#I’ve already got the switch in here and some valuables

[fruitless-vain]

Key lock doorknob done 👌

[susiephone]

wtf is dracula daily?

i’ve seen a couple people ask this question on my posts about it, so i thought i’d go ahead and clear it up here!

ok so, the classic horror novel “dracula” is an epistolary novel - that means it’s told via letters, diary entries, ship logs, and news articles. (technically the term “epistolary novel” refers to works told solely through letters or emails, but many have expanded it to mean any work that is told via in-universe documents, hence why diaries and logs often get included as well. “frankenstein” is another classic example; the whole framing device is robert walton is recounting the story he heard from victor to his sister via letter. a modern example would be “several people are typing,” which is told via slack messages, or “the perks of being a wallflower,” which is told via letters from charlie to his anonymous pen pal, which is functionally more like you’re reading his diary.)

because of the nature of the narrative, we actually know the exact day nearly everything in dracula happens - the letters, news articles, diary entries, etc. are all dated.

“dracula daily” is a substack project where the novel is broken up into parts, with people who are subscribed to the project getting emails every day something in dracula happens - for example, the novel opens with jonathan harker’s journal entry on may 3, so on may 3, subscribers are emailed that entry. the action of dracula takes place from may 3 - november 6, plus an epilogue set some years later. the project started in 2021 (i think), but fucking BLEW UP in 2022, and they’re doing it again this year! lots of us are very excited - especially people like me who fell behind last time.

why not just read the book?

valid! due to some parts of dracula being told out of chronological order, dracula daily does reorder some things. for example, the first section of dracula is told entirely from jonathan harker’s pov, then the second section switches the pov to mina murray. their sections have some overlap in the timeline, so dracula daily jumps back and forth between their perspectives.

if you want to read the book as bram stoker intended, dracula daily may not be for you. but for a lot of people (myself included!), it breaks up a very long text into easily digestible chunks (....mostly. there is one entry that is 10k words), and the fact that it’s a big project means there are a lot of people reading along with you.

i think there’s also something valuable about experience the slow revelation of wtf is going on along with the characters. the book which you might otherwise get through in a few days is stretched out into months of suspense and agony as you wait for the other shoe to drop, and it’s great.

plus, the whiplash between “jonathan harker’s neverending horror” vs “lucy is basically on the bachelorette” that you get in dracula daily is very very funny.

how do i sign up?

right here! and if you sign up and fall behind in the emails, no worries - the dracula daily website posts past entries so you can catch up.

what if i prefer audiobooks?

have i got great news for you!

like i mentioned before, i couldn’t keep up with the emails last year. part of it is that it is much easier for me to focus on an audiobook or keep up with a podcast than it is for me to sit down and read, especially with longer entries.

this year, there is going to be a podcast titled “re: dracula” that was inspired by dracula daily. every episode will be a dracula daily entry, with a full voice cast! (seriously, if you listen to british podcasts, you will recognize some of these names. the magnus archives and wooden overcoats girlies are WINNING.) you can find that here.

there is also a podcast called “cryptic canticles” that has an already-completed audiodrama of dracula that i’m told is also extremely good, and was also broken up by date. you can find that here.

why do i keep hearing about paprika/the boyfriend squad/lizard fashion/cowboys?

you’ll see.

oh god am i gonna hear about this nerd shit for the rest of the year

yes. sorry.

[rplayford02]

KEEPER: Production

The shoot ran fairly smoothly. Here’s a run down day by day!

Friday - Changing Rooms

The prep we did during the tech recce really helped here. I was able to tell Tom exactly where he should boom from without having to consult camera. We did eventually need to consult camera to check exact edge of frame, but the prep definitely streamlined our communication.

Saturday - day off!

Talked about the shoot with Ben.

Sunday - Will’s Bedroom

A lot of time spent basking in the sun on the decking at Jake’s, waiting for the light to change. It was an indoor location where we had full control so it was fairly easy for sound. Only challenge was space. The room wasn’t very large and we (Tom and I) had to hide in a corner behind camera. When I wasn’t soaking up the sun, I was hiding in a cupboard next to an unnerving pillow of Jake’s face.

Monday - 1st Pitch Day

So rainy! The weather made communicating anything ten times harder, and it was our first day out on the pitch so we were still settling into the environment. To make it all just slightly more complicated, we switched around the schedule so we were basically shooting in sequence. It was necessary to move all of scene 5 onto this day to minimise continuity errors, however it did create some confusion. I hadn’t really prepped to shoot those scenes on that day so it kind of put us on the back foot. This being said, we still got everything shot and only wrapped slightly late.

Tuesday - also a day off!

Had crew dinner at Nando’s and conversations with Ben about the direction of the film so far - what beats we were already hitting, what might need adapted. With our style of shooting, there was room for some flexibility. Was also able to speak with Zoe at SAS about how sound was going. Came up with a strategy with Alex and Ben for how we would better communicate over the next two days on set.

I’ve never been able to reflect on a shoot whilst it was happening before and I was surprised at how valuable I found this day off. Such a shame that I’ll probably never have the luxury again!

Wednesday - 2nd Pitch Day

Ran much smoother. No huge issues, except that Monday’s shoot had made me ill. :((

Slightly concerned about the sound for water break 2 - the boom couldn’t be close at all and I couldn’t get LAVs on them, since it’s a continuous take from the scene before.

Tom continued to be an incredible boom op through very, very long takes in the freezing cold! I was very grateful!

Thursday - 3rd Pitch Day

Last day ever on a set in uni! People cried! Unusually, not me!

Also ran smoothly. Re-shot the walkout shot from Monday. Sound was good, probably the best of the three days. Had a chance to get some extra field tracks of the ambience.

In the end, sound wasn’t actually forced to compromise much at all. There were a lot of factors which we couldn’t always control and that was scary, for sure. The improvised dialogue, improvised movements, the loud, inconsistent, constant background noise, the weather, the broken/missing kit (two crackly radio mics and no waist bands!) - it was all against us and yet there were no real catastrophes, which shows how much my sound recording has improved in the past two years.

At times the stress got the better of us (mainly me, maybe Alex) but on the whole, the set was extremely professional and well run. I really enjoyed being able to focus entirely on sound recording, which never really seems to happen on student projects. I just loved working with this team! Everyone was firing on all cylinders and I could trust that everyone was doing their jobs amazingly and just focus on my own sound shit. I still had my overstepping, control-freak moments but they were significantly reduced.

It was so cool to see it all come together from pre-production. I’m so proud of everyone and grateful for all the work they put into this film!

[terramythos]

A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Reading Notes

Full Review Here!

-while I am going into these mostly blind (literally my max exposure to Sherlock Holmes is some of the show Elementary and the Guy Ritchie films) this specific story is a little spoiled for me. Oh well -there is licherally no publication year on my copy lmao What (1887, thanks Google) Part 1 (ooo a two parter- scandalous) Chapter 1 - Mr. Sherlock Holmes -ill be real I have like no context for the afghan war except Classic British Colonialism part six billion or whatever -"the great wilderness of London" lmfao -I feel like I vaguely knew Watson was an honest to God doctor but its still surprising considering what I know of other adaptations -shout out to Holmes inventing a fictional(?) version of luminol? Which apparently was discovered early 20th century, lol. -too bad forensic evidence is still so sketchy a century and a half later, Holmes -BOY I WISH THE POLICE WERE A THING OF THE PAST, BRO. -Holmes meets Watson for the first time and almost immediately stabs himself in the finger to prove a point. The serve Chapter 2 - The Science of Deduction -"haha no way is he addicted to narcotics" oh my sweet summer child -watson: I swear I'm only super fascinated by Mr Holmes because my health sucks and I'd be bored otherwise that's it I swear. -ooh I like the observation that Holmes is basically self taught and ignorant of a lot of things people take for granted. I don't think I've gotten that impression about the character before -i mean it's impossible now not to know Holmes is a detective, but since this was the first story, I have to wonder if some original readers really didn't know going in. If so this bit would be fun because based on the character study and Watson's list of Holmes' knowledge you can figure it out yourself. -watson: man this writer is full of shit, what a moron Holmes: me? :) God that's funny -the unintentional prophecy of Holmes wanting to "make my name famous". God lmfao Chapter 3 - The Lauriston Gardens Mystery -oh hey the actual crime mystery is here -rip random American dude I guess? -goddamn that setting description really digs into a bleak tone, huh -my main observation is the apartment was seemingly abandoned if the dust is any indication, so he was not a resident but brought there. Poisoned makes sense if he was not injured -ok, lol, the Rache thing NOT being Rachel is the thing I had spoiled, and they've already dropped that in the intro chapter to the crime. So I guess I don't know where this is going. Fun! Chapter 4 - What John Rance Had To Tell -watson is smart actually -though I think RACHE being a red herring as Holmes suggests is way too easy -tho Holmes guessing the murderers appearance leads me to believe it's someone he knows. (Also weird that Rance is also a five letter R-E word). -could even make the argument that it could be a fucked up version where the C and H are switched and mutilated, but I have no clue why if the murderer supposedly did it -then again I also don't know why the murderer was the injured one with no sign of a struggle. Maybe a third person? Or something unrelated/accidental? OR the dead dude wasn't actually poisoned, we only have the police's word on that -OH HE SAID THE TITLE OOOOOHHHH -also Holmes seems more invested in the fun of the mystery than the fact some dude was fucking murdered, presumably by a friend based on what he said earlier Chapter 5 - Our Advertisement Brings A Visitor -watson be like "well the guy was fuck ugly so it's probably good he got murdered" like bro??? -yeah no way is this the culprit. Like we're maybe a quarter into the book. If it IS him then there's way more to it -Some Rando In Disguise It Seems -tho I have to say putting an ad out for a (potentially?) valuable piece of lost jewelry like a wedding ring would attract grifters whether they had any relation to the murder or not. Seems like a weird oversight to the plan. Chapter 6 - Tobias Gregson Shows What He Can Do -seeing how 3 different papers frame the murder, specifically political motivations, is a little funny even if I'm missing some of the context of the time. -interesting frame for the chapter, someone else telling a story to the leads. I guess it adds some variety to the presentation (and lets us see red herrings that wouldn't trip up Holmes) -some of the terminology didn't age well, which is unsurprising -- "street Arab" rather than "street urchin". -HOW THE TURNTABLES. THE PLOT THICKENS. ETC Chapter 7 - Light in the Darkness -RACHE again. Hmmmmm. Only this time it WOULD be the victim's blood, not the murderer's. Is the handwriting the same? Plus the original height observation? And the first RACHE was almost hidden, but this one seems more in the open based on what Lestrade said. -again the use of framing where one of the less capable detectives talks about what they've done and discovered to add some variety -ok so this guy was murdered in a much different way than the other, which seems odd, unless someone else did this one. -and the pills point to Stangerson killing Drebber, but then who killed Stangerson? If he was poisoned he would have been stabbed independently of that. -and why two different kinds of pills. Is one an antidote to the other, maybe? It's possible the murderer planted it in Stangerson's room, but why, if the goal was to implicate him? So it probably is actually his. -holmes just knowing and there being some plot contrivance why he can't say does kinda fizzle the stakes a little (never mind this gets resolved in like 2 pages) -but assuming he IS right, I was correct about there being 2 people... which might explain the differences in the 2 murders? -the cab driver! He was mentioned early then everyone seemingly forgot he was present around the time Drebber died. -"it's the end of the mystery!" Uh yeah except the second person is almost certainly at large and there's an entire second part to the story, Holmes. Lol. Lmao Part 2 - The Country of the Saints Chapter 1-- On The Great Alkali Plain -colonialist worldview ahoy -doyle my guy you know quite literally nothing about ecology here like it's ok to admit it -*lists 3 predators* "these are the only guys that live here, in the great miserable American plains," that's not how any food chain works. Also you live in fucking London -I'll stop roasting him lmao -i guess it's like the Nevada salt flats or something?? A little more valid I guess -... huh. -this is quite the framing for part 2 of a murder mystery I'll be real. -the idea of this huge mass of white people traveling through the western desert and biblical references in the like makes me think of Mormons more than anything... -and Stangerson makes his appearance here which sure is fascinating if the dude fucking died (unless the whole antidote and fake death thing is the real shit). Or he has a twin or something. Or this is the past. -oh my god they are Mormons -why are there Mormons making pilgrimage in the salt flats in the first Sherlock Holmes murder mystery??? This shit is wild -"my kid now" ok, word, Ferrier -bringham young is in this SHERLOCK HOLMES story and is also a fucking dick. I'm going insane   Chapter 2 - The Flower of Utah -ferrier gay as fuck let's just be real here -so is this like where the backstory for the wedding ring comes from? If so this is pretty extensive. I do wonder how it all ties into the first story. Like we went full cowboy western here -twu wuv exposition etc Chapter 3 - John Ferrier Talks With The Prophet -"the Mormons suck by the way" ok Doyle go off? -i have to emphasize again that Brigham Young is a character in this fucking Sherlock Holmes story. Like. A villain. This is just crazy to me lmao -The Danites were a real thing apparently? Man. -my guy put in a FOOTNOTE and CITATION about Mormons being misogynistic. There are no footnotes anywhere in the story except to be like "no really they called women heifers here's the guy who said it" I am literally not making this shit up. Doyle based actually??? Chapter 4 - A Flight For Life -we are like half through the second part and I have to fucking state again this is a Sherlock Holmes murder mystery thats just straight up a western now with Brigham Young as the antagonist with the title character nowhere in sight -it hasnt been like outright stated and he could just be tan but theres so many references to Ferrier having brown skin it does make me wonder if he isn't white. The only thing that would be odd with that is he isn't racially discriminated against in a Mormon compound. Especially since his adopted daughter is deffo white & he is discriminated against for NOT taking wives. I can't see that really happening if he isn't white -"there are two ways out of the room... there is the door, and there is the window. Which do you care to use?" DAMN dude -Stangerson & Drebber really do be 2 complete cunts huh. Fuck those guys -doyle: I need to name the guy who rescues Ferrier and Lucy from the Mormons. In America. I got it! "Jefferson Hope" Chapter 5 - The Avenging Angels -we got 3 chapters left??? -"once safe in Carson we may rest for the remainder of our lives" is that on the nose foreshadowing -at least now the wilderness is being described in beautiful terms -Oh RIP Ferrier I guess. They bothered to dig a grave, lol? -honestly I'm a little surprised they didn't try to hunt Jefferson Hope down for good measure since they're supposed to be ultra vindictive. Unless they didn't know he was with them? I guess maybe they didn't? -... nope, they knew and put out a warrant. Again why not try to track him? Too hard? -and convenient random guy Hope happens to know who doesn't hate him who we havent ever seen before -lmao he just leaves her to die I guess? "Oh well some rando married her so it's all over"?? Surely true love would, I dunno, trump social conventions? I guess not LMAO -i guess that's one way to circle around to the first half of the story Chapter 6 - A Continuation of the Reminiscences of John Watson, M.D. -I'll be honest, it could be because this is the first story written about Holmes, but I'm pretty confident this WASNT a mystery one could figure out based on the evidence presented, which is something I was led to believe was a staple of these stories. But I guess it's possible the style just wasn't nailed down yet -maybe you could figure out how the crime was committed but not the motive -that line about vengeance might be the quote to use -I like this part of the narrative where we really see into Hope's actions. I think so much of the story in America was unnecessary; I just didn't feel strongly about the characters like I do actually seeing his perspective here. Why bother with the whole stranded in the desert thing and going into so much detail about how Lucy and Ferrier came to live in Salt Lake City? I dunno, I think it might have been better to be shorter and from Hope's perspective if you must include that section of the story at all - and again, it's not like you could have figured out all that shit based on the first half of the story. I appreciate the kinda experimental time jump but I don't think it worked great -ok the Russian roulette pill thing is a bit weird but sure king, go for it -i know it's metaphorical probably but I like the kinda Gothic touch of Lucy and Ferrier following him to the murder   -"let us see if there is justice upon the earth, or if we are ruled by chance" ok that's pretty raw, go off king -i mean if I have to choose a revenge story from around this period I'd definitely go for Monte Cristo but this is fun too -why try to cover up the crime with the whole Rache thing if you know you're gonna die tho lol -i guess to buy time to kill Stangerson too? Chapter 7 - The Conclusion -I do like the detail that the murderer's blood was on the scene but not the victim. That WAS revealed early but I never suspected a bloody nose to be the source. If it had been a wound there probably would have been evidence of it; a limp or something. That is pretty clever. -but on the other hand, Holmes WAS privy to information we never get (Hope's name and connection to Drebber), so I wouldn't call this a fair mystery. -lestrade and Gregson getting all the credit as predicted lmao -my man closes with Latin? I gotta look it up -"The public hiss at me, but I cheer myself when in my own house I contemplate the coins in my strong-box." -basically, I'm awesome even if no one knows it Well! That was interesting. I liked the mystery itself, and the revenge narrative portion of the conclusion. It's a strong start to a famous character. I think we get a little lost in the weeds with the time jump in the second half of the story, way too much detail and I don't think it focused on the right characters for most of it. Also I have to be a stickler on the fair mystery thing; there are some things you can deduce, but Holmes literally had info we never receive so it's ultimately not fair. I hope this does genuinely change in future stories. I certainly didn't mean to start with the first one, that was an honest accident lmao

[alyjojo]

Next Major Life Change 🏃🏻‍♀️ - April 2024 - Aries

Meditation: I’ve had one like this before but the roles were switched, this time I was the instructor. At the top of a massive mountain, you were in skis ⛷️, hollering at the top of your lungs because you liked the echo, but it felt empty. You started getting scared and I said “you ready?” right before I gave you a push, and down the mountain you went.

What It Is: Miracles ✨, Stepping Into Power 🥾(bottom), Wheel of Fortune rev, 6 Pentacles, 10 Swords, Page of Pentacles, Ace of Wands rev & Resurrection

“Expect the wondrous to emerge.”

“You are strong beyond measure.”

“Reconsider a project or recall a person from the past to resurrect an idea.”

You have The Hermit out here and Stepping Into Power, which shows The Hermit on the card. You’ll be continuing a difficult cycle you’ve probably already been experiencing, by yourself, there are a lot of hard lessons that come with this, and ultimately, maturity. Growth, *forced growth*, but growth nonetheless. At my son’s sports practices, when the older boys get aggressive and meathead-ish, which is inevitable, it’s a competitive & high energy atmosphere, the coaches come in and thump them on their helmets like “knock it off.” That’s it. It’s usually enough to redirect their focus, and us adults chuckle on the sidelines. If only that worked for us! 😆 Male/female doesn’t matter, this looks like God/Spirit/etc. is thumping you on the head, or has already and will continue until something is learned (the advice). But Miracles are here ✨ Some of you have already learned the lesson and the Miracles come next, it depends where you are on your journey. The Hermit is internalized reflection, asking the important questions, whether you’ve done that or not already shows where you are in this.

Wheel of Fortune rev can show “bad karma”, a difficult cycle, feeling like the world is against you, not what anyone wants to hear but I’m getting this has already started - rather than something coming up. For most. You’ll finish it, there’s an end to it. This feels like karma, you’ve got Saturn out here too with a heavy hand, forcing you to take a look at things that have caused 10 Swords - in your life, other people’s lives, whatever it is. Very painful endings, betrayal, the loss of friends or valuable people, possibly leaving school for someone - that’s specific. Or a kid. Normally I would say you can switch it, but no, the advice is about you and your actions causing Towers, for you. With Resurrection here, perhaps an action has caused the loss of something valuable, and you want to bring it back. Wheel of Fortune rev with Saturn may show that you can’t - and there lies the karma. If this is school or work, some kind of practical or financial thing, you’ve had zero motivation to take action in this area - either ignoring it altogether or sulking, but no action. Resurrection would then be advice, but I don’t see the same outcome for where this is other people - because they have paths too, and free will, that’s part of the advice.

Why It’s Happening: The Hermit, Ace of Cups, 2 Wands, Pause

“Accept that you must wait and prepare for developments to reach the next stage.”

You need the time to think. Ace of Cups is a new beginning that connects with your heart, could be a relationship, job, path of learning, mode of decorating your house, can be anything so long as it’s something you really love, it makes you feel good & fills you with happiness to do this thing. 2 Wands is a crossroads, your Aries energy. Most people don’t mention that you’re *just as* indecisive as Libra, you’re just too impatient to really process the decisions before you, and would often rather apologize for an action than plan & take your time - that’s the advice. The Nodes in your sign/Libra have probably been pretty intense, and ultimately should be rewarding too. Saturn is generous when the work and effort are put into the things we want, and with Change in the advice, that’s a note that when Saturn moves into Aries (next year), you’ll be continuing the process of intense learning you’re newly discovering right now - with all of this Hermit energy. Do the work - be blessed & rewarded. Don’t - boot in the ass, that’s Saturn. Just ask a Pisces 😬, who has dealt with it for 2 years, or a Capricorn, especially Risings, who deal with it every waking moment of their life 💪 The Nodes are preparing you, Change starts inside.

It’s not that you aren’t taking action, or haven’t, it’s more about studying the how’s and why’s of the actions you have taken up to this point. Hermit, going within, studying *you*. How are you causing your own downfalls - in whatever ways - 10 Swords. And what do you want for yourself? What would you need to do in order to get that? Think, feel, plan, anything - we can’t impulsively just do shit anymore. Not for the things that you’re moving towards. What you want to eat today, sure. Unless this is regarding health/body then no, cake won’t help 🎂. 2 Wands is standing between two paths, using foresight, looking towards the future and charting the course ahead, Aries energy. Know what you want and what you’re doing before you do it, because you’re also The Fool who impulsively leaps before he has any idea what he’s leaping into. 2 Wands is more intentional & mature with their decisions, deciding where you want to go - looking to the future - and charting a course so you can get there with the least amount of problems along the way. It’s a plan.

Advice: Knight of Wands, 7 Pentacles, The Tower, The Emperor, Manipulation (Jupiter Scorpio) with Key 🔑, Change - with Saturn 🪐, Originality (bottom, Mercury Aquarius)

It comes for you but with good intentions, typical Saturn energy tbh and that’s what’s showing here.

What it has been - Knight of Wands, young, excitable, passionate (sometimes angry/heated) actions being taken impulsively or spontaneously. He can be a lot of fun but he is temporary & has no staying power. He’s connected to 7 Pentacles and The Tower, so you take whatever action feels good in the moment, and then wait for everything to fall apart before you’re like…shit, should’ve done xyz, should’ve thought of this that or the other. And then Manipulation is here with Key - which is the whole point. So you make these impulsive decisions and then manipulate your way around the worst of the outcomes, the disasters, essentially the accountability, and with Wheel of Fortune rev it’s either become a negative cycle/pattern you need to break, or you’re receiving/have received karma for some actions that have led to 10 Swords in some way. Whether with others or just yourself, it’s subjective, though others would have to be involved for Manipulation to be the key. You can’t play God with others’ lives and free will, so you’re getting a massive thump on the helmet. You fk up - they get to decide how to respond. As should you 💯

What it needs to become - Emperor, the mature, experienced leader, top level of Aries energy. Very positive. Rather than acting as a Knight of Wands until shit hits the fan - then doing something about it (also impulsively?), The Emperor stands in 2 Wands. The moves he makes are well thought out and in the best interest of everyone “under” his wise direction, which may be children, employees, associates, spouses, friends, you name it. He can be trusted to run this shit and creates the necessary rules and structure in order to *avoid* Towers. Also Aries energy. Towers crumble because they’re built on sand - by a Knight of Wands kind of energy, they got bored when building the foundation of a future, and ran off to make s’mores & left it half finished, with no level ground, no cement.

The Emperor won’t stand for that from others, and especially from himself, he knows high standards and expectations keep things running smoothly, and he’s the ultimate role model of healthy & mature masculine energy/authority. Leading properly so others will follow, not manipulating them to. Change, Saturn, along with Wheel of Fortune rev shows this being karmic, and you’re not likely to have much control over the events of this period - that’s why the “why” is looking towards the future, and planning accordingly, after the inevitable Hermit that some very painful 10 Swords situations or behaviors puts you in. Originality with Change shows to think outside of your usual/former way of doing things, and be creative with it. It’s an energy of intelligence, this Emperor is very intelligent, you are, or you will want to be - moving forward. If you don’t know “the right way”, look it up and learn. It’s essentially forcing you to mature, in whatever lane this behavior has been causing problems, sure for others, which is the karma, but for you too 💯 That’s the point ❤️

[scuttling]

Trophy Husband

Fandom: Criminal Minds Pairings: Aaron Hotchner/Female Reader Word Count: 2,188 Tags: 18+, NSFW, Dad bod Hotch, Insecure Hotch, Dry humping, Unprotected sex, a lil Daddy kink Summary: Requested by anon: “maybe some dad bod hotch smut? like where he’s newly retired and hasn’t been working out as much and the reader worships his body bc he’s been feeling a little insecure” I love some dad bod Hotch, so happy to fill this request! Link to A03 or read below!

“No, we’re not doing forced overtime again. If you want my team to put out more consults, then we need to hire more profilers.” You walk through your front door and into the kitchen, smiling when you see Aaron standing over the stove, holding a wooden spoon and stirring something that smells amazing. “With all due respect, I’m not concerned about the budget, sir; if my people are as valuable as you stated, then I expect them to be taken care of.”

Aaron looks back at you, wrinkles his nose, and you make a motion with your hands—blah, blah, blah—which makes him chuckle.

“I agree completely, sir. That’s a great idea. If you send down the requisitions tomorrow, I’ll start interviewing on Monday. No, thank you. Good night.” You lock your phone, set your bag on the stool closest to you, and sigh. “Was it this hard to get stuff done when you were the unit chief?”

“No, it’s definitely harder now, but you make it look easy. And sexy,” he says with a smirk, and you walk over to him; he offers a taste of what he’s making—it looks like paella, and your stomach rumbles—and you lean in to take a bite off of the spoon, looking up at him and flicking your tongue over your lips. His eyes get dark.

Even after ten years of marriage, he’s so easy to get going, it’s almost unfair.

“Delicious, daddy, thank you.” You stand up fully, and he turns back to the stove; your arms wrap easily around his waist, cheek pressed to the soft, worn t-shirt that covers his back. “How was your day? Are you still enjoying the life of a trophy husband?” He snorts, muscles tensing enough that you can feel it where you rest.

“Hardly.” He was in such a good mood a moment ago that this feels like a complete 180; profiler or not, you know your husband, and something’s on his mind. You tighten your embrace, and he shrugs you off a little, and that is practically unheard of. You stand, take a step back to look at him.

“What’s wrong? You aren’t getting bored of retirement already, are you? It’s only been six months.” He sighs, shakes his head. You’re sure you look confused.

“No, retirement is fine; it’s great, actually, it’s not that.” Typical Aaron, always making you drag this shit out of him. For being so sweet and kind, he’s still not that great at being open, even though you make every effort to encourage it.

“What is it, sweetheart? Something is obviously bothering you; we should talk about it.” Another deep exhale, and he turns off the burner, moves the pan of food off of the heat, and turns to face you fully.

“I imagine you already know.” You shake your head, shrug, and he gestures to himself, to his body. You feel stupid, like there’s something you’re missing.

“Aaron, love of my life, I don’t have any idea what this means.” You mimic his previous motion, and he rolls his eyes, which you can’t stand, and he’s well aware of that. “You’ve got to give me more than that, or I can’t help.”

“You can’t help, it just… is.” He sighs, and his shoulders deflate. You move closer, to touch him, comfort him, but he takes a step back. “I know I’m not the ‘trophy husband’ you probably expected me to be. I know this isn’t what you signed up for.”

You do your best to put together these cryptic sentences, the hand gesture, and when realization finally dawns on you, you can’t help it: you laugh.

Aaron turns away, and you know that was shitty, feel instantly terrible, so you reach out to put a gentle hand on his arm.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t laughing at you, it’s just… you don’t think you’re hot anymore?” He turns to face you, looking at you like he’s tired of your shenanigans, which… after this long, he should be plenty used to them, so the look does nothing for you.

“I’ve gotten… soft, I think that’s obvious.” At that, you smirk a little, move your hands to the button on his jeans.

“Oh, I don’t think there’s anything soft about you, Aaron. Why don’t you let me put your cock in my mouth, and we’ll check again.”

“You wanted me to talk, I’m talking.” His tone is a little admonishing, and you kind of deserve it, so you stop being horny for a second and take a deep breath.

“You’re right. Sorry. So… you’re exercising less, because obviously you don’t need to be as fit anymore, since you’re not working. Am I following?” He nods his head. “Okay, and you’re feeling… insecure about the way your body looks now, because of it.”

“Yes. Especially when you, Unit Chief Hotchner, are kicking ass and looking fucking delicious doing it, and then you have to come home to me.”

It’s like a switch is flipped in you, at those words. Oh hell no.

“Hold on here. I don’t have to come home to you, I get to come home to you; every night I do, it’s like a dream come true, and on the nights I don’t get to come home to you, I dream about it. I dream about being in your arms—strong arms, always, even if they’re less defined—and I dream about making love to you and fucking you and everything in between. You: not the Aaron of two months ago or six months ago or five years ago. You.”

He looks your face over—you’re getting fired up and you know it, and it turns him on and you also know that—and then the two of you come together for a deep, desperate kiss. Your hands fist in his hair, his roughly grab your ass, and when you pull back for air he turns you so you’re bent over the counter, searches for the zipper of your skirt.

“No!” He freezes, then steps back, and you stand up, flushed. “I’m sorry, not no—just, not here.” He blows out a breath, and you kiss him softly, sorry you scared him. “It’s just that… I want to lay you back on our bed, completely naked, and I want to put my mouth and my hands on you, everywhere. I want you to see what your body does to me, exactly as it is right now. I get that that might make you feel a little vulnerable, but will you let me?” You press your lips to his again, put your hands gently on his face. “Let me, baby.”

He nods, and you take his hand, take him to your bedroom. He’s visibly nervous, so you move his hands to your body, let him strip you naked first. He always takes pleasure in this, whether he is ripping the buttons off your favorite blouse or softly mouthing at your thighs while he drags your panties down your legs, and tonight is no exception.

“So beautiful, baby,” he murmurs as he finds that zip and drags it down, helping you step out of the skirt. You kick off your heels, and he unbuttons your top—carefully, tonight—then unhooks your bra, pulls you close and kisses your neck and chest so deliciously you almost forget what brought you here.

You lick your lips, shake yourself from the haze of submission you always feel when his mouth is at your throat, and your hands flick open the button of his jeans, tug down the zipper, guide his pants to the floor. He steps out of them, and you kiss his mouth.

Your hands move up, to the hem of his t-shirt, but you do nothing. He smirks, pulls it over his head, because he knows you love that hot guy way of pulling a t-shirt off with one hand, and he happens to be a master of it. You do your best not to drool.

“Mmm. You know exactly what I like, Aaron. There’s nobody in this world who could turn me on like you, who could get me off like you.” He licks his lips, and you get on your knees, running your hands down his body as you go. “Toes to nose, you are exactly who and what I want. Don’t ever forget that.”

You start low, press your lips to the tops of his feet, then his ankles, his calves, his knees. He takes a deep, shuddering breath, but you keep moving up, slowly, until your hands find the waistband of his underwear and you pull them down. His cock springs up—this in particular is never a problem, no matter his age—and you kiss up his thighs and then rise to stand.

“Baby,” he breathes, and you lean up for a kiss, drop your panties. He grabs a fistful of your hair, takes another, rougher kiss, then releases you; you’re panting hard, and your teeth sink into your bottom lip. God, he’s good. How could he ever doubt his sex appeal when he makes you this much of a horny, eager mess with just a kiss?

You guide him back to the bed because he’s too tall for you to reach everywhere standing up; you start at his right wrist, kiss your way to the crook of his elbow, over his biceps, to his shoulder. You trail your lips over his collarbone, his throat, pausing to nibble on his earlobes, to peck him on the tip of his nose.

“I love you so much, Aaron. You are and always will be perfect in my eyes. I barely even notice when you’re being a dick anymore,” you joke, and he laughs; steamy and sexy is really good, but it’s your favorite when he laughs.

You kiss down the other side of his neck, down his arm, but this time you bring his hand up and suck on his middle and ring fingers, taking them so deeply you can flick your tongue over his wedding ring. He groans, you groan, it’s really hot. Your pussy throbs.

“Fuck, baby.” You pull them out of your mouth with an innocent smile, and then straddle his legs, leaning forward to suck and bite kisses all over his stomach and hips, avoiding his cock altogether. “Oh, god, that feels so good,” he breathes, reaching for your hair, and you slide your arms up his chest, squeeze the muscles there that are softer, but still present, while you kiss wetly along his belly.

“Mmm,” you moan while you kiss, because you’re kind of… lined up tight against his thigh, and it feels really good.

You keep kissing, all over, sloppy, eager kisses, rubbing his chest and grinding against his thigh, and it’s a surprise to you both when you come, looking up at him with your mouth open and your nails digging into his skin.

“Holy fuck,” you sigh when you’re done—there’s no sugarcoating this—humping his leg, and he licks his lips, wraps his hands around your arms, and maneuvers you on onto your back, slides his cock easily inside you where you’re wet and warm. “Yes, Aaron.”

“Oh, baby. Fuck, I love you,” he groans, and he laces your fingers with his and tucks his face against your neck. You love when he gets like this, so desperate to come but so soft, so loving, and you squeeze him with your legs, push your body into his thrusts.

“Like that, honey, just like that,” you breathe, mouthing at his shoulder, your free hand clutching at his back. “Come inside me, daddy; pin me with your big body like you always do and come inside me. Love it, want it, need it.”

He moans into your throat, works his hips harder, faster, and you hold him when he comes, smoothing your palm over his skin. He looks down at you, and love shines in his eyes just like always; your heart melts a little. That’s something you’ll never get tired of seeing as long as you live.

He pulls out, replaces his cock with his fingers and brings you to orgasm again, still looking into your eyes, and he catches your last gasping moan with his lips.

You’re both tired after that, not as young as you used to be, and you pull him on top of your body again, a warm, reassuring weight; underneath him is your favorite place to be, always has been, always will be.

“Trophy husband,” you coo in his ear, scraping fingers through his hair. He chuckles softly, brushes his thumb over your lips.

“Badass wife.”

“Mm hmm, and don’t you forget it.” After a couple minutes, your stomach rumbles, and Aaron climbs off of you, returns with the whole pan of paella, two spoons, and a bottle of white wine. “No glasses?” you ask, teasing, sitting up against the pillows, and he shakes his head, wrinkles his nose.

“Nah, I like it better this way. My lips where your lips have been.” He leans in for a soft, slow, sultry kiss, and you sigh when it’s over, lean your head against his shoulder, and smile.

❤️ Taglist: @arsonhotchner @mrsh0tchner @ssahotchie @sleepyreaderreads @mintphoenix

[ackasamii--archive]

how they would save you

ft. midoriya, bakugo, and dabi

black!fem reader

warnings: cursing

okay so this idea just came to me and i wanted to try it out. hope y’all like :)

izuku midoriya

he knows you are completely capable of taking care of yourself

that doesn’t mean he won’t keep and eye on you during a battle

sometimes he can’t help but worry, he’s very protective : (

but somehow y’all ended up in the sky fighting the villain that was trying to get away. you were kicking ass as usual but the villain ended up catching you off guard

that’s when you began to fall. you didn’t know how it happened. you just blinked for a second and suddenly you see izuku falling after you and reaching for your body

i think we all know he would impulsively go after you. the villain is an afterthought at this point

once he reaches you, he’d hug your body close to him and switch you around that way his back would be facing the ground while holding you tightly against him.

he’d whisper reassuringly in your ear, “i’ve got you” so many times as if he was afraid of breaking a promise

then you guys would get to the ground and land safely thanks to some of the other pro heroes who saw you two coming. after that he would shout for someone to come check you out for any bad injuries and never leave your side

he would try not to show how afraid he was but you’d know and squeeze his hand, letting him know that you were okay

katsuki bakugo

now i think he would want someone who can take care of themselves and not be dependent on him all the time obviously

but when he sees that your safety is in danger and you don’t notice, he’ll definitely be pissed

not at you yes maybe you, he’d just be a little freaked out at how close your life almost ended there

like one time you two were battling against a group of villains. you two definitely had it in the bag ngl. the two of you were a power couple and team so bakugo wasn’t too worried at first

but then one of the villains was going a little too berserk so bakugo definitely had to be a little more careful. you were busy fighting to notice much but bakugo knew you’d have to move soon

right?

wrong. one of the villain’s beams hit a building and some debris was coming your way. seeing that you were far too distracted, bakugo used his explosions as rockets and basically crashed into you, throwing you two far enough away from the wreckage

you two were lying on the ground, exhausted and catching your breath.

and through his tired breaths bakugo would say “next time move you fucking idiot”

“noted��

dabi

let’s get one thing straight here. dabi ain’t got time to help nobody. cuz he’s already distracted or because of the “better them than me” mentality

but he’ll make an exception for you. he wouldn’t be too obvious about it of course.

might play it off as like “you’re too valuable for this cause to lose” or something along those lines

this would happen while you guys are on a mission. something went wrong and now it’s all chaos. everything’s on fire and it’s time to get the hell out of there.

you and mr. compress were one of the last ones to leave after taking out some cops and heroes.

the two of you thought you were pretty safe

once again wrong

you didn’t notice anything until dabi raised his hand towards you which caused you and mr. compress to immediately duck out of the way.

you hear a scream and turn to find a hero being scorched and realized that they had been right behind you and ready to take you out

once the corpse was on the ground, the three of you were running away from the scene with dabi hissing at you

“next time i leave you for dead, you hear me?!”

he says threateningly while gripping your arm to follow him closely

[moonbeam-dragon]

Low Heat, Low Hate

Moonrise! I wanted to write but I didn’t have the motivation to do one of my pre-existing stories. Luckily I got a request. I wanted to put it in my longer Darkvolt series but figured I was already trying to work a lot of things into that. So I present to you a request for @SonicYaoiFan on Wattpad. Tw: Cursing.

No, this wasn’t part of the plan. Megavolt had no problem admitting that.

It didn’t stop him being mad at himself when he’d managed to fuck up the heating system to the vault and then get them locked in here. The museum had a specific vault for traveling artifacts. It was supposed to keep all the valuables at a certain temperature. Sometimes it would have to be extra warm or cold for special things.

Megavolt was here to steal some of these prototype energy gadgets from decades ago. Imagine the fame and the fortune if he figured out how to use them! But while trying to switch up security systems, he’d apparently zapped the wrong circuit. Thus, changing the vault from the normal temperature it was set on to cold. He was still getting used to this. But he’d been in this business for a year now! He should know which circuits were which. Whatever. He needed to get out.

“Would you hurry up and fix the heat?” Darkwing shouted. Megavolt winced.

He needed to get out now.

“Relax! I’ve got it, sheesh,” he muttered, picking at the electric lock with screws. He’d tried zapping it, which only served to shock him back and frying it enough to prevent guessing the code. He was trying to pull it apart now, just hoping he’d be able to bust it apart. It was sad that such a piece of technology had to be dismantled. He was just happy that he had his toolbox with him when they got locked in. Not so much his arch enemy.

“Oh, please!” Darkwing said, standing up and stomping. “If you had it, we’d be out of here and you’d be behind bars again!”

Megavolt snorted. “Funny. You’re relying on me to put me in handcuffs! Maybe I’ll leave you here to freeze!” he said, lowering his arms. Ah, how long had he been holding them like that?

“You wouldn’t dare!” Darkwing pouted, glaring at his adversary.

Megavolt crossed his arms. “I wouldn’t, would I? What if I left you sleeping and you became Dark-sicle Duck?”

The hero made an odd noise between a frustrated groan and a childish whine. Megavolt burst out laughing as the shorter went to the corner of the vault and curled up. He may have had a huge ego, but it was satisfyingly fragile.

After almost an hour, Megavolt was almost done with the lock. He thought. He had all the pieces gathered in the lid of his toolbox. So far. He had just finished pulling out a wire when he heard a sneeze and a whimper. He looked around to see Darkwing in a corner, shivering.

“What’s wrong, Dorkwing?” he asked teasingly. “Can’t handle a little cold?”

Darkwing looked up at him, wiping his nose on his sleeve. “Not all of us are insulated in spandex, you know!” he snipped.

Megavolt sighed. No, he was not letting empathy or any of that shit get to him. No pity, no kindness, no- Dammit, he didn’t like the sound of those sniffles.

“Can you shut up while I focus?” Megavolt muttered, going back to pulling apart the wires and screws. He had to magnetize a few of them because his screwdriver was either too large or wouldn’t fit. If he maybe cut- There was the sniffling again. “What is your issue?!” He spun around to see Darkwing in the same corner, sniffing and shaking. Was it that cold in here? Given his fried brain, maybe Megavol was just as cold but couldn’t feel it.

Darkwing looked up, deeper purple lines on his mask where there were apparently tears. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, feelings. This just got really awkward. The masked mallard turned his face away. “Go back to the lock.”

Megavolt dropped the screwdriver and stood up, popping several joints. “What is with you today? Your fighting wasn’t nearly up to the bar! And you’d never get locked in here unless you’d broken both your legs,” the rat said, throwing his hands up. “This isn’t even any fun if you don’t struggle!”

Darkwing looked up at him, then just let his body go lax. It was racked with another violent shiver but then he was still. “Why do you care?” Darkwing asked bitterly. “Isn’t this want you want? Me failing about everything while you take your loot?”

“Hell no!” Megavolt said. “Where’s the thrill if you don’t try and stop me? What’s the point if you just let it happen? And honestly, the crying is bugging me so what will it take to stop it?”

Darkwing opened his mouth, but was interrupted by a sneeze. He huffed, looking away. “As if I’d tell you,” he said bitterly. “You’re a villain.”

“Yeah, well, I’m also your only way out,” Megavolt told him, leaning against the door. “Seriously, what’s up?” Maybe he was forgetting the whole hating each other thing right now. But he couldn’t help a small part of him, nagging him to help calm the other down. Memories bubbled up of a similar situation. He was in an empty classroom, talking gently to some young duck. The memory flickered away. But it left a feeling behind that Megavolt didn’t like.

“I can’t tell you,” Darkwing said, voice shaking. “It’s a home thing. And I won’t be tricked into revealing anything about my secret identity!” He pointed an accusatory finger at the electrified villain, as if he’d tried.

Alright, maybe he would have tried.

Megavolt just stared at him, thinking of what to say. Being a superhero and having a home life must be so complicated. Megavolt wouldn’t know. He’d run away from home. He hardly remembered the details about his family or childhood. Just short flashbacks, echoes of feelings, and that creepy deja vu feeling.

“And the fact that I’m IN AN ICE BOX DOESN’T HELP!” he yelled, gesturing wildly around himself.

Megavolt went back to his toolbox. “Fine. I’ll get us out of here,” he said, reaching for a screwdriver. Then he hit something that felt like a wrapper. He grabbed the wrapper, which wasn’t actually a wrapper. He unfolded it and realized that it was actually a tarp of some sort. But why would he have a- “Oh, yeah! I have one of these!” he said, letting the whole thing fall out.

He went over to Darkwing, seeing how the hero had his cape pulled tightly around him. “Here,” he said quietly, wrapping the thing around him.

“Uh- What is this?” Darkwing asked, looking up with pink eyes. He tugged at the corner. “A poncho?”

“It’s a mylar blanket,” Megavolt explained. “I use it because it’s waterproof. But it’s good with body heat.” He grabbed another screwdriver and started picking at the lock’s workings again.

“Oh, uh, thanks” Darkwing said, holding it tight around himself. It started trapping his body heat so he could naturally warm himself up a bit. “Should I give it back when you get out of jail, or??”

Megavolt rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to jail. And, uh, go ahead and keep it,” he said. “I’ll steal another one.”

Darkwing blushed a little, getting comfortable again in his corner. Then he looked over at him. “Wait, is this contraband?”

Short fluff. Thank you so much for the request! Farewell, best of luck, avoid roasted cabbage, don’t eat earwax, and look on the bright side of life!Moonset!

[alliedbiscuit]

msr fic / s7 post-closure but pre-all things / wc: 3398

Scully takes Maggie out for a birthday dinner, and you'll never guess who they run into.

************

“So, how are feeling about dessert?” the waiter asks hopefully.

Maggie Scully scoffs. “Oh, no. I couldn’t eat another bite. Maybe just a cup of coffee? Decaf, please.”

“Mom, are you sure? You should get dessert,” Dana Scully prods, stopping herself short before she could let it slip, “It’s your birthday!” The last gift her mother would appreciate is a gaggle of underpaid waiters singing some public-domain-compliant version of a birthday song while the whole restaurant turns its attention toward her. Like mother, like daughter.

Well, the daughter made an exception and found that kind of thing charming exactly once. But at least she got a nice keychain out of it. All her mother would get was humiliation and a chocolate lava cake.

As soon as the waiter leaves to fetch their after dinner coffees, Maggie reveals her true intentions.

“I was thinking we could go to that ice cream parlor down the street. If I’m going to indulge, I think I want a hot fudge sundae. Or maybe we could split a banana split?”

“Or you could get a hot fudge sundae and I could get a banana split, and we could split both,” Scully suggests.

“See, that’s why you work for the FBI.”

“Dessert Conflict Resolution was part of my training at Quantico.”

Both Scullys giggle.

“Does Fox have the same specialty? Or is that what you bring to the team?”

“Mulder’s dessert strategy is just to eat everything and then swim a mile and run five the next day. No, he’s a Takeout Menu Marksman, though. He knows where to order from and what to order so it travels the best and doesn’t get cold and congealed by the time it arrives. Might sound like a trivial skill, but it’s a lifesaver on movie night.”

Maggie continues smiling but cocks her head slightly. Dana realizes why almost instantly.

“You have movie night?”

“It’s not a set thing or anything. We just…if we’re not busy with a case.”

“You just watch movies? As coworkers?”

“As friends.”

“Just friends?”

Dana lets out a long sigh as she stares her mother down. Her mother, maintaining that gentle yet challenging grin. Dana considers her response carefully. She could offer a simple yes because that is the fact of the matter. They are just friends. She could criticize the wording choice. “Just” friends? Why does it have to be “just” friends? As if friendship isn’t somehow enough or isn’t valuable?

She could realize it’s her mother’s birthday and she’s the only other Scully woman left to confide in about matters of the heart, and although she doesn’t want to bring up the New Year’s kiss because she still doesn’t really know what it meant, maybe they both need this little gift of honesty, filled with tempered excitement and promise.

“For now,” Dana Scully finally admits.

Maggie’s grin grows as Scully just shakes her head and manages to keep her slight eye roll from reaching embarrassed teenager level. The waiter does bail her out a bit by choosing that moment to deliver their coffees.

“How is Fox doing? After his mother…” Maggie trails off, but her daughter knows not to expect any more specifics.

“Better? I mean, as well as can be expected. The thing is, right after that, he found out some more about his sister. About what happened to her. It was just so much all at once. I was really worried…”

Maggie reaches across the table to lay a hand on hers.

“But, it was almost like he was ready for it. He finally had some answers. Like it brought him some peace.”

“That’s wonderful.”

“Yeah. He needed that.”

“We all do.”

*************

Maggie is the one to spot him first as they’re heading for the door.

“Is that- is that Fox?” she asks her daughter.

“What? No, he wouldn't…” Dana trails off as she looks straight ahead to where her mother was indicating and confirms that it is indeed Fox Mulder, standing with his hands in his pockets and his eyes trained to the floor as he appears to be waiting near the vestibule for the restrooms.

“Mulder?” Scully questions as she approaches, her voice giving away her confusion and growing concern.

His head darts up in surprise, but a beaming smile of recognition quickly overtakes his face.

“Hey, Scully! Mrs. Scully, it’s so nice to see you!”

“You too, Fox,” Maggie kindly replies, although a quick glance to her daughter confirms her suspicion that Dana is still very confused by his presence.

“Did you…did you need something?” She suddenly feels silly for presuming that he must have come there with urgent news or a case or something, but why else would Fox Mulder be at Petrino’s on a Saturday night? Did his informants trade in clandestine meetings in parking garages for family-style Italian?

“Hmm?” Mulder asks.

“You didn’t come here to find me? I told you I was bringing my mom here for her birthday, didn’t I?” He didn’t look like he had rushed to the restaurant from the office or his apartment as she had originally assumed. He had clearly shaved and combed his hair nicely. He wore an olive green sweater with dark blue jeans and a black wool pea coat rather than his leather jacket. He had definitely made an effort.

“You did, but I thought you were going out tomorrow night on her actual birthday. Happy birthday, by the way, Mrs. Scully.”

“Thank you, Fox. I’m going to have lunch with some ladies from church after mass tomorrow, so I asked Dana if we could do Saturday night instead.”

“Ah. What a weird coincidence then. I can’t believe we didn’t see you at all during dinner.”

We.

Oh God.

Mulder was on a date.

Mulder was on a date in this restaurant on the night he thought Scully wasn’t going to be there. Mulder was on a date right after Scully had confessed to her mother (and herself) that their “just friends” status was in the process of changing. Mulder was on a date right after he’d been through so much pain but seemed to come out lighter and more open and he wanted to share it with someone…who wasn’t Dana Scully.

“So, you’ve already eaten then?” Maggie asks since her daughter appears unable to form a coherent statement at the moment.

“Yeah, we just finished. I’m just waiting for her…” he seems to trail off just to motion towards the restroom rather than say anything indelicate, but then he notices Maggie’s poorly masked look of concern toward Dana, and then he notices Dana’s completely unmasked look of shock.

And then he gets it.

“Oh, no! It’s not…I want you to meet her,” Mulder insists as he grabs a hold of both of Scully’s elbows and then glances anxiously toward the restroom door.

Dana Scully looks like she might be ill.

Thankfully Mulder only stammers a moment longer until the restroom door opens and he finds reprieve when a tall, thin woman appearing to be in her mid-60s walks through the door.

“Aunt Helen,” Mulder calls.

Somehow Scully’s eyes manage to get even wider as some of the color returns to her face.

“Aunt Helen, there are a few people I’d really like you to meet. This is my partner, Dana Scully, and this is her mother, Margaret Scully.”

Aunt Helen smiles widely in recognition, first shaking Maggie’s hand and then Dana’s. “It is such a pleasure to meet you both. I’ve heard such wonderful things.”

She lingers with her hand holding Dana’s while she says this, and the younger Scully is left blushing. She hazards a look at Mulder, but he doesn’t look embarrassed by this revelation. He holds her gaze with nothing but pride.

“This is my aunt, Helen Briggs. She’s my mom’s sister. She’s visiting for the weekend from Charlotte.”

They all kind of marvel over the fact that they were in the same restaurant and what a coincidence and oh, we were seated near the back bar, that must be why we didn’t see you and Scully is just starting to feel her pulse return to normal as Aunt Helen laments not having a chance to talk with the Scullys.

“Well, Dana and I skipped dessert so we could go to The Big Dipper for some ice cream. Would you two like to join us?”

“Oh, that would be lovely. As long as we’re not intruding,” says Aunt Helen.

“Not at all,” Scully assures her. “There is one catch, though.”

“It’s not real ice cream. It’s that Tofutti nonsense, isn’t it?” Mulder groans.

“It better not be,” Maggie insists. “I don’t know how she eats that stuff.”

Scully ignores her mother and her partner’s bad mouthing of her frozen treats as she returns her attention to Aunt Helen.

“I’m afraid if you want to come along, you will have to reveal a few good Young Mulder stories. And by ‘a few,’ I mean as many as you’ve got. And by ‘good,’ I mean the more embarrassing the better.”

“I’ll start thinking now,” Aunt Helen laughs.

“I knew I should’ve picked a different restaurant,” Mulder says regretfully.

***********

They’ve just sat down to a small, round table for four with their ice cream when Mulder stands up to get them all more napkins, and Aunt Helen retrieves a small, rectangular piece of paper from her purse that she then deftly slides to Dana.

“Oh my god!” Scully exclaims with joy.

Staring back at her from the paper is a very young Fox Mulder. She guesses he must be around 8 or 9 in the school photo. His long, sandy brown hair falls just above his eyebrows. He doesn’t have his distinctive nose yet, but his bottom lip is already a little pouty. The real give away is the eyes. He’s grinning for the camera, but his eyes still have that soulfulness, that slight sadness.

She’s surprised. She knows she shouldn’t be. His eyes didn’t suddenly change when Samantha was taken. His eyes were probably always like that.

But she had always assumed that the great tragedy had flipped a switch for Young Fox Mulder. That before that single event, he had certainly been a perfectly happy child. Funny and athletic, popular for sure. But the humor developed as a defense mechanism later in life. And the sports were a great physical release as well as an excuse to be out of the house as much as possible. She didn’t actually know what he was like before, but now that she thought about it, home life was probably never all that great if it eventually led to a father sacrificing one child and leaving the other to always live with the guilt and loss.

It was very possible that Fox Mulder had always been a little boy with a lot on his mind.

In contrast, present day, adult Fox Mulder looks like he doesn’t have a care in the world as he returns with extra napkins, ready to tuck into his chocolate peanut butter ice cream in a waffle cone – that is until he realizes what his friend and partner Dana Scully is looking at.

“Oh come on. I was gone for thirty seconds, and you have the visual aids out.”

Scully continues to beam as Maggie finally gets a glimpse of the photo in her hand.

“Oh, Fox!”

“Okay,” Mulder said exasperatedly. “Does this meet your embarrassment quota?” he asks, looking pointedly at Scully.

“Not even close! This isn’t embarrassing. It’s adorable!”

Mulder rolls his eyes but can’t hide his bashful grin at her comment.

“It’s only fair, Fox. I know you’ve seen family photos of Dana at my house,” Mrs. Scully says, sounding like a mother well practiced in settling disputes between children.

“Just a couple. I do like that high school graduation picture, though. I still don’t know how you kept your cap on with all that hair.”

“That was the style back then. Everybody teased their hair and used a ton of hairspray.”

“I thought it might be a religious thing at Catholic school. The higher the hair, the closer to God,” Mulder teases.

Maggie and Aunt Helen chuckle, though the latter gives him a good-natured swat on the arm in admonishment.

“See, this is what I need, though. I need something from the teen years. That’s peak embarrassment fodder,” Scully says.

“If you ask our colleagues, I think my peak embarrassment fodder would come from about 1991 to present,” Mulder points out.

Aunt Helen just looks slightly regretful. “I’m afraid I don’t have many stories from those years, Dana.”

Mulder makes eye contact with Aunt Helen. “You didn’t miss much,” he insists. She looks like she wants to debate him, but he just places a hand on hers reassuringly, and they seem to make a silent agreement to not argue the point any further.

Mulder had never really mentioned any other family before. She knew his grandparents had all passed before she met him, but she had assumed, just like with everything else, that any other extended family connections had disappeared along with Samantha. That no one would know how to comfort and console The Mulders in a situation like that, with no explanation.

His aunts and uncles must have had questions, probably even had their own theories. Did his mother’s side suspect his father’s involvement, or did his father’s side blame his mother somehow? Did any of them blame…no, she couldn’t go down that route. Besides, did anyone ever suspect horrific things like that before the days of cable news and supermarket tabloids?

The point is, it was a tense situation, so Scully assumed they had all done what wealthy white people in places like Martha’s Vineyard and Boston and Raleigh did with any uncomfortable subject – they avoided it completely.

And that meant avoiding the little boy with a lot on his mind as he became a teenager with even more on his mind.

Scully had accompanied Mulder to a small burial service for his mother in Raleigh a few months ago. It was just the service. No gathering or dinner after, or at least not one that Mulder told her about. The attendees at the service were all pretty spread out, not much mingling. Again, it was another sudden loss shrouded in mystery. They all avoided particulars as much as they could.

Scully didn’t remember seeing Aunt Helen that day, but maybe she was there and just couldn’t bring herself to say anything. Maybe she wasn’t there because she couldn’t bring herself to go and then regretted it. Dana Scully didn’t know, and it didn’t actually matter. The point is that she’s here now. And that’s exactly what Mulder’s look of reassurance and acceptance seems to say.

It seems to help her perk up because she offers playfully, “Oh, what about that summer on Quonochontaug? I think you were 9 or so, and you were collecting leaves for one of your Indian Guide badges.”

“Oh god!”

“I’m hooked already. Not to jump ahead, but please tell me there’s poison ivy involved,” Scully says gleefully.

Aunt Helen’s bark of laughter and Mulder’s exaggerated eye roll are all the confirmation she needs.

“It was heavily involved! But that’s not the worst part. While he was working on his Leaf Collecting badge, he also earned credit towards his Wildlife badge when he came across a skunk in the woods.”

“No!” Scully shouts.

“Ivyed and skunked at the same time,” Mulder admits.

“Oh you poor thing,” Maggie adds sympathetically, but with barely contained laughter.

“He had to jump right from a tomato juice bath for the skunk smell…”

“Which didn’t work!”

“…into an oatmeal bath for the itching.”

“Which worked better, but I still smelled like a Grateful Dead concert.”

Both Scullys are full on giggling at this point.

“Do you remember what Grandpa Ralph said when he walked in and saw you and mom dunking me in a tub of oatmeal?” Mulder asks.

Aunt Helen pitches her voice deeper and amps up her Southern twang, “Why don’t cha dip him in some egg and flour next? We toss him in the frying pan, we got supper! We’re havin’ Fried Fox tonight!”

Now they’re all in hysterics. Even the man who usually hates his given name can’t help but laugh along, especially when it makes his lovely company so happy.

*****************

Scully enters the basement office Monday morning to find Mulder already there, flipping through an open drawer in the filing cabinet.

“Good morning,” she says cheerfully.

He looks up and smiles. “Good morning. Long time no see.”

“How was the rest of your weekend? Did you guys do any sightseeing or anything?”

“No, we just had a late breakfast yesterday before I took her to the airport, but it was good to catch up some more. She told me to thank you again for letting us tag along for ice cream. It was really nice.”

“It was,” Scully agrees.

Mulder appears to be considering something for a moment before he crosses over to the desk and picks up a small envelope.

“She also told me to give this to you,” he says almost bashfully, extending the envelope in Scully’s direction. “She told me I couldn’t look inside, and I didn’t. But I think I know what’s in there, and if I’m right, you don’t have to keep it. You can just leave it here on the desk.”

Well, now she’s intrigued. Scully opens the envelope to find a small handwritten note at the top.

“I thought you might like these. I have plenty more too, if you’d ever like to see them or want any more stories. Please don’t be a stranger.”

Scully lifts up the note to see the remaining contents inside and finds a small stack of photographs, a mixture of more school photos along with a few wallet-sized family portraits and a couple candids taken on the beaches of the Vineyard or Rhode Island, she can’t tell. But she sees the same set of eyes in all of them.

She looks back to read the rest of the note.

“I’m so glad I got to meet you, Dana. Take care!”

Below Aunt Helen’s elegant signature, she has also written her home address and phone number. Scully will have to call and thank her.

“She tried to give some to me,” Mulder explains, “but I didn’t really want…and like I said, you don’t have to…”

“No, I’d like to keep them,” Dana insists.

Mulder lets her statement hang in the air for a moment, but he can’t help but diffuse it.

“You just want more blackmail material.”

“Something like that,” Scully says teasingly, but there’s no bite behind it.

“I knew I should’ve picked a different restaurant.”

She chuckles lightly as she shuffles the photos into a neat stack to place back in the envelope, thinking that this is the point where they get back to work. Mulder stays standing in front of her and appears to be considering something again. Does he have another envelope that he’s afraid to give her?

“You know it was pure luck that we ended up at Petrino’s the same night as you. I actually gave Aunt Helen a few options and let her choose. I was pushing more for that Thai place in Arlington, just off Old Dominion. The one that’s been there forever,” Mulder explains.

“Oh, the one with the secret menu? I’ve still never been there. Can’t say I’m surprised that Aunt Helen wasn’t up for Thai food, though.”

“Yeah. Fair point,” Mulder nods for a moment too long before continuing. “Would you like to go there sometime? Like this Saturday? With me?”

Scully slowly looks up from the envelope to see Mulder’s face because in all matters, other than the divine, Dana Scully needs to see to believe. And the slightly nervous yet gentle grin that she finds allows her to believe it to be true – Fox Mulder has just asked her out on a real date.

“I would like that,” Scully says gently.

“Good. You wanna say 7:30? Or we can always figure out time later,” Mulder states, aiming for practicality to keep him from grinning like a complete idiot. He ends up grinning like a moderate idiot, but he’s okay with that.

“Sounds good.”

Yep, Scully will definitely have to call Aunt Helen and thank her.

[heart-stomper]

Unspoken Trust, Unspoken Fears

Gathering my thoughts on Sasha and Marcy’s dynamic before S3 proves me wrong shows us what’s going on with these two.

It’s time to look at The Dinner and Battle of the Bands, and then use it as a guide to read the room in True Colors.

No worries! You just gotta speak their language. - Sasha, Reunion

Or in this case, know when to stay quiet. 

Sasha gets really really frustrated this episode. Like, so bad, that if that Volcakeno didn’t erupt, she might have been the one to end the friendship. Even Marcy and Grime couldn’t calm her down. But that’s the thing, before this point, they were the only ones to get through to Sasha without provoking her.

Grime keeps Sasha in line; she rolls her eyes and is clearly annoyed every time she has to hold herself back, but her willingness to keep it cool shows she ultimately agrees with Grime’s plan and sees it as the best path to success.  When Marcy chimes in, it’s with a helpful answer to Sasha’s question. She reminds Sasha of why they stopped Doing Thing by explaining how their plan failed. She avoids judging Sasha for it, and frames it as the repercussions of their actions, as a group. Marcy is on Sasha’s side, so Sasha doesn’t put up any defenses. When Sasha decides to avoid arguing with Anne however, it isn’t for Anne. It’s for the plan, for her and Grime.

Marcy has enough faith in Sasha to believe she’d never want to purposefully hurt Anne, but is careful about broaching the subject. Sasha feels attacked very easily, and will quickly trivialize or downplay things if she feels the other person is being unreasonable or doesn’t ‘get’ her.

And that is the only time Marcy speaks up besides The Big Argument. She only jumps into actual conflicts if things get too heated. Otherwise, she just lets Sasha do her thing, and lets Anne argue with Sasha... sort of.

This isn’t collaboration. It’s a hostile takeover. Why do things always have to be your way?

Now, for the bait and switch. Let’s talk about Marcy’s behavior in Day at the Aquarium and New Wartwood, and Sasha’s in Toadcatcher and Barrel’s Warhammer… while tying it all back to Battle of Bands!

You didn’t tell me you were writing a song! Let’s do it! I mean, if that’s okay with you, Sasha.

In A Day at the Aquarium, Marcy’s first instinct to Anne saying she’s going back with the Plantars is to make a plan. To show that it isn’t actually what will benefit Anne’s Goals. She doesn’t even consider opening up as an option, and avoids saying anything that could cause conflict. New Wartwood, Marcy tries to chat with the citizens of Wartwood and get to know them. But when that doesn’t work, she decides that impressing them with her knowledge and usefulness is bound to make them like her. It has to.

It does seem simpler.

Trying to win people over by claiming a plan is of mutual interest and necessary, carefully choosing which words to use, viewing relationships as a puzzle to be solved… this isn’t the sort of thing Marcy needs to do to get along with someone like Anne. It’s how Marcy copes with Sasha. Sasha lashes out and belittles bad ideas. Sasha has to be convinced the plan benefits her, suits her. Vulnerability and love aren’t enough to make her care, so Marcy does what she can to prove she’s worth being around. She might even sometimes wonder if Sasha actually likes her, or just likes what she can do for her. She rather not find out.

Whenever she’s afraid of people not liking her, or is worried that she’ll lose them, she dives right into those bad habits. She can give her opinions, but they aren’t supposed to get in the way of what Sasha wants. She’s supposed to say “That’s amazing! What do you think Sash’?” not “Let’s do it!”

Listen. There’s another reason why I’ve been training so hard. To protect the one person I know I can count on right now. You. You’re right, I already lost one friend. I’m not about to lose another. - Sasha, Toadcatcher

In Toadcatcher, there’s that scene, where Sasha looks at the BFF picture and the wind cuts off Anne for a second so it’s just her and Marcy. This is where Sasha is at. Anne might have rebelled, but when Sasha reunites with Marcy? Oh, she’ll show Anne, one way or another. They’ll get her back (like, joining the team or revenge wise, depending on Sasha’s mood.)

Listen here you buffoon! What’s it gonna take to prove that you should follow us? - Barrel’s Warhammer

Aaaand Sasha freaks out royally when she learns the two are alone together and doing just fine. On some level, she fears Anne and Marcy “getting along without her” because it means they might decide they don’t actually need her to make plans; that she isn’t necessary to have fun. In the The Sleepover to End All Sleepovers, we see that isn’t as big a catastrophe as Sasha seems to think it’d be. As time goes on, the girls do gain a healthier relationship to their feelings about Sasha, but that doesn’t mean they’d want her gone even if they don’t need her there. But Sasha doesn’t know that, she doesn’t even consider it till reuniting in The Third Temple. All she knows for now, is that she can be a bit... much... so if she isn’t in control, if her way isn’t “the best”, why would Marcy put up with her either? 

Listen. If things get too wild out here, just give me a signal and I’ll call the whole thing off. 

 For sure, teach it to us Anne. 

Every Sasha plan starts with an empty reassurance. So much of Sasha’s dialogue follows a pattern where she says stuff like “we’ll call it off” (she did not call it off) and “for sure, I don’t mind” (she did mind) that it could be it’s own game. Sasha talks the talk, until it gets in the way of what she wants.

Sorry guys, but we’re way to close to bail. I am not going back empty-handed.

It’s good. I just have a few tiny notes that I think could make it even better. ... Boom! Fiixed it! 

If they just follow her lead and let her fix it, everything will work out. They should believe in her and trust her. After all...

That’s not true! Besides, we did it. ... You’re not actually gonna throw this all away are you?

I just wanted all of us to succeed. I was just being a good friend. Why couldn’t they see that?

It all worked out, right? Percy and Braddock made it out okay even if she didn’t follow through on her promise. They won, she’s reliable. But of course, Sasha lost something more important than their belief in her abilities, she lost their trust. In Battle of the Bands however, Sasha recognizes that Anne and Marcy don’t want to follow her ambitions and will be pushed away by them just like Percy and Braddock were. So she takes it upon herself to end things, accepting that she’s lost.

Sorry it took so long.

Except this time, she manages to realize that maybe “what she wants” is to be there for her friends. Sasha’s finally had the space to relax and really think about what she wants, at least a little. This isn’t a real battle after all. Doing things her way all the time isn’t as important as she thought. Maybe she should trust in her friends more. A change of pace isn’t “wrong”, just different. It’s fun.

Sorry we lost, Sash’.

Just like Percy and Braddock, Marcy knows Sasha is capable. She understands that Sasha just wants the team to succeed. That’s why she apologizes when Grime beats them in the competition. She wants Sasha to know she appreciates what she did, but keeps it a bit indirect. She gets Sasha probably didn’t want to push them away. Marcy tried to catch herself and back Sasha up, but when Sasha had her argument with Anne, she stayed quiet. She couldn’t bring herself to go against Anne. 

That was ultimately for the best, as Sasha learned a valuable lesson. Except... She’s in too deep with the rebellion to back out now. This is the episode she’d spill the truth and give up on the whole thing, except... Grime. A part of her knows leaving would make Grime her enemy. She can’t risk that. So, she keeps going with the plan. She decides she’ll somehow win it all back. Because the thing she’s actually most afraid of, is losing another friend. 

Sorry things got a little crazy back there. You guys good? ... Sheesh, don’t be a sore loser. Look, I’m gonna stay here and get this toad regime off the ground, but I can totally send you two home if you want. Or, you can stick around and give me a hand! So what’d’ya say?

Sasha’s final offer; the last chance she’s giving the girls to stop acting weird and go back to being her obedient friends who do what she wants. Sasha lost at Toad Tower, but now she’s won. So Anne should go back to normal, she’s supposed to, like some unspoken “rule”.

And Marcy is supposed fall back in line too. The offer and apology are just as much a plea directed at her. Sasha’s trying to be generous, in her own awkward way. She has bit her tongue so far. She’s thrown a temper tantrum or two, but she hasn’t been this forward in asking Marcy for help till now. She wants Marcy to say that everything’s okay. Make it clear she doesn’t think she’s the bad guy, and that she forgives her and wants to be there for her. That they’re on the same page again. She wants Marcy to help make Anne look overly dramatic and silly for making such a big deal of all this. Sure, if Anne figures that out by herself, that’d be great, but if Marcy could just speak up.

But she doesn’t. Of course she doesn’t.

Marcy’s too busy worrying about Anne’s reaction. Knowing that she’ll be upset about this. She doesn’t dare side with Sasha, and is disappointed and betrayed that she actually did something like this. Marcy already has her own secret plans, so when she finally tries to calm things down, all she can give is a non-descript “we can still fix this”. And then, she’s once again shocked when she sees Sasha threaten Anne and the Plantars. Seeing Sasha act so willing to actually hurt people rather than just push them around... it finally hits her just how serious “tried to kill them” was. And of course, losing Anne or being sent home with her would completely mess up her own plans.

Sasha’s isn’t a vulnerable person. She’ll go on about loving her friends if it makes her look good, but she actively avoids doing anything that could be seen as “weak”. She wouldn’t dare ask Marcy to drop Anne and choose her. If Marcy isn’t speaking up, she can take the hint. She still isn’t on her side, and so she gets sent to the dungeon along with the rest of them.

Marcy accepts that Sasha has become an obstacle, but a part of her still hopes the three of them can work through all this. If they do things her way, nobody has to get hurt. She'll figure out a way hold everything together, fix everything, like always.

And then Andrias betrays her.

Yeah, what plan?

Sasha stops talking once she realizes what’s going on. Quietly fuming as Marcy explains herself. The music box, the suggestion to take it back to Andrias... that wasn’t Marcy being the sweet, supportive friend who Sasha thought she could always rely on, who believed in her... that was Marcy using her. It was never going to become their plan; Marcy never trusted her and was actively working against her. Sasha lost Anne, and she never had a chance at getting Marcy back, either. 

Sasha smacks Marcy away when she desperately tries to justify herself. She doesn’t want to hear it anymore. She’s furious that Marcy thinks they could be friends after something like this, after she’s manipulated them and claimed it was for their sakes. This whole time, her goal had been avoiding the move with her parents. And coming here has only torn them apart even worse.

Marcy reaches out to both girls. And when Sasha rejects her, she clings to Anne, hoping at least she’ll find it in her to forgive her. That she’ll understand she cares about them even if she messed up. Marcy knows they’d probably never pick her over their families or ambitions, so she told herself this place offered those things too. Made them all better people. But as she says her excuses out loud, she can’t find a single one that feels right. She was just afraid of losing them, and now, she’s managed to hurt them on top of that. 

But the thing is. After all that. Despite how betrayed and hurt and angry Sasha was, she looks like this:

Sasha realizes this must be exactly how Anne felt about her betrayal. It isn’t just an abstract “hurt” or “bad thing” anymore. She can also sympathize with how Marcy feels and why she did it, at least a little. She can’t imagine being able to forgive this, and yet... when she looks to Anne with that apologetic look, she isn’t just hoping Anne will forgive her. She’s also asking for permission to forgive Marcy. Pleading that they all still have a chance to move past this together.

[esperosisdoeswriting]

Victory Pizza (500 follower cellebration)

Here is the ~3300 word story for the 500 follower celebration! The prompt being "Chaotic Villain group accidentally adopts child". I hope you all enjoy and thank you again for 500 followers!

"[Other Villian].... what the hell are you doing?" [Villain] hissed as they popped the cash register open with their crowbar. [Other Villain] just turned to look over their shoulder from their perch on top of the arcade's glass prize pannel.

"I'm robbing the place, duh." [Other Villain] said as they started to shimmy the mini go-cart from atop its perch.

"Of money! We are robbing the place of money! not dusty ass go-carts, why would you even want that?!" [Villain] hissed as they shoved bills and coins into their backpack. [Other Villain] scowled at them as if they had just said the most offensive thing they had ever heard.

"I have come to this place my whole childhood! And do you wanna know the one prize I had scrimped and saved and stole tickets to get for years!?" [Other Villain] violently pointed at their looted go-cart, "And do you want to know what prize I was never able to get, for years?!?!" [Other Villain] pointed even more violently at the go-cart.

[Villain] pinched the bridge of their nose, "Childhood vendettas are not the priority here! We need cash!"

"Why are you yelling at me anyway? [Dumb Villain] is looting a claw machine." [Other Villain] pouted, pointing their head at [Dumb Villain], who was currently prying a claw machine open with their bare hands.

"Those things have like a hundred dollars in quarters in them!" [Villain] defended them, before turning to [Dumb Villian], "good wor-" they cut themselves off as they saw [Dumb Villain] happily loading the plushies into their backpack. They dared not look at [Other Villain], already feeling the smug grin on the other's face.

"Just... Get anything valuable quickly and get it in the van. If we take too long, the pizzas going to get cold." [Villain] sighed, moving over to the next cash register.

"Victory Pizza!" [Other Villain] hooted as they jumped on the counter. Suddenly as they landed, the force of their body sent them crashing through the glass cover of the prize counter, topping them over among the candies and plastic toys. Alarms began to ring out around the store as the three villains froze and stared at [Other Villain].

"Whoops." [Other Villain] laughed nervously before [Villain] sprung into action.

"GRAB EVERYTHING WE GOTTA GO!" they shouted at their two companions as the three scrambled to pack everything and start running for the exit.

[Leader] groaned in boredom as they flipped through another page on their magazine, waiting for the others to get back. They wished they could be in there too, but someone had to be the getaway driver, and they had learned from their mistakes when they had appointed [Other Villain] and [Dumb Villain] to the role the other few times. So here they sat, waiting in the back alley with the van doors open, being tortured by the smell of a pizza they couldn't eat.

[Leader] was about to let out another groan of boredom when the alarms started blaring. Their groan of boredom quickly turned to one of frustration. They knew this would happen, but it didn't make it any less more annoying when it did.

They watched out their rearview mirror as a minute later there three teammates burst out the back entrance into the alleyway, full-on sprinting into the van.

"Go go go!" [Villain] shouted, out of breath from the run.

"Shut the back doors first, and everyone buckle up. I'm not having people slamming into each other again." [Leader] sighed as they started up the van.

"But the heroes and police will be here-"

"In a couple minutes, we still have a bit of time. Now, buckle-" [Leader] pushed [Villain] into their seat, "-up."

After the van was started, [Leader] unlocked the brake and switched the van into gear but kept their foot on the brake as they called out, "Everyone buckled up?"

[Villain] groaned in the affirmative as [Other Villain] enthusiastically agreed, however [Dumb Villain] did not respond.

"[Dumb Villain]. Are. You. Buckled. Up?" [Leader] asked as they looked at [Dumb Villain] in the review mirror.

"Oh, uh... yeah." [Dumb Villain] replied, ripping their eyes away from the victory pizza they were staring at a few moments earlier.

[Leader] rolled their eyes, "Right then, here we go!" they said as they put the pedal to the metal, speeding out of the alley and onto the abandoned streets.

[Dumb Villain] looked at the seat next to them and couldn't help but feel something was wrong with what they were looking at. Usually, they just put the victory pizza there so that [Dumb Villain] could hold onto it during the escape, but today someone else was holding the pizza. Sat next to them was a small child, no older than eight, staring up at them as they slowly munched on a slice of the pizza.

[Dumb Villain] narrowed their eyes at the child, the feeling of something being out of place knawing at them. Was it because the child was eating their victory pizza? No, no, children like pizza, so that was perfectly reasonable. Was it the distant sound of police sirens slowly becoming closer and closer? No, no, they just robbed an arcade, so it was perfectly natural the police would be chasing them. So what was it...

[Villain] began shouting something [Dumb Villain] wasn't paying much attention to when they finally realized what the problem was.

"Safety first, kiddo." [Dumb Villain] smiled as they reached across the child and buckled their seat belt.

"Beleive me [Villain], I am perfectly aware that the police are on our tail!" [Leader] shouted as they swerved the car to the right.

"Would these help?" [Other Villain] helpfully offered, holding up two grenades.

"Why do you have those?!?!" [Villain] squawked as [Other Villain] laughed manically.

"I thought they might prove useful!"

"For robbing an arcade?"

"Every situation is improved with grenades!"

"No, it isn't, put those somewhere they won't explode," [Leader] barked at [Other Villain] who pouted but complied, "And [Villain]... do that thing where you make us invisible."

"I can try, but I've never done the whole van before!"

"I believe in you." [Leader] smiled confidently at them before looking back on the road and continuing, "Plus, I really don't want to be here when the heroes show up. Getting sent to prison for robbing an arcade... not a good look."

[Villain] sighed as they began to concentrate, their field of invisibility expanding and expanding before it encompassed the entire van.

"Amazing! You really outdid yourself this time [Villain]!" [Other Villain] marveled.

"Can't keep this up... for very long..." [Villain] gritted their teeth, sweat beginning to pour down their face, "Make it count!"

"Will do." [Leader] smiled as they made a sharp left, the now five of them disappearing into the night.

"Is everyone alright?" [Leader] asked once they finally parked the van in the underground garage attached to their lair. Everyone affirmed. [Dumb Villain] looked down at the child to find them nodding as well, satisfying [Dumb Villain].

"Good good. Alright, everyone, grab your haul, and [Dumb Villain] you get the pizza." [Leader] said as they put the car into park.

"Victory Pizza!" [Other Villain] hollered as [Villain] sighed.

"Sorry everyone, we're gonna have two fewer slices of pizza tonight. The kiddo here ate them on the way."

"Oh, ok, that's fine." [Leader] nodded for a moment before reeling back and yelling, "Wait, what?! What kiddo?"

"The kid." [Dumb Villain] stared blankly at their team as they pointed to the child sitting next to them, who also stared blankly at the rest of the team.

"How long have they been there?!" [Villain] cried out in alarm.

"The whole time."

"And you didn't see anything wrong with the kid being in the car with us?" [Leader] asked [Dumb Villain] desperately trying to find some logical reason [Dumb Villain] would let them kidnap a child.

"I did." [Dumb Villain] replied. After a long moment of silence, [Leader] frantically gestured around as if trying to summon the explanation from [Dumb Villain].

"They weren't wearing their seat belt, so I strapped them in." [Dumb Villain] grinned, proud of themselves. [Leader] deflated as they just nodded,

"Yeah... yeah, I guess I should have expected that."

"CAN WE KEEP THEM????" [Other Villain] suddenly shouted, startling everyone.

"I... No!" [Leader] yelled.

"Please! Pretty please! I swear I'll take good care of 'em!" [Other Villain] batted their eyes at [Leader].

"They aren't a dog! They're a child that needs to go back to their home and parents."

"I don't have any parents," the child spoke up for the first time.

"See!" [Other Villain] hoped on immediately, "They don't have parents to go back to, so that means we can keep them!"

"Still not a dog! And anyway, they probably have guardians or..." [Leader] trailed off as they saw the child begin to shake their head and pout.

"We have no idea how to take care of a child." [Villain] tried to reason, "We could never-"

"I'll be good!" the child cut them off, "I promise, I just don't wanna go back to the orphanage."

[Other Villain] scooted [Dumb Villain] out of the way and scooped up the child, holding them to their chest while giving [Leader] the biggest puppy dog eyes.

"You're not just gonna send them back to the orphanage, are you? That's no place for a child to grow up."

"But..." [Leader] trailed off as the child looked at them with their wide doey eyes.

"Please..." the child asked, both the child and [Other Villain] huddled together, batting their eyelashes and giving their best puppy dog eyes.

"I like the kid!" [Dumb Villain] added.

"Oh alright, fine!" [Leader] finally gave up. The child, [Dumb Villain], and [Other Villain] cheered while [Villain] looked at them in disbelief. "But you two are in charge of getting them into school, making them food, setting up their room, all that stuff, got it?"

[Other Villain] nodded enthusiastically, and the three hoped out of the car as [Villain] sat there, staring at [Leader].

"Are you really going to let them keep that child?" [Villain] whispered, horrified. [Leader] screwed their eyes shut and pinched the bridge of their nose for a moment, then took a deep breath.

"I mean... We kept [Other Villain]."

[Villain] just stared at the floor of the van, only nodding in response, before exiting the van. They really hoped [Other Villain] and [Dumb Villain] knew what they were doing because they were not, I repeat, not going to help raise this kid.

"How was school today [Child]?" [Leader] asked as [Child] shuffled into the base.

"It was ok," [Child] shrugged.

It had been nearly half a year since [Child] had entered the picture. Even though [Leader] said they wouldn't, they wound up being [Child]'s primary caretaker after a week and a half of chicken nuggets, 3am bedtimes, and almost playing with various dangerous objects. To [Other Villain] and [Dumb Villain]'s credit, they did set up [Child]'s room and pick out their school, as well as take them to and fro. But ultimately, all the work that had to be up in to ensure [Child] wouldn't die of malnutrition or unfortunate accident was left to [Leader].

"Did something happen?" [Villain] asked, looking up from where they were reviewing the floorplan of their next big heist. [Child] merely shrugged in response as they shrugged their backpack off and sat down on the couch.

"Was it [Bully] again?" [Other Villain] asked, [Child] shrugging for the third time.

"Whose [Bully]?" [Leader] and [Villain] asked at the same time.

"Just some asshole ki-"

"Language! No swearing in front of [Child]!" [Villain] cut them off. [Other Villain] rolled their eyes before continuing,

"They're just some mean kid that likes to make fun of [Child]."

"It's fine." [Child] mumbled as they watched the tv, the news talking about another one of [Hero]'s victories over [Super Villain].

"We can take care of them!" [Dumb Villain] supplied.

"No!" both [Leader] and [Villain] shouted at once.

"I draw the line at fighting children. How old is this kid? Like nine?" [Leader] said,

"They're ten." [Other Villain] replied

"Whatever."

"Soooo...." [Other Villain] drew out, [Leader] already not liking where this was going. "Does that mean we can give [Child] some 'situation improvers'?"

"I don't care what you call them," [Leader] pinched the bridge of their nose, "You cannot give [Child] hand grenades."

"But we can give other weapons?" [Dumb Villain] asked.

"No! No weapons! no child murder, directly or indirectly!" [Leader] shouted.

"It's ok. It's not that bad." [Child] smiled at the team, "As long as I have you all, I'll be happy."

The team all smiled at their youngest member, feeling their hearts melt as [Child] smiled at them.

"We love you too, my little angel!" [Other Villain] grinned, scooping [Child] into their arms and hugging them tightly.

"Although I was wondering..." [Child] said into [Other Villain]'s chest, their words muffled until [Other Villain] loosened their grip. "When can I start training with you?"

"Training?" [Villain] asked, "What for?"

"So I can be part of the team!" [Child] replied.

"Right now!" [Other Villain] squealed at the same time as [Leader] said,

"In a couple years."

Silence descended upon the team for a few moments before [Leader] cleared their voice, "I know you want to be a part of the team, kiddo, but you're still very young. You should focus on your school work and playing games and watching tv for now."

"Ok..." [Child] mumbled disappointedly as they went back to watching tv. A few silent minutes later [Child] piped back up again.

"Some of the kids in my class are taking karate lessons. Can I take some too?" [Child] asked innocently. [Leader] couldn't help but smile at the transparency of [Child]'s intentions.

"That's a perfectly reasonable hobby to pick up!" [Other Villain] added.

"Plus, it would help with bullies, and it's non-lethal." [Dumb Villain] added as well.

[Villain] sighed and said, "As much as I hate agreeing with [Other Villain], they are right, it's a good hobby that keeps children active, teaches discipline, and [Child] can use it for self-defense if need be."

"Well, I suppose I'll just have to allow it then." [Leader] smiled and shook their head as [Other Villain] hooted in victory.

"Let's look for dojos in the area!"

"I think I know of one," [Dumb Villain] agreed, "I remember hearing about it on tv one time. I think because it was good."

"Then it's perfect!" [Other Villain] grinned as they grabbed their laptop. [Child] snuggling in happily between [Dumb Villian] and [Other Villain] on the couch while the three looked for dojos.

"Is this the place?" [Other Villain] squinted at the store's sign.

"The name matches the website." [Dumb Villain] replied.

"Good enough for me! hop out, kiddo, our appointment is in five minutes." [Other Villain] grinned as they hopped out of the car, [Child] bouncing shortly behind them, practically vibrating with excitement. The two of them entered the small storefront. They sat on the hard plastic chairs, both excitedly awaiting their meeting with the instructor.

"The instructor will see you both now," the receptionist said shortly after another parent and child happily walked out of the studio. The pair happily stepping into the karate studio, where they finally got the lay eyes on the instructor.

[Other Villain] immediately felt themselves go rigid as [Child] bounded up to [Hero], their maybe new instructor.

"Well, hey there kid, whats your name?" [Hero] smiled at [Child]

"I'm [Child], and this is [Other Villain]." [Child] smiled back. [Hero] looked back at [Other Villain], who at this point was sweating bullets and trying to act natural.

"Hello, it's very nice to meet... you..." [Hero] said, slowly trailing off by the end as they narrowed their eyes at [Other Villain].

"Nice to meet you too!" [Other Villain] replied nervously. [Child] looked between the two adults, somewhat confused before saying.

"I really wanna learn karate! Can you teach me, please?"

[Hero] snapped their attention back to [Child] and smiled, "Of course! That's why we're here, although today is just so I can get to know you and your..." [Hero] side-eyed [Other Villain] before turning back to [Child] "...parent. As well as assess your skill level and prior knowledge. Does that sound ok?"

[Child] nodded enthusiastically, and [Hero] finished out a pamphlet from their pocket, "Perfect! Now, could you start with reading this over? It gives you an idea of the kinds of things you'll be learning in the class. I'm just going to talk to your parent for a moment over here, ok?"

"Ok!" [Child] replied, happily taking the pamphlet from [Hero]'s hands and bouncing over to the other side of the studio while [Hero] guided [Other Villain] to the opposite corner.

"What the hell are you doing with that child?" [Hero] hissed at [Other Villain].

"I have no idea what you're talking about." [Other Villain] lied,

"Don't give me that. I know you're [Other Villain], and I know you don't have a kid!"

"I adopted them."

"Really?" [Hero] asked, disbelief and sarcasm dripping from their voice.

"Well, it was a... surprise adoption..." [Other Villain] averted their eyes.

"You kidnapped them." [Hero] scowled.

"The surprise was on us! They just climbed into our van while we were..." [Other Villain] coughed, catching themselves, "getting pizza. They were drawn to the scent of the pizza and hopped in too."

"And then you just... drove away with them."

"Well, we didn't know they were in the van!" [Other Villain] defended themselves.

"Did they hop in the trunk? How did you not notice an eight-year-old in your van?" [Hero] asked incredulously.

"Well [Dumb Villain] noticed but didn't say anything."

"Why."

"They... didn't think it was important at the time." [Other Villain] winced. [Hero] looked like they wanted to argue but then seemed to just deflate.

"Ok, knowing [Dumb Villain]... I believe that." [Hero] said, a bright ray of hope appearing before [Other Villain] before [Hero] squashed it with their following sentence. "That still doesn't excuse the fact that you just... kept them!"

"They didn't have anywhere to go! No parents, no relatives, they were just living in some slummy orphanage!" [Other Villain] pleaded, "We're giving them a better life, school, food, friends, a family [Hero]. Don't you want them to have a loving family?" [Other Villain] batted their eyes, trying to give [Hero] their most adorable puppy dog eyes. [Hero] just stared back at them, unamused, for a long moment for sighing.

"I'm going to talk to the kid. If even a single thing seems fishy, they're going straight back to where they came from. Oh, also, I will take them in as my student to monitor them. If you try to move them or take them out of lessons, I will take them from you so fast your heads will spin. Got it?" [Hero] scowled and [Other Villain] nodded vigorously. [Hero] let out a long sigh,

"If it was any other villain or group, I wouldn't even consider letting you keep them, but seeing as it's you lot and the kid seems happy... I'll let it go, for now." [Hero] side-eyed them before walking back across the studio and talk to [Child].

[Other Villain] let out a long sigh of relief as they watched [Child] smile excitedly at [Hero], the two talking about the [Child]'s future at the dojo, as well as some subtle inquires about their home-life.

"Did you have fun today?" [Other Villain] asked as [Child] and they left the dojo, [Child] waving goodbye happily to [Hero], who waved back.

"Yup! I can't wait to learn karate. It's gonna be so fun!" [Child] beamed.

"It sure will be kiddo!" [Other Villain] smiled back as they helped [Child] into the car.

"How did everything go?" [Dumb Villain] asked. [Other Villain] thought about it for a second before simply replying,

"It went great!" deciding to not tell the others about [Hero]. What they didn't know wouldn't hurt them... probably...

[stinkywinke]

Twelve Minutes

I am obsessed with twelve minutes sooo, why not make an imagine about it 🧍‍♀️

Also this is the first time I have ever used tumblr, and my grammar is very poor. I will try and get used to the way tumblr works and hopefully if I have any motivation I will start writing more :) My writing skills are bad so this is going to be choppy

Another note : The roles are reversed, so instead of the reader being the husband, its going the be the wife figuring everything.

clench ya butt cheeks

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

Readers POV:

No..no, no, no, this can’t be it

As I took a step into my apartment I heard my husband in the bathroom humming a soft tune. 10 minutes. The pills. The cop. The pocket watch.

“Hey, I didn’t hear you come in”

I looked up to see h/n (Husbands name) walking towards me with a smile and pulling me in to a passionate kiss.

“I made desert, let me know if your in the mood” He stated while making his way on to the couch.

I give a quick nod signaling that I would tell him when I was ready. Quickly glancing around my home I made my way to the sink and filled up a mug of water, the floorboards creaking in a specific spot as I ambled to the bathroom. I opened the medicine cabinet grabbing ahold of the sleeping pills and pouring them into the mug, and going back into the living room to see h/n reading a book.

"I think its a good time for desert” I suggested

“Ok, babe” h/n replied with a sweet smile

He noticed the cup in my hand and turned around to the fridge and got the desert out. I placed the drugged mug by where h/n was sitting and got my own mug instead.

“So how was work?”

“It was alright, met a couple of new people, Its going great” I said as I saw h/n drinking his water

“How about you? How was your day?”

“Same old day I guess it just repeats itself” he said as his eyes started drooping down into a sleepy matter

Tch.. talk about repeating

“Im feeling so tired all of a sudden, Im gonna go lay down”

“Okay baby, goodnight”

As soon as I saw h/n close the bedroom door I scampered to the closet and closed the door behind me aware that the cop will be here in a few minutes

Now we wait…

“Police!, open up I have a warrant”

My breathe hitched as I heard him turn the doorknob and stepped into the house

“Hello?, anyone home?”

“Police” the cop shouted when he opened the door

“Police, I have a warrant”

He made his final call making his way into the bedroom,hearing the light switch turn on a scream came from the man as he layed unconscious on the floor. After hearing nothing but silence I crept out the door into the room, searching for the valuables from the cops uniform

The gun, 2 handcuffs, the knife, and the phone

As I did last time,Rolling him over, gripping both of his wrists and tieing them together, I remembered there was a little box with my mothers name on it.

A/N : I did change the baby clothes to a necklace, kind of like a bday gift

My hand trembled to the gift lying on the table next to the flowers, I held it and stuffed the box into my front pocket. I took my time staring at the man in awe and confusion

He’s already told me why he’s here, he told me he was a good friend of my husband’s father. He’s hiding something.

“Augh- what- you little shit”

The cop was stirring awake from the electrocution but only figuring it all together that he was handcuffed. He glared at my shoes as some kind of threat and saying words, pleading to be let go, I reached into my pocket pulling out the box and showing the man the name on the necklace

“Do you recognise this name?”

“Dahlia? Yeah I knew her so what?”

“Do you know anything about her?”

“Yeah, she was the mother of your husbands sister”

Mother of my husband’s sister? But that was my mothers name

“Just let me go you prick”

“I promise im innocent I dont have anything to do with this”

“Okay maybe if you let me go, I wont kill you” the cop stated in a cold and tone

I took the knife out of my pocket and handed him his things, he asked…

“Im here for a pocket watch very valuable… do you have it?”

“Yeah, I’ll go get it now”

Thoughts were running in my head as I went to go to the bathroom to get the strange watch

Mother of my husbands sister? Dahlia, thats my mothers name… no it can’t be.

I grasped the pocket watch in my hand, watching is slowly turn clock-wise

“Have you found it yet? I dont have all day!”

My hand gave out to him, as he took the pocket watch

“Im gonna need a few minutes with your husband, go sit on the couch, but if you do anything stupid, I’ll kill you..” he demanded

He’s gonna kill him, I know, so lets just let it happen.

BANG!

A bead of sweat drip down my forehead as I smelled the scent of blood coming from the other room

Mothers name of husbands sister, husband said he got a necklace with my mothers name on it, Dahlia. So if dahlia is my mother h/n is my… brother. My own brother is my husband. Fuck no please, I have to get out

Sprinted across the room to the door and made my way out just to end up in the same place as always.

“No.. fuck no no no no- this can’t be happening please”

My husband came out of the bathroom again with a panic and worry on his face and started to bombard me with questions.

“Y/n?”

“Baby are you ok?”

“What happened honey?”

“Whats wrong?”

I’ve had enough

“S-STOP IT, GO AWAY”

“Baby whats wrong” he pleaded with concern

“NO! Please I have to go” I shouted at him as I bolted through the door coming back to the same gentle humming tune coming from the bathroom.

“Hey, I didnt hear you come in”

Again met with the same eyes with my lover ugh- brother, I cant tell him, I cant.

“Hey babe” I said as he kissed me once again,

this is wrong

“I made dessert, let me know if your in the mood”

The same sentence every ten minutes.

Snatching the pocket watch from the ventilation grid, the grunting and groaning leaving my mouth as I tried to get up from the pain in my back,

The watch was broken. Turning the long handle I fixed it back to its place, 2 minutes before 12. I saw the world turn into a dark abyss, the watch turning anti clock- wise, my hand slowly fading into the tiles of the bathroom, my eyes growing heavy and started to close putting me into a deep sleep

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

“Hey there he is… your back”

Huh?

“Look, I know this is a… terrible shock. But we need to be on the same page. Look, I… These feelings for my son… your brother. This isn’t how I wanted to tell you…you deserve… both of you deserve better.”

He said with a long pause

“Yknow the thing I hate the most, worst thing in the world?… Disappointing my lil boy. Well that was the worst thing…. And now a baby… you with your little… love… I guess it was always gonna happen”

He said as he walked around in disbelief and ignorance

“Nothing stays swallowed down forever. So, you gonna make a call”

“If i could go back..” I started

“Well. Things would be different. But you can’t just try again. Thats not how life works! So, you gotta make the choice, and make it now”

…

“Say something”

H/n’s book about zen..

“Fine!, your gonna force it by hand? Fine!”

“Hey “its only by forgetting that.. we ever really drop the thread of time, and approach the experience of living in the present moment””

“Ah, you’ve read that one, eh?”

“I know the idea of forgetting things sounds crazy but, what if… you could?

I can help with that if you want. All you have is the future, you’ll forget everything you went through. All the pain. All the stress. Forgotten forever. But, you need to understand there is no turning back. You can’t undo this… we can still talk about him but you need to choose an answer…”

I stared at the clock as I watch it about to turn twelve

“you don’t have to forget if you don’t want to, The choice is yours”

12:00

DING!

“ you do have a remarkable imagination… The stories you’ve created… but believing them so strongly, so deeply is unhealthy… you have to let him go… you can’t keep obsessing over him… sometimes things are just as what they are…

Its time for you to wake up…

[intheticklecloset]

My Hero Academia Sentence Starters #31-40

A collection of the MHA sentence starters I’ve done, compiled for the sake of ease. These are all stand-alone stories.

~~~

31) Lee Uraraka, Ler Iida

“What’s happening? Why are you laughing?” Iida asked, more than a little confused. All he’d done was reach to brush some hair from Uraraka’s face and push it behind her ear, but all of a sudden she’d burst into giggles and scrunched up her shoulders, twisting away.

“Y-You tickled me,” she said, rubbing the spot behind her ear to get rid of the feeling, turning to look at him with a sheepish smile. “I’m, uh…really ticklish around my neck and ears.”

Iida blinked, surprised, but then he smiled. “You’re ticklish, then?” he asked, reaching forward to gently squeeze her sides. “What about here?”

“Eeek! Iida!” Uraraka giggled again, curling up defensively. “Nohohohohoho!”

“Or here?” He moved to her ribs. “Here?” Down to her hips. “Or even better – what about here?” He reached down to gently scribble along her bare soles, causing her to squeal and kick at him, which he expertly dodged. “Seems you’re ticklish everywhere, my dear.”

She giggled, pushing at him. “You’re mean.”

“Mean? Me? Perish the thought!” Iida then grabbed her and pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her securely and tickling her sides as he declared, “I am a beacon of justice and hope! I cannot be mean; it goes against my very nature!”

“Ehehehehehehehehe! Iida!”

“Your words wound me. I would never do anything mean to you or anyone else.” Iida grinned, holding her closer with every struggle. “I must insist you take that back.”

“Okahahahahahay, I tahahahahake it back!” Uraraka giggled, sagging in relief when he finally let up on his gentle assault. “That’s no fair. I’m really ticklish, and you know it.”

“I most certainly do now,” he replied, grinning. “Thank you for that most valuable information, my dear~”

*

32) Lee Deku, Ler Bakugou

“Is that a challenge?” Bakugou snapped, whirling on Deku.

Deku’s eyes widened. “W-What? No! Nonono!” He backpedaled quickly, holding up his hands in defense. “You can make me laugh – you can make anyone laugh! Wait!” Bakugou had grabbed onto his wrists and pinned them together, reaching for Deku’s ribs. “Wahahahahahait! Nohohohoho, I’m sohohohohorry!”

“You don’t think I can make people laugh, huh? I’m not funny enough for you?” Bakugou demanded, though his tone was more playful now. “Well, you’re laughing, so I must be doing something right!”

“You’re cheheheheheheating!”

“Oho – cheating, am I?”

“No – NO!! NAHAHAHAHAHHAHA KAHAHAHAHACCHAN!!” Deku squealed struggling against Bakugou with everything he had when the blonde pressed his thumb into the hollow of his hip, kneading deep and drawing out the most ticklish sensations and laughter from him. “PLEASE STAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!!”

“Who’s laughing now, huh, Deku? Call me a cheater…” Bakugou grinned at the wail of ticklish distress he pulled from his childhood friend. “…and you’ll suffer for it!”

“NAHAHAHAHAHA I’M SOHOHOHOHORRY!! PLEASE, I GIHIHIHIHIHIVE!!” Deku screeched, laughing so hard he was having trouble breathing. His face was turning a dark shade of red. “KAHAHAHAHAHACCHAN!!”

Finally, Bakugou decided he’d had enough and let him go. Deku collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath, still giggling slightly.

“So,” the blonde said teasingly, cracking his knuckles. “Feel like telling me I can’t make you laugh again?”

*

33) Lee Shigaraki, Ler Dabi

“But now you’re smiling, aren’t you?”

Shigaraki hated that he couldn’t hide his face. He tried to pull his arms down, but Dabi held them firmly above his head, smirking. “S-Shut up, y-yohohou idiot…”

Dabi winked at him, scribbling lightly over his belly, just enough to get a genuine smile from his boss. “Don’t tell me you’re not enjoying this. You haven’t asked me to stop yet.”

“Shut up, I sahahaid.” Shigaraki twisted his head to the side. “D-Dohohon’t mahahake fun of me.”

“Make fun? Who’s making fun?” Dabi shot his hand down to Shigaraki’s thigh, which he knew was a bad spot, grinning when the blue-haired boy arched his back and let out a yell of wild, screechy laughter. “Now this is fun!”

“STAHAHAHAHAP!!” Shigaraki cried, twisting and writhing but going nowhere fast. He laughed freely and uncontrollably as Dabi continued to squeeze his death spot over and over and over again. “DAHAHAHAHABI YOU IHIHIHIHIDIOT!! KNOHOHOHOHOCK IT OFF!!”

“Say please~”

“NEHEHEHEHEHEVER!!”

Dabi shrugged, settling himself on his boss’ knees so he couldn’t kick at all, then finding the spot where his thigh met his hip and drilling in with relentless precision.

Shigaraki laughed so hard he went silent for several moments. When he finally got his breath back, he screamed, “PLEHEHEHEHEHEHEASE!! PLEASE STAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!! DABI!!”

And at last Dabi relented, grinning down at Shigaraki as he gasped for air and let out a few residual giggles. “Have fun?”

Shigaraki blushed, turning his face away again, but he couldn’t hide his smile. “I said shut up.”

*

34) Lee Deku, Ler Shinsou

“Just because I haven’t tickled you all day doesn’t mean you have to pout,” Shinsou said, not taking his eyes from his book as Deku huffed and rolled over to turn his back on him. “I can still see you pouting. We share a bed.”

“Just leave me alone,” Deku mumbled. “If you’re not going to tickle me then just shut up and read.”

There was a long pause. “What did you say to me?”

Deku’s heart leapt. He hadn’t thought about it when he said the words, but the warning tone in Shinsou’s voice was more than enough motivation for him to say it again. He did his best to hide his hopeful smile. “I said shut up and read.”

“‘Shut up,’ huh?” Shinsou shifted, and Deku’s heart raced, and soon the smaller boy was lying flat on his back with his boyfriend looming over him, wrists pinned firmly to the mattress on either side of his head. “‘Shut up?’”

“Y-Yeah,” Deku managed, feeling emboldened by Shinsou’s sudden shift into his more dominant side. “You know. Close your mouth. Quit talking. Stay quiet.”

Shinsou settled himself on Deku’s thighs. “Why don’t you stay quiet,” he said in a low tone, “and I’ll tickle you until you’re begging me for mercy.”

Deku couldn’t stand the anticipation. His eyes grew wide with excitement when Shinsou finally let go of his wrists to rest his hands on his hips.

“Oh, and one more thing. Keep your arms up.”

With that, Shinsou drilled his thumbs into Deku’s hip bones, and Deku threw his head back and fisted his hands in his hair and kicked frantically and laughed and laughed until he was positive he’d have no voice the next morning.

*

35) Lee Bakugou, Ler Todoroki

“I would never expect you to be so giggly.”

“Shuhuhuhuhut up, Icy-Hohohohot.”

“I mean, seriously, you’re actually giggling. I’m barely even touching you.” Todoroki smirked. “I thought you’d have more resistance than that.”

“S-Shut up ahahahand wreck mehehehe already!”

“Wreck you?”

Bakugou would not hide his face. He wouldn’t. Screw Icy-Hot and his self-satisfied smirk. Screw those cold fingers tracing his bottom ribs so fricking teasingly. He arched his back, trying to get more of the feeling, but Todoroki merely removed his hands entirely, and Bakugou had to bite back a snarky retort. Or a whine.

“What’s the magic word, Katsuki?” Todoroki asked sweetly, batting his eyes.

“Ugh.” Bakugou would not hide his face, but he had no problem closing his eyes to block out that look from his way-too-confident partner. “Please, dang it.”

“Hmm…” There was a long pause, and just when Bakugou opened his eyes again, Todoroki’s fingers descended, pinching up and down his ribcage with deadly precision. “That’ll do for now.”

“Ehehehehehehehe! F-Frihihihicking cahahahahareful!” Bakugou half-demanded, half-pleaded. He gripped his headboard to keep himself from fighting back. “T-Thahahahat spot is—”

“Bad?” Todoroki smirked. He honed in on the blonde’s top ribs where his sweet spot was, smiling as his boyfriend’s efforts to keep his arms up got a million times harder. “Does it tickle so, so bad? What are you going to do? Stop me?”

“Plehehehehehease!” Bakugou said it without resistance this time, twisting his head to the side. “Dohohohohon’t tehehehehease me like thahahahahat!”

“Oh, but I have to, you see.” Todoroki settled himself on Bakugou’s hips and suddenly dug into both sweet spots with everything he had, chuckling along with his partner as he finally shot his arms down and burst into loud, screaming laughter. “You’re far too cute not to play with!”

*

36) Lee Todoroki, Ler Kaminari

“You – you cahahahahahan’t use your quihihihihihirk!” Torodoki giggled helplessly as the tickle-shocks lit up his nervous system. “Thahahahat’s so not fahahahahahair!”

Denki smirked, gently shocking Todoroki’s sides with his quirk, tickling him more than if he were to use his fingers, but not so much that the overly ticklish boy was screaming for mercy. “You can’t tell me you don’t like it.”

“I dohohohoho, but stihihihihill!”

“Then how am I not being fair?”

“Behehehecause I lihihihike it too muhuhuhuhuch!”

Denki laughed, switching from his tickle shocks to sporadic poking. “There? Is that better? Do you like it better when I’m quick and random and tickly like this?”

Todoroki’s face was so red he looked like a cherry. “Plehehehehehehease!”

“Well? I’m waiting for an answer.” Denki quickly scribbled in his underarm, enjoying the loud yelp he got, followed by Todoroki shooting his arm down defensively. “Better tell me which you like more, or I’ll have to tickle it out of you~”

“Dohohohohoho it!” Todoroki replied through his giggles, surprising the electric hero.

“Do it? You want me to tickle it out of you?” When his giggly friend nodded, Denki laughed and straddled him, shoving both hands into his armpits and igniting his tickle shocks again. “You asked for it. Better talk, Shoto.”

But Todoroki was busy – busy laughing freely and openly, in obvious ticklish distress but also obviously loving every second. Denki smiled warmly at him. Well, if harder tickles were what he wanted…

*

37) Lee Kaminari, Ler Jirou

“So…are you gonna apologize?”

Denki swallowed nervously, looking up at Jirou’s face looming over him. Under any other circumstances, he might find this more fun than it was, but right now…

“Y-Yeah,” he managed. “I will.”

She waited.

He was silent.

“Well?” she asked.

He smirked. “You gotta work for it, babe.”

Jirou’s eyes darkened while her lips quirked upward. She pinned both of his wrists to the grass and extended her earphone jacks, hovering them threateningly above his underarms.

“W-Wait—”

“Oh, no,” she said teasingly. “I have to work for it, babe.” Then she allowed her jacks to wiggle in his underarms, making him sputter and giggle immediately, squirming under her strong hold.

“Nonono, okay, okahahahahay, I’m sohohohohorry,” he pleaded, smile and giggles as bright as the sun. “Plehehehehehease, no tihihihihihickling!”

“Aw, but that was too easy, Denks,” she mock-whined, moving her jacks up to his neck, watching in amusement as he tried and failed to scrunch his shoulders. “I thought you said I had to work for it.”

“I’m sohohohohohorry! Plehehehehease, Jirou!”

“Oh, well.” She shrugged, removing her jacks and digging into his ribs with both hands, smirking as he shot his arms down to try and push her away but only succeeded in rolling around helplessly beneath her touch. “You’ve just given me a great excuse to tickle you to tears, regardless.”

“Nohohohohoho! Plehehehehehease!”

“Please what?”

“Dohohohohohohon’t!”

“Don’t what?”

“Tihihihihihihickle me!”

“Tickle you?” Jirou giggled, leaning down to kiss his neck in tandem with her squeezing his sides. “If you want me to, babe~”

*

38) Lee Tokoyami, Ler Sero

“Oooh, is this a bad spot?”

Tokoyami gripped his wrists but couldn’t find the strength to push those wiggling fingers away from his ribs. He cackled and cawed out his laughter, both mortified and intrigued by the sounds coming out of his own mouth. “S-Sero, you f-fiehehehend, you’ll pahahahay for this!”

“Oh? I don’t see Dark Shadow defending you,” Sero teased, keeping up his relentless digging, beyond satisfied to have made such a stoic person break down into giggles. “Where is he? Hmm?”

“C-Cohohohohoward!” Tokoyami managed, giving up the battle, knowing he’d already lost. Giggles poured out of him more freely, alternating between human laughter and birdlike squawks and chirps. “Hehehehe’s a cohohohohoward!”

Dark Shadow remained silent on the matter.

Sero grinned, deciding to experiment further by going up into Tokoyami’s underarms. His reactions remained steady, but his legs kicked out behind Sero desperately.

“Plehehease,” he begged, trying to push him away. “Stohohohohop, I cahahahahan’t stahahand being tihihickled!”

Sero hummed playfully. “No? Why not? Too sensitive?”

“Yehehehehes!”

“Oh, are you, now?” the tape hero chuckled, but gradually stopped his tickling and got off of his classmate. “All right, all right. Don’t want to overdo it.”

Tokoyami recovered with astonishing speed. “Dark Shadow!”

“On it!” Dark Shadow exploded from his hiding place, lunging for Sero and pinning him down much in the way Tokoyami had been moments before.

Tokoyami loomed over him, a wicked smirk on his face. “Well, now…let’s see how well you can handle my revenge.”

*

39) Lee Kirishima, Ler Todoroki

“I don’t know…you think you can take it?” Todoroki asked, frowning down at Kirishima, who lay on his bed with his arms above his head.

Kiri flashed him a confident smirk. “Obviously, or I wouldn’t suggest it. Come on, Shoto. Bring it on.”

Todoroki hesitated.

Kiri frowned. “Unless it makes you uncomfortable, of course. You don’t have to.”

“It’s not that. I’m willing to do it, I just…” Todoroki rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t want to push you too hard.”

“That’s what safe words are for.”

Right. Todoroki nodded, reaching up to grab Kiri’s wrists just long enough to create ice shackles to bind him to the headboard. Then he scooted back and leaned his head down to Kiri’s bare stomach and ribs, looking up at him one more time. “You sure?”

“One-hundred percent.”

“All right.” Todoroki’s hesitation faded and he smirked, taking a big breath and blowing a raspberry along his bottom ribs, followed immediately by nibbling.

Kiri shrieked with laughter, squirming but going nowhere fast, and his reactions only boosted Todoroki’s confidence to do it again, and again, and again.

“PLEHEHEHEHEASE!!” Kiri finally begged, tears springing to his eyes. “OH, GOHOHOD, PLEHEHEHEHEASE STAHAHAHAHAHAP!!”

“You asked for this,” the icy-hot hero reminded him. “And if you really wanted me to stop, you’d be saying our safe word. So…” He blew another raspberry, then nibbled, then another raspberry, then more nibbles. All the while Kirishima tossed his head back and screamed with laughter, struggling against the ice shackles to no avail. After about ten rounds of this, Todoroki paused to check in. “You doing okay?”

“It tihihihihihihihickles so bad,” Kiri whined, but he was beaming and obviously excited. “Dohohohohoho it again!”

Todoroki was happy to oblige.

*

40) Lee Deku, Ler Shinsou

“How are you so good at this?” Shinsou asked incredulously, staring at the stack of five books on top of Deku’s head, remaining perfectly balanced as he moved about the room. “Did you go to charm school or something?”

Deku giggled. “No. I’ve just got skills, mate.”

Shinsou groaned. “You did not just.”

“I just.”

“You are so cringe-worthy sometimes,” Shinsou muttered, smirking as Deku turned his back to walk back across the room. In a flash, he grabbed his partner around the waist and pulled him to his chest, ignoring the thump of the books as they fell in a heap on the floor. He wasted no time in digging his fingers into Deku’s sides.

“Wha – ahahahahaha hehehehehehey!” Deku squealed, giggling crazily, pushing himself further back into Shinsou’s tickly embrace. “No fahahahahahahair!”

“No? You’re not trying to get away~”

“You knohohohohohow I lohohohohove it when you tihihihickle me!”

Shinsou chuckled. “I do.” He reached down to scoop up Deku bridal style, carrying him over to the bed and plopping him onto it, quickly going back to scribbling along his sides and ribs. Lesser spots, he knew, but he wasn’t in the mood to make his partner scream for mercy. He just wanted to hear his happy giggles for a while. “You love it when I tickle, tickle, tickle this little tummy of yours~”

“Ehehehehehehe!” Deku giggled and blushed furiously, but he nodded all the same.

“And your cute little ribcage I can play like a xylophone.” Shinsou tweaked his ribs, then moved up to his underarms, tracing lightly, drawing more panicked giggles from Deku. “And these cute, ticklish little hollows here~”

“Toshiehehehehehe,” Deku whined, but he was loving the attention. “Plehehehehease…”

“Oh, and let’s not forget…” Shinsou leaned down, brushing his lips over another sensitive spot. “…about this adorable, ticklish neck of yours.”

“Ehehehehehehe~” Deku squealed with happy giggles, then finally reached up to wrap his arms around Shinsou’s neck, pulling him in for a kiss. “You tickle me pink, Toshi.”

Shinsou groaned again, but laughed all the same. He hugged Deku close. “And I will every time.”

[respectable-username]

Here's my quick piece for the @hermitcraftheadcanons Hermitopia AU. I just really hope there hasn't been new canon to invalidate these events in the few hours since I started drafting...

TW blood, injury, death (kinda sorta not really death though?)

---

This Etho lay bleeding in the street.

There was also an Etho in a meeting with the NHO, an Etho spying on the entrance to ConCorp, an Etho tinkering with the ventilation system atop the Town Hall, and an Etho reading a book on a couch at home.

But this Etho was laying in a pile on the ground, having been unsuccessful in retrieving the phone of a high ranking ConCorp agent that would have granted them access into the secure portion of the network.

This Etho wasn't worried though. They knew this body would soon be disconnected from the hive, as bodies often do. It's not pleasant, but the Etho at home was already marking their place in their book with a sigh, getting up to gather the resources needed to make a fresh body.

This Etho heard a shout. They turned their head, fixing their good eye on three figures down the road. Hmm, those three are Government heroes, right? Would be good to have them shut down this body sooner.

The Etho atop Town Hall paused their tinkering to search up the new arrivals and confirm. Team ZIT, the trio called themselves. Government hired heroes. But the yellow one, Impulse, was a known friend of the NHO.

Hmm, that could be... unhelpful.

"Etho, listen to me. Etho, stay with us," Impulse said, tapping Etho's face as he knelt down beside them.

He shaped a barrier out of light and pushed it against the hole in the side of this Etho's abdomen. A wince made its way through the hive.

("You ok?" asked Beef to the Etho in the NHO meeting.)

("I'm fine," said that Etho. "Just one of my other bodies.")

"Here, let me cauterise it," said Tango. "That should at least stop him from bleeding out."

Flames leapt from Tango's fingers. Impulse moved out of the way, reaching out to hold down this Etho's arms. Zed did the same with their legs.

"This is going to hurt," Tango said.

Tango was correct. That body disconnected from the hive.

***

The Etho Hive slowly entered a new body. The Etho at home frowned. The new body they were creating shouldn't come online for another few hours. And why did this new body hurt? Unless...

The Etho opened their eyes. They seemed to be lying on a bed in some sort of secret bunker. Well, they assumed it was secret as none of them had infiltrated it before. And standing over them were three figures.

This Etho groaned as a flash of pain passed through their body.

"Easy, easy," Impulse said, patting their hair. "We patched you up the best we could, but we're not exactly trained beyond first aid."

"Do we have any painkillers for him anywhere?" asked Zedaph, eyebrows furrowed.

"I don't think an aspirin is gonna help with the whole bleedificating half to death thing," said Tango.

This Etho tilted their head forward as much as they could. Their jacket and shirt had been removed and their entire midsection wrapped in bandages, though thankfully they could still feel their mask on their face. They moved their hand across their body, prodding gently at their injury.

"Why?" said this Etho. Their bodies had been captured before to try to discover how the Etho Hive worked, but this felt different.

"Just because you're a villain doesn't mean we're gonna let you die," said Tango.

Oh. Right. They kept forgetting how attached others were to their bodies.

"What now?" said Zed. "We can't exactly take a known villain to a hospital."

"We could change how he looked?" Impulse suggested. "I mean, most of him is usually covered in public. If we cut and dye his hair, and take his mask off–"

Etho's hand shot up to slap Impulse's hand away from their mask. They closed their eyes as another wave of pain rolled through their body and into the hive.

("What's going on with the other you?" Beef said with concern.)

("Just raging battle against Government agents," that Etho said as they grimaced.)

("Should we go help?" said Beef.)

("I've got it handled," said that Etho.)

"So I guess we're just harbouring a known criminal in your basement now," said Tango.

"What else are we supposed to do?" said Impulse.

"Haven't you got contacts with the NHO?" Tango asked.

"No... maybe..." said Impulse.

"Perfect, we can make him their problem then," said Zedaph.

"Ok ok, give me a minute," said Impulse, ducking out of sight.

"Of course, Etho could just report everything about this place back to the NHO and call them down to attack us later," said Zedaph.

"Uhhhhh, blindfold!" said Tango, rummaging around for a spare piece of cloth.

Of course this only peaked Etho's curiosity. The Etho at home reached for a notebook and started to note down everything this Etho had seen.

"Here," Tango said, gently lifting this Etho's head to tie a bandage around his eyes. "It's not that we don't trust you, but, well, we don't trust you."

This Etho nodded.

"Ok, somebody from the NHO will be meeting us at, uh, the usual spot," said Impulse.

"There's a usual spot?!" said Tango.

"Look, allies are useful!" Impulse said.

"Only when they're not also our enemies," said Tango. "So, where is this usual spot?"

"Uhhhh my kitchen," said Impulse sheepishly.

"You... what the... gah!" said Tango.

"Just help me get him onto this will you?" said Impulse.

"Can you make him lighter, Zed?" asked Tango.

"You know my power's too risky to try on people," chided Zed.

"It was worth a shot," said Tango. "You take the other end then."

A pair of hands went under this Etho's armpits while another grabbed their ankles.

"Three, two, one, lift!"

All of Etho's bodies staggered as this Etho exploded with agony as they were lifted across to a platform of solid light.

("Etho!" Beef shouted.)

("I'm fine," said that Etho, holding Beef's shoulder for balance. "Let's just get there before they do anything else stupid.")

The platform of light weaved throughout the building with this Etho on top of it. The Etho at home took careful note of the path they took. The platform seemed to double back several times to throw them off. The attempt was noteworthy but ultimately unsuccessful.

Finally, they reached a location where the blindfold was removed. This Etho took in the small living room they'd seen several times before. They were hovering over a sofa, on which Zedaph was arranging a set of pillows.

The light platform was dispersed and this Etho fell onto the soft cushions with a moan.

"Sorry," said Impulse. "Uh, want something to drink? I've got water, coffee, AHA–"

He was interrupted by a knock at the door. Tango went over and opened it part way, leaving the chain in place.

"We're here to speak to Impulse," said Beef, looming above him. Behind Beef, looming even larger, was another Etho.

"Uhhhhh," said Tango.

"Door. Open. Now," said Beef.

Tango quickly did as instructed, letting the two newcomers inside.

Team ZIT couldn't help but stare at the exact copy of Etho that walked into Impulse's house.

The newly arrived Etho quickly walked over to the Etho on the couch.

The Etho on the couch bared his neck towards the other Etho. The other Etho pulled out a needle and pushed it into the offered skin, gently injected their clone with its contents. They sighed and relaxed their shoulders as the broken body left the hive for good.

"Is there a dumpster nearby?" asked the other Etho as they scooped up their now unused body.

"You... you killed him?!" said Tango incredulously.

"The body was broken," Etho said. "I just disconnected it."

"They're a hive mind," Beef clarified to the shocked Team ZIT.

"But we saved him," said Impulse.

"You shouldn't have," said Etho. "It hurt more."

"But... but... but..." stammered Impulse.

"Come on, let's get out of here," said Beef, clapping Etho on the shoulder. "Thanks for trying. The NHO appreciates the effort."

The two left behind Team ZIT, standing with their mouths agape in shock and horror at what had just transpired.

The Etho with Beef followed a path charted by the Etho at home to the nearest body dumping location. They expertly disposed of their former vessel, though not before carefully removing all valuables and weapons still concealed on them first.

"Well, that was eventful," said Beef, turning to head back to the NHO headquarters.

"Remind me to carry a proper kill switch in future so this doesn't happen again," the Etho said.

"That still sounds so morbid," Beef said. "Your bodies still creep me out, no matter how many times we do this."

The Etho at home noted it down.

[snuggetfish]

Majidad and spouse headcanons?? 🥺🥺 (nsfw too if youd like e h e)

Hell yeah 👀 I tried to keep them mostly gender-neutral, but some headcanons will fit more to a female partner. Everything under the smiling Maji cut!

Let’s start with the cozy, wholesome ones! 😊

You know how cute Majima’s genuine smile is? The one he doesn’t show quite as often once the Mad Dog takes hold?

Well, I think a sure-fire way to bring it out would be watching his partner and child doing just about anything together: 

...Cuddling on the couch when it’s well past the little one’s bedtime and they’re already sound asleep, but neither he nor his spouse have the heart to move them to bed. 

...Baking a cake, with the kid just barely tall enough to peek over the counter and stick a tiny finger into the chocolate ganache.

...Getting ready for school, tying shoelaces and buttoning up their coat so the cold doesn’t creep in. 

Honestly Majima can’t believe how lucky he is to have been blessed with such a family. He could stare at them for ages and never get tired... which is exactly what a picture is for. One he could keep in his wallet, in his desk drawer at the office and on his phone. Cliche for a parent? Yeah, but who’s gonna stop him? He anyway doesn’t talk about his family while at work. Who knows what ears might be listening...

He wouldn’t stop at one picture though. Since the games have thoroughly established how sentimental he is, I think he’d take lots, to capture everything from important occasions such as birthdays to more casual moments like going to the park or the zoo. And, as much as he’d like to be there all the time to experience each milestone, he knows that’s not gonna be the case... so instead his partner would promise to photograph and record everything he might miss: first words, first steps, first drawing, first day of school... 

Ohhh about those first words, I think Majima might get a bit competitive. Is it gonna be “mama” or “papa”? He loves his spouse of course and he’d be happy either way, but... in his heart of hearts, he kinda wants it to be papa. Maybe he’ll cheat a little and try to double his odds: how about Goro? Well it would sound more like Gowo for sure, but he’ll take it!

When it was still just the two of them as a couple, I think Majima was very much the little spoon in bed. It made him feel warm and loved, all while the Hannya kept watch over his partner. But if we’re talking pregnancy, then he’s switching to the big spoon, for comfort reasons, but also because there’s really nothing better than holding both your beloved and the tiny life inside them all at once. Only once the kid grows a bit older does he revert to his usual position, though it turns out he’s most often the middle spoon now: partner on his back and little munchkin nestled in his arms. Truly the coziest spot in the world, sandwiched between his two favourite people.

As we’re on the topic of bedtime, I think both he and his partner would complement each other well as storytellers. They do the narration and Majima does the voices and sound effects. With his sing-song tone and his silly faces, he’s got the kid completely fascinated, even if it’s largely all improv. After all, he doesn’t need to look at the book, he can make up a better plot on the spot. And when he can’t... well there’s always the narrator to set things straight again. The only problem is, he’s so good that the kid refuses to go to sleep before hearing the end of the story!

Now what if Majima’s child inherited his uncontrollable energy? Well I think the two of them combined would be quite the handful for his partner. They’d zoom around the house doing pretend chases, incorporating all the costumes Majima can dig out of his closet (bonus points if he gets matching ones done for his toddler - imagine the disco outfit!) and eventually they’d have to be shooed out to expend all that energy on a more outdoorsy adventure. When Nishida delivers them home later in the evening, Maijma’s carrying one very tired kid and an equally exhausted look in his eye... but it’s made instantly better with a kiss and a soothing bath.

I’ve touched on the topic of bath time briefly before, but I really think it would be a valuable bonding moment for Majima’s family. It’s not unusual for parents and children to bathe together in Japan and this would give Majima an opportunity to flaunt another hidden talent: haircare. Imagine if his daughter was keen on growing out her hair and her go-to person for that was always daddy. He somehow knows all the tricks that make her hair looks shiny and gorgeous: combing through slowly, detangling from the bottom upwards, using only the gentlest shampoos and conditioners... His partner is of course familiar with his past and knows he’s far better at handling long hair than one might infer just by looking at him... though maybe they can’t help but feel a tiny little bit jealous of how much of a daddy’s girl their daughter’s shaping up to be.

All right I’ve gone through the SFW ones, but a couple does need their intimacy, even with a kid around, so... 👀

Given how hectic and overwhelming first few months of parenthood are, nobody’s surprised that here’s not much time for sex. Nights are sleepless... but so is Majima. He’s not going to grumble if his partner isn’t in the mood after spending half an hour trying to put the baby to bed, though if they’re willing and just a bit too tired, he’ll focus solely on their pleasure. Slow movements accompanied by kisses everywhere. They deserve to lie back and be spoiled and feel his full appreciation for all the joy they’ve brought to his life.

Once the child gets older, the energy and libido return, but now they’re also more at risk of being caught. Majima may be a clingy dad by nature, but eventually even he realizes some time away from his little one would do them good. Kiryu and Saejima can help there. On that first quiet morning with the kid staying at their uncle’s place... the Majimas aren’t leaving the bedroom until well into the afternoon. He’s really, really missed making love his spouse and that’s gonna show in his long and deep strokes, how he keeps his body pressed close to theirs until they’re both lying in the dewy sheets, spent and sated.

Speaking of sated... Imagine that one day the kid blurts seemingly out of nowhere: “I want a baby brother/sister.” Majima would glance over at his partner, curious for their reaction... maybe with a hint of the same pleading look. He knows it’s their body, their call... but if they agree, he’s overjoyed. A sibling means the child would have another outlet for their energy and someone they can hopefully lean on later in life... although, that’s long-term. Short-term, it means that whenever Majima and his partner find a moment to themselves, there’s no more holding back. He fucks like a man on a mission and fills them up over and over...

Think I’ll stop here for now! Thank you so much for the ask! 💙💙💙

[moonlit-imagines]

Heirloom (Part 1)

Din Djarin x Fett!reader

warnings:

a/n: did just a little bit of tweaking to help it fit into canon! (haar’chak = damn it. dinii = lunatic)

prompt: anonymous: “Hi can I request a Mandoxteen!reader where the reader is boba fetts daughter. When boba died they got to keep his helmet and they always bring it with them. The reader usually pickpockets people but this time they got caught and tries to run away but then crashes into din and drops the helmet. Din notice the armor and asks them to hand it over. Then the reader spills about being boba fetts daughter and din’s father instincts just kicks in so he asks if they wanna tag along with him and the child”

part 2

Stranded on Tatooine for about five years, give or take. It wasn’t like it was much of a fun planet. There was sand and...uh, sand people. Things like that.

Your father’s fate was nothing short of devastating for you. You’d always believed that he was invincible, especially with that armor of his. Passed down from your grandfather, a Mandalorian. Jango Fett. Your father didn’t speak of him often, but you could tell that his death had changed his path. After all, he was only ten when it happened. All thanks to those damned Jedi.

And, well, you resented the Jedi just as much after Boba died. One was present when he had been launched into the Sarlacc Pit, leaving you a young orphan on an unfamiliar planet. It took some time, but you’d finally found his Beskar armor in the hands of kleptomaniacal Jawas, and that armor belong to you. Call it a “family heirloom.”

Again, you were stranded here. A foreign planet all on your own. You had no idea how this place was ran or how people acted. That’s why you stuffed your father’s armor into your bag. It would be nothing but a literal target on your chest, you needed to play it safe. Get your bearings before you showed the inhabitants of this planet who you really were.

Over the past five years, it’s been mostly pickpocketing to get by. Sure, bounty hunting is in your blood, but there aren’t too many bounties to pick up on when you’re standing on a planet of sand and sorrow.

You slithered through a crowded area near a cantina and began swiping all that you could. Currency or valuables or food, who cares? It’s all worth something to you.

But your fingers weren’t as agile as you thought, you discovered this when a local took you by the wrist with two of his four arms.

“Going somewhere, kid?” His grip grew tighter as you reached for your blaster and let one loose in the sky, causing a panic that gave you just enough time to free yourself up and make a run for it. Wasn’t long before you heard, “Get that little kreetle!” Seems like you’d have an entourage in just a few moments.

“Di’kut.” You groaned to yourself, looking away from your path for a second too long. Your skull smacked straight into the Beskar armor of one Mandalorian. You tumbled back and fell to the ground behind-first, causing your bag to bust open and releasing its contents. This included a helmet similar to Mando’s own.

“You’re a Mandalorian?” You stammered, trying to gather your things, “I’ve never met another before.” When you looked back up at the glaring sun, you noticed a blaster barrel pointed towards your chest.

“That armor belongs to my people, where did you get it?” He demanded, catching you off-guard. Before you could get an answer out, an odd creature poked its head from his satchel and pointed towards the advancing crowd.

“I gotta get out of here.” You scrambled to your feet and tried to run past him, but he wasn’t in the best of moods, it seemed.

“Not until I get that armor.” You switched your gaze between the angry mob and the man with a strong grip on your arm. What to do, what to do?

“Haar’chak, we haven’t got all day. Just...follow me!” You pulled against his grip and felt the tension ease once he followed you, but now that you were on your way out of the area, blaster bolts came flying your way. It was a good thing you’d now had a human shield, huh? You refused to look back this time, you knew that the Mandalorian would take care of it himself.

After cutting a few corners, you were able to throw them off your trail. A lot of good that did you now that this Mandalorian was focused right back on you.

“Can you put that thing down, dinii?” You requested and noticed a tilt of his head as he lowered his weapon.

“Wait...you know Mando’a?” His voice sounded uneasy. So far, everything he’d learned about you pointed to you being...like him.

“Not much,” you leaned against the wall of an empty alley, sliding down the rough outer walls, “my father only really taught me insults. That’s his stuff, by the way.” You rummaged through your bag to pull out a canteen of water, only a few drops left. “Maybe if you’d given me a chance before threatening me, we’d be best friends by now.”

“Your father was Mandalorian? What happened to him?” Mando kneeled down and let his companion out for a moment, let him stretch his legs.

“You sure do ask a lot of questions.” You told him, smiling at the little alien who climbed on your lap. “This guy got a name?” You asked.

“The Child.” The little one reached out to touch your face as you laughed.

“Ah, I should’ve known. My apologies.” You joked, letting him go about his business. “And my grandfather was a Mandalorian. He died when my father was ten or so.” You explained. “My father...it’s complicated, but he also died when I was about ten years old. Eaten by the mighty Sarlacc when Jedi was on the menu.”

“And you don’t wear it?” God, these questions were starting to strike a chord with you. You hadn’t thought about the past in a while and you didn’t want to start now. But when you looked at this Mandalorian who looked so familiar, it was almost comforting. It was one thing to stare at empty armor, but to see someone wearing it?

“You think I want to attract all that attention? I’m sure you know what I mean.” You paid your attention back to the little one smiling wide at you while holding onto your fingers. You bouced his arms from side to side to see him dance and even let out a sweet little laugh.

“You were running from the locals, why?” You rolled your eyes at him, it was time he figured things out for himself. You hadn’t talked to anyone for this long in years, you were already worn out. “Are you a thief?”

“Why, yes, Mandalorian, I am. There’s not much else to do here, I’m afraid.” If your agitated tone didn’t give it away, the tears in your eyes did. He fell silent for a moment and watched the Child gaze up to him. “Can’t help that I’m stranded on a sand planet.” You muttered to yourself.

“I’m looking for other Mandalorians.” He informed you. “Are you interested in joining me?”

—————

As you rode off through the dunes of Tatooine, a mysterious figure watched from afar. You paid no mind to him, as this planet was filled with peculiar and dangerous people, but he wasn’t as strange as you’d think.

“I’ll see you again one day, my child.”

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