounded like she was lecturing a small child. And he was actually starting to feel bad. Mostly cause he just got duped by paint of all things.

“If this stains my shirt, so help me-“

“Oh for the love of- It comes out with water and scrubbing. Soap makes it faster, but it doesn’t stain. My bigger question is why you felt the need to stick up random strangers. Do we look like we have money? I assure you we don’t.”

Astarion felt like he was going to start screaming. “I was trying to get information, since I saw you two on the ship before it went careening down.”

“I don’t see what information we could offer you that you couldn’t gather for yourself. We’re infected by parasites that will eventually turn us into mindflayers, and we are somehow not dead yet. The better question is do you have any new information that could help us?”

The two bystanders had finally stopped sniggering and both had a focused look on their faces. 

He shook his head. “Of course this would turn me into a monster,” he bitterly laughed and then looked the pink one in the face, finally getting a good look at her.

She was a high elf, like himself, but her cheeks were slightly rounded, giving her a faint heart shape to her face. Her eyes were a bright sapphire blue and had a mischievous glimmer in them. Her hair was indeed bright orange, done in an intricate bun style; however, now he could see the pastel pink stripes, most likely dyed. Her clothes were intricate, but nothing any well reasoned noble would be caught dead wearing. Instead she looked like…

“Are you a bloody clown?”

Her face fell, the most genuinely upset she looked throughout their whole conversation, “I’m not a clown, I’m a jester. There’s a difference, even though most laymen can’t seem to comprehend it.”

It felt like it was supposed to be a jab, but he could really care less about the difference between different circus performers.

“We’re currently on the hunt for a settlement or camp or humanoid that is willing to give us any kind of directions, really. You wouldn’t happen to have any idea where we are?”

“Not a clue,” he says, putting away his handkerchief. He really got himself in a bit of trouble. He snuck another glance at the trio as he bent down to pick up his dagger. The elf in pink had turned back to her companions and was talking to them about where to go next, bringing up a temple they saw not to far down the shore.

The truth of the matter was he was totally screwed on his own. If there were any more mindflayers around or, Gods forbid, Cazador tracked him down before he was ready, he was not going to put up much of a chance. And while this troupe certainly wasn’t looking like they’d be much more help, it was something. 

He could work with that for now.

“Now that I’ve thought about it,” he announces, grabbing their attention,” How about we travel together for now? Safety in numbers and all of that.”

The pink one cocks her head to the side. “What’s your name?”

He gives an overdramatic, scandalized gasp, “How could I have been so rude as to not introduce myself. I am Astarion, at your service.” He gave a half bow for effect.

She thinks for a moment, before giving a bow in return, “Pleasure to meet you, I’m Fleur. Welcome to the adventure. The regal looking young woman is Shadowheart and the handsome fellow is Gale.”

Shadowheart stepped forward, taking Fleur's arm, “Are you sure we should trust a man who just held a blade to you?”

Fleur beamed back, “For one, I took care of him rather easily. And think of it this way, if he kills us in our sleep, we won’t be mindflayers in the morning!” She clapped her hands once, as if she had made some grand statement.

“Now, to that temple we saw along the shore. Even if we don’t find anyone, maybe there’s some trinkets we could pocket!”

Astarion felt like this was a person he could definitely get to know.

[owen-not-carvour]

to preface this,, 2 things: 1) i wrote the first half of this Before the talia discourse. i have since Edited a lot of it bc i don’t want to be misconstrued But i still wanted to say the stuff i wanted to say originally as well. 2) i have written this over the course of a month and a half so. some of the stuff i mentioned might not be as prominent/has since been resolved, etc. or just might not make a whole lot of sense in general,,, that being said:

my thoughts on talia are.. whatever This is ig:

i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again. i genuinely can’t decide how i want to think abt talia..

on one hand it’d be great if she was Real bc awww mischa!! like even if she wasnt exactly what he thought she was just the way he Cares for her is so incredible… but on the other hand. it is so fucking funny to think abt her just being noel In Some Way (but also lowkey sad. we will get to that. Very Long Post ahead..)

what’s got me Once Again thinking abt this is that one part of talia where mischa says the thing abt wanting to (slight paraphrasing i think) “take all the pain from your soul and transform it into functional joy” which,, 1) is super fucking sweet omfg like he truly loves her so much !! and 2) also rlly shows the Depth of mischa and talias relationship! (well. ofc it does. they Were engaged after all) but fr. it means that even though they were never an In Person relationship,, mischa genuinely loved cared so much for her despite that and never Truly knowing her and just. i love that he is a character that gets to just. Love so deeply and gets a chance to Show that yknow.

i’m so glad they made talia more than just a running joke abt mischa’s Internet Girlfriend™️ yknow. like that’s still funny and all but it’s cool to see his character completely change from this version of himself that everyone else sees him as (which i mean. isn’t entirely wrong. he Is very angry,, but that’s not all there is to him ofc. 2 emotions remember..) to his true self,, which they All do.. but i think mischa definitely has the most Deviation in his yknow. and overall it’s just such a cool way to show that.

but Anyway what i mean is that it also must mean talia and mischa really like. Talked to each other!! ofc he could just be talking in the general sense (wedding vows are like that ig) but at the same time,, it also makes it seem like talias rlly going through something yknow (which is Also is an interesting noel point.. more on that Below though) and just!! mischa Genuinely cares and loves her and just AHHHHHH!! i want what they have (aside from him being dead ofc)

anyway back to noel…

before i say Anything else, here’s my actual opinion on the noel catfish theory: i think it’s funny, yes, but only as a Concept bc it’s just So outlandish. ofc there are hella holes in it, but that’s also why i think of it as more of a joke rather than being truly serious. mischa and noel are both such strong characters and i Know what the catfish theory Does to noel. it really does ruin him. bc like. yeah.. yikes.

also i think it’s important to note what my reasoning behind noel being talia is in my mind (see below).. bc Yeah the further you go with it the rockier it gets,, especially once you get to the actual Romantic parts of talia (the song) and the aftermath… which is why it’s better as a Concept and nothing more bc i LOVE how deeply mischa loves talia, as mentioned, and i don’t want to lose that.. also bc i think that if noel Were talia he wouldn’t do it like That.. so i think This and the usual line of Catfish Noel should be 2 separate things.. (god i hope that made sense)

because really. i think calling my interpretation of talia-noel a catfish isn’t correct. bc catfish means there are Negative Intentions yknow. i think talia-noel would mostly be like… a barrier of sorts. between noel and mischa. and this is why it works better as a Concept than placed into the actual show!!

like noel seems like he Could be the type to make a whole fake profile in an odd attempt to just get closer to a guy he’s interested in (i don’t even necessarily mean romantically either. legit just like wanting to be friends w him or something works too) Without actually interacting with mischa yknow (bc that way noel doesn’t have to deal w him Actually reacting to him as himself, if that makes sense... especially since they’d still have to see each other in choir yknow) but like.. he’s still mostly acting like himself though,, just under the Name talia.. this was raised from the Mostly Positive feedback left on mischa’s videos. that just feels like something noel would do.. but even so. i feel like he Would just talk to mischa basically as himself but.. just while calling himself talia.. so like,, later on,, they’ve gotten rlly close (obviously) so like. noel has a shitty day he can just vent to mischa As Talia abt it,, you get what i mean..

so like in this way of thinking abt it i guess it’s actually close to Completely different bc i’m practically taking out all the romantic aspect of it?? pretty much the only thing that’s the same is. talia as a name i think..

anyway,, the best way of thinking abt noel as talia in Any sense is the Code Name Talia thing bc YESSSSS that erases any problems in it and it’s just. overall Better. whoever made that i Love you :)

now the Last thing i’m gonna talk about: why noel interrupts karnak when he offers to show mischa what Could’ve been between him and talia. just for the record yknow.

it’s NOT a selfish decision That’s For Sure!!!

that’s just the type of person noel is. he feels SO deeply for people and just Genuinely doesn’t want to see mischa heartbroken, no matter the outcome. (bc like. it Could go either way. a) mischa finds out he Doesn’t end up w talia and is fucked up abt that for Obvious reasons or b) he finds out he Would’ve ended up w her and is upset abt being Dead and unable to fulfill that— and noel just doesn’t want to see him distraught abt it either way bc he Cares)

tldr: i don’t like the catfish noel theory for what it is bc i like how Good mischa’s relationship w talia is and portrays his true self and also bc how noel stopping him from hearing the Outcome of what could’ve been portrays how much he actually cares abt the choir really well. but i Do like to think of noel getting closer to mischa as talia in a non catfish/non romantic sense, either through code name talia or noel basically still being Himself and talking to mischa, just under the Name talia bc mischa would be more likely to accept him if he were Talia rather than noel yknow (think of it Kinda like monique in a way-just more like a front for noel than a whole other Character though)

[wolfstardaughter-jj]

Do I look like mum?

Pairing: Fred Weasley x Reader (but they haven't confessed yet:))

Summary: During a Quidditch match, you were hit by a bludger. You told Fred you were fine but that was just to make sure he stays focused on the game rather than worry about you. After the match you're in the Hospital wing and Fred's there to lecture you like how his mother would.

A/n: This was from a chapter in my book "Serendipity" and I thought it would be a cute and short blurb to show you guys. Tho It's slightly edited from the original but either way, enjoy~

You were given a potion to help heal bruise that was beginning to get worse. The nurse said to give it a few hours to have the bruise go away completely. But they advised that you should stay in the Hospital wing overnight.

Fred was still by your side as you waited for Harry to arrive in the Hospital wing. As you waited, Fred lectured you on how you should have told him you were hurt rather than lie to him. He stood there with his arms crossed, looking almost like Molly whenever she gave a lecture to any of her kids.

You let out a light chuckle at the thought. Fred stopped mid-sentence and was confused as to why you were laughing.

"What-what's so funny?" he asked, almost laughing along with you but tried to keep his serious composure.

"Because you look almost like Molly when you do that." You answered.

"I do not." He argued.

"yes you do." You laughed.

"I do not!"

"Yes you do!"

Before Fred could argue any further, Louis ran in the Hospital wing and to your side. "Hey, you alright?"

You were still laughing as you nodded in reply.

"Why's she laughing?" Louis asked Fred.

"She said I looked like my mum." Fred pouted , with his arms still crossed.

Louis was still confused by that statement.

"Y/n!"

You looked behind Louis to spot Lee running inside the Hospital wing, with George following behind him.

Lee came up to you and gave you a hug. You winced which caused the boy to immediately pull away.

"Right sorry, didn't mean to hurt you." He said,

You waved him off and said it's alright.

"You alright there Y/n?" George asked, giving you a hug but in a more gentle manner as if you were a porcelain doll.

"I took a potion for the bruise so I'll survive." You replied.

Fred pulled his twin to the side, "Do I look like mum?" He asked.

You laughed at the question. But you could feel a jolt of pain from the bruise every time you laughed but you didn't mind.

"What's this about?" George asked you.

"I said he looked like Molly while he was lecturing me a few minutes ago." You replied.

George stifled a laugh, "Oh you definitely look like mum when you do that."

You cheered in satisfaction. "See! I was right!"

Fred sent a playful glare and rolled his eyes. But a grin soon surfaced, finding your untroubled smile so adorable. It's a wonder how she can be so happy even when she's injured. He thinks.

In truth, he could listen to your laugh and stare at your smile for days and not get bored. Because he truly does not find a single thing about you to be boring. In his eyes, you're perfect in every way possible.

He only wishes he could gather some of that Gryffindor courage and ask you out already. But as he looks back at you as your lost in conversation with your friends, he decides that he should do it at another time, a better time.

[nevess]

—Hidden talents;

[ doesn’t matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. -confucius ]

🌱… description: self explanatory? the hidden talents of the founders. :)

🍵… warnings: none.

🧳… characters: Pah-chin, Mikey, Mitsuya, Draken, Kazutora & Baji.

☕️… date: february 24th, 2022.

part 1, part 2

a/n: this came to me yesterday, while scrolling and looking for ideas to write about. @love-me-a-good-prompt was the one who inspired me. <33 not proofread.

Pah-chin: surprisingly a good chef?? Peh was the one who told you this. You had everything set up, after deciding to build some kind of tramp in order for pah to cook you something, since you were curious -nothing new-. You decided to make him think you were all meeting up, so when he got to your place you had all the posible ingredients for different dishes all set up, ready for him just to get ready and start. You give it a 10/10, and no, you are not just being “nice” because he is your friend. You really mean it.

Mikey: good at taking naps. Not a hidden talent, tho. No, but seriously, there is no a lack in effort, just in money. Since the talent is there, we just need someone to invest so he could be a professional. Okey, fine. I’ll be serious now. He is a master cry baby. He can literally make the sound of a crying baby. He has faked many many times that a baby is crying in the middle of the night at sleep overs, just to scare you and the rest of the group. Now you know better tho.

Mitsuya: celebrity impressions. This one was really random, since it happen while the founders of touman, chifuyu, hakkai, takemitchi, hina, emma and you were hanging out one evening. You guys were talking about the last scandal that was mentioned in a well known late night show in Japan, when suddenly mitsuya -who was clarifying doubts- starts talking with the same tone and accent as the celebrity they were talking about.

Draken: harmonica player. This one is a funny one. It all started a dark and stormy night of november, while the wind banged against my window… Lol, no. Okey. Both you and him were hanging out in your place when he saw your old harmonica -yes, you had one-. With out you watching he took it and tried to play it… But by trying i mean he SLAYED IT. It was AMAZING. You literally turn around like there is no tomorrow stunned after such amazing and short performance. As soon as he finished you start asking questions like crazy.

Kazutora: talking with his mouth closed. This happened on halloween. While him and chifuyu were talking about something that happened to them he OUT OF NOWHERE, started talking with his mouth closed. He later explained that he saw it on the X-factor -a known show in the USA where a girl with a puppet did it- so he started practicing.

Baji: plays the guitar. You learned about this when Baji asked you if you could help him by listening to some stuff he was practicing. At first he wasn’t specific until you got to his home and continue to explain what it was. Let me tell you… It was not perfect, but if he keeps practicing i swear to god, he will be the next eddie van halen.

© Nevess 2022. My original posts are not allowed to be edited, translated and/or re-uploaded on another account or platform without my permission, nevertheless, re-blogs are accepted and very appreciated.

tag: @sukunasbabymama @txrttarus @satmitsuplanet @the2ndl

[shotorozu]

‘photoshopping my boyfriend’

(tiktok prank)

character(s) : bakugou katsuki, todoroki shouto, midoriya izuku (bnha)

PART TWO — PART THREE

legend : [Y/N = your name] they/them pronouns used, quirk not specific

headcanon type : crack, fluff (x reader)

note(s) : inspired by this tiktok— it was too funny to skip this chance of making this post 💀

»»————-　♡　————-««

bakugou katsuki

you wanted to do this prank, because you wanted to see if he’d notice even the most subtle of changes to his face

again, it’s a pretty harmless prank— plus, you wouldn’t actually post the edited picture online anyway 💀

it’d be funny to see it

so, you slightly alter the selfie of you and katsuki, by enlarging his forehead ever so slightly— and you’d only alter it more from that moment onwards

[you’ve sent an attachment]

Y/N : “kats, i found this picture in my camera roll, should i post it? you look so good ! (๑>◡<๑)”

and katsuki being well,, himself— responds rather quickly to your message even though he kinda wanted to leave you on read

kats ♡ : “ain’t that your fucking wallpaper 🤨”

Y/N : “nah this is a different one, should i post?”

he leaves you on read for a bit, and it seems to be that he was typing for quite some time

kats ♡ : “abso-fucking-lutely not. i don’t remember looking like that.”

Y/N : “but you look fine! want me to change it a bit?”

kats ♡ : “do whatever 🙄”

and because you’re an absolute menace to your boyfriend, you make his forehead bigger— not to the point that he’d notice though

[you’ve sent an attachment]

Y/N : “how’s that now?”

and then you were left on read 😔 because katsuki was currently on his way to your room and he’s not pleased

“DID YOU PHOTOSHOP MY FOREHEAD?” he slams your door open, and you swore you could’ve heard it crack just a bit

“no??”

“stop fucking lying- i have that exact photo in my gallery, and it looks NOTHING like that atrocious thing”

you burst out laughing at his reaction, and he’s just standing next to your bed like 🧍‍♂️

“i will never take another picture with you again if you—”

“as if i was actually going to post that picture” he wasn’t serious when he said he won’t be taking pictures with you

but at least he’ll sleep well knowing that you won’t post such.. horrendous picture of his massive forehead on the internet for the world to see

but you posted the tiktok anyway and it blew up to katsuki’s distaste

todoroki shouto

okay okay, so you think that this would be absolutely hilarious— but you just wanted to see if he’d notice if you photoshopped him

but a part of you thinks he wouldn’t, or if he’d just pretend that he didn’t notice— regardless, it would still be funny

so, you select a random selfie of you and shouto (one that you both looked good in) and you ever so slightly edit his forehead

you kind of wanted to edit his scar but for many different reasons, you decided not to

[you’ve sent an attachment]

Y/N 🤍 : “shou 🤩‼️‼️ look at what i found, should i repost this as a throwback? you look so good it’s not even funny”

he replies rather quick, i mean he always does— but he replies after 30 seconds

shou, the lover boy 🤍 : “you mean we. we look good.”

Y/N 🤍 : “oh, we look good 🤠 so?? what do you think? repost or nah?”

shou, the lover boy 🤍 : “sure thing.”

shou, the lover boy 🤍 : “hm, something looks different. i just don’t know what it is. could you add a small filter to it?”

and you think, ‘oh! so he does notice’ which is quite interesting

Y/N 🤍 : “sure ^^”

you edit his forehead even more, the original picture looking a lot more different compared to the edited one but for some reason, it didn’t look unnatural

[you’ve sent an attachment]

Y/N 🤍 : “so, i added a small filter onto it, does that look better?”

he’s seen typing for a bit

shou, the lover boy 🤍 : “hm, no filter it is. i think the unfiltered one is better.”

[you’ve sent an attachment]

Y/N 🤍 : “i removed the filter, does that look better?”

but then you edited his forehead even more 😭 please this was killing you, you were wondering if you didn’t edit the picture enough— you’re just glad you aren’t in the same room as him

shou, the lover boy 🤍 : “perfect. see you tomorrow <3”

you posted the tiktok’s results, and it blows up in less than a day— gaining a lot of views because

a. it’s shouto— a common guest on your tiktoks, b. his ‘obliviousness’ c. because of the way you edited his forehead, and how it just got bigger and bigger 💀

the comments were really funny, and nice to look at “PLEASE IS HE THAT OBLIVIOUS??” “bruhh he definitely knew something 💀” “there’s no way he wasn’t playing along”

turns out, shouto knew you were photoshopping his forehead for shits and giggles— it’s because he has that exact selfie as his wallpaper

he’ll get you back ;)

midoriya izuku

your boyfriend is insanely observant, so!! you wanted to test if he’d notice even the slightest of changes to a picture

and plus, you think it would be funny to witness

you select one of the better pictures of you and izuku— but most especially, a picture where izuku looked phenomenal

compared to the other two, you edited his freckles— you’re basically going to gradually add more freckles to him

[you’ve sent an attachment]

Y/N 🍀 : “hey zuku! look at what i found deep in my gallery. should i repost this as a throwback? i wanna know your thoughts <3”

your notification makes his heart race faster, so he’s quick to reply

except,, it took a bit longer for him to hit send

zuku (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵) : “you look so good <3 but hm.. something looks different ^^; i just can’t put my finger on it..”

Y/N 🍀 : “oh— perhaps it’s the lighting?”

zuku (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵) : “maybe it is! could you maybe put a filter on it? i mean,, if you think there should be one! not that the picture needs one ;;”

cute.

you add more freckles to the picture, and added a slight filter to make it less suspicious, and you hit send

[you’ve sent an attachment]

Y/N 🍀 : “there! i only added a slight filter to it, is this okay?”

zuku (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵) : “oh no, i look like a kardashian now ^^;; definitely not myself.”

zuku (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵) : “i’m not sure what’s different! i mean.. the picture couldn’t have been taken that long ago for me not to remember what i even looked like— omg, what if i did forget 😦”

he sounded so concerned about the slight changes— which is to be expected of him

he was actually freaking out through the screen 💀

so then, you decided to add even more freckles to his cheeks

Y/N 🍀 : “ok ok sooo— i removed the filter, does this look better? lmk <3”

it takes a moment for him to finally respond, and he’s seen going on and off with typing— since the typing bubble kept disappearing and reappearing.

zuku (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵) : “Y/N..”

zuku (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵) : “is it just me or”

zuku (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵) : “do i have more freckles in this picture 😦”

you flop onto the ground in hysterics, laughing at his message and you’re hoping that he wouldn’t hear you laugh this hard

after a few hours, you post the tiktok— and it blows up, gathering a good amount of likes and views

the comments consisted of “the fact that he was he thinking so hard about the picture 💀” “LMAOO WHY CAN I IMAGINE HIS REACTION WHEN HE REALIZED” “nooo the way the typing bubble kept disappearing and reappearing 😭”

your boyfriend sends you a text after the tiktok blows up— basically, he saw the video (somehow 💀)

zuku (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵) : “i’m glad i wasn’t imagining things ^^;; turns out you were just editing more freckles onto the picture 😃 it looked so real!! oh, and i’m coming over to your place, see you!! <3”

basically— having an observant boyfriend like izuku is fun

»»————-　♡　————-««

likes and reblogs are appreciated, thanks for reading!

i do not own bnha/mha and it’s characters. boku no hero academia/my hero academia belongs to horikoshi kohei, i only own the writing and i do not profit off of my hobby

do not plagiarize, reupload, translate, or use my works for audio readings without permission

[tipsydipsydo]

Pairing: tall! & sub! Reader x dom! OT7 BTS

Gender of the Reader: male

Word Count: 2.3k  

Rating: 18+

Genre: Smut/PwP

Warnings: Dirty Language + Dirty Talk; Dom-/Sub-Dynamics; accidental overhearing of a phone call, Mentions of Exhibitionism & Voyeurism; Mentions of Sex Toys & Masturbation; slightly mentioned Double Penetration; mentions of Anal play; Praising; Petnames; some Degradation; Daddy-Kink; Teasing; slight Edging; the boys are teasing the poor reader to Death

A/N: Well- that was a quick writing. Instead of studying I decided to write this funny request and to use my procrastination in a better way than scrolling stressed through TikTok. I hope y’all like it!!

Status: unedited bc I am lazy and should study. 

Request: i want to request a drabble/one shot: sub taller male reader and his seven boyfriends in which he confidently talks naughty things with his friend on phone but when he realized his bf are watching, he became crazily shy because he is just a big cute boy, then his bf decided they want to test those ‘words’ he has said, poor boy =))

Requested by: anonymous 

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「© tipsydipsydo」

This following story is my intellectual property and belongs only to my blog tipsydipsydo.tumblr.com!

I’ll not accept any kind of reposting, stealing or using/editing my work!

That includes reposting my content on other social media platforms too, even when you link me as the original author.

Thank you.

After too many and super busy weeks full of work, you’ve finally managed to find a free afternoon in your schedule where your best friend and you have enough time for a nice, long telephone call on the couch. You are already over one and a half hour on the phone, exchanging the newest stuff that happened in your life with each other and joking around. Slowly your conversation turns their focus to your more private life and your bestie asks you about your polyamorous relationship with your boyfriends. At first just normal things like, how’s it going in general, how you all manage the relationship with all the different time schedules, how often it comes to fights and how you deal with that etc. Just normal stuff and  the ‘typical’ questions you’re already used to, when people realize that you’re not in a monogamous relationship. 

Your best friend and you grew up together. You met each other in elementary school, went through the curses of puberty as an inseparable team and even survived middle and high school thanks to the other one. Already in your teens, where both of you made your first experiences and got into your first relationships, your best friend had a guess that you’re not as straight as you want him to believe. No, they even assumed that you’re maybe not made for the typical monogamous relationship which the society preach every fucking day. 

Well, turns out that your best friend really knew you better than you did yourself back then but honestly, nowadays you’re thankful for their suggestions and that they gave you the save space you needed to dare to make new experiences in those directions. 

Nevertheless, they were still more than surprised when you introduced him to not only two or three boyfriends, no that you brought seven (!) other men to their birthday party two years ago. At first they were a little worried if you didn’t overload yourself with such a complex relationship dynamic and that it’ll turn out as a serious burden and not an enrichment for your life. Turns out, now it was their turn to make a false assumption about what’s the best for you and theu were more than happy to admit that everything turned out just fine. It truly makes their heart swell to hear the happiness in your voice through the phone everything you mention something about the boys. 

Quickly your phone call turn into an even more private talk and dedicate itself to the really interesting stuff. You’re sharing every detail in your life with another, so why should it stop when it comes to sex talk? You have absolutely no problem and any shame to talk freely with your best friend about your kinks and dirty thoughts. Sometimes you even think that you’re better informed about each other’s preferences better than your actual partner(s) are. 

“I think, I already told you that idea more than once... that I have a thing for exhibitionism and the thought of getting catched doing something ‘forbitten’ or ‘dirty’, right? Uhm... TMI but I don’t give a shit, whenever I am alone at home because they’re busy and we can’t meet for some days... I mastubate with some of the toys they’ve bought for me and imagine that they catch me. You know, when we have sessions with Dom and Sub Dynamics, they’re only temporarily and usually we go back to normal in the moment when the scene is over... that means, when I am alone and horny, I can do whatever I want to. I can jack off or fuck myself as much I desire and they wouldn’t say anything about it. It’s not like, I don’t appreciate my personal freedom when it comes to masturbation or that I want something completely different, no! We both already talked about that too, I don’t like the idea of Total Power Exchange, I prefer to be an independent person as soon as I walk out of the bedroom- okay, not only bedroom, we have sex in other places than the bedroom too- ANYWAY, what I wanted to say with that: ...”, you mutter and take a deep breath into your lungs. 

After holding such a long monologue your mouth dried up terribly and now you need quickly something to drink. You get up from the couch and walk over to the kitchen island to pour some soda into a glass. A satisfied hum leaves your throat after you took some gulps of your favourite sparkling sugar bomb. 

The whole time, where you moved around in the eat-in kitchen of the apartment, you are not that alone anymore as you thought you’d be, especially right in this moment. Namjoon, Hoseok and a boyish smirking Jimin joined you around ten minutes ago, leaning casually against the wall next to the door of the room and listen very interested to the conversation you have with your friend right now. They didn’t mean to overhear your private talk, they just wanted to know what kind of take-out food you’d prefer for tonight. 

Unfortunately your conversation turned out to be very, very interesting for them, so they decided to give you some more time to talk with your best friend about the sexual fantasies you have which they don’t know about... well, until now.

Hoseok texted the other boys in the group chat to join them in the living room as well, they need to hear those very important information too! 

Poor you, completely oblivious and naïve to what’s happening in this moment, not getting any kind of hint that not only your best friend would get those significant informations...

“...-what I actually wanted to say with that: I prefer to be independent in relation to all other non-sexual life-responsibilities. Well, that doesn’t mean we couldn’t increase the Erotic Power Exchange, right? To be very honest, I can’t get the fantasy of them taking my sextoys away and to forbid me to touch myself without their permission out of my head. I love to be their good boy and to get praises, I really do... but there is this thrill to be break the instructed rules, getting caught while doing it and getting punished for it. I want... I want to get called bad, filthy and dirty names, I want to be a disobedient, greedy and insatiable slut for them. I want to get spanked, edged and overstimulated, I want to get fucked into the mattress so bad, up to the point where I can’t get a single clear thought together and my brain turned to mush... I want to get used, ruined and wrecked by their cocks, getting my holes stuffed full with their cum and then plugged up, so nothing can run out anymore- God fuck, I should stop talking like that or I’ll get a serious problem! Well... sorry for so much detailed TMI, you know that this shit always happens when you tell me to stop overthinking and encourage me to spill everything that comes to my mind. Now you got every filthy detail you’ve asked for, you’re welcome.”, you joke sarcastically and facepalm yourself. You can’t believe how incredibly blunt and shameless you just threw your latest sex fantasy in every fucking detail at your poor best friend. 

Usually you’re more than shy to talk about such things, in your understanding the magic for your shameless mouth towards your best friend has to reside in the deep thrust you have in him and simply the knowledge that your relationship is platonic. It’s not like that you couldn’t trust your boyfriends wholeheartedly, god no! You know, that they would never kinkshame you for anything, 

it’s just... after sharing those thoughts it would result something out of it. You don’t want that they  think you’re a weirdo or that they only do specific things because they know it would turn you on. 

The other one just snorts in amusement when you voice this slight helpless apology, they can imagine the significant blush which has settled down on your cheeks. 

“Hey buddy, don’t apologize for that. There is nothing to apologizing for, I am way too curious for my own good as well and I need to make sure that you’re happy in your relationship, especially when it comes to the point if they are able to fulfill your sexual desires. I need to know that, believe me. Okay, there’s one thing... I knew you were submissive, my dude. But I didn’t expect that you’d be such a masochistic hoe and that you’d have such a thing for degradation, Jesus! Nevermind, more important: did you talked with them about that fantasy? Would they be down for this idea and would they like to be more in charge? Please do not tell me that you’re too shy to talk with them about it, not again! I tell you this every goddamn time, communication is key!”, your best friend says to you in a serious tone. 

Here you go again, getting scolded by your friend all over again. He is right, you know that... y’all already talked about ‘how to deal with certain kinks some of them or you have but the others aren’t into and how to not make them feel bad or insecure about it’ several times, you tend to overthink everything you have ever said to them all over again. You are always so flustered when seven pairs of eyes are looking at you, waiting for an answer. You are tall, even taller than Namjoon, but under their curious stares you feel always so small, fiddling with your fingers around like a little schoolboy. You love that about them, putting you into such a submissive place just with their aura and charisma and giving you the feeling as if they overtower you physically too. 

“I can absolutely agree with Y/BF/N, communication is key. Why didn’t you told us those nasty fantasies you have in your cute head up here, right away? Too shy again? Do we really need to call your best friend the next time to get some hints to your secret kinks, Babyboy?”, Taehyung rasps into your earshell and wraps his arms around you. He chuckles slightly as you squeak high-pitched in surprise. 

An equal surprised yelp of your best friend comes out of the speaker of your phone which takes Yoongi out of your hand and excuse you with the apology that ‘they need to have an important talk with you now and that you have to hang up unfortunately’. 

The display of your phone turns dark and Yoongi puts it on the surface of the kitchen island before he flashes you a dirty smile. That you’re mortified that they caught you spilling all those filthy fantasies to your best friend is the understatement of the century. Never and you mean never did you hoped so bad that the floor opens up and swallows you whole, saving you from this embarrassing misery. But Yoongi give you much time to drown in shame, coming up to you and connect your lips to a rough kiss. 

“God, I love it when our so sweet and shy Baby has such nasty and indecent fantasies in his head... why don’t you tell us these ideas in every single filthy detail once again? I think we could turn the information into some very good use, big boy~”, whispers the smaller one with blown-out eyes against your lips.

“...or would you prefer that we call you a needy cumslut, hm? The things I’ve heard give me the assumption that you want to get fucked stupid and pumped full with cum as if you are our personal playtoy?”, growls Jungkook and grabs himself a handful of your right asscheek, kneading it with a firm grip in his big palm. 

“Come on, big boy, admit that you want exactly the things Jungkook just said... I can feel how fucking hard you just got from his words... already so hard and swollen against my palm even though we barely touched you. You’re truly such a pathetic, needy slut... I bet you’d already cum in your pants if we just tease you enough... Am I right?”, chuckles Namjoon in his deep, arousal soaked timbre against your neck, nibbling at the sensitive spot of your Adam’s apple. 

“...what about we change our location to the bedroom and talk about the things you’ve said to Y/BF/N? Maybe we could try some of your newest kinks out? Would you like the thought of us watching you from the couch while you prepare your needy asshole for us? Showing us how you stuff you clenching rim with a girthy dildo? Wearing a cockring so you couldn’t cum without our permission? Prepping yourself all messy, whining for our finger, tongues and dicks in your ass like the greedy slut you are? Yeah, you’d love that thought.”, Seokjin teases you mercilessly, rolling your sensitive balls in his palm, just how you like it.  “Y-Yes, Daddies... I’d love to be a greedy cumslut for you... please turn me into one!”, you wisper. 

@cys-mental-escapades​; @bangtanloverboys​; @btsxmalereaders​

[doodlegirl12345]

A Friendship Tested {One Shot}

That moment when you actually get nostalgia from your much older projects. Hello everyone, I’m posting one of my older stories that I had quite a while back. I originally written this during the hiatus between season 3 & season 4 of Miraculous Ladybug. So it’s been a while and series have significantly progressed since then. But I decided to still post it as the story might entertain someone.

So without much farer ado here is one of my throwback stories “A Friendship Tested”.

Also available on Wattpad

A Friendship Tested

Friendship.

A bond between friends is sometimes the best bond that a person could make. In some cases they are stronger and healthier than blood within families. Due to the fact that you can choose your friends and not your family. It's one of the bonds that you can control and easily leave if necessary. Friends are the people that you confide in when secrets need to be told and to share coffee with. But of course like the best things it's not perfect as friends fight, make mistakes, and trust can be broken. That's the funny thing about friendship: some friends are here for a reason while others are for a season.

It was a late spring Saturday in the city of Paris as Alya Cèsaire sat on the wooden bench in front of the Nouvelle Jolie nail salon and spa. The aspiring reporter crossed her legs while her hazel eyes studied the video on her phone screen for a few seconds before making a deliberate video cut. Instead of wearing her usual attire, today she was wearing a short sleeve light gray top, boyfriend denim capris with a long sleeved orange flannel shirt tied around her hips, black converse sneakers, and a black quilted purse with various custom superhero buttons pinned to the purse. She adjusted the white earbuds in her ears, continuing editing the video on her phone as she waited. It was a video of the Duke Gloop akuma attack from yesterday at the Louvre. She had edited a few seconds of people running away before the action really began with Ladybug and Chat Noir's arrival. 

Luckily, she was able to film this week, not one but two videos. An ability that she had taken for granted was now a rarity these days.

In the past few months some priorities ran thin compared to others as work has been shoveled onto her shoulders. The Ladyblog's popularity skyrocketed in the past couple months, family duties, her relationship with her boyfriend Nino had gotten more serious, and her duty to Paris as the fox themed superhero Rena Rouge. Lately Alya has been doing damage control to keep from all this spilling over like a boiling pot. One was opening the blog for followers' submissions for videos. Another was Nino knowing about her superhero life and understanding when she had to cancel plans at the last minute. Or better yet he was able to join as Carapace. But there was still one more important factor of her life she needed to get a hold on.

Suddenly Alya felt the weight of the wooden bench underneath her had shifted as she felt a familiar presence beside her. The auburn haired girl looked up from her phone towards her right to see who it was.

To only see her best friend, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

"Hey, you're here," Alya smiled, pulling the earbuds from her ears.

"Well hey, you finally looked," Marinette smiled back. "What were you watching? I was calling your name for a solid minute."

"I was just doing some light editing for the Ladyblog," Alya explained, then looked at the time on her phone. "Wait, it's 11:55 am."

"Yep," Marinette smiled.

"This means that you are not only technically on time but you're early?" Alya had an impressed smile. "Congrats girl! You're not late for once since you were supposed to be here at noon. But wait that might mean the world is going to end now."

"Hilarious," her friend folded her arms. "Seriously, when have I been late?"

Alya raised a brow about to remind her every time she had been late in recent memory. Marinette's bluebell eyes widened as if she knew what Alya was going to say because she then said.

"Wait! Wait! Never mind, I know that look! Forget that I asked!"

Alya laughed, putting her arm around Marinette's shoulders. "It's okay I'm not going to hold it against you. Especially since you dressed up for our girls day."

The raven haired girl smiled, instead of her usual attire Marinette was wearing a short sleeved pink lace peplum top, rose embroidered blue jeans, her trademark pink purse, and black ballet flats.

"You like it?" Marinette asked.

"Definitely," Alya nodded. "Did you put that together last night?"

"Actually I have been working on this top for about two weeks as it was my first time working with lace. The fabric for the top cost about a month's worth of babysitting money so I didn't want to rush it. While the jeans were just an old pair that I just embroidered. If you give me a pair I can do it for your jeans if you want."

"I might take you up on that. I'm sure Luka is going to like it too when we meet with him and the others at the movies later."

"You think?"

"I'm sure I mean you two are dating after all," Alya stood up from the bench putting her phone in her purse. "But we should go inside now or we are going to miss our appointment. The man on the phone said there is a fifteen minute grace period before they cancel your appointment as a no show."

"Alright," Marinette stood up. "I just want to thank you again for inviting me to get our nails done, Alya."

"No problem, but I think you should thank my Grandma Shayera. She's the one that sent me the gift certificate for my birthday months ago," Alya led Marinette to the salon's front door. "The card suggests to use it with a friend. Who else could I think besides you?"

Technically there was more than what Alya was letting on. Marinette was her first choice but the reasoning was a little less obvious. One factor of her life she noticed she was losing a grasp on was her friendship with Marinette. It seems that the two have been drifting apart as they haven't spent much time alone together lately. Alya's responsibilities have increased and Marinette has been hanging out more with Kitty Section since she and Luka started dating two months ago.

So when Alya cleaned her desk last week and found the birthday card with the certificate to the Nouvelle Jolie Nail Salon & Spa, she decided to put it to good use. She planned for them to get their nails done in the afternoon, then later meet up with Nino, Luka, and a few of their other classmates to go to the movie theater downtown to see the newest fantasy movie The Halcyon Court.

They were planning to make a day of this.

The two girls walked in and checked in the reception area. The receptionist told them to go through the open doorway a few feet from the desk as that was where the nail salon was. They thanked him and walked through the doorway of the salon. Lacquer smell of nail polish and lavender hit their noses as they entered. The nail salon's white walls were covered with mauve drapes and the floor was black stone tile. There were a few manicure tables with chairs set up and ten black pedicure spa chairs against a wall. The adjacent wall had several attached black shelves with hundreds of bottles of nail polish from platinum white to absolute black. At one of the manicure tables there was a pair of young women chatting. A blonde and a brunette both were wearing uniforms of a light blue collar shirts with Nouvelle Jolie on the back, and white slip ons. The brunette looked up then smiled at the girls.

"Hi," the brunette waved as she stood up from the table. "Are you two the Cèsaire appointment? The two manicures?"

"Yes," Alya answered.

The brunette approached them shaking their hands, showing her electric blue nails with a dragonfly design. "I'm Monica and the blonde is Phoebe. We are your manicurists for today."

"Hi," Phoebe waved, picking up a pink thick binder from the table as she approached.

"Nice to meet you," Marinette said.

"Likewise," Phoebe handed Alya the binder. Then gave Marinette a sample chain with color swatches. "Here's our design look book. It has all the designs offered and the chain has the colors that aren't in the book."

"I should mention that you will be sharing the space today. The other appointment should be arriving soon," said Monica. "Is that alright?"

"Yeah," Alya turned to Marinette. "Is that okay with you?"

"Totally," Marinette said.

"Great, thank you for being so understanding. You don't know how many newbies complain about the usual setup while it's the best option," Phoebe let out a sigh of relief. "So get comfortable, and choose your colors so we make your nails a work of art. We are going to wait for the other appointment at the reception desk."

The girls sat in the salon chairs at the end and started to browse through the look book. There were photos of various nail designs like dragons, color blocking, glitter, dragonflies, flowers, and so on.

"So are you going natural or acrylic?" Alya asked her friend.

"Natural. How about you?" Marinette looked through the sample chain.

"Natural, I'm afraid that I will lose them when the glue wears off," the auburn haired girl flipped through the pages, then stopped. "Ooo, I think you might like this one." 

Alya held up the binder showing a photograph of a pair of hands with pale pink nails on all fingers except for the ring finger which was chalk white with pink rose decals. "It's number thirty five."

"So we are picking each other’s nails?"

"Depends, if you like it."

"I like it...now let me pick," she took the binder and flipped a few pages. "How about this number forty five?"

Alya looked at the photo that Marinette showed her, a pair of hands wearing deep peach nail polish with small white flowers and tiny green leaves.

"I mean it is your color, so what do you think?" her friend asked.

"It's cute," Alya said. "I like it." 

"I figured anything here would be better than what Nail Guru would give somebody. Remember when he attacked the city a couple weeks ago and gave everybody twenty inch nails?"

"I remember that I don't get what his plan was besides everybody poking their eyes out when they scratch their nose."

"I just pity anybody who needed to go to the bathroom during that."

The girls started to laugh when a familiar voice interrupted the hysterics.

"I see you two are having a good time."

Alya looked up half expecting to be Monica so they could tell her their decisions. But when she looked up it wasn't Monica. But instead another familiar face.

It was their classmate Lila Rossi standing right before them while Monica trailed behind her.

"Lila?" Alya asked, completely shocked.

She looked beside her towards Marinette, the raven haired girl's smile faded into a scowl and her blue eyes were shooting icy daggers. If looks could kill Lila would've just faced a full blown execution just by Marinette's glare.

"Hey girls," Lila smiled.

"You three know each other?" Monica asked.

"Yes," Lila answered. "We are in the same class."

"That's great getting your nails done is so much better when you have friends with you," Monica walked to a table picking up another look book then handed it to Lila. "Here's a look book so you can pick out a color or design. I'll be back with the other manicurists Phoebe, Janis, and Emily so we can get started soon."

"Okay, thank you so much," Lila took the book. "By the way I love your nails."

"Aww thank you, you're so sweet," Monica cooed. "I did them myself."

"Well that shows how talented you are," Lila told her.

"Thanks, I'll get the others so we can get started," the manicurist said, walking out of the room.

"Um Lila...it's nice to see you," Alya started.

"Debatable. What are you doing here, Lila?" Marinette crossed her arms.

"My mom and I are having a girls day out and we decided to get our nails done," Lila innocently answered. "But it's crazy to see you girls here. I didn't expect to see anyone I knew."

"So where's your mom?" Marinette asked.

"She needed to go to the bathroom but she should be out soon. So what are you two getting?" Lila asked.

"Just manicures," Alya answered.

"Oh you are going to love it. I came here before for a manicure and they did an amazing job," Lila said.

"That's nice," Marinette said flatly.

At that moment a woman in their late thirties entered the room. She had fair skin, brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, and light brown eyes. She was wearing a long sleeve blue jacket, a white top, black pants, a black shoulder bag, and black high heels. She had bags underneath her eyes, a forlorn look on her face, and a smartphone in her hand. 

"Hey mom, there you are," Lila smiled as the woman approached then it faded. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Bad news Lila, after I finished up in the bathroom I got a call from Lee at the embassy," said Ms. Rossi "I need to go there as soon as possible."

"What? They can't do that to you. This is your first real day off in a while," Lila told her.

"I know but they wouldn't be calling me in like this if it wasn’t serious."

"But we’re supposed to spend the whole day together."

"It's okay, I'll make it up to you like usual. You can stay here. Get a manicure and a pedicure, my treat. I'll also order those high heel boots you've been asking for lately. Okay?"

"Alright," Lila said, disappointment was in her eyes. "If you say so."

"Great," Lila's mother took her by the hand. "So let's go to the front desk to explain the situation and I can pay in advance so you don't have to worry about the bill."

Ms. Rossi walked Lila out of the room, presumably going to the front desk.

"Wow, did you see that?" Alya turned to Marinette, her heart was beating with empathy.

"Huh, what?" the raven haired girl looked up from the pages of the look book. "Oh. Very sad. But did you see number forty eight? They look like wolf claws!"

"Seriously Marinette? Lila's day just got ruined and that's all you got to say?"

"Um yes, considering that she is my worst enemy that's all I got."

"Come on, I thought Chloe was your worst enemy."

"She was but now she's under her and right above people who don't pick up after their dogs in public. I lost a good pair of flats that way."

"You could be nicer considering she hasn't really done anything to you."

"She hasn't done anything!? Excuse me, did you forget that she planted that answer key and her necklace to get me expelled!? Also she lied about me pushing her down the stairs."

"We still don't know about the answer sheet and necklace. We didn't find proof who exactly that was. As for the stairs thing Lila explained to everyone her condition that confused her to think you pushed her when instead she actually fell. When she realized her mistake she told Mr. Damocles and he let you back in."

"Okay don't you think it seems a little weird that Lila has so many conditions? You would think she would always be in the hospital."

"Her medical history isn't our business plus not every medical condition is visible. I have anemia and need to take iron tablets everyday so I don't feel faint. But you wouldn't know by just looking at me. Just because you don't carry an oxygen tank around doesn't mean you don't have a medical condition."

"True. But Lila is not one of those people; she just does it for attention. She's a super liar."

"But you got no proof. Besides, she did a solid for me and Nino a while back watching Ella, Etta, and Chris when you were unable to watch them like you promised."

Suddenly Marinette's face became flushed. "Well you know...something just came up."

"Well, Lila was there when we needed her.  Is the reason that you have a grudge against her because she seemed into Adrien when you had a thing for him?"

"What are you trying to say?"

"What I'm trying to say is that when she comes back, maybe be friendly. Her day just got ruined so we should try to be kind to her. You don't know you two might become friends."

"I would rather be attacked by an akuma," Marinette sighed. "But I'll do it for you as you shouldn't be paying for animosity."

"That's the spirit," Alya wrapped her arm around Marinette's shoulder. "If Ladybug could give Chloe a second chance after what happened during Fashion Week. You can tolerate Lila while getting your nails done."

A few short moments later Lila returned with Monica and Phoebe. In addition, two other women, presumably Janis and Emily. The manicurists got to work setting up their situations as Alya and Marinette told Monica and Phoebe their design choices. While Lila picked out hers. In less than ten minutes the polish was picked, the mini storage tables was placed, stools set up, and the girls hands (in Lila's case hands and feet) was all submerged in bowls of a foamy lavender scent nail treatment to make trimming and filing much easier later down the line.

"Okay," Alya felt the warm treatment and foam attached to her skin. "Would it be a bad time to say I want to scratch my nose?"

While Marinette laughed at the joke. Alya looked at Lila who had been quiet since she came back. She gestured her head towards Lila mouthing to her friend.

"Say something."

Marinette sighed. "Hey Lila, I think that lavender color you picked out for your polish is really pretty."

Lila turned to Marinette shocked. "Wait, are you talking to me?"

"Yes," the raven haired girl forced a smile. "That color is going to look really nice with your complexion."

"Oh...thank you, I just wanted to try something new," Lila looked over to the polish that Phoebe had laid out for Marinette. "I see you picked out pink going with your standby, huh?"

"Actually I picked it out for her," Alya interjected. "I figured it suited her outfit."

"Aww, that's so sweet of you," Lila told her. "By the way Alya, where did you get your purse? I noticed it when I came in. I love all those colorful superhero pins."

"Actually Marinette made it for me," Alya said.

"Yeah, it was a birthday gift," Marinette grinned. "By the way Alya I should add more pins to your bag as there's now more heroes like Viperion and Pegasus."

"You might not know this but Marinette is a designer," Alya told Lila. "The top that she's wearing right now she made herself from scratch." 

"Actually, I didn't," Lila's green eyes studied intensely on Marinette's top. "It reminds me of something Elena Angela would do considering the lace. Next time I call her I'll tell her I had met someone with a similar design style."

"Wait, are you saying that you know Elena Angela personally?" Marinette narrowed her eyes.

"Who's Elena Angela?" Alya asked.

"She's a very famous Italian designer. She is on the same level of Adrien's dad but for Italy," Marinette explained. "The reason why I know about her is because I have been looking into a lot of modern designers' work lately. She was one of the first names that popped up."

"Yes, we are actually very close," the brunette girl beamed. "I was the one who gave her inspiration when she was going through a block. We met at a charity event and have been close ever since. She actually modeled her line Ragazza Di Lusso after me."

"The one that made millions of dollars?" Marinette asked.

"Yep, I even did some modeling for her too," Lila said nonchalantly.

"Wow," Alya said, impressed.

"Really?" Marinette asked. "The Ragazza Di Lusso line came out last year and I never saw you in any of its promos or the runway videos during fashion week, Lila."

"That's because you didn't look far enough back. I modeled her other line, the Giglio Bianco collection," Lila explained. "She pushed the Ragazza Di Lusso line back so she could have more time and did the Giglio Bianco instead. After the Giglio Bianco collection I took a little time off from modeling. But I started up again with that photo shoot with Adrien a while ago. Did you see that one, Marinette?"

"Yes, I have," Marinette glared at her.

"Did ask her to keep a low profile on me for the sake of privacy," Lila smiled. "But she did mention me once or twice in some magazine interviews. But they are all in Italian. Do you even know Italian?"

"Sadly, I don't," the raven haired girl admitted.

"I'm actually starting to learn some," Alya said.

"Wait? What?" Marinette turned to her. "Since when?"

"Last week, I found this really cool Italian show on YouTube. The only videos I have found have Italian dub with French subs. The show was very interesting so I started learning to follow the show better. It's not much but I know how to count to ten."

"What show is it?" Lila asked.

"It's called All'alba," Alya replied.

"All'aba! That's one of my favorite shows!" the brunette girl exclaimed. "How far are you? Who's your favorite character?"

"I just finished season one. I still need to watch the first couple episodes of season two. Also Mia is my favorite. She is hilarious."

"My favorite is Jasmine, I love her style and she's so confident. You seem pretty caught up with season one so can you believe what Vera did to Allegra in episode nineteen?"

"No way," Alya shook her head. "I mean how can you do that to your own cousin?"

Alya and Lila continued to chat about All'albra characters and plot lines while the manicurists dried their nails then started trimming and filing their nails. Eventually they shifted into painting as the two girls continued to talk. Marinette remained quiet, not having much to contribute to the conversation.

"Personally, I think that Marco was the one that stole the money," Alya told Lila as Monica applied another coat on her nails. "He wasn't at Jasmine's party now Mia's money is gone."

"Mmm," Lila shifted her eyes to Janis doing her nails. "You need to catch up on the two new episodes."

"Wait it isn't Macro, is it Vincent? But it can't be because he was with Gabriella."

"No spoilers," Lila laughed. "You have to find out for yourself."

"Wow this sounds like a really interesting show," Marinette said as Phoebe applied more pink polish to her nails. "Maybe I should check it out."

"Definitely," Alya agreed. "The show is very dramatic but in a good way. It's awesome to have someone to talk about it with. I tried with Nino but he wasn't into it."

"Hey Alya, I just had a great idea. If you are able to catch up in time then maybe we can watch the next episode together at my place," Lila said. "Like a mini viewing party the next episode should be online this upcoming Friday. We can make it a weekly thing and I can help with your Italian too. I understand how hard it is to learn another language. It took me a while to get a hang of French. So are you interested?"

"Definitely, thanks Lila," Alya turned to Marinette. "Hey, maybe you should come. I mean if that's okay with Lila."

"Um...I don't know," said Lila. "It's a pretty plot-heavy series. Maybe she should watch the series to see if she likes it before jumping in."

"You got a point," the auburn girl agreed then looked at Marinette. "I'll send you a link to the YouTube channel tonight when I get home. I'm probably going to stay up late anyway finishing editing and updating the Ladyblog."

"Oh by the way Alya I wanted to mention that I checked out your latest video on the Ladyblog," Lila said. "You got great coverage of The Pixie akuma. But gotta ask about the angle that you filmed from the video. It looked like you were floating in the air."

"It's because I was, originally I was filming  behind a car but I ended up getting hit by a ray from Pixie's wand that was meant for Ladybug and Chat Noir," Alya said casually. "I ended up floating towards the sky but I was still able to film the whole fight. So still a win."

"You need to be more careful while filming one of these days you're going to get seriously hurt being reckless," Marinette told her.

"But I wasn't as I was hiding besides I heard it all before from my parents, Nino, even Ladybug and Chat Noir," Alya rolled her eyes.

"It's just because we don't want you to get hurt."

"But shouldn't a journalist not be afraid to be in the middle of the action?" Lila asked Marinette. "You know, to get the story that they need."

"Yeah, that's what I've been saying," Alya grinned. "Thank you Lila."

"No problem, I always support people who go for what they want," Lila winked. "Just like Mia did when she applied for that internship."

"Exactly, that's one of my favorite episodes; too bad Bianca had to kiss Lando in that episode," Alya nodded.

"Right! I was literally screaming at the screen 'stop it! That's your sister's boyfriend!’” Lila said. "I mean, what kind of what person does that?"

"I just know if one of my sisters kissed Nino like that then it would be World War III. But Ella and Etta still think boys have cooties and Nora is older. Even if we were around the same age he isn't her type."

"Well you two are a cute couple I have been meaning to ask how you two get together?"

"It's actually a funny story," Alya said.

She told Lila the basic details of how her and Nino got trapped in a cage at the zoo while she was doing a favor for Marinette. In addition, Nino actually had a little crush on Marinette beforehand.

"But technically if it wasn't for Marinette then I would realize how cool that Nino is if I wasn't at the zoo that day," Alya finished. “So in a way Marinette I have to thank you. You and Ladybug of course."

"That's what friends are for," the raven haired girl smiled.

"Wait. So Nino had a crush on Marinette before you started dating? Don't you think that's a little weird?" Lila asked.

"No," Marinette answered. "Why would it be? Anyway, why would you care if it was?"

"Don't be offended, I wasn't trying to imply anything," Lila reassured her. "It's just my cousin Camila who was in a similar situation with her friend Tamara and her boyfriend Nick. He ended up cheating on Camilla with Tamara."

"That would never happen with us!" Marinette yelled, nearly standing out of her seat almost causing Phoebe to mess up the coat she was working on.

"Lila, I'm not worried I trust both Nino and Marinette," Alya said. "Besides, Marinette has a boyfriend so it's not like she's jealous."

"It's just something similar happened to my cousin. But Nino is an upstanding guy so I doubt anything would happen," Lila told her. "By the way how long have you and Marinette been friends anyway?"

"We met on the first day of school so for a couple months," the auburn haired girl answered.

"Funny as Camila and Tamara knew each other since they were five and they were sixteen when it happened," Lila said. "But again what do I know you guys are different."

The room was quiet for a minute when Alya suddenly asked if anyone saw the latest Jagged Stone music video to change the subject. However even though the conversation topic changed there was still an awkward and unsettling feeling in the atmosphere. Alya and Lila continued to talk about All'alba bonding even more while the manicurists finished up. After a round of hands and a pair of feet in the nail dryers the girls' nails were done. They looked exactly like the photos in the look book with the vibrant colors, flower designs, and decals. The three girls thanked the manicurists for their work. Alya and Marinette left the salon area to the reception desk to pay with Lila trailing behind them.

"It was nice spending time with you girls," Lila said.

"Likewise Lila," Alya told her. "Isn't that right Marinette?"

"Yeah it was great," the raven haired girl folded her arms. "Alya, we should get going."

"Right, what time is it?" she asked her.

Marinette pulled out her phone from her purse and checked. "It's two twenty and we are supposed to meet everybody at three."

"Awesome, we should have enough time to meet everybody at the theater," Alya said.

"Theater? Are you two seeing a movie?" Lila asked.

"Yes," Marinette replied, panic seemed to cross her blue eyes. "It's kinda like a small date-like thing."

"More like a group thing," Alya said.

Her friend shot her a look. "It's more like a small group date thing."

"What movie are you going to see?" Lila asked.

"The Halcyon Court," Alya told her. 

"I have heard good things about that movie," Lila sighed. "You two are lucky to be able to do something after this. My mom and I were going to get something to eat but obviously our plans were canceled. So I'm going to go home and watch some reruns of All'alba."

"That sounds like a plan," Marinette smiled while taking Alya's hand. "So let's go to the desk to pay Alya."

"That's terrible Lila," Alya stayed still, refusing to move by her friend's yanking.

"Yeah but that's just my normal," Lila shrugged. "I'll be alone for a couple hours as my mom said she doesn't know when she will come back tonight. But I'll see you girls on Monday."

Lila started to leave, walking past them as Marinette cheerfully waved goodbye. While Alya started to think about the situation.

It's just one movie. Alya thought. We're  just meeting up with Nino, Luka, Alix, Max, Nathaniel, Marc, Julkea, Rose, Kim, Odiene, Ivan, and Mylene. Adrien won't be there since his father scheduled a photo shoot around the same time. One more wouldn't make a difference, right?

"Lila, wait!" the auburn haired girl called out. "Do you have any money on you?"

"Yeah my mom gave me money for some takeout, why?" the brunette girl turned around.

"Well, if you are able to pay for yourself then do you want to go to the movies with us?"

"Really?"

"Yeah sure it's just a few people from class so you know nearly everybody already."

"If that's the case then I would love to!" Lila walked over to her, giving her a hug. "Thank you so much Alya, you're so nice!"

"It's no big deal, really," she insisted.

Alya looked over to her best friend with a bright smile while Marinette looked back, returning the smile with a scowl.

After Alya paid with the gift certificate the three girls left the salon then took a ride on the metro. Lila and Alya sat together, chatting and even pulled out their phones to follow each other on Instagram. While Marinette sat a few seats behind them, but she didn't say a word to them. She just sat looking into her purse mumbling something that Alya couldn't make out. They got off at their destination then went above ground to walk to the theater about two blocks away.

"I can't wait for this movie!" Lila exclaimed, linking arms with Alya as they walked down the street. "The trailer looked awesome."

"Me either, I read The Halcyon Court book series when I was little," Alya said. "Plus my favorite actress Yara Jace is playing my favorite character Princess Windsor."

"You like Yara Jace?"

"Yeah, she's so cool and is an animal rights activist which I totally support."

"That's great to hear I should tell Yara the next time I call her."

"Wait? Next time you call her? Are you telling me that you know Yara Jace too?"

"I know all the major celebrities, maybe I can try to get you an interview with her. It might be a while since she's promoting the movie. I know it's not superhero related either but-"

"I would love that," Alya turned to Marinette who was trailing behind them. "Hey girl, did you hear that? Lila knows Yara Jace."

"I heard," Marinette said softly, avoiding her eyes.

Alya raised a brow letting go of Lila. She approached Marinette seeing that she was looking very somber in her face.

"Hey, what's wrong, you've been very quiet lately," Alya said.

"Oh what?" Marinette's voice rang out with a little edge. "Did my own back hurt your knife?"

The auburn haired girl's hazel eyes narrowed. She turned back to Lila. "Excuse us for a second."

Alya grabbed Marinette by the wrist and pulled her into a nearby alleyway. "Okay, what was that?"

"I don't know how about you ask your new best friend?" Marinette yanked her hand from Alya's grip.

"New best friend, do you mean Lila?"

"You had no right inviting her without talking to me first!"

"Excuse me? Since when did I have to run things by you?"

"You should've considered it since you weren't going alone."

"She didn't have anything to do after the salon. What was I supposed to do?"

"Leave her there! That's what you could've done! She's not some lost puppy that followed you home."

"I didn't see you complaining when you was getting the manicure I paid for-"

"That's because I kept my promise of no fighting at the salon. But you didn't keep your promise of keeping it at the salon. Even though you know that I don't like her."

"I don't see what your problem is, she has been nothing but nice all day."

"To you, you didn't see all the nasty faces she was giving me back at the salon."

"What faces? I didn't see anything and I was with you the whole time. You're just making stuff up now. She hasn't done anything to you."

"Haven't done anything, have you not been listening?! But again why I'm surprised you never listened to me when it came to Lila. Even though she has been after me since day one! Every time I try to tell you something you brush me off!"

"It's because you never have proof Marinette! You could say that she's Ladybug or Batman but without seeing proof I can't accept anything!" 

"It's because she's made out of solid Teflon, nothing sticks to her!"

"A real reporter doesn't accept stories without proof."

"Well, are you a real reporter or my friend?"

"Can't I be both?"

"I don't know as a real friend would've been considerate with my feelings and would've not invited that girl to the movies."

"But how can I be when I know that you are wrong?! Just admit it, Marinette you don't like Lila because she committed the worst crime possible by liking Adrien the same time that you did. That's why you've been holding this grudge for months. You have done it with Chloe, you did it with Kagami, and you're doing it with Lila! I wouldn't be surprised if you hated me too if I had a crush on Adrien. I don't, but I wouldn't put it past you. That's why I'm taking what you said with a grain of salt. It all stems from jealousy which is getting old! Especially since you literally have a boyfriend waiting for you right now, but you decided to have this fight with me! So, I'm so sorry that I don't hate Lila like you do!"

"You're just so blind you can't even tell she's using you to hurt me! The only reason you like her is because she blows smoke up your butt! 'Oh Alya I love your bag, you're so brave for almost getting killed filming stuff for your blog, you have great taste for watching an Italian drama that no one cares about, you and Nino are such a cute couple.' But newsflash Miss Reporter she does that to everybody! YOU'RE NOT SPECIAL!"

Soon as that last word left Marinette's mouth her eyes widened, showing instant regret while Alya reeled back in shock.

"Alya I didn't..." Marinette started.

"Don't," Alya shook her head, keeping tears from welding in her eyes. "I think that we both meant what we said. Let's go. I'm sure the guys are waiting for us."

Alya stepped out of the alleyway to Lila leaning against the wall of the building, standing very awkwardly. Color drained from Alya's face realizing what Lila probably heard.

Did she hear us? she thought. Of course she did. We were practically having a screaming match.

"Lila..." Alya said.

"Alya if me being here is causing a problem maybe I should just go," Lila told her. "I don't want to be a burden."

"No Lila," Alya watched Marinette come out of the alleyway. She put her arm around Lila's shoulder. "You are right where you're supposed to be."

The three girls continued their walk; both Alya and Marinette were silent. While Lila was bubbly as ever talking about the movie. They eventually reached their destination as they saw Nino and Luka standing outside the theater.

"Hey girls," Nino greeted them. "You're finally here, Luka and I were starting to get worried about you."

"Hey babe," Alya spoke softly as she approached her boyfriend.

She turned to Luka to greet him when Marinette approached him wrapping his arms around him in a tight hug. The rocker was shocked but he wrapped his arms around her, whispering something in her ear.

"Hi Nino," Lila waved at the Dj.

"Hi...Lila?" Nino asked, confusion crossed his face. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"I didn't expect to be here but your amazing girlfriend invited me," Lila gushed. "Isn't she so sweet?"

"Yep she's the greatest," Nino looked at Alya. "Um, let's go inside, the rest of the group is already in line to buy tickets."

The teens entered the movie theater that smelled like freshly popped popcorn and was filled with people and chatter. The rest of the group, similar to Nino, was surprised to see Lila but welcomed her with open arms. The group all brought their tickets then dispersed around the theater going to the snack stand to buy overpriced popcorn and candy or go to the bathroom before the show started. Alya and Nino walked toward the snack bar when she saw Marinette and Luka. Both of the girls turned away from each other. Alya still felt horrible, she couldn't look at her without thinking about the hurtful things that Marinette had said.

The things that she had said.

"Okay," Alya said to Nino. "You paid for the tickets this time so I'll pay for the snacks. So what do you want mixed with the popcorn? Peanut M&M's or raisinets?"

Nino took her hand. "We need to talk."

"About what?" she asked him as he pulled her to a nearby bench.

"What's going on with you and Marinette? You two looked really upset when you came here," Nino said.

"Nino, we are going to be late for the movie if we don't get in line soon," Alya said.

"We are just going to miss about twenty minutes of trailers," he said. "Come on Aly, talk to me. What's going on?"

Alya sighed and sat down on the bench. She spilled everything that happened from Lila appearing at the salon, their discussion, her inviting Lila to the movies to her and Marinette's fight.

"Wow, all that happened in a few hours?" Nino asked. "You know that you need to talk to Marinette."

"What? Why?" Alya asked. "Are you saying that it's my fault?"

"I didn't say that, don't put words in my mouth. But you know that Marinette doesn't like Lila."

"I know that but...after seeing what happened with Lila and her mom. I just wanted to be nice and figured this would be a great way that Marinette could put the whole Lila grudge behind her. It would make it easier for her and us too."

"You have a big heart trying to help people, Alya. But inviting Lila when you promised Marinette wasn't the right thing to do. You can't force people to be friends. Sometimes the best thing for two people to do is coexist. Long as they aren't hurting anybody."

"But it would be easier for them to be friends."

"Easier for them or easier for you?" Nino folded his arms. "It sounds like you were thinking about yourself, not Marinette. There's nothing wrong with being friends with Lila, she's cool. But doing the right thing won't always be the easiest." 

"But what about the things Marinette had said?" Alya asked.

"What she said wasn't great but I'm sure that mostly came from anger. That's why you two should talk as both of you hopefully cooled down. You can't let one fight between you girls end your friendship."

"Why won't you ever let me stay mad?" Alya groaned as Nino wrapped his arm around her.

"It's because I hate seeing you upset," Nino kissed her on the cheek. "Now talk to her, I'm sure you two can sort this stuff out."

Alya nodded, reaching for her bag to give Nino the money for snacks while she tried to find Marinette when she heard someone yell.

"LILA, YOU WITCH!"

Alya and Nino looked up to see Marinette with Luka standing in the middle of the theater. Lila was in front of them, her hands covering her mouth. The front of Marinette's new shirt was covered with cola, gooey movie theater nacho cheese and tortilla chips.

"LOOK WHAT DID YOU!" Marinette yelled looking disgusted with her shirt.

Lila started to openly sob, strangers around them started to chuckle to themselves while their classmates started to look at Marinette with disdain. Tears started to run down Marinette's face as she ran to the ladies' room. Luka followed, calling out to her.

"What happened?" Alya ran over to the scene, Nino following.

"It was an accident," Lila sobbed. "I just got nachos for the movie and was walking to the theater. My ankle started to hurt and I stumbled a bit forward with my food. It fell out of my hands onto Marinette. I didn't see her but now she's going to hate me even more!"

"Lila, it's okay, it was an accident. Marinette will have to understand," Alya consoled her. "But I should check up on her."

"No I should do it," Lila insisted. "I should help her clean up. It was my fault."

The brunette girl then ran to the ladies room before Alya could say another word.

"I should check on her anyway," Alya dug her purse and handed Nino some money. "You go and buy the snacks."

"I think that's a good idea," Nino took the money. "You want a Sprite to drink, right?"

Alya nodded then walked to the ladies room. Luka was standing outside of the bathroom.

"Lila is in there with Marinette trying to clean her shirt," Luka said as Alya approached.

"Okay thanks Luka," Alya started to go in when Luka stopped her.

"Hey Alya is something going on with Marinette and Lila? She was pretty upset when you guys came here. Also...look I don't really know Lila well so I'm probably not the one to judge. But that nacho spill looked pretty intentional."

"Intentional? It's pretty complicated between them, Luka. But I'm going to check on them right now."

Alya walked in the bathroom passing empty stalls and sinks as the theater's bathroom was large and divided in two sections.

"Leave me alone Lila!" Marinette yelled.

Alya walked to the other section of the bathroom against the white and red tiled wall that divided the space in half. She walked to the end and peered her head out to see Marinette's back against the row of sinks while Lila stood in front of her. The brunette girl's features were much more hard looking and sinister.

"Oh Marinette," Lila chuckled to herself. "Why would you ask that when you know I can't? Especially since you still don't realize who really runs the show around here."

Her voice sounded much more sinister and intimidating. This scene just felt so wrong, a tiny voice in Alya's head piped up telling her one thing.

Record it. For proof.

Alya quickly pulled out her phone and switched it on to video mode pointing at the girls.

"Why not?" Marinette asked. "You already ruined my day out with Alya. Can't you give this a rest?"

"No, I can't as it seems that you never learn Marinette. You don't know where your place is supposed to be," Lila explained. "It's the bottom. I told you my first day back you are either with me or against me. You chose against and the bottom is where people like you belong."

"Stop it!"

"Stop what? This is one of the few times I'm actually telling the truth. Isn't that what you wanted the truth? Despite what you probably thought our war wasn't over. The whole letting you back in school thing after planting the answer sheets in your bag and the necklace in your locker. That wasn't a truce that was being merciful; even a few enemy soldiers during war are merciful once in a while."

Alya suddenly felt her stomach lurch. Guilt started to wrap around her like a damp wool blanket.

Marinette was right? she thought.

"But it gotta be something else as I've been staying out of your way. What is it, Adrien?”Marinette asked. "He's dating Kagami and I'm with someone else."

"Ah yes that blue haired boy. Luka is his name isn't it? I saw how you were hanging onto him. He's pretty cute but I'm sure he would look better with me."

Marinette's eyes widened and she lunged forward. "NO HE WOULDN'T!"

"Hey, don't yell at me," Lila said calmly. "I'm not the bad guy here. I'm not the one who told her supposed best friend she wasn't special."

"You heard that?" Marinette shrank, reeling back into her place.

"Of course I did. You two were practically having a screaming match."

"I-I-I didn't mean it I was just angry," the raven haired girl confessed then her eyes hardened. "It was because you were with us."

"I guess I bring the worst out of you, go figure," Lila shrugged. "Alya will be my friend now, especially since we hit it off at the salon. I'm sure she hates your guts, but do you want to know a secret? I don't even like Alya that much. She's just as annoying and grating just like the rest of the class. But when I saw you girls at the salon, how could I pass up this gift wrapped opportunity to take her away from you?"

"Alya is one of the most amazing people that I know, you don't deserve her. So is the rest of our class."

"Oh really the class that was so easy to manipulate against you with a few lies. Besides with Alya it's not your decision, all it took was a few compliments and ego strokes, now she's practically eating out of my hand. Luka will too. I saw his t-shirt. I'm sure he would be interested to know that Jagged Stone wrote a song about me when I rode on his private jet."

"He won't."

"Alya did, so I'm sure you will be talking to Hawkmoth soon. I mean losing your best friend and boyfriend in one day. Not even you can handle that. Hopefully you will make yourself useful and finally take Ladybug's miraculous. That's another girl that needs to be taken down a peg."

Alya's mouth hung agape almost unsure what she had witnessed. She pressed the record button again, ending the video and saving it. She quickly sent it to the group chat she had made with the class at the beginning of the school year to save it just in case. Probably everybody's phone was on silent because the movie was starting soon but it would be best to have saved several places. Just in case, a tip she learned from her favorite book Journalism 101.

Alya looked back up to see Marinette with tears in her eyes. It was clear she was unraveling but was still trying to prevent an akuma from coming. She tried to move away when Lila grabbed her by the stained shirt.

"I'm not finished with you!" she yelled.

"Yes you are!" Alya yelled, stepping from the tile wall.

"ALYA!" Lila suddenly released Marinette, her features softened as if her wickedness reverted back in its shell. "I-I didn't know that you were here. I was helping Marinette with her shirt. She's such a squirmer. Tell her Marinette."

Marinette remained silent in a daze as if she was wondering if this was real life or fantasy.

"Cut the act, I heard everything," Alya growled. "The truth and the threats, Marinette has been right all along."

"B-but Alya you clearly misheard, Marinette was the one attacking me!" Lila sobbed. "She has been saying nasty things to me. Anything I said was in self defense. I mean I can explain my mom is always working and is never home. That's why any of this happened."

"That might be the reason but not an excuse to treat people this way. I don't know who I'm more mad at, you for manipulating me or myself for taking your side over Marinette's!"

Lila's features harden. "Well, I guess show over then, so I'll give you the same treatment. You either with me or against me Cèsaire if I could drag Little Miss Perfect over there through the mud then imagine what I can do to you." 

"I choose against that little scene with Marinette. I recorded it and sent it through our class' group chat already. They are probably watching it right now."

"You're buffing," Lila said.

"No she’s not," Marinette said, as if she found her voice again. "That's the difference between you and her Lila. When Alya says she did something then she most likely did. She's honest and true, not a fake."

Lila's face burned red, then shoved Alya out of her way. She left the bathroom yelling. "You're going to regret this Cèsaire!"

"Ahh quit you lying!" Alya yelled back.

She looked at Marinette taking a deep breath. The raven haired girl turned on the sink, pulled a paper towel from the dispenser, wet it and started to clean her shirt more.

"Marinette, I'm so sorry," Alya approached her. "This is all my fault. I...I let Lila take me for a ride. I forgot what really matters to my best friend. You were right, I'm not special, I'm just an idiot."

"Oh come you are one of the best people I know," Marinette continued to clean. Her shirt now had a huge faded yellow stain. "I just said that because I was upset."

"Don't say that not right now after how awful I've been. I should have listened to you all these months. I'm sorry that I lost sight of our girls' day that was supposed to be about us spending time together."

"And I'm sorry for what I said. I wasn't being exactly honest with you or myself. In a way you were right, one of the main reasons I didn't like Lila, because I saw her with Adrien. That's why I followed them but when I realized she was a liar it became justification to hate her. But today I was just worried about losing my best friend."

"You didn't," Alya hugged her.

Marinette smiled. "Too bad my shirt got messed up in the middle of this."

"I'll pay for the dry cleaning but..." Alya looked down to her hips remembering the flannel shirt that was tied around her. She untied it and offered it to Marinette. "It's not nice as yours but-"

"It's perfect," Marinette took the shirt, putting it over the nacho cheese stains.

"Good, it's the least that I could do," Alya wrapped her arm around her friend's shoulders. 

"You finally exposed Lila," her friend smiled. "If that's not the biggest way to apologize then I don't know what is."

Alya just smiled. "Well as I said I just needed to see some proof."

A friendship tested but was able to remain strong. That's the thing about true friendship. It's like a good rubber band, it can get pulled and stretched but if it's really true then it's not easy to break.

The End.

Thanks for reading! 💕

I hoped you liked this story. One of the original reason I had wrote this story was in my opinion at the time the girls’ friendship had dipped a little. They wasn’t shown hanging out alone much at that time and the Lila situation in general. Now at this point much have changed as now Alya knows Marinette’s secret identity and had helped out as Rena Rouge/ Rena Furtive. But we also had her side with Lila in the episode “Risk” which was very disappointing in my opinion. I mean did the girls throughout the season had not discussed Lila and her whole story about being Ladybug’s best friend completely falls apart with this information.

Seriously we could had an episode of Alya distancing herself from Lila after learning the truth. Maybe have Alya wanting to expose Lila but Marinette tells her no. The main reason because she does not want Lila to go after her. But maybe have Lila sense the shift in Alya and tries to befriend her. But Alya keeps her distance which angers Lila. The episode could end with both Marinette and Alya exposing Lila once and for all.

But I guess that’s just wishful thinking. At least for now. Nevertheless, I hope you liked this story.

Normally I like to end a part/story with a song. So this time the song is “Count Me In” by Dove Cameron.

“A Friendship Tested” is also on Wattpad so feel free check it out there.

See you next time! 👋

[lesvegas]

My Mod List for Fallout: New Vegas

Some months ago, I answered an ask regarding FNV mods I’d recommend. Over the past few months, I’ve tried many more mods since, and have even removed several mods from the original list. I decided to remake the list, both in this post and also in this doc for the sake of documentation.

These are both for my own reference and for anyone who’s looking for mod recommendations. Keep in mind my preferences for mods tend to be smaller-scale, quality of life and immersive mods, and I’m not super into big story mods.

This is a long one, so I’m putting it under a readmore.

You’re gonna wanna start with this mod configuration menu, which helps to manage mods in-game. 

Fixes & Script Extenders

Most of these are necessary for a stable game and for the rest of the mods listed here.

New Vegas Script Extender (NVSE) - You’ll need this for most of these to work at all.

Yukichigai Unofficial Patch (YUP) - A compilation of vital bug fixes with no further additions. Just bug fixes.

Unofficial Patch Plus - A collection of supplementary bug fixes to be used alongside YUP. Includes improved versions of popular NVSE bug fixes.

New Vegas Anti Crash (NVAC) - Says it right there in the name.

JIP LN NVSE Plugin - An extension of NVSE that restores broken features and supplies bug fixes; read through this one before toggling anything.

JohnnyGuitar NVSE - Another NVSE extender.

FNV 4GB Patch - Simple patcher to make Fallout New Vegas 4GB Aware.

Throwable Weapon Fixes - A collection of fixes for throwable weapons and projectiles.

Overhauls

New Vegas Character Expansions (NVCE) - Probably the only character overhaul that just makes everyone look a little less potato without making them look hollow inside. (NOTE: This may make some characters have white faces. If this happens, the fix that worked for me is at the bottom of this post)

Water Overhaul - Overhauls various aspects of water, making radiation-free water more scarce and allowing you to refill bottles anywhere with a water source.

Starting Gear Overhaul - Adjusts the gear you start with to be more sensible and catered to your tagged skills. Recommended using along with JSawyer Ultimate.

Mojave Raiders - Adds more raiders to fight and balances their loot.

Mojave Wildlife - Adds hundreds more levelled, vanilla-friendly creature spawn points throughout the whole Mojave, based off unused vanilla levelled lists.

Mojave Arsenal - Adds ammo variants, reloading parts, and weapon mods as loot; fixes item naming conventions; improves recipes; and adds options for configuring GRA.

The Living Desert - Adds hundreds of NPCs and several scripted events; people patrolling the roads, travelling between towns, occupying locations.

Faction Map Icon Overhaul - Changes faction-related icons on the Pip-Boy map, for example Camp McCarran and the Mojave Outpost’s icons are the two-headed bear, the Fort and Cottonwood Cove are the bull, etc.

Immersion

New Vegas Enhanced Camera - Enables visible body and player shadow in first person, will let you remain in first person when you would otherwise be forced into third person (death/knocked down/etc).

Barton Thorn Acts Normally - Barton Thorn seeks out the player himself to ask for help with the geckos.

Clarity - Removes orange/blue tints.

Harvestable Cave Fungus - Self-explanatory.

Better Pickup Prompt - Makes several improvements to the HUD pickup prompt that appears when you look at an item. (NOTE: This mod has been discontinued, but seems to still work).

Realistic Safehouse Upgrades - Gives every safehouse a workbench, reloading bench, camp fire and more containers to make them feel like home.

Eddie Hears And Explosion - Fixes one of the clunkier moments in the game, near the end of the Powder Ganger questline.

Neck Seam Concealer Necklaces - A wide variety of necklaces that perfectly conceal the seam connecting characters’ heads and torsos. 

Vanilla Hair, No Shine - Makes the default hairstyles have less obnoxious white shine.

Light Step ED-E - This mod gives ED-E the Light Step perk, preventing him from setting off mines and floor traps.

Hi-Res Vanilla Posters and Graffiti - Posters and graffiti have x2 upscaled resolution, with no ugly blurring or sharpening.

Mojave Nights - Mojave Nights combines my Enhanced Night Sky mod with a brand-new, highly detailed moon replacement for complete night-time realism.

Functional Post-Game Ending (FPGE) - Adds a fully functional post-game world to the game, where you will realise the consequences of your choices.

Just Vanilla Sprint (JVS) - A simple vanilla sprint mod. Requires JIP LN Plugin (scroll up to Fixes & Script Extenders).

Animated Maize Fields, Park Equipment, Poseidon Energy Signs (personal fave), Sunset Sarsaparilla Rotary Entrance, Rotating Brahmin Rotisserie, and Foliage. This mod maker has tons of immersive little animation mods; I recommend looking through all of them.

JSawyer Ultimate Edition

JSawyer Ultimate Edition - JSawyer's popular mod, fully re-implemented from the ground up. A ‘meant-to-be’ mod which changes elements of the game to how they should have been from the start.

JSawyer Ultimate Edition Patches - Patches for using several popular mods alongside JSawyer Ultimate Edition.

JSawyer Mod Vanilla Number Of Perks - Changes the final total number of perks acquired by level 34 from the JSawyer default of 17 to the vanilla default of 25.

Perk Every Level, Cap at 100 - JSawyer Ultimate Edition caps the player at level 35. Once I reached level 35, THEN I installed this mod, which was the only increased level cap mod that worked for me. It doesn’t add perks after that, though; I have to add perks manually.

Restored Cut Content

Uncut Wasteland - Restores a huge amount of scenery and little random things which were patched out of the game post-release.

The Moon Comes Over The Tower - Restores the rest of the quest given by Emily Ortal, which requires you to go H&H Tools Factory, Camp Golf, and North Vegas Steel.

Vanilla Intro Plus - Restores the bit of the intro where Victor pulls the courier out of their own grave.

Classic Fallout Floaters - Adds Floaters into New Vegas based on information and cut content found within the files. Can be found where Centaurs lurk.

The Strip Open - Removes the gates and excess loading screens within the Strip.

Legion Quests Expanded - Provides more Legion content by adding or expanding several Legion quests. Needs compatibility patches.

Karma and Reputation

Karma Changes - Changes the karma alignment of some NPCs, like making Caesar Very Evil instead of Neutral.

Lonesome Road True Faction Allegiance - The parameters for your allegiance has been altered to reflect on your quest status, rather than reputation. This is reflected in Ulysses’ dialogue and the courier duster.

Powder Ganger Rep Fix (Ghost Town Gunfight) - A quick and easy fix that removes the Goodsprings Powder Gangers from the PG Faction.

Negative Karma for Gravedigging - Gives the player bad karma every time they dig up a grave.

Quests

Autumn Leaves - A DLC-sized quest mod in a centuries-old library inhabited by sentient machines with a mystery to solve.

Boom to the Moon - A short but sweet quest investigating a moon base featuring some of the best interiors I’ve ever seen in a video game. Walkthrough required, though, and be sure to install the failsafes.

Snow Globe Quest - Adds quest markers to all the snow globes you find for Mr. House.

Benny

Benny Returns - Returns Benny to the game as a companion. Be sure to read through the mod description carefully before saving him from the Fort.

Bi Benny: The Re-Bennying - Edits Benny's Black Widow dialog to work with Confirmed Bachelor couriers, with altered working voiced + lip sync dialog. It’s a little rough but it works.

Save Benny Without Angering The Legion - This mod makes you able to save Benny at The Fort without angering the Legion or breaking their questline.

Less Serious Mods

Benny’s Aid - Funny Simpsons reference.

Mr. House Portrait Fix - Gives the portraits of Mr. House the Platinum Drip.

I Got Spurs - Adds a set of lucky spurs to Doc Mitchell's house that can be worn with any clothing. They can be found on top of the Vigor-Tester.

Legate Caravan Showdown - Allows you to duel Legate Lanius in a game of Caravan rather than combat.

NVCE Pale Face Fix

Literally copied from some forum, the usual .ini fix didn’t work for me but this one did:

Another .ini fix, but this time the file is FALLOUT.INI, found under "C:\Users<your Windows username>\Documents\My Games\FalloutNV". Open it up in your text editor of choice, and search for the line:

bLoadFaceGenHeadEGTFiles=0

and change the 0 to 1, so it looks like:

bLoadFaceGenHeadEGTFiles=1

In the page on the Nexus it actually says to change that value in both a Fallout.ini file AND a FalloutPrefs.ini file, both in the My Games\FalloutNV folder.

[tanzaniiite]

ROAD TRIP • SEIJOH THIRD YEARS

requests: OPEN

warnings: cursing & stupid high school antics

word count: 2.2k

a/n: this idea has been on my noggin for so long omg, enjoy!

please reblog and reply, engagement is both fun & important ✨

[not edited]

this was fun, should i do more fics like this?

“Ugh, are we there yet?”

Oikawa whined looking out the window with a forlorn look as if he was in a music video. You glanced at Iwaizumi, who was at the wheel, snickering slightly as you saw his eye twitch in annoyance. The five of you decided to take a road trip, sort of like a last hurrah, for your last year of high school.

This originally started as a small trip that was planned on senior ditch day but Matsun and Makki wanted to do a road trip. And so, senior ditch day morphed into senior ditch weekend. Of course, none of your parents approved this, so you guys were in for an earful when you returned. But as Hanamaki stated, when you got a screaming voicemail from your guardian, “Live in the moment, worry about that later”. And despite that being terrible advice, you listened anyway.

The destination of your little road trip is Tokyo which was a five to six hour drive. Some might say that’s not too long but traveling with Oikawa it feels like an eternity. He was already complaining. That was mainly because he was upset that you got shotgun and he didn’t. Originally you planned on sitting in the back with the disaster duo but Hajime insisted you sit in the front with him. Something about you being the most tolerable. Iwaizumi was obviously the driver because he’s the most responsible out of you five. It’s weird to think you guys just planned this trip just a week prior.

“So what are we doing for senior ditch day?”

You asked setting your tray down and sitting in between Matsukawa and Hanamaki. Issei just scoffed lightly, “I dunno what you’re doing but I’m sleeping” He answered. Takahiro laughed in agreement. “Probably practicing” Tooru replied. You pouted at their lame responses, “Hajime please tell me you have better plans than these losers” You pleaded. Iwaizumi looked up from his notes, “Uh, I don’t know, I’m probably going to come to school” He shrugged ignoring your disgusted face.

“I know y’all are not serious. This is the last year we’re going to be together like this, we should do something memorable”

You declared crossing your arms over your chest glaring at your friends. “Ew, you sound like Oikawa, getting all sentimental and shit” Makki quipped popping a french fry in his mouth. You stuck your tongue out at him playfully. Oikawa hummed, “I mean they do have a point, let’s do something we’ll remember for years to come”. “Whatever, I guess I’m down” Matsukawa added rolling his eyes. The four of you looked at Iwaizumi, who mentally checked out of the conservation a while ago, waiting for his answer. “Count me out, my parents will kill me if I skipped school” He responded, causing the lot of you to groan. “Ugh, can you not be an upstanding student for like two seconds” You huffed leaning your head in your hand. Now the brunette looked up, “You guys know how my parents are, especially you Shittykawa” He stated, pointing his pencil at the setter. “Yeah yeah, we know how your parents are. Y/n’s parents are just as bad” Issei voiced.

You couldn’t help but internally groan, you remember how your guardians reacted when you brought the four boys to your house. “Don’t remind me. Senior Ditch Day is on a Friday, we barely do anything as is since it’s the end of the year” You said, “plus, you’re the only one of us that drives decently” You stated mustering up your best puppy dog eyes. Hajime looked at you before answering, “Fine, but if I get in trouble. You guys will be the ones talking to my parents”. And from there, the planning commenced.

Currently, you guys were only an hour out of Miyagi. Issei was already knocked out, Hanamaki was on his phone and Oikawa was sulking as per usual. “If you ask me if we’re there yet, one more time, I’ll have Makki push you out the car” He threatened his eyes never leaving the road. “Makki wouldn’t do that to me” Tooru claimed which caused ‘Hiro to snort. “Shut up, you know I will” He stated not even bothering to look up from his phone. Oikawa let out a dramatic gasp, “But we’re going 85 miles an hour on a highway!” He exclaimed. “Did I stutter?” Takahiro mumbled, still not paying any attention to his captain’s dramatics.

This was going to be a long four hours.

You woke up leaning against something super warm, you opened your eyes taking in your surroundings. You weren’t in the front anymore, from what you could see, it looked like Oikawa got his wish of riding shotgun. You sat up rubbing the sleep from your eyes, “Oh, good morning sleeping beauty” Oikawa teased. You were too sleepy and disoriented to come up with a witty comeback.

“Why.. why is Issei driving?”

That’s when you noticed Iwaizumi was the warm surface you were leaning against moments before. “I got tired of driving, we stopped at a gas station and switched places” Hajime explained noticing your confused face, “and you were sleeping so we moved you to the back”. You realized that not only were you leaning against Iwa but your legs were propped up on Makki’s lap. You nodded slightly, still tired despite waking up from a nap. “We spoil them rotten, don’t we?” ‘Hiro commented pinching your thigh causing you to whine slightly. “Shut up” You mumbled leaning into Iwaizumi’s side once again making him chuckle. Matsukawa looked at you through the rearview mirror,

“That’s right, Y/n gets all grumpy when they’re tired”

“Issei… focus on not crashing the car, not on me”

Oikawa let out a low whistle, “Woah, catty much?” He asked rhetorically laughing slightly. You rolled your eyes, “Whatever, how much farther?” You asked closing your eyes. Hajime glanced at his phone, “Two more hours” He replied. Tooru made a choked noise before turning around to face his childhood best friend. “Uh! They ask you if we’re there and get an answer, but when I ask, I get threatened?!” The brunette cried his eyebrows furrowing. The ace rolled his eyes, “Yeah, cause they’re not fucking annoying about it” He retorted. You pointed at Oikawa while laughing at his shocked face causing him to pout and crossed his arms like a toddler throwing a tantrum. “Uh oh, I think it’s Oikawa’s turn for a nap” Makki joked. Matsun hummed in agreement, “Yup, Y/n gets grumpy and Oikawa gets bratty” He laughed.

“Ugh whatever, at least I don’t snore like a chainsaw”

“Says the man who can’t sleep in any other position besides fetal”

“Dude shut up! It’s comfortable!”

Iwaizumi sighed, already knowing this petty argument wouldn’t end anytime soon. He looked down at you, “Who are you messaging?” Hajime inquired, peering at your phone. “No one, just some first years in my DMs” You hummed noncommittally. “You still leading those poor kids on?” Hanamaki asked. Glancing at Makki you pursed your lips, “I’m not leading them on… I’m just entertaining the antics” You replied smiling innocently and batting your eyelashes. “Yo, remember when that one first year confessed to you in the middle of lunch?” Issei asked slowing at a red light. You sat up suddenly, “Oh my god yes! That was so embarrassing!” You exclaimed. “You were embarrassed? Imagine the kid when you rejected him” Iwaizumi countered raising an eyebrow. “The second-hand embarrassment was strong on that one” Takahiro agreed, “Y/n’s a heartbreaker,” He said shaking his head.

You gasped, “I’m not! I’m just not interested in people like three years younger than me” You explained defending yourself. “Well, your choices are limited, since all the people in our grade are scared of us for whatever reason” Tooru stated with his eyes closed and head leaning on the window, looking like he would clonk out soon. “Yeah cause y’all are intimidating as fuck” You claimed. Issei chuckled, “Mm, yeah we kinda are” He admitted. “If they really liked you, they wouldn’t be scared to confess” Hajime shrugged. You smiled widely, “Ok king! My fault” You laughed giving him a high five. “Wait but if we’re so intimidating how come girls are always throwing their panties at Oikawa” Hanamaki questioned.

“Cause he’s not the intimidating one, it’s mainly Iwa and Matsun”

“Matsun is not intimidating, he looks out of it half of the time”

“Not out of it, more like zooted”

You quipped, laughing when Issei playfully glared at you through the rearview mirror. “Bro, remember when Kindaichi found out we were going on this trip and asked to come?” Takahiro laughed. “Stop! Y’all are so mean to him” You said kicking Makki slightly with your foot. Matsukawa snorted, “No cause what did he expect us to say, “Sure buddy you can come!” Like dude nooo,” He mocked laughing loudly. You bit your lip in an effort to not laugh, “Stop this Kindaichi slander at once” You demanded holding back your own giggles. “Okay Y/n, are you saying that you would’ve said yes if he asked you?” The wing spiker inquired giving you a look. “Well.. no—” You started. “Exactly! You’re just as bad as us” Issei interjected.

“No, I am not! You two literally looked at each other and busted out laughing, you didn’t even answer the poor boy”

“Sorry… it was funny”

“That shit was hilarious”

Hajime cleared his throat, “Is Trashykawa sleeping? Haven’t heard him talk in a while” He asked drawing shapes into your shoulder absentmindedly. Matsun glanced at his friend who was definitely passed out against the window. “Yeah, he’s gone” The middle blocker responded.

“Should we draw on his face?”

…

“Oh absolutely”

The car was fairly silent now, you guys were nearing the end of your road trip and it was later in the day. The sky was littered with reds and oranges as the sun started its daily routine. The sunset was bold, radiant, and just plain mesmerizing, you couldn’t help but stare in awe. You sighed inwardly, “I’m gonna miss you guys” You uttered looking out the window. Your four guy friends looked at each other before looking at you. Iwaizumi spoke up first, “What’s there to miss? We’re not going anywhere” He asked. “I know that but who knows when the next time we’ll do something like this?” You whispered refusing to look at them because you knew you would start crying if you did. Hanamaki nudged your foot with his hand, “Y/n stop being such a baby, we’ll still see each other—” He started before you interrupted.

“That’s not the point stupid. We’re all going our own separate ways. Iwaizumi’s going to school in America, Oikawa’s going to fucking Argentina, and we’re all going to different colleges. This sucks ass, I finally have a group of friends I love and now I have to leave them—”

“Hey, what did we just say? We’re not going anywhere. So what if we’re going down different paths? Holidays exist Y/n, you think Iwaizumi and Oikawa are gonna stay in America and Argentina all year round? Plus me and Makki’s colleges are not that far from yours, I could probably walk if I wanted to. Now stop sulking, you’re bringing down the mood”

Issei stated his eyes never once drifting from the road. You sniffed and leaned into Hajime’s side more, “Jeez, sorry” You mumbled playing with your fingers. If the car wasn’t quiet before, it sure was now. No one knew what to say, it seemed too early to make a joke about it and it was a conversation none of you were ready to have. But despite not being ready, Oikawa still voiced his opinion nevertheless,

“Well would you look at that, Y/n really does love us. And I thought you hated me”

You snorted, “I do hate you” You teased making a face at him which he gladly returned. But his demeanor suddenly became serious,

“Adding on to what Mattsun said, we’re not leaving forever Y/n. Graduation is like three months away, we still have time to hang out plus we have the summer so there’s that. I know you love us and can’t possibly live without us but I think you’ll manage”

You blinked in response to Oikawa’s little spiel, “You are so corny” You huffed looking down so he wouldn’t notice the small tears in your eyes.

“Ah! So when I do it it’s corny, what about that whole pitch Matsun did?!”

“Hey, I wasn’t corny. I was being real”

“Please, as if, you were just being mean”

“It’s called tough love, it isn’t made for softies”

Watching the two of them go back and forth once again was entertaining. And when Makki and Iwaizumi joined in, it was just one hundred times better. But seeing your best friends interact with one another just made you realize how much you love them. And although this may be your guy’s last high school adventure, it wasn’t going to your last endeavor with this crazy bunch. You smiled slightly to yourself,

“Man, I really do love you guys”

tanzaniiite © 2021 — all rights reserved. do not repost, modify, or copy. do not plagiarize. thank you.

[wakaoujisenhime]

Hello!~ Can I ask for 200 event funny scenario about Rakuzan cute manager, who gets a lot of confession, so Rakuzan boys get jealous and want to protect her?

A/N: This turned out quite differently than I had originally planned it, but I hope you’ll like and enjoy it nonetheless! (∿°○°)∿ ♡  

Also, can someone explain to me why all the fluffy images of them are mostly without Mayuzumi?? This man deserves way more love (/ _ ; ) watch me edit him in there one day

Tags: Rakuzan x reader ✅ SFW ✅  fluff ✅

━━━━☆ ━━━━☆ ━━━━☆

Love letters - Rakuzan x reader

A small light blue whistle dangled from your neck as you shouted out to the jogging members of the basketball club: “Come on, guys, just one more round!“

Since your first year in Rakuzan, you had joined the basketball club and had become their manager. In the beginning, you weren’t really noticed by the team, but that was not surprising because the captain was being trusted and listened to more than the actual coach.

Akashi’s judgment was truly impressing, and you couldn’t help but respect him as well...but there was no way in hell you’d just sit back as the rest and leave every responsibility resting on this young man’s shoulders.

Much to everybody’s surprise, you’d just butt into their conversations and share your view on the topic. That action alone left a lot of your classmates and upperclassmen flabbergasted, and just some days later, the school had labeled you fearless for daring to directly speak with these overly respected men.

Back then, you didn’t know about their reputation and titles at all, so you acted purely instinctual. If someone had told you beforehand who they were, though, you probably would’ve kept your mouth shut. But that lucky ‘mistake’ was the exact reason for your wholesome relationship with them now...

You see, all these boys ever wanted - outside of the basketball club - was to be accepted by someone the way they were. They were also ‘normal’ students like you and your classmates...the only exception was their immense talent and sincerity for the sport they loved, so why did they get treated like some kind of abnormalities?

Their peers’ rumors and reserved attitudes seemingly didn’t bother them that much, but you knew better and managed to see past their façades. You genuinely cared for them and everything that involved their person.

At first, it seemed really unnatural to them. The fact that someone as adorable as you was out there, willing to invest the majority of their time for them and their talent truly made them happy.

Slowly but surely, they began opening up to you. After just a few months, you became their most trusted person, whom they could always go to in order to discuss any- and everything, so the moment something or someone stood between you guys, they wouldn’t even bat a lash to show their true colors.

——

“Good morning, manager!!” a chirpy and a deep voice simultaneously called out to you.

“Kotaro and Nebuya! Good morning you two.”

You were about to open your shoe locker and continue your daily conversation with the club members. Still, when you unlocked that small door, something pushed it open and ended up startling anybody who was remotely close to you.

“Are these...”

“Love letters?”

With a small and slightly uncomfortable smile, you kneeled down and picked the few envelopes up from the floor, turning to the two young men behind you whose wide eyes were about to pop out from their sockets.

“Yeah...someone has been putting these in my locker every morning for the past few weeks,“ you explained and giggled silently at the cute little stickers your mysterious admirer had chosen this time. Upon seeing that angelic smile of yours, the two basketball players began panicking internally and started bombarding you with one question after the other.

When did you receive the very first letter? Is there some kind of signature for the sender? Have they been following you around? Are they bothering you?

Just as you were about to answer them, the school bell interrupted you, and as much as you wanted to continue your talk with them, your classes were more important at the moment. So the three of you rescheduled that talk for later, during club activities, and went off to your respective classrooms.

——

“Huuh?! A secret admirer?”

“Yes!! Can you believe it?”

As soon as the last bell for today rang, Nebuya and Kotaro had sprinted to the gym to inform the others about today’s discovery.

Finding out that someone as valuable as you were being admired by someone else was no surprise, of course, but it still hurt them, and it even awoke a feeling they had never experienced before...jealousy.

Mayuzumi watched them discuss this topic with such seriousness that he couldn’t help but laugh at them internally, and as their upperclassman, he felt the urge to tear them off a strip.

“I hope you guys are aware that (Y/N) has a life of her own and is allowed to do whatever she wants with whoever she wants; it’s none of our business now, is it?”

The others had turned towards him and were wide-eyed by the fact that he had even openly spoken up on a topic that concerned you. He’d usually either choose to remain silent or pretend like he wasn’t listening.

Akashi nodded with a small smile and took it upon himself to answer the grey-haired young man. “I am pretty sure they’re aware of that, but you have to be honest with yourself and admit that it’ll be a huge loss for all of us if she were to find a boyfriend right when our team’s at its prime time.”

The third-year squinted his eyes at his captain. “You do know that you’re overreacting, right? I mean...all you have are her words and some envelopes that fell from her locker.”

“But they were sealed with cute heart stickers, right Ko-chan?!”

Reo chirped in as his light-colored eyes darted over to the blond in question, whose answer consisted of some energetic nods. Mayuzumi was slowly losing his patience with them, and just as he was about to counter that statement, your cheerful voice echoed in the entire gym, greeting your fellow club members.

It should’ve surprised you to see them stand this close to each other, but you figured that they were probably discussing something basketball-related, so you kept your questions to yourself and began preparing for today’s training.

They used that short moment to arrange a short meeting after practice to plan their next steps.

——

“Ok, what’s our way of procedure, guys?” asked Kotaro in an unusual humorless tone. Nebuya, who was standing behind him, couldn’t help but laugh out loud at how serious his goofy friend was. The bigger man wrapped his muscular arm around the boy’s shoulder and told him to relax. Reo watched the two of them fool around with a bothered expression. At the same time, Akashi smiled to himself, bringing the cup of tea to his lips. Mayuzumi, on the other hand, watched that somewhat controversial scene unfold in front of him. It was beyond him how you believed the obvious lie they told you at the end of today’s training.

The five of you had made it a tradition to always go to either the station or the nearest bakery after practice, and even though the third year himself never really wanted to accompany you all, you always made sure to drag him along...even if it was against his will. So when you had asked them if they wanted to go to get something sweet today, they all refused for the most ridiculous reasons, and he was sure that you’ll see through these obvious lies. But when you just innocently smiled at them, he figured that you either turned a blind eye to it or you truly believed that Nebuya was on a “no-meat-diet” and that Kotaro was going to study and do his homework.

“I do not entirely agree with this since it seems to be a rather...drastic approach,” answered Akashi after the muscular man next to him asked what he thought of the plan. He just suggested, “what about you, Mayuzumi? What’s your take on this?”

Said boy sighed and replied tiredly that whatever conclusion they’d reach would be too overdramatic and drastic.

“You do know that if she decides to get to know her secret admirer better, she won’t be having that much time to read novels and recommend them to you, right?” asked Reo with a mischievous grin.

Silence...

The grey-haired young man leaned forward and looked at his teammates.

“Ok, what’s the plan?”

——

1st step: obtain a letter from her locker...

“Good morning (Y/N).“

“Akashi, good morning!“

You were just about to open the small door of your locker, change your shoes and see if you had received another love letter, but that’s when the captain of the basketball club had stopped you. Wondering if something was wrong, you asked him if you could help him in some way.

“Oh, nothing is wrong; I merely wanted to inform you that one of your teachers asked the basketball club to visit some of the classes and advertise the club since a lot of the first- and second-years appear to not have joined any after-school-activity. So I wanted to ask if you perhaps know someone that might be interested in joining a club.”

While the two of you continued that talk, you failed to see how Kotaro sneaked up behind you, looked in your locker, gave the red-haired young man an unobtrusive signal that there was no letter to be found, and vanished as quickly and quietly as he’d come.

...if the first step fails, we just need to keep a good eye on her surroundings and look for people interested in her...

“(Y/N), someone’s here to see you!” said one of your classmates as they pointed to your classroom’s door, where Reo was standing and nonchalantly leaning against its frame. You thanked them and hurried over to where one of your best friends was standing.

“Hey, sweetie, sorry for bothering you, but I wanted to ask you if you wanted to join me during the break.”

It has been quite a while since the two of you had spent a break together, so you had no reason to refuse and happily accepted his invitation.

With Reo, you could always talk about every kind of topic, whether it was about the last wrestling match you watched on TV or the cute keychain you saw hanging from your neighbor’s bag. The two of you would always get so invested in your dialogue that you completely missed how some of the students were glancing at you and how some even turned their heads when you passed them. On the other hand, your companion noticed every single one of them, and with his keen eye for outer appearance, he managed to memorize their most prominent features.

...next up, we’ll look for our suspects and interrogate them, but some of them won’t be very talkative, so I suggest we pull out the big guns right from the get-go...  

Thanks to the descriptions Reo forwarded to the others, they quickly formed an ‘intimidation squad,’ distributed the students equally amongst each other, and went ahead to do their job.

Nebuya, as the tallest and most muscular out of the rest, was assigned to the first-year students. It was an easy and quick job to intimidate them. All he had to do was stand at the door and ask whether the person that fitted Reo’s description is present and that he wanted to talk about their interest in the club’s manager. Of course, no one gave the student in question away out of fear and worry about what the basketball team's center might do to them, but the message was successfully forwarded.

Mayuzumi, as the main team’s third-year, had to take care of the second-years. Thanks to his low presence and high self-pride, he expected that he’d get treated with the necessary respect as these students' senior. That was the case for two or three with whom he talked to. He was quite eloquent, and thanks to his broad novel expertise, he knew how to skillfully ask them whether or not they harbored any strong feelings for you that might have resulted in daily love letters. Others, though, didn’t seem to care what he had to say to them and when you became their talk’s topic, they started mocking him and calling him your stalker...and that’s when he lost his patience. His presence might be low, but the moment he gets annoyed, he’ll make sure that everyone knows about it. Mayuzumi took hold of the boy’s collar and brought him close to his own face.

“I don’t mind you insulting me, but stay away from her...if you don’t...I'll make to follow every step of yours, and you’ll have to constantly be on the lookout for me. You know what’s going to be so fun about it?... You’ll never know whether or not I’m there, so you better speak up and leave her alone or else...”  

The person who took care of the third-years was no other than Akashi himself. For him, it didn’t matter which year he had to talk to; he was respected, feared, and known by the entire school anyway. Like Nebuya, all he had to do was go to the people in question and ask them what their business with you was, and luckily the majority of them broke the moment they saw his icy glare. Unfortunately, one thought that he shouldn’t care about who this rumored emperor was and act according to his status. A bad decision, really...he was lucky enough that all Akashi got his hands on was a broomstick and not something sharper like scissors or even a compass. Long story short, the third-year was successfully interrogated and intimidated, another job well done.

While they were running around and collecting information, Kotaro and Reo were given the task of distracting you and constantly standing by your side, hindering any other people from coming too close to you. But when someone played with the thought of wanting to talk to or even look at you, the blond would only glare at that student until they gave up. Those who had more courage and didn’t get that easily intimidated were chased away by Reo’s overly interested attitude. The moment someone came up to you and just interrupted your talk with them, the black-haired young boy would butt in and start showering them with compliments until they either were too creeped out or completely mesmerized.

...our mission will only then be considered a success when she stopped receiving those letters, understood?

A week and a half had passed since the execution of their plan, and one afternoon, Kotaro and Nebuya decided to ask you about those letters.

“Oh, those? I stopped receiving them some days ago..”

You weren’t as affected as they had expected you to be, but they were glad and happy nonetheless, knowing that their plan had worked. Now, you were theirs, and no one else’s, and anyone who wanted to take you away from them is hopefully prepared for the consequences...

[theycallmebecca]

Drabble: The Ass-sistant

When I claimed this anon prompt for @the-ce-horniest-book-club​ I had other story ideas in mind... but after my little adventure yesterday afternoon, I was inspired in a totally different direction. So part of this is what actually happened to me... and the other part is just made up. I’ll let you figure out which part 😉

[Edit] Silly me forgot to tell you what my prompt was! It was an anon prompt for “Is this a bad time to mention that I prefer to sleep naked?”

Title: The Ass-sistant

Pairing: Chris Evans x reader

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: language

Disclaimer: This work of fiction is not to be reposted, used or translated without my permission.

When you cancelled your date with Chris, you hadn’t expected him to show up. The two of you had only been dating for a couple weeks.

But there he was, standing on the other side of your front door with a grocery bag in both hands and a backpack thrown over one shoulder.

“Damn,” he muttered as he took in your appearance from the brace on your ankle up to the bandages covering your palms. “You really messed yourself up good, didn’t you?”

“I’ll be ok,” you assured him. You hurt like hell, but you’d hurt your ankle before and had recovered fine. Granted, you’d never rolled your ankle and landed on asphalt. This time you had, and you had the road rash and cuts on your hands and knees to prove it.

It was that accident, which had occurred when you’d been walking down the long driveway of your apartment complex to get your mail, that had caused you to cancel your date with Chris. You’d been honest with him on your reason and, clearly, he’d come to help.

“Have you eaten yet?” He asked after you led him into your apartment

“Not yet, I was going to order in,” you replied.

“No need, I brought dinner,” he told you. “Sit down and get your ankle up. I’ll bring dinner to you.”

You watched from the couch as he made himself familiar with your kitchen.

It wasn’t until a familiar scent reached your nose that you realized he’d gone to your favorite restaurant and picked up your favorite meal. That had been the original plan for the evening, but he hadn’t asked you what you wanted. Obviously, he had remembered the fact from an earlier conversation.

“Tray table?” He asked.

“In the closet by the front door,” you replied.

From where you sat, you saw him walk down the hall and open the closet. It wasn’t exactly a Monica Geller secret closet of shame situation, but it wasn’t super organized either. You held your breath as you watched him dig around, but it only took him a couple seconds to unearth the two hand-me-down tray tables. Then he closed the door to the closet without a word.

Five minutes later, you sat with your ankle resting on a pillow with your favorite dinner on a tray table while Chris sat in a matching armchair eating his own dinner. 

“Thank you for this,” you said to him. “I didn’t want to cancel, but I couldn’t see any way around it since I can barely walk.”

“I hated the idea of you here by yourself,” he admitted. “And I’ve been there. Getting hurt is the worst.”

You both chuckled at that.

“I, uh, brought stuff over to stay the night,” he said, meeting your eye. “Not to do that but in case you didn’t want to be home alone tonight.”

You didn’t answer right away, partly because you had just taken a bite of your dinner but also because you needed a moment to think. You had been toying with the idea of inviting Chris in after dinner for that reason, but that plan had gone south with your injuries.

You had spent the last couple hours hobbling around your apartment and it would be nice to have some help. It also meant you got to spend time with Chris and that made you happy.

“I’d love for you to stay,” you told him and then took it a step farther. “You can stay with me in my room or on the couch, wherever you’re the most comfortable.”

“I’ll do whatever helps you sleep better,” he said seriously, but you could see something in his eye that revealed his true feelings. He wanted to sleep in your bed with you. “That’s the most important part.”

“We’ll decide later then,” you replied with a smile.

Once you finished eating, Chris got an ice pack out of the freezer for you to ice your ankle while he did the dishes. He went above and beyond your expectations when he not only took care of the dishes the two of you had used for dinner, but took care of the dishes in the sink, too. And wiped down your kitchen counters.

“Are you really here or am I just having a really good dream?” You asked him as he came to collect the ice pack.

Instead of answering, he leaned over the back of the couch and kissed you on the mouth. Leaning into the kiss, you brought a hand up to rest on his jaw and forgot about everything. Until your ankle moved.

“Fuccccccck,” you cried out, pulling away from him.

“Fuck, damn it,” Chris echoed. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s my fault,” you said through gritted teeth. Looking up, you met his eyes and gave him a small smile. “I liked the kiss.”

A worried smile crossed Chris’s face and he sighed before he carried the ice pack back to the kitchen. Then he shut off the light in there and made his way back to the armchair.

“No,” you said before he sat down. “Sit with me, there’s enough room.” Then, because you could see the hesitation in his eyes, added, “you won’t hurt me, I promise.”

He studied you for a second before he sat down next to you on the couch. Given that you were sitting sideways on the couch with your ankle resting on a pillow, it was a bit tight, but the two of you made it work. He even pulled you back a little, so you were resting against him.

It took you two a good ten minutes to pick a movie to watch, before he suggested that the two of you just watch your favorite movie.

By the time the movie ended, it was time for another ice session and pain reliever. Not to mention a potty break.

You could feel Chris’s eyes on your back as you limped down the hall to the bathroom. You knew he wanted to offer his assistance, but there were some things a girl had to do by herself.

When you came out of the bathroom, he had the ice pack ready for you as well as a small snack and pain reliever. While you rested, he double checked the doors and windows, making things were locked up for the night.

You could feel the stress radiating from him twenty minutes later when he followed you to your bedroom. Your anxiety over everything was high enough, you didn’t need his added to it.

“Do you need help changing?” He asked.

Finding your opening to lightening the mood, you tipped your head to the side and said, “Is this a bad time to mention that I prefer to sleep naked?”

He blinked in a stunned silence for a second before you started to laugh, and he followed your lead.

“In all seriousness,” you said, looking at him. “I’m happy you’re here with me tonight and that I’m not by myself. And you’ve been an absolute gem, I just need you to relax because you’re going to get me worked up again and then I’ll cry and -” You stopped talking as the anxiety from earlier started to build in your chest.

Then Chris was there. He wrapped his arms around you and held onto you as he whispered quietly, reminding you to breath. With his helped, you managed to pull yourself together.

“Thank you,” you whispered to him.

“Anytime,” he replied seriously. “I’ll go change in the bathroom and let you do whatever in here. Call if you need me.”

A short time later, you lay in bed next to Chris, trying to get comfortable, but not finding a comfortable position. It wasn’t your ankle cause the issue, however, but the muscles in your butt. After taking the brunt of your fall earlier in the day, those muscles had been ignored thanks to other immediate and demanding issues. And now they were making themselves known.

“Are you ok?” Chris asked. “Do you need me to go to the couch?”

“No, stay,” you said through gritted teeth. He had positioned himself as far to one side of the bed as he could without falling off, just to make sure you had enough room.

“What’s wrong?” He asked. There was a hint of worry, but he had taken your words about anxiety to heart.

“It’s embarrassing,” you sighed as you closed your eyes unable to look at him. “The muscles in my butt are screaming at me.”

When he didn’t respond, you opened your eyes and regretted it immediately when you saw the amused smirk on Chris’s face.

“It’s not funny!” You exclaimed. “It hurts.”

“I’m sure it’s a... pain in the ass,” Chris snickered.

Groaning, you rolled into your stomach in hopes that position would work better. It didn’t.

“Would you like me to help?” He asked attempting serious while amusement was still laced in his tone.

“Like what, rub my ass?” You asked, turning your head to look at him.

“It might work,” he replied. “I assume you need something deep and therapeutic rather than just a groping.”

“Definitely deep and therapeutic,” you agreed but then offered. “You can save the groping for another time.”

“If you want me massaging your ass to stay just that, you’ll need to keep those other comments to yourself,” Chris stated as he pushed the blankets off both of you.

“Those sounds too,” he added when his first, deep press into your butt made you moan.

“I’ll try,” you replied as he continued to work.

After twenty minutes of getting familiar with your butt over your pajama shorts, Chris removed his hands and asked, “How are you feeling now?”

“Much better,” you replied, sleepily. “When my hands get better, I’ll give you a massage, too.”

“It’s a date,” he said with a laugh. “Get some sleep.”

“You need to sleep, too,” you told him, looking at him. “I’m ok, Chris, just sore. I promise.”

He held your eye for a second, but eventually nodded. “I’ll sleep,” he promised.

And he did. When you woke up the next morning, still sore psychically, he was fast asleep next to you, which made your heart fill with happiness.

[shirlleycoyle]

How 9/11 Became Fan Fiction Canon

Every fictional character you can think of has experienced 9/11 in fanfiction.

A Clone Wars veteran with two lightsabers is on United Airlines Flight 93 and prevents it from crashing. Ron and Hermione get caught up in the chaos as the towers fall. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and her friends watch the attacks unfold on TV from Sunnydale. We have spent 20 years trying to process what happened on 9/11 and its fallout, and that messy process can be tracked through the countless, sad, disturbing, and sometimes very funny fanfiction left across the internet.

Many of the fanfics written in the weeks and months following the 9/11 attacks seemed to directly respond to the news as it happened, processing the tragedy in real-time through the eyes of characters they loved. In the absence of a canon episode where Daria Morgendorffer paid respects to those lost, writing fanfic about these characters also experiencing trauma helped fans cope.

One YuGiOh fanfic published on fanfiction.net in May 2002 could have been ripped exactly from what this writer experienced that Tuesday morning. “It started as a normal day,” user Gijinka Renamon wrote. Yugi and his friends were in school, where their teacher informed them of the attacks and sent everyone home from school.

“After reading people’s 9/11 fics, I decided to write my own, and put a certain character in it. And Yugi and his pals were my first choice,” the author's note reads, explaining the connection they felt to United flight 93 and the World Trade Center attacks. Given that they lived in Pennsylvania, and “it’s close to New York, I felt really sad about it.”

Stitch, a fandom journalist for Teen Vogue, told Motherboard that this reaction to 9/11 is not at all uncommon in fandom.

"Fandom has always been a place that positions nothing as 'off limits,'" she said. "Historical tragedies like the Titanic sinking and atrocities like… all of World War 2 show up regularly across the past 30 years of people creating stories and art about the characters they love. So, on some level, it makes sense that 9/11 and the following 20-year military installation in the Middle East has joined the ranks of things people in different fandoms turn into settings for their fan fiction."

Reactions depicted in a handful of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fanfics published in the weeks after the attacks ring a little truer to the characters. “Tuesday, 11th September 2001,” written by Anna K, almost echoes the lyrics from “I’ve Got a Theory,” one of the songs in the musical episode that aired in November 2001. “We have seen the apocalypse. We have prevented it. Actually, we’ve prevented quite a few. So we know what they look like,” they write, before taking a darker turn. “They look a lot like…New York today.”

Killing demons and vampires doesn’t phase the Scooby Gang, but when preventable human death is brought into the picture, it’s gut wrenching.

“What am I supposed to do…When I can’t do anything to save the world?” Buffy cries  into Spike’s chest, watching the attacks unfold on TV in a fanfic the author described as being “about feeling numb and helpless.”

In “Blood Drive,” Kirayoshi writes about Buffy and her friends saving a van full of donated blood meant for victims of the attacks from a group of thirsty vampires. One Buffy the Vampire Slayer fic even takes a blindly patriotic turn, where noted lesbian witch Tara McClay helps Xander hang an American flag from the window of the magic shop to make Anya feel better.

Experiencing 9/11 as a young teenager was overwhelming not just because of the loss of life. Almost immediately after the event itself, it was as if the entirety of American culture re-oriented itself towards an overtly jingoistic stance. As we get distance from the attacks, seeing the tone of television and movies from the early 2000s is jarring, and some have gone viral on Twitter. In the world of pop music, mainstream musicians like the Chicks, formerly known as the Dixie Chicks, were blacklisted from the radio while Toby Keith sang about putting a boot up the ass of terrorists. On the Disney Channel, a young Shia Labeouf reading a poem he supposedly wrote about the events. The poem concludes with the line, "it's awesome to be an American citizen."

In a world so completely saturated with this messaging, it is not surprising that fanfic authors started including 9/11 in their work so soon after the event. Even The West Wing had a strange, out of continuity, fanfic-esque episode where the characters reacted to 9/11. In some cases, it made sense that the characters in the stories would be close to or a part of the events themselves.

"For characters like John Watson or Captain America, the idea works to an extent," Stitch told Motherboard. "In the original Sherlock Holmes works and the 2011 BBC series, Watson had just returned from Afghanistan. For Captain America and other Marvel heroes, 9/11 was something that was addressed in-universe in The Amazing Spider-Man volume 2 #36. Technically, 9/11 is 'canon' to the Marvel universe."

In “Early Warning: Terrorism,” a fanfiction for the TV show Early Edition in which a man who mysteriously receives tomorrow's newspaper, predicting the future, avoids jingoism, but tries to precent 9/11 from happening. This fanfic remains unfinished; it’s unclear if the characters successfully prevent 9/11 in this retelling.

Largely in fanfic from the era just after 9/11, when many young authors were trying to emotionally grapple with it, the characters don't re-write or undo the events themselves. It's this emphasis on the reaction to tragedy that colors the fanfiction that features 9/11 going forward.

Although fanfiction authors have been writing about 9/11 consistently since soon after the event, whenever that fanfiction reaches outside of its intended audience, it looks bizarre.

A screenshot of a Naruto 9/11 fanfic on the Tumblr subreddit comes without any context, or even more than two lines and an author's note. It’s impossible to suss out if this falls into the category of sincere fanfic without the rest of the piece or a publication date, but modern-day commenters on the Reddit thread see it as classic Tumblr trash.

Screenshot from r/Tumblr

“Bin Laden/Dick Cheney, enemies to lovers, 10k words, slow burn,” one user joked in the replies, underscoring the weirdness of Naruto being in the Twin Towers by comparing it to a What If story about Cheney and Bin Laden slowly falling deeply in love.

It’s hard to tell how much of the 9/11 fanfic and fanart starting a few years after the attacks is sincere, and how much of it is ironic, and trying to make fun of the very concept of writing fanfiction about 9/11.

A 2007 anime music video (in which various clips, usually from anime, are cut together to music) that combines scenes from The Lion King with Linkin Park’s “Crawling” and clips from George Bush’s speeches immediately after the attacks feels like the perfect example of this. Even the commenters can’t seem to suss out if this person is a troll or not.

There’s no way that My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic 9/11 fanart could be serious, right? Especially if the description pays tribute to “some of the nation's most memorable buildings,” and features five of the main characters as child versions of themselves. The comments again are split between users thanking the artist for a thoughtful remembrance post, and people making their own headcanon for why Twilight Sparkle is surreptitiously absent from the scene.

Screengrab via DeviantArt

There’s Phineas and Ferb fanfic that combines a 9/11 tribute concert with flashbacks to Ferb being rescued from the towers as a baby, written on the 10th anniversary of the attacks. It jumps from introspection to lines like, “‘Quiet Perry the Platypus. I’m trying to listen to these kids singing a 9/11 tribute.’”

The author's notes make it more likely that they meant for this to be a tribute piece, but it doesn’t quite make sense until watching a YouTube dramatic reading of it from 2020, fully embracing the absurdity of it all.

“For me, 9/11 is synonymous with war. It completely changed the course of my life," Dreadnought, the author of a Captain America fanfic Baghdad Waltz that sees Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes fall in love over the course of the war on terror, told Motherboard. "It’s the reason I joined the military, and I developed deep connections with people who would go on to deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq. These very much felt like my generation’s wars, perhaps because people I graduated high school with were the youngest folks eligible to serve at the time.”

Dreadnought told Motherboard that although they didn't deploy, their career has kept 9/11 and the trauma from it in their mind. After seeing that people who fantasize about Steve and Bucky getting together seemed particularly interested in reading fanfiction that related to 9/11, they decided to try their hand at it.

"I had to do something with all of that emotionally, and I’m admittedly a bit emotionally avoidant. So I learned through fic that it’s easier for me to process those feelings and the knowledge of all the awful stuff that can happen in war if I can turn it into something creative," Dreadnought said. "Give the feelings to fake people and then have those fake people give the feelings to readers!"

To Dreadnought, who is a queer man, the experience of researching and writing this was more cathartic than they first expected, especially as a way to navigate feelings about masculinity, military culture, and queer identity. But they said the research they did, which included watching footage of first responders at ground zero, was what helped them finally process the event itself.

"It was like a delayed horror, and it was more powerful than I expected it would be." Dreadnought said. "When I was eighteen, I was pretty emotionally divorced from 9/11; I just knew I wanted to do something about it. So coming back to it in my 30s while writing this fic, it was a very different experience. Even the research for this story ended up being an extraordinarily valuable exercise in cognitively and emotionally processing 9/11 and all of its second and third order effects."

Fanfiction that features 9/11 provides an outlet for people who still grapple with the trauma from that day. But Stitch warns that the dynamics of fandom and how it relates to politics can also create fiction that's less respectful and more grotesque.

"With years of distance between the stories written and the original events of 9/11, there seems to be some sort of cushion for fans who choose to use those events as a catalyst for relationships—and Iraq and Afghanistan for settings," Stitch said. "The cushion allows them room to fictionalize real world events that changed the shape of the world as we know it, but it also insulates them from having to think about what they may be putting into the world."

The tendency of turning these events into settings or backgrounds for mostly white, male characters to fall in love has the unintended effect of displacing the effects that the war on terror has had on the world over. Steve and Bucky might fall in love during the war on terror, but they would also be acting as a part of the American military in a war that has been criticized since it started. Fanfic writers in other fandoms have come under fire for using real world tragedy as settings for fic before. In the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake Supernatural fanfiction about the actors Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki going to the island to do aid became controversial within the fandom. There have also been fics where characters grapple with the death of George Floyd that is written in a way that displaces the event from the broader cultural context of race in America.

"A Captain America story where Steve Rogers is a 'regular' man who joins the US Army and 'fights for our freedom' post-9/11 is unlikely to deal with the war’s effect on locals who are subject to US military intervention," Stitch said. "It’s unlikely to sit with what Captain America has always meant and what a writer is doing by dropping Steve Rogers into a then-ongoing conflict in any capacity."

After enough time, “never forget” can even morph into “but what if it never happened?” A 19k+ word Star Wars alternate universe fanfic asks this question, wondering what would have unfolded if someone with two lightsabers was on United Flight 93. This fic, part of a larger fanfic series with its own Wikia, considers what would have happened if Earth was a military front in the Clone Wars.

In this version of events, a decorated general who served in the Clone Wars is able to take back control of Flight 93 before it crashes, landing safely and preventing even more tragedy from happening that day. In the end, all of the passengers who made harrowing last calls to their loved ones before perishing in a Pennsylvania field survive thanks to the power of the Force, and are awarded medals of honor by President Bush.

Twenty years after the attacks, it’s painful to think about what would have happened if people got to work 15 minutes later, or missed their trains that morning. There weren’t Jedi masters deployed to save people in real life, but for some of the fanfic writers working today, the world of Star Wars might feel just as removed as the world before September 11, 2001.

Fiction serves as a powerful playground for processing cultural events, especially generational trauma. The act isn't neutral though; a decade's worth of fanfiction that takes place on or around 9/11 shows how our own understanding of a traumatic event can shift with time.

How 9/11 Became Fan Fiction Canon syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/