#aaaaand now she’s slamming stuff

[sensitivegoblin]

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[stitchlingbelle]

Watching Halo Season 2, Episode 1

Here we go again! Things I’ve picked up from discussions leading up to this season: we’re starting off with a pretty major timeskip, The Fall of Reach is coming and is going to SUCK, bargain-bin Spartans are going to be invented, there’s a guy named Ackerson and he’s a weasel. Let’s be about it!

Cold open—it looks like the procedure to remove Cortana. Who’s crying? John? Cortana? The combined entity they became? (Is this a Tuvix situation?)

And since this is where the timeskip happens, I’ll go ahead and register my biggest complaint now. It’s actually the same complaint I had last season: rushing this into so few episodes is a mistake. In a show with room to breathe, the Cortana!Chief thing should have been a MINIMUM of three episodes: one where we see what that person is like, one about separating them, one about the repercussions. Minimum. Instead, it’s an entire arc about the one of the most impactful things that happens to John in his adult life… and it’s handwaved away in a timeskip to get back to the action. What an absolute waste.

After our cold open, we slam into a disorienting bit where it takes me too long to sort out when and where we are and what Silver Team’s status is. Riz is with them, and everyone’s voices have lost the flatness, so I’m assuming we’re all pellet-free now. (A moment later this is confirmed when Riz asks Vannak about his as if he’s the last holdout. He WATCHES NATURE DOCUMENTARIES NOW. “Animals ‘n stuff.” Oh, my heart.) Not sure exactly where Master Chief’s at emotionally, he seems distracted. They’re attempting to evacuate a civilian population before the planet gets glassed and it’s not going well.

Marines are not getting through to the leaders—is this another opposition planet or just full of stubborn people? (Also, one of the marines is called Shepard—is that a name I should know? Or wait, is that one of the Mass Effect guys?) Hey, it’s the mystical old woman from the trailer! She tries to spar verbally with Master Chief and he doesn’t respond. You need to make Kai the face of the party, bro, her Charisma score is way higher than yours.

Some marines are missing, so Master Chief goes off to retrieve them. Or should I say up, as in up a sheer cliff face, allowing Vannak to drop cool facts about the Nubian Ibex and I would like to adopt him now. Chief finds them after a brief friendly-fire incident. They explain they’re a comms team. “I could tell by your aim.” Ouch.

Aaaaand RIP the smart one who didn’t want to move. This ‘out of the fog’ stuff is some horror-movie shit right here. Wait, the Covenant have personal cloaking devices now? Don’t like that. Chief needs one of those glowing blades, they seem very useful. Verbatim from my notes at this point: “It’s nice they only attack one at a time. OR NOT F*CK” as the VERY EFFECTIVE shot with all the blades lighting up around them happened.

I was trying to figure out how John was going to get out of this (my guess was Sudden Kai Appearance) when the Covenant guys all just… vanished? Why? And again, just a second later I got to write OH SHIT GLASSING. Turns out that’s why.

He manages to save just the one marine and heads back to the rendezvous point, just in time to catch a Foretelling of Doom from the mystical old lady before she goes to commit suicide. Huh, I thought she’d last longer.

Aaaand shower scene, lol. You’re not beating the ‘Master Cheeks’ rep like this, buddy.

Debrief—as a side note, Kai’s colorful hair is gone, which makes me very sad. Also, congrats to the FX department on making Riz’s scars truly gnarly looking. (And thanks to the showrunners for not chickening out and giving her ‘pretty girl scars’ or something.) Anyway, a bunch of other planets also got glassed while they were gone, including Madrigal.

Another pause for a broader point here—I don’t like that. I realize that Kwan was widely disliked by Old Guard fans last season, but the point of her storyline seemed to be that the planet itself was important. I don’t like the idea that they backpeddled so severely in response—stand by your creative choices! And again, given the import of the planet last season, glassing it in a timeskip is a poor storytelling move. (Also, you’d think the Covenant would be a little warier of glassing planets they KNOW have connections to the Halo, at least until they’ve really, really thoroughly checked them out… but I digress.)

Back to the debrief. John is trying to convince Keyes and the team that something’s up with how the Covenant behaved on Sanctuary, but Keyes at the very least isn’t buying it. Some rando appears—oh, it’s Ackerson, who ATBNL says is a weasel. He’s certainly living up to his rep immediately. My baby Kai clocks it right off: “Sir, if I may, who the hell is this guy?” LOL. Apparently, he’s Halsey’s replacement. Mostly this makes sense, but where’s Miranda? Did she resign? Is she being punished for her association to Halsey? Keyes seems to have escaped that... (Ackerson specifically references Halsey’s own consequences and there’s a very awkward look at Keyes, lol.)

Ackerson’s speechifying and it’s pretty clear he’s mostly here to flex by showing he can drop in on them like this. He calls each member of the team by name(+number) and makes it clear he knows their records, but he only calls John “Master Chief”, which I found a little odd. There’s an ominous little exchange about the Spartans’ importance to the public: “They feel safe.” “Are they?” And finally after he leaves, Kai pushes Keyes for a bit more of an explanation. “He’s the boss,” Keyes says shortly. He doesn’t make it sound like a good thing.

Hey, it’s Rubble! Wtf is this? A slave auction? A fighting ring? Wtf, Soren, I thought better of you. (I am perhaps naïve.) Apparently it’s a “2 years’ indentured service” auction. This is how they’re absorbing some of the refugees from Madrigal (and possibly other places? Idk) This redhead (Felix?) says he’s got a line on how to find Halsey. I think Soren’s biting, even though he’s playing it cool. What does Laera think of all this?

Meanwhile in Ackerson’s office, the surviving comms tech—Perez—is being debriefed when John drops by to try and convince Ackerson of his concerns. John and Perez share a look, and possibly a flashback, of the Fog Fight. John gets a little chatty trying to draw Ackerson out with their shared combat experience. Ackerson gets weird about things, asking about hallucinations and John’s mental state. Did Perez and the others not see what John saw? Yikes, if so. Or is Ackerson just playing some political game? Blowing the Master Chief off and flexing his power over him is stupid if he wants the Master Chief’s cooperation. And I have to believe he needs it at least a little—surely he rises or falls on the Spartans’ performance, just as Halsey and Parangosky did?

Back on Rubble, Kessler is in a toy Master Chief helmet with a little toy Spartan. (The props department must have been delighted to get to just go to Target and pick that up, lol.) (Also, there’s a lot going on with your choices there, Soren…) Kessler’s upset over something. Soren puts his foot in it with Laera, and she calls him out on it, bless her. I love you, Laera. Laera tells Soren they need to get the hell out of Dodge, and I think Soren should listen. But I don’t think he will.

Perez gets a medal (while *two* shirtless Spartan dudes watch it on TV, welcome Vannak *eyeroll*). She looks deeply uncomfortable. Another Spartan team, Cobalt, comes in—hey, there ARE more of them! (Are all their names metals in this timeline?) Aaaand they are weirdly hostile to Silver Team, apparently on account of… Silver Team having taken their pellets out? That is deeply weird. First of all, how are they CAPABLE of being weirdly hostile over the pellet issue if they still have their own pellets? And secondly, how is it that Silver Team cared about all these revelations about Halsey and their shared pasts and the other Spartans just… don’t? Or am I missing something here? Cobalt’s headed out on a mission that sounds eerily like the doomed comms team’s Fog Fight. John tries to give them a heads up.

He also goes straight to Ackerson and tries to get HIM to give Cobalt Team a heads up. Ackerson is again weird and very hostile. He distrusts John’s report because of the Sangheili just leaving bit, and blows off John’s very reasonable request to warn Cobalt that something weird may be up. Again, I don’t understand Ackerson’s game here. It would have cost him nothing to agree to John’s face—or honestly, even to pass on his concerns, which really do amount to nothing more than “watch out for something hinky”.

Rubble again. Soren’s prepping to head out and he and Kessler chat. Kessler’s worried about a monster, Soren refuses to reassure him completely, which Kes, like any smart kid, immediately clocks. The whole scene is just dripping in THIS IS BAD foreshadowing. Soren’s crew has Felix the redhead, but they’re confused that Soren’s coming along to check out his tip?

John is trying to be all stealthy in a hoodie out in the city, which suddenly looks 75% less Solarpunk Utopia and 75% more Cyberpunk than when we saw it with Makee. Parangosky meets up with him—he doesn’t seem to be expecting her specifically, so what did he expect? Did she resign or was she discharged (or court-martialled?) What power does she still have to help? Who are her allies? Good on John for having grown enough to attempt to negotiate, but that exchange—  “What will you give me?” “I’ll believe you.”—was killer. She absolutely has his number there.

On Soren’s ship, Felix is telling the full version of his tip about Halsey, and WHAM, we come out into a debris field with a destroyed ship. Soren’s dragging Felix along, the kid’s chatty and nervous. The microgravity effects are pretty good, well thought-out. Felix will not shut up and is putting his foot in it. Ooooh, pressurized door in a vacuum issues! I love this show. Crap, it was all a set up. Soren’s arrested. Who’s going to tell Laera and Kessler? What will Laera do?

John’s (still? Back?) undercover, going to… what looks like a futuristic phonesex establishment? … to pretend he’s talking to Cortana. God, this scene was sad. They packed what, again, should have been an arc into about three sentences and a choice of medium/location. As I said last season, they do a brilliant job fitting everything in with clever and efficient writing. Finally he has another Fog Fight Flashback, this time with Makee?

And we wrap up with mixed flashes—John, Laera and Kessler getting the news that Soren “died”, and Kessler running off to see… Kwan, hiding in one of the caves of Rubble.

Wow, there's a lot going on here! I can't wait to see what's next.

[i-love-you-all]

Henloo :>

I was curious about whether or not you had a favorite headcanon on how Sova and Breach got together, and if you were willing to share?

Yeah! I started writing something like a prequel to Fault Lines that was gonna be their time as friends w benefits, but I soon realized didn't like my own writing, so I stopped. And for how their relationship starts, I do stick w what happened in Fault Lines as the basis for their relationship in my stories. Idk maybe I'll pick it up one day again, but for now, this is what I had if you're interested!

~3k words, also, there's explicit nsfw stuff so... this is your warning???

There’s always been more than one occasion where he’s wanted to break that pretty face in two. It wasn’t just the judgement that he felt from the hunter, but at the moment, that also often grated on his nerves. No, right now, it was mainly because he had left Breach out to dry all because he didn’t follow the hunter’s plan. Pride over loyalty was the way with Sova apparently, and Breach was at a breaking point.

“Thug.”

Aaaaand, that was it. Breach shoulder checked Sova into the nearest wall in this hallway and grabbed the front of his shirt to slam him one more time against it. He was almost glad that Sova’s eyes narrowed, and that he reached for Breach as well. It’s been a while since he’s given a good beating.

But, like all fun things, Brimstone put an end to it.

“Hands off each other, now!” Both Breach and Sova froze. Brimstone was already beside them, pushing himself between the two of them, with Viper on the side, watching carefully.

Breach gave both of them a scathing glare and let go of Sova when he got no reaction.

“Look,” he snarled, mostly directed at Brimstone. “You don’t like me, but you clearly need me. You want me around? Shut this man up.”

With that, he stormed off towards his room, ignoring the open briefing room that he was originally supposed to go to.

After that first confrontation, he had clashed with Sova on every mission they were on together. Breach would even admit that sometimes, he was the one goading the other into a fight. Still, just before things got interesting, Sova would freeze, and then walk out, not a single word said. At that point, nothing Breach said seemed to get through to him either, and the will to fight would just simmer out. The golden child would never disobey Brimstone’s direct order to avoid all in-fighting. So, no matter what Breach said, or did, They had never actually fought.

That didn’t stop the aggression from either of them though. Sova had thrown Breach hard enough against a locker for him to momentarily feel stunned from the impact of his head against the hard surface. Breach had definitely grabbed and squeezed Sova just a little too hard to leave a bruise – a reminder that Sova was just a man, and Breach’s arms would overpower him in a moment. It was tit for tat between the two of them with no way to actually get rid of the tension.

Perhaps it was their near daily bickers whenever they were both at the Protocol HQ that made Brimstone send them on this mission together. They were told two weeks to locate and retrieve a radianite detector that would help them detect any intruders form Earth 2 earlier. It was their get-along-mission. Like one of those large t-shirts except they could actually die during it. That’s what Breach called it was he was ranting to Raze about it later that day. Of course, she was no help though.

“Sova’s actually a pretty good guy. Try to get along with him, I think you two will hit it off!”

Those were the words replaying in his head as he glared at Sova who had taken his phone to look around for a restaurant around them.

“You take any longer and you’re gonna pay for the food,” Breach muttered.

Sova rolled his eyes, “We are two adults on a mission. We should not be going to the nearest—”

“Another word and I will revoke my offer to buy dinner.”

Following Raze’s advice, he had offered to buy them dinner to mark their first day together, and somehow, they were already almost at each other’s throats.

Sova eyed him up, lips set in a frown that did nothing to intimidate him, if that was even the goal. “You were serious?”

Breach rolled his eyes. “I said it at the start of this conversation, didn’t I? I thought you didn’t want to hear me more than necessary, hm?”

He found himself reaching out for his phone as Sova was trying to hand it back to him.

“You can choose then.” With that, Sova walked out of the shared living room, if you could even call it that, and returned to his room, closing the door behind him.

“Weirdo,” Breach muttered. He scrolled through, almost ready to get the nearest fast-food burger to annoy his partner, but then those stupid, annoying words from Raze echoed in his head. He scrolled past that option, and with great disdain, started ordering from a healthier place. Pricier too, he quietly fumed. If Sova said anything about the food… But, to his surprise, Sova didn’t say a single thing throughout the meal. The other man actually kept his mouth shut. This was the longest they had gone without blowing up at each other. So, maybe Brimstone was onto something.

***

Sova was seething. Yes, they recovered the detector, and yes, they escaped with minimal scrapes and bruises, but they were still spotted, still chased, and he was still pissed at Breach. To Breach, as long as they finished the mission successfully and he got paid, he didn’t care. Sure, Sova could understand that point, but throwing Sova into chaos for absolutely no reason, risking his life….

Breach was holding an even gaze with him which made this worse, if Sova was being honest. He wanted to see remorse, regret, hell, he’d even take fear at this point.

Instead, Breach backed off towards the door. “I’ll be back. Gonna go get food or something. I can’t handle you while you’re being so emotional.”

And… yeah, ok, they had to get along considering they were partners and he didn’t want to draw unnecessary attention to them. That just meant he could only sigh when Breach walked in with the results from his grocery shopping where half the haul was alcohol. He had walked up because his stomach demanded it, but the contents were… not what he had in mind.

“What are you doing? We’re supposed to be on a mission.” Sova was beyond frustrated with the man.

Breach was arrogant, stubborn, and reckless. Three traits that Sova didn’t like in a person. That was without even mentioning his disregard for any of the rules and protocols that helped their organization run smoothly. But what else could he expect from a criminal. Even if Brimstone and Cypher didn’t reveal anything to him, Sova still knew what type of a man Breach was. He had both seen and dealt with his type before.

“I’m stuck in a shitty town with some shitty company. I have to enjoy myself somehow, right?” Breach said with a smirk. “Don’t be such a stick in the mud.”

There was a lot of alcohol. One person could not drink all of this in the short amount of time they were here for.

“If you behave,” Breach stood across the table from Sova, watching as Sova pulled out bottle after bottle with an increasingly confused look, “Some of that’s for you.”

He carefully searched around the bag and pulled out a bottle of vodka. Sova was exasperated. “So, you plan to bribe me?”

“It’s a gift… if you just let me be.”

Sova glared at Breach, stared at the bottle of vodka, and glanced at the grey skies of a city he was currently hiding from.

“Fine.” He snatched the bottle, one of the sandwiches in the bag, and sat back down on the only couch stretching out in silent defiance, paying no mind to how Breach chuckled at his child-like tantrum.

It turned out not to be fine. It must’ve been close to midnight, and Breach had already made a hefty dent in a bottle of whiskey, and Sova couldn’t deny his own participation either. He leaned back, wondering what he could do to escape this boredom. He couldn’t stare at his screen for another second, and he had already finished his book. He should’ve sought out another one. He just didn’t anticipate having this much free time.

“Why did you throw the flash at me?” Sova asked. If he couldn’t do anything else, he might as well pick a fight.

Breach groaned as he capped the bottle and left it on the counter and against the wall. If they fought at least it’d be saved.

“I already said it. You were willing to let me die, and I didn’t want to die. So, I helped myself.”

“If you had just waited—”

“If you had just told me before you ran off, before you left me there, before any of that happened, I wouldn’t have flashed you. I’m sorry I hurt your eyes for a second, but I had to save my life.”

Breach was the first to stand in the fight. Sova rose to match him in stature, but with no words until he stepped up, so that they were chest to chest.

“You will never trust me in a fight. What else was I supposed to do?” Sova finally asked. “From the day we met to now, you have always doubted me—”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Breach was clenching his fists as his chest was heaving. “On day one, I thought you were the one I could rely on most. You were trained, experienced, and dedicated. I thought you were the one person who knew what they were doing. You wouldn’t even talk to me, and basically worked around me. So yeah, when I work with you, I care more about myself than normal, but don’t you fucking dare say that I didn’t even try.”

Sova furrowed his eyebrows. Did he? On day one, Breach had called him pretty boy, though in jest or in reality, Sova wasn’t sure. He already heard the rumours and made his judgement about the man. Seeing him there, talking loudly and arrogantly to whoever was beside him, with no care for others… Sova saw him as just a greedy man. Always wanting more money without caring about lives.

“I did my job as I was ordered to. Keep up next time,” Sova muttered.

That was the breaking point for him. Breach shoved him. While there was a dull pain from the force of the impact, it was quickly forgotten as he brough his hands up to redirect the next blow. Then the next as he hooked his arms around Breach’s and shoved him. But, with both of them so tangled, all Breach had to do was hold on to Sova to bring them both down to the ground.

They wrestled there on the ground, not exactly exchanging hits, but fighting all the same to pin the other. It finally ended when Sova trapped Breach’s arms in a sideways position. His palms were on the ground and Sova had his knees over his elbows. Yes, those metal arms were stronger than regular arms in certain contexts, but they were weak if he could prevent Breach from using any of the muscles in his back. Without his own muscles, his arms weren’t exactly built to lift any sort of weight from this angle and side, and Sova could sit on his chest, waiting out Breach’s will to fight.

Eventually, Breach gave up and let his head thud back on the ground.

“I hate you.”

Sova blinked once. He already knew that.

“But if you wanted to touch me that badly, you could’ve just asked.”

Sova cocked an eyebrow, confused as to… why?

Oh. He looked down at himself. He had admittedly gone a long time without… touching himself, or anyone else for that matter. He was also a good enough shot not to need to get into close quarters combat. So, yeah, this was the most bodily contact he’s had in a while, and…

“Get off me.”

Sova rolled his eyes. As he took his hands and knees off Breach’s arms, he was thrown off. He barely managed to protect his head and neck before feeling his body get pushed around until Breach was on top. The pin… was not a pin, that’s what Sova realized. No, Breach was indeed caging him in, though his hands and arms were free. He also soon realized that there was something else to this stupid hold. Breach’s thigh was right up against—

“Breach,” he growled a warning. “What are you doing?”

“Well, first,” he seemed quite content to just lay there on top of Sova, “I think you were kinda stupid to think that this was over just because I asked you to get off.”

“I already won,” Sova countered.

“Ah,” Breach smirked, “Who’s under who right now?”

He squeezed his eyes shut in frustration then clenched his jaw again as he felt Breach rearranging himself which meant more friction feeding his lower half, and… god, there was no way this was how he was…

“Needy, aren’t you?”

Sova forced himself to freeze. With his eyes closed, he could only rely on his sense of smell, as the whiskey scent got closer. He did open his eyes as their lips met. It was completely innocent at first. Just their lips pressed together for a split second. Breach cocked an eyebrow, waiting on Sova to make the next move. This wan an invitation, and it was up to Sova to accept or not, and…

There was a part of him that wanted this so bad. Not because it was Breach but just because it the first time in a while that he’s had a willing body. He brought his hands up to the sides of Breach’s shirt. He could feel the hard pecs, even the heartbeat if he placed his hand above his heart. The thigh at his crotch was also driving him crazy…

He tested how solid Breach was right now, pushing and pulling at his chest as if he was feeling him up but then using what he learned to roll them, so he was once again on top. His hair, which came undone during the wrestling, was falling down around him and dragging the tips along the ground. Breach took his time running his fingertips through the strands.

“We can end this game now if you want to move on,” Breach offered, voice getting just a little deeper, a little more…

There was no way in hell that Sova was attracted to him. That’s what he told himself moments before letting his lips search for Breach’s again. God, if they hated each other so much, why was this so easy? Not that Sova could answer his own questions as Breach’s tongue was doing magical things. He was both demanding and sweet and it was doing things to Sova he swore he had never felt before.

When he separated himself, Sova felt a wave of regret for both stopping the contact and for being with a man he supposedly hated. He sat back a little, still on Breach’s chest, straddling him, but looked up at the ceiling as he tried to weigh his options. The fuzzy effect of the alcohol had faded now, and he was just… just there… on Breach… and not hating it.

“You sobering up or?”

Sova nodded his head, then looked at Breach in surprise as he sat up a little more, leaning back on his hands as Sova was pushed off of him a little. He was now on Breach’s lap, and he could feel that what they were doing was affecting him just as much to Sova.

“Good, I don’t wanna take your virginity if you’re drunk.”

That got Sova to laugh. Genuinely laugh out loud. He saw Breach smiling at him though, and quickly recovered. “Do you really think—”

“Obviously not. You look at yourself in the mirror enough times to know.” Sova scoffed but shrugged. He wasn’t technically wrong. But the way he made it sound so malicious didn’t play too well on Sova’s conscience. “So, my little ice queen is not so icy, hm?”

“Ice queen?” Just like that, it was easy to glare at Breach again.

Breach was still unaffected all the same. “Yes, your majesty—”

He cut Breach off by pressing their lips together again. This, he had to admit, was an easier way to get the man to shut up than anything else he had ever tried. If only he could use this more often. But, of course, anything that easy to read was going to be picked up by Breach as well.

“Hey, you know there are better ways to shut me up, right?” Breach said once he pulled his head back.

“I’m sure strangling you would work just as well, but Brimstone would not approve, and I have asked.”

He felt Breach’s teeth graze his bottom lip and smiled at the frustration coming through.

“You’ve got to tell me now, Sova. Are we doing this? Otherwise, I’m going to put a stop to this.”

Sova took his time bringing his hands up to Breach’s face then down to his chest, and just above… They were looking at each other now. There were so many implications if he went lower.

“You know you can always change your mind later, right?” Breach said. The way they were staring at each other reminded Sova of films where the protagonist and antagonist pointing their guns at each other. But they weren’t going to fight, no, what he was saying was mildly reassuring. “I’ve only ever had people screaming at me to keep going, but…” there was the joke. Sova rolled his eyes and hooked his fingers under the waistband to start pulling Breach’s pants and briefs down to his knees. Breach allowed it, even helping him by raising his hips a little.

Sova was between Breach’s legs now, looking down in mild confusion and curiosity. He wasn’t jealous, no, he wasn’t an immature teenager, but he had genuine concerns for Breach’s former partners.

“You can top if you want,” Breach chuckled. “I don’t mind.”

He dipped his head down to Breach’s erection, both to taste the man under him right now, and to hide the blush.

“Don’t choke. I would have no idea how to explain that to Brimstone.”

Sova coughed, indeed choking just a little bit before removing himself to twist Breach’s nipples. Instead of any satisfactory noise, Breach let out a moan that was half pained, half… aroused?

“Sova, I didn’t know you had that in you,” he laughed as Sova was pushing him onto his back.

He wanted a warm body so badly, that he even ignored the comment to chase Breach’s mouth again.

After their lips parted, after Sova pulled back enough to snap the thin line of saliva that connected them, they both separated to get themselves ready. It would do neither of them any good now to go that far only to pull back because they skipped a few steps of preparation. It was also oddly business-like for something that was supposed to be so passionate and caring.

“Just once.” Were the last words that slipped out of Sova’s mouth before he put it to better use.

[majycka]

For that fic fuel brainrot:

Akutami did a graph on the students knowledge of jujutsu sense, academic school sense and physical strength. And Mai was 9 for school sense! So she’s canonically a nerd. And Nobara got 6 too, so this sparks this modern au/hc:

Nobara failing her science tests/homework and having to find a tutor, but her friend/teacher arranged it for her and the tutor is actually her upper-classmate, Mai Zenin. I’m thinking Mai is teaching her a science formula or something of that sense, and there’s a near kiss experience maybe ?? But honestly it’d be funnier if they hated each other and the tutoring was arranged by Nobara’s science teacher 😭

but ofc u don’t gotta do this one, I just think it’s be cute <3 have a good day/night !

TUTORING_MASTER69

Tags: t-rated, no warnings, modern japan hs au, bratty nobamai whats new really, aaaaand stuff mentioned above,

Word count: 4077

a/n: tweaked the prompt a bit doesnt exactly follow the ask above. This is the graph anon mentioned

Nobara slammed her papers on the table, all two heads turning to face her. “I’m failing Science,” she said straight to the point.

Megumi and Yuuji went to stare at the blaring red marks on her paper, painfully overwriting its presence on the white sheet

“You can still make it for office hours,” shrugged Yuuji.

“Well, I did,” answered Nobara, placing her hands on his hips.

“And let me guess,” said Megumi, “you threatened him to pass you.”

She rolled her eyes. “Not exactly, I just almost caused a scene.”

Megumi shook his head as he went back in drinking his strawberry milk while looking out the window.

“C’mon, Fushiguro, I expected you to help me out here.”

“I can help-“

“Nevermind,” interrupted Nobara towards Yuuji. “I’ll ask Maki-san, she’s a second year, she knows what’s up.”

“I was about to say that,” pouted Yuuji but Nobara only knuckled his head, earning his little whines.

Nobara skipped out of their classroom and left the two boys to eating their lunches. She took a trip at the flight, stretching his leg out, jumping a step of the stairs. When she arrived at the second years’ classroom, Maki had stood near the windows, furrowing her brows while she listened to the phone on her ear.

Nobara waited for her to finish the phone call. Maki sounded annoyed from the tone of her voice and when she finished, her junior walked up to her.

“Nobara, what’s up?” Maki asked, sighing and pocketing her phone.

“You okay?”

“It’s just…my crazy family’s drama.”

“Oh.” Nobara wasn’t sure if she should pry open to her problem when at the same time, she knew she’s shit when talking about feelings. “Actually, I came here to ask if you can help me out on my Science test.”

“Sorry, I can’t right now, I’m busy with work afterschool and there’s the thing with my family.”

Dammit. Even how much Nobara wanted to spend time with Maki, she couldn’t disagree to it. She merely nodded and saifd it was fine. Now she’s a back to square one again as Maki said that Megumi could help.

She lightly slammed her head on her desk. Maybe she should just risk it all and afford not to be part of track team anymore because of her shit grades. “Fushiguro, say something,” she groaned, hoping he might actually find a reasonable solution. Megrim only continued to scratch his pen for some notes on his notebooks.

“Wait, I think I got something!”

Annnnnd it was Yuuji who had the bright idea.

“Have you heard about Tutoring_Master69?” said the pink haired boy.

Nobara raised her head off her desk. “What weird part of the Internet are you going through?”

“I’m serious, look,” Yuuji shoved his phone on Nobara’s face, “they’ve been hanging this poster around school lately”

“Will Accept any chips as payment in exchange in getting your work done,” Nobara read out the account’s instagram bio on his phone. It only has one post which is the poster Yuuji is talking about. “So you’re saying I should pay someone to do my work.”

“It said ‘Tutoring Master’ not ‘cheating master’”

“Office hours is still an option,” chimed in Megumi as he flip through his notebook.

“C’mon! Why don’t you just make this easier for me and teach me the stuff,” said Nobara.

“Well, I did tutor you already, and it was hell,” deadpanned Megumi.

Yuuji laughed, being a total idiot to how Nobara’s face scrunching up from his reaction.

Yet hours later, Nobara actually had her thumb hovering over the message button of the Tutoring_Master69 account. She admitted that she’s desperate at this point. Taking a deep breath, she quickly typed out a message and sent it without hesitation. It even made her spelling wack because of that.

Worst. Mistake. Ever.

The spell checker that’s supposed to make your life easier decided to be useless. It wrote ‘u need help’ instead of Nobara’s intended ‘I need help.’ How fun is that!

“Fuck!” exclaimed Nobara she was walking down the hallway and everyone’s heads turned to stare at her. She didn’t notice the stares and just went typing away on her phone.

Her message was immediately seen by the tutoring master.

“I mean I NEED HELP,” texted Nobara. Then again, seen.

The typing bubble comes out from the account. The tutor asked Nobara the usual homework pictures and instructions. They also added to bring the chips payment and homework at the library.

Fine, that wasn’t too bad actually. Easy Peasy, and who ever the heck is behind this seem like they would get the work done.

When Nobara finally went to library to meet this tutoring master, she sat on one the tables. Her thick Science books smacked on the study table, startling other students nearby. Her autumn eyes looked around the room as she made assumptions on who this tutor could be. Maybe it’s that guy with glasses reading a book in the corner? A girl munching away her food when it’s not allowed in the library? or maybe….

Nobara caught golden eyes briefly looking at her. Mai Zenin pulled a chair across from HER then sat on HER table. The green haired girl cleared her throat to try to catch Nobara’s attention.

“What are you doing?” Asked Nobara, her brows furrowed. “Last time I remembered we hated each other’s guts.”

Months ago, Rewind to the beginning of the school year where it all started. The country bumpkin Nobara moved to the big city expecting uncaged wings in high school. Then she found out that actually, they don’t allow dyed hair on campus.

“Hi, name’s Kugisaki Nobara.”

Mai remembered that day that dyed ginger headed girl went up the stage and took the mic from the poor emcee during their school assembly.

“I just wanna say it’s completely stupid that the school doesn’t allow dyed hair, and it’s needs to stop. That is all.”

She walked away from the stage, not failing to do the mic drop. It’s awful feedback noise pierced through the ears of all students as they squirm at their seats.

“That was a complete waste of time, you know,” A voice said as Nobara was walking back to her seat. She halted her steps to turn and figured that voice belonged to a short haired girl.

“This school assembly is already on hell on earth but you decided to make it even worse,” the girl added. “You could easily have talked to the principal.”

That was the final nail to her coffin. “And who are you supposed to be?” Nobara clenched her fist and ready to throw a punch

“Leave her alone, Mai,” another voice joined that came from the back row seats near Nobara. “At least, she’s tryna get a change here.” She had the same green shade of hair but a long cut and she wore glasses. They looked like sisters.

“Since when did you care about anyone else, Maki?” asked her possible sister..

Right after that was a series of stares in the hallway everytime Nobara walked her presence at the school. But the worst one of all was Mai Zenin’s case. Joining her school’s track team, she later on met Maki Zenin and figured that Mai was indeed her sister.

This girl skipped the cafeteria line when Nobara was there, patiently waiting for food. Mai would stink eye her in the hallways. At some point, they were really close in starting the fight at the girl’s bathroom.

“Still not over about what happened in the school assembly?” asked Mai.

“You started it,” replied Nobara.

“But I was right, if that dyed hair cult of yours didn’t straight up rain down the principal to “un-ban” that policy, then it could have meant nothing.”

That thing Nobara did at the assembly led to the creation of the dyed hair club. It was almost like watching a revolution as a bunch of dyed haired students offered a signed petition to the principal.

“Plus, think about it as an initiation for being such a brash 1st year,” added Mai.

Oh, right. She almost forgot Mai’s actually a 2nd year. “So, what exactly is your agenda here, Zenin? To annoy me like you always do?” asked Nobara.

“Unfortunately, the world doesn’t revolve around you since you actually ask for my help.”

Nobara paused for a moment, staring at the Science book then squinting her eyes at Mai. “You’re Tutoring_Mastering69?” she asked. That can’t be right. Mai being a tutor? She can’t even get along with Nobara. She tried to convince herself.

“Yep,” said Mai, grabbing the Science book from Nobara. “And you’re my first ever customer.”

She can’t believe it. “You must be kidding,” chuckled Nobara.

“I’m serious.” Mai looked at her straight to the eye and then winked at her. “So you better pay me good, Kugisaki.”

Their argument still kept on going on that their voices were raising its volume. Stares were looking up at them. When the librarian was close in kicking the girls out, Mai easily pulled up her own test paper. Nobara shut her mouth. Not a single mark of red was on Mai’s paper.

“So three laws of Newton, enumerate them for me,” Mai asked Nobara. Without getting kicked out of the library, they started their tutoring session.

“Uh, I don’t remember but I don't think that’s how tutoring works, aren't you supposed to teach me those?”

“It’s a way to gauge your understanding.”

“You could have just asked what I didn't know.”

“And most of the time people say, ‘everything’, so just answer the damn question.”

Sheesh, Nobara can’t believe she had to put up with this, and it’s all for the sake of not losing a spot in the track team. “No clue,” she answered.

Mai sighed and continued to write Newton’s rules with little drawings accompanying them. She explained clearly and also didn’t leave out Nobara as Mai asked her questions on the steps.

Their session ended without any complaints.

“Here’s your payment.” Nobara handed a bag of chips.

“Till next time,” Mai bid her goodbye as she walked away.

—

“You asked for Mai’s help?” asked Maki. She and Nobara are doing their warm up stretches at the track field.

“She was….not that bad actually,” answered Nobara.

“She’s a total nerd, but doesn’t totally act like one. I asked for her help a lot in middle school but since I had to move out..”Maki’s face changed as her words trailed off. The concerned Nobara immediately looked at her.

“Is that why you had to work?”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t matter now really,” Maki shut her down, leaving Nobara clueless if she should still pry more about it. Being the nosy girls she is, she came to Fushiguro after practice, and he was hanging out on the roof reading his book.

“Fushiguro, you said you and Maki-san are cousins, right?” She asked, sitting crossed legged next to him. The wind caressed her lightly, and it’s no wonder why Megumi chose this spot.

“Well, yeah.”

“What’s going on with her family?”

There was a brief silence between the two of them. Megumi took in a breath.

“She hasn’t said anything to you yet?”

Nobara shook her head. Megumi debated if he should outright spill the beans or not.

“In a short story, Maki moved into Gojo’s ‘cause she wanted to escape her family situation.”

“Wait, with Gojo? as in Gojo, our physics teacher?”

“Yes, and as you know, he’s my guardian, too.”

“Damn. You’ve always been secretive one Fushiguro and now you’re being bared open.”

Megumi looked at her, blinking his eyes. “ I thought the whole school’s aware I’m affiliated to Gojo.” That blabbering oversharing teacher would spill some beans about his life sometimes in the middle of lecture.

“Eh, but anyways, what exactly is this family situation?”

Megumi flipped through a page of the book he’s reading before saying, “I’d think it’s better if you ask Maki for it.”

Then right after that the rooftop door’s burst open as Yuuji comes in with a sandwich stuck between his teeth like a stereotypical anime school girl in the morning.

Nobara was thinking hard about it though. The thing for Maki-san. Yes, she did admire her on how much she grinds her ass off in every aspect of life possible. Yet even if Nobara knew her in that light, she never actually knew anything about Maki’s family or the Maki behind that front she strongly holds.

“Sup?” Yuuji asked as he approached Nobara. Then he paused and suddenly said, “Oh yeah, how did that thing for the Tutoring Master go?”

--

Mai heard footsteps passing the hallway outside her bedroom. She grew suspicious. Her bedroom is the one at the end of the hall, and the only time footsteps would be there is if Mai herself enters her room or there’s a person who’s gonna enter the room across from Mai's. Mai quickly got up her bed, feeling dizzy, yanked open the door. Her eyes went wide when she saw her sister standing there, surprised as well, ready to twist the doorknob to her own room.

“Maki, what are you doing here?” said Mai.

Her sister only smirked and answered, “You know my ways, little sister.”

Mai arched a brow and turned her head to the hallway where the glass sliding door leading to the balcony can be found.

“You didn’t actually just climb the-“

“I’ll be out of here real quick.” Maki proceeded to enter her room and unzipped her backpack. She grabbed some items from her closet then stuffed them in her bag.

Mai leaned on the doorway and looked down at her feet. She tried hard to watch Maki packing her bags like how much it stings when she did it months ago.

“I actually thought of dumping all your stuff today since you actually don’t need most of them,” sassed Mai. She tried biting back her tongue on how she missed her sister but at the same time how she despised Maki for doing that.

“I know you wouldn’t do that,” answered Maki, leaving her sister with no explanation at all.

Mai stayed silent. If she could, she would shut the door behind her and ask Makii why she did it. Why did she leave Mai all alone in this house? She would start a fight, a fight that wouldn’t even break past Maki’s barriers.

Maki noticed the silence so she said: “Saw you're doing this tutoring thing for school.”

“Well,” Mai crossed her arms. “Got my first customer actually. Bet ya know her, Kugisaki, was it?”

“You and Nobara?” Maki, her eyes went wide, fluttering her lids. “No way. You can’t stand a second without wanting to kill each other.”

“Hmmm, you really have no little faith in me like that?”

“It’s just hard to believe,” said Maki as she started walking back with her bag to the hallway.

“What if we make it work out? get close to her?” suddenly asked Mai. An idea had been crafting in her head at this point.

“Good for you, I guess,” shrugged Maki.

“Would that change you having a little faith in me?”

“I never said tha-“

“Answer the damn question, Maki.”

“If I say yes, what happens then?”

“You stay back home here with me.”

Maki chuckled, but the air got stiffer than before.

“Crazy Mai, I can’t do that.”

“Then explain it to me, why you just left me like that.”

“I got no time for this, right now,” Maki said as she checked her wrist watch. “How ‘bout just do whatever you want and let's save this for another day?”

Before Mai could even say something, Maki already fled to the balcony.

—

“Okay, fine, I need more of your help,” said Nobara. She had barged in the second year’s classroom and slammed papers on Mai’s chair. “And it’s English this time,” added Nobara.

Mai winced, just by taking a peak of Nobara’s paper. “I actually got full sessions for the library today.”

“But this is urgent for me, I got a test tomorrow!”

“And you should have just told me earlier.”

To be honest, Nobara had been actually fighting off her pride to give Mai another chance. Her fingers hovered over that Instagram DM the night before. It was just that she couldn’t believe it herself Mai was actually that nerdy.

“I’ll pay you extra,” tried to convince Nobara.

“I can squeeze you in a session but..” Mai paused, “you have to come over to my house.”

Nobara widened her eyes. Goddammit, she felt another battle of her pride incoming for this one. “F-fine,” gulped Nobara. Oh jeez, desperation does wonders to people. She did one when she badly had to pee and straight up cut the women’s line at the bathroom. But that was nothing compared to this that she quite find…embarassing.

Since Nobara had to stay for after school anyway because of track practice. Maki was absent during that day, and according to Megumi, she had to stay at home since she apparently got sick. Pretty weird for Maki when she take care of her form very much.

The two had to take a short bus trip going to Mai’s house. The whole time, Mai’s eyes locked in to Nobara’s English paper,and just from observing her, Nobara knew Mai is probably formulating a syllabus on how their tutoring session.

“Aren’t you gonna ask me something?” said Nobara when they were five seconds sitting in the bus.

“Last time you did, you weren’t helpful at all,” replied Mai outright. “It would be a complete waste of time.”

“Oh right.” Nobara huffed in her seat. Mai had a point; they were in a time crunch here.

“You sound offended.”

“As if I’ll never get offended by you in general.”

Mai merely ignored what Nobara said as she looked up at the bus window and pressed a button to alert the bus to stop at the next drop off. “We’re almost there,” she said

And soon both girls were walking up to the front of the Zenin’s estate. It was a huge house, and very traditional japanese type with wooden carved name plates at the gate plus tatami mats covering the living room.

“No Zenins right now. They are at work actually,” said Mai, pointing out the empty house.

They got to the second floor and into Mai’s room.

Nobara looked around her room. There were band posters, a row of cactus plants by the window, and actually fashion magazines plus books. It caught Nobara’s attention, and she went all grabby to it.

“I never told you to touch my stuff,” said Mai.

“Never knew you’d be into this stuff.” Lies. Nobara had seen the jackets Mai would wear above her uniform and the school bags Mai brought that change at least every week.

Flipping to another page, Nobara noticed how the magazine featured actual photos of people that were taken at Tokyo to showcase their street fashion outfits.

“I’ve been to those kinds of events,” brought up Mai. “With my friends, Kasumi and Momo. It was a really fun day for me.” Mai smiled at that memory.

“For real?”

“Yup, but c’mon, let’s just get your English papers started.”

Nobara gritted her teeth. She wanted to know more, and she swore she’s gonna be insanely distracted just thinking about it during this session.

“Hey, you listening?” Mai snapped a finger. She even noticed it. “I said what’s the plural form of goose.”

“Uh, gooses?” Nobara attempted to save her ass. Aside from the magazine, Nobara had been trying to peek in the closet in the corner of Mai’s room. It was slightly open, leaving some of Mai’s clothes seen.

“Wrong.” Mai then proceeded to whack Nobara’s head with her rolled English papers.

“Jeez, was that even necessary!” Nobara caressed her head.

“You’re clearly distracted.”

“You didn’t have to be violent.” Nobara stood up from her chair, fists tightening.

“That’s like you weren’t violent in the first place anyway.” Mai stood up from her chair as well. She closed in her face towards Nobara.

“And you know I’d shut up that mouth of yours easily.” Nobara squinted her eyes, looking down and landing on Mai’s lips.

“Try me,” Mai taunted, licking her lips. She abruptly brought her face inches closer.

Nobara could feel their breaths synchronized to each other like a slight movement could end them up touching each other’s noses and..

Mai noticed how Nobara’s pupils became dilated. She smirked and then whispered, “So, what is it gonna be, Kugisaki?”

Her voice crooned that sent Nobara to get frozen in the ground like Mai casted some sort of spell on her.

’Move, you idiot!’ Nobara’s brain tried to say. But looking at those lips. So plump like it was really taken well care of. The smell of it sticking to Nobara’s nose. It was those kinds of things she wanted.

Mai shifted her hands closer on the table to where Nobara had been supporting her torso. Her eyes were still wide eyed bit when Mai started fluttering her eyes slowly, Nobara fell onto her as her own eyes slightly relieved, binking.

Just centimeters closer that deed could be done and Nobara’s first would be…

Mai’s bedroom door opened with a bang, and a disheveled Maki with her hair down stood at the doorway. Her mouth slightly agape. “I must be interrupting something here.” She pushed her glasses up.

“Maki-san! It’s not what you-“ Nobara jumped away from Mak that she hit her back on one of the cabinets so badly.

Mai snickered, totally amused by this situation.

“Oh,” another voice said at the door. “Never expected you’d be here.”

Nobara and Mai didn’t notice his sea urchin hair the first time around.

“Megumi?!” Both girls said at the same time.

He responded by just nodding.

“Sorry to ruin one of your shenanigans, Mai, but there’s something I need from the house.”

Mai walked to the door, like she didn’t try to purposefully lean into Nobara’s lips.

“Hey!” The girl called out. “We’re not done yet!” Nobara made the eye to eye motion with her hands. There was no freaking way she’d let Mai just walk out when she almost kinda harassed Nobara.

Mai quickly closed the door as she followed Maki to her room just across her sister’s.

“I never knew you’d take the word literally,” said Maki.

“Eh, which one?”

“You know, “getting close”?”

“You know my ways,” Mai said, a sly smile on her lips. “What is it you need?”

“Oh yeah, my meds for my migraine.”

Mai remembered it well that when they were younger, Maki had terrible migraines when her first period happened. As she got older, it was still hunting her.

“Never took it with me ‘cause I didn’t feel it for a while. Now, it looks like it’s coming back for my ass.”

“Yeah..” Mai’s voices trailed off. The cruel reality dropped weights on her when she realized after this, Maki was gonna leave again. Her sister caught on with Mai’s solemn expression.

“Hey, since you took your word, what if I’ll treat you tonight? At McDonalds? Instead of staying here at home, which I can’t do.”

For a second, Mai was face lit up, but was quick to be back in her bitchy face. “You’re not kidding?” She asked.

—

The sisters didn’t mind having Nobara and Megumi tag along with them to the nearest McDonalds.

Their group sat at separate tables in pairs. Nobara with Megumi and then the sisters together.

“You know, you look like a crazy person right now, chomping your burger like that,” commented Megumi as he watched Nobara stuff her cheeks and munch her burger with a deep frown.

She was staring at the sister’s table right across from them. And they were busy arguing about dipping fries on the vanilla sundae.

“So you don’t have a smidge of idea at all about them,” added Megumi, and it tore Nobara’s lifelong stare to the sisters.

“What I’ve seen is are annoyed with each other, especially Mai to Maki to the point where she ridiculously bullies her.”

“That’s the surface level of it.”

“Tell me then, Fushiguro.”

“Like I said before, ask Maki.”

And right, she still hadn’t done that.

“But it looks like they’re getting along,” said Megumi, watching the sister’s steal each other’s fries. “I think that what matters for now.”

a/n: Send me any nobamai fic prompts (imma try mah best to answer them)

my other nobamai fics ao3 link

[random-mha-thoughts]

Bad Boy (Todoroki x Reader)

Pairing: Todoroki x Reader

Genre: Angst to fluff, and a lil spice ;), No quirk!AU

Summary: You finally get to see your childhood friend Shouto after years of being separated only to find out he’s completely changed.

BGM: “Younger” by Ruel

Word count: 2,781

Tags:  @yuki-osaki​ @liviitehe​ @iamsoftsodonttoucheume-blog​ @bunnythepipsqueak​

a/n: God this photo fucked me up good when I first saw it.

I saw this picture on my search for images for my last Todo post aaaaand yeah, pretty self explanatory. I got to thinking, what if this poor baby finally snapped one day and was like "FUCK ENDEAVOR AND HIS ENTIRE PROGRAM, IM NOBODY'S MASTERPIECE" and he went the complete opposite direction. So enjoy a little bit of OOC Todoroki and a bit of a longer post than my usual stuff!

I’m really really sorry about not updating in the past few days.  I was really swamped by college work and studying, and I was mentally exhausted and physically tired every day.  Today wasn’t my day and I almost had a breakdown because a lot of things piled up in me, but I had to pull myself together somehow.  Hopefully, after this week, I’ll go back to a somewhat regular posting schedule.  Thanks for being patient with me guys, I really appreciate it :)

When my mom told me Shouto will be going to the same high school as me, I was expecting the same buttoned-up, shy, good boy from elementary school.  Oh boy, was I wrong.

The boy I bump into in the hallway definitely looks like Shouto, but the only thing that's the same is his mismatched hair and eyes.  Everything else about him was much different.  His entire energy was different, even from the fraction of a second I focused on his face.

"Shouto?" I call when he's about to brush past me.

I don't think he's expecting someone to know him on the first day, pausing and looking down curiously.

The most shocking feature of all is the scar on his left side, a red blotch that covers the left side of his face, starkly contrasting his brilliant turquoise eye; a single ray of light in a scarlet sky.

As I'm gaping at the puckered skin, his eyebrows furrowing at my face as recognition slowly dawns on him.  "(Y/n)?"

I'm relieved that he at least remembers me.  "Yeah, hey."  I don't really know what to do now.  My first instinct is to hug him, but something tells me he isn't a fan of that sort of thing anymore.  There's a coldness between us that's thick as a knife.  "How have you been?"

"Fine," he answers curtly.  His hands are stuffed into his pockets, leaning back in a way that seems uncharacteristic of him and more like a ruffian.

Does his not want to talk to me?  I don't blame him, I haven't been in his life for a good eight years.  "How are your parents?"

His jaw clenches.  "Fine."

Oh.  I struck a nerve.  "Do you wanna catch up at lunch?  What class are you in?"

"1-A."  Overjoyed that we share the same class, I'm about to open my mouth, but he interjects, "But I don't think we should talk."  That was the last thing he said before he strolls past me.

I'm stunned, following his receding back through the sea of students.  I guess I shouldn't have brought up his parents when I know it's a sensitive topic, but I didn't know what else to say.  And it's probably awkward to see someone you used to be close to talk to you again, but the least he could've been is polite.  That's saying something, because Shouto was always the polite child.

Something is terribly wrong here.

Shouto has definitely changed since we were younger.  He's become a delinquent.

He never even shows up to class.  After our little encounter, he was slumped in his seat until the teacher finished role call, then he just got up and walked out in the middle of class and never came back.  In all the days after that, his seat remained empty even at the beginning of the day.

At first, I gave him the benefit of the doubt.  What if he happened to get sick and had to stay home?  Then I saw his signature mismatched tuft of hair walking back home in the school yard, and I knew he was skipping.

After a whole two weeks passed of him skipping, I had enough.  The Shouto I know would never cut class even if his life depended on it.  During lunch, I went looking for him in the group of other delinquent kids in the back of the school.

"Todoroki?" the ash-blond ringleader ruffles his hair and scoffs, "Idiot must be off somewhere by himself like the damn loner he is.  He picked a fight with me and I almost beat his ass into oblivion!"

I ball my fists up, more angry at Shouto than the group of boys eyeing me like a pack of wolves.  "You guys are useless," I mumble, about to turn away from them.

"Aww, is he your boyfriend, sweetie?" the honey blond with a black streak in his hair smoothly wraps an arm around me.  "He probably doesn't care about you, you deserve someone else who'll give you his time."

"Fuck off, who said you can touch me?"  I shove his arm away and step back.

"Calm down there," the red head with sharp teeth taunts with a smirk, "You're getting a bit defensive.  You sure you don't need help looking for your little prince?"

"I'm fine on my own, thanks," I huff, turning around to go look for Shouto elsewhere.

"Maybe I'll come with you," the overly-friendly boy blocks my way again.  "If he's not your boyfriend, maybe we can get together sometime?"

"Not interested.  Out of my way, Pikachu reject."  I try to side-step him, but the leader grabs the back of my collar and whips me around so I'm face to face with his bared teeth.

"You're a bit rude, aren't you?  Should I pull your head out your ass for you?"  His crimson eyes glare his murderous intent into me.

I hold my ground, the anger against my irresponsible friend more powerful than any fear of this hothead possibly hurting me.  "Don't act so tough if your talk is cheap."

He cracks his knuckles without breaking eye contact with me.  "I'll show you cheap talk.  Try waking up next week after I'm done with you!" he snarls.

I mirror his expression.  I don't mind throwing hands at this guy if I have to, blood rushing through me to prepare for the fist fight.  "I dare you-!"

"Enough, (Y/n)."

I can feel his presence right behind me even though he doesn't physically touch me.

Scarlet eyes shift behind me.  "Took you long enough, hot shot.  Your friend has just as much spunk as you, I'll kick both your asses!"

"I'd like to see you try, Bakugou," Shouto responds coldly.  "We both know who'd win."  Keeping his gaze locked on the aggressive male, he harshly grabs my arm and hauls me away.  "Let's go."

I'm fuming with anger when we're back inside the building.  I turn on him when he finally releases me, but he's already starting down the hall.  "Don't walk away from me!  We need to talk!"  I stomp over, following him to an abandoned classroom.  "What the hell is wrong with you?!  First of all, you were a real ass when I talked to you last week.  Second of all, you're not even coming to class like you should.  And now you're already picking fights with that idiot out there?  What's gotten into you Shouto?!"

"You were about to get into a fight as well.  You should thank me," he comments coldly, slipping into a desk with books open on top.

"I could've handled it just fine without you!  The only reason I was even there talking to them was because I was looking for you!"  I hover over him, glaring down so he can tell how angry I am.  "You'e skipped class all week, this isn't like you at all!  How are you supposed to catch-?"

One glance down the the open books shows all the material we've been going over in class.  He's already caught up to today's lesson, writing notes in his book and ignoring my presence.  The entire setup makes me angrier.  "I don't understand you, Shouto.  What kind of act are you trying to pull?  You're not a delinquent, why are you trying to act like one for everyone else?   Or is this all because you're just trying to ignore me?"

His pencil stops moving and it slams down onto the desk.  "A lot happened since you left, (Y/n)," the boy responds.  His quivering voice indicates restriction of intense emotion.

The hurt is apparent across his entire face, calming me down.  My gaze lingers on the left side of his features, over the eye that somehow looks perpetually sad.  "How did you get that scar, Shouto?"

The boy's eyebrows furrow.  "My father never let up on me after you left, and he got worse.  My mother couldn't handle fighting him on her own anymore.  One day, she snapped, told me how unsightly my left side was, and pouring boiling water over my face."  His large hand gingerly covers his reddened skin.  "And my bastard father put her in a mental institution after that.  He did this."

My heart aches for my childhood friend, the boy I took care of and listened to all his problems.  I can't imagine how much pain Rei was going through.  For her to have lost it, she must've held such a heavy burden.  When I had to move away, I felt so guilty about leaving him with all his troubles.  He had no one else to reach out to and it was snatched from him.  There wasn't a day I stopped thinking and worrying over him.  I reach to take his hand and offer comfort.  "Shou-"

Shouto bolts up from his seat, his taller figure hunching over mine, features screwed up in distaste.  "You weren't there when I needed you most."

I'm taken back, hurt more than anything.  "It's not my fault, we were so much younger, I didn't have a choice but to go with my parents."

A dark chuckle erupts from his lips, dismissing my excuses.  "It's fine.  It happened, I've learned to deal with it."

I'm about to blow my top with this kid.  "Yeah, you've dealt really well, haven't you?" I roll my eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

My mouth gapes, letting out a sputtered scoff.  "You're kidding.  Just look at you!  You're pretending to be someone you're not!  You and I both know you were never the bad boy type when we were kids.  You're the slightly awkward, naturally smart, driven, hardworking-"

"I was only those things because my father forced them on me," he passes by me, crossing his arms.  "I don't want to be anything that bastard wants anymore.  And if you can't see that, then we were never friends in the first place."

That's a stab in the chest.  How can he say that we were never friends when we used to do everything together?  A surge of fury rushing through me, I grab his arm to keep him from moving any farther.  "You love watching superhero cartoons, your favorite was All Might.  Sometimes, you're so damn lazy that instead of doing homework when you came home, you would sneak in a nap before your dad came home to see you slacking off.  Your favorite food in the entire world is cold soba.  You don't like extremely sweet desserts.  You've always been insecure about how strange your mismatched hair and eyes look, but I always had to assure you that you're still the most handsome guy in our class."

Shouto halfway turns around to look at me.

"If we weren't friends, why do I know so much about you?"  I take another bold step towards him, softening at the underlying pain etched into his features.  "I know you always hated the way your dad expects so much from you.  The only thing you ever wanted in your childhood was to be normal.  The pressure finally crumbled down on you and your mom, and I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you through it.  But you shouldn't abandon everything that you are.  You took after your mom more than your dad; you're sometimes a sassy son of a bitch, but you're kind and have a deep respect for people you admire.  You have a natural sense of humor that you don't even know you have.  You care about the people you're close to, you only struggle with communicating how you feel sometimes."

His lips part slightly, processing everything I just showered onto him.  Guilt eventually creeps up on him, choosing to rub the back of his neck.  "You...always did know just what to say."

I smirk and engulf him into my long-awaited hug.  "Who else would put you back in your place?"

His arms hesitantly wrap around my body, the act of sharing body warmth strange yet familiar to him.  It's a small victory, but I'm relieved that we're back on speaking terms.  I'm ready to resume protecting him as I should.

Shouto shifts in our embrace.  "You said...I struggle with telling people how I feel...?" he mumbles sheepishly near my ear.

My boy perks with confusion.  "Yeah, even when we first-"

"Would it suffice if..."

Before I can turn to search his face for what he could be implying, his grip around me loosens as he pulls back to look at me, one of his warm hands resting against my cheek.  His face looms right in front of me, my breath catching in surprise, before he presses his lips to mine softly.  The weightlessness in my stomach is unmistakable.

As quick and unexpected as it came, it also left, Shouto's half lidded gaze resting on me from a small distance away.  All I can do is stare off dazed, still trying to process what just happened.

He leans back against the nearest desk in the front row.  "I guess I should've asked first."  I can see his cheeks and his ears turn almost as flushed as the color of his hair despite his hand covering half his face to hide it.  "But it was the only way I can think to get my point across without stumbling over words."

My heart still flutters trying to recover back to normal, my knees shaking as I lean against the teacher's desk for stability.  I resist the urge to touch my lips like a shocked schoolgirl, but I'm still trying to process the whole thing.  "You know," I cough, "We did already kiss when we were like...five, so this wasn't really our first.  But I don't usually count that-"

The intense color fades from his face almost at once, a darkness creeping into his gaze.  "Then," he pins me back into the desk, hands on both sides of the wood to trap me, "I shouldn't have any qualms about doing it again."

Contrasting from his strong setup, his next kiss is still shy and hesitant.  After exchanging a couple more tentative lip-caresses that still make my head spin, he's gotten his feet wet enough to go harder, establishing a rhythm between us.  As his kisses intensify, his hands reach up to cup both sides of my nape, fingers tangling in my hair desperately and tilting my head up for a better angle.  My own hands grasp the collar of his uniform, pulling him closer into the heat of the moment.

His body pushes me practically into sitting on top of the desk, moving one of his knees between my legs as he lets ones of his hands roam down to grip my waist.  The sudden tug elicits a minute gasp, allowing Shouto to nip at my bottom lip before tugging my head back to trail soft kisses down my jaw.  My fingers thread through his soft locks, letting him massage my neck with his mouth.

"W-Where did you learn all this?" I breathe out unsteadily, my breath refusing to return.

He straightens up and captures my lips in another slow kiss.  "You'll never know."  Another one.  "I've admittedly imagined this for a while."  The next kiss is much deeper, a hum vibrating from his chest as his fingers dig into my side again.  "You're special, so dear."  His mumbles between kisses become more incoherent as his kisses become messy.

"Shouto."  I finally manage to push him away for me to breathe and calm my dizzy head.  Both of us are panting.  His half-lidded eyes and flushed face tempt me, but the fear of someone walking by suddenly alerts in my mind.  "Someone might see us.  Besides, isn't there something you need to say?"

His brow lifts.  "I'm...sorry for being rude to you last week."

"That was needed, too," I chuckle, "But there's something else."

Confusion crosses his features.  "Have I done something else wrong?"

My hands slide down to grip his hands.  "Don't you need to ask me to date you officially?"

The tint of rose on his cheeks intensifies a shade.  "I thought it was clear already..."

Another chuckle bubbles from my lips and I lean up to kiss his warm cheek.  "I'll let it pass because I want to date you too."  His face begins to light up in joy, but I push off from the desk and tow him out of the room.  "But you have to start coming to class again."

Shouto catches up to keep pace with me and presses a kiss to my forehead.  "Done."

"And you need to see a therapist, Mr. Bad Boy."

He breaks out into a smile at that nickname.  "I'll think about it."

[welcometotheocverse]

Henry in 2x05 at the dinner at Lorelai's?

Ooooh okay

So Henry’s arrival at Stars Hollow is actually heralded by a fight between Liz and her Current Boyfriend Number Whatever who is at this point helping support the expenses and getting sick of Jess “mouthin off” and both boys “being underfoot and doing nothing half the time but sit around reading they got no respect for me-” ( which is yknow Bullshit bc they’re 17 and 10 but whatever he sucks)  And right after there’s a fight between Liz and Jess “Why..hey?! Why are you packing up my stuff??” “You’re going to Stars Hollow. Tomorrow.” “Excuse me?!” “Your uncle Luke, he’ll take ya in. It’s all set up. Oh you boys are gonna love it there-” “Fucking Excuse Me?!!” “Jess can you just for one fucking time-” aaaaand  a  huuuge ass screaming match later during which he is Very Much Staying In His Room For:  “So...I guess we’re moving huh” ( this all happens either before or after Luke is done yelling at Liz over the phone like we see in the episode. Theres just... its a yelling heavy day and then they’re on a bus to the Hollow)

Which leads to him not meeting Lorelai until the dinner because he doesn’t step down from the apartment for the entirety of the first day because of the fight and the whole “being shipped to a relative he’s never met before.” he’s pretty nervous and just stays put where Luke leaves him and also while Luke bought the frosted flakes and “kid food” he didn’t think to specify they were allowed to have it without asking so neither him nor Jess really go for it ( Jess picks him up like  a sandwich while he’s scoping the town out) so he’s like really hungry when they go. He’s mostly excited about not having to worry about asking permission to grab food because they were invited and he can just eat what they serve him and also is mildly curious about Lorelai and co. because  Luke’s...nice enough and she’s friends with him and the others are friends with her and despite being in a bad mood and not saying much Jess didn’t really say much about her when Henry asked  past “she talks a lot” and like everyone talks a lot compared to Jess sometimes so

So they get to the dinner and Henry’s v polite and looking around. He smiles at Lorelai and she at him and his first ( if not lasting) impression of her is “huh she’s actually pretty nice” and like he mostly sticks to Jess because neither’s keen on being apart in a place they’re new at. Unlike Jess though he actually smiles a little when he meets Jackson and Sookie because yeah they’re freaking out about a lemon but it’s...it’s pretty funny. He takes a liking to them and asks Jackson about fruit and is scared kinda looking around and sticking to Luke like glue ( like the questions come out hesitant) but nice to them smiling and trying to talk a bit  ( which is like his general  setting tbh.)

He sticks with Luke while Jess and Rory meet ( I haven’t decided if Jess asks Rory to bail in this because while yeah he tends to go on his own a lot ( because he doesn’t wanna be around Henry when he can tell he’s angry and also he hated being home a lot and it just became a habit) I don’t think he would do so when Henry’s in a house with A Lot Of Unknown People specially with how I’m interpreting their life with Liz to be in this verse) 

The dinner scene is actually v cute with him because it like...takes him by surprise just how homey it all is Luke and Lorelai playfully arguing about the food on Luke’s plate and Sookie talking about this dish and that and Jackson offering up conversation here and there. It’s like  a legit family dinner and mostly he’s pretty thrown and sorta just smiles and enjoys it. Rory actually gets him to talk about books since he takes after Jess in that ( though he likes different genres) and mostly he’s just a little kid getting a glimpse at a family dinner and being cute and shy and mirroring Luke ( he starts eating when Luke starts eating he relaxes a bit when he sees how Friendly everyone’s being ect) and coming a bit out of his shell and going “oh these adults are nice and wanna talk to me” and its v cute. I kinda love it. t-t

He’s aware Jess is “getting a soda” but sorta figures Jess either IS getting a soda or is out smoking and will come back so while he’s anxious because Jes isn’t there and he’s alone with people he doesn’t know it’s mitigated by him knowing Jess would not just up and leave with these many unknown people and also like I said they ( Sookie Jackson Rory and even Lore at this point and how homey everyone is and nice and Happy) put him a bit more at ease even if he doesn’t realize it.

I think this is also when some of him and Jess’ past living habits start showing like Henry Demolishes his food but doesn’t ask for more and after exchanging a glance with Luke Sookie offers him more and he -hesitantly- accepts and Rory brings up the books she was reading when she was Henry’s age ( Henry lets it out that Jess read similar books but he likes fiction better and isn’t in a hurry to read Bigger Kid Books even if he Can and Jess ( who always ahead in reading) is always bugging him about how great they are and then Rory  goes on a tangent about the merits of Fairy Tales and Fantasy as story telling with Rory doing most of the talking ( and kinda smiling herself at having someone who wants to listen and looks Up to her bc she is the babie mostly in Stars Hollow so hey nice for a change  and also she’s just straight up infodumping which is just really fun and even more fun when the person’s interested ( because this might as well be when i mention I hc both Gilmore Girls as ND) ) while Henry smiles again and listens because now he has something to say back to Jess when he pokes fun at his book tastes  even if he doesn’t completely catch everything she’s saying bc she’s going full on Future English Major but she makes sure to try to level with him and also wow he really likes Rory and she’s really smart like Jess and she likes him and wants to hear him talk about his books and  ins’t that ....that’s really nice and  is completely unaware of what looks the adults at the table are giving and its just...Its Very Cute. Listen Im love them.) and then Jackson pipes up ( when he can tell Rory’s losing Henry)  with “you know when I was his age mom would just tell us to go run around the farm. We did use to have this ball to kick around though you like outside Henry?” and again Henry’s very taken aback by being Included and talked to like that but it’s?? Nice?? And the food’s nice?? And he’s actually having a good time all things considered and feeling less on guard since he got there and its just A Nice Dinner Wow.

Until Lorelai goes to get the garlic bread/finds Jess.

I don’t think he knows she’s out there talking to Jess or what’s said but with the hypervigilance both Mariano kids have going, he definitely hears Lorelai slams the door ( and he had been keeping an ear out for Jess as well) 

I’m not sure if he follows Luke because even  if they’re nice he still isn’t in a place he feels safe around everyone or if he gets up After Luke because Jess is missing and a door just slammed and these are things where it’s best to Know What’s Going On And Also What’s Coming but he hears Lorelai’s “that kid is way more screwed up than you think he is.” rant and his opinion of her immediately just falls. 

See and here I’m kinda torn because I can see him going “My brother’s Not screwed up! You don’t even know him!” like really upset ( because yeah Jess can be grouchy and moody but Jess Is His Brother and Henry is privy to Why he’s moody and grouchy and specifically “screwed up” are words that really hit a nerve because he’s heard them before from people specifically about Jess and usually it means nothing good for either of them but also “screwed up” just Hurts to hear  and Lorelai realizes Henry’s listening and goes “oh crap” and Luke tells him to go sit back down and Then they keep arguing ( though Henry would still listen in on their fight because again Hyper vigilance) or if they just agreed as he watches and then when they hit “Go Find Jess” “Don’t tell Me what to do! I’m gonna go find Jess” Lorelai finally sees him and Then the “my brother’s not screwed up!” line happens

And on yet another hand I also don’t know if he would say it because while “I” would find it cathartic Henry’s character is Highly Not Confrontational like even when he’s not nice he would be scared to confront Lorelai because sassing is Jess’ thing and he’s seen what that can cause to happen yknow? So that I’m a bit fuzzy on.

But either way his opinion of her just kinda really falls really far really quickly ( remembering he was like “oh she’s nice” when the dinner started) and it doesn’t really go away until like after the accident when I have her shape up a bit. It really just sets up Lorelai for him as someone who A) does Not like them ( because to him if she doesn’t like Jess and doesn’t want Luke to take them in then she also must not like Henry and not want Luke to take him in) and B) someone who can Make Luke Send Them Back because their argument reminds him or Liz’ fight with her Boyfriend Number Whatever ( and a lot of past fights like “you know your kids are a hassle Liz.” “that kid of yours’ a fucking punk Liz” “Can’t  you keep ‘em out of the house? You know I work all day I pay all the bills-” ) which uh....Ended With him and Jess being shipped to their uncle so it’s not....it’s not great. From then on he’s pretty subdued and only really talks to Lorelai when she inquires things ( and this is the pattern that will continue until Luke and Lulu and Lorelai herself understand some things like he becomes really quiet around Lorelai and Cordial But Monosyllabic to the point shes like “wow they’re really brothers huh” at least once to Luke ( and is a really big contrast to how he is with Luke and Jess and some other people ) and pulls off some incredibly avoidant feats when she comes at the dinner ) and just on top of not liking her a lot from here on out sees her as Someone To Avoid/Someone Not To Be Trusted 

Anyways after the dinner all 3 head home and Henry ( when Luke is downstairs doing inventory or counting the till or some other thing)  shows Jess the garlic rolls he shoved in his pocket when no one was looking ( another habit he’s picked up)  and gives him some and it’s a nice moment between the two. Jess passes him one of his annotated paperbacks in return.

 Again ignore the caption gifs are hard to find lmao

Send me one of my OC's + a canon scene from the show and I'll tell you what they do in it/how they fit in

[singingcookie]

👀👀 SO. THAT LATEST CHAPTER OF DOJ 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

👀👀👀👀 Yes. It certainly was a thing wasn’t it?  👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀 In all seriousness this chapter was really difficult for me to bring myself to work on. And it was mostly because (compared to most of my other chapters) this one was really lacking detail. I had a few moments that stood out but figuring out how to smush them together in a cohesive way was hard. With that said, I’m gonna do something I haven’t done much til now. I’m gonna share my original outline for this chapter under the read more.

I might throw in comments between sections/thoughts. I normally post my outline at the bottom of my chapter documents and gradually get rid of bullet points as I get through them. This’ll be the first time I’ve looked at the outline since I completed, so I apologize for the length this might take on lol. That said....

DOJ CHAPTER 20 SPOILERS READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

Deku’s pov this chapter.

Skip ahead to them at the thing. They’re in Tarasanudo in Kanagawa. Somewhere close to the Tokyo Bay. Last train will leave a bit after 9pm.

I like to preface my outlines with a pov if there’s a change from the previous chapter. Any ones that are continuations (so with chapters 9 & 10 for Deku, and chapters 11-15 for Ochako) don’t really get labelled like this but since it was Ochako for 19 I had to. I knew right away this had to be Izuku that we were hearing from because his thoughts--his perception of Uraraka in the story thus far--have been pretty close to nonexistent. I figured it was about time (especially put into this position) for us to glean an idea of what exactly is going on under that curly hair of his.

The second bullet point is just a point of reference for me so I don’t forget anything 😅 I’ll probably carry it on through my next few chapters too. Again, just so I don’t forget as I go since the setting will be relevant until the festival ends.

We get festival shenanigans maybe just them looking around at things at first. He keeps getting wrapped up in Uraraka. Lingering on whatever she does. Her excitement at the foods, the decorations. The way she sways to the music from each and every stall. Obviously this should be at least a few paragraphs. If not a page.

HAHAHAHA, oh man. So much for that. Deku really went damn wild at the start of this chapter. The whole introduction (before Ochako says the FIRST LINE OF DIALOGUE FOR THE CHAPTER WTF) was 2 pages long on my chapter document. And I remember being shook about it. “This much Deku??? You have this much to say?” It probably would have been less if he didn’t want to retell the whole dang story with the netsuke BUT HE DID WHAT HE DOES I GUESS!!

I also added the okonomiyaki scene pretty sporadically, I didn’t have it in my oultine at all. But I needed an introductory scene into them at the festival before Bakugou and Kirishima showed up. I think it turned out pretty well? I got a lot of questions about my research on that one cause it was so specific! 😅 Truth is I just look up those kinda details as I get to them mid-writing. Makes it take longer but the learning part is really interesting and fun for me!

And then there’s also the hints of them being followed by at least  two of their classmates, working up Uraraka and stemming Deku’s fear. Also added because I needed to segue naturally between the okonomiyaki and cork gun scenes.

Uraraka points to a cork gun stall nearby and says that she wants to play. They don’t fully approach the stand though, Uraraka standing back to look over the prizes to see what she wants to play for. He wonders why she doesn’t just play and figure it out later. She says that she’ll play better if she has something in mind already “don’t question my methods” she hums for a moment and he kinda playfully regards her. Maybe a mild stirring of something.

She surges forward, reaching for one of the cork guns while she holds the yen out for the vendor. “Hey, take the next one over.” Oh god Kacchan’s grabbed the same cork gun and now him and Uraraka are glaring at each other. Kirishima apologizes for the interruption, telling Kacchan that he can just take the next one over. He greets Deku who replies while still watching as Uraraka and Kacchan glare even while he complies to their classmate’s request. Both of them slam their money on the counter. Aaaaand they’re making it a competition. Great.

Thiiiiiiis turned out more of less the same, clearly. 😂 I had a different concept in my head originally of how these games worked there. Ended up digging hard for videos and photos to find out properly. Ended up altering my image to match but it still managed to work out on that front, regardless.

I knew I wanted Kirishima and Bakugou here with them (not only because I love the ship) but it gave them a chance to unwind and relax. Kind of ease off on the tension of them being stuck alone together. Not to mention that I felt it would be really good for cementing the idea of a “something more” kind of pondering in Deku.

Kirishima and Deku talk about what they’ve been up to since getting to the festival. Maybe Deku wonders about the snack that Kirishima has. It looks delicious. Some kinda meat thing. “Where’s the stall?” Kirishima tries to explain but Deku just looks lost. “How ‘bout me and--Bakugou just show you where once they’re finished?”

“That sounds--” Deku’s cut off by a whoop and when he looks back to the stand, they’re both setting the cork guns back down. Uraraka’s reveling in her victory and Kacchan tells her she only got one more point, so she shouldn’t be so excited. She says he’d be just as excited if the scores were reversed. The vendor has to remind them they have prizes to pick.

Kirishima and Deku kind of just ^^; about it. They get whatever the prizes are. Ochako maybe picked something with the idea of giving it to Inko. Kirishima says to Bakugou that he told Deku they’d show him to the stand with the meat skewers.

This got altered a LOT WOW. I think the reason this section changed so much was because I was trying to find a way to make the chapter flow. I left a lot of details out and mostly went big picture because I knew this part of the festival would involve a lot of tiny things that would be a pain to plan out. Lots of minor minutiae that I knew I’d get annoyed if I had to change a lot.

I knew I had to keep Kirishima with MEAT because he’s Kiri (hello it’s listed as one of his fav things even!) and I knew I wanted to have him almost tripped up and saying “Katsuki” just to hammer home where exactly they’re at rn in their interactions.

I extended their interactions together because saying “hey let’s walk around” only to separate them with narry another conversation felt pointless and stilted. That’s why I added the extended convo about the game (I didn’t have it in the outline that she cheated but when I thought about the game and her quirk, it was too fitting to not include!) and also the thing about their internships and things being “too calm” again. Was really trying to hammer home one last “YOU SHOULDN’T FEEL COMFORTABLE” for all you readers lol

They might get stuck together for a bit maybe up through the fireworks. They only realize after the fireworks are through. Uraraka wonders about if maybe there’s something that Deku wants to do now, especially since Bakugou and Kirishima p much vanished.

Deku says something offhandedly. He hadn’t really been pulled toward anything in particular. Maybe they could just walk around, see if they find some of the others. Maybe some kinda casual conversation. Ochako has them stop because she sees a yo-yo fishing game and she really wants a water yo-yo.

As you can see, the fireworks scene (which apparently everyone adores?) was very much not planned LOL. Nor was Bakugou clearly and purposefully ditching them. I don’t really have much in the way of explanations other than it’s what felt right. I considered including a time skip or two during this chapter...but then I realized how silly that would be over such a short time period. So I ended up including the ditching (including Bakugou literally yelled that “Nope!” and it was like “oh okay that’s what we’re doing cool thanks for the memo?”) and then the fireworks was a clear “time is passing while he’s wistful” kind of moment. I think it went over well and segued pretty naturally into this.

Deku just watches, musing to himself over how nice this has been...how nice she looks...she said something about wanting to give the stuffed animal in his grasp to his mom. As a thank you for the yukata. He still can’t believe that Inko never said anything to him about it. But honestly...what would he have said. What would he have done? He’s seen her in it for a while now and he still hasn’t commented about it to her…yeah, okay, he did try twice. Once at school and once with Eri but since then he hasn’t bothered to try again.

Maybe it’s pointless. Maybe the fact that he did try twice was the universe saying that it was dumb and he definitely shouldn’t. That he would make her uncomfortable so don’t bother.

Or maybe it wasn’t about her. Maybe it was the universe scolding him from trying to say it around other people… Embarrassing her around her friends and their former teacher...yeah. Yeah, no. It was definitely that. He needed to say something. She deserved to hear it. He couldn’t tell her about her kimono during that New Years celebration. Shouldn’t he tell her now? Respect both her and his mother’s efforts? Yes. He should definitely say something now.

As you can see....pretty much nothing here changed LOL. I knew this was exactly right but some stuff got clarified and extended, I feel. Made it feel a lot more stream of conscious like as a result of that.

Side note Deku has a big tendency to repeat himself mentally when I write him....idk why this happens but it does lmao.

Uraraka comes back over with her water yo-yo. She says something idk what. But Deku starts to try to say something about her thing. Bringing it up very slowly and awkwardly but before he can explain properly she interrupts him. “Deku-kun, do you hear that?” He goes quiet as he listens. Then……screaming. 

Then they hear someone exclaim that it looks like the bonfire is out of control. They look and...that’s not a normal bonfire. Those are blue flames.

LOL “She says something idk what” is such a staple of my outlines I cry. 😂 That and “Idk something else needs to go here figure it out later”

Anyway though another case of extension here. I knew I was gonna have to with “bringing it up slowly and very awkwardly” that’s vague and I had to show that happening so it was bound to be. I actually struggled on whether or not to let him say it. But ultimately it felt dissatisfying to let him say it and not give Uraraka or the readers the chance to dwell on it. It needs a moment to itself. It needs to be a heavy, impactful moment--but the problem is the League reveal was heavier so it would have knocked it away just as much as him not saying it at all.

Obviously my reveal (the last bullet point) changed a lot with how I conveyed it...also Uraraka’s line. But when I was writing it I realized that Uraraka would be more horrified than my outline which, as you can see, is really calm in comparison. But I knew the only way to reveal it all was Dabi blue flames. A staple of the League... But having Deku’s last line was a better ending line.

ANYWAY, sorry that took so long but. There you have it. Deeper thoughts and perspective from the planning of the chapter. I hope this was interesting seeing the difference between my outline, but I apologize if my commentary was at all boring lol

Thanks Kat!! Always happy to talk!!! 💖💖💖💖

[seenashwrite]

Notes From Nash: Season 15, Episode 3

It's ep three, and was third try the charm? Well, we're still in that little town, which is infuriating. But don't lose hope, chickadees. There was some character arc action and some plot advancing, and just drama in general, and it moved at a decently quick clip, all of which is refreshing after last week's ass-disaster of an episode. 

If I were grading this ep, all things considered (including some damn fine acting moments that elevated the material), it's an A-. (Five points were docked immediately because we were still in the little town.) But seriously, this week's writer(s) had a LOT to make up for given the aforementioned last week as well as a largely lackluster premiere, so you know what? Props to them. 

We got a loose end from season past tied up, got rid of some dead weight, and then there was a thing that happened that I’m not entirely sure was necessary at this interval, but I get why it happened. Of course, we had our requisite random hamfisted “solution(s)” and still-unexplained bits that should’ve been clarified ages ago, can’t not have those, it seems. Regardless, this episode was actually fairly interesting to watch. I’m still wary about the state of the season after the first two, but this one had some spark.

Spoilers below the cut, you know the drill.  

This one's in order, I was jotting stuff down as I watched. Past ep breakdowns linked at the bottom. If you’re new, hello, welcome, etc., I don’t do meta shit or reading into the symbolism of the color of a blurry wallpaper just over someone’s shoulder, I look at writing and cohesiveness and structure and flow and all that jazz. I basically just call things as I see ‘em. 

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More spooky-scary still seems to be pouring from the hellpit, but at least this crypt is pretty, and Harry Potter tent-esque because the square feet inside is seemingly bigger than the outside.  

Rowena appears to be outfitted in one of my grandmother's housedresses, or a coffin lining, or a 1980s prom dress, whichever you prefer, and none of them have been pressed. I'm trying to say I don't like it. They also continue to do Ruthie's makeup in such a manner that she perpetually looks approximately fifteen years older than she actually is, so in a way I'm thankful this is likely her last episode. On the other hand, I trust these writers and the people who assemble/green light the promos about as far as I can throw them, so we shall see. In any event, Ruthie is quite the good actor and I hope she gets a million gigs after all this is done.  

This Sam-Dean moment with Creased Brow Sam and Gruff Voice Dean is falling so flat, not because of them, but because we're hearing The Same Damn Thing We've Already Heard. Move the plot along, please----- Oh wait here comes Belphagor once again with a solution, this time a nice little plot rescue MacGuffin! Lilith's Crook. Just gotta blow it like a horn. 

Motherbitch, this is stupid.

I got a thought: make it Gabriel's horn, so it calls in all the angels who should've come back with the reverse-y switch-a-roo, and they deal with sealing the hole, but bonus! At end of ep last scene is that it's also called Gabriel back, too. I'd announce to the universe that this show needs to hire me, but, welp.

Oh look, Ketch is in a hospital gown. Oh look, I bet Ketch is about to die in that hospital gown, instead of a badass suit like it should be. It looked like DHJ accidentally spoiled via a tweet that I happened to see----- 

I dodge the promo images and articles and such so I can give a view of someone who doesn't know what is coming in these things. 

-----because he talked about coming back just to leave again, that it was a pleasure, whatever, and y'all will have to fill me in on that because I kinda can't believe he whiffed that hard. I'm not looking it up, is my point. Did he whiff? Actually, don't answer that, I don't care. I mean, don’t go to trouble looking into it on my account.  

Hmmm. Was Ketch’s death entirely necessary? At least, right now? I dunno. Maybe. I’m 50/50 whether this, or have him be double-crossy then get killed later. In any event, well-acted by DHJ. He's quite fantastic. He is wasted in all the Hallmark dreck he's been in, I really hope he gets some good work after this. That's that. Moving on. 

We're 1/4 in, and I'll give it this: we've gotten some action, some drama, but they've GOT to make up for the lack of plot progression in episode 2. Belphagor is shady as shit, which we knew, and this just got reinforced by that demon who has such a hard-on for Belphagor getting axed. 

I do not mind rando badass lady hunter having lines and playing a tangentially-important role in the ep, but this means if we ever see her again, she'll likely get killed, so I'm not getting attached. 

So hell is an angry vagina. SFX, are y'all okay? Is that prick whose tweets occasionally come across my feed still working there? Y'all need some hugs? I know y'all need some better budget, that all the DC shows got it, but oh well, that ship's sailed.  

Well done set dec, I dig the ghoulish statues in that hallway. And hey costume design, I like the ring that dude was wearing, I would wear that in real life. It would also look great as a wrist cuff. I digress. 

We know this demon is not going to succeed in killing Belphagor, so once more we have a pointless halftime cliffhanger. Also, have I mentioned I'm done with Cas being a weak puss? I'm telling you, if stuff got rewound, he should be incrementally getting his mojo back, that tracks logically. See Ep. 1 notes for what I thought should've happened for a legit "Whoa" moment. 

"Do you have any idea what he is?" --- he's a poop demon. Again, see the first episode of @youtotallymadethatup​    /shameless plug

[sighs]

Is this show gonna end with a Jack vs. Jack battle royale? Because fuck that noise. But! Writing-wise, it's okay that ol’ Belph may become the big bad. Nash, why would you say that, you ask. Easy.

IT WILL GET US THE FUCK OUT OF THIS LITTLE TOWN

A. Ny. Thing. to get us the fuck out of this little town. I am so goddamned bored.

Cas, this is a mistake. You should leave. What are you doing. Leave. Don't fall for that. Leave. Go now. Whoosh. Okay, or glow worm and barbeque the body. That was a nice little catch of emotion by Misha at the end. Except are the demons now gonna jump into his body? Better not, we've seen that season. 

Commercials! Cannot believe I've not been inundated with the adverts for the convention here in the spring, that's usually the jam. Imma go get some frozen yogurt. Highly rec strawberry with a little warmed-up Nutella. Try it, then tell me I'm crazy. I'm not. It's heavenly. 

Aaaaand, we're back!

Don't look so distressed Cas, y’all were gonna burn it anyway. But this takes Jack v. Jack off the table. Hopefully this means we'll be headed back to the Empty to get some progress on that hanging thread from last season sooner rather than later. Still, I'm glad we are down a character for awhile, this character in particular was starting to work my nerves and honestly, is just dead weight. I want it back to Sam and Dean for the most part this final season with sprinklings of Cas. Everyone else is secondary.

[claps] Very excellent Ruthie and Jared. One critique: Wish there could've been some sort of line from Rowena, re: "And perhaps I'll get to see my boy again", something of that ilk.

But I want to say this, and say it emphatically:

The nonsensical spells pulled from asses must stop

The soul-catcher thing is an example of a great move because it drew upon the past, then built upon for the present. This heart and angel blood and salt shit, and then this “Oh by the way it needs my dying breath” stuff is just obvious “um um um well how about bleh” writing stumbles, and it shows. The only reason that lameness worked? Ruthie and Jared’s performances. Period. Because y’all gave them absolute garbage to work with, and they made it shine.

Hey! There's the two convention promos with one short local ad in between, followed by the same local ad again! I was beginning to think they'd forgotten! 

WE ARE OUT OF THE LITTLE TOWN, I REPEAT, WE ARE OUT OF THE LITTLE TOWN 

DEAN IS IN A HENLEY, I REPEAT, DEAN IS IN A HENLEY 

Oof, Dean. I mean, I figured this convo would have to happen one day, it's been building, because even though his intentions are good, Cas has been involved in his fair share of shit taking left turns. Hopefully Cas is going to go seek out other angels. Also, re: Cas saying he's getting weaker - because, why? WHY. This has never been addressed in a definitive, satisfactory manner. 

Right, so, like we do each time, let's check in to see if we've had any character development and/or plot progression: 

Do Ketch and Rowena and Belphagor count, since they've progressed to being dead? Dunno, that's more of a finality to their overall arcs. Dean's being an asshole and Sam's being weepy and Cas is being an Eeyore, that's about par. Meh. Okay. So did the plot get advanced? 

YES THANK YOU FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTER SWEET LORD YES. But, eh... a little weaksauce. Yes, that chapter of the initial onslaught is closed, yet we know it's not over. So I feel like the ep should've ended with, after the bunker door slams, a cut to a little scene that serves as a clue about what lies ahead. I mean, ahead-ahead, season-wise. Like, twenty second blip, not even, then hard cut to black screen, then on to promo which appears to be MotW. 

So that's it, really. More adept writers could've made the material of #1 and #2 into the premiere (minus several things, most specifically minus Kevin, should've saved Osric for something else down the line), then this should've been episode #2 instead of #3. Can't unring that bell, though. Let's hope we hit some speed before Buckleming comes along to run us into a ditch, then (fingers crossed) we have a few eps after that to rebound for the finale.

See you next week.

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Past posts, from newest to oldest (and I sometimes do addendums if a response warrants)

Episode 2

Episode 1

[superjuniorreacts]

suju; surprise smut drabbles

@gyeomieyesexchenstan11 i hope this is what you had in mind, sorry it took so long.

***dm me if you'd like me to make any of these into full length smuts!

part 1 ; you're proud of suju

Leeteuk~ Leeteuk just finished his level 1 English textbook and you couldn't be more proud. When he told you he wanted to learn English so he could speak your mothertongue you were surprised. In truth, you didn't actually think he'd do it, he's so busy, how would he have the time? He proved you wrong! "y/n, guess what!" "what?", you murmered from the kitchen. "i have a surprise for you!", he said as he slowly walked towards you, holding something behind his back. "which is?" "i did it!", he exclaimed as he pulled a book out from behind his back. "did what?", you said as you looked at the object in his hand. "teukkie, i didn't know you were learning English!", you said as you wrapped your arms around him and gave him a big smooch. you looked up at his eyes and decided to abandon the pasta you were making as you pushed him towards the bedroom. "y/n, what are you doing?", he said in English. "god, you're so hot when you speak English", you said as you shoved him into the bed and hovered over him. "y/n, what's this all about?" he said. "i'm gonna teach you some useful English", you retorted.

Heechul~ Heechul had just landed a great MCing gig, after you two got married he briefly left his shows in order to focus on you, you were so happy to see him in show biz again! "yaaaah, y/n!", he said storming into the living room. "you'll never guess who i got off the phone with." you just stared at him. he enjoys doing the guess what game. so you assumed that the answer was something stupid and menial. "c'mon, guess!", he said sitting down on the couch next to you. "i'm not sure, just tell me", you said, not in the mood to play games. "manager hyung" "and?" you said. "aaaaand, i just got a gig!", he said, trying to hold in his excitement. you look at him with a confused look on your face, "huh?" you were overjoyed and next thing you know you had nearly tackled him into laying down on the couch. he just stared up at you. "awe baby, i'm so proud of you!", you say with a huge smile on your face as you began kissing his neck. "i can tell!", he says as you lift up his shirt and begin to kiss his chest.

Yesung~ Yesung has just finished a solo concert in Seoul after realeasing his newest album. "y/n, how'd you like the performance?", he said as he walked off stage. "as wonderful as always Ye!", you say as you kiss his cheek. "not now babe, the staff are watching", he whispers in your ear as the two of his walk, his arm draped around you. as you walk the staff congratulate him on his performance and his new album. "they love you Ye!" you jokingly say. "who doesn't?, he says quickly. "good point!", you say as you two walk into the dressing room. a few of the guys came to see his show and were sitting in the dressing room eating food. "hey y/n!", Siwon says as he give you a hug. "how's your mother? is she feeling better?", he asks. "yes, thank you for asking. I told her you wished for her to get better and she said that made a recovery just so she could see you next time she was in Seoul!", you chuckled. you continued your small talk with Siwon as you noticed Yesung eyeing you up. all at once he abruptly walks over and joins the conversation, standing behind you with his head on your shoulder. you notice that he has changed his clothes and is now wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants. you lean back slightly into his growing bulge as you listen to Siwon speak. he groans lightly into your ear. you begin to rush the conversation with Siwon, but boy does he love small talk! you talk for another 10 minutes, all the while teasing Yesung. finally the guys leave and you two are alone. you turn around and you see the look in his eyes as you begin to palm his bulge. "baby, i'm going to make you to sing for me", you say seductively into his ear.

Shindong~ Shindong had just finished editing his latest m/v for Ryeowook's solo album. you looked at his laptop screen as you stood behind him, you being just as engrossed in the work as he was. "aaaaaand, done!", he said as he slammed his laptop closed. "awe babe, i wanna see the finished product!", you whined. "okay okay y/n, but only because it's you." "thank you baby" you watch the m/v as Shindong stares up at you. "what do you think?, he's asks when it's over. "i think...", you say as you move his shin towards you, "it's perfect. just.like.you", you say playfully tapping his chest. he smiles widely. you spin the computer chair around and he gives you a confused look. "y/n?" "what?", you say as you stare at him, admiring his beauty. "you-" you cut him off as you began to kiss him. "how are you so goddamn perfect?", you say between kisses as you straddle him.

Eunhyuk~ Eunhyuk had been MCing on a show for a few months, and the ratings were good. (lol, if you know the joke, you know.) "babe!", you say loudly as you heard Eunhyuk walk in through the front door. "have you seen it, have you seen it!", you say excitedly. "see what, y/n", he says as he takes off his shoes. "the ratings! the ratings keep going up! babe! i'm so proud of you! you amazing! i love yo-", he cuts you off. "wow y/n, you're awfully excited. it's cute", he says with a grin on your face as he walks into the kitchen and kisses you. he then sits on one of the barstools. "babe! this is great!", you say as you grab his knees. "yes", he says, not very enthusiastically. "why aren't you happy?" "i am happy", he replies. "no you aren't!", you give him a playfully angry look. he just stares at you, obviously tired. "i know what will make you feel better", you say as you lean towards him. "doubtful", he says as you begin to kiss his neck. your hands slowly creep up his shirt as he says, "okay, maybe you do know."

Siwon~ Siwon and you were on a mission trip in Vietnam when suddenly you realized that you had married the absolute best man on earth. "Siwonnie", you mumbled as you stared at him from the other side of the large tent. (the two of you were always eager to be "roughing it", when necessary.) "what?", he said as he sat on the mattress reading a book under lantern light. "you're so goddamn perfect", you muttered with a huge smile on your face. he immediately looked up from his book. "y/n", he said a bit harshly. "i know, i'm sorry i'm sorry. but i couldn't think of any other way to convey what i mean!", you said in a whiny voice. he stood up and walked towards you. "awe babe, it's okay", he said as he hugged you. "i love you no matter what. just please don't use the lords name in vein." okay, okay", you said with your head buried into his chest. you look up at him. "what did i do to deserve you?", you say as stand up from your foldable chair and wrap your arms around his body. "no, what did I do to deserve YOU", he says admiringly. you stand on your tippy toes and began kissing his neck and collarbones. "honestly, i'm not sure", you say as your hand move from his back down to his butt. "y/n!", he says as you squeeze it. you just smile back at him. "sorry honey, but i'm going to be saying some nasty stuff tonight", you whisper. "huh?", he says as you push him onto the mattress.

Donghae~ Donghae had been in the studio all day rehearsing with Eunhyuk for some upcoming D&E shows. "yaaaaaah", he says as he walks in, letting the front door close behind him. "finally!", you say, "i've been waiting for you for over an hour!" "i'm sorry babe", he says as he walks towards you. "sorry isn't good enough", you say and you pull him onto the couch next to you. "ouch! babe i'm really sore. please don't touch me like that", he says as he looks at wearing his old tour t shirt. "well, i assumed that you'd be aching so i was going to give you massage when you came home, but if you don't wa-", he cut you off. "no. no. i definitely would like a massage", he says, a little too eager. "are you sure", you tease. "yes!", he says as you stand up to get the massage oils. when you come back you find him laying on the living room floor shirtless and only wearing a pair of basketball shorts. "i'm back", you poke at him with your foot. "ouch!", he muffles as his head is stuffed into a pillow. you straddle him as you pour out some oil on his back.

Ryeowook~ Ryeowook had been practicing his English in the hopes of doing some touring theatre productions. "Ryeowook!", you yell as you hang up the phone. you just got done talking to one of your connections from when you did Broadway and convinced them that Ryeowook would be perfect for a show. "RYEOWOOK!!!", you scream. "coming!", you hear faintly as a timer goes off. then you hear hurrying footsteps coming down the hallway. "yes?", he says as he hangs in the doorframe of your office. "well, come here", you say as you pat on your lap. "what?", he says as he slowly walks towards you with a smirk. "what's going on?", he says as he sits on your lap. "i just got off the phone with Mike", you say calmly. "and you're trying to make me jealous? you do know if you're having an affair that you shouldn't tell me, right?", he says with a smirk. "dumbass", you say as you playfully smack his cheek. "Mike is a producer", you say. "okay....", "he's an old friend of mine", you say. "okay.....", "he works on Broadway", you whisper in his ear. he turns around to face you in disbelief. "awe y/n, that's great! congratulations!", he says as he kisses your cheek. "no dumbass, he called about you. i got you into a Broadway show!", you squeal. "huh?", he stands up. "wait what?!", he says as he begins to jump around. "really?!?!" "yes really", you say as you pull him back down onto your lap. "omg, babe. i love you, you're so amazing! how did you ev-", you cut him off by kissing him passionately. "i did something for you, now you're gonna do something for me", you whispered into his ear as you grabbed his thigh.

Kyuhyun~ Kyuhyun had just finished a photo shoot for GQ magazine. you were so proud to see your handsome man on the cover! "Kyu!", you shout at him from the makeup desk. "y/n!", he jokingly says back as he walks towards you. "you look so good babe", you say as he tilt his chin down and kiss him. "not here", he says, "the staff are looking". "Edwardo?, forget about him", you say, referring to your friends Edwardo, the photographer. "i don't want him to think i only got this covershoot because of you", he says quietly. "i did get you this covershoot, so shut up and be thankful!", you said playfully. he walks back to where him and Edwardo were shooting. a few minutes later Edwardo calls it wraps. "y/n", he says as he pulls you aside, "i feel bad". "bad about what?" "that i don't deserve this cover", he whines. "yes you do", you assure him, "i'm determined to make sure everyone looks at you the same way i do and realizes that you're perfect", you say as you kiss him deeply on the lips. "now c'mon", you say motioning your head, "let's get you out of those clothes."

[obsessed-withthe-hales]

Full Count (Part 10 of Curve Ball)

Summary: An accidental collision. Lucky shoes. Baseball lessons. As much as they might try to deny it, fate seemed to be working to bring Derek and Y/N together. But being in each other’s lives could prove to be more complicated than either one of them bargained for.

Author’s Note: So, I’ve had this done for awhile. Then I moved, started work, left for a nine day trip...and realized I forgot to post this! I’m sorry this is unbelievably delayed, I am The Worst. But it is finally here and I’m so very excited to share this with you! Please let me know what you think :)

As always, a HUGE thank you to my co-pilot on this series, @snipsnsnailsnwerewolftales!!! She is so amazing to work with and always such great ideas!!! I can’t even say thanks enough <3

Warnings: Probably language; awkward tension

Tags: @wheresthekillswitch, @urwarriorangel, @palaiasaurus64, @melanie451, @houseofrahl, @life-what-life-i-dont-have-one, @splashofbi, @livinglife-dsa, @miaforeverblue, @imadangerouscause, @noordinarymagic, @viahalsvy, @cryingbecausesebastianstan, @palaiasaurus64, @wheresthekillswitch, @fannytf, @jazzrivera27, @boofy1998, @julieanncupcake, @blackcoffeeandgreenteaforme

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Being back was weird.

Getting into the habit of going to classes again, figuring out my new schedule for the semester (plus finding all the new buildings), and trying to start doing homework again…it was weird. My body had been on sleep and relaxation mode for the last few weeks over break, so even getting up in the mornings to get ready was a struggle. But there was a bright side: seeing my friends again.

Stiles and I had texted pretty much every day, even coordinating movie viewing parties from miles away. By the time break was over, I think I had burnt Uncle Chris out on Star Wars so bad that he couldn’t even stand to hear the titles. Seeing Scott again was great, too. And spending time with Lydia, something I had severely slacked on last semester, was amazing. She and I had sat for hours catching up the night we came back, finally retiring to bed once the clock hit an obscene hour.

While all of that had been awesome, there was one thing that kept lingering in the back of my mind: Derek. I had managed to not think about him constantly over the holidays, which was a HUGE accomplishment, but as soon as I started packing my things to head back to school, it was like someone had opened the floodgates. What if I run into him? Literally...again. Or even worse: what if I bump into him, literally...again...and he completely ignores me? What if I see him first, should I wave or smile or call out or just pretend like I don’t see him at all? It was like the irrational part of my brain was in hyperdrive and the off switch was broken.

Irrationality did not make a great start to the new semester.

We were three days in and I was as paranoid as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. I tried to make easy conversation with Stiles as we walked together between classes, tried to not scan every room that I walked into for his face, tried not to listen for his voice meshed into the background in the student center or dining halls or walking down the sidewalk. You’re acting like a crazy person, Y/N. He’s not hiding around the corner waiting to jump out at you! If only the rational part of my brain had current control over my mind….

“I was thinking Lord of the Rings this time, what do you think?” Stiles’ voice broke me out of my thoughts.

“Sorry, what?”

“Lord of the Rings. Movie weekend. Kicking off the semester,” he said, hands waving about. “Did you get any of that?”

“Uh…I got LOTR and that’s about it,” I admitted. “Sorry Stiles. I’ve had some…stuff…on my mind.” The look in my best friend’s eyes told me he most likely knew to what I was referring, but he decided to not push, something I was really grateful for.

“My room, this weekend. We’ll start off a new semester with a new set of movies! Are you free? I mean, I’m assuming you are so I expect you to be there, I’m just asking out of courtesy.” Giving him a playful elbow in the ribs, I smiled and agreed to attend, much to Stiles’ delight.

“I have a meeting with Professor Yukimura Friday after class, but I’ll come straight over after that.”

“Perfect! Alright, this is my stop,” he sighed as we approached a split in the sidewalk. “I will see you Friday night then. Also,” Stiles paused, moving to stand in front of me. His face got about as serious as his could before he spoke again, this time much softer. “I know the you-know-who stuff sucks, but it’ll get better with time. Okay? You know I’m here for you.” My cheeks heated up just the slightest, but I smiled at the brown-eyed boy in front of me.

“Thanks, Stiles. Really.”

“Anytime.” With that, he clapped his hand- his right hand- on my shoulder and gave a goofy grin. “Plus, I could give him a stern talking to at baseball practice once it starts up again next week. Take my trusty bat and pull him to the side…”

“Slow down there, killer,” I laughed. “No need for all that.”

“Just putting the offer out there,” he replied, beginning to walk backwards. “See you Friday!” And with that, he turned around and was off.

I know, Alli, you really like Stiles. I do, too.

*line break*

“I already have two papers and a chem lab assigned,” Scott groaned, plopping down next to me on the futon in their dorm room. “This is off to a great start.”

“Tell me about it,” I snorted. “I met with Yukimura today and he gave me the rundown of what all he’s teaching this semester and what he’ll need my help with and seriously, I’m not sure how I’m going to handle all that on top of my regular work load.”

“Y/N, you’re practically a genius. And history is your forte. I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Stiles said, the compliment making my cheeks warm. “Plus, can’t you like opt out if it becomes too much?”

“Yeah, that’s true. I’d just hate to stick him with everything.” Letting out a sigh, I tried to shake those stress-inducing thoughts from my head. “Anyway, it’ll probably be fine, just like you said. Come on, Stilinski let’s get this movie started!”

“I’m trying, I’m trying,” Stiles grumbled, frantically searching for something. Scott and I exchanged confused looks before he cleared his throat and spoke up.

“Uh Stiles…what the hell are you looking for?”

“Popcorn! We can’t have movie night without popcorn! I swear we had some leftover…” Slamming the drawer he had been digging through closed, Stiles ran a hand down his face in defeat, popping out one hip and propping his free hand on it. Quirking a brow at his distress, I jumped up from the futon and jammed my thumb toward the door.

“I’ll just go grab some from my dorm. I can be there and back in like twenty-ish minutes?”

“No, don’t worry about it,” Stiles muttered, shuffling toward his bed. “It’ll be late by the time you get back and you shouldn’t go alone, especially in the dark-“

“Well, how about you guys come with me and we just move the viewing party to my room?” I offered. “I just have to text Lydia and see if she’s okay with that.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, totally.” Pulling out my phone, I shot her a quick message, receiving an almost instant reply of assent. “Alright, grab everything and let’s go!”

“You’re sure Lydia’s okay with this? It’s a long movie,” Scott asked.

“Oh definitely,” I assured him. “She’s secretly a huge LOTR fan. She’ll love it.” I paused and pursed my lips, thinking for a moment. “Don’t tell her I told you that.”

As we shuffled down the hallway of Stiles and Scott’s dorm, arms loaded with extra blankets and pillows, I chuckled at Stiles’ continuous rant of the mysterious popcorn disappearance. Scott and I exchanged knowing looks, silently agreeing that yes, our friend was ridiculous and had likely eaten the rest of the popcorn himself sometime during finals week as it was one of his go-to stress foods, but we didn’t have the heart to suggest that, instead just letting him ponder out loud. I was paying much more attention to Stiles’ words than anything else, not hearing the opening and closing of a room door as we rounded the corner.

Stiles stumbled, causing his blankets to shift in his arms and begin to unfold. Because I am the world’s greatest klutz, my foot- left foot-  found the corner of the blanket that now reached the floor, tugging it out of my best friend’s arms and resulting in my subsequent descent toward the ground. Landing with a thud, but thankfully on top of Scott’s pillow that I had been carrying, my eyes drifted along the dingy carpet to find the toes of sneakers that I recognized all too well.

“Y/N, are you alright?” Scott asked, concern in his voice as he knelt down to help free me from the blanket’s evil clutches. All the words to formulate a coherent response to his kind question had suddenly vacated my brain, however, because I was staring right into the exact pair of green eyes I had been dreading seeing. You have got. To be. Kidding me.

“Derek!” Stiles exclaimed, his face not hiding his surprise and mild panic well at all. “How uh- how was your…your break?” He was trying so very hard to act casual, bless his soul, but the boy could not help but to feed into the awkward tension already suffocating the hallway. Thankfully, Derek’s eyes shifted from mine to Stiles’ as he spoke, giving me the opportunity to scramble to my feet with Scott’s help. I could feel my cheeks burning bright red, just knowing that they could all hear my hammering heart. Act natural, Y/N. So you fell, no big deal! It’s fine. Totally. Fine.

“It was alright,” Derek answered, not offering much more than that. Aaaaand there’s that voice. That damn nice voice. Wait, no stop that! Stiles pursed his lips and nodded. The four of us just stood there in the middle of the hallway, the silence becoming more and more weird as time passed. Oh my god, somebody say something PLEASE! This is like the longest anyone has ever gone without speaking, ever.

“Are you ready for practice to start up next week?” Scott asked, his question breaking the silence and making me sigh internally with relief.

“Yeah, should be good.” Scott’s eyes squinted in curiosity at this second short response, but he didn’t push any further. I forced myself to fix my gaze back on the ground as I felt Derek turn back toward me, desperately not wanting to have to speak to him. Thankfully, Stiles came to the rescue.

“Well!” he announced, readjusting the load in his arms. “We should get moving. Don’t wanna…be out too late.” With that, his hand subtly found my back and nudged me forward, Scott in tow as we hustled out of the dorm. Once out in the crisp night air, I took a deep breath and let the freshness try to stamp out all that awkward tension.

“I know he doesn’t usually say much, but that was weird even for Derek,” Scott noted. Stiles and I agreed before quickly dropping the subject and heading in the direction of my building.

I knew that things were tense and weird between Derek and I after…everything…but something still didn’t feel quite right. Maybe it was just me being too optimistic, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that he might have been extra broody and withdrawn for more reasons than just seeing me.

[ladye11e]

Deception pt 27

The conflict between the Assassins and the Templars is getting out of hand. Lies, deceit and subterfuge, now you must pick a side...

Tagging @geekgoddess813 @sweet-flash @ermergerd517 @i-wontgivein @imakemyownblog 😊

If anyone else would like a tag, please ask 

Link to the full fic so far is Here.

Ramming your shoulder into the door of your apartment, you scowled when you finally got it open, kicking all of the mail out of the way as you had forgotten to get it redirected while you were away. You dropped your bag and keys on the countertop before grabbing the kettle, soon discarding it when you knew you needed something stronger than coffee after everything that had gone on today.

Scouring through your fridge and cupboards; finding them still expectedly bare, you snapped your fingers and sauntered over to your closet, pulling out the dusty bottle of rum that Eddie had graciously given to you as a gift out of his personal stash after he had forgotten your birthday last year. Pouring yourself a generous slosh in your mug, you slumped down at your table and took a swig, spluttering as the flavour of it was what you presumed battery acid would taste like.

"Bloody hell Eddie, how can you drink this stuff?!"

Pushing the mug to one side and drumming your fingers on the table, you mumbled 'recordings' over and over to yourself, hoping it would trigger a glimmer of something. After several minutes, the only thing you could come up with was when you had called Gist about the money, but as Shay had mentioned blackmailing him, you knew that wasn't right, as that didn't implicate him in anything in the slightest. The only way you could find out was to try and get Shay to tell you, but as you had no idea where he was right now, that wasn't an option at the moment.

Grabbing hold of your stomach when it began rumbling furiously; now finding it hard to concentrate with being so hungry, you slunk off the chair and crawled over to the forests worth of mail on the floor, sifting through the pile in search of a decent takeout menu. After tossing a few of the circulars aside, you cocked your head curiously when you spied a crisp white envelope that seemed very out of place, peeking from inside a Chinese menu. Plucking it out, you rolled it in your hands for a moment; even more baffled when you saw that it was completely blank, before ripping it open and tipping its contents on your lap. The corner of your mouth twitched when you snapped up a business card, with nothing on it but a mobile number, and a familiar smiley face.

Dragging yourself up, you upturned your bag and shook it until your phone dropped out, keying in the number and saving it under the name 'Perv' with a snigger. After sending a quick text with nothing but the word, Coffee? on it, you carried on looking through the menus, sighing when you couldn't decide between them all. Clicking on the message when one came back quicker than you expected, you dropped back down on the chair with a groan, when it confirmed what you already knew.

Can't right now, unexpected friends turned up and had to take a short trip. Hopefully back in a day or so. Glad you got your phone sorted!

Of course that's why he contacted you like this, neither of them knew that you had picked up another phone yesterday, so you made a mental note not to tease Gist for one whole day for his quick thinking while you replied.

Okay, let me know when you're back.

Will do. Our friend says, Miss you Xx

You burst out laughing when another message quickly followed with three eye roll emojis, making you rethink your lack of teasing to now, half a day.

Where's his phone? Miss you both, one of you more than the other of course!

He dropped it while, running? I knew it! I shan't let our friend know, it stays between you and me ;)

Aaaaand that was his reprieve gone. You were still chuckling to yourself as you rolled your eyes and went back to the menus, almost dropping your phone when it started ringing in your hand. Connor?! Now this was strange, as he usually avoided calling people if he could, much preferring messaging as he was always busy doing something or other, and finding someone's voice blaring in his ear far too distracting.

"Hey, is everything okay? Don't tell me you need more help with Jacob already?" You snorted, imagining him trying to sneak out of his room in just his gown.

"(Name)..."

You froze as the tone of his voice sent a shudder through you, which was somewhere between panic and on the verge of tears as he repeated your name when you didn't answer him.

"What is it?! What's wrong?!"

"Achilles. He has been rushed to the hospital..."

"I'm on my way." You whispered, your fingers holding your phone so tight that it was on the verge of shattering in your palm.

After breaking nearly every traffic law in the book, you cursed out loud when the only parking space you could find was three blocks away from the hospital. Sprinting the rest of the way, you were barely able to breathe by the time you almost slammed into the automatic doors, as they decided to open at a snail's pace. Pushing your way to the front of the queue at the receptionists' desk, you ignored the murmurs and scowls from everyone, slamming your hand on the counter while you tried to speak through your rapid breathing.

"A-Achilles... Daven..port. Where... Is he?!"

"There is a line you know." The now surly woman grumbled, adjusting her glasses before typing on her computer. "He's just been admitted to ICU..... Hey! Family only!"

You knew your way around enough to dart off before she had even finished and had a chance to call security, skidding to a stop at the lifts and mashing the button repeatedly. Barging out the elevator impatiently after it had stopped at every single fucking floor before reaching the ICU, you slowed down and hesitantly walked over when you saw Connor sat on one of the benches outside the first room, head buried in his hands. Crouching down in front of him, you gently placed your palm on his cheek and tilted his head up, immediately throwing your arms around him when you saw his eyes were bloodshot and puffy.

"What's happened?" You whispered, not even caring that your ribs were on the verge of breaking when he returned the embrace.

"Pneumonia. I-It's...bad. The doctors say..."

Holding on as tightly as you could when he couldn't continue and chocked back a sob, you stayed there for a moment before managing to twist yourself so you could sit next to him, your head snapping up with a glare when two security guards had finally caught you up and were yelling at you to leave. You couldn't see Connors face, but you could assume what his expression was, when they suddenly stopped in their tracks, holding their hands up and walking backwards, absolutely terrified.

"Wish I could do that." You chuckled, giving him a soft smile when he took a deep breath, and the corner of his mouth twitched. "What can I do? To help? Need me to get anything for you?"

"Just stay with me (name)."

And that's precisely what you did.

You were here all night, calming him down when his temper rose, and as a pillow for him when he broke down. You had finally managed to get him to stop pacing around six in the morning, and he was now laying on the bench with his legs dangling off of the end, and his head on your lap, snoring softly. Stroking his hair to keep him soothed, you rested your head on the wall and dared to close your eyes for a moment, trying to ignore the twisting and gnawing ache of your stomach, as you hadn't eaten in nearly two days. Not wanting to fall asleep yourself, you flicked your eyes open and just stared at the ceiling, trying not to chuckle as Connor had now started murmuring while he dozed.

"Mrs, Um, Raah...ton...hnng..?"

Lolling your head forwards and, raising your eyebrows to the weary-looking nurse who had managed to sneak up on you in your sleep deprived state, you rolled your eyes as she stared at her clipboard and frowned, silently mouthing (and failing) the name again. You decided to put her out of her misery after the third attempt, but not correcting her assumption of who you were, as you didn't want to risk almost getting thrown out again.

"Ra-doon-ha-gay-doon. Yes?"

"Mrs Ra...doo... I give up. Sorry. Your father is stable, for now, and he is awake. You can go in and see him, but please keep it brief, he is very weak."

Nodding to the nurse as she walked away, you shook Connors' arm gently to wake him, surprised when he turned his head and stared at you wide-eyed with a slight grin.

"I heard. Mrs."

"Oh get up you big oaf. My leg fell asleep an hour ago." You giggled, massaging your thigh when he sat himself up and stretched out. "Why didn't you just put Connor?"

"It is a habit when I fill out a form. Also, it is always amusing hearing people try to pronounce it. "

"Who knew you were so evil? I'll grab us something to drink okay? Won't be long."

You patted his hand gently as he squeezed your shoulder with a soft smile before creeping into Achilles room, leaving you to wander off and find a literal, bucket of caffeine.

On the way back, you thought you'd best check up on Jacob while you were here, finding him in the same room you had left him in yesterday. Poking your head around the door, you winced at the brace that was around his leg before turning to go when you saw that he was asleep, stopping in your tracks when he mumbled something that you didn't quite catch.

"What was that?"

"I said, about time someone came to see me."

Closing the door and slumping down into the chair next to the bed, you finished off the remnants of your drink and immediately started on the next, hissing when you burnt your tongue slightly in your haste.

"Yeah sorry, been a bit busy. So what was the diagnosis?"

"Ribs are just bruised, but my kneecap is busted. Gonna take about two months to heal up. Soooo, what was so important that you couldn't come and see your favourite mate? What are you doing??"

Stopping prodding your tongue where the scorch mark was with a shrug of your shoulders, you ran your hand over his brace thoughtfully, as you wondered just who was going to be helping him with his recovery with everything going on at the moment.

"Guess you didn't hear. Achilles got rushed in yesterday, I've been upstairs all night with Connor."

"What?! Why?? Is he sick?! Did he have an accident??"

Balls. You had forgotten that Achilles didn't want anyone knowing what he was going through, but seeing as you had already put your foot in it, you might as well tell him, as there was already a high chance of him finding out anyway with him being here.

"Right. You tell no one this. You understand?"

You narrowed your eyes when he crossed his chest with the tip of his finger; wondering if he was being sincere, but as he looked genuinely worried for a change, you believed you could trust him with the said secret.

"Achilles is sick. Very sick. Cancer. And before you go off on one for no one telling you, the only people who know are Altäir and Connor. I found out by accident."

Sitting there in uncomfortable silence as he just lowered his head and stared at his leg, you grabbed your drink and fiddled with the lid while you let what you had said sink in. Just like you, he didn't know Achilles very well, but as bad as losing one of your own was, it was the fact that it was Connors father that made it worse.

"Um, I've gotta get back. I'll come down again when I can alright?"

Getting up when he nodded his head numbly, you made your way back upstairs, just as Connor came out of Achilles room with a doleful expression.

"Here, I got you one of those Innocent smoothies you like, with the extra plant mush. How is he?"

Passing him the bottle and plonking yourself back down on the bench, the corner of your eye started doing something resembling a nervous tick when he drank half of its contents in one swallow, before scoffing as he sat down next to you.

"He is resting, but the doctors say that the antibiotics might not work. We shall have to wait and see. Here. Will you just try it?"

Your face contorted into a grimace when he shoved the juice into your free hand, gesturing for you to take a sip. Sniffing it timidly before slowly putting the bottle to your lips, you almost choked when he tipped it up with his finger, forcing you to take a hefty gulp.

"See? It is nice, isn't it."

Actually, it's not that bad... But you would never in a million years admit that, so as soon as you had managed to swallow the green slop, you stuck your tongue out and scraped at it with your nails, before finishing off your own drink; sloshing it around your mouth first.

"Blergh! I think I've been poisoned. Good job we're already in a hospital."

You grinned smugly as you had managed to cheer him up for a moment when he let out a heartfelt chuckle, but it didn't last long when he sat back with a heavy sigh and, stared at you out of the corner of his eye.

"Achilles, he wants to see you."

"Me? Why?"

"I do not know, but he was insistent. Will you go in?"

Raising your eyebrows in bewilderment as you sat there for a second, trying to guess what on earth he would want to speak to you about, but you thought it best not to linger and nodded as you got up, closing the door quietly behind you.

You hovered at the back of the room for a moment to let your eyes adjust to the dim lighting, then slowly parted the curtains that were drawn around the bed, pursing your lips when you saw Achilles hooked up to several softly beeping machines, and an oxygen mask over his face.

"Achilles? You wanted to see me?" You whispered, sitting down on the chair next to the bed when his eyes flickered open.

Drifting your gaze over his face when he pulled down the mask, you couldn't believe how different he looked compared to the last time you saw him. His skin was hanging off his bones, as he had lost a lot of weight from what you could only assume was by having chemotherapy, and his eyes were glassy, almost lifeless as he turned his head to face you.

"Yes." He croaked, as speaking and breathing was probably the most painful thing he could do right now, wheezing in between words. "I need... you to do...something for me. Will...you do it?"

You nodded without thinking, as whatever it was you were going to make sure you did it, without question.

"Connor. Take care...of him for me. He...will need...your help. So...proud of him...my boy. "

"Of course, sir. That's not something you ever needed to ask."

Gently taking his hand while he pulled his mask back up to take a few more swallows of oxygen, your eyes widened slightly when he pulled it back down again to carry on talking, his hand squeezing your fingers as tight as he could muster.

"There is...something else. A-a traitor...in our folds. You...must find them. Speak...to Altäir..."

He trailed off when your fingers noticeably flinched in his palm, his eyes locking with yours and holding your gaze for what felt like an eternity, boring into your soul as if he was reading your mind. His hand snapped away from you as what was left of the colour in his face drained away, leaving you just staring at him blankly.

"No...it can't be...not...you"

"Achilles, plea-"

"No...no. Nonononono!"

You jumped up when the alarms suddenly set off on the machines, rapid, loud beeping drowning out his words before he started coughing, making you pull his mask back up when his lips started turning blue.

"It's not what you think! Please Achilles, calm down! Nurse! Doctor, anyone!!? Help!"

Trying to keep the mask on him while he was flailing about, you sat him up when with one more rattling cough, he covered the inside of it with dark red blood, the machines now ringing even faster in your ear.

"You need to leave!"

Stepping to the side and pressing yourself up against the wall as several nurses and a doctor barged by you, you wrung your hands and slid across it slowly towards the exit, crashing into Connor who was hovering in the doorway, his face contorted in fear.

[ysabelmystic]

Church Adventures

Ok, so, I’m currently an atheist, but I had a super SUPER religious upbringing up until I was about 12 or 13. For no reason whatsoever, I got slammed with some extra stuff that I thought I’d blocked out. This is NOT a “stupid sheeple christians” post, but more just some particularly weird, lowkey culty stuff I witnessed that I’d like to remove from my system.

1. Church gave me my very first gender crisis. I was a super small child when they started pressing the gender roles. They said that the women must obey the man, for he is the head of the household or whatever. Ok. I won’t get married. But I was informed that I’d want to and eventually would. Ok. I’ll be a boy! I was sincerely informed that that was not an option. T’was not a fun day. 

2. I was told to beware false angels. Which I get, demons are angels of light and whatever, but there was a very specific imagery involved. I was warned that angels would appear from the heavens and offer me riches and power, which is how I’d know they were false. It was presented like the “say no to drugs” stuff that was pushed in school. All I can think of now is some shifty looking angel in a golden hoodie standing in an alley-way like, “psst, kid, wanna buy some Satan?” 

3. Batman was evil. During the few years I was in an actual cult, it was announced that Batman was evil. A woman claimed that she’d decorated her kid’s room with Batman stuff, and instantly, the whole area began to hold a dark  presence, which disappeared when she prayed and removed the Batman stuff. Everyone just rolled with it. 

4. I had asthma as a kid. It’s probably because the pollution where I lived was quite severe, but the cult-church decided it was CLEARLY demons that were clogging my lungs. Every other month or so, I’d get dragged in to see these three old woman in an old office building. They would chant and pray, throw herbs, and rub all kinds of oils on my body. After I sneezed a few times, they decided I was cured. That was always fun. 

5. Again, the cult. The other kids and I were taught how to do magic. And I do mean that. We would lay on the floor and meditate and pray to invite the presence of the lord. I thought I was getting REALLY close to God, because I was feeling electricity and shit whenever I was in that room. But then I learned about static electricity. I was on the carpet and sitting next to a metal table. Any dreams I might’ve had about being a sith lord were ruined that day. 

6. I want to mention that the cult was kinda racist. We had to invite the pastors into our house so they could do an official cleansing. They decided our closet was a source of demonic energy, and asked my mom what was in it. My mom opens it up, and their eyes go straight to a box of craft beads. They questioned my mom about their origins, and my mom says, “These are all from [craft stores] except for those, that my stepdad brought from Africa”. Aaaaand out went the African beads, because they were clearly cursed with voodoo and black-people magic. I’m still mad about that. 

7. The final church I went to had a small library. The only YA books they had in there were either “teenage boy goes hunting and learns about raccoons and Jesus” or “girl turns into the world’s most worn-out doormat”. Lots and lots of lessons on forgiveness, letting people walk all over you, and becoming a proper woman in the eyes of God by letting your cousin beat you up and doing nothing about it. Fuck that series. 

8. Veggie Tales was pretty weird, but Mr Henry’s Wild and Wacky Bible Stories just had a demonic energy. Puppet fish? An electric chair? Talking animal heads on the wall? Never seeing Mrs. Henry even though she was mentioned (did he kill her???)? The gray walls and the warehouse vibes? That was weird...and creepy. 

9. Apparently they don’t like it when you call Mordecai a “lowly hobo”, especially when you’re doing an impression of Queen Esther as a valley-girl. To be fair, they did ask how Esther could have responded to his warnings of Hamon. I guess they just didn’t expect that much. 

[justanotherpasarisk]

Dream would gently squeez Frisk's hand, letting them know that if they needed to leave, he would support them Cross defanently noticed this...and he was jelous...and now he was glareing at Frisk. Day took her time to crack some of her knuckled and grabbed Cross but the front of his scarf and slammed his head on the bars.

"dude, yer crush on m dad? yea, you need ta cool it."

Dream was a little worried about Cross who was now crying in the back corner of his cell and mumbling stuff about Day being a demon child and wondering how she was even related to someone as sweet as Dream while Horror snickered at him.

"Deserved that one."

Horror stated to Cross who frowned at Horror.

"What do you know you retarded brute?!"

Aaaaand now Horror was crying...Day got the feeling the rest of the night was going to be like this...she felt rally sorry for Alphys.

@onecrazyralseifangirlnamedlexi

Day had been so stupid to think the peace would last...and even dumber to think that she wpuldnt be dragged into her father's problems...its been almost a month now...she had left underlust in order to meet her father, she showed up in a timeline she had never been to before, there was this huge tree stump at the top of a hill that her father had told her to wait for him at.

It didnt take lonng after she sat down in the grass for her to be ambushed, Killer, Horror, Dust and even Cross were all ther surrounding her, she was on her feet in a heartbeat but they were faster, knocking her down to the ground and pinning her there. She panicked and struggled but there was a sharp sting to the back of her neck and suddenly she was out like a light.

When she woke, she was strung up in chains, eveything was hot and it looked like her cloths had been shreded, startled, she tried to struggle, thats when the one in charge of watching her cell came in and she reolized that she was summoned. She had a horrifying feeling building up in her stomach as Killer started to approach her, there was black tar dripping from his sockets and a grin on his face as he flipped a knife in his hand and approached her while whistleing a tune.

"Hey there little light~ are you ready to have some fun? Because I sure am~! Heh heh."

He stopped flipping the knife, catching it by the handle and then traceing the sharp tip down her body, leaving behind a trail of gold that would bleed out of her magic as Day squeaked in pain.

"Oh, your going to be so much more fun then your father was~"

Laughing, he started to groap her with one hand, makeing small nicks on her ecto as well as her exposed bone here and there, but that was only the start of it, she could see the tent growing in his pants as well as the glow and teairs started to roll down her cheekbones. She was shakeing so badly, trying not to bring him the satisfaction of heairing her voice again, even as he pulled down his pants and his crimson cock sprang free, he didnt even pause before shoveing it into her, her scream echoed through the halls and Killer chuckled as he set a bruising pase, whenever she felt like she was loostening up or about to pass out, he added a new cut to her body just to keep her awake, and he didnt stop until he finished inside her and moaned.

"Ah!~ I'll give this to you, you felt much better than your dad~"

He chuckled darkly before he left the cell, leaving her hanging there, dripping and disguating, she sobbed.

This went on for a month, she would get a new guard who would torture her and abuse her body each week, but by the time it was Cross's turn, he was too soft, she had begged him to let her down from her chains, and he fell for it, she had escaped Nightmares castle and pulled her multiverse phonenout of her pocket, sending iut a signal to anyone who would catch it, it was a video of her as fast as she could talk.

"If anyone out there gets this, please! Dream has been captured by Nightmare and we are both being torutred! If Dream dies or turned to stone again, the multiverse will fall into dispare..please...someone...anyone...save him..."

The video cuts off as sonething black wraps around her throat and where it touches seems to turn to stone as her phone falls to the ground and breaks, but is still transmiting a location signal, when the video stopped sending, Day had compleetly turned to stone.

[indigoire]

hi! i saw your discworld post, and it's something i'd really love to get into but it looks kinda complicated? do you have like a preferred reading order you could recommand to me, or like a website that explains it? if you got the time of course!

Hey, sorry for the late response, work has been killer. 

As I’ve said a bunch of times already, there really isn’t a standard reading order. There are groups of people Pratchett focuses on, and depending on what sort of stuff you like to read you might prefer a certain set of characters to another. 

For example, I see on your blog that you’re into Brooklyn Nine Nine. If you like police procedural stories, or buddy cop stories, or even murder mysteries then the Watch books are right up your alley. It mostly centers on Sam Vimes, grizzled Captain of the Watch, and it starts with Guards, Guards! There’s drama and humor and a lot of exploring of Ankh-Morpork, my favorite fictional city-state. 

If you like magic and fairytales and folklore (and feminism) I’d suggest reading the Witches books, which starts with Equal Rites. Equal Rites is also short enough to give you a taste of Pratchett without being too much of a slog. 

You could also give the Death books a try! Death is one of my favorite characters. He speaks in a voice that sounds like slamming coffin lids and it’s STYLIZED LIKE THIS (technically small caps, but if I try that on here tumblr will probably break my post). Death’s books mostly focus on metaphysical concepts: Death, obviously, but also time, memory, music, holidays, belief. The big stuff. Death himself is a lovely character, and Pratchett has fun playing with all the standard tropes. Death also has a granddaughter named Susan, and I love her to bits. She’s technically fully human but she “inherited” some of Death’s powers and she uses them to amazing effect. Mort is the first Death book, but I’d go for Soul Music first if I was you. It introduces Susan as a character and it’s a very fun romp. 

The shortest “series” of books is the set of Moist von Lipwig books, or the “Post Office” books. Moist is a conman who gets a second chance to do right, and ends up becoming the new postmaster, then the new head of the Royal Bank, and in the third book he takes control of the new railway. His books are very focused on civic matters, and I enjoy them immensely. Moist goes up against criminals far worse than himself…capitalists. Seriously. In my last Discworld post I ended up grouping Moist’s books with the “industrial revolution” books (Moving Pictures, The Truth) because they have a lot of the same themes. I’d start with Going Postal for this group, one of my absolute favorites. 

There’s the Wee Free Men books, which feature Tiffany Aching, and which I actually have not read much of. Tiffany’s books are more young adult oriented, and focus a lot on the Nac Mac Feegle (little blue men, Pictsies, think the pixies from Harry Potter but the tiniest bit more intelligent and very Scottish) and other supernatural creatures. Tiffany’s stories start with The Wee Free Men. 

There are a whole bunch of one-offs that I love to pieces and which can be read and enjoyed on their own. I love Monstrous Regiment, which explores gender identity and presentation and has trans characters, women disguised as men, religious prophets, lesbians, vampires, and oh yeah there’s a silly war on can’t forget about that. Small Gods is also a fun one, involving a god who’s lost his powers because his believers no longer really believe, and because of this he is turned into a tortoise. 

Last but not least we come to…the Wizards. Or Rincewind, if you like. In my prior post, the infamous one, I made mention of the fact that when recommending books NO ONE recommends The Color of Magic or The Light Fantastic, the first two books in the entire Discworld series. I certainly don’t. I was given those books when I was very young and The Color of Magic was not very engaging to me. It’s a fine book on its own, and it definitely lays a lot of groundwork for what the series would transform into, but Pratchett is mostly parodying other fantasy works and a lot of the good stuff comes later. There’s also a bit of eighties misogyny going on in the early works, from before Pratchett grew out of that, and it’s a bit jarring. 

Now, I love Rincewind. And Twoflower, and the Luggage, and the Librarian, and all the crazy wizards at Unseen University, BUT I still stress that if you want to get to the good stuff right away and want to avoid some of the tropes Pratchett strays into, come back to TCoM and TLF at a later date. If you really are interested in the Wizards and their antics I’d pick up Sourcery first, which has a frankly hilarious moment involving Rincewind facing the forces of evil wielding a sock with half a brick in it. 

I think that pretty much covers it! Here is a pictorial guide that rather simplifies things (updated version, yaaay!) aaaaand here is another post of mine detailing a fun way to choose where to start if you’re still at a loss. In addition, here is the list of all the books and the characters they feature. 

Hope this helps! Happy reading! :D 

[rowan-catsandcoffee]

Tag! Can I pretty please get a fic of Zen and MC meeting and being sorted at Hogwarts? :3 ~ snarkymc

Snarky? More like sneaky 😄

That said, sorry it took me a while aaaaand it took a few tries before I was happy with this.  The MC in this piece’s name is Mimi and i had to finagle a few things because of the time gap between these events.

This is based off of the Hogwarts Au @snarkymc and I talked about

“Mimi!” She froze at the angry voice.

It was summer.  She hadn’t started her third year yet atHogwarts.  There was no reason prefectJeong Ryu would be out on Diagon Alley yelling at her, not yet at least.  Even Tinsel her familiar seemed to cowerbeneath her, making low threatening noises towards the other student.  He was a few years older than her and theywere in the same house together, but unlike everyone else she talked to, heseemed to have some complaints about her being there.   

“Jeong!  How’s yoursummer going?  Everything going… well?”  Twirling her hair when she was anxious was abad habit, the other girls had taught her to keep it in a tight braid when theyhung out the common room.  She could facethe scrutiny of Headmistress McGonagall but there was still no escaping thesteeling gaze of Jeong.  She tugged herbrunette hair over her shoulder, twirling and twisting the end part through herfingers.  

“Are you really still playing with dolls?”  He sneered down at Tinsel.  The calico stuffed animal moved on its ownneeding no prompting from others or continuous incantations.  Tinsel was an enchanted stuff toy, and sadlythe reason she knew Jeong. 

“Tinsel is my familiar. You know that!”  It wasn’t thefirst time they’d had this argument over the years. 

“Yes, but I hear that Tinsel isn’t the only thing that hasbeen known to slither out of your trunk when you get into the girls dorm.”  The distance between them felt heavy, evenmore as he pressed towards her.  “I swearyou’re going to be the reason we lose the house cup one of these days.”   

“Jeong, that’s enough.” A nice voice called out from behind him. For the first time Mimi was able to look behind him and see someoneelse.  He looked about her age, but Mimifound it hard to look away from him.  Hisbrownish eyes that were almost red, and the silky white hair that was a littlebit past his shoulders, he looked strangely familiar. Though she was fairlysure they never had a class together.  “Youreally shouldn’t talk to girls like tha- what is what?”  He went from defending her to clearpanic.  The dirt he kicked up whilebacktracking was mildly impressive, but also made her worry for Tinsel.  She looked down ready to pick her up to keepher from getting filthy, as Tinsel was unable to clean herself like other cats,but found she was alone.   

“Tinsel?”  Lookingaround she could see Tinsel taking a few tentative steps towards the newkid.  Her ears faced forward as sheneared him, fully intrigued as Mimi had been. “Tinsel no!”  The guy lookedpanicked as he fell to the ground trying to cover his mouth and cower away fromher. 

“Tsk.”  Jeong lookedbetween the kid and Tinsel with disgust, “this is just a doll.”  He stomped down hard, forcing a muffed yowlfrom Tinsel, whose legs gave way leaving her sprawled on the ground under hisboot.  “You can’t have an allergic reactionto a doll!  It’s not a cat, and not afamiliar.”  He turned to sneer at Mimiwho had her phone up, taking pictures of him with a deepening scowl on herface.  “What are you doing?”

“Gathering evidence of your animal abuse.  Now get off of her before I send these tothat one adopted son of the Headmistress’s. You know how much he loves cats.”

“Fine!  Come on Hyun, westill have some errands to run.”  Hestarted to look a little flushed as he stepped off of Tinsel, letting herscurry back to Mimi who knelt down to pick her up.  

“Actually I think I’d like to talk to her for a bit.  If that’s-“

“Whatever.  I can movefaster without you anyway.  Meet me herein one hour, and try not to catch… whatever she is.”  Jeong stomped away, still a little flusteredfrom moments ago.  They watched himleave, both of them a little frozen.  

Hyun was the first to move, he reached a trembling hand outtowards Tinsel.  “Nice kitty.”  He murmured, jumping a little when shereached out and gave a fake sniff to his hand before letting him pet her.  “First time I’ve met a cat that I don’t haveto worry about… though to be honest looking at her still makes my eyes start towater.”

“Really? Sorry.  Comeon Tinsel, in you go.”  Mimi opened upher hoodie, momentarily flashing the hidden pocket where Tinsel could hide andcurl up.  Even on the hottest day insummer she still could find any over shirt that she could add an extra insidepocket to make transporting Tinsel a little easier.  

“Oh you didn’t have to, but… umm… would you like to go get adrink?  There’s a little place nearby.”  

Mimi nodded and let him show the way, though she had afeeling she knew where he was going.  Itwasn’t the first time she’d explored these passages.  In fact since learning she was a witch twosummers ago her Grandmother had been more insistent on her exploring more ofthe wizarding world herself.   So whenHyun led her to the Glam Dragon it wasn’t that much of a surprise.  It was a neat place run by some Witches whowere born from muggles who wanted to bring a little touch of the world theygrew up in to the Witches and Wizards who were, surprisingly, stuck behind thetimes.

“A ‘unicorn hot cocoa’ please! And for you?”  He was pulling out his bag looking at hercuriously.

“You don’t have to pay for me.”

“No worries, you can get it next time.”  Her chest ached at the stupidly charmingsmile he gave her.  

“Okay, a ‘firebolt’?” They were muggle drinks with Wizarding world names put to them, but thewhite chocolate with silvery edible glitter with a dash of blueberry known as ‘unicornhot cocoa’ did seem to earn some double takes from the adults in the wizardingworld.  It was one of her favorite placesto visit when she had the opportunity.

“So ever been to a place like this?”  Hyun Ryu leaned on his palm watching hercarefully.  

“A café?  Yep.  My mom loves going to places like this, backin the muggle world.”

“Oh you’re… born from muggles?”

“Nope.”  If he wantedto know, he would have to ask.  It wasn’tsomething she brought up simply because of her Grandmother.  She hadn’t known her Grandmother was aliveuntil the day her letter for Hogwarts arrived, and there were some family issuesthat she learned about in a very short amount of time.  It had been tough accepting the past two yearsand was still hard to talk about.  Hyunscrunched his face in thought for a while before they called his name to pickup his drink.  

While he was walking back, her name was called.  Even as they passed each other he stilllooked lost in thought.  Mimi returnedshortly after, but the concern that he was showing was already gone.  “So how do you know my brother?”  Hyun asked innocently enough, but stillcaused Mimi to choke on her drink while she tried to keep from laughing.

“You sure you want to know?” He gave her a nod, giving her permission to start into her story.

“What.  Is. That?”  The words were hissed ather shortly after the door to the compartment that she was sitting in was flownopen.  

“That’s Tinsel?”   

“Why is it runningaround?  You should have it with yourtrunk so it could be brought up to your dorm with the rest of your toys. 

“Tinsel isn’t a toy,Tinsel is my familiar!  The letter saidcats were allowed.”  She held out theletter as if it would protect her, but instead he just scoffed at her.   

“Are you seriouslycarrying that around with you?  What, doyou really think you need to prove that you belong here?  Are you from a muggle family or something?”   

“And if I was?”  She wasn’t but the way he spat it out madeher shake with anger.  He was a biggerkid, but she had her ways of dealing with him. He wore the colors of one of the houses, but she couldn’t recallwhich.  Despite Grandma Yvonne trying herhardest to teach her over the summer a crash course in the Wizarding world andHogwarts, she just couldn’t retain all the information.  She didn’t even know it existed beforereceiving her letter.   

“If you were, I hopeyou don’t end up in my house.”  He sneered,triggering her standard response.  Itwasn’t one she was proud of, but she couldn’t help as the tears welled up andstarted to flow.  Startling him, but frustratingMimi even more. 

“That’s not,” shechoked on a sob as she tried to sound angry, “a nice thing to say.” 

“Jeez, what a crybaby, sorry okay?  Just keep that thingaway from me.”  He rolled his eyes ather. 

“Tinsel.”   

“What?”  He gawked at her. 

“Her name’s Tinsel.” 

“Fine whatever!”  He slammed the door as he exited.  

“I’m sorry my brother can be a bit of a jerk. “  Hyun finished his drink, giving her a pityinglook, “but that does explain why came back fuming to our compartment.  Muttering about tinsel… I was so nervousbecause it was my first year and my family was all rooting for me to get intothe same house as the rest of them!  Backthen I thought my brother had been anxious too, and was muttering about goingback home for Yule break.  But what is with that crying thing?”  He tried to hid his smile as he asked her.

“I wish I could tell you, just sometimes when someone’s up set with me it’s like I can’t help it… I hate it when it happen though.”  Mimi pouted a little, trying to change the topic she fidgeted with her drink,  “How did your sorting go? Mine was pretty… stressful.” 

“Mine too.”  Hyunlooked down into his cup. 

“You know… I think I remember you!  You were the one people were whispering aweird word about… ‘Malfoy’?” 

“Wrong family, but I could understand the confusion.”

The sorting hat was positionedon the stool so everyone could hear it’s song as it explained out the fourdifferent houses.  They all soundedvaguely familiar from the lessons her Grandmother gave, but still it felt likeit went in one ear and out the other. Despite her Grandmother trying various different ways to try and teach her.  

“Hyun Ryu.”  The name was called and a strange boy withshort white hair and panicked large red eyes approached.  For a moment she wondered if vampires wereallowed into the school, trying to listen to the tables nearby whispering theirquestions about his family and his name. 

The hat was on hishead for a while, meantime Hyun Ryu looked more panicked the longer he sat there.  Finally his face dropped in defeat as the hatcalled out “Gryffindor!”  His brotherJeong stood up and watched as the table of red and gold erupted and stood towelcome him.   

There had been a fewmore names before Mimi was called up.  Nomatter what she tried she couldn’t stop from trembling.  Headmistress McGonagall watched over theproceedings, giving a calm look to all students, no matter what house wascalled. Mimi tried to focus on that and remember to relax when she hearsomething.   ‘But why?’  There was a tiny whisper in her head.  She tried to think of all her best memories,where she was proud, bringing up her family and how proud her Grandmother hadbeen in the blue and silver as she tried to explain the houses.  ‘You’ll do fine no matter the house, don’tworry so much.  But there is one whereyou’re truly meant to be.‘  “Slytherin!”  The table with green and silver clapped andstood to welcome her.   Jeong clapped aswell as she moved to join the same table as him, but the frown he gave her wasmore genuine.

“Okay so you’re Slytherin like my brother.”  Hyun nodded, “I guessed as much.  How did your family take it?”

“Mom was excited and ordered me a bunch of green stuff tohave in my room or things with snakes on them. She was overcome with house pride. Dad was… pretty confused.  Grandmajust sighed but she kind of moved on. What about you?  Didn’t you justsay your entire family is one house? Slytherin like your brother?  How’dthey handle your house announcement?“   

Hyun shrugged, “nothing can be done when a house inannounced.”  He gave her a painedsmile.   

“Hyun…”  Mimi startedin on her concern when his name was also called by a voice behind her. 

Jeong called from the doorway, “I’m done sooner than Iexpected.  Let’s get going.”   

“Okay!” He nodded before reaching out and grabbing Mimi’shand.  “Do you think it would be okay ifwe exchanged owls and get to know each other before school starts up?” 

“What about emails?” 

Hyun glanced back at his brother before giving her asheepish grin.  “I think owls would bebetter.”

[journeysintowebcomics]

Girl Genius Liveblog #147

UPDATE 147: The Storm King’s Coronation

Last time Phil Foglio had gone into the hospital to tell stories, and that led to him being taken into the Baron’s room so he got Wulfenbach to finally sleep. Instead the Baron is telling that guy a story. Let’s see what it’s about.

Oh-kay, I read the page and this story sounds rather fantastical, much more than I expected from Wulfenbach’s mouth. Note I say ‘fantastical’, not ‘implausible’. I’m pretty sure that, thanks to the heaps of MAD SCIENCE this world has, the circumstances and situations depicted here could be achieved if so they desired. Leaving that aside, it sounds kind like a Heterodyne story, or at least how I imagine Heterodyne stories are like: crazy awesome – and I’m not saying that because it turns out a Heterodyne ancestor is in the story.

An evil wizard…you know, maybe he was a spark, and his MAD SCIENCE was so strange and the world wasn’t used to MAD SCIENCE yet everyone decided it was magic. Didn’t stop him from getting his ass kicked by the benevolent king, who I suppose is not the Storm King, even though…in his weird wolf form he has lightning in his maw.

Haha, hey, I wonder if Agatha will hear this story at some point, even if it’s offscreen? Listen to this, Agatha, more proof your ancestors were nuttier than a Mr. Goodbar candy bar.

I know these tales are unlikely to be the literal truth, so the part about how the transformed king’s young soon had a giantess nanny is likely to be embellished. How exactly? I don’t know. Maybe she was a brave and isolated woman. The point is…

…that the young kid would leave her care only if he managed to take that pin from her hair, pin I’m rather sure isn’t a coincidence is shaped like a sword. Yeah, it’s kind of giving me the Sword in the Stone thoughts. Eventually, he did manage to take the pin, although not by sheer force. It was thanks to his ingenuity. He most likely was a spark, and a powerful one, to start at such a young age. If I remember correctly, that is a sign of a strong spark, right?

Anyway, he managed to get the pin, and therefore gained the right to leave. Meanwhile, the evil wizard’s daughter kept ruling the land, but she knew everyone obeyed her because the wolf was with her – he never stopped being the king, after all. This tidbit of information did not make her a happy camper. That was the chance the prince looked for, he disguised himself as a fortune teller, and convinced her to try to remove the crown with the sword. You can imagine how that went. Hint: metal is a pretty good conductor of electricity. Here it says neither wolf nor witch were ever seen again, but I think that’s an euphemism for ‘they turned into ashes’.

Huh…he suspiciously kinda looks like Gil. I wonder…Foglios, you’re not going to somehow pull that Gil could be considered a potential heir for the crown of the Storm King, right? Would that even work? Well it’s a bit too early to think about that, and this image is not proof, so…yeah, maybe I’m overthinking it.

This was a completely new story for the storyteller, who also apparently wrote once a collection of tales and songs about Wulfenbach – and his tone wasn’t exactly flattering, judging by the title. Of course Wulfenbach isn’t upset about being called a despot, that’s a minor thing to get pissed off for.

Once the storyteller leaves, Wulfenbach finally feels tired and decides to rest for a while. Good job, Phil Foglio’s in-universe counterpart!

When did you get here? I suppose she was always here and out of sight, but I didn’t think she’d reach Wulfenbach so quickly! It can’t be that simple for her to kill the Baron, right? I mean, this man got crushed by a flying contraption Agatha made, it’d be ridiculous if he died from being suffocated with a pillow or whatever Anevka plans to do. He’s not going to die here!

…

…right?

Meanwhile, at Mamma Gkika’s bar—okay, okay, time out. I think I’m starting to realize why the story about Agatha getting recognized and fixing the Castle is taking so long. All these cuts to different scenes and places are the reason. How many different changes have happened in the last three or so updates? Seven, I think. And like two were with Agatha or anyone else inside the Castle. I can understand cutting to Wulfenbach and the events in the hospital since he is a major player in this situation and his decisions can change everything, but is everything else 100% necessary? Even if they’re about established characters and all, changing the point of view and going back feels…superfluous. I’d almost dare to say the Foglios are padding the story.

Heck, Homestuck had less scenes happening at the same time. The only time it got as bloated as Girl Genius is right now was during the final acts inside Act 6, and those weren’t exactly the best acts of Homestuck. The comparison isn’t favorable for Girl Genius.

Maybe it’s that the Foglios are biting more than they can chew by branching off the current main story of Agatha in the Castle, and that’s why so many point of view changes are necessary, but I’m starting to get a bit burn out of having to pay attention and remember approximately six different groups of characters that may or may not appear in a short while again.

Okay, back to reading. Mamma Gkika’s bar where, as I kind of expected, Oublenmach isn’t having a good time. I was hoping the hammer was there! No way Mamma Gkika or any other Jager in there would let him enter all threatening and stuff. Effectively, he’s getting his just desserts, and Mamma Gkika is told he came here for the hammer.

…well alright. He got the hammer. I suppose…he’s getting played here. Something must be going on. Maybe Mamma Gkika actually wants the bell to be rung.

That change lasted one page. It changed again, and it’s to…a lot of people I had never seen before plus Boris, and they’re at castle Wulfenbach. Sigh. You know what; I’ll refrain from commenting on these scene changes. I have the feeling it’d get really repetitive, and you already know how I feel about those.

They’re not kidding, they do have Mechanisburg surrounded. It wouldn’t take long for them to siege the town once the Baron orders them to do it. It’s a good thing that as long as Gil is in the Castle, Wulfenbach’s most powerful moves are kept at bay. He’s indirectly saving Mechanisburg.

Wulfenbach’s troops aren’t the only ones waiting for something to happen. Many other factions are groups are positioned outside, each one likely to have their own agenda. Not only that, in other places of the empire, there are revolts and other smaller incidents of uprising.

…hm. I don’t know who to blame for this. Lucrezia and a Storm King affiliated faction are the ones most likely to be responsible for this. I’d even think Tarvek had something to do with this, but I kind of doubt it. It’s hard to command anything when you’re trapped in Castle Heterodyne.

Boris and other side characters provide some exposition about Wulfenbach’s current status. He’s getting better, much to the despair of Dr. Sun and his expensive machines. Anevka is also staying near Wulfenbach at all times, and it’s said…he listen to her. Hm. More like that’s the influence of the slaver wasp that infected him, I bet.

While they’re talking, a big monkey slams onto the window. Another day in the Girl Genius universe. It’s the first sign the situation had taken a serious turn for the worse, because not only the many factions are here, other sparks are doing their own stuff.

Aaaaand there’s also that. Welp! Everything is falling down in pieces! And the Castle is still unrepaired. Agatha better hurry up or Mechanisburg may be gone by the time she finally finishes!

I should stop here. Thank you for reading.

Next update: in four updates