#I refuse to call the training center by the new name btw

[emberettee]

Martin and Kai training at London Colney, 3.2.2024 ©️ Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Nauurrrrrr 🙌🙌

[thealolanchamp]

¡Introduction post!

Alola! First post here! In case you do not know me, I am Apoālewa, Champion of Alola! If my name is too difficult to pronounce that's ok, You can call me Dugga!

Here are my current pokemon with some info!

Evo the Sylveon, he's my service pokemon that helps me keep in check and ensure I'm under control of myself, he's an absolute sweetheart! He was a gift from my older half sister when I first met her(she had to adopt me after some unfortunate things that happened to me, I do not wish to say what exactly)

Mr.Squirt("lil Mister") the Primarina, my Ace in battle, he's been with me since I started my Island trials, as you can tell I was not the best at names when I was younger. He's quite a calm, gentle pokemon who enjoys his naps. He's also quite the Peirs enjoyer, you should see him make his way into whatever room has that guy's music playing!

Midnight the Lycanroc, you can guess by the name what variant of lycanroc she is lol, she's the playfully rough kind of pokemon, always nibbling on me or my clothes, rubbing her rocky parts on stuff(lost so much furniture to her). She's also what i like to call a "screamer", basically she doesn't bark, woof, ruff none of that, but SCREAMS like a bolthound that found something(usually at the late hours of the night too)

Jell-o the (shiny) Goodra, my only shiny pokemon, I found him as a goomy during a pause of rain near Po town I think, poor thing was dry from the sun:(, i got him near a shaded puddle and began to leave, but he refused to leave my side hehe, he's also caused a lot of furniture problems, he's joyfully lazy and he won't leave my chairs alone(goodra slime is hard to get out of fabric, worse is that stuff bleaches)

E ("Esper") the Espeon, a absolutely amazing if not shy companion, I got her after seeing an ad from a shelter about an eevee(her) that was used for shiny breeding and needed a home. I feel so happy that she felt safe enough around me to evolve into such a friendship related evolution. She surprisingly great in battle, the pokemon center said if mist be therapeutic for her(i make sure shes ok before and after every battle don't worry)

Mocha the (alolan) Raichu, probably my most food motivated pokemon😅, you shake a bag of food and he comes zooming, also no one told me the move Electric Terrain made them surf faster! He had to go to the pokemon center because he zoomed indoor and hit a wall🤦‍♂️(he's ok btw, happened several months ago)

Aohd(pronounced "ay") the Volcanrona, had no clue that Volcanronas are rare in Alola until guzma lost his shit at the sight of her as a Larvesta, she tends to lounge about ouside when not battling, soaking up the sun. Also I recommend to anyone thinking of having a Volcanrona to have a large backyard with easy access to sunlight and plenty vegetation, I've learned it's vital for their diets(just a tip)

Chase the Gardevoir, not my pokemon but my sister's, she(chase) is essentially a caregiver since Kahu(my sister) left for Paldea some time ago for education purposes, she helps me with chores and errands, she also speaks via ASL(Alolan Sign Language), I pretty much look up to her as a mother figure. Not sure where exactly she came from as Kahu found her as a Ralts on Poni island and apparently the Ralts line don't reside in Alola.

Rotom-Dex the Rotom, can't forget one of the most helpful pokemon I have! They were quite chatty too after they learned they can talk with the pokedex they possess, they're quite well trained for their job too! Always giving me needed tidbits about for forgettable pokemon so i won't falter in battle! Even though they don't battle themselves, they're quite vital to my job as champion!

¡Update!

So it seems I have been transported to the past via otherworldly means and now I have to make a new team for myself to ensure saftey, i currently have-

Mr.Squirt("lil Mister), he was one of the only two pokemon that came with me unfortunately, he's still the same ol' Primarina

"Arc-Dex"(RotomDex), Rotom, they started calling themselves that after I woke up in hisui, they resemble Akari's "ArcPhone", some modified phone. They still do not battle.

Ghostface the Cyndaquil, the professor here, Laventon gave her to me to ensure I learn of the "Hisuian" veriants of pokemon here, apparently she'll become a ghost type but i remember them being pure fire type, this may be interesting.

Anyways welcome to my blog, hope this wasn't too long! Don't be scared to ask questions!

[noneatnonedotcom]

concept: TOTAL WAR RWBY

in a universe where the great war destroyed every kingdom and caused a collapse of civilization you play as one of the five remaining peoples of remnant as you seek to (re) forge a kingdom that can stand the test of the grimm tide

KINGDOMS

Vale: led by Ruby Rose

ruby's kingdom of vale focuses on light cavalry and ranged. her own special abilites as a general are

SILVER EYED WARRIOR: grimm are weakened greatly within her aura and can even be outright destroyed if the differance in power between her and them is great enough

OPTIMISTIC HEROISM: lower unhappiness in area's controlled by ruby means that there's less Grimm to fight overall meaning lower garisons and more money spent on the main armies

unique units

Wood Runners: long bowmen with added range and melee combat stats equal to melee infantry. light armor means that you should keep them in cover though as well as being a juicy target for cavalry. added range over most normal archers and better armor piecing with their arrows makes them a powerful, unit that can last in melee as well specializing in Anti heavy infantry

Dire corgis: large war dogs with aura unlocked. look like giant corgis because they are giant corgis. great for running off ranged units and light cav. weak to spears, though their aura lets them hang around in combat longer than most would think. they do rely on the charge bonus though and can't be controlled once they're let off the leash. can be called back to their handlers though to be repositioned

FOCUS OF CAMPAIGN: ruby's main focus is to retake the cities and villages of vale that were lost to the grimm tide. your main strategy should be to build up on patch while the rest of vale falls to the grimm before striking out. your main advantage is against the grimm not people after all. and your added happyness means that you can spend more on your armies to put in your frontlines rather than worrying about protecting your rear (ruby's got a great rear guys) your main rival will be

UNITED TRIBES OF VALE: led by Yang Xiao-Long

yang's all about shock infantry and charge bonuses. using them to break the morale of enemy armies her special abilities are

HOT STUFF: human morale lowers around her and buildings catch fire in her aura when she's in combat. she's too hot to handle

PROBABLY WASN'T IMPORTANT ANYWAYS: still recruits units and receives money from buildings that are burned down. though at a slightly reduced rate

UNIQUE UNITS

Bandits: replaces mob, cheap units that gain charge bonus when next to another bandit unit. burn down buildings when nearby. no formations though and can't brace for charges so avoid cav. low morale, they're bandits they're not sticking around when shit goes south

berzerkers: shock infantry, cause dread in enemies lowering morale. chance of going berserk which makes them unbreakable but uncontrollable may even attack allies if they're the closest unit. REALLY FUCKING STRONG ON THE ATTACK! weak to ranged

yang's campaign is all about uniting vale as a tributary state to the tribe. you can recruit units from burned down buildings and still get money so spread like a wildfire and try to show your baby sis that it's safer under your protection. be aware that grimm are gonna be a huge problem for you so keep some bandits as a garrison in every village to deal with grimm.

"some of you may die... but I don't really give a shit about you" - Yang to the bandits probably

vale is a mix of American and French culture. so yeah kinda like Louisiana plantations but with more anime

Vaccuo: led by Jaune Arc

jaune specializes in pike infantry with heavy armor and heavy knights on horseback. he's set up to be a slugger with his special abilities

AURA AMP: allied units in jaune's aura slowly recover health and have increased stats (including armor)

SCION OF HEROES: the effects of chivalry are doubled and you gain it faster.

UNIQUE UNITS

shining knights: heavy knights with aura and mounts also in aura and armor. fuck you, fuck the guy behind you, and fuck the guy behind him I'm coming through. very expensive high morale and capabilities

rainbow guard: heavy pike infantry that proudly protect the standard of the arc family. give extra morale to those around them. fuck you they're not breaking. if there's even one guy left they're still fighting.

jaune's campaign is centered around taking control of the deserts and jungles of vaccuo from your origins in the mountains and hill country of the arc territories.

vaccuo's culture is like Scotland mixed with the middle east. fiercely independent people with a very strong sense of honor. also fuck you they'd rather die then be seen as a coward so you'd better just fucking kill them all. AND FUCK TAXES! so jaune has his work cut out for him, but he's in it for the long haul

MINSTRAL: LED BY PYRRHA NIKOS

pyrrha's all about personal combat and single entity units

INVINCIBLE GIRL: pyrrha herself is fucking busted and everyone wants to be like her. single entity units like huntsmen or companions are stronger and get more XP from battles

AN OFFER THEY CAN'T REFUSE: if pyrrha has more military power than someone they have improved relations with her. peacefully annexing people is possible this way. though this can cause a problem if you expand too fast

UNIQUE UNITS

pyrrha's guard: heavy spear infantry made in the image of spartans. slow but they decimate cav outlast ranged and out fight most over infantry. but they are fucking slow and hate being flanked where their phalanx will not work.

nora and ren: two unit entity, stealth shock is the name of the game ren sneaks them in close to anything even grimm. nora deals a fuck ton of damage all at once that can't be blocked by armor and shatters units. you only get one though sorry the world isn't ready for two noras

while sino/Greco/Roman culture makes martial ability the most important, however, only champions and highly expensive units can be trained. your low-level fighters (I.e most of your army) will have to be mercenaries. still with enough champions, you can take on most things so that's good

SCHNEE DUST COMPANY led by Weiss Schnee

atlas is all about dust weapons. a necessity because of but funded by Weiss's special abilities

COMPANY MEN: units require less upkeep cost

WEISSY: she's kinda a bitch, -50 to all diplomatic relations -75 to faunas factions

UNIQUE UNITS

WEISS GUARD: dust rifle units, slow to reload but longer range than normal dust muskets. dust round in general deal moral damage greater than almost any other units in the game (only yang's berzerkers and blake's beast-men scare people more)

BIG GUNS: 24LBS rifled field guns. or cannons rather for those who don't know the difference. fire straight and have an effective range of 1500 feet. highly accurate and with enough kick to drop even the largest of grimm

atlas and the SDC by extension are based on German and Russian culture (mainly german now that the nobles are gone) and have their main campaign focused on dealing with internal divisions and grimm. their cheaper units lends themselves to using dust arms rather than melee but bare in mind they suck in melee as a result. still, weiss is of the opinion that if you can kill your enemies from the comfort of your home and simply bombard them into submission or dust, why wouldn't you?

Menagerie led by Blake belladonna

menagerie must toe the line between animal and man, utilizing special abilities like

SAVAGE REPUTATION: the effects of dread are doubled and you gain dread faster

CUNNING HUNTERS: blake has bonuses to stats and the stats of her army while ambushing or attacking at night. doing both will make the bonuses stack

UNIQUE UNITS:

white fang infantry: can deploy anywhere light armor but use spears so cav has a hard time with them

NINJA: can deploy anywhere, inspire dread, use grenades flung from slings. capable of vanishing or using smoke bombs to lower enemy stats in melee for a short time

menagerie is a mix between Australian and Polynesian cultures but they are relatively new on the world stage. having been granted the island of menagerie in the brief time before the collapse of vale after the great war. the fuanas population outside of menagerie is very low as a result of the collapse and you have to ask yourself "what will you do to ensure the survival of your people?"

menagerie is a mix between Australian and Polynesian cultures but they are relatively new on the world stage. having been granted the island of menagerie in the brief time before the collapse of vale after the great war. the funas population outside of menagerie is very low as a result of the collapse and you have to ask yourself "what will you do to ensure the survival of your people?"

concepts.

chivalry: is a meter in the game, doing honorable actions increases chivalry. making formal declarations of war and waiting a turn to attack, not doing night battles, honoring alliances and calls to arms. generally making combat harder for yourself will be seen as chivalrous. the higher your chivalry the bigger bonus you will have to morale in battles and to diplomatic interactions.

dread: dread is the opposite of chivalry and is gained by doing unchivalrous actions. it will cause the enemy to start with lower moral and cause everyone (including yourself) to lose moral more quickly. this can be really helpful against strong enemies that have better weapons than you. it will also cause diplomatic relations to be harder. using dust muskets or cannons will cause dread but only in small amounts the more you use them the more dread you'll cause

post-campaign content

finishing your kingdom will open up international diplomacy and will allow you to start a campaign in another kingdom. each with different results based on the person you're playing

jaune can marry the ruler of another kingdom giving him their special abilities (jaune can only get dust muskets and cannons after he marries Weiss btw)

Pyrrha may offer protection to the others and gains their general unit for her own army

yang may extort tribute from them and treat them as the tributaries she had before gaining access to their unique units. ruby may offer bonds of friendship and do the same

blake may create embassies and get faunas versions of each unit (they can fight at night) as well as improve her chivalric reputation with each campaign (basically lets you gain the bonuses of dread without the negatives)

and Weiss may open up branch offices and have each character as a leader under her (you basically play the official campaign as the character you choose but with access to Weiss's abilities and units now as well)

you may only do one campaign at a time. so if you're jaune you have to subjugate yang and ruby in vale before you can try to marry weiss. you gotta finish what you started before you move on basically

on each map, there's an ancient grimm. this is a massive single-unit entity and has an army of grimm backing it. defeating this grimm will grant you a major bonus to happiness and prevent further grimm from showing up later.

single unit entities are very powerful but get weaker as their health goes down. their health will recover with time though

if you finish every campaign as a single character you unlock the grimm tide. salem has taken notice of you and wants you gone before ozma has a chance to bring you to his side. grimm will spawn every turn based on the unhappiness of cities in every kingdom you will wage a war all over the world against the grimm and try to hold on as unique and powerful generals lead hords of powerful grimm to attack you. these hords will even be supplemented by the grimm attracted to your unhappiness to keep your pops happy!

if you beat every general salem herself will come to take you out. she has an unending army that will constantly get reinforcement from offscreen every time you kill off a unit and she's a capable commander in her own right with powerful magic that will prevent you from camping too much (she's out of practice so she can only cast a spell every once in a while, be sure to move when you see the strange glow) if you can manage to get your character to her through her army you'll win and defeat her once and for all

@weatherman667 don't know if you play total war but had an idea for total war rwby and wanted to know your thoughts on the various kingdoms as lead by the main characters.

anyone else who sees this and has suggestions go nuts with it. it's just a bit of fun at the end of the day. how would you incorporate a character? what would their unique units be?

[jq37]

The Report Card – Fantasy High: The Seven Ep 6

Bitches Be Shopping

What is up y’all. A little late but let’s jump in with episode six of The Seven where our girls have just received a LOT of information, Sam most of all who got put into a little vision coma that she’s just now waking up from.

She explains the vision to her friends (as she interprets it, the other Eidolons didn’t die, just became part of the natural forces of the world) and then the bear that Penny made on a whim last episode (who is Russian, named Koda, and somehow a trained circus bear) gets into a fight with Katja with their friends buffing the two to make things more interesting because these are still idiot teens, life or death situation or no. Yelle decides to be the adult and tells them to knock it off and get back on mission.

That means Katja needs to call her dad since he’s knows the guy who’s the best lead to getting to TK ( Talcidimir Tallbreeze who I’ll call Tal). She actually manages to get her dad this time who is inside a giant snake on his hell mission. Katja asks what he knows about TK and he says she’s a sorcerer but also has a spell book so maybe she’s multiclassed. Sam and Ant desperately want to know if they boned and Katja absolutely is not interested in that knowledge. Yelle decides to just ask which makes her dad a little annoyed since he’s kind of in the middle of something (literally) and that annoys Ant, Ost, and Sam who--respectively, accuse him of gaslighting Kat, cast Command on him, and cast Bane on him to aid the Command spell. 

Mr. Cleaver fails the save and Ost commands him to tell Katja the truth. He admits that he did hook up with TK and he regrets it (note: it wasn’t like he cheated. It was just a casual hookup that wasn’t fulfilling it seems). Ost demands he apologize for not being there for Kat and Sam berates him for being at the top of the world and not lifting up his daughter too. For his part, Kat’s dad seems genuinely apologetic and promises to do better. 

“You don’t need to be the best father, you just need to be there,” Katja says, making her dad break down crying. 

Yelle, who has no daddy issues, is a bit less aggro and says that everyone makes mistakes and he can start making it up right now by helping with the Tal situation. She also gives them the tip that a cold spell will probably get them out of the snake lickety split.  She is on the money with the snake tip and Mr. Cleaver gets them all invites to a masquerade ball Tal is hosting. It’s being held on the Rumbosa which is this city-sized leisure ship. Mr. Cleaver says he’ll be back as soon as he can and, in the meantime, she should take care of her friends, “even the first 2 that were terrifying to me.”

The girls give Katja the axe they took as a birthday present (it was apparently her birthday the day before which Rekha just decided and Ost/Izzy refuses to accept without a fight because she *knows* Kat’s bday) which is identified as the Axe of Sundering (it can shatter objects, people, and sometimes concepts like halving movement). The two unnamed potions Yelle found are also ID’d as a Potion of Fly and a Potion of Gaseous Form. She distributes the Heath Potions to people without heals. Ant’s new arrows bypass some resistances and let her treat whatever she hits with the first one like it’s her favored enemy. 

According to their invites, the ship they need is docking in the city of Gravalvia soon (a very old city in the Baronies) so they need to figure out a plan. They have some downtime, during which:

Zelda tries to hype up the team.

Zelda tries to see if Ost is OK wrt dad stuff and Ost has a Full Breakdown after badly pretending she’s fine. 

While Zelda, Ost, and Penny are being Emotional and Sam is trying to literally cool them down with her powers, Ant and Yelle keep watch and experience emotional stability as the Adults Of The Party 

Anyway, after a night of rest, they head to the golden city of Gravalvia which is this very cool, very pretty city with mosaics and fountains and I assume columns. They get there and there’s a dramatic fight happening in the square which is halted when one of the fighters realizes that the country he’s fighting for doesn’t exist anymore. And now, it’s time for what we’ve all been waiting for. Shopping Montage! Let’s go girl by girl.

Katja and Ost

Kat asks for help from Ost with getting fancy for this gala since she’s never really done anything dressy before (and she had no mom to help--Kaaaat) and Ost is happy to oblige, dressing them both like “Jersey trash”. Kat, of course, still wears her Khakis underneath.

Antiope

Ant decides to get a vibe for what people here wear and picks something that will blend in but be forgettable so she can be stealthy. Classy blue dress and mask.

Penny

Penny...OK, I absolutely cannot describe what happens here in any way that will do justice to the scene. I am going to tell you what matters to the plot. You have to watch this yourself if you want to see the entire table have a collective breakdown. 

While looking for a costume, Penny runs into a halfling who is a member of the Society of Shadows--Laertes. He wants to know why she hasn’t responded to their invitation yet. She says she’s really eager to join, she just wasn’t sure how to respond (and also, she’s kind of in the middle of something). He says she can join by just messaging back and then her loved ones just have to sign waivers to have their memories wiped of her and she’s good to go. Say what now? asks Penny. She didn’t realize this was like a full Men in Black situation. 

He says it’s ultimately her decision and leaves.

Of course, I left out the parts where he ate a handful of Candy Heart’s remains, became violently ill, almost projectile vomited into Penny’s mouth, and she tried to kiss him despite him being a full adult. It’s A Lot, ok?

Also, we don’t find out until later but Penny picks a sexy duck costume for reasons that make more sense if you watch the scene but not *much* more sense. She also burns one of the healing potions on this dude as he is bar

Danielle

Danielle tries to get some info on the guests at the party and gets the names Lawrence LaDuc, Princess Autumn, and Duston who is the playboy cousin of Tal. She also hears some dude saying some colonize and plunder the earth BS and casts Heat Metal on him, fully mercing the dude. Ice cold. 

She tries to play it off like it’s the Curse of the Forest and when that doesn’t work and people start coming for her, she wildshapes into a dragon wyrmling and starts roasting people, killing 1 and dropping 2 to zero. 

Unfortunately, one of her party members is a known dragon hater and uses her new arrows to snipe her right out of the sky. Ant is horrified once she realizes what she’s done but Yelle says it’s all good. It’s NOT all good, says Ant, I STABBED YOU. You’re allowed to be mad! Yelle says she’s just really good at compartmentalizing but what Ant’s getting here is that Yelle doesn’t really believe that her feelings matter which echo the fears of her moms. 

Sam

Sam uses a combination of Mantle of Inspiration, glamour magic, performance, and good old flirting to get herself some killer clothes and also start a spontaneous musical number Giselle style.  

Brennan says she looks resplendent and, honestly, when does she not?

They reconvene, Zelda in a classic hoop skirt. Yelle realizes she never got a costume and just whips out a Met Gala level, autumn themed, Queen Mab-esque costume with Druidcraft which she could have done this whole time so I guess that’s why she was cool spending her shopping time getting gossip and playing Poison Ivy. 

They get to the ship and the way this works, everyone has to make an entrance and the really rich people (including Tal) are on a dais up top watching everyone come in. They all have to give fake names for the night since it’s a masquerade and they have to do Performance or Persuasion checks to see how impressive they look going in. 

Before they go in, they plan a little. Penny wants to look for TK. Sam wants to find Dunston. Ost wants to talk to the bouncers. Yelle wants to see if there are plants she can manipulate (there are btw) and for any exits. 

A quick rundown of how these all go:

Katja aka Mere (which means both mom and horse): 16 

Ant aka Midnight Huntress: 18 

Penny aka Penny Duckstone: 13

Zelda aka Madame Goodparty: 2 (Poor Zelda)

Sam aka Songbird: 22 (but she takes a hit to entrance save Zelda from totally flaming out)

Ost aka Stanley Gucci: 13

And Danielle, who never hogs the spotlight and is embarrassed to admit that maybe she does want to be the center of attention for once in her life with a Natural 20, gets a 29, absolutely bringing down the house as Empress Anima. As she walks forward she feels a voice say to her, “You got this. I love the name. You wear it well.”

Tal seems very impressed by her and a lady in a rabbit mask (Coeliabranca who I’ll call Coel if she comes up more) comes down to bring her up to the top with the high rollers. As she leaves, Sam casts Fly on her, just in case and holds the Concentration. 

Ost and Kat go talk to the bouncers and Kat decides to pretend to be her mom to get access to the area Yelle is. She rolls low and is told, “Hey, aren’t you already up there?” Kat is like, fuck and Ost saves her by using her charm earrings to get an entourage of guards who will let them through and do what she says. Once up there, Kat doesn’t see her mom which I can imagine she has mixed feelings about. 

Sam finds Dunston who is talking about Fantasy Bitcoin and seems like a real “Step on me mommy” type you know? Like, I feel like he’s into findom. Anyway, Sam charms him and his hangers on and learns about a procedure called a Phlebectomy that involves something going into their nose and then they feel better. Sam is rightfully horrified because, as I said, she is Most Likely To Survive A Horror Movie and can sense BS when she sees is. It’s apparently all the rage with the rich people here which is, como de dice, concerning seeing as they’re surrounded by them but we’ll get to that. Sam takes advantage of Dunston’s proclivities and gets him alone, knocks him out, steals him clothes, and pretends to be him (a *very* good scene by Sephie). 

Penny sees a gnome gnome boy (Lysander Higgins) shining shoes and finds out from him that there is a copper earth genasi woman here. In a very Cinderella move, she asks what shoes she was wearing. Then, she makes out with him which like, sure. At least it’s not a grown adult man this time. Before she gets her kisses in, she does tell the group what she learned. 

Up with the rich people, Yelle is introduced to Tal’s friend who is into Eidolons because of the name she chose. Between the shoes and her knowledge, they confirm that it’s TK! Yelle asks what she knows about Eidolons and she says that 7 is a very powerful number.

We cut to Ant who is patrolling the room as the sun sets and she suddenly hears a little beeping. It’s coming from a small crystal that was in Preston’s shirt (which she still has on her because???). Guests start dripping goo from their noses and transforming into monsters. Ant realizes that some kind of spell is happening triggered by midnight and this beeping. Hope these costumes are battle ready cause it’s fight time baybee!

Superlatives 

Danielle: Most Likely to Be on The News for Murdering Fantasy Jeff Bezos

I cannot imagine what was running through Yelle’s head when she decided that, having just rolled into a foreign country, her next move was to start using lethal force on anti-environmentalist colonizing capitalists. Like, she’s not *wrong* per se but she is wild--in all senses of the word.  

Random Thoughts

Kat keeps saying yesterday was her birthday which Ost/Izzy (and the rest of the group to a less vocal degree) are simply not having because maybe her dad would forget her birthday but her girls absolutely would not.

“You’re great because you stayed,” is the other killshot Kat line to her dad.

At a certain point Sam says, “This is so unhealthy,” to I think Yelle and like, if SAM is telling you your coping mechanisms are unhealthy, get thee to therapy.

OK, so someone, presumably Anima’s spirit, talks to Yelle as she makes her grand entrance which seems like info they should get to Talura ASAP, right? Cause that’s evidence they’re not dead-dead, just changed in form. But also Anima, girl. Don’t talk to Yelle. Talk to your rampaging sister!

"That's my secret, I stay in initiative."

Just a process note, notes are taken for the next ep and I am working on getting that recap up ASAP. As a battle ep, it will be in the abbreviated style that I did for last battle ep. 

In this episode, Penny rolls a Nat 1 (which she rerolls) and one of Brennan’s NPCs rolls a Nat 1. Ant rolls 2 Nat 20s, Yelle rolls 1, and Brennan says that one of his NPCs gets a 20 which sweeps him entirely into Sam’s dance number. 

[moongoddesskiana]

I'm just thinking about AU where you keep elements from different canons for maximum angst as well as maximum 'you done fucked up my fave' because the writers really don't understand my fave's origin story

So Jason recently left the Titans (have I ever watched more than the first 3 eps no but I've seen enough clips and fanvids) and is back to working with Bruce. They are working on a case where the criminal has diplomatic immunity, Jason goes to confront the dude who proceeds to fall off the balcony (also for kicks the dude said that no one was going to believe that Jason had nothing to do with it when Jason tried to save him and he shoved Jason off) and dies.

After this Jason is forced to go to therapy where Leslie (whom he already knows and trusts) helps him a bit though he is still very much struggling. Jason then over hears Bruce say that Jason is being too rough and is going to be taken off active duty, Jason then runs out of the manor and into Crime Alley. Bruce tracks him down and they have a conversation like the one in Titans and Jason asks Bruce not to give up on him and that he had nothing to do with the dude's death.

Not sure if I'm gonna have Bruce believe him or not, but Bruce thinks this is for the best and doesn't realize how much this fucks up Jason and worsens his feelings of being rejected. As Jason leaves the alley but is still in the neighborhood an old neighbor flags him down saying they have some of his family's old things. Jason sneaks back into his room and goes over everything in the box hoping to find some of his mom's old things, what Jason actually finds is his birth certificate. The mother's name starting with an S but otherwise unreadable. Jason doesn't feel like he has anyone to go to and tries to track down his bio mom.

Cross referencing Willis addressbook he finds 3 possibilities, I'm gonna be lazy and say that Sheila was in town for like enough time for Jason to find her in Gotham. Meanwhile Joker broke out of Arkham and Batman's on the case and thinks that Sheila's job's local warehouse known to not usually be in use is Joker's next move. Sheila tells Jason she has to go to a meeting but to meet up later when Bruce runs into Jason.

Bruce asks Jason where he's been and what is he doing on a Joker case (it's been like a week since Jason left the manor only leaving a note saying that basically reads I know when I'm not wanted don't do a obligatory search.). Jason for a second thought Bruce had been looking for him and that he actually cared until he asked what Jason was doing on a case, Jason's sense of rejection escalates.

Bruce says that Sheila workplace might be in trouble but that he was also checking out another lead. Jason tracks down Sheila to warn her that the Joker might be up to something using her work's warehouse, she's like sure kid uh huh until he shows he the Robin suit. Then Sheila says to help her search the warehouse before her meeting which was to happen at the warehouse so that they would know if anything bad was inside.

Jason says that he should call in Batman just in case when they round a corner in the warehouse and the Joker is there. Jason (in Robin suit) turns to Shelia to yell at her to run when she pulls out a gun and points it at Jason telling him "sorry kid looks like you trusted the wrong person this time."

Jason is then tied up and beaten with a crowbar, whilst Sheila sits back and smokes on a nearby crate. Jason goes unconscious and Sheila is tied to the warehouse while the Joker says there can be no witnesses. Jason tries to get them both out of there while he struggles to move, they make it to the door when he hears a timer seconds away from zero while Sheila tries to open the door. Jason covers her body with his own while resigning himself to death. The warehouse explodes.

First responders are already on the scene when Bruce gets there. Sheila is alive long enough to tell Batman that Jason was a good kid, a better kid than one she thought she would make. The first responders found Jason before Bruce did, Robin was pronounced dead on arrival.

Everything is happening in between season 2 and 3 btw, well at least until Red Hood arrives.

Dick hears about the explosion over the news and rushes to Gotham, team in hand. They miss the funeral. Dick finds out that Jason had been missing for a week before that and is pissed Bruce didn't tell him. A month later Tim forces his way into Robin and gets assistance from the Titans who welcome him with open arms.

3 months after his death Jason crawls out of his grave, Scarecrow and the League of Assassins are working together (don't ask why idk either) and Jason stumbles across a meeting. Someone notices Jason isn't responding properly and they began experimenting on him eventually realizing that one of Scarecrow's toxins makes him less fearful and respond to orders more. Talia grows to give a shit and puts him in a Lazarus Pit before she is sent away but still partly in charge. Ra's says to drug him before he wakes up and to make Jason reliant on the drugs and on the League of Assassins.

Jason is trained up for a year before they put him on the scene as a figurehead but not really in charge of anything Red Hood. Jason tries to keep civilian casualties as low as he can, tries to keep things centered on ending Gotham's crime and criminals. He makes his number one rule no drugs to kids, no harm to children, no exceptions.

Two lackeys who drugged Robin were made as examples. Jason himself was still force fed Scarecrow's toxin every day.

The code name Red Hood was one of the few things that he had been given control over a nice little Fuck you to the Joker (still alive and kicking) which he had a do not engage order for so he couldn't kill the guy himself (not that he thought he would be able to even with the toxin). Jason tries to use it as a force of change, a force of good for Gotham. Sometimes when the drugs were wearing off he wondered how much harm he was doing compared to good, and how easily he killed criminals.

The league of assassin's pulls out of Gotham for reasons Jason doesn't know about, Jason tries to get clean while an imposter with meta abilities impersonated Red Hood in order to get to Hank and does Gotham harm. The titans have been in town for most of the time btw. The meta, a telepathic shapeshifter, bumped into Jason read his mind and figured Jason Todd would be a good cover for them while they did this and they could implant memories into Jason later and no evidence would lead back to them especially because of Jason laying low and trying to detox alone.

So yeah Jason still murders people but the stuff in the show making someone snap their neck, civilian casualties that shouldn't have happened and killing Hank, that was a meta in this because I can't see even a very fucked up Jason doing those things.

Everyday the meta tracks Jason down reads his mind and implants new memories. Jason tries to get help but that keeps getting stopped or people refuse to help him for the things they think he did.

The meta is taken into custody when someone realizes that that isn't Jason because either he called one of them or one of them saw him one the street collapsing. This leads to so much confusion epically since Jason has two sets of memories the stuff he did do (duffle bag of heads) and things he didn't do (kill Hank). In the process of sorting his memories the Titans realize how much they fucked up with Jason especially when they hear him say 'Arkham is to good for me, I need to be put down, I'm poison.' After hearing him whimper in his sleep begging Bruce not to put him in Arkham, to not leave him with the Joker.

Jason and Tim mostly get along and become siblings, but Gar is the only Titan who didn't really hurt my fave from what I know. The rest didn't really treat Jason as one of them and didn't try to understand him or empathize. I heard that Kori was also okay with him but then I saw a clip from 3x08 and I was like :/

Don't have anything else currently for this idea

[shima-draws]

Tell us abt the story, Shima. I would D I E for your stories (also, an ATS game would make my entire LIFE I would be so broke on it)

[[Anonymous said: hey- hey shima.... what;s ur new story about?]]

uwu

So this is based off of Arthurian lore and has some elements of it but it’s mostly (?) original!

It starts out in a normal high school setting, centered around these two kids named Elin and Niro. Niro’s had a life of total misfortune—his parents died when he was little and there was nobody else to take him in, so he was forced into foster care, and has switched schools so often that he never really got to make any permanent friendships. He’s a quiet guy, sort of weighed down by all of the loss he’s experienced, so that sort of makes him a mysterious and attractive sort of person, which gains him immediate popularity as the school’s handsome new kid. (He’s in his senior year, now, and has been at this school for almost the full year.) Despite his withdrawn personality Niro actually gets along well with his peers, but mostly because he’s a very agreeable sort of person that just goes along with what he’s told to do to fit in. He’s just going through the motions at this point, trying to survive and figure out what he wants to do in life. It isn’t really working out too well because Niro has major depression so every day is a struggle, but his current “guardian” at the foster home he’s staying in helps a lot with that, and Niro views her as sort of a mother figure to him, and it’s soft :’)

Elin, on the other hand, is the school’s laughingstock, and gets picked on a LOT by his classmates. He never fights back and tries to stay out of everybody’s way, so people think him even weirder because of it. He rarely talks and is always found with his nose stuck in a book, which has also labeled him as a major geek, so you can bet he gets targeted a lot because of this;;

Unfortunately, the kids that Niro’s friends with are the group that picks on Elin the most, and it always makes Niro uncomfortable but he’s too hesitant to really speak up about it, especially since Elin just. Sort of takes it and never outwardly complains. It’s basically just Niro making excuses to himself, and whenever he DOES try to talk his buddies out of it they’re like come on man we’re just joking around it’s not a big deal. So that sucks. One day when Niro’s walking to school he notices he’s being followed by a weirdly dressed girl. Eventually she corners him and she’s like “Merlin’s been taking too long to find you so I took things into my own hands since we’re running out of time” and Niro’s like ???? Excuse me? But she doesn’t explain and literally yanks him into a portal and that’s that. LMAO

When they emerge, the girl introduces herself as Lunete, and reveals that she’s taken Niro to the world of Avilion, in the kingdom of starlight called Inlustria. Niro’s still processing that he’s been pulled into another world entirely when Lunete begins to escort him to the castle, and pretty much dumps the world’s lore and his Destiny™️ on him on the way.

Rest is under the cut to save space because it is loooong lol

Lunete explains that there have always been two central figures in Inlustria, for many centuries across many generations. Those figures are Merlin, the wizard, and Arthur, the king meant to wield the holy sword and unify the five kingdoms on the continent together. Currently there are two Merlins, with the second being younger and newer to the position, still in training. However, she adds that this particular Merlin is the most powerful they’ve ever seen in the long history of Merlins to exist, and that he’s basically a child prodigy. It is Merlin’s task to watch over, guide and protect Arthur, so that peace can remain and the cycle can continue anew. The current Arthur is sadly old and very ill, practically on his deathbed, so the process of choosing a new Arthur to replace him had to be rushed.

Lunete then tells Niro that the Arthurs are chosen by fate before birth and are always humans from the other world. Arthurs are always loyal, confident and kindhearted, so there’s never a chance of an Arthur going astray (unless their Merlin purposefully leads them down that path). Niro’s like why are you telling me all this and Lunete goes well isn’t it obvious? Why else would I be telling you. And then Niro realizes that he has been chosen as the new Arthur, and immediately goes into panic mode. Lunete apologizes for the abrupt introduction and Avilion crash course lol but she says that usually it’s the Merlin’s job to remain in the human world, scout out the new Arthur, and bring them to Avilion, since they’re naturally drawn to them by their magic. But this Merlin is particularly stubborn and wants nothing to do with Arthur or his born duty to essentially serve the king, so he’s been stalling on locating him out of sheer spite.

Lunete and Niro arrive at the castle and she leads him into the grand library, where Merlins usually spend most of their time. Niro is shocked to find out that Elin is Merlin, and Elin immediately goes “You have GOT to be kidding me” when he realizes that the new Arthur—who he has to spend the rest of his life with btw—is Niro.

Niro’s even more shocked to find out that Elin is a completely different person than how he is at school. Elin is witty, arrogant and very sassy, and constantly throws shade at Niro for doing nothing while he was being bullied. (Niro then accuses Elin for not standing up for himself when he’s CLEARLY capable of it with both his silver tongue and his knack for magic, but Elin explains that it’s a rule for Merlins not to make a big presence of themselves in the human world. Then Niro feels very guilty.) Elin swears off of accepting Niro as the new Arthur and says he can protect the kingdom all on his own.

Naturally Niro is very reluctant to take on the position of Arthur and become the ruler of an entire kingdom, but Lunete tells him he doesn’t really have a choice, and that all Arthurs fall into the role eventually, so it will be something he’ll automatically adapt to because he’s The Chosen One and it’s meant to be. Niro continuously tries to reach out to Merlin, but he’s notoriously stubborn and refuses to acknowledge Niro.

Eventually Lunete lets slip that Merlin had a complicated history with another human in his childhood that ended...not so well (and no it’s not Esca lol), hence his general distaste towards the other world and humans in general. Ofc that’s not all Merlin is hiding, there’s another enormous secret he doesn’t want coming into the light. And you bet Niro’s going to discover them all ;)

So yeah there’s obviously a lot more that goes on after that—Niro trains to fit into the Arthur role (with a lot of sexy swordfighting training montages), Merlin eventually accepts him and they grow closer (yes. In that way ;D), Merlin shows off how skilled he is with his magic and Niro goes oh no I think I might be in love with him, there’s trouble with the northern kingdom they’re trying to deal with involving a new villain that’s popped up, Niro gets to meet a king from the southern kingdom who sort of becomes his father figure/mentor so that’s cool? Niro finds out exactly what sins Merlin committed in the past, and that past sadly catches up with him and nearly ruins everything so that’s fun. Niro finds out some shit and almost abandons his role as Arthur but eventually returns to Inlustria and obtains Excalibur to save Merlin’s ass, etc. etc. I think after the “main” story ends I’m going to send them out to sea so they can go on an epic magic pirate adventure, because when Niro was a kid he was super into pirates and treasure hunting and the ocean, he was never really a “magic and kingdoms” type of guy which is super ironic. Merlin’s excited about traveling but it turns out he’s really seasick and it’s hilarious. Somewhere down the line they’ll probably find out why there’s always been a “Merlin” and “Arthur” role in their kingdom as well. So LOTS of fun stuff is in store! And my brain hasn’t been shutting up about lore and worldbuilding for this story ever since I came up with it >;)

[chibimuiwritesstuff]

MMA Fighters HuaLian - Meeting

Right. I’m just going to post this. The backstory to the Hualian MMA AU idea I thought up of how they initially met. This is not edited btw, so apologies for any errors.

----

They meet in a match.

Xie Lian has met many people in matches before, he is one of the best MMA fighters out there after all, so usually he doesn’t remember most of his opponents—but he remembers this one. He remembers him because he is tall (not an issue), lanky (he’s experienced enough to know skinniness doesn’t mean lack of strength), has an eyepatch covering his right eye (a handicap?) and is absolutely, ridiculously, unfairly, gorgeous.

The referee counts to three, the whistle blows, and Xie Lian tenses and is surprised when the other man barely moves a muscle. Just looks at him, expression unreadable. There’s an intensity to his gaze, but it’s not the usual look of a fellow fighter preparing to attack, it’s… it’s something else. It unsettles Xie Lian for a moment, makes his heart beat just a bit faster, but, well, if his opponent will not make the first move then that’s their mistake.

A rookie perhaps?

He launches forward and feels his heart sing when the man not only catches his blow, but dodges to the side in a way that looks effortless, but Xie Lian knows speaks of unbridled skill. Not a rookie then.

Not a rookie at all in fact.

The match is one of the toughest Xie Lian has had in ages. The other man is incredibly defensive and catches Xie Lian’s punches, kicks and feints blow for blow, although rarely making an effort to strike out himself. It’s mildly frustrating, somewhat confusing, and incredibly invigorating. It’s fun. It’s a joy Xie Lian hasn’t truly felt in a fight in ages. He dances around and is somewhat glad for the mask he wears so no one can see the ridiculously large smile he can feel stretching across his face. This is why he loves martial arts. This is why he loves fighting. So that he can dance with people like the man in front of him.

He’s almost sad when he finally manages to pin the other man on the ground for a count of three, and the referee blows the whistle again.

‘Winner, give it up for The Crown Prince!’

The referee holds his hand up, but Xie Lian can’t take his eyes off his opponent, who by this point is already sitting up and also looking back at Xie Lian as well. He looks unphased, unruffled. He does not look like a man who has just lost a fight. In fact, the small smile on his face somehow makes it seem like he was the winner of this match somehow.

His is registered under the fighter name ‘Crimson Rain Sought Flowers’. The people in the mixed martial arts underground call him Hua Cheng.  

Xie Lian remembers him and looks forward to the day he might be able to fight him again.

-

It takes another year before Xie Lian is able to meet Hua Cheng again—and it’s not for lack of trying. After their one match he had tried to seek him out, find out more information about this mysterious opponent who had stepped into the ring and fought with Xie Lian like he had just decided to do it on a whim, but there was nothing. There had been no previous fight records, and no fights he had signed up for afterwards. It was truly as if he had just appeared to fight Xie Lian and then left.

Mu Qing had commented dryly that maybe he had scared the other man off, as he did to so many other earnest newcomers, but Xie Lian didn’t see how that was possible. Hua Cheng had not been a rookie fighter, and Feng Xin had agreed on this as well. But, whatever the reason—Hua Cheng had never reappeared until now.

Once again Hua Cheng stands before him looking deceptively relaxed. If Xie Lian were anyone else he might have felt insulted. After all, he had won their last fight—Hua Cheng should look at least somewhat wary. But he doesn’t. Instead something about his expression makes Xie Lian feel like he’s just as excited for this match as Xie Lian is himself. Xie Lian smiles under his mark, forgetting for a moment that Hua Cheng can’t see his face. It’s nice, to face an opponent who not only isn’t intimidated by him, but appears just as excited and actually has the skill to back up their own air of confidence.

Xie Lian’s heart skips a beat as he catches Hua Cheng’s single eye and can’t help but shiver in anticipation of the match to come.  

The whistle blows, and this time Xie Lian waits. He wants to see what Hua Cheng will do, but Hua Cheng does nothing. In fact, the both of them stand still for so long, the audience begins boo-ing and Xie Lian’s mounting excitement begins to curl into confusion, and then into frustration.

Hua Cheng merely raises an eyebrow, “What is gege waiting for?” he drawls, smirking.

“I could ask you the same question.” Xie Lian replies.

Hua Cheng nods his head, as if he’s considering Xie Lian’s words very seriously, “Hm… that’s true.” And then he launches himself forward.

Xie Lian had been prepared, this is what he had wanted after all, but it shows just how skilled Hua Cheng is that for a second Xie Lian can’t track his movements at all and he is hit with a spike of surprise. It is only through muscle memory, born from hours and hours of training, that allows Xie Lian to effectively dodge Hua Cheng’s fist, following immediately with a counterattack of his own, which Hua Cheng also effortlessly dodges in return.

They continue like this for a few bouts, and it’s similar enough to their last match that it causes Xie Lian to pause. Despite Hua Cheng opening with the first strike, they’ve somehow fallen into a pattern where Xie Lian is on the offensive and Hua Cheng only defends and it’s… it’s frustrating. Xie Lian has never really cared about the actual competition itself, he simply joined matches for the sake of being able to fight others who were just as crazy about fighting as him, and so now he just feels incredibly put-out that it seems like Hua Cheng isn’t taking things seriously.

He stills, pulls out of his last punch and as expected, Hua Cheng jerks his arm back at the last second as well instead of taking the obvious opening to his advantage. Once again, they’re just two opponents, standing in the cage, staring at each other but neither of them moving. Neither of them have even taken a stance—standing almost casually, albeit somewhat alert. The crowd has also noticed the pattern of the fight, and some bystanders have begun jeering at Hua Cheng specifically.

“Come on! Put up a proper fight or just get out!”

“Don’t waste His Highness’ time!”

Both of them stand and listen to the calls of the crowd and while Xie Lian usually doesn’t like to encourage this sort of heckling, he can’t help but cock his head to the side and ask, “Well, are you going to take this seriously?” because what other conclusion is there to draw from this bout? It’s obvious that Hua Cheng doesn’t want to beat Xie Lian at all, doesn’t even really want to fight him at all. It doesn’t make sense and it makes Xie Lian wonder why he’s even here.

Hua Cheng simply smirks at him, but his posture doesn’t change. “What makes you think I’m not taking this seriously, dianxia?”

“You’re not even trying to go on the offensive. Any other person would have felt insulted by now.” Xie Lian replies.

“Well, it’s good that you’re not any other person then isn’t it?”

His voice is low and velvety smooth and it makes Xie Lian feel warm for reasons besides physical exertion. “Perhaps, but I also refuse to continue a match with someone who clearly doesn’t want to engage.”

He turns to the referee who also looks like he’s one second away from giving both of them warnings and it’s this that finally seems to pull a genuine reaction out of Hua Cheng.

“Wait--!”

Xie Lian turns and cock his head to the side again in question, since Hua Cheng can’t see his face.

“You’ve got me gege, this newcomer didn’t mean to offend. I was simply excited at being able to spar with you again and wanted to do anything to extend the time as much as possible.”

Xie Lian lets out a huff of air, feeling somewhat affronted.

“And what makes you think going on the offensive would have made the time shorter? Either you think too highly of yourself, or you are severely underestimating me.”

Hua Cheng shakes his head vehemently, “No, I can assure you I would never!”

Xie Lian signals to the ref to stand down and that he will handle things before turning back to face Hua Cheng properly once more, “Then, are you going to fight me properly?”

Hua Cheng nods.

They both return to the center of the cage and take up positions, eyeing each other warily. Since no time outs were taken, there will be no whistle to signal a new start—it is simply up to one of them to make a move.

The fight that follows leaves everyone breathless.

It is Hua Cheng that makes the first move, and when he does it is clear that he had been holding back. His attacks are quick, aggressive, and absolutely wild, but what is perhaps even more wild is how composed Xie Lian managed to remain in comparison. The only sign that he may have been struggling lay in the fact that despite the sharpness of his own moves, equally quick and unforgiving, he still had not won.

Attack are blocked, grabs and holds are escaped from and used to lead into secondary attacks, throws that would have had most fighters winded on the ground ended with miraculous recoveries with both parties somehow still on their feet. Even when the fight had devolved into wrestling, as Xie Lian struggled to pin Hua Cheng down for three counts, it was hard to see who was at an advantage—but eventually, a winner was decided.

The crowd roared with enthusiasm, a whistle was blown and as for the fighters themselves…

Xie Lian flinches when the referee grabs his wrist, having nearly forgotten where he is and what he has been doing. He had been too immersed in the fight. Too immersed in Hua Cheng. He hears nothing but the blood that is still roaring in his ears, continues to feel nothing but the soft panting of Hua Cheng’s breath on his skin as they had rolled on the ground, and sees nothing but Hua Cheng’s eyes as the other man continued to stare at him from his position on the ground—gaze dark and dangerous.

Then he blinks and he is back in the cage, his arm being held up, the crowd cheering. Hua Cheng stands and dusts himself off, calm and cool as ever, although even with the noise Xie Lian could still hear the ragged panting of his breath—matching his own laboured breathing.

“Good fight.” Xie Lian hears himself say, truly meaning it as he shakes the other man’s hand. It is warm, strong, and Xie Lian can still feel the traces of where those hands had left marks on his body. He represses the urge to shiver.

“It was truly an honor to be able to fight you again, dianxia.” Hua Cheng replies, smirking once again. Were it anyone else, Xie Lian would have been sure they were mocking him, but there was something in Hua Cheng’s voice that sounded more like reverence. Xie Lian drops the other man’s hand and laughs awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.

“I think the honor should be mine, you really didn’t make things easy for me.”

Hua Cheng doesn’t reply, and afterwards they are ushered out of the cage to make room for the next match. When Xie Lian turns his head after toweling off his sweat, Hua Cheng is already gone.

-

Feng Xin and Mu Qing both tell him to forget about Hua Cheng. They are, and have always been, Xie Lian’s best friends, so usually Xie Lian does try his best to listen to their advice—they care for him after all. But he cannot forget about Hua Cheng. During training he imagines the other man in front of him, he walks down the street and pictures fights with him in his mind, he goes from competition to competition seeking him, tries and fails to search him up on social media, but just like last time, it is like he has disappeared.

“You’re thinking about him again aren’t you,” Feng Xin grumbles as he sits down, practically throwing his tray of food onto the table of the university cafeteria.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Xie Lian replies promptly as he takes a bite of his own lunch.  

Mu Qing takes the seat beside Feng Xin, placing his tray down more gently and completely ignores Xie Lian to turn to the other man at his side, “He was thinking about him again, wasn’t he?”

“I wasn’t!”

Feng Xin has the audacity to grunt and nod as he slurps up his noodles at an alarming pace.

“Hey! I said I wasn’t!”

Mu Qing lets out a sigh that Xie Lian thinks is supremely unfair, given the fact that his friends are the ones being rude to him. Then, Mu Qing grabs something from his bag—a piece of paper it looks like, and places it on the table. “We’re only doing this because we know you won’t stop mooning about him otherwise.”

“I’m not—mooning? I’m not mooning!” Xie Lian splutters, but he grabs the paper anyway, with perhaps a bit too much enthusiasm and then stops short.

It is an address and apparently it is for a place called Ghost City. He’s heard of Ghost City. Xie Lian frowns. Before he can ask the question though, Mu Qing already gives him the answer.

“He’s there. We told you to give up on him, but we knew you wouldn’t so we thought it’d be better to just see for yourself what type of person Hua Cheng really is.”

Ghost City was an underground cage match arena—everyone who was anyone in the MMA world knew about it. It was for the fighters who desperately wanted to prove themselves beyond the world of sanctioned, formal, competitions. For the fighters who truly wanted to test their skill in a match where they had to put everything on the line. The only rule in Ghost City was the one: there were no rules. Although Xie Lian loved fighting, this was a place he had no interest in. He had never been interested in hurting and dominating others, he simply just wanted to test his skill and to experience the skills of others.

If Hua Cheng was there though…

“Please, just remember to be careful alright Xie Lian?”

Xie Lian nodded, gripping the paper more tightly than was probably necessary. He looked up at his friends, at Feng Xin who continued to studiously eat his noodles as if they had somehow offended him just by existing, and at Mu Qing who was looking somewhere off to Xie Lian’s left looking disgruntled, and smiled. “You two really are the best.”

Neither of them bothered to give him a reply, but the address was enough.

[usemeasabadexample]

Bechloe Fic: The Kraken Has Been Unleashed

Summary: Chloe has a way with her. That’s for sure. And, as uncomfortable as it might make her to think about it in this very moment, Beca’s starting to wonder just what that really means.

Set at the beginning of Pitch Perfect 2. Kind of canon, kind of...not canon. Mostly fluff and fun and maybe some very mild angst at best. Nothing too stressful. We’ve been through enough of that!

Read on AO3

Chapter 10

Beca's alarm wakes her up way too early the next morning.

Usually, she'd snooze the clock ten times, roll out of bed and barely have time to brush her teeth before running to class. This morning is different though. It's the first day of her internship and she wants to be prepared.  Wants to look professional. And she's pretty sure professional doesn't include a messy bun with sweatpants and one of Chloe's Barden t-shirts.

So she gets up early. Showers and puts on something nice before grabbing a bowl of cereal.

“You look hot this morning DJ. What's up?” Stacie ambles into the kitchen and gestures to Beca's outfit while opening up the refrigerator.

Beca looks up from her breakfast. “Hey Stace.” She swallows the bite she just shoved into her mouth. “Nothing. Just...won't have time to change before the party later.” The stool screeches across the floor as she stands and drops her bowl into the sink. “See you tonight.” She grabs her things and rushes out before Stacie can ask anymore questions. Stacie can sniff out a lie from a mile away so the last thing she needs to do is play a game of 20 questions with the house genius.

“Can’t wait!” Stacie calls out as Beca hustles out of the door to get to her first class on time, excited for what the day holds.

-----

Jesse’s car is rounding the corner as Beca walks away from her last class so she picks up speed. She doesn’t trust him. He has a knack for embarrassing her in public places. Not maliciously. Just...dorky.  

“Hey superstar!” Jesse shouts out of the car window as he screeches to a halt. He leans over the center console to sling the passenger door open for Beca. “Damn! Work it Bec!”

Beca practically sprints the rest of the way to the car. “Oh my god.” She jumps in and slams the door, frantically trying to roll up the window. “Please shut up.”

Jesse laughs. “Is that any way to talk to your chauffeur for the day?”

“Keep it up and it’ll only get worse.” Beca side eyes him and adjusts the radio.

Jesse always plays late fifties pop songs and while Beca appreciates all types of music, she can't sit there and listen to it for extended periods. Although it does give her ideas for new mixes. Chloe always loves it when she mashes up old school songs with new stuff. Her thoughts stay trained on her best friend and she wonders what Chloe is up to. Between the rush of getting ready and trying not to freak out, there just wasn't time to see her this morning.

That's her excuse anyway.

If she's being honest, avoidance tactics may have been at work. She feels like absolute shit for keeping the internship from the redhead but she doesn't know how to broach the subject. Under normal circumstances, she knows she would be excited to tell Chloe. But there's a lot at stake for the Bellas right now and she doesn't want to add anything else to the older woman's plate. She wants Chloe to know that she's there and she's present and she's going to fight for them because letting Chloe down would be the worst feeling in the world.

Jesse's small talk forces her to dismiss the thought. They talk about classes and auditions and their last hood night party the Trebles are hosting later tonight and before she knows it, they’re pulling up to the Residual Heat Recording Studio.  

Her nerves bubble up again.

She's excited and hopeful but she still has the weight of guilt lingering in the back of her mind. Jesse reassures her that everything will be okay. He reminds her that she's worked hard for this opportunity and she deserves this shot.

She gives him a quick kiss before running away while he continues to holler out more embarrassing comments. He's definitely a nerd but he knows her well. His goofy antics have calmed her down considerably and she takes a moment to appreciate his charm before charging ahead.

-----

The afternoon is a blur.

She fucks up her name tag picture, makes a shit ton of coffee and hands out a lot of snacks. She's nobody important here but that's not the point. There's a lot to be learned. A lot to be gained. This is her shot. It's her first step into the world of music production and she's looking forward to paying her dues.

In a bizarre series of events, her boss unexpectedly storms into the office and announces they'll be producing a new Christmas album for Snoop Dogg. The Snoop Dogg. It's crazy but she stifles her excitement. She doesn't want to be labeled as some psycho newbie on her first day but relaxing isn't easy. Between draining her brain for a quick idea on how to make Snoop's new album original and the exchanges happening between this Dax kid and her boss, she’s struggling to control her reactions. Her facial expressions always give her away and the one she's wearing right now screams absolute confusion because Dax is now high-kneeing around the room and this is all really fucking weird.

Thankfully, her phone buzzes and it gives her a reason to look away from the train wreck happening in front of her. She has four messages, none of which she noticed earlier. They’re from Jesse, Amy, and Chloe respectively.

She opens Jesse's message first. It's some idiotic, cheesy 'hope everything is going well’ message and she replies by calling him a dork. It seems like her go-to word when referring to him.

She hesitates before opening Amy's messages because she never knows what the blonde is going to say. It's almost always inappropriate and usually impossible to understand, but she opens it anyway.

Shorty! Where is our toothbrush?!

Yep.

What the fuck does Amy mean by our toothbrush? Beca refuses to believe the obvious. That Amy is implying (more like directly stating) that they use the same toothbrush. That just cannot be right. And even if it is, why would it be missing?

She makes a mental note to buy a new one immediately.

Maybe two.

The second message is almost just as cringeworthy.

Your acawife was asking where you were! You're gonna be in the dingo house tonight!

The urge to roll her eyes is too strong to avoid so she rolls them around before deciding she will not be messaging Amy back. She clicks Chloe's message instead. It's the most recent one.

Trip to Copenhagen is all booked! AHH! :-P

Beca chuckles to herself. She can hear Chloe's voice singing the message in her head. It's cute but it also makes her feel bad because they haven't even discussed the issue of Worlds and Beca promised she would be there for Chloe.  Yet, here she is. At an internship that she still hasn't told Chloe about while the redhead sits at home and plans alone all afternoon. She knows she's going to have to address all of this at some point but how? This isn't really her area of expertise.

Another message comes through.

It's Chloe again.

You okay? Haven't heard from you today! :-(

Ouch.

Beca wonders why she acts like such a dick sometimes. There doesn’t seem to be any logical excuse. Especially when it comes to Chloe. She's the last person on Earth Beca wants to disappoint but it seems like it's destined to happen.

She takes a deep breath and types out a reply.

Sorry Chlo! Busy day. I'll see you at the Trebles’ later!

It's vague and lame but she can't tell the truth and she doesn’t want to outright lie to Chloe so she hits send and shoves her phone back into her pocket as her boss storms back into the room. She straightens in her seat and tries to blend in for the rest of the day.

-----

Beca exits the studio, overwhelmed and stressed, and throws her bag into the back seat of a cab before jumping in and giving the driver directions to the Bellas’ house.

She leans back and takes a deep breath that vibrates her through her lips on the way out. She knew this business would be cut-throat but wow . Today proved how messed up the music industry really is. The people are self-serving and the pace is incredibly fast and it feels like the multi-tasking skills needed to get through each minute are nearly impossible to master.

She’ll get through it though. She has to. This is her shot to get out there and start making a name for herself. This is her dream.

Plus, she’s glad to have the first day out of the way. It can only get easier from here.

Hopefully.

Possibly.

Who knows.

She shakes it off and pulls her phone out of her pocket. She hasn’t had a chance to check it since she messaged Chloe back earlier. Sure enough, there are a few new messages from her best friend. Chloe has no qualms about sending Beca multiple texts in a row. Even when Beca doesn’t answer right away, Chloe will continue babbling without worrying about whether or not she's being annoying.

If it were anyone else, Beca would probably send a string of expletives and permanently block their number. But, like everything else, Chloe is the exception. She smiles and opens their text thread.

Okay! Can't wait! XO

I hope they have the green punch!

Please bust out the cell phone dance move! I love it!!! ;-)

So, a Legacy showed up to our door tonight to audition and we accepted! She's totes amazing and you're going to love her!

I don't think we are breaking the rules bc she came to us! Loophole! :-D

BTW, Legacy means that her mom was a Bella. Her mom is THE Katherine Junk! Omg!

Beca chuckles at the enthusiasm in the messages and pictures Chloe grinning excitedly as she wrote them. A wave of anticipation hits her and she’s overwhelmed with the sudden need to get home as quickly as possible. She tells herself that she’s just anxious to get home after a long day but she knows that's a lie. Before reading those texts, she was tired. Even considered not showing up to the party but there’s a new energy flowing through her and she wills the cab driver to hurry the fuck up already.

When she finally makes it home, she throws her bag down, uses the bathroom, and races through the bushes to the Trebles’ house.

-----

Beca approaches the party, surprised at how out of control things seem already. It's still pretty early but the acapella crowd clearly came to party tonight. She wonders what type of trouble the Bellas are getting into and smiles thinking about all of their past Hood Nights. They've had some wild ones and she's sure this last one will be no different. Especially if Chloe has anything to do with it.

Chloe has a way of making Hood Nights, and most parties in general, more fun than they probably should be. Some of them, in particular, stand out for reasons that Beca isn’t prepared to think about right now. Mainly because they involve Chloe getting way too handsy.

But she already said she’s not thinking about that and scans the crowd for red hair instead.

Oddly enough, she can’t quickly spot her best friend but she spies Jesse sitting up on the deck. And because the night has her feeling light and giddy, she creeps up behind him and grabs him by the shoulders before giving him a quick peck on the lips.

His drink almost slips out of his hands and Beca mutters a quick “oh shit” before dropping down next to him. She takes a deep breath, ready to de-stress after such a crazy day, but Jesse starts asking about the internship and about Chloe and damnit.

“Oh, she’s just..she’s like, locked into the World’s right now and I’m looking for the right time. It’s-- I’ll tell her.” Beca tries to shrug it off like it’s no big deal but it dampens her mood and she excuses herself to grab a drink at the tiki hut. Why did Jesse have to bring up Chloe and the internship in the same sentence? Beca already feels like the absolute worst person in the world and the thought of Chloe having to ask Jesse for her whereabouts just makes it even worse.

This sucks.

Beca takes a huge gulp of whatever concoction is being served tonight and notes that it’s not the green punch that Chloe was hoping for but she can't dwell on it because she notices there’s a really tall girl just standing there staring at her. The girl's arms are stretched out towards Beca and she has no idea what’s about to happen.

“Hi!”

“Hi…” Beca responds hesitantly, still completely unsure.

The taller woman rambles something about being sisters and then it clicks for Beca. She realizes this is the girl- correction- the Legacy, that’s been added to their team.

“Oh yeah! Hi. Chloe texted me that we added a Legacy. I...didn't even know that was a thing.” She lifts her shoulders and gestures with her hands as she speaks. It feels odd.

The girl giggles and keeps staring at Beca so Beca just chuckles uncomfortably and takes another sip.

Then another.

And they're both just sort of standing there awkwardly.

Beca gives a tense smile and widens her eyes, which finally seems to break the other girl’s manic look.

She slaps her hands to her forehead way too hard. “Ouch! Oh my god. I’m sorry! I'm Emily. By the way. Sorry. I forgot that you didn’t know my name yet and I think the others have already started calling me Legacy so it’s totally okay if you want to call me that too I just figured you should know my real name because I totally-”

Beca reaches out and briefly touches Emily’s arm to stop her rambling. “Emily.” She pulls her hand away. “Nice to meet you.”

Emily beams and Beca really wants to get as far away from this interaction as possible.  

“We can get to know each other better later. Right now…” Beca uses her head to gesture across the yard where she can see a few of the Bellas bouncing up and down. “Let’s go catch up with everyone else.”

“Oh!” Emily nods rapidly and Beca thinks she looks like a battery operated bobble-head. “Yeah, definitely! Let’s go!”

Beca nods once before taking a shot and refilling her cup as Emily follows her into the crowd.

-----

“Beca!” Amy is the first person she encounters.

Of course.

She is immediately picked up and twirled around by the blonde. “Where have you been? Oh my god! Have you gotten taller? No! That’s not possible!”

“Amy!” Beca kicks her legs and starts to protest the manhandling but she sees a flash of red hair as she’s being spun around and the words die on her lips.

She starts laughing because jesus christ. It’s been a long day and it feels like she’s been waiting to see that red hair for way too long now. She presses on Amy’s shoulders and frantically wrestles herself out of the tight grip, almost toppling them both over in the process. Amy strings together a few choice expletives and she can hear Stacie muttering something inappropriate but it doesn't stop her.

She bounces right up to her best friend with a smile so wide she thinks her head might explode. “Chlo!”

Chloe’s head whips around and when her eyes land on Beca, her face actually does explode into a display of pure joy. She reaches out and grabs Beca, hooking her arm firmly around the shorter woman’s shoulders to drag her in close.

Chloe's laugh echoes in Beca’s ear and Beca can’t stop her smile from growing impossibly wider as she wraps her arms around the redhead’s waist as best as she can and squeezes back. The scent of fresh laundry and liquor invades her senses and it’s all a little overwhelming but it feels good and she can't help but sink further into it. She lets her body sway back and forth with Chloe's as she breathes her in. Exhilaration and borderline manic happiness taking over in the moment.

“Beca!” Chloe pulls back but keeps her arm firmly around Beca’s shoulder. “Where did you come from!? Where have you been!?” Chloe’s mouth is wide open and the way her eyes are bubbling with excitement reminds Beca of a shaken soda bottle. The look is scary powerful and Beca can’t find it in herself to formulate a response so she just laughs like crazy and brings her cup up from around Chloe's waist to clink it to redhead’s before taking another sip.

Chloe’s eyes stay trained on her as she downs the drink and it makes Beca feel like a shot of Red Bull has been directly injected into her veins. It travels through her entire body with lightning speed and everything inside of her buzzes to life.  She crushes the cup in her hand as she continues to drink, eventually cracking it. Remnants of the liquid leak down her arm but she keeps chugging. The atmosphere and the energy of the party has her head spinning and she just wants to let loose. Have fun.

She’s buying time too. Chloe’s presence is taking her to another level of excitement and she doesn’t know how to quite contain it at the moment. It feels like the cup is the only thing anchoring her to sanity at the moment.  

“Beca!” Chloe swats the crushed cup straight out of Beca’s hand, the last few drops splashing out when it hits the ground and Beca’s eyes widen but she doesn’t move. Her arm stays frozen in the air, invisible cup still in hand. Mouth still open.

And Chloe smiles.

It’s that mischievous, self-satisfied smile. The same one she used after their shower duet so many years ago.

Beca won't forget that look.  It makes her shiver but she smiles back, hand coming back down to squeeze Chloe around the middle again. "You're going to get into trouble tonight." Beca tuts, pretending to be put-off, "I can feel it."

Chloe nods enthusiastically, apparently thrilled by the notion, and moves both hands to Beca's shoulders. It brings the two of them face-to-face and she leans in to speak directly into Beca’s ear. "And you are already in trouble for getting here so late."

Beca’s chest tightens as Chloe pulls back to lock eyes but she keeps herself together. "Is that right?"

"Mhmm." Chloe is still nodding, all breezy happiness and cool confidence.  

"Well," Beca shrugs, doing her best to appear nonchalant, "what are you gonna do about it?"

Chloe drapes her arms further around Beca’s shoulders, big blinking eyes boring into Beca, “I’m going to dance with you."

Beca’s hands involuntarily squeeze the redhead tighter, fingers eventually pressing into Chloe hard enough that she’s afraid she might leave a mark. She panics momentarily, not wanting to hurt her best friend, but then Chloe’s laugh cuts through the party noise and the redhead is dragging her through a crowd of people back towards familiar faces that instantly start shouting when they see the duo approaching.

“Beca!”

“Chloe!”

“Bloe!”

“What’s up bitches?!”

“Where were you guys!?”

Beca dodges Amy’s swinging arms as Chloe continues to pull her into the circle of Bellas but all of her ducking and dodging distracts her right into Stacie’s waiting hands.

“DJ!” Stacie shouts, squishing Beca’s cheeks and before Beca can react, Stacie starts moving in with puckered lips. There’s nothing Beca can do because one of her hands is still wrapped up in Chloe’s and the other is no match for Stacie’s strength so she braces for the onslaught coming her way, eyes shut and lips sucked in.

But it never comes.

Instead of sloppy Stacie kisses, Beca feels herself being pulled out of the taller woman’s grasp. She sees a flash of red and green and her favorite smile and she lets herself collide with the person reining her in. Hands squish her cheeks again but this time, she doesn’t even consider trying to fight them off. Instead, she wraps her arms around Chloe and returns the smile, letting everything around her disappear because Chloe leans in and peppers her face with kisses that match the beat of the song and the thump of her heart.

It makes Beca feel giddy.

Goofy.

Like she’s already had too much to drink but she knows that can’t be.

And really, in the moment, Beca honestly doesn't care what the reason is.

What the feeling is.

All she knows is that Chloe is here and everything feels perfect so she grabs on tighter and pulls Chloe in closer. Squeezing and laughing like a crazy person.

"You're insane! You know that, right?!" She's borderline shouting to be heard over the music.

Chloe pulls back just long enough to look directly at Beca. Eyes dancing and hands squeezing Beca's shoulders tightly. She mutters a quick, "mhmm" and leans in again, bright blue eyes crossing briefly as they come nose-to-nose.

It makes Beca chuckle.

"I know." Chloe mumbles the words and kisses the tip of Beca's nose.

Beca takes a deep breath and lets the tingling feeling take over as the beat drops and she falls into step with Chloe.

[sadisticanimefactory]

Fem!Todoroki x Bakugou

This is not a drabble or anything (it’s 700 words long btw, what), it’s just the beginning of a smol fanfic I started long ago but gave up. Thought it’d be nice to post.

It was getting… unsettling, Shōto mused. 

She was not arrogant enough to think she was the center of someone's attention, but it was becoming hard not to think she was being observed. 

No, not observed. Actually it seemed like someone has been trying to glare a hole on her back.

With that said, such someone’s identity was fairly obvious. One for the glare, two for the unmistakable blonde hair which followed it.

Ok, so Bakugou had been staring at her. Shōto knew that he really wanted her to fight him all in, left side and such, so he could prove some personal point. Still, in no case that meant he would give her such attention.

She respected Bakugou as a rival and fellow hero in training. They both were known for being the strongest in the class, so Shōto could guess, considering Bakugou’s fetish for winning, that he would want to crush her or something. She didn’t want to “crush” him, but victory against the genius that was Bakugou Katsuki was something to be proud of. 

In any case, Shōto would certainly have the opportunity to ask why Bakugou had been trying to obliterate her with his eyes, because Aizawa-sensei gave the class an assignment and he made sure to choose the partners himself. And for some reason, he thought it was a good idea pair Todoroki and Bakugou up. Okay.

When Shōta said their names, Bakugou looked backwards at Todoroki as if she had just insulted him out loud. Good, he didn’t say anything though.

X

“Bakugou.” She called. 

“The fuck do you want, Icyhot?” Was the automatic response. Was she about to comment on his new obsession on staring?

“Can we make plans for the assignment? It is best to finish it as early as possible.” Oh. Ignoring the rudeness, Todoroki placed a hand on her waist, looking at him like he was the most boring painting she's ever seen.

“Hah? I don’t need your damn help, I’ll do it myself! Now piss off!”

Shōto did not piss off. Instead, she followed him, which didn’t make Bakugou any happier. “Fuck off, Half n’ Half!”

She had to go for the throat, then. “You know Aizawa-sensei only assigned us together because he knows you refuse to cooperate. We will both fail if you throw a tantrum." 

Katsuki had been troubled.

He did not sign up for this, okay?

Yes, he had been staring at Todoroki. And there was a fucking good reason for that. 

Rewinding the tape, about two weeks earlier, they were sparring. Sometimes that happened, because they were the best - even though Katsuki was better. Although the halfie refused to use both sides against him (probably just to get on his nerves), she was still one ridiculously powerful bitch. Not that he would admit that.

So far, so good. The point was that instead of the usual ponytail, Todoroki was wearing two low pigtails, splitting her heterochromatic hair in half, and it was satisfying to see, like those perfectly balanced images people posted on the internet. 

The second point was that the spar became more physical than “quirky”, and somehow, the Half n’ Half asshole ended up pinning him down, with two goddamn boobs pressed against his chest and two-coloured hair on his face. 

She was fucking hot, okay. Katsuki was a teenager. So yeah, he got a (involuntary) boner from that.

The fucking dead-fish eyed AC looked so monotonous and unfazed while Katsuki’s dick was up alive because he had fucking hormones. 

Thankfully, nowhere in her body was touching that region, so she didn’t notice it. “My bad.” was all she said before getting up and leaving, as the classes’ time was up.

Since then, he would stare at Todoroki. The first few times were unintentional. As mentioned, her hair was so perfectly split, it was satisfying to see, and it did not caught only Katsuki’s attention, thank you very much. It was no overstatement saying that every guy in that school wanted Todoroki’s naked body. Even what was supposed to be a fucking ugly scar fit her face nicely. The ocular heterochromia (he thought that only happened in cats or something?!) made her pretty. Ew. Katsuki was not about to be one of those guys. he wouldn’t.

(He was though.)

[peachpeachtea]

Region base leaders/apprentices

I briefly mentioned the leaders and their kiddos on the last post so we’re gonna get into them now here we goooo (excuse the old art on my part i dont have time to make new refs--also all artists/contributors will be tagged accordingly) 

Lark Base--Base Leader, Cadi--Apprentice, Marna  Cadi: She’s the youngest of the 6 base leaders stationed in Asnia (At 20), and the most temperamental. She values hard work and independence, and despises it when people try to coddle or underestimate her abilities. While she runs a tight ship, she tends to be brash, LOUD, and impatient overall,--she’s self assured and very much carries her pride for everyone to see. Her partner is a Dubwool, Clementine, and in her spare time, Cadi has a herd of Wooloo that she takes care off and is v e ry protective over--she often spends nights taking care of them and making sure no trespassers startle the sheepies (and if she catches anyone they get whacked with her staff at BEST--her neighbors aren’t unaccustomed to hearing loud, Galarian swearing in the middle of the night). On that note: she has a really bad sailor mouth. 

Marna: Similar to how Cadi is the youngest of the leaders, Marna is the youngest of the current apprentices in the region. She has a curious nature, and is a bit of an energetic busy bee, who rarely has time or patience to sit down/relax--she’s constantly working on something or another, whether it’s helping Cadi do paperwork (see: doing it for her because Cadi is incapable of filing decent paperwork and Marna cannot stand disorganization), or working in her normal duties. Her work ethic is, in a word, unreal, and that’s one of the reasons why Cadi values her so much as an apprentice and friend. Marna tends to be a bit picky and stuffy, but she thrives in her work and loves helping people. She’s the one to ask the most questions/the one to have the most answers. She’s also loves birds!! Swablu, Cirrus, is a testament to that. She loves him and he can usually be seen perched on her head sleeping. 

-------- Cypress Base--Base Leader, Hades--Apprentice, Lethe  Hades: The leader of the north mountain base, Hades is a confident transman who leads with a rather cool head. In his past he was a very feared individual known as "Hel, ruler of hell" due to his grip on the gang life of the region. He's done things he's not proud of and would likely never talk about. A skilled climber and dedicated to his job and training of his partner Drednaw Cerberus-- he's just a supportive dad figure. Has known Russell for many years, and as mentioned, is a sort of father figure to Lethe. 

(Hades and his art belongs to @edwardsbraid btw!)  Lethe: The least energetic of the apprentices, Lethe is a troubled but soft hearted boy who didn’t intend to become a Ranger at all--he was living by himself with no income for years, on account of having no parents to speak of (abandonment issues ahoy)--his recommendation to the academy was a complete accident, but the school had free boarding and it gave him a purpose, so he took the opportunity while he had it. While he loves what he does, and has made two good friends out of this, he’s struggling to come to terms with his issues and struggles to keep up with his peers.  He tends to be a trouble magnet, so the plot hammer will not be kind to him umu. He’s a bit indecisive, timid and an easy crier, but he genuinely loves pokemon/people and wants to be of use to everyone somehow. He’s not much of a logistical thinker but he’s definitely not a push over physically, which comes in handy--he has no partner pokemon for plot reasons that i will reveal later. 

---------- Red Oak Base (Base is still in development so this portion is likely to be updated in the future)--Base Leader, Bridget--Apprentice, Alex

Bridget: Bridget- A senior base leader with a strong sense of morality and an attitude to back it, she has no trouble rearing in even the most stubborn of rangers. Only the most confident and worthy are able to perform an apprenticeship under her and are expected to take over all Union duties alongside the Base Leader role. In times of peace and outside of work, she enjoys quiet days in her cottage with her trusted Luxray (Queenie) and looking after her Granddaughter Fraise. Her base is integral to communications between the south and north sides of Asnia Rangers, because geographically it’s in the exact center of the region (and her area has the best weather of the two sides). This is typically where all the leaders and apprentices meet up for important meetings and such. 

  Alex: Bridget’s apprentice and a stubborn lad--he and Bridget are often bickering with each other. He’s a dumb little hothead who likes to challenge people and bicker with his mentor. He and her fight like siblings and poke fun at each other’s age (he calls her Granny). Will do things just because someone says he can’t (IE try to lift a log twice his size just because someone said he couldn’t), eagerly and affectionately combative. Possibly has a crush on one of the other apprentices but umu thats a topic for later. 

(Both Alex and Bridget belong to @humanblt​!)

--------- Willow Base--Leader, Russell, Apprentice-- Hestia  Russell:  A former violent tempered and loud mouthed delinquent, used to be Hades literal partner in crime and has been his close friend for many years--eventually, after some personal events that i’ll get into later, Russell got tired of his crime sprees. He has since turned over a new leaf and is a quiet, amicable young man who wouldn't hurt a fly--he’s determined to get as far away from his past as possible, to the point where he dropped his real name and decided to go by Russell. He refuses to hurt people if the need isn't dire, and has been labeled as a weenie for his pacifistic behavior/even temper. While soft hearted, he can be stern, and isn’t afraid to be tough when needed. Dearly loves his town and his new life as a peacekeeper. Terrified of ghosts/creepy places (ironic because he works in the spooky part of Asnia--the local ghost types like to pick on him). Usually seen helping old ladies across the street and chopping fire wood--very sensitive about his age and scarred face, and cries when someone points out a gray hair. Has a Corviknight, Cobalt, who is usually perched at the top of the base. In charge of keeping people out of the deeper part of the woods behind his town. Has a long term crush on Carys and clams up when she's around.

(art done as a collaborative by me and  roseheart-exe)  Hestia: Hestia is a cryptic but very sweet and dedicated girl from regions unknown. She often gives off the vibes that she knows more than she lets on, and often speak in riddles or vague non sequiturs. Locals tend to be unnerved by her general disposition, comparing her to a “ghost, at best”. She hates fire, is creeped out by dolls of any sort, and is easy to startle, despite her best efforts to appear calm and collected. Hestia tries to be kind and amiable, and loves her few friends very deeply, but she’s incredibly stubborn and refuses help when she needs it. Her upbringing made her a firm believer in self reliance. She dislikes people who pry or ask too many questions, and worries over others constantly. She looks up to Russell as a mentor and is especially close to him. Her Pokemon is a Lampent, Chandelle (Chandy). She’s never seen without her hat or her lantern, which glows very dimly--she’s very possessive of them and avoids questions regarding either. Incredibly difficult to make her cry: some people are convinced she can’t. Very sensitive, feelings hurt easily--May or may not be pining after one of her base colleagues, who we will get to in another post. Tends to go “Teehee” when dodging questions or lying. Cadi’s current greatest enemy, because Hestia wanders at night and has accidentally startled her sheep on multiple occasions. 

------- Seabream Base--Leader, Ripley--Apprentice, Melanie  Ripley: Ripley: A beachside base leader!! Very beautiful, but also very terrifying to many. She broke a man’s arm once, and while the context has been lost to time, the reputation she got from it remains strong. Isn’t afraid to flex her reputation when it suits her. Has a mermaid-esque beauty that has earned her a fan club. Her base members are her family, and she is a fierce mama bear when it comes to protecting them. Has a Sharpedo, Shin. Became close with Hestia after a few plot related happenings. 

(Ripley and her art belong to @nimikyu​!)  Melanie: A bright and upbeat former lounge singer working under Ripley, loves nothing more than making people smile and smiling in return. Incredibly patient and impossible to piss off, and loves writing letters to her friend in Pinnate base and sending her little gifts. Tends to be a bit oblivious when not working, often described as having her head in the clouds. Takes her job more seriously than she lets on, and works incredibly hard to meet her Leader’s standards--she admires Ripley more than anyone--Melanie also is incredibly popular because of her former status as a singer so she gets way more attention that she bargained form--but she’s an entertainer at heart and tourists love her, which is why she’s in charge of them/in charge of making sure they don’t wander places they shouldn’t. Has a Wingull, Rio, who sometimes delivers her letters. Makes necklaces as a hobby. 

------- Pinnate Base--Leader, Carys--Apprentice, Rudy  Carys: Cadi’s older sister--A mild mannered, surprisingly strong young woman from Galar. Much calmer and levelheaded than her baby sister, although, sometimes she's too calm, and can come off as overly-relaxed and airheaded. An incredible swimmer, she also works part time as a life guard in her spare time. Cheerful and smiley, eager to help, spends alot of time with the local kids/local elders. (Not to say that she doesnt have a temper, because if you set her off you'll be subjected to Cadi 2.0). Tries to offer help to her sister often, only to be vehemently refused over and over. Can beat all the sailors in her town at arm wrestling, wears sunscreen on her face to encourage others to do the same. Runs a very tight ship and values teamwork and bonding. Has a Swampert, Johanna, who helps keep an eye on the weather/preform water rescues. Vocally skeptic about the supernatural, as an important side note. 

(Fantastic art done by @bastart13​ !! check their art out its gorgeous)

Rudy (bio will be updated periodically)!: A bit of a no nonsense, kind of moody boy--He has alot of respect for Carys in particular because he tends to be blunt and she's the only one who isn’t phased by it and doesnt let it affect her opinion of him. He reminds her alot of Cadi, so she's used to it and knows how to handle the teenage angst. Has a Sandyghast, Gobi! Sometimes Gobi loses their shovel and has a little flag instead. 

(This little man belongs to @liimonpriince​)!  And that’s the gist for all the major protags--supporting cast will come next, and then we’ll get to the bad guys :) 

[fourangers]

Perhaps, in the end, it’s fate

Summary:  With one different tilt of the destiny, many other paths can be unfolded. However between them, there would be always an automatic pull since they share an interchangeable fate.

It's ninjaverse AU, completely different timeline. Teacher!Naruto, father!Sasuke, lil!Sarada with a harmless crush on Nardo. No prior pairings with Sasuke (and Naruto btw) because babies can be created through power of SCIENCE! (or in this case, Orochimaru’s experiments).

Based on February prompt from Sun and Moon Challenge, check it out once you can! SNS, T-rated. Comedy and Romance.

AO3 link | FFnet link

⏤.⏤

Squinting his eyes, he swallowed dryly with fingers crossed. He hoped his future mentor would be wise and kind, his teammates nice and welcoming. If he could stretch a little bit more in this wishing department, maybe Sakura will be part of his team. Well, anything, anyone but Sasuke. It was already humiliating enough losing his first kiss to that bastard, going on missions with him would be. The. Worst.

Iruka cleared his throat, staring the list. "Well, Team 7 will be Haruno Sakura..."

Naruto inhaled sharply, tightening his fists.

"Uchiha Sasuke..." He could hear Sakura's jubilant scream all across the classroom, in midst of other feminine complaints and whining. Naruto groaned too.

"...and Hyuuga Neji."

Huh.

That was...sort of unexpected. Really unexpected.

Naruto frowned, wondering why it felt so out of place that he wouldn't be part of this team.

Iruka continued to recite. "That means that the last team will be Rock Lee, Tenten and Uzumaki Naruto."

He threw a tentative glance towards his future teammates, trying not to get freaked out towards the most humongous eyebrows he had ever met in his life. This boy was also wearing a spandex, a bowl cut haircut style and a goofy smile. His female teammate, on the other hand, simply smiled once she noticed him, waving her hand.

Naruto awkwardly waved back, butterflies squirming in his stomach. A brand new life lied ahead of him and he couldn’t wait to get into his first ninja mission.

His new teacher was a bigger weirdo named Maito Gai. He wore Lee’s same spandex and had even thicker brows, but every qualm was instant quelled once he showed impressive taijutsu skills. He was also unbelievably patient and kind with his protegées, taking notes of their strengths and deficiencies, even teaching basic ninjutsus skills to Naruto that he didn’t manage to learn back in ninja Academy.

Gai had auto-proclaimed rival to Team 7’s leader, some shady guy named Kakashi. They stumbled towards that team on a rather frequent basis while watching Gai’s bravados and weird contests with Kakashi laidback responses. That also meant that Naruto and Lee were busy wooing (or at least trying to) Sakura. Noticing Lee’s unsuccessful attempts to ask her out made him shift for another strategy; concentrating on the other rival ergo Uchiha Sasuke.

(though frankly, while sprawled on the bed after another grueling day of training, Naruto had to admit that what he wanted the most was to check if Sasuke, who is another orphan like him, was doing ok on his own)

Sasuke egged him on, honestly. Calling him a total dumbass, smirking while they bickered, it was refreshing someone acknowledge him aside his teammates.

Sakura was treating him better in comparison to the Academy days, much to his positive surprise. She muttered something about Sasuke giving her a blistering lecture, defending Naruto out, which broke his wall for a second.

Chuunin exams arrived, Lee and Tenten losing in the preliminaries, fueling Naruto to get a victory for the team. His fight against Hyuuga Neji ended with some broken bones, painful conversations, a promise and a new friend. He was looking forward to see Sasuke defeat Gaara to honor Konoha, however, as life was full of unexpected changes, that innocuous exam ended with the Sandaime Hokage murdered and the village being attacked.

The village council convinced Kakashi be a temporary Hokage, everyone gathering around to fix the destruction. Soon they returned to their old routine with the usual genin missions while they went back to train. Naruto kept helping Tenten to conjure better weapons as well as sparring with Lee. He had to admit that while Gai was a good teacher, he wished he could expand even further his skills to something other than taijutsu…

Before he could get back to the idyllic days, out of nowhere, Sasuke disappeared. Rumors spread seeing Sakura’s swollen eyes and Kakashi handling a mission to retrieve him. All genins he knew assembled a team with Shikamaru as the leader and Neji to talk him through.

The mission was a complete utter failure.

“He just didn’t listen to me. I even mentioned you Naruto-kun, how it’s possible for anyone to get out from our personal darkness and conquer fate but still…” Neji shook his head, swallowing a soldier pill to replenish his depleted chakra.

Words of disagreement lodged on his throat but he couldn’t voice it out. Naruto knew, somehow, that if it were him, instead of Neji, maybe…Maybe he’d be able to convince Sasuke, or…

After this incident, he noticed Sakura’s grim expression when she started her medic nin training, as well as Neji’s renewed determination to change the Hyuuga clan. Naruto questioned himself, why he wanted with almost the same intensity to bring Sasuke back to Konoha, despite wondering if he’d make a difference. He’s not even his teammate…

And yet he pondered; was this the reason why he accepted Jiraiya’s tutelage, when Gai mentioned about him when they went to retrieve Tsunade?

But as painful that experience was for everyone involved in, life moved on. Even shadows casting on Team 7’s eyes were blurring out, Sakura mentioning her ex-teammate with a somewhat nostalgia instead of bitterness, and Neji found a closer friendship with Naruto as years passed by.

Naruto questioned himself then, the irrational need to work to the bone 24/7, red iris plaguing his dreams sometimes. He was evolving, he was becoming a stronger ninja and yet he always felt that he didn’t reach his full potential. As if his body was waiting for a worthy rival to inspire him.

Team 7 and Team Gai were celebrating together for gaining their chuunin title, as well as Neji’s jounin promotion. Lee and Sakura used this opportunity to reveal that they were dating, shocking them all. They were a cute couple; Naruto figured, so he approached her to drop a quiet confession.

“You know, it’s funny but I used to have a crush on you.” He muttered, sipping his tea.

Sakura stared with wide eyes, before letting out a short chuckle.

“What!” Naruto yowled. “I mean, don’t sell yourself short, you are cute so a lot of boys liked you and I used to be one of them so⏤”

Sakura shook her head, giggling. "No, no, no, I mean...I thought you used to have a crush on Sasuke.”

His jaw dropped to the ground. “What?!”

“Yes, whenever our teams met, you were busier staring at him and trying to get him to fight you than trying to talk with me. So I thought maybe you were into him? Like the typical boy who pull the girl’s pigtails because he likes her. Well, though you two were boys. Was I wrong?”

Naruto was scarlet red to the tip of his hair, mouth still slack, unable to formulate any complete sentence. Sakura’s smile grew more mischievous so he settled to avoid looking at her, wolfing down his plate.

Sakura pursed her lips, sagging on her seat. “Sasuke huh...he’s coming back, you know.”

For a second, the world stood stock still. “What?”

She shrugged, fingers twirling strands of hair. “You heard that right. He wants to go back to Konoha, claiming that he saw the errors of his way. So he traded important information about Sound Village and Orochimaru to regain his citizenship and ninja status in Konoha.”

A silence fell between them as they both took their time to absorb this bout of information. Sakura cheered up once her boyfriend was back with fresh food, but Naruto was lost thinking about all possibilities.

Few days later, Sasuke arrived at the gates, battered and tired, cradling a cloth wrapping with his arms. He was already the main gossip of the town, then the whispers grew exponentially once they confirmed that he was, indeed, holding a little child.

At a tender age of 18, this young man was already a father.

Naruto hid in some corner of a store, glancing surreptitiously as Sasuke strolled through the streets, uncaring to people gawking and muttering around him. The toddler began shuffling, hiccuping. Those small noises soon turned to loud wails that made him stop at once, cradling her close as he made little bounces though this wasn’t enough to calm her down. People made annoyed faces and had quicken their paces, everyone refused to help him out.

Listening to the cries that increased in volume, he bit his lip, taking a deep breath. He emerged from his spot, walking closer to Sasuke who appeared a little frantic.

“Um.” Naruto scratched the back of his head when Sasuke turned to face him with a glare, hands busy while his daughter kept crying. “Maybe you can try putting her body resting over your upper arm, like a tiger resting on a branch.”

Sasuke stared skeptical, despite obeying his suggestion. Her short yowls decreased, breathing becoming more even till she slept in his arms. Needless to say, Sasuke was rather impressed.

“Uh yeah⏤Iruka-toosan sometimes asks me to help him out taking care of children in the daycare center. I got some of those tips.”

Sasuke grunted back, gazing upon his baby.

“So…” Naruto smacked his lips. “Welcome back? Uh, what’s her name?”

Sasuke huffed, placing her head on his left shoulder. “Sarada.”

Naruto held her tiny hand, smiling with a whisper. “Sarada-chan~welcome to Konoha. You’re gonna love living here, meeting auntie Sakura, uncle Neji, Kakashi, me...how old is she?”

Sasuke scrunched up his face, staring downwards. “9 months. I thought...I’d be fine on my own but in the end, we needed⏤” He thinned his lips. “I said too much.” Before Naruto would ask any further question, Sasuke said. “I should get going. Thank you, Naruto.”

Naruto nodded back, watching the brisk steps moving away from him.

Once Sasuke had settled in the old Uchiha compound, Sakura, Neji and Kakashi visited him. They were welcoming, but absent. After all, Sakura was busy in Konoha’s hospital, Kakashi was going to be officially appointed as Konoha’s Hokage, Neji was helping his cousin changing Hyuuga clan’s laws.

There was a significant chasm between Sasuke and other ninjas of his generation, since he was now a father between young adults, and left Konoha while the Rookie Nine nurtured their relationship over the years. He made no effort to draw the bridge too, cooped in his house taking care of his daughter most of the time. And even when the gang would reunite, he was always the last one to arrive, the first to go.

On some occasions Sakura would succeed in convincing him to bring his daughter whenever team Gai and team 7 would gather in her house. Sasuke however, maintained his distance with the crew, aside some quiet conversation with Neji.  

It was almost like living in an old film reel, rolling all over again. Watching Sasuke as a child from afar, craving to reach his hand and talk to him but never building enough courage to do so. They became mere acquaintances, the occasional nod of recognition when they crossed paths, making small talks while Sasuke was nursing Sarada. Soon Naruto became jounin when Sasuke managed the chuunin title, Lee mentioning he and Sakura took care of Sarada while he was doing the exams.

He stared down the porcelain mask while the townspeople cheered the end of Kakashi’s appointed ceremony. Gai stood next to him, and Naruto smiled from his teacher’s happiness emanating from afar. Long time ago, he remembered desiring conquering such coveted position, but nowadays he was content knowing that Kakashi would make a decent Hokage.

(why did he lose so easily his determination to follow his ambitions?)

Kakashi didn’t waste much time in celebration, throwing mission after mission on him, one longer than the other and in some faraway sketchy places. Most those times Naruto could only hear the faint echoes of their sprinting, casting long shadows on the cavernous walls. He was responsible exploding laboratories while Tenten gathered reports, weird shapes submerged in purpleish water.

How bizarre. Sometimes he could swear some of those shapes had some resemblance with Sasuke.

⏤.⏤

Iruka was like a father to him and he deserved this long vacation after years of tireless tutelage. But still.

Screams. Collisions. Little imps running around all over the place. Those squirmy little brats slithering out of his grasp and making a racket.

Naruto really needed to work in refusing Iruka’s requests, but the older nin was just this damn persuasive.

He spread his clones in every corner of the daycare center, however, it didn’t seem to be enough. The moment the kids understood that his bunshins could pop out with some harder shove, they made their newest game dispelling as many clones as possible.

Yet those kids were old enough to learn basics of ninja skills, so other teachers threw such responsibility on Naruto’s shoulders, considering he had a higher rank. He had a hard time tampering down his strength, why are children such squiggly delicate beings that cried with the littlest wound?

Naruto spent only one day with them and he was already wondering if he would leave this experience unscathed. Nevertheless he summoned every bit of his patience and taught the fundamentals of aiming, giving them the chance to train too.

He heard collective praises and some gasps coming from afar, approaching and noticing the dark haired girl concentrated on her task. Whoa...time surely flies by pretty damn fast. He had forgotten that Sarada was already 5 years old. Naruto snorted when he saw that most shurikens she threw hit the bullseye.

But that wasn’t enough to satisfy her, since she picked all the paper shurikens and threw with renewed zeal. The rest of the kids went away playing on their own, but Sarada remained in training. Heaving tired breaths, she flung another shuriken but this time it flew past the target.

She made a frustrated growl, running to dislodge the weapon that dug deep in the bark of a tree. Naruto heard a concealed hiccup, as Sarada rubbed her eyes with her arm.

“Hey, don’t worry about it, I got this.” Naruto appeared in a blink, quirking a mollifying smile and removed the shuriken with ease. He offered to the young Uchiha, she accepted the weapon with contemplative eyes.

“You’re Lee-san’s friend right?” She realized.

“Sure am! I’m Uzumaki Naruto, it’s nice to see you again Sarada-chan.” Naruto patted her head. “You know, it’s really important to train your skills, but taking a break is also equally as important. Letting your body rest when it’s so tired, so it can grow stronger the next time.”

Sarada pouted, then muttered. “Auntie Sakura told me stories about back when my father was my age. He was a genius, always great with whatever he did, but I’m…”

“Ah yeah your dad...I also remember that he used to train all day and night over and over again. You’ll get as good as him in no time, don’t worry about it.”

“But…” Sarada bit her lower lip, shuffling her feet. “Father once talked to me about the Uchiha clan and how it used to be a very respectable clan and I have to follow their footsteps so⏤”

“Ugh, who cares!” Naruto rolled his eyes. “I think it’s too much that this bastard⏤”

She gasped. “You said a bad word!”

“S-sorry.” He scratched his head. “Anyways, I think it’s unfair to put such heavy duties on your shoulders. Your dad suffered back he was your age, I don’t want you to suffer the same. You should be only Sarada-chan after all right! You’ll make your father proud in your own pace.”  

“You think so?”

“I know so! After all, I’m already proud of you and I’m your teacher, right.” He messed her hair, patting on it.

Sarada stared down her shuriken, thumbs sliding over it. She peeked through her fringes, a rosy blush dusting her cheeks. “Thank you Uzumaki-sensei.”

“Oh, you can call me Naruto.” He grinned.

Her voice pumped with more excitement as she said. “Naruto-sensei!”

On the following days Naruto continued with his ninja classes, juggling between paying attention to all students, focusing on the rowdy ones, teaching those lessons and avoid any kind of catastrophe might ensue. He had found another mounting respect towards Iruka, those kids just can’t be real.

In every class Sarada was the first to complete it with pristine score, dashing next to him with eyes silently asking for his praise.

And praise he did, with words of encouragement and approval, injecting an impressed tone as he ruffled her hair. Every single time this gave her renewed motivation to improve herself. Naruto gazed fondly from afar as Sarada hopped between trees with ease. His entire childhood was consumed by hatred and neglect from adults until he met Iruka, he’d never subject any other kid to such trauma once again.

“Naruto-sensei!” Sarada exclaimed, hugging his arm with a tight grip.

Naruto beamed, patting her hair. He was starting to see the perks of this profession, was this the reason why Iruka continued to be a teacher despite having to take care of these little brats everyday?

A baritone voice chimed from behind. “Ah, I see. Expected nothing less I guess.”

They turned around, facing the familiar piercing dark eyes. Sasuke gazed back in fond amusement.

“So you’re really the Naruto-sensei my daughter kept gushing about all last week.”

Sarada pale cheeks reddened at once. “Father!”

“Alright little one, it’s time to go home.” Sasuke hushed by patting on her back. “Go grab our things ok.” After Sarada obeyed him with a pronounced pout, Sasuke muttered once she was out of the picture. “Long time no see.”

“Yeah…” Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. “You look well I guess.”

“Hn. When Lee told me you’re subbing for Iruka-sensei, I didn’t quite believe at first. I thought you’re a jounin?”

“I am, but Iruka-toosan made me promise that I’d take care of them while he’s on vacation. I thought, well, kids right. I took care of ‘em sometimes, one whole month would be nothing and⏤”

“It’s hell isn’t it?” Sasuke smirked.

Naruto dropped his shoulders at once, a long groan vibrating on his throat. “Totally. I was already dead on the first day.”

Sasuke nodded in agreement. “Sarada thankfully is more helpful than most children. But still, where do they get all this energy?”

“I know right??” Naruto laughed. “They look so small I thought they wouldn’t be much trouble but whoa, did I misjudge on this one.”

Sarada arrived with backpack ready. “I’m back father!”

“Good. Maybe we’ll go eat outside for a change.”

“Oh! You should eat Ichiraku Ramen then, it’s perfect for cold day like today!” Naruto said.

Sasuke shook his head. “You and your Ichiraku Ramen, I remember you used to drag Lee and Tenten to eat at that place.”

“Ichiraku Ramen is the greatest, I was just doing them a favor to acknowledge such fact. There’s no other restaurant that would have such delicious braised pork, a tender yet firm noodles coupled with the rich texture and savory miso broth. It’s the best.”

“If Naruto-sensei said so, maybe we should try it!” Sarada chirped. A lightbulb went off and she added. “Maybe he could go with us!”

Both young men crossed their eyes before deflecting in haste, Naruto cleared his throat as Sasuke thinned his lips. “Naruto-sensei looks pretty tired, maybe we shouldn’t bother him too much Sarada.”

“Oh, she’s not bothering me for sure.” Naruto retorted. “But maybe you want to have some quiet time together with your father, right, Sarada-chan?”

“Father wouldn’t mind if you tag along Naruto-sensei, right?” Sarada pulled out the most pitiful expression she could ever muster, jutting her lower lip. “Right?”

Glancing in between her frantic daughter and the bewildered blue eyes, Sasuke exhaled tiredly. He mumbled under his breath. “Is it ok for you to go with us Naruto?”

“Um, ok. Sure!” He messed with Sarada’s hair when she jumped in joy. “I’m going to ask my favorite Ramen flavor for you Sarada-chan, I’m sure you’re going to love it.”

Despite initial reservations, they maintained a cheerful conversation peppered with Naruto’s booming voice and Sarada’s exclaims while they were walking on the way to the restaurant. This time though, Sasuke appeared to be a more sociable mood, chatting back with occasional grunts, which Naruto didn’t mind with his easy-going nature.

Sasuke insisted paying the bill despite all his protests, explaining that this was a small gesture of gratitude for taking care of his daughter. After waving goodbyes, they went on separate ways, smile playing on both their lips.

“Naruto-sensei is like the sun right!”

Sasuke blinked, head tilted to one side to gawk at her. Sarada linked her fingers together, placing to one side of her cheek as she whispered with a dreamy voice.

“He’s so nice and friendly, full of energy and bright. And when he smiles you just feel happier too, it’s wide and sincere, he makes your mood so much better. I love his hair, it’s golden exactly like the sun and his eyes have such a beautiful shade of blue, I’d never get tired looking at his eyes and⏤” She stopped her diatribe once she noticed her father’s peering eyes. “What?”

Sasuke studied his daughter, before settling with a long sigh.

She wrinkled her nose. “Anyways, as I was saying…”

⏤.⏤

2nd chapter here

⏤.⏤

AN: at first I thought that it’d be a one-shot but it got too much material for only a one-shot. So...lol. It’s gonna be a two-shot.

[babaleshy]

Time for me to rant. If anybody is morbidly curious about what it’s like to live with Trump supporter parents where one parent basically projects himself onto Trump, you can click the thingie. But the context of how this is different from other times I’ve bitched about my folks on my old account is we’re not starving for once. We actually have some money and are trying to get some shit together so we can take care of the urgent needs such as fucking house repairs and shit.

So... We live on a farm. I won’t say where, but right over the hill is a goddamn oil pad. My parents aren’t rich or anything from the oil rights, but I am reluctantly admitting that we are finally getting some money in to where we could repair our tub so we don’t have to risk blisters from pulling a DIY string to turn on the cold water through a ventilation duct because the faucet is fucked. We also got the train to our tub fixed so that way when we shower, we’re not standing in filthy-ass water that can’t drain properly no matter what we shove down the drain to fix it with. We had to replace the entire drainage system for both bathrooms.  Yes. Both bathrooms. The second one is just a toilet and a sink but that sink had the same clog problem due to YEARS of rust build-up because there’s so much goddamn iron in our well water, which my dad states is “actually water coming in from a flooded mineshaft,” and at this point, it would not surprise me if he was right for once.

We also finally got new working vehicles we don’t have to keep taking in for repairs we can’t afford in hopes we can make it to the grocery store or in hopes my mom and my husband can make it to work. Still 2 vehicles, but they are much newer than what we had before (I’m not car-smart, so I couldn’t tell you what years they are or whatever).

My mom also finally paid off all of the credit card debt we were drowning in. This includes both of mine we were forced to use and max out and never make payments on because we couldn't afford to eat several times. That’s about $3k in the hole if you include late fees and interest on TWO credit cards under MY NAME. Because we didn’t have money on us so we could fucking eat.

We are hoping that soon we can get all of our teeth fixed. My husband and I have wisdom teeth in dire need of removal. All of his are rotten, one of mine is rotten but all four are crowding my teeth, all four of us have cavities in our teeth we’re doing our best to keep from getting worse. So the next logical step is teeth. I’m trying to apply for Medicaid but now apparently you’re required to do that over the phone, now and I need a day during the week where my husband has off so I can get some help with this phone call (long story, I just have trouble with phone calls). We also really hope we can find a dentist and oral surgeon NOT IN THIS AREA. A BIG REASON WHY HALF MY TEETH ARE FUCKED IS BECAUSE OF PURPOSEFULLY BOTCHED JOBS BY AN ASSHOLE DENTIST SO YOU’D KEEP GOING IN AND HAVING YOUR FILLINGS RE-DONE.

But hey! We’re doing financially better, now. Especially since my mom plans to give me birthday money this year, and my parents don’t seem to have a problem with paying (if necessary) to help me get tested for dyslexia.

With all of this good news, you’d think my dad would be just tickled, right?

Nope.

He bitches about spending money. He has a mole hill of money he sees as a mountain and he wants to sit on it and never spend it. He bitches anytime spending has to take place. At all. He parrots any and all things Trump promotes and shit. My dad wants to be Trump. My dad is racist, thinks Mexicans are invading America to take our jobs and rape our women and murder Americans (same with any non-white refugee from anywhere), he thinks the military doesn’t get enough support of any sort, with his excuse being “we need to make sure we can show the world we can destroy it at any time we want to so the rest of the world respects us.” Btw, he equates fear with respect. There is no debating him. I’ve tried.

My dad says if he is somehow convinced his xtian god isn’t real, then what’s the point in being a good person? He’d start killing everybody just because there would be no god to judge him. THIS IS THE SIGN OF A MENTALLY UNHEALTHY, UNSTABLE, UNSAFE INDIVIDUAL. Luckily, my dad is actually all talk 99.9% of the time. My dad is lazy, and even states that his ideal life is to sit in an apartment without ever having to move, and he’d have servants at his beck and call. He actually tried several times to convince my mom to move into an impoverished part of the south intentionally because “we would live like kings with the money we’ve got coming in right now.” He’s full of shit because it actually isn’t that much money. It’s just that we can stop starving. (For context, my mom wants to move north ever since her mom/my grandma died because her sister is all she has left and she lives up north, and since Kent State is up there, I’m fine with that.)

My dad wants to sit around and be lazy and absorb any and all conspiracy theories on YouTube that appeals to his fucked up worldviews on a device he claims to hate and wishes never existed. He also bitches about having to drive my husband around, who “should have gotten his permit and license by now” despite the fact that he finally got new glasses after 10+ years of not being able to afford to upgrade his prescription and needs to get used to his new vision. My dad is convinced that because he willed himself through his own problems that literally everyone else can do the same. My dad is the most self-centered adult outside of celebrity-hood I’ve ever seen. My husband has anxiety because being behind the wheel of a machine that could easily kill people freaks him out, and he’s not sure if he can see a counselor for managing his anxiety on a regular basis is going to be possible right now.

My dad thinks my husband works at a retail video game store to support his hobby and nothing else “because of all the damn games and statues he keeps buying” when my dad likes to ignore the fact that employee discounts, clearance sales, trade-in credits, and special deals exist. 

My dad is a miserable old bastard, and because we’re in the same situation as him, he cannot stand how we enjoy ourselves to make the most of it. Misery loves company, and he can’t get past the fact that his life changed forever when he got hurt and permanently disabled at the steel mill back in ‘95. He has since then refused to accept what has happened to him, and would rather be a miserable piece of shit and take down anyone else nearby with him. Which could be why he bitches about having money he can spend, now.

And he does all of his venting at my husband. I know my dad is trying to goad my husband into saying or doing something stupid so my dad has a reason to either kick us out or be physically violent. My dad doesn’t like the fact that my husband isn’t a fucking idiot. My husband grew up with a family full of anger-filled assholes. He knows the ropes as much as I do. And the fact that my husband sticks up for me while I’m not around shows to my dad that my husband truly does love me, and wouldn’t only stick up for me while I’m around. He has called my dad on his shit quite a bit when I’m not around. My dad HATES that he can’t dangle the indirect message of “you’re all by yourself, no one else thinks you’re right” above my head. And ever since my husband started routinely calling my dad out on his shit, or defending me when my dad bitches about me over stupid shit, my dad has backed off me for the most part.

My dad wasn’t counting on me getting married to a good man. My dad previously equated good men with financial wealth. Turns out my dad was proven wrong, and he can’t stand it. That fucker is the whole reason why I have had so many self-image insecurities (and still do) and my dad can’t stand it that my husband isn’t joining him on mocking me. My husband tells him to fucking stop. My dad dares not do it in front of my mom, because she tells him to stop.

My parents aren’t in a very health marriage. There’s more footage of convincing evidence of Bigfoot than there are times my parents did something together because they love each other, and I’m not talking about anything expensive, either.

Mom sleeps on the couch because she told me she can’t stand his snoring. However, I remember my mom once telling me that my dad “doesn’t have an ‘off’ switch with his libido” so I’m guessing that’s another reason why.

Both of them sit in the same room on opposite sides of the room (mom on the couch, dad in the busted-ass armchair) on their devices (mom on her tablet and/or phone and dad on the computer that’s by/in front of his chair), only talking to each other about certain articles they read, and not much else. They’ll occasionally watch something on the TV together on Netflix or Hulu but that’s about it.

Mom wanted to live on a farm and raise horses ever since she was a little girl, and through manipulation and the excuse of 4-H projects through me and my brother, she finally got her wish. And my dad is against having any animals of any sort. All he does is bitch about them. He also bitches about how much country my mom listens to (and I can’t blame him there; my mom is the whole reason why country music is the bane of my fucking existence).

Aside from boinking to have 2 kids and mourning over the loss of one of them, my parents have very little in common. I have no idea how or why they got together other than my dad made my mom laugh and didn’t break her jaw like her ex-husband did, my dad had 3 exes and wanted to make the 4th one count, and my mom found out she was pregnant with me before dad proposed (I’m GUESSING knocking my mom up is what made them decide to marry, I dunno).

My mom has (VERY FEW) redeeming qualities, so I take advantage of her mama bear nature to ensure I’m safe under the same roof as my dad. I’m unintentionally appealing to her desire for a farmer-daughter by wanting to garden, though I made it very clear I will never be responsible for farm animals again. She also doesn’t mind the fact that she’ll never be a grandmother to human babies. I’m willing to bet it’s because she never wanted me and doesn’t blame me for not wanting kids of my own. She gets points for not being exactly like her own mother, but I could’ve used some meaningful and caring mother-daughter bonding instead of the distant I-see-you-as-a-burden-now-that-we-are-living-in-poverty treatment I got growing up.

I could point all of this out to my parents, and they would rather spend more time coming up with excuses or redirecting the blame instead of, you know, APOLOGIZING FIRST. And I say this because I have brushed on the topic before and they got SUPER defensive about it.

I was an accident, they got married probably so I wouldn’t be born out of wedlock and so their respective families wouldn’t look down upon them, they thought they had this and had a second kid, a year to two years later dad gets hurt at the mill and we’ve been impoverished ever since but because boys bring more promise of success than girls---especially girls who are different like I was and still am---my brother was automatically the favorite. And I was always screamed at.

Boy would I love to see a therapist instead of a one-hour visit with a counselor trying to figure out as much of why my brain is the way it is once a friggin’ week. Not blaming the counselor, because he’s awesome. But my counselor did say that he’s actually a bit surprised but glad I’ve figured out some way to live with this. It’s because I know how they act, how their minds work, how they would react if I said or did this or that. Having all of this free time and being alone with my thoughts because my husband works his ass off for pennies only for my dad to try and make him spend money on necessities instead of spending his own goddamn money has allowed me to think about and even analyze my own parents; how they act, why they act this way, why they’ve acted that way, etc.

I do consider myself lucky that they aren’t worse than this. My mom is actually much more understanding with me, now, and that’s probably because I’m the last child she has left. So I guess after living in a shit or unhappy marriage and working her ass off to raise two kids and then losing one, she tries to be the good xtian mother and be thankful for what she has now. It’s a guess, though. The whole thing could be a facade for all I fucking know.

Dad’s all talk, but because his tone is the same whether or not he makes his shitty, stupid jokes, or can’t keep certain thoughts to himself and feels the need to say them aloud (SUCH AS POINTING OUT I HAVE CLEAVAGE LIKE IT’S SOME “OMG WOW YOU HAVE BOOBIES NOW AFTER HIGH SCHOOL” IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY COLLEGE IN MY EARLY TWENTIES THANKS DAD THAT WAS CREEPY WHAT THE FUCK), it’s hard to tell whether or not he’s serious about some of the shit he says.

He projects himself onto Trump because he wants to BE Trump. Trump says if Ivanka wasn’t his daughter, he’d date her. I wouldn’t be surprised (I’d still be creeped out) if my dad said something similar. And he has tried to talk about my appearance and how I could make money with it such as a pin-up cosplay calendar because apparently I “look so attractive” while at the same time he shames me for having “skin so pale my legs blind him from reflecting so much light while I wear shorts.” And when I call him out on it, he genuinely thinks he’s done no wrong. My dad is pretty much Trump Lite, and it’s creepy.

But I know the fucker. I can play at his fucked up game, too. All I gotta do is talk about periods or vaginas, because suddenly when his daughter talks about, you know, being a human, suddenly it’s just too much for him.

And he hates I can play this fuck-ass game with him.

And I’m glad he hates it.

Because it’s evident he will never see himself in the wrong. He never has, never does, never will. Because he’s got one excuse or answer after another, and when he runs out, it’s time to drop the conversation before he gets pissed and ruins the night for everybody.

So I’m glad I’m good at playing this game back at him and being damn good at it. That’s what he gets for being a piece of shit.