#Whereas i had to sit down and listen in class

[infiniteglitterfall]

Honestly, the more loudly and vehemently you identify as an ally of a marginalized group, the less of an ally you probably are.

If you have to ASSURE people you're An Ally, you're really just doing a different version of "Some of my best friends are _____!" or "I love your people!"

If you're just trying to do your best and maybe have some doubts about whether you're enough of an ally, you're probably fine.

Same basic rule of thumb as being a good person, really.

coming in hot with my first take on antisemitism in a while after trying to limit my time on this cesspit of jew hatred: being an ally is not something you can identify as, it is something that you become through actions and are deemed so by the minority you are allying with. 99% of you who identify as an ally of the jewish people are actually raging antisemites. if we are scared of you (we are) you are not an ally, not matter how much you identify as one.

[artdcnaldson]

UGH ok twist my arm i guess!!!! as a little treat!!!! dr donaldson <3

so gynecologist art, yall, doctor donaldson. cat and i were in the dms TRUST. so art decides that he should probably have a backup plan, just in case tennis doesnt work out after college. he doesnt expect to actually need it because his tennis is going great, hes on track to go pro very soon. but JUST in case, he decides to use his good grades to study some kind of medicine. initially he had thought some kind of sports medicine, if nothing else then it would be good knowledge for himself down the line.

but after his grandma passes (not of a stroke) and he hears his family discussing how if only her gynecologist had paid better attention and taken her serious she might have lived longer (idk anything about medicine but probably some kind of cancer yknow?). anyway he sees that a his motivation and picks gynecology as his field. patrick absolutely teases him to death over it, "you're gonna be a pussy doctor? what so you just get to look at naked chicks all day? i'd quit tennis for that too". again he's not really expecting to need it, so he doesnt take it too hard. but he's kind of obviously the only guy in the course, and the girls all think he's kind of weird for wanting to pursue a field of medicine that isnt relevant to him. but after him telling the story about his grandmother they all coo and comfort him that its okey and they understand.

he does well in all his classes because he does truly find it interesting and wants to do his best to help women. but as he's getting ready to go pro, he has an accident on the court, as he's going to return a long ball he twists his ankle and takes a bad fall. his recovery is good, but his ankle will never be as it was before, and his chances of the big tennis dream slowly dies. and ultimately he's just unwilling to spend his life as a struggling tennis player, when he could be making a real difference.

now that he has his own practice he likes to tell that story to his new patients, especially the ones who seem tense with the fact that he's a man, who will be examining their most private area. it does well to ease their minds. hes been doing this for many years now, he enjoys the work, and the women who come to him are happy with his work. his patients are typically slightly older women, as they're not as phased by a male gynecologist, whereas most younger women arent as comfortable with the idea. he doesnt mind that, in fact he understands perfectly. honestly hes grateful for it, he fears the day he might have a patient whos just a bit too attractive and he'll have to struggle to keep his cool.

that day unfortunately comes sooner than he had hoped. its your first appointment with him after having him recommended by a friend, you had contacted him and told him how you were very unhappy with your current doctor and wanted to try something else. not having had a male doctor before, except like your dentist, youre very nervous for the appointment. not knowing what to expect from it, or how seriously he will take your issues. out of nervous habit youve gotten ready for the appointment as if it were a date rather than a clinical exam. showered, shaved, cute panties, hair and makeup done. its all totally unnecessary, but the moment you see him for the first time you thank the divine for looking your absolute best. GOD hes so hot. far too hot to be a doctor. lets just say that he wears scrubs because theyre so sexy, and they truly are criminally flattering on him. he sits on his chair, typing away as youre lead into the room by an assistant. as soon as he looks up and asks you to have a seat with him, you both know youre screwed. the tension is immediately noticeable as you discuss your reason for coming in, just a routine check because your last doctor wouldnt do it thorough enough and didnt listen enough to your issues.

he leaves the room while you strip off and leave your clothes in a neat little pile, panties clearly on top in the hope that he'll see them and think theyre cute. and he does, in fact his eyes keep fluttering to them as hes getting ready for the exam. he has to adjust his chair a little lower in the hopes that you cant see that he's getting hard. meanwhile youre going from soaking to sopping wet as you watch him put on the latex gloves, snapping them against his wrist.

he can tell that you're tense, but as its your first appointment with a male gynecologist, he assumes thats the reason, and not the fact that youre mortifyingly wet. he tries to calm your nerves by telling you what he'll be doing, he sits right in front of you on his chair and tells you how first he'll examine externally, just checking for anything irregular. then an internal exam with the same purpose, and then finally a physical exam where he will just have to feel your tummy as well as your pelvis to ensure everything is as it should be. totally routine stuff, nothing out of the ordinary, if anything hes far more attentive and careful to make sure youre comfortable. but the way hes saying it, his voice and the way he's looking at you has you clenching your thighs shut and trying to keep yourself from making a puddle on the table.

as he gathers his tools he asks you to place your legs in the stirrups, he sees you struggling a little to get your right leg properly in place, he gently grabs your leg and helps you place it properly. goosebumps cover you leg as he pulls his hand away again. you can feel how wet you are as youre not totally exposed to him, dripping wet, youve been less wet when hooking up with people. this is just from interacting with him briefly, really its embarrassing. hes so sweet asking if everythings alright, and if he can do anything to help you relax. and after squeezing your eyes shut and holding your breath for a second you finally get out that you just feel like youre really wet, and youre not youre not sure why, this doesnt usually happen. hes so sweet, trying to reassure you, telling you its perfectly normal. its a natural response from your body, if anything its a sign that youre healthy!

hes not lying, he really does mean what hes saying, it is good and it is normal. but hes never seen anyone be quite this wet during an appointment in his office. youre soaked, its practically dripping onto the table and forming a puddle. if he was sporting a semi under the table he might have referred you to a different doctor. but youre so pretty he cant help himself.

he really does try his best to stay professional and not let his attraction crack through and distract from his work. but fuck youre so tight around his latex covered fingers when hes doing the exam. and you only squeeze down tighter when he tries to reassure you, tell you youre doing good. its making it hard for him to focus on the task at hand. it takes everything in him to keep his hands from drifting and moving to find those sweet spots inside of you. he doesnt have to deprive himself for long tho as he accidentally brushed against your gspot. his cheeks turn bright pink as he hears a tiny moan escape your lips. and youd been so good at keeping them in the whole time too. but this one couldnt be contained. he stays good, doesnt say anything, just carries on with his work. but he almost lets out a moan of his own as he sees the ring of cream gathered around his gloved fingers.

he takes his work very seriously and he doesnt take the idea of losing his medical license due to malpractice lightly, so he wouldnt be just giving in to his urges. his resolve breaking doent come lightly, its a big deal to him. he goes home that day and jerks off in the shower while thinking about you, he knows exactly what your pussy looks like, what it feels like, how soaking wet you got for him. he cums again in his bed and humps his mattress while dreaming about you. he wakes up and decided he needs to see you again. asks his assistant to set up another appointment with you. when he asks what for, he stutters and says something about needing to do some tests just to be sure of something. hes lying, obviously, but he needs to see you again. he cant stop thinking about your tight little cunt...

-🐞

ladybug your mind amazes me... <3

He can't risk medical malpractice, and he really is a good doctor, he loves his work, he wants to help people. And he's really never, ever reacted this way to a patient before, but god, he can't get you out of his mind.

So maybe he schedules a follow up for a week later. Maybe his heart is racing and his palms sweat when he walks into the examination room and sees you in the little fabric gown, hands in your lap, worrying your lip between your teeth.

He feels like a nervous teenager on a first date, not a fucking healthcare professional.

He listens to you speak about your concerns, walks through your test results from the week prior. Everything looks good, he says. Nothing felt abnormal, your body is working just how it's supposed to. Do you have any questions for me?

You shake your head, sweet and shy, aching for an excuse to get his hands on you again, but running low on things you can ask for.

[green-typewriterz]

Some hurt/comfort with sam please?

When the Sun Hits

Sam Winchester x gn!reader

summary: set in 2001, you and Sam finally get the chance to go to prom together

Ask: Some hurt/comfort with sam please?

Warnings: injury, mention of blood, sam is pining and awkward

Author Notes: thank you for this ask my love! Sorry for disappearing for so long, i got a new hyperfix im sure many of you can understand! Also I took what I had an ran with it so sorry if this wasn’t what you imagined!

word count: 2135

SOMETIME IN 2001 - FEBRUARY

Sam sat across the room from you, his chair far in the back and to the left whereas you sat to the front…you had pulled the short straw. You found yourself turning around every now and then, locking eyes across the room, trying to get him to laugh. He was in one of his bad moods today, hair in front of his eyes and hood up. You and Dean had pretty much accepted the fact that you’d be moving around alot, your families working together as hunters but Sam wasn’t as happy about it. He didn’t want to leave again.

“Y/N,” the teacher began and you spun back around, eyes wide. “Eyes on the front please, Sam doesn’t need you distracting him.” You nodded and got back to work, though you could feel Sam’s gaze burning on the back of your head.

You had known Sam for as long as you could remember, the two of you used to share toys while your parents were out hunting with John. He was always a shy kid, but this year seemed to be the worst of it. Maybe he was going through a phase.

Class finally ended and you packed up your books before heading to the back of the class, kneeling down and leaning against Sam’s desk. He looked up and smiled, muttering a quiet, “hi.” you grinned and grabbed his bag, watching as he pushed the hair away from his eyes (it had been longer than usual lately).

“Are you still upset about moving again?” You asked, walking alongside him, his hand gently holding yours. Sam sighed, shaking his head as you made your way out of the school and toward the same motel you had been staying for the past few months.

He ran his spare hand through his hair. “It’s just…we’ve just got comfortable here. I’ve actually made friends that aren’t you or Dean. I just wish we never-.” He stopped himself short. It was a stupid thing to wish.

“I know,” You replied. He wished his family weren’t hunters. You both stopped in front of his door, staring at each other silently. It wouldn’t be long before Dean got back and started his relentless teasing, so with one final goodbye, you went your separate ways.

That evening was wholly uneventful, an hour or two of homework, some research for your dad then the sweet and familiar feeling of zoning out while listening to Deftones on your hard motel bed. ‘Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want.’ had just faded out when there was a gentle knock on the door, one you recognised. You opened the door and took in the smiling sight of your best friend. He was wearing an oversized tee with a blue dog on it that you had given him and a pair of pyjama bottoms. He looked much more comfortable than he felt.

Sam had been building up his courage since the beginning of the year and, knowing the both of you would still be on the case when it rolled around, he wanted to ask you to prom. Even if it were just as a friend.

“Hey Sammy,” you smiled and stepped to the side to let him in, noticing how he was fiddling with the strings of his pyjamas. He was nervous. “You ok?” It was a simple question, but from the look on his face you would’ve assumed you had asked him to marry you.

He laughed slightly and scratched the back of his neck, replying, “all good, just wanted to come chat!” He smiled awkwardly. God, he thought, he was already blushing. He sat across from you, slightly wet hair brushed to the side and fluttering eyes locked on yours.

You laughed at his nerves but pressed play on your music again, turning the volume down so ‘when the sun hits’ could gently sit underneath your conversation.

“Y’know,” he began, hands fidgeting, “We’re gonna be in Oregon until spring, which means we’ll actually graduate this time.” he spoke, voice soft and wavering. “So um-”

He cut himself off, not knowing how to ask. He had wanted to do something nicer, get you flowers or something, but it hadn’t exactly gone to plan (that and Dean had told him to do it now before he got too nervous). You put your hand on his to stop it from shaking and urged him to keep talking and he smiled so softly you could’ve imagined it.

He breathed out before speaking again, “I was thinking we could go to prom? Together?” You went still. That’s what he had been nervous about.

“As friends?”

He seemed to shrink. “Uhm, yeah, if that’s what you’d want.” Sam was downtrodden, though he had expected you to take it this way, it still stung.

You smiled gently. “I’d love to go with you, but maybe not as just…friends.”

He looked up, confused for a moment. You had said yes. Blush bit at his ears as he fought the urge to get up and physically jump for joy. “I’d like that.” He managed to get out before standing again, you joining him by the door.

“I should probably head back, dad will be wondering where I am.” Though you both knew the statement wasn’t true at all, you agreed and let him walk out the door.

“Sam.”

He spun back around on his heel and you stepped closer, placing a kiss on his cheek. To him, it felt so gentle, like the breeze gently brushing his face, but it still brought up a blush so aggressive it felt like he was on fire.

SOMETIME IN 2001 - PROM

It was a few weeks before graduation, which meant it was prom night. You were sat in your motel room, in the nicest outfit you could find for cheap, waiting for Sam to finish getting ready. Since asking you to prom, the two of you had spent every waking moment together though you weren’t, as Dean would say, official yet (despite being only a label away from it).

Eventually, he walked out of the bathroom in a simple navy suit, one that matched your own outfit almost perfectly. You had both found them by chance in separate thrift stores and found yourself extremely lucky when they not only fit, but matched. “You look so handsome.” you said as he fiddled with his tie, trying to get it to sit right. Eventually, he gave up and gave you a look of desperation, asking you to do it for him with his eyes alone.

His gaze never left you as you fixed the tie, gentle hands righting the knot. Sam had planned tonight out to a tee: Dean was going to drive the both of you in their dad’s impala and then he’d get permission to take three (which was masterfully negotiated down from ten by Sam) photos. Then, he’d link his arm in yours like a gentleman and walk you into the gym. From there, his dancing skills took charge.

Each part of the plan went well and it was the middle of the night before either of you took a break to get a drink. There was a tired flush on both of your faces and a glint in Sam’s eyes you hadn’t seen since you were young. It was there, the two of you were sat when ‘your song’ came on. The song Sam had asked you to prom with (though it was more of a coincidence).

The boy took your hand gently and led you to the dancefloor again, his hands finding a place on your hips. You wrapped your arms around his neck and swayed gently, humming along to the song and staring into Sam’s eyes. The night was perfect.

Or would’ve been.

There was an impossibly loud crash and both you and Sam stared at each other in a split-second of recognition before the gymnasium went dark. Screams erupted from the crowd but the two of you stayed calm, quickly retrieving your respective silver blades that John had forced you to keep that night. Sam was furious. John had promised he would chase the monster in the opposite direction. The man had lied. In the panic, the two of you had been separated and you knew better than to call out for him in the dark school corridor.

You had prepared for this, trained. But you had never actually fought a monster before. Your hands shook from fear and tears glistened on your cheeks as you gingerly made your way down the hall. Your only lightsource was the large, dirty skylight that sat at the far end of the hallway and you found yourself glad - for the first time ever - that it was a full moon. Light trickled through the glass, fragmenting when a crack or some growing mould got in its path.

There was a growl from behind you and you stiffened, chills running down your spine. You turned slowly, eyes shut tight. You weren’t meant to be scared, you had been taught to not be afraid - so why couldn’t you find it in you to be brave. Your eyes opened and locked with the werewolf that was a mere centimetre from you now.

You gripped the blade with a sweaty palm and shoved it forward, piercing through the monster’s heart, though not before it could bring its claws down across your face. You both cried out and fell to the ground, you clutching your face and the werewolf growing still. “Y/N!” Sam called out as he sprinted over. Within a second, his hand was under your head and he was cradling you close to him.

Sam was hurt too, grazes littering his skin and a cut pulling at his lip - though he found that unimportant compared to the overwhelming amount of blood that seeped from your face.

“You’re ok.” He whispered, “You’ll be ok.”

THAT EVENING

You leaned against Sam as he got the first aid kit ready, having previously cleaned his own injuries as quickly as he could. Tears mixed with the blood on your face and Sam had to fight not to cry too, he hated seeing you hurt. “This is going to hurt, Y/n/n,” He began, eyes wrought with sympathy and a dusting of tears, “I’m so sorry.” he whispered and you nodded, preparing yourself. He moved his spare hand to the least injured part of your cheek for both control and comfort then gently let the alcohol John had provided trickle over your injuries.

You let your hand rest on his forearm, his mint breath fanning your face as you held in your tears with sharp breaths. “I killed them.” You whispered and Sam looked at you in empathy. He knew exactly how you felt. He didn’t want to shush you, (he didn’t know why people did that) he knew you needed to cry - but at the same time he didn’t want you to feel guilty.

“He was going to kill you. You did the right thing.”

You sighed, breathing shaky from the tears that stuck in your throat. “It doesn’t feel like that.” Sam stopped what he was doing and pulled away, eyes meeting yours.

He smiled gently. “You saved so many people, Y/n. no one in there would have been as brave as you.” Sam whispered and you nodded, finally finding it in yourself to agree with him. He gave you a break from cleaning the injury for a while and you got a better chance to look at him.

There were rips in his tux, some tinged with deep red stains and his previously white shirt was littered with mud stains. Cuts littered his arms and face while a particularly vicious bruise was slowly forming on his jawline. Despite all of this, he still looked handsome - you found it difficult to look away.

He knew what he was doing well enough, sanitise everything, clean the wound and then pray you didn’t need stitches - still, he couldn’t stop the anxiety from filling his mind. Sam was gentle, it was just who he was. Soft, caring hands worked quickly and lovingly while he muttered words of comfort. You were incredibly lucky, the wound was mostly superficial.

Both you and Sam sighed in relief as he placed the butterfly closure tape to each major point of the scratch mark. “See,” he whispered, “Told you you’d be ok.”

You smiled, careful not to tug at the cuts and leaned in, wrapping your arms around him. Sam’s hands found a home in your hair and he gently ran his hands through it as he sighed in comfort. “I’ll always be here for you, Y/n/n.” he whispered, voice strong, honest. You found it easy to believe him.

[seros-girl]

lacrosse and cheer- hanta sero x f!reader

summary: in a quirkless AU, hanta sero and our dear reader find themselves in a fake relationship to ward off exes (toru hagakure & juzo honenuki). maybe they’ll fall in love?

authors note: okay this has been BREWING for the past couple of weeks and i’ve finalized the plot and everything. weekly updates, our lovely class 1A will be aged up to 3rd years, class 1B appreciation alright, reader is part of the dekusquad.

additional authors note: CHAPTER 6 OUT EARLY YAY ENJOY LOVELIES

chapter 6: important assemblies, conversations & halloween

OCTOBER

you sat in the gym as principal nezu talked to the school. the importance of bullying. you shrunk in your seat next to shoto as you knew this was organized only for you. “we ask that if you have the video wipe it off entirely, we will be checking cellular devices” mr. aizawa’s voice boomed throughout the gym, still angry.

you leaned your head on shoto as you sat there, arms crossed. “i want to go back to my dorm” you muttered and shoto leaned his head against yours. “me too” he muttered and you sighed. hanta sat in the row above you and was staring at yours and shoto’s heads.

he sighed and leaned his chin on his hand. he’s been beating himself up about this. its all his fault. he sits at night listening to music in his dorm as he thinks of a way to fix this. whereas you on the other hand, dumped everything into a box and threw it out the next morning.

you had walked by the dumpster later on that day and saw the box was gone. you thought it might’ve been hanta grabbing it to get his belongings back. you dont know it but juzo grabbed it with the help of itsuka, tetsutetsu, neito, and yosetsu.

it sits in his dorm room untouched, waiting for the day you might want to reconcile with hanta. juzo has never seen you this happy. he wants that back for you. he looked over at you as you sat not that far from him and he frowned.

2 weeks had gone by since your “break up” with hanta and he can tell how exhausted and drained you are. you havent eaten, your sleeping schedule is fucked up, and your grades started slipping. he’s worried. everyone is.

principal nezu dismissed the school and you got up. you held shoto’s hand by instinct and walked out of the gym with him. “im so tired” you yawned and shoto looked down at you. “nap time?” he asks and you nod eagerly.

you entered the dormitory complex and mr. aizawa stopped everyone. “line up its time to check cellular devices” he grumbled out as everyone stood in the line. you pulled yours out and unlocked it, waiting for your turn.

you handed him yours and he gave you the all clear without even looking at it. shoto was cleared and you stood off to the side because you know this composed of a big lecture.

you talked with shoto quietly as yuga, ochaco, izuku, tenya, and momo joined you two shortly. you heard a smash and looked over to the line. mr. aizawa had shattered minoru’s phone. you stifled a laugh as mr. aizawa pulled out a new one for him.

“new phone number and everything thank you” he ushered minoru along and you hid your face in shoto’s chest out of embarrassment and to cover your laughs. shoto wrapped an arm around you when he saw hanta staring.

“now then” mr. aizawa said and you all turned to look at him. shoto stood behind you as you sat on a chair and wrapped his arms around you. “lewd actions are strictly prohibited in the dorms. you guys give me so much trouble, but to be quite frank i’ll miss this” you were staring at the floor and immediately looked up upon hearing that.

“you graduate in 7 months please no more screw ups for the rest of the year i beg of you” he says rubbing a hand down his face. “go on i have to grade papers” he said turning around and heading to his room. you yawned and looked at shoto. “nap time?” he says and you nod getting up and dragging him with you.

“the first lacrosse game of the season is next friday are we going?” shoto asked you and you stopped to give him a look. “remember who is on that team” you said and he thought for a minute. “so?” he says and you move to unlock your dorm, shoto following you.

“you’ll be there this friday for the first basketball game right?” he asks you and you nod. you were cheering anyway you had to go. “i’ll be cheering you on” you smiled lazily up at him. he smiled at you and you koved to change into comfortable clothes.

you go to remove your shirt and shoto stops you. “in front of me?” he asks covering his eyes and you shrugged. “you already saw it anyway” you said and he slowly uncovers his eyes to see that you put on a green tank top with matching sweatpants.

“uhm sho?” you start and he turns around to look at you. “so the day i got into the fight with tsu and toru” you started sitting down and motioned for him to follow you. “uh huh” he says confused where this was going.

“denki had told me he found out you like me?” you said to him and looked up to see his face. “yes” is all he said and you waited for him to elaborate on that. “i do like you a lot as a friend. denki must’ve heard wrong i said you were very attractive” he admits and you stare down at your bed.

“i know youre in love with hanta tho so its okay” he says and you look up to see him. “well hanta and i arent together anymore are we? we never were to begin with i can do what i want now” you said giving him a smile. he smiled back at you. “do you want to talk about that actually?” he asks you and you look at your bed again, avoiding his eyes.

“i mean what is there to talk about” you said sighing and taking a shaky breath. “i dont plan on forgiving him” you shook your head no. “i may love him but it’ll pass. what he did was unforgivable” you said looking at shoto.

“i couldnt really grasp what he did and i wanted to give you time to explain, what was it exactly that made you break up with him?” he asked you and moved to lay your head in his lap, his hands immediately going to your hair.

“around a month ago we had a conversation about sex and stuff” you started and shoto nodded. “i had asked him if he’s ever done it. he said yes but that it wasnt with toru, it was with a girl from class d” you continued and shoto listened intently.

“toru later revealed that it was her he lost it to, he lied to me and for what sho?” you said looking at him and he nodded. you both stayed quiet and stared at each other. “sho have you ever been kissed?” you ask him and he nods.

“remember momo our first year” he said and you remember spin the bottle. “oh yea” you nodded remembering. you stare at each other again and he leans down. you tilt your head upwards to catch his lips and shoto conencts both of your lips. you cup shoto’s face with one hand and grip his arm with your other.

the kiss is slow, you savor each other. you hum into the kiss and smile. he smiles back and he pulls away. he leans back in for more and his hand goes on your hip caressing it. you pull him down and run your hands through his half and half hair. shoto groans into the kiss and you pull him closer to you if thats even possible.

“sho?” you whine as shoto moves to kiss down your neck. he hums indicating he heard you and is awaiting your answer. you move to look at his face. “can you help me forget?” you ask and he stares at you. he nods his head and says “help me forget too” and you grab his biceps and pull him in again. his hands start to roam and feel all around your body.

in this moment you felt safe.

with shoto you felt happy and safe.

you trust him more than anything.

for today, you both forget everything thats happened within the last two weeks.

ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

you walked out of the dormitory complex to go meet with your class b friends. juzo texted you to come by to hang out. “OUR GIRL!” tetsutetsu yelled and scooped you up into a hug. “let her go man” yosetsu said and tetsutetsu put you down. they gave you all hugs and ushered you into the class b dormitory.

you sat on the couch and talked with them. “we called you here for something important” itsuka said and it suddenly went serious. “what is it?” you said playing with your hands as you sat on the couch criss crossed.

“well we want to know how youre holding up” yosetsu said and you smiled. “im okay guys i promise” you said and looked down at your hands. “hey whats that on your neck?” nieto said looking closely. you played it off “its the one hanta gave me” you said covering it with your hair.

“no dude it looks recent, hanta was 2 weeks ago it would’ve faded by now” nieto said moving your hair and grabbing you to inspect the mark on your neck. fuck shoto, you thought. you groan and push nieto away. “okay guys dont think of me as” you said pausing to find the right word.

“a slut” nieto said smirking and you squint your eyes at him. “it was shoto” you mutter and everyone starts talking over each other. you cover your face as they bombard you with questions. “it was just a steamy makeout session nothing else happened” you said which was a lie. you and shoto did the deed but you couldn’t tell them that.

“so what just fuck hanta then?!” juzo said clearly somewhat bothered. juzo got up and went to his dorm. you looked at the others confused and he came back with a box. the box you had thrown out. he placed it in front of you.

“im your best friend” he starts and takes a seat in front of you. you stare at the box and see everything you tossed in there. his hoodies, the notes he had written you, everything. your eyes glossed over with tears. “i have never seen you this happy y/n, i truly mean it” he says taking your hands and holding them.

juzo looks at the others and then looks at you. “i know it was fake in the beginning, but gradually overtime it became real between the two of you” the others gasped. “i understand what he did and i will say its probably unforgivable, but i say give him another chance” he says and you look at him wiping your tears.

“let me give it some time” you whisper and juzo pulls you into a hug. you sob into his shoulder and he rubs your back. “you know i love you right?” he says to you and you nod your head. he kisses your head and pulls you in closer. you pull away and look at the box.

“we can help you take it over to your dorm or if you think you need more time with the box it can stay in my dorm” juzo says and you look at him. “can it stay in your dorm for a bit longer?” you ask and he nods his head.

ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

HALLOWEEN

"how do i look!" you said spinning around in front of your friends, shoto standing next to you. "it's adorable" ochaco and momo gushed. "a rat and a chef" tenya said inspecting the costume. "linguini and remy" you corrected and he nods his head finally catching on. "so a couples costume huh?" momo smirked and you both shake your eads no.

"were a group of six, you guys are couples, why not complete the six of us and have me and sho do a costume together" you said and izuku nodded. "great thinking guys!" he said and you high fived him.

"party time!!" ochaco said grabbing izuku's hand and dragging him down the stairs. "where is this party again?" tenya asks as momo dragged him along too. "class b dorms duh" you said as you and shoto walked down the stairs together.

"AWWW YOU ALL LOOK SO CUTE" mina shrieked from her spot on the couch. you noticed hanta was sitting there and you turn your head away to not look at his eyes. shoto looked down at you and smiled. "aww couples costumes" mina gushed looking at you and shoto. you shook your head no and so did shoto. "were going as friends" you said smiling.

"yea as friends who fucked" mina muttered only for the two of you to hear. your face went white and mina laughed. "im only joking dont take it too seriously!" she said walking away and back to eijiro. you and shoto looked at each other and only nodded at each other.

“anyways we all ready to go?” mina said standing next to eijiro excitedly. “you guys can go im not feeling it” hanta said getting up and starting to walk towards his dorm. you watched him as katsuki stopped him and yelled at him.

“turn your ass around were going!” he said turning hanta around and pushing him to get him moving outside. “pictures!!” mina shrieked and you all followed her outside. she helped izuku, ochaco, tenya, and momo take their pictures.

“Y/N AND SHOTO!” she said giggling as you and shoto stood next to each other. he wrapped an arm around your waist and you leaned into him smiling so big. “this height difference is adorable” she said snapping more pictures.

“okay get on his shoudlers” she said and you froze. “oh cmon now its just for the photo” she said waving it off and shoto bent down for you to get onto his shoulders. he slowly stood up holding onto your thighs and you gripped his forearms.

“careful sho” you smiled and he stood up to his full height. “wow i can see everything from here” you joked and shoto looked up at you and laughed. “do the iconic picture” mina ushered the two of you. you grabbed two pieces of shoto’s hair and smiled at the camera.

“AWW SO ADORABLE” she squealed showing eijiro. “okay im gonna throw you someone catch her” shoto called out and as everyone argued on who was going to catch you, shoto threw you backwards and you felt a pair of strong arms catch you.

“sho dont do that!” you shrieked and looked up to see hanta’s arms caught you. you look up to meet his face and he smiles at you. you quickly got off and straightened out your outfit. “thank you” you muttered quickly and walked away.

“wait before we go i almost forgot!” mina exclaimed and ran back in. you all stood outside and waited as she came out with a small box. she stood in front of you and encouraged you to open it. everyone gathered around to see. you opened it and started laughing.

“ta-da!” she said and katsuki started laughing. she got you a cake that says virgin and its crossed out indicating you arent one anymore. everyone giggled and you laughed too. “who wants a slice?” you giggled holding it up.

“thanks mina” you smiled at her and gave her a side hug. “welcome to the club” she winked and you laughed. hanta stood there only looking at the cake unamused. “oh come on you wanna laugh” denki said poking his cheek and hanta slapped it away.

“hey lighten up man” eijiro said nudging hanta. he only scoffed and looked away. “okay guys lets go in” izuku said nervously and ushered you all in. you went back to the dorms to put the cake away in the fridge.

you turn around to find hanta and you froze. you both stare at each other and tears well up in your eyes. he opens his mouth to say something and you beat him to it. “hanta not tonight please” you sigh and wipe the tear away that falls.

“lets just have fun tonight okay?” you said and he nods. he slaps his hand softly onto the counter and starts to walk away. “yea lets have fun” he mutters and he walks out, you trailing behind him.

you both walk into the class b dorms and immediately head separate ways. you find your group and smile at them. shoto hands you a drink and you accept it. things werent awkward between you and shoto and you were grateful for that.

you both agreed it was one night and one night only. “LETS GO DANCE!!” tetsutetsu said as he appeared out of nowhere and scooped you up running with you as yosetsu, neito, itsuka, and juzo followed you guys.

you giggled and waved at them as tetsutetsu reached the dance floor and put you down. he wrapped his arms around you as he swung you around. the dancing was more of him carrying you and dragging you around, your feet werent touching the floor at all.

yosetsu and itsuka danced together as juzo and nieto danced off to the side. “tetsu!” you giggled as you grabbed onto him for dear life. “this is fun!” he said still swinging you around to the rhythm of the music.

“is he drunk?” you managed to ask juzo and you saw he nodded his head. tetsutetsu suddenly put you down and he grabbed you and put you on his shoulders. “hey a warning would be nice” you laughed as you put your hands in his hair.

“alright simmer down hand her over” juzo said reaching out towards you. you grabbed his hands as he pulls you off of tetsu’s shoulders. he turns around to leave and sees yui pulling her into a dance immediately.

“you okay?” juzo asked and you nod giggling. “he’s just a little drunk” you shrug and smile up at him. “okay its giving rat” he says inspecting your costume. “im remy from ratatouille” you said crossing your arms across your chest. “saw that shoto’s the chef” he pointed in the direction of shoto.

“you two are a thing now?” he asks and you shook your head no. “no juzo just friends” you smile up at him. his face turns serious for a second. “can we uh have an important talk tomorrow?” he asks you and you nod your head yes.

“love ya juz” you said giving him a hug and starting to walk away. “love ya back!” he calls out and you smile disappearing to find mina and yuga. you bump into someone and apologize. you look up to see hanta and you smile quickly moving away.

he grabs your arm to stop you. “we need to talk” he pleads and you look at his hand wrapped around your arm. “hanta another night please” you said and gently get out of his grasp. you make a beeline for mina and yuga and smile when you join them.

you chug the drink shoto gave you earlier and pull the both of them out to dance. “wheres the chef” mina says chuckling as you pull her. “somewhere around here” you giggle and start spinning each other around.

katsuki and eijiro join you three and katsuki hands you a drink. “thanks kats” you smile up at him. he throws an arm around you as you all dance in a little circle.

you heard an altercation going on behind you and everyone around you pauses. you turn around to watch and its hanta and juzo. your eyes widened. not like us starts playing and you watched from afar. you couldnt understand what was being said between the two of them. juzo looked to be walking away and hanta grabbed him and punched him in the face.

everyone started cheering as the boys fought and you covered your ears. shoto tried intervening but hanta managed to punch him. katsuki scoffed and between he, eijiro, and denki they were able to calm the boys down.

“both of you need to steer clear from her” hanta said and he pointed at you. you walked closer and grabbed him the collar of his shirt. “lets get out of here troublemaker youre clearly a bit tipsy” you said rolling your eyes and dragging him out.

“WALK HIM LIKE A DOG Y/N!” tetsutetsu yelled and everyone started laughing. you let him go once you were both far away from the class b dorms. “what is your problem hanta?” you said crossing your arms against your chest and looking up at him. his eyes filled with tears as he kissed his teeth and looked at the ground.

“i miss you” he said with a shaky voice as you saw his tears fall. he sucks in a breath and looks at you. “i fucked up. its all my fault. i sit up at night thinking this situation over and over again and im sorry” he said as he bends down slightly to look you in the eyes.

“when i suggested the whole fake dating i did it because i was already so infatuated with you. i figured this was the way to do it, to finally somehow tell you i’ve been yearning for you since we were first years” he continues as a sob left his mouth.

“i love you so much and everyday i wake up regretting my choice these past two years. i’ve always wanted you and only you. that day i was telling the truth, toru wasnt my first i never did anything like that at all with her” he said as he looked at you.

tears welled up in your own eyes. “i know you slept with shoto and its okay you are able to do what you want, but please forgive me. im standing right in front of you begging you for your forgiveness” he got closer and you looked at the ground.

“i need more time hanta” you said looking up at him and he only nods. “what happened was very fucked up” you muttered and he nods. you start sobbing just thinking back on the fact that the whole school saw you in your raw form.

he pulls you in hesitantly and you clutch onto his shirt. he shushes you gently and strokes your hair. you calmed down and you looked up at him. you wiped your tears and smiled at him. “wanna go eat my cake together?” you asked giggling. he smiles at you and nods his head muttering a sure.

you both walk back to the class a dorms to go eat your special cake that mina made for you.

taglist:

@wheezdostuff @ita606 @0bubbles0

[thebuckybarnesvault]

Not a Fairy Tale Kiss Catch-Up 2 (Electric Boogaloo)

Ten Thirteen Chapters & A Ficlet Later

Again - life is life, I have thoughts, and now is when I have time to put them down (as close to as they would have been when I originally read it as I can). @azriona enjoy the novel.

Chapter 48

The continued Rickrolling of Doom is much appreciated, but how exactly does D do it? Does she have a Doombot fly back and blast it? Is it like a computer virus?

Bucky trying to keep D going while not pushing too hard is so sweet but also, dangling meeting Arnie in front of her is a bit cheat-y. XD Not Steve throwing Bucky under the bus asking why D hasn't met Arnie yet and still getting nothing in return. Arnie is giving Bucky and D the "meet the family" treatment/vibes that we sadly wouldn't get otherwise and it is one of the most bittersweet things I've ever read and the fact this man is a hoot-and-a-half to boot is life-giving. Reading the back-and-forth of Bucky and Steve trying to one-up each other on embarrassing stories absolutely made my day. (How did Bucky use a pack of gum to get the chemistry teacher fired?)

Chapter 49

"Arnie accepts you and Bucky being together as such a given, you’re not sure he’s ever seen you in any other light." This almost made me cry! It's so sweet and it just builds on those moments from Ch 48 when Arnie is calling D "Bucky's best girl" and "Bubbeleh" because D has been in Arnie's heart before he even met her because of how Bucky talks about her and it's just the SWEETEST thing ever!! 😭😭😭 AND THEN YOU HIT ME WITH:

"Mostly, you sit back and watch the three of them, laughing and joking and talking about the times they’d shared as kids. Steve’s memory is the sharpest; but for him, those years are barely a decade in the past, what with 70 years spent in the ice.

Whereas Arnie lived a full life, every one of those 101 years tucked away in that head of his, and between cryofreeze and memory wipes, Bucky’s memory will probably always be full of spots and gaps and fuzzy edges."

How could you DO THAT TO MEEEEE?!?!? 😭😭😭😭😭 Are we going to ever find out what Arnie said to Bucky??? (I understand if not, just curious). Bucky and D need to take Arnie to India if he'll let them/his health allows.

"Who’s right in the head, I ask you?" - PREACH ARNIE XD

When I first read this chapter I had the thought that if Arnie dies I was going to have a Liam-Neeson-from-Taken moment, I have since cooled down and will merely be inconsolable.

Chapter 50

As a millennial (albeit a younger one) I feel like playing What’s New Pussycat on repeat as a prank is a VERY millennial prank. Bucky quietly missing D on missions and having Jarvis give an update when he returns is so sweet but I gotta ask, why not just text D when the jet lands to check-in with her directly? That being said, I’m glad she seems to be setting in to fully remote work as well as can be expected.

“Most of the time, the bases are intact, empty shells with nothing but dust bunnies and scorch marks, because someone’s been there first. Most of the files are corrupted, or incomplete, or just plain gone. Once, there’s a weird crackle of energy in the air that gives everyone pause.” I see your ominous foreshadowing and I appreciate it but simultaneously glare at it.

Clint is going to flip when they find out they switched his coffee, but I don’t know how I feel about them adding the Nefidipine to the vitamins without telling D (I’m guessing they didn’t tell her based on her reaction, if they did and I misunderstood lmk.) Maybe it’s double standard, and idk why I feel this way, but them secretly switching her to decaf (seemingly) without telling doesn’t really bother me as much (I mean it’s low-key rude but also, as I understand it, you’re not supposed to have caffeine while pregnant.) 

Chapter 51

The idea of Steve or Bucky forcing D to listen to an old radio play sounds amazing. But what would they choose, the only two I remember from history class are War of the Worlds by Orson Wells and Buck Rodgers (both of which I think Bucky could have liked) but if you had something else in mind, I’d love to know what it is. 

D says she thinks she’s going to miss being the Woman in the Chair once she’s back in the field after baby, is it possible that after baby she might split time just because she enjoys that role?

Why did you have to take 5+ years off Tony’s life like that? So mean. 

Wanda and Pietro being quietly helpful while also being absolute menaces (in a not funny way, unfortunately) works for them and is something I didn’t know I wanted (although I wish it didn’t involve such terrifying visions from Wanda).

Chapter 52

Oof one of those chapters that really hits emotionally.

Bucky checking in without being overbearing was adorable and sweet but almost immediately following that up with Tony being unable to look at D was heartbreaking. 

The casualness of Tony’s entrance was already a red flag; the shoe really dropped though when he asked what Wanda showed D in Cleveland. It also makes me wonder what/how exactly he saw her dying. “Nope, the adults are talking right now,” OUCH that one hurt. …and when your parents died, he let you cry all over his shirt and never said a word.” This one hurt worse but it also makes almost too much sense (giving her something I don't think he really had when his parents died). I also think all this together, though, speaks a lot to how much Tony cares about D and how much it hurts him that she, as far as he is concerned, is lying to him. 

Your ability to write this scene overall I just have…no words for how amazing it is especially in its coherency/follow-ability. Regularly when I’m reading arguments in fiction (both fan and conventional) I struggle to follow the arguments when more than two people are involved (and sometimes even then) but in this one it is very clear who is saying what and it makes the scene hit that much harder. 

RIP Bucky at the end there though, he’s both calmer and more brave than I would be in this kind of situation tbh. 

Also are we allowed to know what/where Natasha’s “place” is because while I can 100% believe there’s a place in the tower, she goes to get away she also gives me the vibes of someone who might just go out and be/exist in public (like taking a walk or people watching on a bench).

Chapter 53

Watching Bucky explain Project Springboard to Tony had to be like watching a train-wreck in slow motion for D (it kinda was for me, I was wound tight the whole time) but the aftermath went a bit better than I was anticipating but I also put that down to Bucky assuring Tony that the current situation is in no way his fault.

 “You pissed me off, kiddo. And I’m still pissed, and I’ll probably still be pissed for a while. I don’t let shit like that go easy, you know that. But that doesn’t mean I have to be an asshole to you about it.”

He glances at your now-empty desk. “Maybe for the tech, though.”  I’M NOT CRYING YOU’RE CRYING!!!! Having D tell Tony what her Wanda-induced dream was after this was twisting the knife by the way so, thanks for that.  

I continue to enjoy seeing the dynamics between Tony, D, and Bucky grow – honestly I think if this revelation had happened at any earlier time in the story Tony would have thrown hands but the fact he listened and kept cool once Barnes took full responsibility – amazing. The fact that D is still nervous the entire time is sad but I understand why and seeing Tony respond to that in a way that explicitly communicated that he was both upset while not taking it out on either D or Bucky – even better (chef’s kiss).

Also setting up the twins as sympathetic characters while keeping them as antagonists by them turning over files in the middle of a battle they then retreat from is excellent.

Chapter 54

I feel so bad for Bucky not being able to feel the baby (yet), I remember that being one of the most exiting parts of my mom being pregnant with my siblings.

A pillow cuddle-blocking Bucky is hilarious, thank you for that mental image.

My heart could have burst during the ultrasound scene Bucky’s so enamored with both D & the baby and it is just the SWEETEST!!!! Why does Bucky want the gender to be a surprise? Is it because it would have been that way “in his day” or are you going to give me another reason that will make me sad?  “I think she has my mom’s nose,” MADAME I AM BAWLING!!!! 😭😭😭😭

All those good appointment feelings dashed by the press, poor D. Bucky offering to be a menace from the sidelines creates another wonderful mental image.  “People used to be afraid of me,”  😂 Angela is a real one though

Chapter 55

The sass in D’s inner monologue was on fire this chapter it was also really nice to get more of her backstory – her being insatiably curious to the point of “taking the entire house apart trying to figure out how it worked.” is equally adorable and terrifying.

 I would love to know more one day about the “fascinating people” D met in college (incriminating and Fury said no? color me interested). You, also, keep dropping hints about D causing/being heavily involved in the Latverian Invasion, are we going to get more on that in this final arc?

I can see the interviewer near-salivating when she almost catches D saying she loves Bucky but D catches herself – that woman knows EXACTLY what D was going to say and was just being polite. Also, this being the moment D clues into being in love with Bucky was great because she couldn’t immediately escape it and had to sit with that fact and internalize it for a second (which she needed).

Chapter 56

I would like you to know that I’m imagining something between Padme Amidala’s lakeside dress and her light-blue nightgown for the dress, the way you describe the flowy-ness of the garments gives those vibes. Bucky’s reaction to the dress though? Swoon-worthy. Sam interrupting their moment? Rude.

““Then you’ll just have to get me pregnant again so I can wear them,” you say, exasperated, throwing your hands in the air.” (😲😳) How to short-circuit Bucky in 5 seconds or less. Jarvis offering the Locked Door Protocol was the icing on the cake in this scene.

Chapter 57

“’Sergeant Barnes what are you wearing?’ ‘Clothes’” I almost died laughing at this. 🤣

“I was supposed to be sitting with Mr. Wilson, but I traded to sit here because I wanted the chance to talk to you!” Red Flag, I’d be texting Pepper (or whoever is the coordinator of the event). Also, asking for a sponsorship is the opposite of what is supposed to be going on here lady get it together. Her being condescending to the “Fed is best” concept makes me want to punch this woman omg. “It’s good to have multiple adults the baby can trust - ” Lady this kid is probably going to live (at least at 1st) in Avengers Tower they’re going to be surrounded by trustworthy adults (nothing against the nanny idea but to imply that the Avengers aren’t trustworthy is just obtuse).  OMG SHE DOUBLED DOWN! “checkered history”????  I hate this woman so much. Watching her get ripped a new one by the entire table after that comment was VERY satisfying, made even better by them pretending Bucky was about to come join them on the war path.

What are the odds Tony and/or Pepper (or Hawkeye) have been secretly prepping nursery stuff so D can start on that when she’s ready?

Chapter 58

What I wouldn’t give to see the dance D did with Nat (and everyone’s reactions to it).

XD Clint found out about the caffeine! He’s so betrayed.

How much did Bucky bribe or intimidate the DJ at the afterparty to play the slow song (or was the DJ JARVIS who is The Best)? Their baby conversation is the cutest and thank you for answering my nursery question without me even asking 😂. Also the mental image of Steve and Bucky trying to build a crib together is hilarious because it’s either going to be the easiest thing on the planet for them or it’s going to be like building your average piece of IKEA furniture. 

HE FELT THE BABY!!!! Such a sweet and happy moment! 🥰🥰

Aannnd then you kill the vibe. Why did you have to do that. Could you have not have just made the last line in this chapter the first one in the next?? Whyyyyyyyy??????

Arms and the Iron Lady

YASSS THE FICLET I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR!!!

It’s really cool to see this early stage of this relationship and that even in this early stage that Tony cares enough to warn her away from someone he dislikes, while at the same time D knows Tony well enough that she understands his manner of telling her is significant. 

Me calculating a 540° turn, okay so that’s a turn and a half, got it. I too would be dizzy with all the things D has going on (legal proceedings on one coast and real-estate on the other? Oof).

It feels like early in their relationship that Tony giving her so much so fast is his way of trying to keep her busy so she won’t fall into despair after the loss of her parents (like I think he did when he lost his (I can’t remember at the moment)). At the same time I’m pretty sure he’s excited to have someone that’s not only intellectually on his level but is also in the same realm(s) of interests. Buying earplugs with the expense account is hilariously funny (and a bit passive aggressive). 

Also getting to see her get trained by everyone is interesting (I’d say fun but Sam’s is very much less than fun):

What form of bullet wound treatment did she learn? I'm curious because I had to learn wound packing once upon a time and I hope I never have to use that ever (especially if the person is awake). Never had to do anything with a trach tube though and from what little I’ve heard I’m glad I haven’t.

Thor is not the who I’d expect D to have the driving course with but that mental image is priceless.

The give and take in her relationship with Steve is really nice. 

The dichotomy between Clint and Nat’s training strategies (explaining everything mostly up front vs the deep end strategy) is interesting considering how they often balance each other out. 

“It comes off?!?” Bucky absolutely heard that, he’s just pretending otherwise. 

Bucky is being a show-off and I can’t tell if it’s him trying to size up D’s reaction to him or impress her…maybe both? 

“Looking for a challenge, doll?” Yeah he was definitely trying to impress her.

"Natasha snaps something in Russian, and Bucky responds with amusement.." Was she telling him not to flirt? Please tell me she was XD

Her excitement about maybe being able to work on Bucky’s arm just because it’s a cool piece of technology is so sweet and endearing. It's also very funny that her thinking about it that is part of what allows him to sneak up on her.

Another thing to appreciate about how you write their relationship: it grows, we get to see this pretty well in the series but this - the literal start of their relationship where they're merely co-workers and Bucky is trying to help her out as such, ugh I love it. (Love/attraction/infatuation at first sight can be fun but watching a relationship start and grow over time holds a very special place in my heart.)

The next interaction with Tony really makes me appreciate his character growth even more like going from can't stand the near thought near each other to tolerating that they're together is such amazing progress to see. (Granted part of the anger in this scene is explicitly due to the fact he doesn't get to tinker with "the best piece of tech in the entire building" but still.)

TONY WAS ALREADY MAKING HER A SUIT!!! Also, I want that holographic try-it-on tech in real life yesterday it would make life SO NICE! While it is very sweet he made her and Iron Lady suit that's also a really unfortunate way to find out she's claustrophobic (has she always been or is that more backstory trauma?).

Tony trying to comfort D while also being incredibly awkward about it is so sweet but also the more you say about what got D noticed by the Avengers the more I want to know.

“Of course I want to be here. Are you crazy? This is like… a dream come true. But… I can’t go out and save the world, Tony, I couldn’t even save my parents.”

“Neither could I,” Okay, right in the feels, ooowwwww.

Jarvis coming in clutch to help D (and low-key communicate where Tony can't quite yet).

Ugh I love this ficlet soooo much, it is my favorite of them all.

(I was actually in the middle of writing this post when Ch 59 posted so I said fuck it and decided to wait until both 59 & 60 posted to post this and then it didn't even matter because it still took me forever to catch up on my comments.)

Chapter 59

Did you post what body pillow D was given and I missed it because I would love to know what it is that has now frustrated TWO Avengers. Also 2:23 in the AM? That wake up time is evil (I know it's the Avengers alarm, that doesn't make it any better).

"There is a distress beacon coming from Latveria" - SUS!

I agree with D this is a trap.

Steve not realizing Yelena is flirting with him is hilarious.

"Have fun storming the castle." - I understood that reference.

“Cap,” you say, not even the least bit steady. “Um. I found the source. And it’s not in Latveria....It’s in the Tower.” - Shit

"The entire Tower shakes as the lights go out and plunge everything into the dark." - FUCK

Chapter 60

D is handling this a million times better than I could even imagine myself doing.

Hulk's first instinct being to get to and protect D and get her out is amazing and sweet and I need more of this side of Hulk. This is not diminished (to me) even if Bucky "ordered" him to do it because I've always gotten the impression that if someone gave Hulk an order he didn't agree with, he wouldn't do it. (It also also gives me hope Bucky is ok.)

Wanda has re-entered the chat. I wish it wasn't now and that she was on D's side but I still have hope that we will get there.

“You get to explain the mess to Tony,” you tell him, which just makes him grin even wider. (insert laughing emoji)

Who the fuck managed to break into any server room belonging to Tony Stark unnoticed????

While I'm not shocked this is HYDRA, I really wish it wasn't. Bucky and Tony are going to go extra ballistic.

The last 15 chapters of this fic are going to stress out my heart, I can feel it now.

[twistedminutia]

A Million and One Minutia: American Football

Read the first two chapters here: Ch. 1 Ch. 2

Gray teaches the Savanaclaw students about American football.

My enrollment situation at NRC is slightly tricky, primarily because I am technically enrolled as one half of a full student (Grim being the other half). This means that there was some initial confusion on how to administer and grade work- were Grim and I supposed to work on it and turn in assignments together, like a group project? Or should we be graded entirely separately from each other? Or both complete the assignment and then average our grades together?

In the end, it was decided that we would be graded separately, which was a relief. Grim wasn’t exactly a star student, and I wasn’t interested in his poor study skills pulling down my grade. Not that it was all that high to begin with.

Unfortunately, that still left us with another problem: Electives and clubs. Did Grim and I have to agree on which ones to take, since we only counted as a full student together?

The short answer was, basically, yes. Crowley insisted that, because I couldn’t use magic and Grim was an ‘atypical student,’ it would be better for us to attend classes together. Clubs were given a similar explanation- plenty of clubs had magic requirements, so I couldn’t attend those without Grim if I wanted to, and Crowley tended to insist that my presence was required with Grim when attending school events. I suspected Crowley just made the restriction up so I would be free to babysit Grim in class and at club events, but every time I tried to call him on his shit, he would make comments about how generous he was for even letting us stay here at all. So, I decided not to push it.

In the end, Grim managed to whine Crowley into allowing two clubs for the pair of us- I was more or less saddled with Newspaper Club duties, whereas Grim was allowed to pick his own club of choice. We had to attend each others’ meetings, but as long as all the duties got done, it didn’t matter much who did what. And Grim, being an annoying little shit, decided to go for one of the more irritating clubs on campus.

In summation, that fun little chain of events was why I was sitting on the sidelines of a Spelldrive practice match. Because I certainly wouldn’t have gone of my own free will.

Well, that’s a bit harsh. It’s not that I think Spelldrive is bad. I just have the same problem with it as I have with other sports. Namely: There’s only so many times you can watch a ball (or puck, or disk) go up and down the same field before you want to bash your brains in.

Grim, however, was delighted with the entire sport and had announced his desire to be in the Spelldrive club as soon as it became a possibility. Which meant that I had to choose between spending at least an hour every week watching a sport or I could spend the rest of my NRC experience listening to Grim whine and complain about how I was ruining his chance to be the best, most famous mage EVER.

I picked the former. Obviously. And the practice wasn’t all bad. Watching people play around with magic is cool, and Jack stops by when he gets back from his track and field club. I can’t tell if he likes me or if he’s just being nice because he thinks he owes me one for helping to save his housewarden from an inky fate, but he’s pleasant to be around, so I’ll take the win.

My official position in the Spelldrive club seems to more or less be ‘benchwarmer.’ Which makes sense, since it’s not like I can actually play the game. Not that that stops Leona from making me run through the drills at the beginning of practice. I’m just lucky he doesn’t make me run laps while everyone else is playing.

I swing my legs, leaning back on the bench to stretch my back. The air is warm and almost muggy, though that doesn’t bother me much. I’ve always preferred it warm to cold. Even with my eyes off the practice game, I can still pretty much tell what’s going on- Leona’s constantly scolding poor players or yelling instructions from the sidelines. I’d consider his lack of actual participation to be laziness, except that on the rare times he does participate, he dominates pretty much everyone on the field.

The sound of footsteps makes me look up. Jack, dressed in his PE gear and mopping sweat off with a towel, approaches my bench.

“How’s it going?” he asks, stopping once he’s close enough to speak comfortably.

“I dunno. I think Leona’s getting annoyed at some first years.” I pass him a water bottle from my stash and Jack chugs half the thing in one go.

“He’s always annoyed at first years,” Jack says. His eyes scan the field and his ears prick at attention. “They’re not coordinating at all. They’ll never play like a pack if they don’t start paying attention to each other.”

“Sure,” I agree amiably enough. He probably knows what he’s talking about. “Grim’s probably not helping. I like that little fuzzball, but he’s got an ego on him.”

“Yes,” Jack agrees. He folds his arms over his chest and stares out critically toward the field. I do the same, until my head starts to prickle. I follow the feeling and find Jack staring at me.

“What?”

Jack snorts, ears and tail twitching. “You’re good at controlling Grim and those other two. Maybe you could help bring the team together.”

I raise my eyebrows. “Okay, one, I wrangle Grim. I don’t control him, and I certainly don’t control Ace or Deuce. Sometimes I can get them all on the same path, but it’s not like I’m managing a whole group of them. Second, no magic, so no Spelldrive. And third, even if I had magic, I wouldn’t be playing. I hate sports.”

Jack frowns. “All sports?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” I shrug. “Never liked any of them. I did running for, like. Six months once, and that really sucked. I was awful at it.”

Jack gives me a once-over. “You need to build your strength up. You’re not…” His expression screws up and he stops.

“Glad you’re wise enough not to end that sentence,” I say, mostly joking. Like I could ever actually get the jump on Jack.

His tail whips back and forth. “I meant you’re not very physically active. If you started doing morning jogs with me, you would get better.”

“I appreciate the offer,” I say, mostly to be nice, “but I’m already spending most of my time studying to try and catch up on all the information I don’t know about here. I need all the sleep I can get.” It’s not totally a lie, but I am omitting the fact that I consider forcing someone to get up at sunrise to work out to be a form of torture. Jack accepts the answer, though.

We watch the spelldrive match in silence for a few moments. Grim manages to get ahold of the disc, only to promptly fire it halfway down the field toward the opposing goal. Grim’s aim is apparently off, because the disc careens in an arc before plowing straight into the ground. Even across the field, I can hear Leona’s aggravated sigh.

“So, is that a foul?” I ask Jack.

“Yeah. Grounding the disc is a foul, hitting a goalpost hard enough to do damage is a foul, and serious injury is a foul.” He counts them off on his fingers. “And using non-regulation-approved spells, too, but freshmen haven’t learned anything like that yet.”

“And getting the disc through the hoops is a score,” I say. “Like basketball.”

“But the number of points varies on the hoop you get it through instead of how far you are from the basket,” Jack says. “That’s why players usually focus on the topmost hoop, since it’s worth the most points.”

The disc goes whizzing down the field again. This time, it’s snagged by another player who makes for the opposing team’s goal. They’re cut off by Ruggie, dangling off his broom, who fires off three spells in quick succession. The player dodges them, but his attacks have served their purpose- they drive him straight into a purple-haired player, who’s wearing the same team colors as Ruggie. The purple-haired student grabs the disc in his magic and starts in the opposite direction down the field.

He’s made it most of the way to the opposing goal, expertly weaving past spells on his broom, when Grim blasts a fireball toward him. The student tries to pull up on his broom, but another student swings by to take the disc back and the purple-haired student course-corrects to protect his hold on it. He succeeds in dodging the other student, but does not succeed in steading his broom, and goes spiraling into the ground.

I wince at the dull thud and play grinds to a halt. Fortunately, the purple-haired student is already clambering to his feet, apparently unharmed, if also rather pissed. “Do people get hurt a lot playing this game?” I ask.

“Sometimes,” Jack says. “Usually things are enchanted to prevent the worst accidents- no one has died from playing spelldrive in a long time.”

“Huh,” I mutter. “I guess that means they’re doing better than football.”

One of Jack’s ears twitches toward me. “People don’t die playing football?”

I blink. “I mean, they do sometimes- from the brain injuries when they tackle people.”

Jack stares at me. “People don’t tackle each other in football.”

“Yeah, they do. That’s part of the whole-” I pause. “Wait. Are you talking about the game where people kick a black-and-white ball down a field and into a net to score goals?”

He nods. “Yeah. That’s football. What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about American football. That’s, uh. Football everywhere else, I guess.”

Jack’s ears twitch. “American football? Is America… something from your world?”

“Yeah. It’s where I’m from.” Jack looks mildly interested, so I continue. “It’s the big sport in my country. It involves two teams and they’re trying to shoot the ball to other ends of the field to make a touchdown. Maybe they have something similar here?”

“I’ve never heard of anything like it,” Jack says.

 I consider that. Football is only played in America, pretty much, right? Maybe it’s similarly restricted here, only in one country and other people haven’t heard of it. Or maybe it’s not known here at all.  “It’s a popular sport in the country I’m from, but I guess it’s not particularly widespread at home either.” I snag a stick from the ground and start scratching lines in the dirt. “Uh, so you have two big goals at either side of the field, and you have this egg-shaped ball-”

Jack listens attentively as I struggle to map out the basic game. Unfortunately, I’m realizing exactly how much I understand the rules of football. Which is very little.

“Uh. So. You’re kind of trying to move the ball down the field by throwing it and then running, and the other team tries to stop you,” I say, sketching out lines. Jack crouches next to my drawing, ears pricked at attention.

“They tackle you to stop you,” he clarifies. I nod.

“Yeah, and- Oh crap.” Jack turns to look at what I’ve already seen- a flailing Grim held at arm’s length by the scruff of his neck by Ruggie. “What happened?”

Ruggie opens his hand and Grim drops to the ground, then scrambles over to me and burrows into my side sulkily. “He’s benched,” Ruggie says by way of explanation.

Grim puffs up like a sea urchin. “I didn’t do nothin’ wrong! The goal was open so I took a shot-”

“You’re on defense. You’re not supposed to be taking shots.” Ruggie’s annoyed demeanor cracks a little, his sly smile appearing on his face. “Sheeheehee, though it was funny to see the look on Leona’s face when the disc nearly hit him.”

“You almost hit Leona?” I say, frowning at Grim. He stomps one of his paws.

“He was close to the goal! If he’d been standin’ even another couple of feet to the left-”

“How many times are we going to have to go over this?” I groan. “You gotta watch out for people and things with your magic.” Grim huffs, tail waving in irritation. “Sorry about that, Ruggie. And tell Leona I’m sorry too.”

“He doesn’t care,” Ruggie shrugs. He catches sight of my rudimentary drawing and frowns. “What’s that?”

“Gray’s trying to explain American football to me,” Jack says. “Have you ever heard of it?” It strikes me as a bit silly that he’s asking it, since it wouldn’t be called ‘American’ football here, but then again, I’ve been surprised by weird similarities before.

Ruggie shrugs. “Nah. But I never followed sports much, so I maybe wouldn’t have heard of it.” He bends over to get a closer look. “What’s with all the Xs and Os?”

“So, the X team is defending right now and the O team is advancing,” I explain. In all honesty, I’m not sure what they represent. I just saw football diagrams with Xs and Os in them.

“Football’s a kind of war game, then?” Ruggie says. “That’s interesting. What kind of spells are allowed?”

“No, there’s no magic allowed. You have to get the ball to the end of the field, and you do that by throwing it to other teammates-” I launch into the explanation a second time, trying to keep straight everything I already told Jack. I fumble over the rules a few times, which Jack immediately jumps on, and then I have to wrack my brain to remember the exact rules.

Practice ends as we’re talking, or I assume it does because people stop flying or running around and start leaving. After a few more minutes, I’m aware of someone sidling closer and closer. Then I’m aware that it’s Leona. It reminds me of a cat, the way he casually strides closer, occasionally pausing and glancing around like he’s just happening to come our way, and is perfectly content to go elsewhere if a better opportunity presents itself.

“If the ball hits the ground then the teams swap from defending to attacking?” Ruggie asks. I sigh.

“Um, not exactly- there are things called downs? First down, second down, third down, and fourth down. It references the amount of yards you travel, I think, and if you get a certain distance, you can start there when the ball stops moving.” I’m not totally sure what I’m saying is right, but I suppose it doesn’t matter. Grim perches on my head, peering down at the drawing.

“And you score through getting the ball through the big goals at either side?” he says. “Doesn’t seem that hard. They’re way bigger than the hoops.”

“You actually just have to run it across the end zone, which is the zone the goals are in,” I say, drawing it out. “But you can also kick the ball to get a field goal, but that’s hard because the field’s so big. And when you score, you get an opportunity to kick the ball, which can go through the goal and that earns you an extra point-”

There’s a huff and I glance up. Leona is closer, leaning down over the drawing. He snorts again. “Are all the games where you’re from so complicated?”

“Not all of them,” I say. “And I admittedly don’t understand this one that much.”

Leona snorts, leaning forward so his elbow is resting on Ruggie’s head. “That’s not surprising, herbivore.” I roll my eyes. Leona’s prickly by both nature and habit, and he snipes far more easily than anyone else I’ve met on campus. I don’t like it, but it’s at least reassuring to know exactly how he feels about me. Too many people here are conniving enough to be cruel with a smile- Leona’s at least got the decency to do it with a frown.

“Have you ever heard of American football, Leona?” Jacks asks. He’s the picture of respect toward his upperclassman, though I’ve told him several times that there’s nothing to respect.

“Nah. Never.” Leona shrugs. His gaze sweeps critically over the diagram. “If it’s called football, how come people are always throwing the ball?”

I make my voice as deliberately mysterious as I can. “No one knows.”

Leona rolls his eyes. “Whatever. Here.” He shoves something at me and I fumble under its weight- it takes me a moment to realize it’s the spelldrive gear bag.

“What do I need this for?” I ask, startled. Leona gives me a condescending look.

“You’re supposed to be part of this club. If you’re not going to play, you’re going to at least help haul the gear back where it belongs.” I resist the urge to groan. If this school is so jazzed on magic, how come we have to put things away by hand? If I had magic, cleaning spells would be the first thing I’d master.

Grim snickers on my shoulder, only to fall silent when Leona glares at him. “Don’t think you’re getting off so easy, weasel. You’re helping to clean up the field. Ruggie’s in charge.” An evil grin immediately spreads over Ruggie’s face. I can’t help but think I’ve just gotten the better end of the deal.

“I’ll show you where the sports equipment goes,” Jack offers. I nod at him in thanks and hand a protesting Grim over to Ruggie. His complaints echo down the field as Jack and I start hauling the equipment away. I glance back at the diagram to see Leona studying it, tail swaying lazily behind him, before he huffs and lounges out on the bench, hands behind his head. Despite his obvious lack of care for the drawing, he doesn’t bother to brush it away. It’s still there when I return for the next spelldrive practice.

(Though, I don’t know if it’s there for any longer than that- after two weeks straight of cleaning the field under Ruggie’s supervision, Grim quits the Spelldrive club in a shower of sparks and heads off to start his own club. I can’t say I’m not relieved.)

Read the next chapter here.

[chericherixo]

Could you do like a fluff fic about Mattheo bugging y/n during class? But like he's just being silly goofy and eventually y/n humours him once they're given time to work. Thank you!!

Ofc!! I love that thank you :) I kind of got carried away so I'll probably write a sequel, and I'm sorry if Mattheo isn't as edgy as he usually is but hope you like it!

Danish [fluff]

- Classmates/Acquaintances - Reader's house not mentioned --Read the Request Above!--

It was your first class of the day, and you were already feeling your lack of sleep from the night before. You trudged to your seat and set your books down on the corner of the table. The only good thing that you could see was Mattheo's absence.

You felt relived as you bent over to grab a pencil from your bag. When you sat back up though, Mattheo was sitting annoyingly close, with a stupid smirk on his face.

"Dammit! When did you get here?" You yelped, startled.

"I just sat down, were you worried about me?"

"Never." You said disgusted and turned your attention to the front of the room as the professor walked in. He started talking about transfigurations, but try as you might to focus, you couldn't help but notice Mattheo's shameless stare towards you.

You snapped your head to look at him, "Can you stop fucking staring at me? Is there something wrong?" You whispered harshly,

"Sorry." He said but didn't turn his gaze away. You scoffed and shifted in your seat uncomfortably. After a few moments, he whispered in your ear.

"What'd you have for breakfast? Because I tried those new danishes and they were- amazing." He practically moaned in your ear.

"Oh my god Mattheo- why did you do that?"

"What? They were really good." He sat back in his chair with a hurt expression on his face. You rolled your eyes as he made another comment, "So? What did you have for breakfast?"

"Um- nothing. I kind of lost track of time before class, I'll get something later." He was silent for a moment.

"I have danish left; it's all wrapped nicely and everything. Do you want it?"

"Knowing you, you probably put a love potion in it, with how much you seem to want my attention."

He scoffed, "I'm offering you the last of my stash of the most delicious pastry I've ever had the pleasure of tasting, and you still treat me like this?" He covered his mouth with his hand and pretended to cry.

"Would you shut up- we'll get in tr-"

"Miss l/n! Care to explain why you're disrupting my teaching so- loudly?"

"I'm sorry professor, it won't happen again." Your face flushed with embarrassment as Mattheo snickered to the right of you.

For the rest of the lesson, you stared directly at the front and ignored any attempt of Mattheo to distract you. After awhile, the professor gave the class time to work.

He stared down at the desk, "I don't know why I'm in this class, I mean- you're way smarter than me. I guess because my dad expects me to be the top of my class. As soon as he finds out my grade is slipping- he'll probably pull me out." Your face turned concerned at his sudden confession. "I'm sorry for getting you in trouble, it's not your fault I can't focus."

"Thanks.. it's okay. Maybe I'll try a danish tomorrow, if they're as good as you say."

"They are!" As Mattheo was about to say something, the teacher passed back the tests you had taken the week before. Yours landed on the table showing a solid A+, whereas Mattheo's was covered in red ink and marked with a D-. He cringed at the sight of his grade.

"I mean- you didn't fail?" He scoffed,

"Anything below an A is failing for my father." Then, his eyes widened, "What if tutored me?" He said suddenly,

"Would you even listen?" You said, yet not totally shutting down the idea.

"Yes, yes I would. Especially if it's you- I don't know why, but I can actually focus on what you're saying. So, please?"

"..Ok. But if your grade doesn't improve, I don't want to waste my time."

"I'll pay you- I know you're busy."

"I- ok." You agreed to Mattheo's proposal. 'Why am I agreeing to this? Maybe it's because, whether I'd like to admit it or not, he's stupidly charming.' You thought.

The bell rang and Mattheo gathered his things, "I'll see tomorrow?"

"Yea, sounds good." You smiled softly, "Library?"

"Mhm." I waved and walked out of the classroom, leaving you with a blush and a smile that you couldn't wipe of your face.

(pt 2??)

[pikachu78109]

More Modern!TCODC Headcanons because I’m bored :p

((I don’t have a list for each character; it’s all kind of random. Let me know if y’all are interested in some modern day AU Caligari Ask Blog if you wanna see these dudes in a modern interpretation))

Jane, Francis, and Alan get together for a Friday movie night and is always held at Francis and Alan’s apartment. Francis goes out and gets snacks while Alan cozies up the living room. These three tend to bicker about what genre to watch (Francis like both action and horror, Alan is a romcom fella, and Jane adores historical dramas). They end up playing rock-paper-scissors to decide. Francis tends to hog the popcorn bowl whereas Alan and Jane tend to nitpick on the film’s writing (they both have the writer’s eye), much to Francis’ annoyance.

Jane lives in the dormitory at the college she attends. Occupies it herself and it’s decked out with various posters from plays, musicals, and other theatrical productions. Has quite the plushie collection and keeps most of her manga/novels/writing journals on her desk or crammed into her college shelves.

Jane is not that organized but she can easily find things without trouble.

Francis and Alan live off campus and commute to classes.

Cesare doesn’t attend college due to his condition and because his guardians, Caligari and that other young doctor from the film, has him do stuff such as community work or exercises to improve his health (mental and physical).

Caligari has his own reasons for parading Cesare around, usually to fuel his notoriety and ego as a doctor. Gets jealous very easily and commands Cesare to either sabotage or “take out” his competition.

The other doctor, whom I’m gonna call Mathias, cares about Cesare’s health and worries a good deal about him. Wants him to interact with people and encourages Cesare to make friends, such as Jane. Caligari HEAVILY disapproves of this.

Mathias tends to let Cesare have a bit more freedom and allows him to go out and do things on his own, y’know, building up independence while Caligari isn’t present.

Jane and Cesare are pretty good friends, though people often mistake them as a couple. Both of them shut that down immediately.

I imagine Cesare’s demeanor that of Cinnamoroll from Hello Kitty when around Jane: sweet, shy, helpful, and overall kind. Jane is a blend of My Melody and Pompompurin.

Francis and Cesare do not get along. Francis thinks Cesare is a love rival and Cesare keeps getting annoyed by this. Their common greeting is a middle finger. Alan gets on fine with Cesare, though is admittedly intimidated by him.

Whenever Caligari and Mathias aren’t around in the evenings, Cesare sneaks out and wanders around the neighborhood in the dark, wearing his headphones and listens to music. He might not own a phone, but he has a CD player and owns a couple of CD’s that Jane has given to him with songs she picked out for him to listen to. Cesare likes to go to the park and sit on the swings and just…zone out.

Dr. Olsen and Caligari do not get along. They don’t tend to see things eye to eye and have had hour long debates which resulted in a few fists being swung.

Alan may be soft spoken, but the boy can SPIT. Try him at slam poetry and you’ll be surprised.

Adding on to being soft-spoken, Alan has a Podcast where he narrates bedtime stories and conspiracy theories about nonsense in a calming delivery. Has a good following.

Francis gets up at ungodly hours and goes on runs. He sometimes bumps into Cesare and these two will just stare at each other like two alley cats.

Cesare has a sensitive stomach, so he can’t eat anything high sugar, anything caffeinated, contain high amounts of sodium, etc. He’s kept on a nutrition plan that Caligari constructed himself.

Gonna say it: Caligari is an almond parent.

Cesare has gotten a couple of admirers, though he’s oblivious to it.

To be honest, Cesare is scared of romance altogether. Like, out of all the people in this universe, why him?

Unlike Francis and Alan, Jane doesn’t have a job. Where Francis works part-time in retail and Alan at a café, Jane does editing work on commission. Her parents send her money once a month to help with tuition, but Jane wants to earn money by utilizing her writing skills in her little freelance business.

Cesare usually lingers at the local psych ward with other patients. He’s typically with Marlene (the woman who was “playing” the piano) and Claudia (woman with the doll) as they are the calmest patients there. Cesare doesn’t stay at the ward; he goes home with either Caligari or Mathias (usually with Caligari, poor guy).

On rare occasions, Francis, Alan, Jane, and Cesare meet up and do stuff as a group whether it’s hanging out at the park, or at a nearby café, or just casually walking around.

[jadedandconfusedao3]

Professor of the Year

For the next few weeks, Regulus continued to avoid Remus, so it took him a while to realise that Remus was avoiding him.

Breakfasts, lunches and dinners were all occasions where their interaction was tempered by other people. Remus had attended and made small talk when addressed but when the meal was over, he disappeared. He had only noticed Remus was also absent because after lunch one day, he had been held up by Draco with questions about their next lesson with Buckbeak. When the conversation had finished and he finally looked up to find Remus, obviously to figure out which exit to escape from, he was gone.

He had thought it was strange at the time but didn’t think anything more of it until a week later when he got caught by Harry in a corridor, and Remus swept passed to collect Harry without so much as a second glance. The opportunity to show him his new Patronus was now apparently gone. Regulus hated to admit it, but he secretly lived for Remus’s quiet determination to get his attention and without it he felt a trifle bereft.

Instead, he sulked as he listened to Severus and Lily go on about whatever magical phenomenon, they were exploring that particular week. They really were in tune intellectually in a way that he had no motivation to participate in. They both seemed to live for work whereas he much preferred to work so that he could live. His meagre income was currently spent on alcohol and books to while away his free hours. He much preferred the comfort of a quiet nook with a good view and a novel to the latest treatise on potions.

He felt lost, lonely and without purpose.

By the time the start of February had rolled around, he was well and truly in a funk. Lily had tried her best to bring him out of it with kind words and offers for him to join her and Severus in whatever they were doing, but none of it really helped. He just ended up sitting with a book on the periphery of wherever they were, listening with half an ear.

“These class results are very impressive Lily,” Snape drawled. “You might actually have a chance at winning the bonus this year.”

Regulus jerked his head up. “Bonus?”

Severus treated him to a surprised look as though he had completely forgotten he was there. “The Professor with the highest average class marks in the year gets a five hundred galleon bonus.”

Lily placed a hand on Severus’s arm giving him a proud smile. “Sev has gotten the bonus for that last five years running.”

Regulus raised an eyebrow at Severus. “I wonder how much of that is due to your policy of only allowing students with Outstanding grades to take your OWL and NEWT level classes.”

Severus raised his nose in the air before replying snarkily, “Potions is a dangerous class, and it is not safe to have students who do not earn their keep.”

“Right,” Regulus commented, “It has absolutely nothing to do with the money.”

Severus began to bristle as Lily lay back down and crossed her hands behind her head. “It doesn’t matter. I’m taking out the crown this year, just you watch.”

Severus scoffed. “You can try.”

For the first time in months, a glimmer of hope ignited in Regulus’s stomach. If he got this bonus, he would finally have enough money to have his dark mark removed. He could be free. Free from the man who destroyed his life in every way possible. Free from the reminder of what he’d done and who he’d betrayed. Free from the pain that ached every waking moment.

He wanted it more than anything.

Tapping his wand against the side of his head he asked, “When exactly is this bonus assessed and rewarded?”

Severus gave him a knowing look. “June, once the final exams are completed.”

Regulus stood closing his book with a snap full of drive for the first time in years. “If you’ll please excuse me.”

He moved toward the door only for Lily to call out. “Don’t expect me to make this easy on you Reggie! I’ve been working toward this all year!”

He paused at the door to look back at her. “I would never have expected otherwise."

Read the rest on Ao3

[namujoon9401]

Yes, Sir

prof namjoon x OC

Haseul was failing English. 

Well, not really. In fact, she was pretty decent at it. But her performance was too good.

 And her professor was too hot. 

Therefore, she had to pretend to fail so that she could sit in on his tutoring lessons. Maybe even get a one on one. 

“This is a terrible idea.”  Her friend, Jaehee, says through a mouthful of fried rice. 

“Think about it, unnie. If I'm doing well in class, there’s no reason for me to go to his office hours. Whereas if I'm doing badly ....”

Haseul gestures for Jaehee to finish the sentence, eyebrows waggling. The other girl just rolls her eyes. 

“You’re just horny for your hot professor.”

“And so what if I am?” 

Because her English professor happened to be one of the hottest guys she had ever seen. 

Professor Kim Namjoon was tall and solidly built, with honey golden skin, a nice jaw, and prominent dimples that showed whenever he smiled or laughed. 

To put it simply, he was gorgeous. 

Add to that his incredible intellect and you’ve got a certified hunk on your hands. 

Haseul was determined to get a piece of that. 

And so her plan was set in motion. 

📚📚📚📚📚

The class is getting grades back after a particularly important exam. 

“Lee Haseul.”

A thrill runs through her body as she sits up, ramrod straight. She already knows what he’s about to say, the anticipation swirling in her chest. 

“Yes?” 

The silvery blonde man’s eyes, shaded behind glasses, pin her in place with a stern, disappointed look. Those eyes…

Haseul shivers. 

“See me after class.”

…

Haseul is practically vibrating in her seat by the time the end of class rolls around. 

She makes her way to the front of the room where Professor Kim is sitting at his desk. 

She takes a moment to admire his profile as he talks to another student for a moment. His lips are moving (God those lips… plush and pillowy and such a nice muted pink) but she’s not hearing a word he says. 

He finishes up and turns to her. 

“Haseul-ssi.” 

He rifles through the papers on his messy desk before pulling out her exam. A big fat red forty five sits on the front page. 

“You did rather poorly on your exam. Forty five percent? What happened?”

She shrugs, trying to come up with a reason. “This chapter was hard. I couldn’t remember the grammar rules.”

He frowns at her, and she valiantly tries to school her expression into one of remorse.

God, he’s hot when he’s disappointed. 

“Well, you need to start applying yourself. Maybe you should attend my office hours. Mondays and Wednesdays from 1-4pm.” 

She nods dumbly, mind buzzing with the words office hours and teeming with the possibilities of all the slutty outfits she could wear. 

“Yes, sir.” 

📚📚📚📚

By the time Monday rolls around, Haseul has formulated her master plan. 

She picks out her shortest pleated skirt, a sweater vest, and knee high socks. 

The brunette looks in the mirror, fluffing her hair.

She looks okay, she decides. A cute and sexy okay.

And sure, maybe the skirt leaves a little bit of ass to hang out, but it’s all in good fun. Right? 

📚📚📚📚📚📚

Today, the professor is wearing a white button down that's just a bit too small for him. 

As a result, the buttons are straining, and the sleeves (which are rolled up to the elbow!) are tight on his biceps. Paired with the well-fitting black slacks and the glasses perched on his nose, he looked positively delectable.

He clears his throat. “Haseul.”

“Yes?”

“Are you even listening to a single thing I'm saying?”

She found herself with her hands under her chin, staring at the professor’s soft-looking lips, rather than following along.

“Of course.”

“Well then,” Professor Kim sits up and slides a sheet of paper to her. “Can you complete this worksheet? I’d like to see if you are still having a hard time with this lesson before I move on to the next one.”

Haseul smiles. “Sure.”

Easy, she thinks. She’s only been faking not knowing anything so she could get here, in front of her hot professor.

Maybe he’ll finally notice how cute and sexy she is.

As she works, she sneaks a few glances at her professor. He’s quietly grading papers at his desk, blissfully unaware of Haseul’s gaze upon him.

He runs his hand through his dark hair. Haseul’s breath hitches. 

When she finishes, she walks up to him and hands him the worksheet. He checks the work for a moment, scanning each answer carefully, and marks it with a ninety.

“Good job, Haseul-ssi. I knew you’d be able to apply yourself with a little extra help.”

She nods, expecting him to say something more.

“You’re free to go.”

Wait, what?

“Oh-“ She shifts in her seat. “We’re done for today?”

“Yes,” he says, completely oblivious to Haseul’s disappointment. “I mean, unless you would like to start the next lesson today.”

“That’s okay,” she forces a smile. “Thank you for your help.”

He nods, smiling, dimples on full display. “Of course. I’ll see you next class.”

📚📚📚📚

“He didn’t even notice!” Haseul groans, flopping facedown onto her bed.

Aki, her roommate, laughs. 

“Maybe he’s gay.”

She quickly gets up, stopping inches from Aki's face.

“Don't you say that.” She hisses, eyes narrowed. 

“He's an English professor, for fuck’s sake. He’s probably at least bi.”

She groans, flopping back onto the bed. Aki pulls out her phone, takes a picture. 

“Delete that.” Haseul says, muffled. 

Aki ignores her. “Caption: Haseul when her efforts of hoeing herself out have failed.” she types on her phone. 

The brunette sits up. “You better not post that.”

She laughs. “Relax, I’m not.”

Haseul sighs. ”Thank god.”

“It’s just going on my Close Friends.” Aki hops up off the bed and runs out of the room.

“Shit, wait!”

Aki’s laughs heartily as she shuts the door and runs away.

After that, things go about as you would expect. 

She gets a bad grade on an assignment. She attends his office hours. She flirts as boldly as she can. Professor Kim doesn’t notice. She gets frustrated. Rinse and repeat. 

(“He wore sweat shorts today.” She sighs, dreamy.

Jaehee just groans.)

She decides to up the ante. She touches his arm at any chance she gets, laughs at all his jokes, even sits on his desk in those short skirts from time to time. 

And over and over again, he remains school appropriate. Office appropriate, even. 

Even though she could swear that she's caught his eyes lingering on the too-high hem of her skirt a few times, that she’s caught him blushing a few times.

 But it’s probably all in her head. Wishful thinking. 

Right?

📚📚📚📚

(His office hours are over, no one else is there except for the two of them.)

Namjoon crowds her against the desk, close enough to where he’s almost pressing up against her. His steely gray eyes are intense, pinning her in place. 

“You think I don't know what you’re doing?” His voice is low, deep and rich as he looks down at her. 

“Wh-what are you talking about?” she squeaks. 

Her heart is pounding, knees weak. She can feel the body heat radiating from his chest, the warmth of him leaning over her. 

“You think I'm so oblivious, don’t you?” 

Calloused fingers lift her chin so she’s forced to meet his eyes, lingering there. 

“Parading around in your tiny little skirts, flirting so blatantly. I didn’t know you were so depraved, really.” he chuckles, dark. 

Oh god. 

”I’ll bet you don’t even need tutoring. You probably just came here to ogle me, huh?”

Shock pours down her spine like ice. At the way her eyes widen, he scoffs.

“I’m right, aren't I? Ridiculous.” 

His eyes scan her face, scanning for any semblance of shame. All he finds is shock. 

“It would be even more ridiculous if it wasn’t working,” he murmurs. 

What? 

“P-Professor Kim…” she stumbles over the name, mouth suddenly dry.

“I’m attracted to you. That’s what you wanted to hear, isn’t it?”

Holy shit.

She can hardly believe her ears.

“And I have a feeling you’re not exactly… opposed.” The man smirks, the corners of his lips turning up. 

Wait. 

“You mean you- you want- I mean, you-“ she stammers, thoughts a jumbled mess.

He releases the grip on her chin. 

“What can I say, Haseul-ssi?” Namjoon laughs softly. “I like you. You’re smart, and funny. And… not too bad looking either.” His eyes rake over her body as he says that last part, making her blush all over again. 

My God. 

Hearing him say her name like that…

“You…” She struggles to recover. “You like me?” she parrots, mouth agape like a dead fish as the information floods her brain.

He likes her? Like likes her?  

She was so focused on getting him to like her…

She hadn’t quite figured out what she would do once she got there. 

And hearing him actually say it? Surreal. Haseul is still not sure if she’s dreaming. 

She’d fantasized about this moment many times, but this? Haseul was floored.

And, more importantly, hopelessly turned on. 

A hand slides up her thigh, thumb dangerously close to the hem of her skirt. 

He leans in even more, lips brushing her ear.

“You’ll have to keep it a secret, baby.” He croons, deliciously low and raspy.

God.

A full body shiver runs through her, lashes fluttering. 

She can feel herself flushing, her body temperature rising as he presses ever closer.

Namjoon’s hand stays firmly parked on her thigh, fingers pressing divots into the soft flesh. His other hand comes up to tuck her hair behind her ear, a soft gesture that makes her open her eyes. 

When had she closed them?

Namjoon presses a thumb to her bottom lip, slowly pressing in just the slightest bit. 

Her breath hitches. His eyes are lidded, glittering with desire. She could drown in those eyes…

He’s so close, now, that she can feel the body heat radiating off of him, his large frame looming over her. 

She grabs the hand that's on her face. 

There’s barely inches of space between them, and Haseul wants nothing more than for him to-

“Kiss me,” she breathes.

He leans in, closing the distance, and Haseul closes her eyes again, this time for a kiss.

One that never comes. 

She opens her eyes, brows knitted in confusion, just in time to see him pull away, clearly trying not to laugh.

“You-” she starts, but he cuts her off. 

“What? You didn’t think I'd give it to you that easily, did you?”

He leans in again, voice dropping to a low murmur.

“You’ll have to work for it, baby.” 

Oh. 

Haseul blinks. If she wasn’t flushed before, she certainly is now. The hot swirl of sensation in the pit of her stomach surges, her core temperature rising. 

Professor Kim steps back, turning away as he starts to pack up for the day. 

He turns to her, almost as an afterthought.

“Come back to mine?”

📚📚📚📚

Namjoon’s apartment is modest, a nice two bedroom with lots of artsy touches. 

She’d ask for a tour if she wasn’t so preoccupied with the older man and the way he keeps touching her. 

It started innocently enough, just curling an arm around her waist or trailing a finger down her neck.

But those eyes… they promised much more. 

By the time Namjoon’s fumbling with his shoes once they’re inside, it feels like she’s been turned on for hours, that hot tingling sensation swirling through her every time they make eye contact. 

“What you said, earlier. About me having to work for it,” she starts.

He hums. 

“How do I do that?”

“Well, it depends.” 

He puts his shoes away, suddenly turning to her, laser focused.  

“Are you willing to be good for me?” He says. His eyes have that look again, hooded and dark and glittering with the hidden promise of something more. 

Oh fuck. 

So it's like that? 

Haseul can't say she's too familiar with this kind of dynamic, apart from having read Fifty Shades when she was sixteen (and her mom found out and tore her a new one).

She nods, throat suddenly dry. 

Sensing her apprehension, Namjoon motions her over to the couch. She sits nervously. He grabs her hand, lacing their fingers together as he smiles softly. 

She musters up her courage, channeling every ounce of bravery she was born with. She takes a shaky breath. 

“Give me one for free?” she bats her eyelashes at him, feigning innocence. 

She catches a flash of something on his face, something heavy and domineering, and before she can move Namjoon is on her. 

The kiss is tender at first, soft and sweet. Haseul’s mind goes blank, nothing but a pleasant buzz filling her head. 

Their lips meet again and again, deep and hungry and open-mouthed. She can’t get enough of him, the way he presses in insistently, sliding warm hands down her sides, her hips, the backs of her thighs.

Haseul dips back in, chasing the taste of him, red wine and dark chocolate on the back of her tongue.

She can’t help it, she makes this helpless breathless noise, not loud enough to be a moan but definitely halfway there. 

His eyes flicker open and- God, they’re dark, gaze heavy and glittering with desire. 

“So pretty, baby,” he says, low and smooth and God, if that doesn't make her want to do something, anything, as long as it ends with her under him. 

They kiss until he’s pressing her back into the sofa, hovering over her. 

He breaks the kiss just to look down at her, nothing but want in that heated gaze. 

“God you're- so hot,” she gasps between kisses. He just chuckles softly. 

His hand is back on her thigh, now, the other one supporting his weight.

His fingers trail down her thigh, feather light, just a whisper of a touch, the tease making her squirm.

She’s unreasonably turned on, she feels, way too keyed up considering all they've done is kiss a little bit.

Every touch feels like it's being amplified by a hundred, every brush of Namjoon’s lips sends shockwaves through her system.

Their lips meet again, deeper, him licking insistently into her mouth, drinking her down. 

He breaks the kiss to tilt her jaw to the side, trails his lips down the column of her throat, pausing to suck a mark into the side of her neck.

Her breath hitches, shivering at the sensation. Her belly clenches, blood running hot through her system.  Haseul clings to him, arms wrapping around his neck as her breath comes shorter, mouth slack. 

And god, if it doesn’t absolutely fucking undo her to see him like this, eyes lidded, chest heaving, hair mussed, lips red and swollen and spit-slick. Looking at her like- like he's a predator, pinning her under that gaze. 

Haseul has never wanted anything more in her life. 

He leans back and she whines, suddenly feeling like she’ll die if she doesn’t get his hands on her at that exact moment. 

“Shhhh, baby.” He whispers. “M’ not going anywhere.” 

She huffs, about to drag him back down when his hands go to his chest, slowly starting to unbutton the first few buttons of his dress shirt. 

Oh. 

Oh shit. 

Because Lee Haseul is in no way prepared for the sight of Kim Namjoon’s naked chest. 

Judging by the smirk on the older man’s face, he knows exactly what he’s doing as he ever so slowly undoes the buttons, veined hands working deftly to reveal flashes of golden honey skin. 

It almost feels wrong, somehow, feels too obscene to see this with her own eyes. 

Kim Namjoon is a vision, she thinks, dazed. 

His body is toned, well muscled but not a crazy amount.

He shrugs off the shirt, tossing it to drape over the back of the couch. 

It's only then that Haseul realizes she’s still wearing the damn sweater vest. She quickly takes it off, leaving on her own dress shirt underneath.  

Under his watchful gaze, her hands go to the collar of her own shirt, unbuttoning button after button, until she’s left in nothing but her bra and the offending skirt. 

His eyes rake over her body in a way that makes her cheeks heat. 

“Bed.” he rasps.

[elfboyeros]

The Cult Vesperine

Hey, welcome/welcome back if you have read my Lloyd x OC content before, I hope you are happy to see Corlette again. The last little story I did was Lloyd confessing his feelings because I was in that headspace but now I am ready to tackle their meeting and Corlette saving from her little cult endeavors.

We are talking about sacrificing and death a little bit and organized religion.

 SPEAKING OF RELIGION! I am NOT attempting to bad-mouth organized religion, I am not making a statement about religion or the Christian system, any parallels are simply because the most well-known nuns are often linked with the Christian faith. Whereas I am not religious and have no history with faith in general,  but if you are Religious in any regard and do not like the fact that I will be writing about a cult that makes mention of a fictional god (Literally a god I have made up) and uses a system similar to the sisterhood of nuns that often found in Christianity that may do some human sacrificing, you can make your exit, I write this is good-faith and dispute not talking a religious class in college I have taken a class on Serial Killers, and we briefly touch on murdering cults, so this isn’t even a one to one of Religious cults.

Anyway, sorry for the long note, please enjoy!

“Do not mess with my girls!”

It sounds quite predatory coming from a man of a religious cloth who is much older than a large percentage of his body of worship. Especially when the “my girls” is how you refer to the nuns.

But it’s also more than that. He’s not telling Lloyd to stay away from the cloister, Father Laurent is telling the green ninja to stay away from one nun specially.

Sister Clover or Corlette Esper.

The bisque-skinned woman around his age, with thick green hair that flows out of her headdress. The only nun taking care of him ever since he ended up on the steps of the church injured from whatever battle he had just escaped.

Hah! Don’t mess with Corlette. Oh, that sounds like a challenge, and Lloyd is up for a little challenge, while in the house of what is looking more in more like a cult.

Simply because meeting her was interesting enough to want to continue knowing. She was gentle and soft, tending to him with such care, engaging in light banter with him as he watched her wrap his wounds, inquiring about his odd scars and seeming willing to listen to his stories. Yet, she often looked dejected and sad.

Now here he is a few weeks since arriving laying in the grass of a darkening courtyard after learning some interesting things from Zane. Replaying his conversation with the ice nindroid over and over in his head.

“They are worshipping a god that is known for curing illness and the being creation of medicine. Yet, reports since the merge about the cathedral of Vesperine indicate that they are displaying more extreme cult-like tendencies.”

“What are you saying, Zane? They are sacrificing people?” Lloyd asked over the phone.

“Individuals in the area have gone missing,” Zane replied.

“So, I should get out of here as soon as possible,” Lloyd remarked.

Zane hummed in agreement, “Sora, Arin, Nya, and myself are traveling to your location as we speak, we’ll be there tomorrow.”

Lloyd’s suspicions, along with jokes made to Corlette in private of nunnery’s little library over history books, are now true and it leaves a bad taste in his mouth.

“Do you often sleep in the grass?”

Lloyd opened his eyes looking at Corlette as she stood over him, her voice so tender and quiet.

“I wasn’t sleeping,” he replied sitting up.

“You fooled me,” she giggled, sitting down next to him, “what’s bothering you?”

“How tied are you to your religion?” he asked.

Corlette sighed, “If you asked me before I met you, I would have said I was devoted,” she muttered, “I… I don’t know anymore.”

“Do you want to leave?”

“I…I…”

“Because you can! You can leave, Corlette you may not realize it, but Laurent is disgusting and whether you worship Vesperine or not you should not be near that man!”

“So, if I leave where do I go?” She asked him in a whisper, “The church is all I have!”

“You could come with me,” Lloyd replied quickly, “I’ve already taken in a gaggle of teens, that me and the others are training now. We could always use an herbalist.”

“You make it sound so easy,” Corlette scoffed.

“Because it can be easy!”

“Lloyd,” Corlette sighed shaking her head.

“Corlette, I leave tomorrow! If what I suspect is going on is actually going on you are in danger, and neither Vesperine nor I going to be able to help you!” Lloyd verbalized harshly, “If you come to the monastery with me, I can protect you, all of us can! You can still worship Vesperine if you want to, hell, you can continue to wear the nun habit for all I care! But if you still here—”

“Stop,” Corlette muttered, “Please.”

He stops rambling, looking at her and seeing the melancholy expression, “I’m sorry,” he muttered.

“You’re not the issue,” she remarked, “I just… I can’t leave… not yet.”

“Then promise me something,” he replied.

Corlette sighed, “What?”

“If things start going sideways, or if you want to leave, give me a call,” Lloyd instructed.

“I promise,” she declared, “I wouldn’t think of calling anyone else.”

That was it,  they went their separate ways for the night, only to see one another the next morning when standing in front of the church.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?” Lloyd asked, “You can just jump on the Bounty with me and just leave.”

Corlette shook her head after looking around to make sure no one was listening in, “It would be better right now if I stayed here,” she replied.

“My offer still stands, always,” he remarked.

“I’m aware,” Corlette commented, “Your children, look like they need you.”

Lloyd looked behind his shoulder, seeing Sora, Arin, Nya, and even Zane staring at him from the ship all looking in different directions when he stared back at him.

“Call me if you’re in trouble,” he stated, handing her a small piece of paper with his number scrambled on it.

It comes out like a soft demand something that Corlette must do, as if she has no choice.

Corlette nodded, “I would think of calling no one else.”

It was odd saying goodbye, “I’ll see you again, Lloyd.”

He nodded before turning to get on the bounty.

“Is she the new Harumi?” Nya joked once he got settled.

“No,” Lloyd scoffed shaking his head, “She just took care of me while I was there.”

“Does she have healing powers?” Arin asked.

“No, but she’s a very talented herbist,” Lloyd commented.

Nya stared at him for a moment, “what?”

“You have a look on your face.” She replied.

“What face?”

“You’re worried…”

As Corlette watched the bounty travel out of view, she sighed, feeling more separated from all the people here than she had ever had merge or not, she wasn’t like anyone here. Once she was standing in her sorrow she turned, now face to face with Father Lament.

“Father,” she gasped jumping at his closeness, “Sorry I wasn’t aware you were behind me.”

“Sister, I wish to perform a baptism on you,” he said simply.

“Father, but I’ve already been baptized,” she replied cautiously.

“Will you follow me?” Lament asked.

Corlette followed him carefully before being led to a small room with only a white dress laid out on the small bed in the corner of the empty room, and a landline phone on a side table, “Father?”

“Change, and we can perform your baptism,” he stated.

“But I—” the door was shut behind her before she could finish her sentence.

Corlette instantly went for the phone trying her best to be as quiet as possible, using the piece of paper that had been crumbled in her hand, “Hello?”

“You were right,” Corlette huffed in a hushed tone.

“Corlette?”

“I should have left with you! Father Lament says he wants to baptize me, but I’ve been baptized, there is something wrong!”

“Hang in there we’re turning around!”

“Please I’m sort—”

To Lloyd, it sounded like she was hit before the line went dead, “ZANE, TURN AROUND!”

“Lloyd!?”

“TURN AROUND,” he yelled, “Corlette’s in trouble!”

“Corlette?” Nya asked.

“The nun! That cult is I-I-I don’t fucking know, but we have to get back there!” Lloyd raved.

“Alright! Alright!”

On the land of the church is a large and deep lake, now as the skies darken, stands the clergy on one side of the lake and Lament and Corlette on the pier on the other side. The light spring dem and willow green-haired girl with her long-pointed ears and hands tied behind her back as Father Lament preached.

“Corlette the heretic!”

“Corlette the sinner!”

“Corlette the traitor!”

“Sister Corlette the nonbeliever!”

“I AM NOT A TRAITOR!” Corlette screamed struggling against her binds, “I’VE DONE NOTHING BUT WORSHIP VESPERINE FOR YEARS, I GREW UP HERE! I’M NOT A HERETIC!”

Lament pulled the back of her hair, “Then why were you getting friendly with the blonde boy?”

“YOU ASKED ME TO TAKE CARE OF HIM!”

“Taking care of the boy and flirting with him are completely different things,” he whispered.

“I didn’t—AAH!”

“Corlette!” Lloyd yelled.

She looked at the green ninja with such fear in her eyes as she stood on the pier captive.

“Lloyd, are we going to attack a group of nuns?!” Arin asked, as all the nuns watching looked behind their group seeing the ninja, battle-ready.

“… I don’t know,” Lloyd huffed, “just don’t hurt anyone… too bad if it gets too bad.”

“Prevent those heathens from preventing our ceremony!” Lament ordered before the nuns attempted to attempt to grab the ninja.

“BY VESPERINE’S GRACE AND FORTUNE, THE HERETIC SHALL BE THROWN IN THE WATER! IF SHE SHALL SWIM—”

“Lloyd! I’m sorry!” Corlette pleaded after he elbowed a nun in the ribs.

“Why are you apologizing!” Lloyd scoffed running towards the pier, “None of this is your fault!”

Corlette attempted to speak, to justify her apology, yet Laurent pushed her in the lake and of course, Lloyd jumped in after.

“Lloyd jumped in the lake!”  Sora exclaimed.

“What?!”

“LLOYD JUMPED IN THE LAKE!”

Zane, Arin, Sora, and Nya were more focused on the lake, as the nuns and Laurent began burning down the church. Lloyd soon popped out of the lake arm around Corlette dragging her out of the lake. Get her to the bank of the river letting her heave and cough while staring at the grass below her knees.

Lloyd sat beside her heaving, “The church,” he huffed, “Nya, Zane! It’s on fire!”

Nya and Zane tried to stop the fire from spreading as Lloyd continued to stare at Corlette, staring at her hair, the little dark green hair stuck to her face.

“Your hair… is gorgeous,” he sighed.

Corlette began laughing which of course made Lloyd laugh, and they both laughed for a while before Corlette laughter turned into crying leaning against Lloyd as she cried. After the fire was controlled, Corlette went to what used to be her room grabbing the few of her personal belongings that were not burned.

She left with Lloyd and the others still in that stupid white gown, for her sacrifice. Late in the evening, she sat on the deck on the bounty alone, legs close to her chest, staring at the floorboards.

“Corlette,” Lloyd asked softly draping a blanket over her shoulders, “Do you want to change?”

“No.”

He said down next to her, “Are you alright?”

“…no…”

“Would you like to talk about it?”

Corlette hugged herself, “I was one of his favorites,” she began making Lloyd cringe, “I guess... I thought… I don’t know what I thought! You really screw things up for me!”

He knows that she’s not angry, “I’m sorry,” he apologized, nonetheless.

Corlette giggled, “you are very charismatic,” she sniffled, “and you did save me, thank you!”

“You don’t have to thank me.”

The ex-nun rested her head on Lloyd’s shoulder, “Can you promise me something?” she asked quietly.

“Mhm?”

“Promise you will always save me.”

“Promise.”

He replied quickly, quicker than he probably should have, yet he intended to keep that promise for the rest of his life.

[jeremy-ken-anderson]

Boredom Week

It's not only about being bored. But it is, partly, about being bored.

Plenty of fun and engaging activities are still permitted.

The thing is, they aren't constant.

Also, most of them are social. Like, actually social, not merely "on social media web sites."

The main things being cut out of my activities:

Youtube, outside of the specific tutorials I'm looking up for work or schooling.

Steam, entirely

PS5 solo play. Playing MH Wilds or FFXIV is fine, if I'm playing with friends.

Phone games, including at work

Porn or porn-adjacent sites or apps

Tumblr's "For you" page

The Plex server, Netflix, etc.

Those last three aren't currently regular habits, but having had previous self-denials where I simply shifted gears, I do want to get ahead of the urge to replace bad habits with other, equally bad, habits.

Part of the reason I came here to write it down and make a public statement about it was to reaffirm it at myself, because I'd thought about doing it last night, and thought "yeah, I'm gonna do it" this morning, and then the instant I sat down in my office chair I opened up Steam. The habit is that mindless.

Part of the idea here - the reason it actually is partly about "being bored" - is that I feel like...you know when you're trying to keep something from burning when you're frying it, so you take a wooden spoon and you just kind of push it around, flip bits of it over, and generally keep it moving? I feel like that's how I've been treating my brain. For a decade.

So for this week we mostly want to just let the brain sit and be, unless it's moving on its own or interacting with other people.

Reading a book? Still allowed.

Taking online classes? Obviously still allowed. If I get addicted to online classes and that somehow becomes a problem I'll take a break from it in a couple years, but I'm not betting on that outcome.

Visiting with friends via games? No problem. Back when WoW was first getting going someone said, "These motherfuckers have figured out how to rent my own friends to me for fifteen bucks a month" and there's an angle of that which is true, but also almost all my friends are out of state so the games just provide a nice platform and shared excuse to get together.

Writing a book? Naturally, I can do this as much as I want.

Designing a board game, card game, or video game? These are all fine. And not just because of some capitalistic drive to define my worth by how much I make that can be sold. The creation of board games, card games, or video games that I don't think I can sell is also an accepted activity.

Listening to music? This one's...on oddly thin ice? I feel like it's how I did this "keeping my brain moving" habit twenty years ago, so it may be that to the degree that I think it's okay I'm just looking at my behavior back then with nostalgia. I think we allow it, but reassess in a couple days.

Social media is fine, as I currently use it. I've had times when I went down a Tumblr rabbit-hole, so I know there's a not-okay way to engage, but for now Tumblr's basically the yin to Youtube's yang. It's got a carve-out of specific ways NOT to engage, whereas Youtube has an exception where I'm saying it can be used under these very specific circumstances.

Ring Fit Adventure on the Switch is fine. That's just a gym disguised as a video game.

"Doing Nothing" is also fine! Just sittin'! Going for a walk! Zoning out! Taking a nap! Looking out the window!

The timing on this is to go until the morning of the 12th.

[lyrinsluv]

8:47am

pretimeskip! iwaizumi x [classmate] reader

☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ

wordcount: 1188 :D

there was one thing that was special to your class and only your class. you had hajime iwaizumi in your class. one of your friends was in class 3-6, whereas you were in class 3-5, and she always had to talk about oikawa. you were always confused at this, though. you noticed people overlooked his best friend, the boy in your class. although you two rarely talked unless it was for ‘talk with your seat partner about your answers’ that your teacher always pressed onto your class, you didn’t bother him in his eyes. 

everyday was simple, you’d sit down in your first class, which just happened to be your english class. you sigh to yourself as you sit on the cold school chair, watching your classmates walk to their seats as well. 

but today was different. today, iwaizumi wasn’t here. and you noticed that your teacher didn’t question it. a slight murmur from her mouth was spoken, and you could make out that she said “oh! boys volleyball has an away game, hm?” your face didn’t really change, considering you weren’t close with iwaizumi. it was fun listening to him every time he explained his answers, considering how differently he comprehended the questions. 

your english class goes by quickly, and now you’re met with your friend who’s whining about how she didn’t get to see oikawa in class today. it was a long lunch to say the very least.

the school day surprisingly went by quickly, but you knew you had to do cleaning duty for your classroom. as you sweep the floor with your classmate, you two chat about random stuff, from complaining about your teacher to talking about some boys in your class. 

the bus for the volleyball team pulls up, and your classmate perks up. 

“hey, do you find anyone on the team cute..? at least for me, matsukawa’s pretty hot.” you let out a quiet chuckle, not wanting her to feel awkward.

“oh, me..? i mean, no one really, iwaizumi’s pretty cool.” you respond back quietly. the exaggerated gasp that comes out of her mouth makes you sigh.

“no, don’t think of it like that, please.. he’s just a cool seat partner, really.” you mumble as you put the broom away. 

“pfft, okay. but y’know, you’d have a chance. you’re pretty, and like, you’re not in any drama. plus, no one ever thinks that he’s cute.” she says as she walks up to you. you turn to her, a slight frown prominent on your face. 

“uh, okay..?” you respond back as you two close the classroom for the night. the next day at school wasn’t anything special. the same schedule and everything. today, your friend dropped you off at your english class. you just wave her goodbye as you walk up to your seat. today, iwaizumi was here. but this time, your classmate from yesterday is staring at the two of you intently. maybe it wasn’t the best choice to tell her that iwaizumi was ‘cool.’ 

maybe, just maybe, today would be different. you take out your notes, your teacher walking in. today was different. this time, your teacher walks up to your desk; the slight raise in your eyebrows makes her chuckle.

“give iwaizumi the notes from yesterday, okay?” she says as she smiles. god, sometimes you hated how she wanted her students to be social. 

“um.. okay..” you mumble, a bit embarrassed from all the stares you were getting from your classmates. 

the bell rings, and you hear him sigh to himself. 

“sorry.. i don’t know why she did that.” he says to you, causing you to avert your gaze from the ugly chalkboard to a better sight. 

“huh? no, it’s fine. i’ll give you the notes once she’s done lecturing.” you respond back quietly as you look back down at your notes. 

he gives you a smile; it sort of looked like a smile of relief and appreciation. you didn’t deny that you liked said smile.

it was now 8:47, and your teacher let everyone intervene and ‘mingle with each other.’ ugh, you really hated the way she spoke, it was too early for her stupid phrases. you turn to iwaizumi, your notebook in your hand. 

“here’s the stuff from yesterday, it wasn’t much, really. it was just the answers from the short story.. and i think some new grammar techniques.” you say softly as you place your notes on his desk, a slight smile on your face. 

god, how he liked that smile. it wasn’t known that iwaizumi liked someone, but of course, oikawa knew. ah, that’s when he realized he liked you. 

your friend dragged you to the volleyball practice match after school ended. she giggles as she goes on and on about oikawa. you lean your arm on the railing of the upstairs seating. you just nod and listen as you watch the game. of course, iwaizumi catches your eye. you’d never seen him so riled up. he was always pretty quiet and mundane in class. hm, he was cool. 

his eyes were skimming through the crowd, and a certain classmate caught his eye. he liked the way you looked, how your cheek was sitting on your palm, the way you lazily responded to your friend. he couldn’t hear the conversation between you two, but god, you looked cute. 

oikawa yells his name, with him noticing how his friend’s gaze looked like he was yearning for someone. 

“shut up before i serve this ball at your neck!” iwaizumi yells back, you chuckle quietly at this, your friend still going on and on. that practice match, iwaizumi had 20 receives and 5 service aces. 

he blinks as he comes back to reality. 

“oh, yeah? thank you.” he says as he opens your notes. you do that same thing that he loves. ah, he loves the way your cheek sits on the palm of your hand. you play with your pencil with your free hand, a quiet sigh leaving your mouth. 

“did you guys win?” you ask quietly, bored at the random silence. 

“us? yeah, it was a close game, though.” he responds, loving the way your voice sounded. it was as smooth as velvet. he looks over at you, a slight smile on his face. 

“i watched one of your practice matches. i didn’t think volleyball was interesting until i saw you play it, iwaizumi. i like the way you play.” you mumble back, not noticing the way his eyes widen. 

“you.. do? i think you should come to our game tomorrow. maybe you can enjoy my playing style more.” he says cockily, a bit of oikawa coming out of him. he lets out a laugh, his gaze turning back to your notes.

“but seriously, you should come. i think i’ll do better if you watch me.” he says. the nod and the chuckle you gave him spoke so much to him. 

today was different because you finally noticed iwaizumi’s liking towards you. today was different because you realized that you also liked hajime iwaizumi. 

[realms-and-creatures]

tw: panic attack

Sumer wasn’t a social person. Wait, that’s a lie. She loved being around people and hanging out with friends. People just didn’t like her. She was different, strange. With her ears of a cat, wings of a dragon and tail of a fox, people thought her to be a show off. They thought she was a shifter who enjoyed showing people what she could do. But that wasn’t true. She wasn’t a shifter, she was a hybrid, like her sister. Well, not exactly like her sister. Amber was a dragon hybrid. Sumer was… she didn’t know what she was. She could shift, but whatever form she took, her ears, tail and wings were ever present. 

But her looks weren’t all of what made her strange.

No, she could also manipulate life and nature. That wasn’t fun to figure out…

One day when she was six, she was playing with the birds outside and accidentally sped up the lifespan of one of them. 

So, maybe people did have the right to be wary of her.

But she did have two friends!

Echo and Emma. They were her best friends since, well, forever. Echo was a dear hybrid who could manipulate shadows and Emma was an avian. Although they were all different (in many ways), they enjoyed each other’s company. Echo was always more shy whereas Emma was loud and energetic. Sumer was the bind between them. She knew when and how to listen, but she also knew how to give her input when need be.

The three of them were inseparable.

Until that day. 

“You wished to see me, sir?” Sumer asked as she entered the principal's office.

She didn’t think she was in trouble. The only thing she could think of that would get her in trouble was when she was late to class one morning. But you never get called to the principal for that.

“Yes, have a seat, miss Secret.”

Sumer took a seat and tried not to fidget. Her wings shifted slightly and her tail wrapped around her legs. What could it be, maybe she did something good? Nah, she kept to herself, her grades were mediocre and her attendance was iffy at best.

“I wanted your parents to be the ones to tell you this, but unfortunately, they were planning on keeping you in the dark.”

This made her stiffen. She didn’t know where this was going, but if her parents wanted to keep it a secret, then they had the right to do so.

“Sir, if my parents don’t want me to know, then-”

“Miss Secret, please do not interrupt.”

She wrinkled her nose. He had stopped talking, she didn’t interrupt anything.

“But as far as your parents are concerned, this decision was made by the Royal Council and your parents have been informed that we are telling you. Miss Secret, you have a prophecy.” he paused for dramatic effect, but Sumer just blinked. “Sumer, your prophecy is not a good one. It is one of chaos and destruction, a path of danger and instability. It is said that you will create the end of life on Earth. You will bring the end of days and be the cause for destruction of Humans. This is why you wear the necklace around your neck. It dampens your magic in an attempt to override the prophecy.” He walked around the desk and crouched down so he was eye level with Sumer. “I know this is a lot, but I’m telling you all of this because we need your help to prevent this from happening. We care about all forms of life, and I know you do too. So will you help us out?”

Sumer blinked and looked down at her hands. That was… a lot. She was supposed to bring the end of an entire planet? She… she could help them prevent it, but… prophecies don’t work like that. She knows. It’s shown in history books over and over again. If it’s meant to happen, it will happen. There was nothing anyone could do.

“Sumer, I need an answer, will you help fight the prophecy?”

She swallowed. 

“I…”

What should she say? If she said no, she could have been thrown into a cell, her magic stripped away until she was nothing but a shell of who she used to be. But what if that’s what helping fight the prophecy means? What if by saying yes she’ll sign away the rest of her life to days sitting in a cell with nothing and no one…

“I…” She stood up and ran out of the room before the principal could say anything.

She kept running, even when the hall monitors told her to stop, even when she got to the doors of the school, she pushed through them and ran. She ran until she didn’t know where she was, until her breath started to hurt, until her feet begged her to stop. And then she just, collapsed. She fell to her knees on the ground and started to cry. She couldn’t be part of a prophecy. No, her magic was too much of a coincidence. She couldn’t be part of that prophecy. 

She couldn’t destroy Earth, not her. She apologized to walls when she ran into them, she wouldn’t kill a spider if it bit her, she couldn’t. If this was who she was meant to be, then… who was she?

Sumer sat on the ground crying for what felt like an eternity. World, wouldn’t that be great. To just sit here forever, away from everyone and everything. Maybe be taken in by a couple griffins and live off in the cliffs. Run away from all this nonsense.

“Hello?” 

A voice called from above her.

Sumer lifted her head and was met with red eyes rimmed with black. 

A million questions went through her head to fit every emotion she felt. Who are you?, What do you want?, How did you find me?, Are you here to lock me up?

The voice chuckled. No, not a voice, a man. No, he was too young, maybe around her age. 

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Sumer shifted so she was sitting on the ground and her knees were pressed against her chest. Her wings and tail curled around her protectively. With a sigh, she decided to actually ask a question.

“Who are you?” she mumbled loud enough for him to hear.

Part Two

[dailyrandomwriter]

Day 454

Something I’m seriously considering setting up next week is a sticker focus spread. A place to just cut out stickers with a craft knife and place them on the page. 

Why do you ask? And how is that different from what I normally do with my stationary?

I want to see if the act of focusing on something that requires detail, but not all of my brain matter (so I can still listen to a lecture  and focus on it) would help me not fall asleep during a teaching session where I’m primarily a listener.

The idea came to me while I was trying to figure out why I never had this problem in university. And by problem, I mean I just fall asleep when tasked with any activity that requires me to just sit still and listen. I’ve always had this problem to a certain degree. Any poor soul who had to sit near me during an all staff meeting probably has heard me snore at least once. It’s gotten worse with the rise of virtual training, which is why I’m stuck going on site three times next week because I hope in person training will mostly prevent this from happening.

But it brought up the question to me, why am I like this now and not in university where most of what I did were large scale lectures. The reasoning was two fold.

First, in history, especially in classes where the professor had slides I had something to write down for notes. Whereas in classes where there weren’t slides and only a few things jotted down on the board, I wouldn’t write notes. This is primarily because I have information processing issues. I find it very difficult to listen to someone and write things down at the same time. My ability to keep up with what people are saying and write it, is pretty non-existent.

Which is bad for someone whose profession is being an administrator. Fortunately no one makes me take minutes anymore, and I have no idea how anyone dealt with my minutes when I did take them. Well, I know how, I had to fucking re-write them because they were a mess.

But, of course, the problem is, if I don’t write something, I’m not doing anything and if I don’t do something, I will damn well fall asleep. So how did I do it? I forgot that I used to make item art when I was in university.

Item art is literally drawing items. I used to draw a lot of tea cups and potions when I was in university. And I would do this, with nothing but a mouse touchpad and photoshop on my laptop. Which meant it required a lot of focus on small details, but I could still hear and understand the lecture going on because it didn’t require a large amount of thinking. 

The closest thing to that now, is my stationery crafting. In fact I will listen to things while I cut out stickers from my image tapes, because I don’t find that distracting to what I’m doing or listening. So, I do want to see if that helps. Granted, I might not need it because we do need to practice and write notes in order to be able to use the new database at the end of November. But I would like to have those pages just in case I need them. So I’m thinking about setting that up for next week.

[harrison-abbott]

There was a kid I was friends with back in high school. He was charismatic. I won’t say his name in this blog for various reasons. He used to speak out a lot in English class. As in, he was vocal in class; whereas I was super shy and didn’t have that oral ability. But in the class, with the rest of the classmates, there was this great animosity and social tension, whereby my friend, and myself, felt hugely disliked by the other majority of the class. We would sit together in our own little clique and they would be on the other side of the room, in theirs. And that sense of tension lasted for months. And didn’t relent. Until in the last semester of the year there was an incident where my friend wasn’t in class. He just wasn’t there. And he then came in to class twenty minutes late – accompanied by the ‘guidance teacher’. Who was this woman [who had no psychological training or certificate] who was employed to deal with the emotional worries of the children. And he (my friend) came in swearing and calling the other girls cunts, repeatedly, “Bunch of cunts, a complete bunch of cunts!” And the girls were face down at their desks, silent, scribbling at their jotters. I asked him what was up? What was wrong? It turned out that the girls had snitched him out to the teachers because they didn’t like him speaking up in class. They just didn’t like his opinion, and didn’t wish it heard. So they basically went to the adults and told it in such a way as that his commentary in class was bothering them and they wanted him shut up. And that’s what the ‘guidance teacher’ told him to do. She ordered him to hush up. Honestly, that was what happened. He had a full right to be angry. And I just thought it was insanely cruel, morally barbaric, to do that to a lad of sixteen. I listened to his comments in class and they were only observations. He was just trying to contribute. And they did that to him. Fucking crazy.