#I presume if you have that tag filtered you are already planned to watch it so

[essektheylyss]

LITERALLY EVERYONE WATCH MOONWARD THIS SHIT SLAPS

[sweet-symphony0]

Despair

  Hey hey, guess who’s back and finally had time to write! Happy Twin Tuesday! This one is...current, I’ll say. That’s all I’m going to say.

Summary: 01/06/2021. Rami and Sami can’t believe their eyes. They cope the only way they know how.

 Tags: @the-real-ramimalekpeen @xmxisxforxmaybe @killerqueengigi @txmel @laminy @ramimedley @rathernotmyname @ramilicious @sherlollydramoine @edteche2 @hah0106

---

Sami’s phone was ringing, he could hear it vibrating in his bag from he stood next to his desk, surveying his thirty students, their attention quickly diminishing. He ignored it, even as it rang a second time. 

“Alright guys-hey, don’t pack up yet, this is important-reading for tonight is chapter 12, your essays on Slaughterhouse Five are due Friday, so don’t forget.” There were groans heard from around the room, and Sami continued, “and no, I won’t be accepting any late papers; I gave you a month and a half for this. That’s more than generous, get it done.”

There were more groans and Sami smirked inwardly to himself as the bell rang and students began shuffling out the door, with a few calls of “see ya, Mr. Malek!” and Sami smiled. “Yeah, have a good day guys. Nice work today.”

When the last student was out the door, Sami took a moment to himself, glad he now had a free period before his next class. He cleared his throat, and began erasing the notes from the smartboard in preparation for the next round, when his phone vibrated and he remembered someone was trying to reach him, idly wondering what was so important that someone would call him at work.

Skimming his notifications, he frowned. Three texts from Rami, a missed call from him, and two texts from friends which he ignored for the time being, instead reading Rami’s messages:

“I know you’re at work, but you need to see this.” and underneath, in a separate message, a link to a CNN article that read “Rioters break windows and breach US Capitol.”

Sami stared, bewildered, and then read the third message Rami had sent.

“Turn on the news.”

Sami reread the headline, clicking the link Rami had sent, and he skimmed the article, his mind reeling.

“What the fuck...?”

Rami’s response was instant:

“You need to turn on the fucking news. Now.”

Sami wasted no time in rushing to the staff room, thanking his stars he had a break for the next forty minutes. It didn’t surprise him that nearly a quarter of the staff were already there, and he slipped inside, spotting a few of his colleagues from the English department. Even though the second bell had rung, no one in the room bothered to move, their eyes transfixed on the news coverage blaring from the TV. And as Sami turned his gaze to watch too, he felt his stomach sink in dread.

There were a cacophony of murmurs around the room, Sami catching tidbits here and there.

“What are we going to do?”

“There’s nothing we can do right now-”

“No, we can’t just-someone has to explain to the kids-”

“No, they’ll find out soon enough, we keep teaching like normal-”

“This is a high school,” one of Sami’s friends in the history department finally sighed tiredly. “You really think those kids don’t know by now? They have social media and cell phones. They know. And we can go about like usual, but this is something we’re all going to be talking about tomorrow.”

Sami’s eyes drifted back to the television, watching intently as he drowned everyone else out. They were inside the building now, hoards of them, a never ending sight. Sami watched with wide, disbelieving eyes, horrified as people scaled the building walls, smashed through windows, and he couldn’t help but think frantically: why wasn’t anyone doing anything?

He snorted to himself. Right. You know why.

He didn’t think he’d be able to go back to work after this. Slowly, one by one, his colleagues filtered out as most of them had classes to attend to that period and couldn’t push being late anymore. Once he was alone, Sami sank into one of the chairs, eyes glued to the newscast, feeling frozen from what he seeing.

He felt sick.

He texted Rami back and forth, a steady stream of furious conversation, not even realizing when the bell rang. Scrambling out of his seat, he rushed back to his room, just in time for when kids started filing in.

“Hi guys,” he pasted a smile on his face. “Settle down, and we’ll get started.”

He taught on autopilot, the forty minutes going by without him realizing, and before he knew it, kids were standing up and he was calling out the same thing from before: “read chapter twelve tonight, your essays are due Friday...”

Whatever previous intentions Sami had about sticking around the rest of the school day to get his work done, he threw right out the window. Racing home, he dug through his fridge for a beer, and then after better judgement, grabbed another, before he turned his TV on and called Rami.

Sami didn’t even let him say hi. “Are you safe?”

“Yeah,” Rami nodded. He was moving through his apartment, Sami could see, presumably to get to a quieter spot, and his gaze was off to the side, watching something. “I’m fine. Nothing here has happened yet, thankfully.”

“Listen,” Sami said urgently. “Stay inside okay? Don’t go out today if you don’t have to. You don’t-no one knows what will happen. Please.”

“I’m not moving,” Rami said. “I can’t-fucking after this, I can’t concentrate. I’m supposed to be rehearsing lines for tomorrow but fuck that. This is insane.”

Sami watched as the mob of people made their way inside the Rotunda, and he sank onto the couch. Then a few minutes later, they were inside the Senate chamber, pushing things around, and when he changed the channel to find another possible view, there was a photo up of a man carrying a confederate flag.

“Oh my fucking god.”

Rami’s voice was low. “I know. It gets worse.”

“Oh no, don’t say that.”

“They-they took down the American flag,” Rami said with barely restrained rage. “And replaced it. With a fucking Trump flag.”

Sami choked. “You’re not serious.”

“I wish I weren’t. And our president,” Rami scoffed. “is encouraging it. Fucking-” he stopped short, thinking for a moment on whether or not to complete what he wanted to say, before he shook his head in exasperation. “It’s all so exhausting.”

“That’s unconstitutional,” Sami murmured, flipping channels again, and he dropped his beer when he saw the constructed noose on the other side of the Capitol, staining the carpet, but he didn’t care. “Who is that for?! What the fuck!”

“What? What am I missing?”

Sami didn’t answer, still rooted on the spot, watching as officers finally brought out tear gas. “Fuck...is there any update on the Senators?”

“Not that I can tell. Though they are saying a few Republican ones are agreeing with this bullshit.”

Suddenly everything clicked, and Sami realized why today, of all days, this was happening. As he watched the coverage of Trump’s tweet, the rally earlier that morning, he idly wondered how much damage had already been caused, and whatever else he’d missed.

“I’m not drunk enough for this,” he sighed, and Rami chuckled flatly.

“I’ve had a bottle of wine open for the last hour. Wish you were here to join me.”

“Well,” Sami stood up, grimacing at the mess he’d made from the spilled beer. “I can join you from afar. What are you drinking?” Rami gave him the name of a Cabernet they were both fond of, and Sami grinned triumphantly when he found a spare bottle in the back of his wine cooler. Propping his phone up on the counter against the block of chopping knives, he made quick work in opening and pouring himself a generous glass. “Cheers, man.”

“Cheers. What are we cheers-ing to?”

Sami hummed, licking the bit of wine that had dripped down his finger. “To the compete and utter fuckery that has been...the six days of this new year.”

“That works,” Rami was silent for a moment, both of them lost in their thoughts, watching the news again. “You know, I...obviously after the last four years there’s been a lot of unrest and contempt. But to this extent, for thousands of people to..to believe-”

“Say an election is rigged and then stop the process in almost every way they can?” Sami took a generous sip of his wine. “To destroy the Capitol? Yeah. I know.”

“Unbelievable,” Rami said succinctly, and after a moment: “I should’ve stayed in London.”

“They’re not much better,” Sami snickered, glancing at his twin. “Besides, London doesn’t have me.”

Rami laughed. “You think I plan my life around you?”

“What, you mean you don’t? I’m shocked. That hurts.”

“Definitely not,” Rami smirked and Sami laughed.

“Alright hot shot, don’t let that hair gel go to your brain too. There’s enough on your head already.”

“Oh, fuck you,” Rami was grinning, and Sami grinned back.

“Just trying to keep you humble, you know. I don’t give a shit if you have a shiny gold toy now.”

“Wow,” Rami muttered. “You wish your hair looked as good.”

“A greasy mess? Yeah, no thanks.”

Rami laughed again, and Sami grinned, pleased at the fact, sipping his wine again as they turned back to the news. “Fuck, it really is a shit show isn’t it?”

“I’ve always said he would leave the White House, but he’ll burn it down with him as he goes.”

“Yeah,” Sami sighed, his anger boiling all over again. “Looks like it. I wish you were wrong.”

“Me too.”

Glancing at the clock, he saw it had been a hour since he’d gotten home, which meant it was around 4pm on the east coast. Tuning back to the coverage, the mob outside the Capitol had grown, more people were scaling the wall to get inside, and Sami couldn’t help but think how all too easy it was for them.

“So uh...where’s the tear gas? The rubber bullets? The arrests?”

Rami snorted. “You’re fucking kidding, right? C’mon. Like that applies to them.”

Sami snorted too, and then laughed weakly, which turned into a laughing fit, and he could hear Rami calling his name. “Sorry...it’s just...fuck all of them.”

Rami raised his glass in a toast before he downed it in one go, pouring another serving. “Amen.”

“God, how am I supposed to explain this to my kids? You’re telling me I have to go to work tomorrow after this?”

“Same here,” Rami said. He was moving again, and Sami could see he was back in the kitchen too, digging through his refrigerator. He produced a bunch of grapes, a platter of salami, and a block of cheddar cheese, and Sami watched as he began to assemble an antipasti platter for one. “I don’t want to head to work. Seems pointless, after this.”

Sami bit his lip thoughtfully. “It’s not...useless. Use it. You’re angry-”

“Angry? No, I’m well passed pissed off at this point.”

“There you go. Use it, use that rage towards your scenes and whatever your character is. It’s...” Sami shrugged meekly at Rami, who was watching him intently. “It’s the only thing we can do at times like this, right?”

“I suppose,” Rami muttered, a tired expression on his face, and popped a grape into his mouth. He turned around, opening the fridge again and came back holding some hummus and olives in his hand. “I imagine it’ll be the only thing anyone will talking about for the next week. Rightfully so.” He opened the olives, laying a few of them out next to the salami, and stuck the jar back into the fridge. 

Sami was bemused. “How much are you eating?”

“As much as it takes to get through this shit show. I’m supposed to be on a diet right now, but I don’t give a shit. If I’m going to wine and dine watching this, I might as well do it properly.”

“Now I really wish I were there.”

“Yeah, me too. It would make it more bearable. But...this will do for now.”

Sami went silent, watching the TV again, which was now reporting about gunshots and a woman wounded. “Jesus Christ.”

Rami was muttering under his breath. “Shit, shit, shit, shit-”

They didn’t speak after that, both of them too lost in watching the news coverage, and Sami gripped his glass tightly as took a breath in to ease his anxiety.

Swallowing, he poured another glass, knowing he wouldn’t be finishing the bottle, and instead capped it and placed it in the fridge for tomorrow. It was an odd feeling, one that “scared” wouldn’t be able to cover. It was a looming, threatening feeling; something like this was so deeply entrenched in the fabric of the country. It wasn’t something that would go away on January 20th, as much as he wished for that. He wasn’t surprised that people had so much hatred for anyone other than themselves were coming out of the woodwork, blindly following what their commander in chief told them. The repercussions of this day would be something that would take a long time to repair.

“I’m tired,” he said suddenly. Rami’s voice was quiet, and though Sami didn’t elaborate, Rami seemed to understand what he meant perfectly.

“I know. So am I.”

---

When the crowds eventually thinned out, and Sami went back to work the next morning, he read the highlights of things he’d missed, flipping through the photos of the wreckage before the first period bell rang. When students trickled in, he was met with a sea of somber faces, and he knew he wouldn’t be teaching his regular lesson plans for the day. He felt enraged all over again.

Instead, he hopped up onto his desk, sitting cross legged and observing his students. “Alright. I would be...a very poor educator if I didn’t bring up what happened yesterday to all of you. And I know you’ll hear about it later in the day, I’m sure, but what we do here as teachers affects you guys for the rest of your lives. Now I don’t really care if you can’t tell me the imagery themes in The Great Gatsby, but I do care if you can’t think for yourselves. You’ll be reading and hearing a lot different things in the next coming weeks from people who think they’re right. And you’re all old enough, in my opinion, to have your own opinions on this. That being said, we all know what the banned book list is, correct?”

There were students nodding, and Sami nodded too, and he hopped off the desk to pull said list up. “Good. Pick a book from here, read it. There’s a reason all these books are banned from certain school curriculum, and I want you guys to pick one, and tell me why. It’s January. For every book you manage to get through from now till June, if you give me a one page analysis on your thoughts, I’ll give you extra credit that counts towards your final.” His students perked up at that, and he smiled inwardly. “Five points for every book, sound good?” There were murmurs of approval, and Sami continued, “it’s not mandatory, so don’t feel pressured to this. But I would...appreciate it if you did.”

“What if we read them all?” Someone asked.

There was always one.

Sami’s lips quirked up in amusement. “Good luck. You’ll notice there’s plenty of books on there we’ve read already.”

His students started chattering excitedly, and Sami cleared his throat, glancing at his copy of The Color of Water, which is what they were studying now. They would be finishing that tomorrow, the test for it was Monday, something which Sami had to make over the weekend. He hadn’t decided what to teach next, his gaze drifting to the copies of To Kill A Mockingbird in the back of the classroom, which was what he was planning to start Monday, after the kids took their test.

He debated on it, and then Rami’s words came back to him from the night before.

“He’ll leave the White House, but he’ll burn it down with him as he goes.”

He cleared his throat. “Guys, we’re just going to finish reading for the rest of the period, and we’ll go over the whole book for tomorrow before your test. So if you’ve got your books, take ‘em out.”

Later, once his classes were over for the day, he headed to the library, intent on finding Maria and asking for his next lesson plans.

“Hey Sami,” she greeted. “Back again? How’d they fare with Color of Water?”

“Not bad,” Sami said. “We’re finishing it up, test is Monday.”

“So, you’re here for Mockingbird?”

“No I’ve got Mockingbird,” he murmured, scanning the bookshelves. “That was what I was going to go with originally, but I’ve had a change of heart. Do you know if any of the faculty is teaching Orwell at the moment?”

“The freshmen, some of them are doing Animal Farm. But none of the AP classes right now. Which one?”

Sami spotted what he was looking for, and based on the piles of books they had, no one else had taught it yet, or he was late to the game.

“1984.”

[the-odd-job]

Insistence

Rating: Explicit Warnings: None Category: Other Fandom: Transformers > Merformers Characters: Megatron, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker Relationships: Megatron/Sunstreaker, Megatron/Sideswipe Additional Tags: Courting Rituals, Dubcon, Aliens, Alien Planet Words: 4046

It's that time of the year. Who said finding a good mate was easy? It's not.

Sunstreaker thinks they've managed it, though.

“That’s a Loner, isn’t it?”

“Look at the size of him!”

Sunstreaker glanced up at the hushed whispers that broke out around him when a massive shadow blotted out the sunlight filtering through the peaceful waves of the lagoon. Next to him Sideswipe did the same, turning onto his back to look at the mer passing above them, close to the surface.

“What’s he doing here?” someone asked.

“You think Loners don’t take part in the Gathering?” another asked back incredulously.

“Loner, huh? I’ve never seen one before,” Sideswipe commented, and Sunstreaker tuned the others out in favor of his brother. They both watched as the big grey mer kept on swimming, calmly and confidently like he owned the whole ocean. Scars littered his body, tells of a life that couldn’t have been easy.

“When would we have even gotten a chance to see one?” Sunstreaker asked, cocking a brow at his twin. Sideswipe shrugged, his eyes following the other mer until the stranger disappeared into the hustle and bustle of the Gathering. 

“I dunno. But think about it, someone who voluntarily lives without a pod? And survives? That’s impressive.”

“Hmh.” Maybe so. Sunstreaker, though, refused to be too impressed, and turned his attention back to their surroundings. Mers were swimming by and eyeing each other left and right, searching for someone they would want to court.

Sunstreaker, for his part, was yet to see anyone he would’ve liked, despite them being a whole week into the Gathering already. As Sideswipe loved to remind him.

But neither had Sideswipe mated with anyone yet, although Sunstreaker had the feeling that was mostly because his brother was following his lead instead of taking the initiative in anything.

There had been suitors. Many of them, for both of them. He could feel the weariness in his tail from having run from and outlasted so many others already, and Sideswipe was probably feeling the same. But he was not going to settle. If that meant not finding anyone at all to mate with, so be it.

Only the best for him, and for Sideswipe, by extension, if he was right about his brother’s plans to mate with the same individual he would pick. 

But there was still another week to go, and if he was tired now, he had to wonder how tired he would be by the end of it. Luckily he wouldn’t be the only one. Everyone else would tire too as time passed, and no one would be able to chase quite as friskily as they could at the start of the Gathering. That was his only saving grace.

As he let his eyes pass around the many mers around them, he noticed one stranger staring quite attentively at them. Or him, more specifically, because his eyes didn’t move when Sideswipe swam a few meters this way or that. His primarily red body wasn’t too different in hue from Sideswipe’s, and his scales had a healthy luster to them.

He was smaller than they were though, and didn’t look too old. Sunstreaker already decided he didn’t like him or want him.

Meanwhile, they seemed to decide they liked him and wanted him, despite his scowl. In a flash they sprinted towards him, and Sunstreaker tensed up before sighing and preparing himself to rocket out of there. “Oh, here we go again…”

Next to him, Sideswipe snickered.

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

The day had shifted from morning to afternoon by the time they had a chance to catch a breather together again. Sideswipe had flopped himself to the ocean floor, panting through his gills.

Sunstreaker had to admit he wasn’t feeling much better, but he held to his dignity and floated a little above his brother.

“Guess what?” Sideswipe spoke up suddenly, his tail making an excited little wiggle that had Sunstreaker instantly suspicious.

“What?”

“That Loner we saw earlier? I found out his name,” the red twin announced proudly. Sunstreaker glared at him dubiously.

“How and why?”

“I was curious! And asked one of the people that didn’t try to court me. Apparently he’s pretty well known, and he’s lived alone for years! Think about that. Years.”

“Don’t tell me you have a crush,” Sunstreaker growled, rounding in on his brother. Sideswipe shrunk back against the sand, but giggled like the audacious idiot he was. 

“I swear, I swear I don’t. I just think it’s pretty cool to live on your own like that! And for so long.”

“You have a crush.”

“I do not!”

“Listen to yourself talk!” Sunstreaker threw his arms up before dragging one hand down his face. Well, this was the whole point of the Gathering, wasn’t it? Find someone you liked?

“I’m not going to go court him!” Sideswipe said before Sunstreaker had the chance to ask about that. He glowered at Sideswipe, and Sideswipe glowered back at him.

“But you want to.”

“Oh, Primus, can’t you just drop this already?” It was Sideswipe’s turn to drag a hand down his face. “I just wanted to know his name, is that such a crime? He’s interesting, nothing more than that.”

“Right,” Sunstreaker intoned, skepticism dripping from his voice. “Because you have gotten interested in so many other people.”

“He’s different!” Sideswipe tried to argue, but if you asked Sunstreaker, he was only digging his grave deeper.

It looked like Sideswipe came to that conclusion too, because he opened his mouth to say something further, then decided against it and really sank into the sand. He muttered something under his breath, but Sunstreaker couldn’t make out the words, and didn’t really care to, either.

“So what’s his name?” Sunstreaker drawled, just to humor his poor brother. It was sad to see the way Sideswipe perked up and gave him a dazzling grin.

“Megatron! His name is Megatron.”

Speak of the Devil… The constant background drone of hundreds of mers in every direction suddenly quieted in their vicinity. Sunstreaker glanced up in alarm, as unlikely as it was that there would have been anything dangerous, only to find himself the subject of a stranger’s unflinching attention.

Except now he knew this stranger’s name. The big grey mer with scars all over his body had everyone around him clearing away to give him plenty of room, shooting him glances that he completely ignored.

In favor of staring at Sunstreaker. From the corner of his eye he could see Sideswipe rising partially upright, glancing between him and Megatron. He had red eyes, like Sideswipe, and they bore straight into Sunstreaker.

And Megatron? He was much larger than they were, and he had age on him, it was obvious. But despite that and the many scars he wore, his skin shone in the daylight, stretched taut over his musculature.

Everything about him spoke of health and vitality.

“Sunny,” Sideswipe whispered next to him, but Sunstreaker felt rooted in place by the weight of that singular focus weighing on him. He didn’t even dare flick his tail, lest that broke the spell and caused… Something to happen.

He didn’t know what he feared or wished for.

“Sunny!” Sideswipe said a little more urgently, kicking himself up from the seafloor.

And the spell broke. There was no warning given before Megatron suddenly set in motion, accelerating straight at him with speed he wouldn’t have expected from a mer that big. Sideswipe gasped next to him, but Sunstreaker didn’t have the time to stay and wonder about him.

With urgency that felt a lot more real than it had with any of his many other courters, Sunstreaker sprinted away as fast as his tail would allow. He swam up, closer to the surface to give him more room to maneuver, and Megatron followed with frightening ease. And who knew how many times he had done this dance before, if he was as old as Sunstreaker suspected him to be?

How many times had he failed in courting?

Damn him if Sunstreaker was going to make this easy for him, though. He’d spent the last week trumping others’ attempts to court him.

This would be no different.

It quickly became evident that Megatron was faster than him in a straight line, but that only meant that he would need to make more turns. Presumably the other’s greater size made it harder for him to change direction quickly—made him less agile to an extent that allowed Sunstreaker to stay ahead of him, just as long as he remained unpredictable.

So he did his best to be just that, changing course on a dime with no warning or indication of where he was going to go next, and careful to stay out of Megatron’s reach. Up, down, left, right, always skirting far enough from the grey mer that he wouldn’t be able to grab him. Megatron tried a few times, and a few times it was a close call, but he managed. He zigzagged between the other mers either courting each other or finding someone to court, and if they didn’t clear the way for him, they sure did that for Megatron.

That didn’t work in his favor when Megatron didn’t need to take all the turns he needed to, but Sunstreaker’s best was enough to keep him ahead of his pursuer as the minutes stretched into an hour.

But he’d already done this for a week straight. As the hours slowly multiplied, his breathing began to turn ragged and his tail was starting to burn from the constant exertion.

And yet Megatron didn’t give up. Where others would have abandoned the chase by now, Megatron kept coming, following his every move with singleminded intensity that was as frightening as it was titillating.

Megatron wanted him. That much was painfully obvious, otherwise he would’ve stopped already, like everyone else had. They hadn’t wanted him enough. 

Megatron, though, he was persistent. Beyond that! He was merciless, not giving him one moment to catch his breath or have a rest, only forcing him to work his hardest to stay ahead of him. Constantly, without any hint of reprieve. 

And while Sunstreaker was starting to have to admit to himself that he was tiring, Megatron showed no signs of slowing down. Even assuming he hadn’t done much courting yet in this Gathering, his stamina was impressive to show no signs of weariness despite the ever lengthening hours. 

But Sunstreaker wasn’t easy. He wasn’t going to let himself be that. He kept swimming just as Megatron did, tiring or not, and he kept staying ahead of Megatron.

It was just that the extent to which he was managing to stay ahead of the grey mer was beginning to narrow down severely. It took more and more out of him to get those quick bursts of speed that allowed him to dodge every time Megatron got too close, and he got too close way too often. 

And yet Sunstreaker kept going, refusing to give up any more than Megatron was giving up. The daylight began to fade, the suns set, light grew scarce, his pupils dilated to make up for the difference, and yet neither of them stopped.

He was starting to lag worse and worse. Sunstreaker hated noticing that, but it wasn’t exactly surprising.

He was tired.

But he was also stubborn.

And so was Megatron.

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

The largest moon was already casting its light into the waters by the time Sunstreaker finally met his limits. Megatron gained on him, and he made a quick turn away, pushing himself to make it fast, but his tail was tired. So very tired, and he just couldn’t get the necessary speed. Megatron turned with him, made a grab at him, and his hand closed around his tail. Claws dug into his skin and Sunstreaker hissed even as he was yanked back to the big mer. He twisted around just in time for Megatron to reach up and grab him by the upper arms, shackling him in place and bringing him close to the vast, scar littered chest.

It was terrifying, it was arousing, and Sunstreaker’s tail twitched from side to side. His breathing, already fast, quickened even further, his pump pushing water through his gills in strong pulses.

So this was it, then. Sunstreaker forced himself to look into Megatron’s face and into the piercing red eyes. There was only the barest hint of expression there. Victory, satisfaction. Otherwise neutrality.

Sunstreaker didn’t know what his own face was reflecting. As much as he wished it was aloofness, indifference, something made him suspect it was more childish fear and mature excitement mingled together.

That was how he felt, anyway. His heart was hammering even as Megatron brought them together, the hot skin of his tail pressing against Sunstreaker’s.

He took pleasure in knowing Megatron wasn’t as unaffected by their extended courting as he seemed. His body was smoldering. A rumble vibrated his chest as he rubbed his tail against Sunstreaker’s, and Sunstreaker writhed against him in return, though whether it was in reciprocation or an attempt to still get away, he wasn’t sure.

There was no getting away though. Megatron’s grip was vice tight, and it wasn’t hard to tell that now that he’d finally caught him, he wasn’t about to let go before the deed was done.

Sunstreaker could feel his internals throb and he let his head fall back with a groan. This time when he moved, it was definitely in reciprocation. He could feel his slit begin to open up, his tail shifting restlessly as Megatron pressed them together, and it wasn’t long before he felt something decidedly not a tail press against his underside.

He had the presence of mind to consider their size difference, then, and Sunstreaker glanced along the length of his body in alarm. His concerns weren’t misplaced, and he found himself suddenly a lot less eager after catching sight of Megatron’s member.

Someone was proportional.

He didn’t have the time to voice his misgivings (as unlikely as it was that that would’ve done him any good anyway) before Megatron was already lining them up, maneuvering his body until the tip of Megatron’s length nosed up against his gaping slit. Sunstreaker tensed up when Megatron began to push in, though blessedly, he was considerate enough to go slow.

Even so it didn’t take long before his body’s natural preparation was no longer enough and he could feel the first stings of the entry of something far too large. That turned into a steady burn and Sunstreaker arched his back with a hiss. Megatron took no pity on him even if he wasn’t thoughtless about it either, and only moved one of his hands to Sunstreaker’s aft to keep him from pulling away.

But he kept going slow, giving Sunstreaker at least some time to adjust to the ever widening breadth of his member. Despite that, it hurt, and he had no idea how much worse it was still going to get.

The answer was not very. It was only a few moments later that the tip of Megatron’s length bumped up against his cervix, and Megatron stopped pushing at that little bit of resistance. Sunstreaker was very grateful for that, his hands grasping onto Megatron for support as he panted through his gills, trying to grow accustomed to the feeling of being impaled on something that felt far too big for his body. And probably was far too big for his body, but there was no helping it.

Then Megatron began moving, rocking them together, pulling out only to carefully push back in. Sunstreaker’s claws dug into him, but his partner didn’t object. Megatron was mindful not to push too deep, stopping every time he brushed against his cervix. Sunstreaker suspected it would’ve hurt like the pit otherwise.

As it was, his slit was slowly getting used to the stretch, the burn abating to a dull discomfort that slowly melted away. Megatron never sped up very much, and Sunstreaker didn’t try to either, his tail only curling against Megatron’s to the rhythm of his languid thrusts. 

It wasn’t long before Megatron pushed deep one more time before stopping to hold them together, his body stiffening. Sunstreaker could feel a hot burst in the depths of his slit and he huffed at the feeling, wiggling from side to side to tip himself over the edge. He didn’t manage before Megatron started to move again, a few more deep, smooth thrusts finally driving Sunstreaker’s arousal high enough for it to burst and he groaned as his muscles tightened, the ones in his slit rippling. Megatron hissed at the feeling, pushing through the uneven resistance for a couple more thrusts before he pulled out. Sunstreaker sagged in his hold when his slit was left open and gaping by the penetration, leaking something white.

But there was no red, and not much discomfort left either.

Megatron released him but didn’t move away, and neither did Sunstreaker push himself away when he was again free to do so. He slowly unhooked his claws from Megatron’s skin, feeling somewhat sorry for the blood he’d drawn.

Megatron still didn’t seem to mind that bit though.

The thought of now what crossed his mind. He’d found a mate, one that had proven himself strong beyond doubt. He could feel good about that.

But did their tryst end here, or was it going to last? What did Megatron want?

What did he want?

Before either of them had the chance to approach those questions, a flash of something colorful off to the side caught his attention. Sunstreaker glanced in that direction along with Megatron, and who else was it but someone who sparkled a muted red in the moonlight.

Sideswipe approached as indirectly as he possibly could, circling this way and that while he tried to get a read on the situation and whether it was the right moment to butt in, or whether he was interrupting something still. Sunstreaker’s eyes were drawn back to Megatron who was watching the display with a look of mild confusion.

It only lasted for as long as it took him to glance between the two of them, though. First at Sideswipe, then at Sunstreaker, then back at Sideswipe, and that was when realization and understanding broke across his features.

Sunstreaker pushed away as Megatron drew himself to attention and Sideswipe took his cue to approach. Sunstreaker gave the two of them some space, watching as Sideswipe boldly swam over, turned to his back, and rubbed the length of his underside to Megatron’s. There was definitive interest in Megatron’s eyes, and he turned after Sideswipe as he passed him.

There was no playing around this time, no drawn out courting. Sideswipe had asked and offered, and Megatron accepted. With a swift motion he grabbed Sideswipe by the wrist, pulling him against him. Sunstreaker could see the mix of nervousness and excitement on Sideswipe’s features, but unsurprisingly he didn’t put up a fight. He wondered how much he’d seen, if he knew what a monstrosity Megatron was hiding behind his slit, but knowing his brother, even if he did know he was probably just self destructively eager. He always had a thing for extreme experiences anyway.

Sideswipe was panting before Megatron had even uncovered himself, making little jerking motions against the grey mer. Amusement was written all over Megatron’s features, and Sunstreaker felt the same emotion. Yeah, not a crush, sure.

This was probably Sideswipe’s young dream come true.

Megatron didn’t waste time getting his tool back out in the open. Sideswipe refused to even look at it, staring up at Megatron’s face even as he rubbed his belly against the thick length, so he probably knew what it was like.

Megatron purred at Sideswipe before grabbing his brother by the hips and lining them up. He went slow with Sideswipe too, but despite that Sideswipe was writhing as he was penetrated, his teeth bared in a mixed expression of pleasure and pain. Sunstreaker followed the process, from the first slow push in—and Megatron barely managed to sheath half of his length within Sideswipe before he hit his limit—to the following withdraws and thrusts. Sideswipe’s expression slowly loosened as his slit got used to the stretch, push, and pull, and towards the end of it he was already rocking to meet Megatron.

He wasn’t allowed to control the pace though, Megatron did that, and Sunstreaker got the feeling the Loner had been with smaller mers before too. He looked like he had a pretty good idea of what he was doing even with a smaller partner, that was for sure.

Sideswipe was the one who stiffened first, a strangled groan passing his lips. Megatron ground his teeth and after a few more jerks of his hips against Sideswipe, he followed suit, pulling Sideswipe against him to the tune of a little meep from his brother.

Then it was done and Megatron slowly relaxed his hold on Sideswipe, pulling out from his body. Sideswipe slit was gaping too, and in a move that was so completely in character for his brother, Sideswipe reached down to poke at it. Sunstreaker snorted as Sideswipe swept his fingers through the white stuff that had followed Megatron’s retreat and brought it to his mouth, experimentally licking his fingers.

He made a face at the taste, shaking his hand to get the rest of it out of it. Megatron was watching the whole thing with bemusement and amusement, but really, if he wanted to stick around, he was going to have to get used to antics like that from dearest Sideswipe.

If he wanted to stick around. They’d still have to see about that.

Sunstreaker moved closer now that Megatron and Sideswipe had finished, drawing Megatron’s attention back to himself. “Twins?” Megatron asked, and oh, his voice sent shivers down Sunstreaker’s spine. Deep and gravelly, it was more pleasant on the ears than anyone’s voice had any right to be.

He couldn’t find the words in time, but Sideswipe had him covered. “Yeah,” his brother said, still wiping his mouth to try to get the taste of Megatron’s semen off his tongue.

“So… You wanna do that again?” was the next thing that came from Sideswipe’s mouth. Sunstreaker sighed, but Megatron only chuckled.

“It does increase the odds of success, doesn’t it?” he said, raising his brows at Sideswipe.

Sideswipe, for his part, made a happy sound and threw himself at the grey mer. Sunstreaker stiffened in preparation for Megatron’s blowback, but… None came. A look of surprise flitted across Megatron’s features, but it quickly morphed back into a harmless kind of amusement and he merely patted Sideswipe’s aft.

Almost fondly, as impossible as that was after they’d only met so recently.

“Does this mean you’ll stay with us?” Sunstreaker asked, staying some ways out of reach even as he came close. Sideswipe was all touchy feely, and really, if Megatron decided to stay and raise the pups with them, that would just mean Sideswipe someone other than him to pester with his affection.

“That was the plan, yes,” Megatron responded. Both him and Sideswipe glanced at him, although Sideswipe’s eyes quickly moved to Megatron’s face. “Unless you don’t want me to?”

“No, that’s not it,” Sunstreaker said at the same time as Sideswipe piped up with, “We want you to.”

“Then it’s decided,” Megatron said conclusively. “I’ll join you two in a pod and help raise our offspring, once the time comes.” Sideswipe tittered happily, and Sunstreaker had to admit to more than a little relief too. Their carrier might’ve managed to raise them without their sire’s presence, but he really wouldn’t have wanted to try the feat himself. “How old are you two, anyway?” their new mate asked next.

And that was that. They had a mate now. 

“This is our first year as adults,” Sunstreaker answered with a shrug.

“That young? Good.” Megatron sounded quite pleased over that fact, but Sunstreaker didn’t have the time to ask why exactly—because they were young and virile? —before Sideswipe was already whining for Megatron’s attention.

“You said we could do it again. Unless you can’t get it up so soon?” Oh, low blow.

Megatron merely laughed. “Oh, I can get it up again, alright.”

[clarenecessities]

so shit’s fucked

here is a timeline

09/03/2019.

two people in a 70 person server discuss the SU movie in the general chat channel, using spoiler tags because it had just recently been released. this lasts five posts.

09/07/2019.

alyson comes into the general chat channel and says man, isn’t it a bummer that SU is n*zi apologia and racist and actively harmful?

Donnie says yes, it’s harmful, but drop the n*zi comment because RS is jewish (alyson does not, then or the other two times donnie asks, despite donnie being jewish himself). He later says he doesn’t care about SU at all

Synth says it’s understandable that people would drop the show because of poor handling or the racism issues, but agrees that n*zi is too far when there’s genuine propaganda out there

Beta says yes, the writers could have handled things better, but reducing the message of the show to “n*zi good” is a deliberate misinterpretation

A fourth person comes in briefly to say they also don’t care about SU and that this should probably be in the discourse channel.

About halfway through the conversation, after his second request to stop calling SU apologia was met with a sourceless insistence that other jewish people criticized it (though alyson did not specify whether they used the term n*zi apologia), Donnie told her she was taking this very personally, which Alyson met with “Am I? I said a thing, said it was unpopular, and left it. and then got swarmed?”

At this point she held ~46% of the conversation.

She then abruptly left, saying, “like. Hooooboy, there's so much assuming and passion and defensiveness going on here, so I guess I'll leave since I've seen this all before and know for a fact that no one is going to let it rest.“

She held 41% of the final conversation. Everyone who weighed in was either explicitly open to criticizing SU or completely indifferent, and were simply asking her not to refer to the work of a Jewish nb woman as n*zi apologia.

09/10/2019

Alyson writes a post. The introduction is more or less “if you uncritically like SU, unfollow me” and goes on to say she underestimated how few people in the neopets fandom recognize its harmfulness. She says she’d been thinking about leaving the Neolodge discord for a while, but her mind was made up on the 3rd when she saw "a lot of hype and support" (5 posts), four full days before she posted in the general chat. She says she "was swarmed by questions asked by people who didn't want to hear [her] answers." (there were two questions asked of her: “did you just kind of want to get mad at us for enjoying steven universe?” and “were you venting?")

She says that SU is her “litmus test” of sorts, implying--possibly by accident--that she was then testing the Neolodge by dangling some SU-discoursey bait. 

The post was tagged #the problem isn’t liking a thing and #it's denying anyone from not-liking it for very valid reasons

Except the problem was demonstrated to be specifically that she was asked not to use a particular term to describe that not-like

7 months later, 4/16/2019

There is a Neolodge board on our own neopets.gov. Alyson shows up and is polite & sociable until more people that she recognizes filter in. She neomails hollis to broach the subject of what had happened in september, saying “from what i remember it was mostly synth who was very reactionary and aggressively posting at me because i criticised steven universe“ which, if you’ll review the logs, is both not about synth, who only posted twice (probably an honest mistake), but also grossly mischaracterizes the nature of the incident. Over the next day or so she and Hollis discuss the nature of the lodge and what transpired in September. Hollis emphasizes that the Neolodge has never been a place for bigots or their sympathizers, and Alyson goes radio silent.

4/24/2019

Alyson writes a new post. It tells a different narrative than we see play out in the logs. Her summary of events is as follows:

So, when wondering on the chat if anyone else was critical of the franchise, instead the chat suddenly sped up and i was swarmed by a bunch of anti-criticism fans who almost immediately -instead of reading my beginning attempts to elaborate on where i was coming from- posted over and over again that rebecca sugar is a marginalized voice and as such, immune to criticism, and how dare I insinuate a jewish woman of writing nazi apologia.

To reiterate, she began a discussion. Every person who responded was either openly critical of SU or indifferent. They were not suggesting RS is immune to criticism because she’s marginalized; they were in fact largely agreeing with the criticisms that Alyson raised, but asking her to be more conscious of the impact her choice of terms could have (and in fact was having).

I (a neurodivergent, mentally ill, pansexual aromantic woman, aka also a marginalized voice) was talked over and treated as if i ate babies. Obviously, I left the neolodge discord after that.

Again, she held 41% of the conversation--and by her own admission had already been planning to leave the Neolodge, and had thrown down this final ‘litmus test’ despite not wanting to engage with the results.

Now, obviously marginalization isn’t a contest. There’s no “I have more problems” or “I have worse problems” that will ever get us anywhere constructive. As I said in my own reply to her post, this was not a matter of RS being untouchable because she’s marginalized, but of Alyson’s behavior when asked not to draw the comparison between RS’s work and literal N*zi apologia.

Hollis refused to read and think about what i had said and the information i linked to, despite apparently going back in the discord chat and viewing the whole mess, where i had also laid out information to back up my observations.  Instead, my voice talked over, my words and concerns discarded, I was treated as if I had committed some heinous act, and if i had changed as a person then maybe they might let me back in to the neolodge.

Now being privy to the entire conversation, I can assure anyone reading this that Hollis read & thought about everything Alyson said very seriously. We had an in-depth and nuanced discussion, and ultimately realized that this was not simply a matter of whether or not SU is a poorly handled cartoon or full-on apologia. It was a matter of Alyson’s unwillingness to engage in a discussion she herself began, her repeated refusals to respect the comfort and wishes of our Jewish members, and her later misconstruals of the conversation as a ‘bombardment’.

Alyson insists she did not call RS a n*zi, and that critiquing the show is not equivalent to doing so, but unfortunately ended that thought with this:

Words mean things: look up apologia.

Now, I’ve already pointed this out, but apologia means “a formal written defense of one’s opinions or conduct.” Thus, every time Alyson has insisted SU is actual, literal N*zi apologia, she means that a Jewish nonbinary woman conceived of and executed an explicit defense of fascism, n*zis, the H*locaust, regardless of how involved she was or wasn’t in the production of the show itself.

Personally, I choose to believe that Alyson herself is unaware of the definition, and instead meant that SU makes excuses for fascism, or alludes to n*zis, or much gentler (if still harmful) language. I choose to believe that she’s conflating it with an apology, and simply didn’t follow her own advice.

The Neolodge is home to actual children/minors/underage people and most of the people in the incident were younger than 21. That is children.  I was getting annoyed at young non-adults. 

This is blatantly false. The Neolodge has always been a minor-free space, and there’s been discussion of upping the minimum age to 20. That Alyson herself is 30 may have skewed her perception, but as you can see in our response to this angry anon, we have always been concerned with the protection of minors & the promotion of a safe, comfortable atmosphere.

Alyson goes on to say that she had liked & trusted Hollis, and this came with no prior warning--presumably because Hollis had been polite and even friendly when she came to our board, and they hadn’t interacted much over the previous months since her exit from the discord.

So if you’re like me, and don’t put up with bullshit, and refuse to lie down and let bigotry get further footholds into western culture and be lauded for it, consider staying away from the neolodge and users like hollis and synthaphone

I still don’t quite understand how we got here, tbh. People standing up against a stark refusal to respect someone’s comfort as a Jewish person has somehow been skewed to mean they’re the bigots, and “western culture” is in danger, specifically from this gay nb & their nefarious lesbian pal, who spoke the least of anyone in the conversation.

I can’t speak to what’s going through her head right now. I don’t even know if she read the replies enough to know she was spreading misinformation about the Lodge’s age restrictions, let alone her (hopefully accidentally) drawing an obliquely antisemetic portrait of RS. I’m not even mad at her at the moment so much as confused. I genuinely don’t understand her rationale or what she thinks would motivate us to do the things she says we’ve done. I don’t think she’s a bad person, or even that her actions would be unfair if the situation were what she’s purported it to be.

But the fact of the matter is, it isn’t. She tried to start a fight seven months ago and has been hanging onto it since, convinced that she was in the right, never considering the express opinions of the people she claimed were so passionate about the show she so loathes. She’s attempting to drag Hollis’s name through the mud because they were kind enough to give her a chance to explain her side of things & she squandered it by instead parroting the talking points of the video we had all watched back in September, when she originally posted it.

She’s throwing Synth in for good measure, because they’re the only person she could be bothered to identify.

It’s not a true account of events, she made no effort to have a good-faith conversation at any point (particularly about her own behavior), and frankly it’s unfair. It’s easy to dump snippets of DMs and announce that you’re blocking anyone who disagrees with you, sure--it can even be good for you. But in this case it’s more of what we saw all those months ago in the discord, when she tried to stir the pot and left after scarcely 30 posts had gone by; it’s cowardice. It’s a way to frame the narrative in such a way that she can maintain her illusion of moral superiority, secure in the knowledge that everyone who has criticized her or her behavior is a bigot and and writes n*zi "apologia” apologia.

She’s isolating herself from the community one group at a time, and I still don’t know why, because she won’t talk to me about it. She won’t talk to any of us about anything that isn’t SU, and I don’t care about SU. I care about her & her motivations, and I’m starting to accept I’m never going to truly know either.

[nycjake]

No Strings Attached

TAGGING: Jake Puckerman and Santana Lopez WHEN: 20th of December WHERE: Santana’s apartment GENERAL NOTES: Jake and Santana watch a movie before getting a bit distracted WARNINGS: Implied sex

Jake had had a long day at work and was definitely ready to chill out. After having a shower and sitting in his room by himself for a while, he decided to go see if he could find anyone to hang out with. It was boring to be by himself and it would be a lot more fun to have some company. Finn was out, presumably at work, so he decided to go see if the girls were in. Jake grabbed the spare key they had for their apartment and headed across the hall. He let himself in, automatically heading for the lounge area. "Hey Berry, Lopez. Anyone wanna watch a movie?" He asked, picking up the tv remote as he dropped down onto the couch.

Santana was lounging in her bedroom when she heard the door open and close pretty quickly after. Relaxing a little when she heard Jake’s voice boom through the apartment, she got out of Instagram and locked her phone. Exiting her room, she walked into the living room and shook her head when she realized he was already on the couch. “Please, make yourself comfortable. Rachel isn’t home but I’m always down to watch a movie, pick something decent and I’ll get the wine. You’re cool with red, right?”

Jake looked up as Santana appeared, giving her a cheeky grin as she commented on him getting comfortable. He was actually quite pleased that it was Santana who was home and not Rachel. He had nothing against Rachel, she was nice (if a bit intense), but it was Santana who he really got along with. "Yeah red is fine." Jake nodded, turning on the TV and opening up the Netflix app. "What kinda thing are you in the mood for? Comedy? Thriller? Horror? Rom-com?" He asked, starting to flick through the options.

Pouring herself and Jake a glass of wine, she returned to the living room and handed her friend his drink. “Comedy, always.” Santana replied matter of factly as she took a seat beside him on the couch. Making herself comfortable, she crossed her legs and placed a cushion on her lap before taking a sip from her drink. “I’m surprised you’re here watching a movie with me on a Friday night. Don’t you have an innocent victim to wine and dine or something?”

"Thanks." Jake smiled as he took the glass from her, taking a sip of it before turning his attention back to his scrolling. He raised an eyebrow at her question, once again taking his eyes off the TV. "Innocent victim? You make it sound like I'm a serial killer." He laughed.  "But no, I didn't feel like going out tonight. I had a long day at work and it's just so much effort. Y'know? But what about you? You're not out on the prowl tonight?" He asked teasingly.

Smirking into her glass, she took another sip and shrugged her shoulders. “Work was crap today so I really don’t feel like dealing with people who are probably just going to be terrible in bed. My assistant didn’t order the right sample sizes for a photoshoot I’ve spent two months planning with the photographer and it was just a fucking disaster.” Turning her focus back on the TV, she gently hit Jake’s shoulder and pointed to the movie he had randomly landed on. “Let’s just watch a classic. White Chicks is always funny and at least we’ll know it will be good.”

"Fair enough, I get that." Jake nodded. He knew what it was like trying to pick up people in New York and the mixed results it could produce. "Honestly I went home with a girl a few weeks ago who gave the worst blowjob I've ever had, and that's saying something." He laughed. "That sucks about work though, I'm sorry your assistant screwed you over." He added before looking back at the TV as she hit his shoulder. "Sounds good to me." He agreed, happy to stop endlessly scrolling through the choices. Plus it meant they could talk over it without having to worry about missing anything since they'd both seen it before.

Santana scrunched her face up in confusion at Jake's admission. "How can you be bad at giving a blowjob? It's like the easiest thing to do, I certainly don't remember you complaining when I did it." She replied with a grin. "Maybe she was just nervous or something. You're attractive and not exactly small, maybe she didn't know how to handle it?"

"She just had no idea what she was doing." Jake laughed. "Of course I had no complaints, you were good at it." He added with a smile. He had fond memories of his night with Santana and he definitely hadn't had any complaints afterwards. "Like she got it in her mouth, right? And then she just stayed there holding it like that. Didn't move or anything. Just looked up at me with it in her mouth like I was gonna cum just from that." He added, clicking play on the movie before putting the remote on the coffee table.

Unable to stop the loud laugh that escaped her mouth as Jake explained what he meant by bad, Santana shook her head and turned her body so that she was facing her friend better than she had been. “That is the funniest thing I’ve heard all day.” She admitted just as he hit play on the movie. “Poor girl.” Was all she offered up before her focus went to the TV screen.

"Right?!" Jake laughed along with Santana. "So I totally didn't feel like repeating that experience tonight." He chuckled, taking another sip of wine. "At least it gave me a funny story to tell even if it was at the price of mediocre sex." Jake joked as the opening credits started.

“At least you have a mediocre sex story to tell, I don’t even have that.” Santana replied, her eyes still focused on the opening credits. “I haven’t had an orgasm not given to me by myself in just over a month and I’m pretty sure I’m starting to lose it. I’ve just been so busy with work and the idea of finding a match on Tinder even seems like too much effort.”

Jake pulled out his phone and started looking for something. "She put her number in my phone, you can have it if you want." He laughed before opening the contact he'd renamed as "Bad BJ - Do Not Call", holding out his phone for Santana to take. "Then you can have all the mediocre sex and you'll start wishing it was just you getting yourself off again." He teased. "Tinder is garbage." He agreed easily. "So many people on there just ghost you and then the ones that do show up are normally freaks in the bedroom, and not in a good way."

Santana pushed Jake’s phone away and  narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re an idiot.” She said with a laugh before taking a sip from her wine. “My vibrator is pretty great so maybe that will be my thing for the foreseeable future. It will have to do until I can find someone worthy of my time, for a city as big as New York is it sure is difficult to find someone.”

Jake grinned at her, taking his phone back and putting it back in his pocket. "That's probably your best option." He agreed, humming in agreement at her last statement. He turned his attention back to the film as it started to get going. They were halfway through the film when he next spoke, and he'd gotten through a glass and a half of wine which was starting to take effect. He felt relaxed, slightly buzzed and like his filter had been very much removed. He looked over at Santana, unable to stop thinking about their earlier conversation. "You know." He spoke up randomly, now talking over the movie. "If you ever wanted a change from your vibrator, you can always use my dick. Like no strings attached, just sex, just something to get you off with." He offered.

Glancing over when Jake started speaking over the movie, Santana raised an eyebrow up at his suggestion. Even though her first instinct was to laugh and reject his offer, the more she thought about it the more it started to appeal to her. He had been the best person she had slept with in a really long time and getting a chance to do it again certainly wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. Finishing the rest of her wine, she leaned forward and placed her empty glass on the coffee table and turned to look back over at her friend. “Casual, no strings attached sex?” She repeated, needing the clarification. “And we stay friends and nothing gets awkward between us? Because if it’s that's the offer, I wouldn’t be against it.”(edited)

Jake should really stop letting his mouth speak before he'd thought things through, but frankly he didn't see an issue with this so far. It was just sex, and it was something they were both good at. If it meant more time in bed having good sex and less time out in the city trying to pick up randoms then it seemed like a win-win. "Yeah." He nodded at her question. He knew Santana didn't want more, she'd made that perfectly clear by running out during the night the first time and then by her attitude towards him when they met again. "No dates, no commitment, no responsibilities. Just sex and a lot less time with your vibrator." He confirmed.

Remaining quiet as Jake promised that this would be casual, she reached in-between them for the remote and turned off the TV. “If we’re doing this, we’re doing it now.” She told him before she moved to straddle his lap. Wrapping her arms around his neck, her eyes locked with his for a few seconds before she dipped her head and pressed her lips against his.

Jake could see what was coming, putting his wine glass on the floor before Santana climbed into his lap. "Fine by me." He agreed quietly. The moment of eye contact between them seemed to last forever, building the tension between them. He leaned in to meet her, wrapping his arms around her waist as he kissed her back.

Santana whimpered against his mouth and she was unable to help the way her hips pressed down against his. Pulling away only when she needed to take a breath, she buried her face into the side of his neck and began pressing kisses to his skin. “Bedroom. Rachel would lose her mind if she ever found out we fucked on the couch.”

Between the time he'd spent thinking about sex with Santana before he even opened his mouth to offer this, and the way she was kissing him, Jake was already half-hard. "Sounds like a challenge to me." He commented playfully. However he would rather be in the bedroom so he gently eased himself off the couch, guiding Santana's legs to grip around his waist so he could carry her from the position they were in. He tightened his own arms around her waist, before standing up from the couch completely. One benefit from his job was definitely being in shape enough to use his muscles for things like this.

Smirking against his neck at his remark, her grip around him tightened when Jake stood up from the couch. Once they were finally in her bedroom, she let him place her down on the bed and within seconds she was taking off her shirt. Tossing it to the floor, she unclasped her bra and smirked as she propped herself up on her elbows. “Condoms are in the bedside table, what are you waiting for?”

Jake knew they'd said no strings and just sex, but it still surprised him just how quickly they'd gone from watching their movie to being here. He smirked at her question, ditching his clothes before joining her on the bed. Once they'd both finished, Jake rolled over, pulling the condom off before tossing it in the trash can by her bed. "So, better than your vibrator?" He asked, a small smirk playing on his lips. If anything the sex had been even better than he remembered it being before.

Covering herself with her blankets once Jake moved off of her, she stared up at the ceiling as she caught her breath and smirked at his comment. “Definitely better than my vibrator, was my blowjob satisfactory?” Turning onto her side, she glanced at the clock that was on the bedside table closest to Jake and she raised an eyebrow when she realized the time. “That was definitely took more time than my vibrator too. For once, you actually had a good idea. Who knew it was even possible?”

"Definitely." Jake nodded, returning her smirk. "I'll be changing your name in my phone to reflect that." He joked, getting up to retrieve his clothes from the floor. If there was one thing he knew about casual sex, it was not to get too clingy about it and that included staying around longer than needed. "I do have good ideas occasionally." He laughed as he pulled his boxers back on. "So do you wanna go finish the movie or shall I just go home?" He asked, happy to leave the ball in her court.

Even though she knew he would potentially bring this up whenever he could, she decided to be honest and direct. "You should go home, my legs still feel like jelly and I wouldn't trust myself to get up out of bed right now. But this was fun, we'll totally be doing this again."

"You're welcome." Jake grinned, throwing a playful wink at her before turning his attention to getting the rest of his clothes on. Once he was fully dressed, he checked he had his phone and stood up to leave. "Alright, I'll see ya later Lopez. Come find me when you want another round." He smiled, giving her one last look before heading out of her room and back to his apartment.

[bigglobbytears]

(I don’t have a title yet) but

The girls of 1-A take a night out to go to a concert together, and Uraraka is determined not to let anything ruin this night, even her annoying classmate who they bump into.

Friendship fic, background Minamomo, extremely self indulgent writing.

As the train clacked and clattered on the tracks, Yaoyorozu called out for what seemed the hundredth time:

“Okay Girls! So it’s only three more stops then we transfer to the blue line, which will take us there directly.”

Jirou had her foot up on the seat in front of her, and narrowed her eyes at the thinning buildings around them. “Man, we’re not even in a part of the city normal people live in anymore, it’s just yuppies and suburbs. Mainstream venues are the worst.”  

They were clustered near the back of the train car, legs out in the aisle and leaning over each other’s chairs. All the class 1-A girls had started planning this a while ago, spurred off of a random conversation in the locker room after hero practice, when Uraraka saw that her favorite band of all time, Loud Youth, was touring, and would be playing nearby. They felt a little bad for excluding the boys, but, as Hagakure pointed out, they deserved something that was just for them. Uraraka was a little relieved, not because she didn’t want Deku and Iida to come, but because there was something nice in not having to explain herself when she screeched at the tour announcement. Sometimes, girls just get things like that.

Tsuyu, sitting next to Uraraka with her knees pulled up to her chest, turned to Yaoyorozu, who was checking her phone again.

“So, this is your first concert Momo?”

Yaoyorozu blushed a little. “Yes, I’m afraid I was a bit sheltered growing up. I’ve seen classical performances but, from what I understand, they are not similar.”

“No, not really. I’ve only been to one show, it was Pink Bubble Live.”

Ashido, who had been teasing Yaoyorozu by sneakily angling her selfies catch her off guard in the background, whipped her head around.

“Woah woah woah, isn’t that an idol group?”

“Yeah, I went with my younger siblings as a chaperone. It was fun, though. What about you, Mina?”

Ashido leaned back, screwing her face up in an effort to remember.

“Not sure… My middle school boyfriend was pretty into european noise rock, so I think I went to one of those first.”

Yaoyorozu looked slightly horrified. “And that was… Fun?”

“Eh, kinda, but it wasn’t really my scene. But neither was the boyfriend, so we live and we learn I guess.”

Hagakure leaned over the front of her seat, holding out her phone. “Hey, check it out Tsuyu! I think I was at the same Pink Bubble Live concert as you were!” On her phone was a super cute photobooth selfie (of, presumably, her) with the special concert filter over it. “I went with some of my friends from middle school, right before we all graduated to different high schools.”

“That sounds like so much fun! I feel like a show like that is so exciting, even if it’s pretty frivolous.” Commented Uraraka, wistfully.

“So what about you? Did you see any shows up in Mie?” Jirou said, poking her across the aisle with her foot.

“Yeah, only one: “Young Joey’s Jammers”. They play Loud Youth covers mainly, but they were pretty good!”

“So, the only live music you’ve seen… Is a cover band for what we’re about to go see.”

“Yup! I’m much more excited for this though! The other one was just in a community center, while this one has a proper stage and seating and everything!”

“Wow, you really are a super-fan.” Tsu mused.

“What about you, Jirou?” Hagakure asked, “I bet you’ve seen loads of live music, but what was your favorite concert?”

Jirou, strangely enough, seemed a bit flustered.

“Oh, well, after awhile, you start to really appreciate the ones that aren’t corporate. House shows, punk warehouse shows, things with a bunch of bands that are just in it for the music, you know?”

“Yeah, but, which band in particular?”

“The Dead… Rats.”

Hagakure’s shoulders went up a bit in displeasure. “Why would anyone want to think about dead rats?”

“Hu hu hu, look what I found.” Ashido drawled, showing on her phone a tagged picture of Jirou, close to tears, standing next to the five members of Pink Bubble Live. Jirou turned beet red, and spat “Look, my dad was filling in for one of their guitarists! I went as a favor for him!”

“Did you wear the autographed shirt as a favor to him too?”

“Hey, stop messing around, this is our stop!” Yaoyorozu announced above Jirou’s splutters.

Out on the platform, Uraraka made sure her pink mini-backpack was still zipped tight. She hadn’t known what to bring, more than the printed out ticket, and her wallet for emergencies. Her hands felt like they were buzzing with anticipation. For the past two weeks she had been listening only to Loud Youth while getting ready in the morning, and listening to it every night as she went to sleep. She had bought nothing but rice and miso for her month’s groceries to recover the cost of the ticket. It was all going to be worth it, though. Hero life was rewarding, but sometimes it felt like she was just being tossed around an obstacle course (And, in most of All Might’s Hero training exercises, this was true.) Everything was so structured, especially after they had moved to the dorms, and It was nice to go out, away from the city, from the school, from some of the other students who she didn’t get along with as well-

“Oh my gosh, look! it’s that one girl from the support course!”

Down the platform, looking intensely at a map of train routes, was Hatsume Mei. She had the defining trait, in Uraraka’s mind, of being one of the people she least wanted to see right now. She seemed to be fussing with one of her bags, and luckily was distracted enough to not have heard Hagakure. Uraraka was just drawing in breath to whisper that they should try to avoid her, when Ashido loudly yelled “Heeey~! Mei! What are you doing here?”

The breath in Uraraka’s cheeks came out in a quiet, strained whine, which nobody noticed. Oh no, she was waving back… Oh no! she was coming over! Shit shit shit!

The group (minus Uraraka) swelled forward to meet their classmate/former sports festival competitor who seemed ecstatic to see them.

“Why, if it isn’t the class 1-A girls! I feel like I haven’t even seen you since you were training for the hero exams! What are the chances!”

Yes, what were the chances. What were the chances that the one girl that Uraraka couldn’t stand was here on the one night she had to relax. Not wanting to come across as obviously rude, she just stood back and nodded a greeting before looking away. The conversation continued by way of Yaoyorozu, who had, as always, perfect manners.

“Yes, it has been pretty hectic lately. Especially with the increased security in the dorms and curriculum, we’ve been pretty focused on school. I hope all has been going well for the support course?”

“Oh, yeah, it’s been great! Definitely not as intense as the Hero course ha-ha! You guys don’t seem to be out here for work, how come they’ve let y'all wander so far away from the school like this?”

Jirou lifted up a chain around her neck, which swung with the same charm they all had. It looked almost like an old tamogatchi, with a little picture of the principal on it.

“We all have these little tracking devices, just in case. Plus, they can send out distress signals, receive messages, know where the other ones are, and whole bunch of other stuff too.”

Hatsume immediately leaned forward to inspect it, her wide cross-haired eyes obviously taking in every bit of the little gadget. “So cool! So what are you all doing here then?”

Uraraka tried to pipe up innocently “Oh, nothing much, just hanging out, you know-”

“We’re headed to a concert.” said Tsuyu, shooting a look over at Uraraka, who shot back her own.

“Oh my god, The Loud Youth concert? I’m going too! They’re like, my favorite band!!”

Great. Nice. Awesome.

Hatsume’s outfit is only a little but less eclectic than her usual look at school: Huge chunky combat boots, a bright blue hoodie, arms covered in multi-colored wristbands and watches, and huge red sunglasses resting on her head. Around her waist, though, was still her standard, blocky utility belt she would use to mess with any machine she was able to get her hands on. Uraraka sniffed, not able to hold herself back. “You know they won’t let you bring tools into the concert venue right?”

Hatsume just laughed and said “Oh, but that’s the awesome thing about this belt!” And then she struck her infuriating pose and loudly proclaimed “I have outfitted this belt specifically for tonight, allowing me to come prepared for any future mishap the night may throw at me! I have a foldable water bottle, breath mints, hand sanitizer, high protein snacks, advil, earplugs, extra socks deodorant, two portable phone batteries, and so much more, all ingeniously packed for ultimate lightness and accessibility!”

Tsuyu leaned forward to look around the cluster of girls at Uraraka.

“Oh wow Ochako, you were just saying your phone was close to dying.”

“Oh. Naw. I mean, I’ll be fine.”

“Didn’t you say ‘Oh boy, if ya’ll need to find me at the concert, just yell loudly and hope for the best, cause my battery’s about to go belly-up’”

“Yes. Yes Tsu I did say that.”

Yaoyorozu cut in, looking concerned. “Uraraka, you should charge your phone, from what I hear concerts can be quite the chaotic environment.”

With her lips pinched in annoyance, Uraraka handed over her phone.

She didn’t say much more as they went, with one extra member, to the concert.

Even outside of the place, they could tell it was huge, with multiple levels and a huge stage in the center. People were coming out of every train, and already in line to get their tickets stamped. Even though they had arrived early, per Yaoyorozu’s planning, they could tell it was going to be a challenge to find good seating.

“We’ve got to get up to the higher levels!” Ashido yelled above the babble of the crowd, “Those spots have tables and chairs, and the balcony seats have way better views than the ground floor!”

Once they got in, they tried as hard as they could to push through to the stairs.

“Hey, where’s Hatsume?” Hagakure yelled from the back of their pack. Somehow, she had slipped away without them noticing.

“C’mon, don’t worry about that, let’s go!” Uraraka motioned for everyone to follow her towards the slow swell making it’s way up the back stairs. Tsuyu moved close to her, and said, a little softly so that the other girls wouldn’t hear:

“You don’t like Mei very much, do you?”

“What, how can I not like her, I barely know her.”

Tsuyu just stared at Uraraka with her big, round eyes, silently telling her that she wasn’t buying it.

“Fine! I get a weird vibe from her. She’s loud, she kept forgetting my name when we first met, and she’s just… A lot.”

“The name thing is a bit rude, but maybe she deserves a better chance from you. We all have big personalities, we can’t blame someone for overshooting it a bit.”

Uraraka didn’t know what to say, and she felt a bit hurt that Tsuyu wasn’t taking her side on this. A shout from above interrupted the awkward feeling in her brain. Up there was Hatsume Mei, waving wildly, pointing at her prize: A table by the balcony, with enough chairs for all of them.

Once they reached her, She had already spread out her many water bottles and mints and granola bars over the whole table in the unspoken message of ‘I’m saving these seats for my friends.’ Everyone wanted to know how she did it, and she said that security and staff always have a back stair that they use, and although it’s open to the public, almost no one uses it because it’s out of the way. Ashido at this point proclaimed her the guardian angel of the night.

Uraraka had zoned out of the conversation, looking down below them. Down there was a densifying crowd of people, getting thicker and thicker until it reached the foot of the stage, which was still dim and mostly covered, waiting for the first opening act. She had made up her mind about what she was going to do.

Jirou and Ashido were passing around two small flasks, and were in the middle of teasing Yaoyorozu at her indignation over it when Uraraka dramatically stood up, took off her hoodie to reveal her Loud Youth band tshirt underneath, and proclaimed,

“Guys, I’m going to the mosh pit.”

No one seems keen on the idea of letting her go down alone. “Uraraka, I’ve heard these things can get extremely riotous.”

“Yeah man, mosh pits are no joke, they can get intense”

Uraraka rolled her eyes. “Guys, yesterday in class I had to dodge an active avalanche simulation while tied to Kirishima, I can handle a rowdy crowd.”

Yaoyorozu still looked hesitant. “Yes, but that was when you could use your quirk. In that crowd, it’s just you.”

Hatsume stood up and said “Don’t worry about it girls! I’m going too!” and she also dramatically took off her jacket. Much to Uraraka’s displeasure, she was wearing the same shirt, but in red. She tried to be polite, keeping in mind what Tsuyu had said.

“Oh, wow, thanks, but really I’ll be fine-”

“But I want to go! This will be my chance to see Young Joey in person, and I’m gonna be as close to her as possible!”

Uraraka mentally resigned to the situation, and together they made their way back down into the center of the crowd together. The first opener comes onstage to lukewarm applause, and announced themselves as the Bang Bears. Four of the members were wearing pretty cute ears and furry outfits, while the fifth member was just a bear. They played pretty well (The bear was surprisingly good on bass) and Uraraka politely nodded her head to the music. Hatsume had led them into a good spot, close enough to the stage that you could smell the fog, and they were nestled comfortably in the crowd. Uraraka shot a sideways glance at Hatsume, who seemed slightly bored.

Uraraka’s (now fully charged) phone buzzed, and she sees that it’s a text from Tsuyu. It’s a picture of two bobbing heads in the crowd, in a swirling mass of bodies and lights.The text underneath it read “I spy… two future best friends! :P”

Uraraka texts back “haha no -gun emoji-”

Tsuyu: “C’mon, give it a try! I mean, you both seem to be super fans of the same band”

Uraraka: “A lot of people like this band! I’m standing in a crowd of them!” Tsuyu: “Ok, if you say so. I’m going to go save Jirou, she accidentally sat between Momo and Mina and they both keep shooting glances at each other when they think the other isn’t looking :P”

Uraraka: “omg! They are being sooo obvious (+u+)”

Tsuyu: “I knoow. Either way, Jirou looks like she’s ready to blow their covers for them. Good luck down there!”

Uraraka put away her phone, and looked over at Hatsume again. She decided to take a random stab at conversation.

“So… Have you always been a fan of Loud Youth?”

Mei turned her eyes to to focus on her, which Uraraka still doesn’t really like, but said “No, I only got into them last year! I started listening to their last album while I was working on my entrance submission to UA Support Studies, and listened to nothing else for like, a month!”

Uraraka tried to work off of it. “Yeah, I love using their third album, Fever Rabbit, as a workout playlist. It’s like, my absolute go to, so much that Deku has stopped letting me DJ in the gym.”

Oh no. Without meaning to, she had accidentally brought up one of the main pressure points for her annoyance with Hatsume.

“Oh yeah, you’re always hanging out with that Izuku kid, aren’t you? He’s kinda funny, isn’t he?”

“Funny how?” Uraraka said, feeling her eyes start to narrow.

“Oh just like… Like, you wouldn’t look at him and think ‘Hero’ right? But that kid is like, super intense, even with his plain look.”

“Whatever Deku looks like is what a hero looks like” Uraraka snapped “Heroes can have big goofy grins, and, and soft hair, and cute freckles, and-” and suddenly she clamped her mouth shut, mortified by the fact she is telling this girl who is NOT her friend just how much she thinks about Deku’s freckles.

Hatsume doesn’t seem to notice her embarrassment, and instead looked thoughtful over what Uraraka said “You know, you’re right! I think that’s one of my problems, thinking more about looks rather than function sometimes. My teacher always tells me I focus too much on making something look flashy more than making it work.”

Uraraka felt herself getting a bit curious- She knew next to nothing about the support course, other than working with them occasionally on her outfit and gear, and has no idea how their curriculum goes. By the time the Bang Bears finished their last song, Hatsume was explaining how the support studies finals went (unlike the hero course, theirs is project based, and they have to submit a piece of equipment that has to pass rigorous review and grading). Uraraka, at this point, had drunk most of Hatsume’s foldable water bottle, and thought that this was probably the only chance she would get to go to the bathroom for a while. She excused herself, and Hatsume promised to save her spot.

Just like everywhere else at this venue, the bathroom had a line, cutting into the hallway. Uraraka meekly joined it, trying not to tap her foot out of anticipation to get back to the crowd. She felt a nudge on her shoulder. There behind her was a slightly flushed (which meant pinker than usual) Ashido. “Hey Uraraka, can I talk to you for a sec?”

“Uh” Uraraka shuffled forward an inch with the line. “Yes?”

“Great, I could really use your help man. Look, here’s the deal, cards on the table: I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I really like Momo.”

“Oh! Yeah, I know.”

“That’s okay if you’re a bit shocked man, I mean, so was I, but that’s just how it goes.”

“No, really Mina, I know. I think it’s great.”

“See! That’s what I love about you dude, you can always adapt to the unexpected. Anyways, I need your advice, because I don’t know how much longer I can keep it secret. I mean, I don’t know if she even likes me back! She probably likes other people who are her level, people who are more like Todoroki or, the president, or something.” They were now inside of the bathroom proper, and Uraraka was keeping both eyes glued onto the stalls while she talked to Ashido. Man, she REALLY had to go.

“Look, Ashido, I’m sure Momo thinks you are great. She likes Todoroki fine, but I’m sure for dating, she just wants someone that makes her feel relaxed and happy. So just, I dunno, see if you can make her laugh, and then you know if you should ask her out or not.”

Ashido put her hand up to her forehead, obviously needing a moment to process this.

“Oh my gosh Uraraka…. You are so smart, thank you so much!”

Ashido then gave her a hug, tight enough that Uraraka felt real fear that she’ll accidentally pee herself, then dashed out of the bathroom, yelling back “Just you wait, I’ll relax the hell out of her!”

About five minutes later, Uraraka made it into one of the stalls. She was barely sitting in there long enough to admire all the colorful graffiti when she heard a familiar panicked voice call from the bathroom entrance.

“Uraraka! Are you in here? I’m freaking out!”

Uraraka, still in the stall, called back “Uuuuh yes? Can I help you?”

Yaoyorozu’s feet appeared outside her stall, and she yell-whispered “Uraraka! I need your help!”

“Um,”

“I think I’ve been drinking too much, and it’s messing with my perception of things! I keep feeling like Mina is noticing that I like her! She keeps looking at me and saying weird things to me!”

“Oh, oooh, okay um.. I’m sure it’s nothing”

“I mean, I’ve been strictly monitoring my intake, making sure I don’t go over my limit, and with my current body mass I should not experiencing these alcohol side effects!”

Uraraka tried to finish up while Momo goes on about her body mass calculations, and opened the door to see her standing right there, wild eyed and blushing furiously.

Uraraka edged by her to get to the faucets, trying to take on a calming tone, keeping one ear peeled to make sure the second opening act hasn’t started yet.

“Listen, Momo, I think you’ll be fine. No, you don’t have to make a breathalyzer for yourself. You know, I think Mina just wants to talk to you. Maybe she likes your company.”

Momo gets silent at this, still looking frazzled.

Uraraka, after drying her hands, puts her hands on Momo’s shoulders.

“Look, you’re sweet, you’re smart, you’re capable, it could be Mina just likes you”

Momo’s shoulders dropped.

“As if. I’m way too high maintenance for her. She probably wants like, a motorcycle-riding bad girl, and I’m not that.”

Uraraka felt like she could scream, but instead she took a deep breath.

“Listen, Mina isn’t complicated. She wants someone who will listen to her bad jokes, and that’s about it. Just relax.”

Momo nods, and Uraraka patted her on the back, leading her back into into the hallway.

As soon as she saw Yaoyorozu head back towards the stairs, she looked down at her phone. There were some missed messages from Mei, telling her to come back ASAP. Uraraka shoved her phone back into her pocket, and practically runs back to where Hatsume is. There she sees what the problem is.

In front of Hatsume, towering head and shoulders over anyone else in the crowd, was a big rocky fella, bright red and not budging from in front of Hatsume. As Uraraka drew closer, she heard Hatsume’s commanding voice insisting to this man that he had to move, she couldn’t see, and that she had been saving a spot-

Uraraka came up and meekly stood next to her, not knowing what to do, feeling like this was her fault. With a sound of crunching gravel, rock-man turned his head around to look at them and leaned over, so that he would be looming above them.

“Look here, sweeties. You don’t get to save spots in the mosh pit. Eat it and leave, because I’m not moving.”

Uraraka saw, even in the dim light, Hatsume’s face flush with anger.

“Now, listen here asshole! My friend and I were here first, and we deserve a spot in this crowd! If you want to be bitter and gross about it, then you don’t deserve to even be here! Have fun living life as… as an extremely unpleasant person!” and she grabbed Uraraka by the hand and led her away from rock-man, absolutely fuming. The second act was coming on, and the lights were dimming again. Uraraka stopped Hatsume, trying to look down and blink the tears out of her eyes. She cleared her throat and said,

“Maybe… Maybe I should go back up with everyone else. I don’t know why I was so stupid, I should have known better than to think we’d get at all close to the band. Everything in this night is going wrong.” Uraraka now couldn’t keep the shake out of her voice, and felt pathetic.

“I blew all my money on this one ticket, and I’ve been rude and bitter all night, and I keep thinking that I can be some… Some slick cool girl, when really I’m just a loser fan.” Oh no, she was crying. Real heroic, Ochako.

“I don’t think you’re a loser!” said Hatsume empathetically. She pulled out a little package of tissues and offered one to Uraraka to blow her nose on. “And plus, that was just a bump in the road! I haven’t even shown you my secret plan yet!”

Uraraka looked up, still sniffling. “P-plan?”

“Yup! To get us in front! Here, put this on, and follow my lead!” Hatsume pulled out two black baseball caps with the words “staff” written on them, and a spray bottle and clump of rags. She put one of Uraraka’s head, and the grabbed her hand and led her back into the crowd, this time around the side, where the crowd was slightly thinner. When she finally started leading Uraraka into the main fray, she told everyone standing “Make way, we gotta get through, someone partied a little bit too hard, and trust us, it isn’t pretty! Excuse us, thank you, we’re just getting through!”

As soon as people heard that, they jumped right out of the way, letting the girls pass through without challenge, obviously not wanting to think to hard about the mess they claimed to be cleaning up.

Before Uraraka knew it, they were there, next to the stage, feeling the beat of the second openers drums in their feet. She couldn’t help but squeal and clutch her face, not believing how close they were. Hatsume grabbed the caps off their heads and tucked them away before security saw them, and Uraraka pulled her into a rough hug.

“Thank you.” she said, muffled into Hatsume’s shoulder. “This is one of the nicest things anyone’s ever done for me.”

Both of the girls then looked at eachother for  soulful moment, then collapsed into giggles, laughing at the whole strange situation. The laughter kept bubbling up through Uraraka’s chest throughout the whole short set, and at one point they sent a picture to Tsuyu of both their hands touching the stage. Tsuyu sent back a picture of all the girls crowded in a selfie cheering for them. In what felt like a moment, the opener has played their last song, and the lights went dark. A rush of fog hit her square in her face, and she heard the opening chords that by now she had memorized, note for note.

—–

The rest of the girls were waiting for them by the front of the doors by the time the concert ended. When Uraraka tried to call out to them, she was surprised to find that her voice came out a dull croak. Jirou found this absolutely hilarious, but it didn’t stop both Uraraka and Hatsume from detailing every bit of the concert to the rest of the girls.

“When they played ‘Skip Hop Sweat’ I lost my mind, that drums solo was so good!”

“I didn’t know how funny the band was, their banter was almost as good as the songs, I swear!”

“Oh, but the best part was during ‘Window Shopping’ when Young Joey SANG RIGHT TO URARAKA! She touched her hand and everything!”

Hagakure giggled at their raspy voices.

“Oh man, you better hope that clears up before Monday’s English oral exam. You know how Professor Mic feels about ‘PRO-JECT-IOOOON!’” and she yelled out the word in an uncanny impression of the teacher. By now they were at the train station, and Hatsume turned to the group.

“Well,” she croaked, “I’m taking a different train back home. This is where we part I think.”

She hugged every girl there in turn, everyone expressing goodbyes and mentioning how nice it was to have seen her. She reached Uraraka last, and pulled her into a tight hug, rocking a bit before letting her go. Her eyes seemed a bit overbright as she said,

“Really, I had such a good time tonight. I’m so glad we got to hang out. I was totally prepared to go to this concert alone, but I’m so, so happy I ran into you guys.”

Uraraka blinked back, sincerely touched by this. “Me too.”

And she meant it.

On the train, Uraraka kept having to keep herself from dozing off on Tsuyu’s shoulder. She could hear Ashido and Yaoyorozu having a quiet conversation behind her. Mina was shyly muttering something about how she has been wanting to try out this new burger place in town, and was wondering if Momo would maybe want to check it out with her.

“Oh, yes, I would love that… I’ve never had a burger before.”

“What? Oh man, we’ve gotta go then! I think you’d love them, you really strike me as the burger kind of girl.”

Once they finally beeped their way back through the school gates with their school IDs, they tromped up the stairs to the dorms. The boys were all in the living room, yelling and jumping on the couch, eyes rapt on the screen. Apparently they had spent their saturday in playing a full Super Smash Bros Tournament, and right now Kaminari and Deku were facing off in the final round. Kaminari, judging from the jeers of the rest of the boys, was losing. Some of the girls plopped down on the couch to watch the end of the match, but Uraraka felt like she was about to pass out from exhaustion. She murmured a broad “G’night” to everyone, heard it distractedly echoed it back, and made her way up the stairs to her room.

She only managed to kick off her shoes and pants before she crawled into bed. Before she completely fell asleep, and saw one more message from Tsuyu. It’s a picture, obviously taken from far away and zoomed in, and overly bright from the stage lights. However, there at the edge of the stage is undeniably Uraraka and and Hatsume, raising their arms up, inches away from their idol. One message is tacked along with it:

“Told ya <3”

Uraraka smiles as she drops her phone to the side and passes out, ready to sleep in tomorrow.

[ramialkarmi]

It sounds like augmented reality will be the signature feature of the iPhone 8 (AAPL)

Apple’s next-generation iPhone, presumably called the iPhone 8, will be the most advanced iPhone yet — with a price tag to match: Analysts are pegging the iPhone 8’s starting price around or over $1,000.

But the iPhone 8 will need some really desirable features to justify that price. So aside from the new OLED screen, which is said to take up almost the whole face of the iPhone 8, what else is Apple planning?

As it turns out, augmented reality may be the signature feature of the iPhone 8. According to Fast Company, a “source with knowledge of the situation” says Apple is working on a 3D laser system that works off the back of the new iPhones to capture more depth information about what’s in front of the phone, which is necessary to enable more convincing augmented-reality experiences.

Augmented reality, for those unfamiliar, is a technology that lets you see virtual objects in the real world. Popular examples include Snapchat’s face filters, and the augmented-reality mode in “Pokémon Go” that lets you see the adorable pocket monsters wherever you are, thanks to your phone’s camera. The GIF below is a good idea of what augmented reality can do — it was made by Magic Leap, a company working on a pair of glasses that promise to let you see augmented reality wherever you go. (Apple is reportedly working on smart eye glasses that can do this as well.)

In the case of the iPhone 8, Fast Company’s source suggests Apple will use what’s called a VCSEL laser system, which costs about $2 per phone: It can calculate the distance that light travels from the source of the laser, to the target, and back to the sensor. This ought to also help the iPhone’s already-impressive camera be much quicker and more accurate, but augmented reality will almost certainly be the special use case for the tech’s inclusion in the iPhone 8.

Apple has been not-so-subtly hinting that augmented reality is a big part of its overall strategy moving forward. The company announced its ARKit toolkit in June, which lets developers make augmented-reality apps and experiences for the iPhone and iPad; in just one short month, we’ve already seen some really clever examples of ARKit being put to good use.

Apple CEO Tim Cook isn’t hiding his affinity for AR, either. He told Bloomberg in June that he is absolutely ecstatic about augmented reality. “We’re building it into iOS 11, opening it to developers — and unleashing the creativity of millions of people. Even we can’t predict what’s going to come out,” Cook said. “I am so excited about it, I just want to yell out and scream.”

Apple’s ARKit already works pretty well — just check out this recent convincing example below, which lets you place a portal to another dimension anywhere in the real world — but an iPhone specifically built for augmented reality could be much more powerful and capable of supporting these futuristic applications.

In addition to a rear-facing laser system, reliable KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes the iPhone 8’s front-facing camera will also have a laser system. This could help people take better selfies, or selfies with 3D augmented-reality effects (think Snapchat and Facebook's filters and masks). Apple could even borrow an idea from Samsung and use this laser tech for a facial recognition authentication system to supplement or even replace Apple’s current Touch ID fingerprint system, which Apple is reportedly struggling to implement in the iPhone 8.

You can learn more about the rumored rear-facing laser system for the iPhone 8 over at Fast Company.

SEE ALSO: This may be the most impressive use of Apple's new AR software yet

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