#and bring terror upon everybody

[hedwig221b]

hiiii!! if you’re still taking sterek prompts: set in college, sterek are finally together! boyd, erica, issac, and kira are so so happy for them and glad that derek has found love with stiles but they miss hanging out with their friend!! derek is spending all of his time with stiles and they really understand that but they miss derek, maybe stiles overhears them talking about it and feels guilty that he’s taking up derek’s time and tries to get derek to hang out with his friends more

“What did he say?” Kira chirped, looking up at Erica with lifted eyebrows.

Erica huffed and turned her phone to show her the screen. It was a bit too sad to see how quickly Kira’s hopeful smile dwindled down to a dejected pout. “‘No’. Again. Fucking dickhead.”

“Erica.”

“What?” She turned to Boyd, who was watching as the girls touched up their make up in front of the mirror. “Am I wrong? He ditched us! We’ve known him since fucking high school. And you,” she thrust her finger at Kira, ignoring her puppy eyes, “are basically his sister. The only one who’s sane. And he fucking—”

“Well, it’s kind of expected,” Isaac muttered, glaring at his phone where he had just lost a game. “He pined for Stilinski since fucking forever, so…”

“Listen, I’m happy he’s getting laid.” Erica swiveled towards him with a sarcastic smile and spread her arms. “I’ll be the first to buy him a fucking balloon set and a gift basket, but this is ridiculous.”

“You just can’t stand being ditched,” noticed Boyd.

“And you can? This is the third time!” She turned back to the mirror and smashed the top of her lipstick case closed with a bit too much force. “I fucking miss his stupid face.”

“Me, too,” Kira sighed.

All of them looked at each other.

“Let’s go get drunk,” Boyd grunted, standing up.

*

“What do you mean ‘No’?”

“Mmm.”

“Derek—” Stiles grabbed him by the hair and pushed him up, away from his neck. The sight of his half-lidded eyes and a soft smile made Stiles’ face burn and his heart tickle. Concentrate! “Why aren’t you going?”

Derek made an attempt to dive back to kissing Stiles’ neck and rolled his eyes when Stiles didn’t let him.

“Stiles…”

“Derek.”

“Well, what do you want me to say?” Derek huffed. “No, I don’t want to go out. I’ve only just got you, baby, I want to spend all my time with you.”

Stiles sighed and traced his fingers down Derek’s face and scruff. He understood Derek’s feelings, probably more than anyone else, because he, too, wanted to glue himself to the man and never fucking let go. Like, what do you mean Derek fucking Hale wants to date him? To look at Stiles, touch him, kiss, make love with him. The same Derek who Stiles was sighing over for so long?

Sometimes, Stiles stared at Derek’s possessive hand spread over his thigh and wonder how the hell did he get this? What brain disease made this Greek god, this insanely funny and sharp-witted confident man turn his attention onto Stiles?

“But… Don’t you miss your friends?”

Derek stared at him with narrowed eyes. He was lying on his front between Stiles’ spread thighs — the sight of heavenly dreams, yes, please; his fingers flexed on Stiles’ sides a bit, as if he wanted to pierce the claws into him.

“Did you get tired of me?” he asked out of the blue.

“Wh— No!”

“Do you want space? I know we moved too fast, but I just can’t fucking get enough of you—”

This man. Stiles was going to become insane.

“I don’t want space,” he tried to smooth out Derek’s frown with his thumbs. “If I could I’d become a leech and attach myself to you. Wait.” Stiles froze. “Is that weird?”

“It’s not.”

Stiles bit his lip to keep the smile in. “Would you love me if I was a wo—”

“Don’t.”

Stiles snorted. “What I mean is…” He sighed. “I know what it’s like to be a friend who’s ditched because of a partner.” His careful gaze met Derek’s intense one. “It’s not a good feeling. And I don’t want your friends to hate me.”

“I won’t let them.”

“Go then! Like, what if you break up with me tomorrow and go to them and— Ouch!” Stiles rubbed his left pec that Derek just sank his teeth in.

“Not tomorrow, not next month, and, guess what, not even next year.” Derek pierced him with his glare. He lifted himself up on the elbows, loomed over Stiles and kissed him hard. “Don’t even fucking think about it,” he bit out into Stiles’ lips, making his heart shiver from the possessiveness in his tone. “You’re not getting away from me.”

“Okay, big bad wolf, Little Red got the message.” Stiles murmured, patting Derek on the sides. Internally, he was squealing from joy. “You’ll chase after me and my pierogi until— Stop biting!”

Derek didn’t look sorry at all, just arched an eyebrow. Stiles sighed and put his hands around Derek’s massive shoulders to urge him to lay down again. “Let’s at least pretend not to be so toxic about each other, okay?”

“We’re not toxic.”

“You’re lucky I’m as obsessed with you as you are with me. Otherwise, you’d get a touch too familiar with my Dad’s intimidation tactics.”

“I want to meet your dad,” Derek frowned at him.

Stiles stared at him. “I can’t decide whether you are a figment of my salivating imagination or you’re simply insane.”

“He’s your dad.”

This. Man.

“You’ll get to experience my annoying clinginess, I promise you. But tonight we are going to pretend that we can exist without being in the immediate vicinity of each other; you are going to go to your friends, have fun and get shitfaced.”

“Baby…”

“Nuh-uh. I need to finish my conspectus anyway, and you’re distracting.”

Derek’s sigh was so deep, one would think Stiles forced him to go take an exam.

“As you wish, princess.” Derek smirked at the blush on Stiles’ face. “You won’t remember any of your notes anyway.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I’m going to fuck your brains out when I come back.”

Stiles snorted, then fell apart in giggles, as Derek sucked a goodbye kiss on the base of his neck.

*

LOML: I love you

You: I love you too. having fun?

LOML: lvoe uou

Stiles’ heart did an excited screeching massive rollercoaster swerve. With a tight lodge in his throat, Stiles threw himself on the bed and stared at his too-bright screen in the darkness of his quiet room. And stared, and stared…

You: got it

LOML: Erica s yellin at Isaac

You: ?

LOML: she wants to bee my maid f honor at our weddinge

LOML: kiras crying bc she wants it tooo

LOML: can I have four poeple f honor? pls kitten

You: sure

LOML: I loooe yoi

You: love you too

[sigma-alpha-writer-chad]

Grow Up, Would You? [Josh Washington]

“I don’t know if you’ve changed any since middle school but I really hope you’ve learned the difference between pranking somebody and just being a fucking bully.”

You can also find this story on Ao3!

Chapter Two / Chapter Three / Chapter Four

[CHAPTER THREE]

Italics = Events taking place prior to the "present day" of the story!

It had been a quiet day, so far. That morning was easily one of the best I'd had in who knew how long. Everybody had been leaving me alone. I was grateful for the peace and quiet, though I couldn't relax fully. Somebody had to be planning something. Despite the thoughts, I wanted to have a good day.

I really wanted to have one good day.

The cafeteria was big. Rows of long, rectangular tables were filled with middle schoolers chatting about their day and eating their lunches. Some had home packed lunches filled with goodies they could trade off for something better or in exchange for cheating off homework, and some children had the school lunch. It was pizza today. Square pies with cubes of pepperoni on them. Many people didn't like them but they were always one of my favorites.

I looked around me. I couldn't see anybody who would've wanted to pull something on me.

I couldn't see Josh.

It had been years since anyone else had done anything to me without him participating or sort of approving it. If he wasn't at school that day, I would be free for the day. It was the only explanation I had that day for the lack of terror I'd faced.

I stood in the line for the pizza and spotted my cousin, Chris, and his friend Ashley. I called for them, and they allowed a bunch of kids in front of them to move towards my spot in line.

"Hey, cousin," Chris greeted me. "Last year of lunch together, huh?" He was one year my senior, meaning next year he would be in high school, a building separate from mine. "Is that why you seem to be in such a good mood?"

"Yep, you keep saying," I responded as a grin grew across my face. "Poor Jordan, without her big cousin around. Whatever will the humble 8th grader-to-be do?"

"Celebrate?" Ashley chimed in. "No more Josh, right?" I smiled wider and nodded. Chris made a face at Ashley for bringing it up. He obviously wanted to say something, but didn't. We moved forward in the line.

"I can't wait to have some peace," I admitted. For a moment I wondered what it would be like. Would the teasing and pranks really stop, or would they just be exacted upon me by someone else? I shook the thoughts from my head, but not my smile.

"Josh isn't that bad," Chris defended. "He's my best friend. Why are you so mean about him?" My expression faltered slightly.

"Why is he so mean about me? Why are you always on Josh's side?" I retorted. "You're no better, really. You're just my less mean cousin." I crossed my arms. Day ruined. "I'm tired of always being the one who is upset and ruins everything when you guys are the ones who upset me in the first place." Chris's face turned red in embarrassment and frustration, and I could tell he felt guilty, as well. He pushed up his glasses.

"They're just jokes! It's not my fault you're just a cry baby 7th grader and nobody likes you." I frowned, hard, and my appetite was no longer.

"Where is this coming from?" I asked, tears brimming my eyes. Chris was always sensitive yet defensive in 8th grade, quick to bite if he felt cornered. I tried to remember what my mother had told me about when people are mean to you for no reason - that they feel bad about themselves. I could see Chris's expression drop when I started to cry. At that point, though, it'd meant nothing. Time and time again he or Josh or someone else would make me upset, he would feel bad as soon as I started to cry, and then do it again the next week.

I left the lunch line and made a beeline straight for my homeroom class. Mr. Brown would allow me to just sit at my desk during lunch if I'd wanted, so oftentimes that's what I did.

He greeted me as I entered, but said nothing else as I went to sit down. He was the only teacher who seemed to understand I didn't like to talk about the pranks pulled by my peers, especially because the school would do nothing about it anyways.

"Somebody left something for you in your desk," Mr. Brown said. His expression was soft and mildly worried, likely due to the obvious tears I had running down my face. "Should we look together?" My lips pressed into a thin line as I nodded and my heart rate picked up. He stood up and made his way towards me.

"Who left it?" I asked warily, standing up as to not be trapped if water sprayed out of the desk.

Again.

"I'm not sure," he answered. "They were in and out pretty fast. Had a hood up." He placed his left hand at the edge of my desk, where he could lift it up. "Ready?" I nodded, and he slowly lifted the desk.

It was a flower.

Mr. Brown and I stood completely still for a couple of seconds. I sniffled and slowly moved my hand away from my chest to reach for the white flower. It was a daisy. My favorite? Mr. Brown's eyebrows raised and gave way to an expression of delight as I picked up the daisy to show him.

"Is there a note?" He asked, peeking over the wooden top of my desk.

"Uhm..." I leaned forward to look back into the desk. There was a pink piece of paper folded about a million times to be as small as possible. This failed miserably, the paper being too thick to even stay closed. "Yeah, I think so." I took it out and observed the parchment.

"A secret admirer!" Mr. Brown gasped dramatically. It suddenly occured to me how nosey and curious my teacher was. My face grew hot as I opened up the pink letter. "What does it say?" I shot him a look. He put his hands up and backed away. "Ok, I get it." He teased and went back to his desk with a small smile on his face. I looked down at the pink note in my hands as my heart pounded in my chest. Was it really a secret admirer? Or another dumb prank?

The handwriting was atrocious.

'Jordan, I saw this flower outside and I thought it was pretty and maybe I heard one time it was your favorite so I picked it for you. Don't get the wrong idea because this isn't a secret admirer and nobody likes you that much, especially not me.'

I was taken aback by the note. What kind of a note was this? I thought back to one of the animes Chris likes that he'd made me watch. There was a really mean girl who was very mean to the boy she liked to hide her feelings. Was this the same? I furrowed my eyebrows in frustration, confusion, and flattery. I would have to show Chris later. I put the daisy inside the letter and waited for the day to be over.

---

Chris and I sit on the floor of my bedroom, chatting about his previous trips to the lodge and what it would be like.

"A lot of drinking. Like, so much. Josh and I usually pass out at least once," Chris babbles excitedly. Even though he seemed very hesitant at first, he'd quickly come around to my invite. "I'm actually really happy you're coming. The twins are stoked, y'know?" I smile at him, and he continues on. "They're the ones who started the idea. Everybody comes up and spends a few days at the lodge and we all just party. This will be the second or third year without parents though, I think."

"I feel like that's a safety hazard," I sigh, laying on my side and propping myself up with the palm of my hand. "What if someone gets hurt or goes missing?" Chris shrugs.

"Then we do what we can and we call the police," he states. I shrug as well. I wasn't satisfied with that answer, but I understood that no parents meant more freedom and fun for us young adults. I scoot a little closer to him, a mischievous smile creeping across my expression.

"So... No adults, at all?" Chris side eyes me suspiciously, not bothering to turn his head.

"No... Why?" I know he knows what I'm about to say.

"No reason, just... Y'know, Ashley." He smacks both of his hands over his face in embarrassment, his face growing redder by the second.

"Oh, my God, Jordan, not you too," he sighs in annoyance. "I really like Ashley, I really really do but can't we talk about anything else for once?" I smile wider and shrug.

"What do you want to talk about?"

"Josh," My smile immediately fades. Chris shifts to match my position, laying his chin on his hand and laying on his side. "Let's talk about Josh."

"Why do you want to talk about Josh?" Chris has a small smile on his face as he shrugs, mocking my previous body language.

"I was surprised when he took you to the bathroom," he admits. He rolls over into his stomach, his jaw on both hands now as he kicked his feet behind him like a gossipping school girl. "Crazy, right?"

"Yeah, I think he was just high, though," I say, chewing my lip. I can feel the tips of my ears redden. "You saw how he acted immediately afterwards, didn't you? The daggers he was glaring when I got invited to the lodge were sharp, man." I raise my eyebrows and move to mirror Chris.

"Daggers... Of love." He wiggles his eyebrows and makes a kissy face. I roll my eyes so hard it hurts.

"Ok, you watch too many soap operas or something," I laugh. My cousin sighs and rolls his own eyes. "Would you stop copying me?"

"Would you stop copying me?" I go straight faced and stare at him, hitting my swinging feet on the ground with a thud. He does the same, and a staring contest ensues. I squint. There's no way I was losing this. Time slows down, but luckily for me, I could already see Chris's eyes begin to water. I'm tempted to reach for his glasses slowly and take them off his face when his phone rings and he instinctively looks away, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Technicality," he groans as he stands up.

"A technicality is still a win," I gloat. I roll over onto my back and stare up at the ceiling. "Who is it?"

"It's your boyfriend," Chris teases.

"My abusive boyfriend," I snort. "What does he want?" he puts his finger up in a gesture to wait as he answers the phone.

"Hey man, what's up?" I mouth to Chris telling him to put the phone on speaker. He glares at me and mouths 'nosey,' tapping himself on the nose. I sigh dramatically and wait. "Yeah, I'm just at Jordan's house... Uh huh. Yeah. No, I'm spending the day with -" Chris sighs in frustration. "I'll ask her." I perk up. "Do you want to get pizza with Josh?" my eyebrow raises in suspicion and look Chris up and down. He rolls his eyes. "He only wanted me to come but I told him I'm not leaving you and so he's extending the invitation."

"Does he promise to be nice?" Chris puts the phone on speaker.

"Josh, do you promise to be nice?" he asks. There's silence before Josh laughs. A smile tugs at my lips, though I'm not sure why.

"Yes, Chris, I promise to be nice to Jordan." Chris looks at me, waiting for my response.

"Fine," I sigh dramatically. Chris smiles and gives me a thumbs up.

"Niiice, see you soon." Josh hangs up. A silence hangs between Chris and I. He sets his phone down and looks at the ground, twiddling his thumbs as if he's nervous, like he's about to say something he shouldn't.

"He doesn't hate you, you know," he says. I look up at him, but he doesn't meet my gaze. "I'm... I'm sorry, for... betraying you so often when we were kids." This takes me by surprise. Chris had changed, being kinder to me as we grew older, but I never expected an apology.

"I forgive you, Chris," I smile and stand up, giving him a hug. He hugs me back tightly and he lets out a breath he had been holding. "Don't apologize for Josh, though. He's not sorry."

"Still, Jordan, I meant it," Chris takes a step back, putting his arms to my shoulders and bending down slightly to look me in the eyes. "He doesn't hate you." I didn't know what to say.

"Chris, I don't know what to say to that."

"You don't have to say anything. Let's just go get pizza. It's within walking distance."

"But it's cold outside."

"You have a coat." I groan dramatically as we start to leave, grabbing my coat.

---------

Chris opens the door for me as we walk into the pizza joint Josh had told us to meet him at. It was a homey, diner-like place with booths lined up against the walls for seating, bar stools at the bar, and a few circular tables for larger parties. In front of the bar was a sign that read 'seat yourself.'

"Looks like we beat him here," Chris mumbles. "Where do you want to sit?"

"A booth, by the window." I answer, walking ahead of him to take a seat at an empty booth near the back. Chris sits across from me and I furrow my eyebrows.

"What?" He asks. I don't want to tell him I'm worried Josh might sit next to me, so I shake my head and tell him nothing. A waitress comes to the table and lays a menu down. "Oh, we'll be a minute, we're waiting on somebody."

"Okay, hon, sure thing," she winks at Chris as she walks away. Chris shrugs off his thick coat to fall around his waist.

"Bro she wants you so bad," I say. Chris sighs, but he's smiling. "Hubba hubba." It had been an inside joke since our teenage years that every waitress or waiter wanted him. Of course, they didn't usually wink.

"Dude, guaranteed wife." He says, running his fingers through his hair dramatically, shaking his head. Suddenly the seat next to mine sinks, someone taking a seat next to me. Chris's eyebrow twitches in surprise and amusement.

"Hey, fellas," Josh grins, rubbing his hands together. "Pizza time? Did you guys order?"

"No, we waited for you, dude," Chris says. "I'm thinking just pepperoni, personally."

"Can we add some bacon on this bad boy?" Chris agrees, and both he and Josh look to me for an answer. I glance at Josh, who is staring at me rather intensely and gulp.

"Yeah, that sounds good." I smile. Josh tilts his head as if to see my face better and I feel my face grows warm with confusion and embarrassment. I ignore him, though I can tell he notices my flustered state by his wicked grin. I look at my cousin across the table, and his expression is that of surprise and curiosity. The waitress comes back, and we order.

Josh and Chris talk about the lodge. Past years, plans for this one. I feel a tinge of nerves and excitement. Everyone included talks so much about it, I don't know if I've ever done anything so hyped up. I'd never been to any huge events before, nor small, fun sleepovers with anyone other than Chris.

"So, Jordan," Josh snaps me out of my thoughts, bumping into me with his shoulder. I look at Josh, keeping my head tilted down shyly as I look up at him. He looks back at me, and I can see something in his expression I can't quite name. "Do you drink, or are you lame in that aspect, too?" He laughs and bumps me again. I frown.

"It's not my thing. I don't like being... Compromised?" I furrow my eyebrows, trying to find the words to explain myself. "I don't... I don't want there to be any opportunity for me to be taken advantage of in any way." There's many meanings to this for me. Someone could easily pull a cruel joke on me, film me vomiting and post it online, take me to the bedroom. Josh's smile fades.

"Is there anyone in particular you don't feel safe around?" He asks. I see Chris's eyebrows raised in surprise as he listens in, his eyes moving between Josh and I quickly as if anticipating what would come next. I'm surprised, too.

"What do you mean?" I ask, shifting in my seat uncomfortably.

"If someone is making you feel unsafe they're not invited." Josh states. His eyes are widened slightly and He's staring at me with an intensity I've never seen before. He's dead serious. I scan his face quickly. "Just say the word, Jordan, and it's done." I gulp.

"I-"

"Here you go, kids. Pepperoni and bacon, fresh out the oven! Be careful not to burn yourselves," the waitress says. She's very peppy and beautiful, a heavyset woman with curly brown hair draped over her shoulders and lipstick that was much too red for most, but perfect for her. We offer our thanks as she walks away. I glance back at Josh, who seems to have completely forgotten the intensity he was just showing me at the mention of my discomfort. Chris looks just as surprised as I am.

The pizza looks and smells amazing. The pepperoni was still sizzling, the grease popping. Chris, Josh and I are drooling and I realize just how hungry I was. It seemed torturous now to have to wait for it to cool down to avoid injury.

"Anyways, Jordan," Josh starts. I look at him again. "You don't have to drink, or whatever, even if it does accentuate your... your lameness." I frown again. "But no matter what, if anyone makes you feel unsafe please let me know... I've got no tolerance for that sort of thing."

"Do you promise not to prank me over the trip?" I ask, moving so that my body is facing him as much as it can in the booth. He does the same, straightening his posture as our knees touch. He doesn't move away from me.

"What?"

"Because that's my biggest concern, Josh, honestly," I admit. He seems taken back, glancing at Chris as if for help. "I don't want to wake up with my mattress in the woods or with a snake in my bed or rats in my coat pockets." I try to sound stern. Josh makes eye contact with me and doesn't look away. I almost shy away, but I hold. His eyes scan my face, for what I'm not sure. But it makes me nervous.

"Guys, you're freaking me out," Chris gulps. "Can we please just eat the pizza?" Josh's lips form a thin, straight line and he sighs, finally looking away from me.

"If it would make you feel safer and more comfortable and have more fun," Josh starts, placing his right hand over his heart and raising his left. "I will not pull a single prank on you." Chris's jaw drops. I open my own mouth to say something, and Josh puts some pizza into my mouth. It was hot, but just cooled down enough to eat. "Now eat." His face is darker, a light red dusting his cheeks. As I take the pizza from Josh, Chris and I lock wide eyes, the both of us shocked.

"Thank you," I say. Josh shrugs, his expression one of frustration and mild embarrassment.

"Yeah, whatever. Don't think too much into it," he sighs, his head turned away from me in an attempt to hide his expression. "Just don't want you to freak out and ruin the mood for everybody else." Instead of my normal frown, I smile to myself. This time, I had the feeling that he really was just trying to hide that he cared about me just a little bit - even if it was solely because I was his best friend's cousin. The number one sign that this was the case was still evident as I glanced under the table at my thighs.

Our knees were still touching.

-----------

Hey y'all, thanks for your patience waiting for the update. I work a LOT and on my one day off I'm busy, too. I try to have at least 3k words per chapter, so it takes a bit longer. Anyways, thank you!

Taglist: @sc4rrc @mattymxmo @cellyx33 @jenepleurepasbaby @kalynnjonas @spinback-kiva @frankcastlesvest

[whalesforhands]

kaizen daycare! 5

previous masterlist next

“Does everybody have a copy?”

“Yes, (name)-sensei!” A chorus of cute voices answer your call. Loud chattering and shiny eyes all whilst excited stamping of little, socked feet upon the padded floors as they point at the colourful paper.

“I’m gonna ask Nanamin to let me wear my tiger trunks! Gao!” His tiny arms are stretched into the air, fingers splayed out into claws as he roars in attempts to terrorize his blank-faced friend, his blue eyes too mesmerized by the swimming brochure you had handed out to him with a pat to his head and a cooing of his name.

(“I hope you’ll come with your sisters, Megumi-kun. Tsumiki-chan is welcome to join, too!”)

PERMISSION SLIP

Kaizen Daycare will be hosting a swimming class this weekend! Located at the Mei Mei Swimming Centre, we will be teaching essent—

And Megumi decides that he really, really wants to go.

“Noba-chan! We should bring our pool floaties! Then we can play in the water together!”

“I’ll ask my Granny to pack extra strawberries!”

“Nana and I will ask Papa for extra snacks too…!”

(“Senseeiiiiii!” Yuuji clings onto your leg as his hands grip onto your apron. “Can I bring Choso too?!”

“Yuuji-kun, please have your permission slip signed first…!”)

And that’s how you ended up here, squatting down and helping Nobara fix her hair under her swim cap by the side of the children’s pool with her accompanying, feeble grandmother comfortably settled nearby on one of the benches, sipping on a complimentary bottle of tea provided for accompanying parents and simply enjoying the atmosphere of the swimming complex.

(They were the first to arrive.)

“Eh? So (name)-sensei has friends other than Shoko-sensei?” The curious tilt of her head, an innocent finger on her lip as she looks up at you, heart-shaped goggles pulled up to her forehead to reveal just as innocent, questioning brown.

And you feel something in you crack.

You swear you can quite literally feel your spirit leave you, swirling out of your mouth as your eyes blank out, hands frozen midair and the urge to fall onto your knees to lament about your lack of socialization with more people your age on the tip of your tongue as you let her words sink in.

You have friends! Plenty! There’s Shoko, there’s Utahime… Does Yaga count? He might be a touch too old, but you’re on friendly relations with your boss! Even though… You barely see him since he’s taking care of the older kids on another floor. And you have plenty of them online in Jujutsu Kaisen!

Yes, you assure yourself. Your eyes squeezing shut and your biting your lip in nervous contemplation. You have friends, you aren’t alone, you aren’t a NEET, and you’re only slightly addicted to video games! Slightly!

Though, that doesn’t discount the fact that your children already think you’re some sort of lonely shut-in…!

“(name)-sensei has a lot of friends, Nobara-chan!” Your hands clap together as you stand up, slowly leading her away from the edge of the pool as you gently place your palms onto her shoulders. “Am I not friends with your grandmother?”

“Mmm…” She crosses her arms, albeit with a little bit of struggle due to the pink arm-floaties. Her eyes closed as you fix a stray strand of hair on her forehead. Yep, you’ve convinced her. This is definitely enough to—

“Nope!” She pops the ‘p’ at the end.

“Granny says she sees you as her daugt-her!” Her hands are on her hips staring at you as she smiles, patting your arm with an excited hand. “So can you teach me to swimmy now? I wanna get ahead of Yuuji!”

Your eyes swirl with panic, totally defeated as you want to slump onto the ground and curl into a ball and cry. You don’t even notice the way Nobara was hugging against your torso, her face against the swimming cover-up as she wraps her tiny arms around you, your hand instinctively going around her and patting her head as you keep wallowing in your sadness.

“(name)-seennnnnseeiiiii! Nobara wants to swim!”

“Nanamin! Over’ ere!” Loud clattering of sandals against tiled floors, and a jump of a tiny, soft presence into your arms as an excitable, cub-like boy makes himself known, your arm opening and catching the canon-balling child just in time before he hurts himself.

“Let’s swimmmmmm!” He squirms in your hold as your mind still floats away at the thought of being an adult whose children think of you as lonely and incapable of having other adult friends…

“Yuuji.” Calm and authoritative baritone meet your ears. “What did I say about running?”

“Boo… That I shouldn’t do it in areas outside the track field…” You can practically feel his pout as he hides his face inside your coverup with Nobara.

“And what do you have to say for yourself?”

“Yuuji’s sworry…” His apology is muffled into your clothing as you just continue to pat both of their heads, their mumbled conversation with each other not quite floating to your ears. “So can Nobara and I go play by the sprinkly toys? Pleaseee?”

“Yea, yea! Pleaseee? We’ll be back when everyone comes!”

Your eyes snap back to reality by pure professionalism as you glance at the nearby sprinkler play area and a thought flurries back to the awaiting parents behind you.

“You can, but only if you ask your parents, okay?”

And the duo are quick to crawl out of your coverup, eyes pointedly staring up at Yuuji’s guardian first due to his proximity.

Sparkly eyes meet tired, passive almond.

“…yes, you can. But be back when your teacher calls for you.”

“Yay! Now let’s go ask y’er granny! And we won’t run!” And so, they power walked as fast as toddler feet could carry them.

It’s silent, only momentarily when you’re both left alone. Calls of the duo asking for permission from Kugisaki’s grandmother a distance away.

“Nanami-san, you’re really good at handling him.” And you mean it. He was an exemplary caretaker, respectable, responsible and trusted you with his child wholeheartedly. A really nice man.

“It’s no issue at all. I’m just glad he likes you so much.” A shift of his cheekbones, a soft, growing smile on his face with tender eyes. He doesn’t even hesitate to settle down next to you, crossing his legs and making himself comfortable on the ground.

“It’s more of a pleasure to see him be so happy with you.”

Two gazes stare on as you giggle and continue to chat with the taller man, your conversation getting lost on toddler ears as they let themselves get pelted by light showers of water droplets, the plastic, leaf-like gardens of the area providing adequate fun for them.

And the fact that your smiling face was more entertaining for they to watch.

“Wah… (name)-sensei and your daddy look like pretty friends!”

“Mhm! Sensei and Nanamin are super supppeerrr close!” He’s haughty, proud even, as his hands go onto his little hips, face slightly red from accidentally rubberbanding the goggles onto his nose.

“I bet (name)-sensei likes my Nanamin the most!”

“No way! Sensei definitely likes my grand—!”

“Is that so?” A glowering aura of darkness starts to encapsulate behind him, the sheer weight his tone carried capable of making any normal person freeze in place from sheer fear.

Yet, it’s totally ineffective on cute kids.

(“Ah! It’s Sa-chan!” The glowing boy’s face grows even brighter, arms thrusted up to start waving at him.

“Ohhh! The big man that you say teaches you martial arts, right? Cool!”)

“That’s right! And Sa-chan wants to know, Yuuji-kun~ Why don’t cha tell me allllll about how close Nanamin is to the cute sensei?” His tone was not growing with more bite, more venom in them. “I wanna know every little bit, down to the very last— Ow!”

“Stop harassing children, you menace.” A grab, a decisive pull; and Sa-chan’s ear had been captured by a tall, black-haired man’s fingers, the skin growing red under his touch, one arm preoccupied with carrying two children as two more head pop up from behind him.

“Owoww owww! Sugurrruuuu, you’re so mean!”

(“Ah! Gumi, Nanako and Mimiko! Finally, let’s play together!”)

——

[whisper] you: satouuu. (; ; ）

[whisper] satouuu: yeaaaaa?

Your fingers hesitate in their typing, coming to an abrupt stop as they twitch just as you’re about to hit send. Shoko would laugh at you if you ever told her… So your only online friend is the closest, and safest bet, right?

[whisper] you: what do you think about me?

Specifically, you just want to see how you’re perceived. You act about the same offline and online anyway, right? You’re just… A little more forward on the net.

(Surely, you’re likable, right? You’re not that hopeless. At least… You don’t think so.)

You wait in anticipation, cold sweat starting to form on your hands as they clam up, a nervous rumbling of your character-themed cup as you try to down your nerves with another chug of chocolate milk.

This is making you far too nervous for what it actually is.

[whisper] satouuu: hoho? what’s this all of a sudden? (๑･̑◡･̑๑)

Now you wish you could retract every word you ever thought about sharing with this—

[whisper] satouuu: i’ll answer u if u pick up! ✌︎('ω')

(Incoming invite from User satouuu to join a voice-chat room!)

Ahhh…! Sly bastard! It’s too late to back out now, isn’t it? Maybe, just maybe… Some part of you has been anticipating something like this happening.

And so you accept.

Your throat feels dry, feels uneasy and uncertain. Yet, it leaves you before you can even comprehend. Was it nerves that pushed you to do this? A culmination of some odd, built up responsibility? Maybe you just weren’t made for this, maybe you should just quit this game and find a different one to get addicted to—

“…hello…?”

And you’re met with silence.

It makes you uneasy, makes the acid in your stomach feel like it was bubbling up and threatening to vomit out every last bit of your convenience store dinner as you nervously await.

(Do you sound bad or something…?)

“You sound cuter than I thought.” Followed up by a mock sigh of disappointment. “Not a nekama, huh? Pfft, borrrrinnnnggg!” He stops to let out a laugh, a smacking of his tabletop heard as you hear a clink of glass.

And you feel your heart palpitate just that little bit more.

“I’m sorry for being so boring then, you mean jerk.” You’re retorting back, a dumb smile unknowingly making its way onto your cheeks as you begin to… Talk. No longer needing to have the delays of typing in between the both of you.

It feels freeing, feels like a heavy weight has been lifted, feels… Right.

“And you haven’t answered my question yet.”

“Aww~, you’re just as impatient even on voice chat rooms too!” You hear him hum, a quiet drumming of his fingers against his desk.

“But if you sound like this,” He begins, a breath being drawn in. “Then you have nothing to worry about. It’s cute.”

“If you’re gonna joke around—“

“I’m being serious, honey! It really is cute!”

It makes your face burn in absolute shame, as much as you would hate to admit it. Just hearing someone with such an attractive voice has you wanting to choke back a sputter and break into your nervous rambling. It’s been bothering you ever since you heard him, how similar his voice was to a certain neighbour you had, yet how dissimilar it was at the same time.

(There’s no way. Coincidences like that only ever happened in fiction.)

Yet, you can’t help but imagine it all the same. Gojo Satoru calling you cute, his hand on your head or a tap of your nose with his finger as he teases you for being so shy. Or even Geto Suguru smoking next to you, gently grabbing your chin and sharing the smoke of his cigarette with you in the form of a—!

“Hey,” His voice takes a serious tone, drawling out his words in a smooth resonance that sends a shiver down your spine. “Say yes for me.”

(Oh… You would do anything for that voice—! No!)

Your eyebrows furrow only slightly, eyes snapping out of your daydream and eyes concentarted on the way his profile picture lit up when he spoke to notice the little pop-up at the corner of your screen.

“Yes…?”

[Voice activation confirmed.]

A shock of bursting, twirling pink hearts and flurry white laces that intertwine alongside snow white roses overtake your screen as your mouth hangs open in shock.

[Congratulations on your engagement! We wish you happiness with your partner!

Minimum damage will now increase by 20% when forming a party as a couple—]

“What?! You nearly choke on your spit, fingers hurrying to your keyboard to start spamming the backspace key, and every other letter in attempt to— “Cancel! Cancel—!”

[Request denied. Engagement is valid for 30 days, please try to work out your issues together.

Fun Fact: Only 48% of players who become couples choose to stay in their relationships after the valid period.]

“What?!”

“Ehehe.”

previous masterlist next

Notes:

NEET — Not in Education, Employment or Training

nekama — usually a grown man who roleplays with a super sexy/cute female character online.

for EN: Ieiri Shoko’s username is ���shosei’, literally short for ‘Shoko-sensei’ because she registered the account at work. (For you.)

for JP: Originally meant to be written 所生 (しよせい)- birth place/creation/child

shosei character profile username: shosei level: 79 class: sorcerer notes: looks almost like a carbon copy of the shoko ieiri you know in real life. full courtesy of you, who designed it with her when you begged to play together. she paid actual money to buy you a player-designed accessory once. you never want to have it out of your inventory.

Fact: True love is never easy! Engagement rings are one of the hardest items to obtain in game. Prove that your love can best even the most treacherous bosses on Floor 520, or simply purchase one from the player Market!

(Customization of rings are allowed! Personalise and make your love a unique existence!)

nvy’s aftertalk:

haha nvy ur so funny shosei which means birth place because she’s a doctor who works in a daycare haha funny

[coltishcaterpillar]

Unmasked / Platonic!Alastor x Teen! Daughter Reader

Chapter II: Sneaking Suspicion

Summary:

After reading over thirty-one entries, three disturbing pages are brought to light….or the darkness, depending on how Emily wants to look at it.

WARNING: This entire chapter (and probably the next one) depicts a very disturbed, traumatized, paranoid child (who is you, the reader.), who has just lost the person she loved most in the world. A HUGE deterioration in her psyche is seen here.

Look out for: Murder, Mental Illness, Paranoia, Anxiety, Delusions, Cannibalism, etc….

November 12th, 1933

I don’t know what I’m doing anymore, my dear diary. Please, Jesus, please help me find my way back, I’m…I’m shaking relentlessly and the monsters at night won’t leave me alone.

My Pa….he’s not come home in three weeks. I know he will never open that door again, but I wish he would just one last time.

It started with a simple hunting trip. I saw him bringing a large trash bag over his shoulder whilst he was going out, and I just assumed it held his gun and other necessities.

A few hours later, people heard gunshots go off in the area he hunted and now he’s…..

When they opened the bag they found another mangled body….and concluded that my Papa was the serial killer terrorizing New Orleans since 1922.

No, he couldn’t have done anything of the sort. He was a good man. PAPA was a good man. He was. He is.

I read it in the papers…nobody wants to see me anymore. I’ve tried contacting everyone I knew and loved, and they told me to never set foot on their property again, they thought I was involved in this hellish situation!

Anne, James, Elbert, Carol, Mr. Devereaux, Charlotte, Martin…..EVERYBODY has abandoned me!

I wanted to desperately contact Grandma, so I wrote her a series of letters. Her caretaker wrote me a letter back that she went into shock after finding out Pa died, and she’s….well, she’s in Heaven now too.

I just turned sixteen, please. I need my Papa back….my Grandma….

I’ve been in the house surviving off of scraps. I’m afraid to leave again; I don’t want to be shot, I don’t want people coming after me because of what my Papa allegedly did. I’ve lost so much weight, I’m tired, I feel sick….

I’m not ready to be a woman, to grow up, quite yet. I grew up taking things for granted; I thought I would have my family and friends for life. How will I find a job? Will anybody take me in? Can I find a new family?

I’m still here, I’m still here, my dear friend. My beautiful…I’ve not lost my mind, not yet. I’m not crazy, am I? No, no….I’m just….going through some traumatic moments!

I’m hungry….

My stomach is hurting so bad, I’m perspiring and my toes are curled…I need more food. I’ve eaten nearly everything, I have no money to purchase anything else…

Every time it growls, there’s a new tang of pain….

Papa, you would never….you’re a good man, Pa. I love you, I’ll always love you….

Oh, it all makes sense now! Why you never wanted me to see what you brought home, why you were always out late, why you were so secretive…oh, Pa, why didn’t you tell me?! I…I would’ve….contacted the authorities.

Which is what you didn’t want.

I HATE YOU, YOU FUCKING DEMON! HOW DARE YOU BRING THIS UPON ME AND GRANDMA, I HOPE YOU ROT YOU SICK, TWISTED, SORRY EXCUSE FOR A HUMAN-

I miss your kisses and your hugs, Pa. Please….please come back. At least tell me where your grave is so I can hug your body one last time….I’ve never wanted to hear your voice more, whether it be in real life or the radios, please!

Oh my god, what are we having for dinner? I’m starving, Pa….

I have a headache, Pa….please give me some medicine to ease the pain…..

I need you, I need somebody. Anybody. Please….

I never want to see you again. If I ever see you again after this lifetime I will do everything in my power to slaughter you a second time for all the pain that you’ve caused….

I’m going to take a breather soon, my dear friend. I need to let off some steam. I’m….I just need to find an energy source. I’ll be back, I promise.

——————————————

November 13th, 1933

Oh, I’ve found something to eat, finally. It didn’t taste as terribly as I thought, and in fact, it tasted similar to how you cooked our meat, Pa. So tender….so, so, tender…..

The gangster didn’t even see it coming. I don’t think he liked me, he was looking at me like I did something wrong. I hushed him, hushed him well, and said,

“No, no, sir. Why are you giving me that look?? I’m only hungry! I’m just trying to survive! Please don’t let me starve!”

I hated that gaze. That look on his face made me feel like a monster, like I wasn’t justified in my action to cut him into tiny little pieces-

Pa, it’s just like you used to make. I never knew how…similar the meat tasted until now. Why did you do that? To so many innocent people….this man was not innocent, Pa. He was part of a cartel, I was doing this world a favour!

I feel better, I think. My stomach feels more satisfied than it has in days.

I don’t feel any better, though. I just…I just ate somebody….

I don’t know what to do! How is….how is his family going to react when they find this out?! I….I caused him pain, so much pain….

But I need more. I want to live….I have so much goodness to offer to the world, I promise I can be better! I’m not usually like this! I promise to make you proud! To make everybody proud…like I’ve always tried to do!

I know how much I was lacking in performance, I’ve never been cut out for the big leagues, but I am positive I can amount to something! If this world will give me a chance, I’ll be the best version of myself I can ever be. I can, I can! You always said I could do anything I put my mind to, I can do this. I can still be a happy girl and young woman, I can still grow up, I can make new friends. Perhaps I’ll move? Yes, maybe that’s a good idea…

I miss you. I miss Grandma, I miss our talks. The things you would do with me…how you used to sing to me when I was scared of the monsters under my bed, our weekly theatre nights; we’d always go to see Charlie Chaplin, that was your favourite; and it grew to be mine too.

I miss how close we were to each other. We were like….we were like two peas in a pod. We couldn’t be one without the other.

1917, was the year of my birth. How well do you remember picking me up that day? When I was alone, cold, nearly dead…in a dumpster? You saved me.

That’s why….I don’t want to believe you did those things, Papa. I don’t. I have a very strong sense of morality, you know that. I….I can’t fathom you ever being capable of something like that.

I…I don’t think I knew you, Papa. You…

You betrayed me.

Everybody was right, you know. The suspicions people had about you. Anne…she always talked about you with a certain look of fear in her eyes, and I always made the time to defend you to anybody who ever judged.

How was it, that the only person who never saw the signs, was me? The person who lived with you for sixteen years?

Maybe I just didn’t want to believe it.

And now look at what you’ve done. You’ve killed a part of me…you killed Grandma; your mother! I was supposed to meet her up for tea a few days after your death, but time had beaten me to it. What ever will I do, without your love?

I miss you, Pa. And I love you, so very much. But you better pray to the devil himself; that I do not die for another five decades. I won’t be able to hold myself back…from hurting you. And I’ll hurt you bad.

To be hated….to be attacked by somebody you protected, nurtured, loved with all your heart….yes, that’s the pain I want to inflict on you. Your daughter, the person you’d kill for, turning against you.

I love you, Pa, I really do. But….a serial killer will never be somebody I bode well with.

———————

January 10th, 1934

I am sorry. For everything. It’s very frigid out here due to winter, and I’ve been camping outside for quite a while…I can’t feel my legs anymore.

To….anybody I may have scared or hurt, from the bottom of my heart, I am sorry.

[ranticore]

We know the werewolves were one guys specific indentured servants. Are there any other monsters that were just one specific guy’s? Actually. Is that wizard still around and how does he (it?) feel about it? Did Revelation’s specific underlings also get hit especially hard or just it?

Anyway your Kosa setting is cool as hell and I love everyone and also Revelation. And its wife guy (guy who is a wife guy to it).

hiii i'm going to answer all your asks in this one post to make things easier, thank you so much for giving me a lot of stuff to think about

Anyway, werewolves! It's accepted that pretty much every wizard had a lot of servants, this guy (Onozar The Transcendent, the green wyrm with red markings) just happened to have a lot in the general region i do most of my worldbuilding in (the two of Kosa is here, the Ama plains, other areas etc). That means werewolves are pretty common here, and have spread elsewhere from here, but other areas and regions have their own different population densities of werewolves and other 'beastified servant' type monsters.

Onozar isn't open about it, his faces are now very different to how he looked back in the day (aka the face on the werewolf masks) and he has very purposefully put his past behind him. Yes he did terrible stuff and was essentially a magical dictator once upon a time. But that was so long ago and he was punished for it so as far as he's concerned he's done with it and the werewolves are unrelated to him (and if somebody else brings it up omg you're all so obsessed with the past, don't you know people grow and change?? it was NORMAL to have slaves back then okay it was just part of the culture and it's honestly really suspicious and hurtful that you would bring this up to attack him at a time like this, and-)

Revelation was not a big shot among wizards. It had servants yes but not so many that they became their own species of monster (many of the monsterifications were chosen as a form of dramatic irony based on the individual person's personality). I still have to design a bunch of other monster types but I'll say yes they were probably hit harder than they should have been, everybody in and around Revelation's tower were made An Example.

It's a little easier to scapegoat the guy who has no real influence and no real friends in this social circle ain't it

He's only good at killing crawling beasts lol, that's partially why king harpies evolved after all - to fight and kill the crawlers, which are very strong but not very fast. His type eat mainly rabbits and hares, and he tends to be not quite fast enough to consistently catch them himself, the much swifter and smaller cobs and pens take care of that (he still runs far faster than a human tho, he's had some luck catching antelopes if he gets close enough before the chase). He is part of a flock, he just kinda... drifted away from living with the others, splitting his attention between Revelation and his other duties. Like many kings he's fighty and opinionated, with the added assurance of a creature that knows it's too big and strong to fall prey to... pretty much everything else. He enjoys art and beautiful things and has happily worked in alliance with the local wolfmen packs in the past in return for some of their dye products.

So his flock is a multi-type coalition between a collection of eyries (or whatever word I'll use for the small harpy settlements that form under the banner of a single flock). He's not the all-king of the flock, but he is the king of the terror bird types. The other types within the flock are all ground-nesting but not necessarily flightless harpies. His eyrie has about thirty individuals living there and he had three tiercels (not including Revelation). Revelation didn't kill all his flockmates but it did quietly disappear his other tiercels at some point. I need to do a little more work on them but yea

These different characters actually represent different time periods in the setting (the guy, Ambrose, is from the 1600s, while Mikalai and Cuinn come from the 1800s!). I think the whole thing with Revelation is much earlier, going for a more medieval look with those guys. It means that Revelation's march is technically just a part of history for Cuinn and the rest of them :) The world didn't end. But it DID change (.... not many wyrms around these days, anymore, i wonder what happened to them...)

[iolypse]

qsmp eggs as D&D characters because I can't help but fuse both of my current fixations together

Chayanne — Ive decided that every single egg is a dragonborn for the sake of simplicity, so that just brings me to figuring out class and subclass for each of them. I originally was thinking a simple fighter for Chayanne, but then, upon remembering what was quite literally an oath to protect everyone, decided he'd make a rather good paladin, particularly oath of devotion. he's devoted to keeping everybody safe, no matter the cost. if I were to give him a breath weapon, it'd be fire. he's a dragonborn paladin (devotion)!

Tallulah — Tallulah was always going to be a bard, are you kidding me? from there, looking through all the bard subclasses, I figured lore suited her best. she collects info! she gave qwil that book full of info about marigolds, she asks questions so she can know more about the world. yeah. she's a smart girl. dragonborn bard (lore).

Dapper — this is THE artificer. this autistic fuck (/affectionate bc me too buddy, me too) loves everything machinery, and he's fuckin good at it, too. considering his additional love for collecting animals, I've decided to make him a battle smith so he can have a steel defender. he would take very good care of it. I considered armorer due to the unique sets of armor I've seen him wear, but battle smith suited him just a tad better. he's a dragonborn artificer (battle smith).

Ramón — Ramón is also THE artificer! they are artificer pals. while Dapper focuses more on combat-ready mechanics, Ramon's been doing a lot of work on his elevator. also, bombs! fuck, he and qfit have so many bombs, they're practically their first line of defense. therefore, artillerist. he's good at throwing shit across the battlefield, staying stationary and hunkered down. dragonborn artificer (artillerist).

Leonarda — Leo was a little difficult. from the beginning, I knew I wanted her to be a primarily martial class, but I didn't want to leave her without any magic, either. so I figured a monk could be fitting due to their innate ki. considering. you know. dragon. I just had to give her ascendant dragon. dragonborn monk (ascendant dragon).

Bobby — oh yeah, this boy's a fighter alright. I considered barbarian for his tendency to sometimes throw tantrums, but it just wasn't right for him. I definitely considered gunslinger, but he's not particularly known for his guns, and I was eventually led to banneret, aka the purple dragon knights. he's definitely one of the braver kids, and I think his bold deeds could definitely inspire those around him. Bobby is a dragonborn fighter (banneret).

Richarlyson — he was kind of difficult! Richarlyson has picked up a number of skills from all six of his dads, making him fairly versatile and all-around skilled. I was, however, leaning a more martial class, and looked to monk first. none of the subclasses felt right, so I went bard due to their jack of all trades thing. wasn't right, so I thought about ranger, and that seemed like it could work due to their wide range of specialization. looking through subclasses, I picked monster slayer out of the bunch. just about all of his dads are terrorized by cucurucho in one way or another. he's practically got a sixth sense for the fucker now. Richarlyson's a dragonborn ranger (monster slayer).

Tilín — that's a rogue. yeah. that's a rogue. qQ himself taught them all about lying to other people to get what you want, and you're gonna tell me that's not a fucking rogue? right. rogue has a ton of interesting subclasses, but I felt like soulknife was a really interesting pick for her. soulknife rogues focus on the manipulation of the mind, fucking with a person's head to change their perception or easily slip by them. felt like they could use a little bit of magic, too, so he's got the psionic abilities that come with it. this is a dragonborn rogue (soulknife).

Juanaflippa — considered fighter gunslinger, but this is also a rogue! not a particularly magical one, though. Juanaflippa never really had much, always too busy shooting guns and coping with her parents' numerous divorces. HOWEVER, when you consider the whole necromancy element of her character (died, came back, fucking died again) on top of all the headcanons of her haunting the island, she's a pretty fun phantom. she's got an innate connection to death and the undead, and she knows what's dead when she sees it. I debated scout, but phantom was too cool to pass up. dragonborn rogue (phantom) for her.

Trump — I don't know shit about trump, but I like to think that if he survived longer, he would've taken after the crazy science aspect of both his dads, giving it a magical twist and going wizard. figured either evocation or abjuration would be good subclasses for him. decided on abjuration because damn, that's what this kid needed. dragonborn wizard (abjuration).

bonus:

gegg — plasmoid/changeling bard (valor). if you can find my other post on the English speakers as D&D classes, he's literally just slimecicle. nothing too special here. gegg.

[thefollowingone]

would you rather be the sky, the ocean or the forests? 

forgive me, but I LOVEEEE this question already :000

okok, let's see:

The Sky: The sky is a beautiful expanse, looked only up to, and strived for in every age. She's beautiful, majestic - Blue, Gold, Purple, Shatteringly sunsetted; She's terrifying - Raining, storming, stopping not without mercy or pity, but rather, furiously raging with a love that tries hard to nourish, but occasionally goes too far; She's white and pure, grey and brewing, black and starry - O, how the stars of her shimmer, her moon and guidance split the terror of dark with the glimpse of a light that never truly leaves. She's always there, shading you from the sun but allowing the parts that we may enjoy, loving us, looking down with that graceful smile of full emptiness.

The Ocean: Similar to the sky, the ocean is a beautiful, wide, expanse of blue. The ocean, my love, however, is a shaky, moving, floor unable to be stood upon; In my eyes, I fear the depths she may pull you to, no mercy nor thoughts, just simple laws begot on her. She is comprised of the soup of life, and life stews in her, yet I cannot. Mysterious, blue, black, sunstopping, large, she brings forth an ecosystem we know not the full expanse of. She is beautiful, yet frightening, but undeservingly so, unjustly condemned by those who lack her skill required.

The Forests: The flora and the fauna, it grows, it chirps, it lives. A green wonderland nobody and everybody knows, but do they really? Innocence does not know these lands - tribulations, humans, have scattered themselves throughout, burning and taking what is not theirs. The forests should, by natural reasoning, be the worst off of the three; and yet, they're not. They've learned forgiveness, they know the past. If they cannot speak, then how would they have told the hunters, trappers, and sawsmiths not to attack? They're truly the most wounded of the three, but they also sit as the most recovered. They've discovered a forgiveness, a love, and a life worth living.

If I got to choose, I would totally be the sky!! I think the sky also reflects whom I am the closest, or whom I strive to be

thank you for this ask, and now I ask you, who would you be :0?

have a wonderful day!!! :DD

[lady-rose-moon]

Wildest Dreams || Chapter Three ||

A/N: hellooo everybody welcome to the new chapter! Now, this one is very lore heavy and very tense so I hope you like it!

↣ MASTERLIST

Startled from your dream, heart racing in your throat, you shot out of bed and headed for your bedroom door. The shrill ringing of the alarm was louder in your living room and through the dark and the rapid flash of the alarm, you could see three strangely dressed people ransacking your house. As quietly as you could, you closed your bedroom door and moved to your wardrobe to hide.

Only, you hadn’t been quiet.

They’d heard you.

The doorknob twisted and your blood froze. You quietly slipped into the wardrobe and crouched behind your heavy coat you’d bought for winter, hoping that it was enough cover to disguise you in the darkness of the wardrobe. Squeezing your eyes closed tight, your very being trembled with fear as you tried to keep your body as still as possible, taking silent breaths no matter how much your lungs cursed you.

The creaking of the wardrobe doors sent your heart racing as fast as a formula 1 car and tears welled up behind your eyes. Time stood still as you waited for them to go away but the next thing you heard sealed your fate.

“I found her.”

Hands wrapped around your ankle and yanked you away from your hiding place, ignoring your terrified scream as he held you to his body despite your struggling. You couldn’t see them through the darkness and that only added to your fear.

“For Asgard,” one of them said as if he was victorious in a battle and then it went dark.

~~

Doors slammed open and in strode the second Prince of Asgard, his eyes as thunderous as his brother, his power sparking around him from his rage. As he glared up at the King of Asgard, his father, Loki scornfully demanded, “you said I could get her back! Why abduct her?!”

“Recent discoveries concluded that your wife should not be permitted to return to Asgardian life,” Odin replied, his voice level and calm yet filled with authoritarian power as he stared down at his second son, “you do not have the right to enter my throne room and question my judgement Loki.”

“You sentence my wife to life in exile on Midgard, killing her multiple times over centuries when I finally find her, then when you tell me I can finally have her back, YOU IMPRISON HER?!” Loki retorted, his posture the epitome of his status as Prince of Asgard yet one could tell that the Prince was beyond furious from just the tense atmosphere his magic was causing.

Odin sighed and turned to the side before returning his gaze to Loki. The King then stood from his throne and called out, “bring the prisoner forth!”

The doors opened yet again and Einherjar strode in dragging your unconscious form, uncaring that your feet were dragging on the form. Loki watched, horrified, as you were forced into a chair that had manacles around your wrists and ankles.

You didn’t look well, your face was pale and although he tried, Loki could not see a scrape of the life that brought the spark of him back. Your glow that made you perfectly human had disappeared, replaced by grey and mystery that he’d never even seen when he was married to you.

“Vekke, blå vederstyggelighet,” Odin spoke and Loki’s attention was caught, curious as to why his father was speaking to you so harshly, you’d never committed a crime.

Your head lifted and your eyes adjusted to the bright light and it was only seconds before you started trying to get away, thrashing and screaming in panic, your brain only begging you to find a way out, trying to avoid the harshness of the light and the terror ingrained in your bones. Your eyes met Loki’s and your body relaxed somewhat and you cried out to him, attempting to reach him but realising you were bound in strong chains.

“Loki,” you whined, watching as his face pulled into an agonised expression, his posture stiff and guarded as his eyes shifted to the man sitting in the over-the-top golden throne.

Upon looking up at who you assumed was a King, your blood turned to ice in terror. His face was unyielding and he seemed to be glaring at you with an expression of hatred that you’d never seen from someone looking your way before. Even if he looked like an elder, he held years of knowledge that even a simple elder wouldn’t be able to have in their lifetime, his whole demeanour displayed an otherworldly authority and it frightened you.

“Your name,” the man spoke, rising from his throne, gripping a golden spear in his hands and such a simple request and action struck fear into your very soul. You turned to Loki for help but you saw him with his head hung and a defeated expression drawn over his face. “Answer me!” the man ordered and your attention snapped to him.

“Y/N Y/L/N,” you answered in a whisper, fearing the King with all of your being.

The king released a dark chuckle and then struck the butt of the spear against the golden floor and you rose from the chair, lifted by a magic that felt utterly different to the calm magic that Loki held you with in the dream worlds. This magic was cold, a forcefulness mixed with a darkness that you’d never felt before.

“So you don’t recall,” the King spoke again, his voice twisted with sadistic humour and pride. It disgusted you that you got the feeling that he knew more about you than even you did. “Do you not recall this place? This palace you once called home,” he continued, and you became confused.

You were about to voice your concerns but judging by the look on the King’s face, you were not to speak unless spoken to. Sparing a glance toward Loki, you could tell that even though he wanted to help you, it would only do more bad than good.

“Unfortunately, the spell I cast upon you has begun to break due to my son interacting with you. I allowed it to begin with but new knowledge has changed my mind,” the King continued, uncaring of your opinions or fear as you stared up at him, you were clearly seen as below him in this predicament but oh did you want to slap the shit out of his smug face.

“Father,” Loki began, only for the King to hiss at him and send him into silence. Your heart broke at the look on his face as he hung his head.

“I tire of this meeting, bring her forth,” the King commanded and the guards dragged you to your feet and you were brought closer to the King, every fibre of your being shivering with fear at the realisation that you were going to die. The king raised the sceptre then pressed the sharp tip to your chest and he whispered something before a sense of cold flooding your mind and you were overcome with it until you opened your eyes and the cold quickly dissipated.

With a low chuckle, you were forced to face Loki as the King lifted your head with the spear, forcing eye contact with you and your prince. “Look at your beloved wife, Loki, isn’t just the pinnacle of beauty?” the King sneered and you felt insulted before you looked down at yourself and screamed when you saw that your skin was blue. Ridges circled down your arms and there was delicate blacks faded around your nails.

WHAT

THE

FUCK

WHY WERE YOU BLUE?!

Amidst your panic, your eyes met Loki’s and shattered when you saw that he was gazing at you with a look of helplessness and disgust. Satisfied, the King nodded to the guards and you were dragged out of the room, your head hung as your heart broke.

~~

You were thrown into a plain white cell below the castle with a golden barrier surrounding the only exit or entrance. The light was warm, warm enough for your body to find it uncomfortable and enough to keep you squinting.

There was nothing that would indicate the passing of time, the guards patrolled but they patrolled at different times every day. You’d been locked in here for at least three days by now, your body refusing to sleep in the enclosed space that you were restricted to. It allowed you a chance to familiarise yourself with the body that you never knew. The blue skin, the red eyes, the blackened nails. You were a monster. Perhaps that is the reason Loki has not visited you and sleep has abandoned you.

You missed your life, the simple desk job that you knew you hated but the routine it gave you was beneficial for your sanity, the trips to the coffee shop every morning that woke you up before dealing with the deadlines and abuse from your boss, the walk home where you would watch other people like you hurrying down the streets in order to get home to their families just like you.

Tears built in your eyes and you cowered with your head hidden behind your knees as you allowed yourself to be vulnerable for the first time.

A tap-tap of shoes ceased your tears, causing you to tense up, awaiting the face of the King, seeing the disgust that he held for you and your monstrous form. The footsteps stopped outside your cell and for moments, it was quiet. Daring to look, your eyes peeked over the tip of your knees and your whole body froze when you saw Loki gazing down at you.

“Why are you here?” you hissed, your body trembling despite the uncomfortable heat in your cell. Choosing to at least pretend to be confident, you rose to your feet and glared over at Loki, “come to glare at the monster you thought you loved? Did you know?”

“No,” Loki replied softly, standing close to the barrier, his eyes shining with tears as he gazed at you, his whole demeanour seemed vulnerable and broken. “I know who you are, who you were to me,” he continued, unphased by you choosing to turn your back to him, “for centuries you were my wife before Odin forbade our love and had you executed. I didn’t know why. Now, however, I fully understand.”

You turned to face him, curious as to what he was talking about, why he sounded so heartbroken when he had looked at you with such disgust just days before. “He had me executed?” you asked, shuffling so your back was to the wall and your gaze met Loki’s bravely, “not just banished as you had thought?”

Loki stilled and then nodded, choosing to sit beside the golden barrier separating the both of you. His eyes were downcast as he fiddled with his fingers, unsure as of what to say to you to attempt to win back your heart. “I woke up one morning and you were gone, there was this sinking feeling inside me that you were no longer on Asgard,” Loki explained, his voice holding such a level of pain that it surprised you, “when I asked my mother of your whereabouts, she informed me that you had been banished. She lied to me. Odin had you executed and I never got to say goodbye.”

“Coward,” you whispered beneath your breath, cursing Odin for causing Loki that much pain. “I don’t remember. Frankly, I barely know you,” you spoke, your voice level and yet still laced with pain, “you just appeared in my life and then appeared in my dreams, did you really think that would be all it took for me to love you?”

Loki’s face split into a small smile and he met your eyes slowly, the moment they met yours, your heart skipped a beat and you could feel his grief through the barrier. “I don’t expect you to love me, or even know me, I just wanted you to feel loved again,” he whispered, causing you to suck in a breath, “for years I watched your life, how you grew into the life you held. The laughs, the heartbreaks, the pain, the monotony, you needed something more, you knew there was something more to you… you just couldn’t name it.”

Before you could answer, a guard approached Loki and bowed before speaking, “your grace, visiting time has concluded.”

“Very well,” Loki nodded to the guard before standing and bowing to you, “I shall return, my princess, with answers as to who you are. I swear it.”

You inclined your head toward him before curling up on yourself and closing your eyes. As his footsteps began to fade away into the quiet of the cells, you whispered, “meet me in the garden,” hoping that he would hear it.

He did.

A/N(2): WHAT A REVEAL RIGHT?! I hope you enjoyed though! Please leave a comment or reblog, it really helps <3

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[theartisticcrow]

🌻 :)

Alright, I saw this ask last night, but decided I'd save it for the next day when I was feeling actually awake. Well, now I've got a Queen record playing so i might as well talk about the French Revolution, particularly Maximilien Robespierre. Now you might be thinking, "Robespierre? The bloodthirsty tyrant that guillotined half a France? What about him?" Well I am here to tell you that he wasn't actually a tyrant or a dictator, despite what your high school teacher might have told to the entire class. If you don't know who Robespierre was, without accidentally writing a short biography of his entire life and career (again), he was lawyer from Arras, France, most well known for his involvement in the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror. I will get to that [his involvement in these events] in a moment, but firstly, what was the Reign of Terror? Hell, what was the French Revolution? I'm sure you know, it's a very famous events after all, but I shall explain as though you do not for anyone who may come across this post and not know exactly what I'm talking about.

Alright, so the French Revolution began in France in 1789. The country is drowning in debt after the American Revolution, people are starving because of a poor harvest season and prices of bread are rising, and it's just not a great time. The country was in crisis and something needed to be done. The Third Estate (social class involving anyone who is not nobility or a member of the clergy) demanded change and the other Estates actually sort of agreed that "yeah, country's fucked". Thus the king called upon the Estates-General, a sort of meeting of the three Estates (First Estate: Clergy. Second Estate: Nobility. Third Estate: literally everybody else, they make up 97% of the population). This was a pretty big thing because the Estates-General hadn't been called upon in a very long time (I think it was roughly 175 years?). Anyways, the point of the Estates general was basically, correct me if I'm wrong, to fix things in the kingdom when everything had gone to shit. Each Estate was represented by one singular vote. This was sort of a problem, you see, because the minority of the population, the First and Second Estate, had collectively two votes while the Third Estate, the majority of the population, only had one. Do you see where this is going? Anything that the majority of the population wanted could be very easily outvoted and it was incredibly unfair, obviously. After a while, after various disagreements and things just not really going according to plan, the Third Estate decided "Fuck this, I'm not doing this anymore", and they went off and formed something called the National Assembly. The National Assembly was to represent all members of the population though in particular the Third Estate. Literally 3 days after forming this Assembly, the King, Louis XVI, locked them out of their own building so that they wouldn't be able to meet there anymore. This sort of backfired on the King because they just went down to the nearby tennis court and sort of signed something called the Tennis Court Oath, which basically was them saying, "Well fuck you, we are never going to stop meeting".

(I've had to go back through my 30 page essay to find the correct dates and timeline but anyways). Without getting too deep into the politics and technicalities of the time, let me just walk you through the major events of the Revolution that would eventually lead up to the Reign of Terror. (At this very moment I've only now just clicked back on to that document so I can look through it and oh my God I forgot how small the fucking font is. This is going to take me a few minutes.)

OKAY, Third Estate wants lower taxes (taxes are partially result of the country's debt and the country's debt is because of their funding of the American Revolution and a really flawed taxing and banking system); Estates general is called, all three Estates bring up collectively 60,000 grievances; the Estates general doesn't go so well because of unfair voting; fueled by the ideas of the Age of Enlightenment, the Third Estate goes off and forms their own little kind of government, that being the National Assembly; the National Assembly would represent the entire country; only a few days after forming, the King would lock him out of their own building; Tennis Court Oath happens, Robespierre is among those in the National Assembly and he is one of the people that signed the Tennis Court Oath. Alright, by this point Louis XVI is getting a bit nervous, understandably. The King begins organising troops near Paris and, understandably, people begin to panic. In this panic, (that along with the King firing or dismissing Jacques Necker), people begin to riot a bit, and thus is how came about the storming of the Bastille. The storming of the Bastille was a massive turning point in the Revolution, not only because it was an incredible display of the people getting together and successful storming this prison which represented mass political power, but even the army, who was likely called to 'disperse' the crowd, fought on their side and helped them take the Bastille. A couple decapitated heads later and the Revolution is imminent. It has begun.

Since this is getting long: March on Versailles happens, the King and Queen are overthrown and later executed, lots of stuff happens but it would take me another eleven days to write about. Reign of Terror begins (a fuck ton of mass executions).

Now, back to the topic of MAXIMILIEN ROBESPIERRE, my god is this ever getting long. Right, he wasn't a dictator. Lots of people think that he was a dictator but that is a truth this is based on Thermidorian Propaganda and basically no truth... What if I just... screenshoted or copied that essay... Like the actual essay part of the essay. Hold on... OKAY, HERE'S THE ESSAY ITSELF THAT I WROTE. HAVE FUN READING ALL THIS:

And that's pretty much it. The rest of the essay was fucking background context that turned into a biography of Robespierre's life and career. Important things that I want to say here: Robespierre was not a dictator. He was one of 12 members on the Committee of Public Safety; they had equal superiority, it physically could not have been a dictatorship even if he wanted it to, and he didn't. He signed the least number of arrest warrants out of all Committee members, he was generally a pretty decent guy. His death was horribly cruel and unjust. He advocated for equal male suffrage, (even supported a few women's rights which I know right now may seem not impressive, but like you need to think about the time and how revolutionary that would have been), he did not support slavery, he basically said to the colonies that 'hey if it takes slavery to keep your colonies running, then your colonies can fucking perish'. Was he perfect? Oh absolutely not. He wrote up the Law of 22 Prairial which I absolutely do not support and he still did sign arrest warrants but he signed the least number of arrest warrants out of all Committee members like I previously mentioned and did I mention that this guy fucking hated the death penalty? He absolutely hated it, tried to have it abolished even but the National Assembly had already accepted a proposal by one Joseph Guillotin a year earlier. (I'm sure you can figure out what roughly that proposal lead to). Robespierre hated blood and physical violence, he never attended a single execution except his own. And every single person that he would have signed and an arrest warrant for would be arrested, have a trial and then may or may not end up being executed. Whether or not they were executed was actually out of his jurisdiction. But here's the thing about his execution: he didn't get a trial. His enemies overthrew him and executed him without fucking trial. And you know what they did after his death I probably mentioned that already in that essay but they pinned all of their crimes on him. I mean you look at how many wild accusations were coming out of the time and really, what's a little gasoline on a forest fire? It's already burning, it's not like anybody's going to notice. I cannot stress how much propaganda there was after his death. And that's what so much of our modern view of him is based on: propaganda, of all things. The evidence is right there you look the propaganda and then you look at the records and you say well no actually he didn't fucking do any of that. It just takes a little bit of digging and it's really not that difficult. Also I don't know if I mentioned it in the essay part of the essay but, why don't I just take a moment to briefly touch on the Festival of the Supreme Being. Everybody likes to say oh this was him thinking of himself as some kind of God and trying to start a cult around himself. That is not true. France at this time was so chaotic and out of control. The hardcore atheists were very much against relation they wanted to abolish all religion and this caused a lot of conflict so he wanted to try and bring the people together. That is literally all it was. And it was a massive success actually, but his enemies obviously saw the opportunity there to slander him more and they took it.

Maximilian Robespierre was an autistic little nerd who was so obsessed with equal rights of people that he was nicknamed The Incorruptible and loved fruit tarts so much that he wrote a poem about god damn fruit tarts. How can you not love him? He was a decent guy he wasn't that bad, at least not in comparison to a lot of people at that time. Sort of the same story for Saint-Just: he's only known as the Archangel of Terror because he supported Robespierre and defended his dear friend on 9 Thermidor.

And it's honestly quite funny, the reason I know all this. In my Socials class we had just started learning about the French Revolution, and I was excited, everyone was excited. Because we love blood and violence and overthrowing the government. And in my English class, we were doing basically a book club thing and the group I was assigned to was reading the novel Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao. And I remembered seeing a short video on YouTube by the author of this book that was basically along the lines of one person going, "You can't just have your protagonist murder their way to the top!" and the author responding, "The protagonist is based on the only female Chinese emperor. How do you think they got to that position? By being nice?" And so I went looking for this video because I found it amusing. I found the author's YouTube channel and began searching and while I was looking, I gound out that the author of the book that is literally about a murderous bisexual polycule destroying the patriarchy and overthrowing the government, also does Robespierre cosplay... Anyways, I found the videos quite amusing, but then at some point I came across this one that was basically them saying, "Yeah, I know I joke about him a lot, but I do have to come to his defense here because wasn't actually a dictator". And that's how I found out. I later pirated one of the books that they credited and read that in the span of like three days. Then I made the entirely impulsive decision to write a 30 page essay on Robespierre and why he wasn't a dictator... I'm not a masochist, it's only a coincidence that I happen to be the cause of a lot of my own suffering.

[cattyanon]

👀

Oh I suppose I can share.

So technically it's the Sonic of No Place that's the siren. Although now I'm considering exploring something where Sonic becomes the siren cause why not... His name is Spindrift (which i researched a bunch of water related words for the coolest sounding thing) backstory is that during a giant storm he fell off the Angel's Voyage and in a stroke of 'luck' he comes in contact with a magical gem (i'm still not sure if I want it to be the Paradox Prism itself or just something made up) that turns him into a mermaid. And no, mermaid wasn't a typo- but there's an explanation! >:)

Anyways, after the initial freak out he's like "I gotta find some way to reverse this!!" And although he tries to be careful about who he asks for help since he knows people can be assholes his plan goes awry. You see the plan was for him to hang out kinda close to a random docking place and then when a ship takes off he'd tail it for a little while and eavesdrop in order to figure out if they're good people. Unfortunately he wasn't being as sneaky as he thought and word got around of a mermaid being spotted in the area. As you can probably guess, this doesn't end well for him and he ends up captured by bad people and put onto a black market.

He goes through the wringer and is passed around/sold many times and despite trying to cling onto hope, one day he breaks. I don't have anything specific on what happens but one day he hits his limit and he SCREAMS at the top of his lungs in a mix pain, sadness, and anger. And the scream is abnormally loud. So loud it shatters all and any glass around him and ends up rupturing the eardrums of anyone too close.

If you guessed that means he went from being a mermaid to being a siren- you're correct! I even made some lore about it~

So basically when a mermaid gets consumed by hatred they turn into a siren. It's a very rare occurrence though, so there's not that many sirens in the world. Sirens are shunned by mermaids and despite their reasons for becoming one (like Spindrift was basically tortured) they're banished from anywhere mermaids reside.

There's a few main difference between mermaids and sirens besides the obvious siren powers gained upon transforming. Here's a list:

Can breathe above water for longer periods of time. This is how Spindrift managed to drag himself back into the ocean without suffocating to death. It was a really close call though.

They have claws.

More prone to anger.

Carnivores instead of omnivores.

Maybe a slightly longer lifespan...?

Anyways, Spindrift no longer trusts anyone else. Least of all blindly. In fact he actively hates what he (eventually) refers to as surface dwellers. After finding somewhere pretty secluded (which ends up being the Devil's Lighthouse) he settles down and makes the area his home. But sadly there are pirates greedy and daring enough to try and get to whatever treasures may lie in that area... and Spindrift hates trespassers.

After at least a few boat sinkings, somebody manages to survive and spreads the word about how there's a siren guarding the Devil's Lighthouse. Spindrift earns the nickname Rupture and, upon learning of said nickname, eventually embraces it. He loves the looks of terror upon people's already terrified faces when he reveals/confirms his nickname. It brings him a sick sense of pleasure that derives from the torture he endured at the hands of pirates. It was like payback.

When Dread first tries to get to the Devil's Lighthouse, he doesn't get enough of a good look at Rupture to to think he's Spindrift. Combine that with the fact that Spindrift was kindhearted and should be dead and the thought never even crosses his mind.

Then Sonic Prime happens... and boy is everybody in for a shock. And a bit of whiplash at the sight of Sonic. :p

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

You may have answered this before, but assuming we take as given the prerequisite singer/mental-mute traits needed to get Edward's attention, what kind of person would Edward actually be able to have a semi-successful and/or stable long-term romantic relationship with, in your opinion?

Why Edward loves Bella (or there are prerequisites here).

Interesting question.

Honestly? In terms of "semi-successful and/or stable long-term romantic relationship"? He's doomed. It ain't never going to happen, and that's because Edward wants contradictory things.

What a Boy Wants

The way I see it there are a few major requirements here:

They have to catch his attention

They have to be human

They have to either have a personality he likes or a personality that he can project upon them

They have to like him but not like him

In the first case, Edward is very dismissive of everyone around him. Either they're a family member, and off limits for a variety of reasons, or they're everybody else.

He's generally contemptuous of humans and was so of Bella until he smelled a smell. He's very contemptuous of fellow vampires, even friends, due to the diet. The best bet we see is the Denali except he's somewhat contemptuous of them for their life choices.

Mostly, the Denali gets into point number two. Edward would never pursue a vampire. He finds vampires to be grotesque looking, too angular, sharp, and carved so that they resemble more gargoyles to him than people. In Midnight Sun, he sees Bella's potential transformation into a vampire as something that will make her uglier, hideous, where she'll lose all he likes about her. To him, Esme is beautiful in spite of being a vampire, not because of it.

Not to mention all the baggage Edward has with vampirism in general. Even if the Cullens in some other universe ended up with a sister-bride figure that Edward actually liked personality wise, he would never go for it, as she'd be a vampire.

But let's get to the personality.

The key with Bella is that he's able to project a personality entirely at odds with who she is and, because of her silent mind, he can justify whatever he sees as matching this hidden personality.

The Bella he likes is selfless, kind, willing to sacrifice herself for anything, able to fall in love with monsters, hated by the gods, intelligent, quiet, so on and so forth. Basically, what he describes that he likes about Bella (versus what about her frustrates and annoys him when he lingers on it) is kind of a daintier, more feminine, version of how he perceives Carlisle's personality.

He wants someone desperately in need of his protection, so as to justify his presence in her life, as well as willing to overlook what he is without quite knowing what he is because if she did she'd surely leave him.

Which brings us to the last point. Edward wants them to like him but not really. Edward presents himself in the best possible way he can to those around him, he wants people to like him, and is terrified they wouldn't if they knew what he was really like.

We see this in canon, with Bella he's constantly pushing forward and also pulling back. He'll try to terrify Bella deliberately then immediately take it back in terror that she'll actually leave him. He wants Bella to be unattracted to him, because of course she should be, but also wants her to be attracted to him because he wants to be loved.

The ideal Bella for him is one that's entirely uninterested in vampirism at all, finds them as hideous as he does... except he also wants her to love him and find him appealing.

Like in Total Recall where Douglas Quaid wants a woman who is at once both "wanton" and "demure" Edward wants a woman that both hates him and loves him.

Also has to be a woman as that would be the only person that Edward could see himself romantically entangled with or allow himself to recognize as being attracted to.

What if Edward Gets What He Wants?

The thing is, he gets as close as he can in Bella and it's still not good enough because she ultimately wants to become a vampire to say with him. If she didn't want to stay with him then she'd end up leaving him.

Edward can't have what he wants because it's mutually exclusive. As a result, at the end of the day, any relationship he has, especially if it's with someone whose personality is what he's after, is going to fall apart as they're just not compatible.

Can Edward Change His Mind?

Edward would have to have a real introspective come-to-jesus moment and learn to accept himself and truly understand what he's looking for in another person.

Even then, a tango takes two.

[myrandomfandomramblings]

The Power of Love (Always so Strong) - A Miraculous Ladybug Fanfic

Summary: I always envisioned the final (or penultimate) battle coming down to an identity reveal and the power of love winning out. So I wrote (and drew) it!

Note: canon compliant until late season 5 (then divergent) so contains season 5 spoilers

Ladybug and Chat Noir’s day had started out like many before it: with the defeat of Mr. Pigeon. 

“Pound it,” they smiled at each other, watching the de-evilized akuma fly away. That’s when their day took a turn for the unfamiliar.

Argos and Kagami appeared on the roof beside them, bringing with them information: that Monarch was none other than Gabriel Agreste.

Chat Noir looked like he was either going to break down or break the world. He paced the Parisian skyline while Argos and Kagami told their story with the aid of a senti-projector Argos called Once upon a time. 

When they finished Ladybug had about a thousand thoughts flying through her head but the only one that seemed to solidify was, “What about Adrien?”

Chat Noir stopped his pacing to stare wide-eyed at her. Then his shoulders slumped. “What? You think he’s working with his father?”

“What! No!” Ladybug almost yelled, “Adrien’s a good person. He would never. I just mean- will he be OK?” Chat perked up then and tentatively approached Ladybug.

“He never deserved how Gabriel treated him,” she continued, “But know this. I- I just don’t want to see him dragged into it. He’s already going to be so hurt when he finds out. And if he really is a- a-“

“Senti-being,” Argos offered.

“-then can Monarch- Gabriel- force him to take his side?”

“Gabriel can’t control him anymore,” Kagami assured her, “we got his amok from Gabriel and gave it to Adrien for safe keeping this morning. As far as if he will be OK- I’m not sure,” she trailed off.

Chat Noir had been looking down at his hands, wringing them as if fiddling with a ring that wasn’t there but when Kagami stopped talking he looked up with an expression of pure resolve, “he will be.” 

Ladybug had little time to contemplate why Chat sounded so confident about another persons emotions because just then the Parisian sky filled with portals and through them sparkling dust began to fall, covering the city. 

She had even less time to wonder what was happening before she was hit by paralyzing fear as her worst nightmares played like a montage in her mind.

She was broken out of the trace by Chat Noir’s voice, “What’s happening M’Lady?” He asked, his face contorted with pain, and Ladybug got a sense he was also experiencing his worst fears, “what did I do to you? I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” she offered, temporarily distracted from her own distress, “I’m right here. I’m fine,” she finished placing her hand on Chat’s chin and lifting it so he could see her.

She watched him blink and shake his head, seeming emerging from his nightmares.

“What’s going on?” He asked, his voice now laced with confusion, rather than pain.

“I don’t know?” Ladybug offered as she fought off another wave of terror threatening to overtake her, “nothing good.”

“Everybody looks miserable,” Chat said staring off the rooftop to the streets below.

Ladybug joined him at the edge and took it all in. All the Parisian’s below them were clearly struggling with invisible threats. They were either weeping, hiding, shaking, rocking, yelling or doing a combination of the above.

No matter which direction they looked citizens were suffering. Even once upon a time was effected, projecting a montage of the saddest movie scenes ever written.

“Let’s see how far the threat extends,”Ladybug said as she threw her yoyo and took off over the rooftops with Chat Noir in pursuit. As they made their way through the city things got worse and worse. Not a single corner of their beloved Paris seemed to be spared the effects of the nightmare dust.  They saw a few people escape their nightmares briefly, but they were quickly pulled back in. Just when Ladybug thought things couldn’t get worse her and Chat’s miraculouses started beeping.

“We’re going to transform back soon,” Ladybug said having forgotten that they had used their powers while de-akumatizing Mr. Ramier, earlier. 

“Well there doesn’t seem to be any immediate threat,” Chat pointed out, “we can just retransform, feed the kwamis then transform again.”

No sooner had those words left his mouth then portals once again opened in the sky all across Paris, but this time instead of dust, out of them came akumas, hundreds of thousands of them, sparking with dark energy.

“You were saying,” Ladybug offered as the akumas began to descend.

“Come on,” Chat said pulling her into the nearby subway entrance, “we need to detransform and retransform so your magic ladybugs can fix this when it’s all over.”

“I don’t know if this can be fixed,” Ladybug whimpered as the crushing walls of defeat closed in.

“It can be,” Chat said defiantly, “there is no way I’m letting my fa- Monarch win.”

His confidence gave ladybug the strength she needed to follow him down the subway tunnel. When the tunnel split they went on either side of the wall and detransformed, filling the tunnel with red and green light.

“What do you think we’ll be up against when we get back up there.” Adrien asked while Plagg gulped down his Camambert.

“I don’t know,” Marinette admitted, “all those negative emotions from that nightmare dust is probably like a buffet for akumas, people won’t be able to fight them.”

“Then we’ll just have to defeat the akumatimed villains one by one,” Adrien smiled, “Plagg, claws out,” he finished as he once again became the leather clad hero.

“Tikki, spots on,” Marinette followed suit, transforming back into ladybug.

When they left the subway tunnel they were met with absolute mayhem. Akumatized villains of every shape and size were running around Paris, causing mass destruction. 

“Ladybug, Chat Noir, come out come out wherever you are,” one called.

“Just hand over your miraculousness and the terror will end,” shouted another.

“Sounds like they’re looking for us,” Chat offered, “we should keep a low profile until we get a better look at the entire situation.”

“Agreed,” Ladybug nodded as she followed him through the hidden routes around the city.

Everywhere they went akumatized villains, some familiar and others new were wreaking havoc and still more akumas filled the sky, waiting for their chance.

Just when Ladybug was starting to think they were the only two people in Paris not akumatized a light caught her eye. They made their way towards it, curious of its source. When they got near it they hopped up on a low roof to get a better view. That’s when she saw Alya, she was talking to Nino. They were both still themselves and they both held the charms ladybug had given them, which glowed in their hands emitting the light they had followed.

“You are the bravest person I know,” Alya said to Nino. “You defeated Anansi and saved my life and helped defeat a bunch of other villains, saving Paris numerous times. You’re also a rocking’ DJ and king of pop-culture trivia and most importantly the best boyfriend ever. I love you and I know you’re strong enough to resist the akumas.”

“I love you too. You're the coolest, toughest and smartest person I know and it’s an honour to call you my girlfriend,” Nino returned as he took Alya’s hand and the charms in them produced a blinding light that wrapped them in a kind of light force field, pushing all the akumas that were fluttering around them away.

“Wow that was awesome,” Ladybug said without thinking.

“Mar-Ladybug,” Alya smiled turning towards her, “the charms are working.”

“Only for you two it seems,” Ladybug responded jumping down from the roof top when she’s sure the coast is clear.

“You just got to power them with positive emotions, dude” Nino offered. 

“Those aren’t so easy to come by these days, it seems,” Chat offered joining the group.

“People just need to be reminded of the good,” Alya said, “leave it to us. You guys do your thing.”

“Viva la resistance,” Nino yelled as they ran off down the alley.

So Ladybug and Chat Noir tried to do their thing. They defeated akumatized villain after akumatized villain. Broke the item with the akuma in it. De-evilized the akuma. Sent out the magic ladybugs. Gave the victim a lucky charm. Then detransformed and retransformed to do it all over again, but each time, despite the charm, a new akuma came and re-akumatized the victim. So after nearly 5 hours and over 20 villains de- and re- akumatized Ladybug was starting to lose hope. 

They were on the rooftop of their usual meeting spot trying to re-group.

They’d thought of trying to face Monarch directly but the akumatized villains got more and more numerous the closer to the Agreste Manor they got. They were protecting him, and if Ladybug and Chat Noir hoped to get anywhere near him they’d have to deconstruct, meaning de-akumatize, his army first. The only problem was, that was proving far more difficult than they imagined. In fact, at this moment it seemed impossible.

As Ladybug’s hope faded she could feel the nightmares closing in and see the akumas start to flutter closer to her.

“We can’t give up M’lady,” Chat said from beside her, but it lacked his usual confidence. He too looked discouraged and the akumas were starting to approach him.

“I just don’t know what else to do,” she admitted, “nothing’s working.”

“Except that,” Chat smiled as he pointed to Alya and Nino’s glowing force field. It’d grown exponentially in size and now housed not only Alya and Nino but nearly 20 other familiar faces. Adrien recognized most of his classmates, as well as some of their siblings and parents. He also saw Felix, Kagami and Once upon a time in the force field. As they watched, the group approached Guitar Villain, with the Couffaine twins in the lead. Guitar Villain tried to penetrate the force field but nothing happened. Those in it did nothing to fight back but Ladybug could see their mouths moving. She couldn’t hear what was being said but before long Guitar Villain was no longer attacking them. Then he’d seemingly renounced the akuma as he once again became Jagged Stone, and his damaged lucky charm glowed with light as he joined the group in the force field.

“Maybe so,” Ladybug sighed, “but they’ll never be able to get to every citizen in the city,” she sighed again, “and even if they do we can’t live in a force field forever, and there is no way I can de-evilize every akuma” she finished, looking up at the portals through which more akumas continued to come. The akumas inched towards her as she said it, feeling her negative emotions grow.

“There has to be a way,” Chat pleaded.

“Maybe not this time, Kitty, we had a good run,” she smiled sadly as the akumas closed in.

“No!” he shouted, “Cataclysm!” he lashed out at the akumas closest to her vaporizing them just before they were able to make contact.

That caring act was just enough to make Ladybug remember that not everything was wrong with the world, she still had an awesome partner, the best there was. And he believed in her, even if she didn’t believe in herself. That was enough to force the akumas back a couple feet.

“Please M’lady, don’t give up,” he begged, “Paris needs you. I need you. And I know that you- we, can do this.”

Ladybug may not have believed in herself, at that moment, but she believed in Chat, so she nodded.

“Ok, what do you suggest?”

He shrugged, “I don’t know, maybe try your lucky charm, it usually helps.”

As if sensing that Ladybug and Chat Noir were no longer being dealt with by akumas directly, akumatized villains started to make their way towards them from all directions.

“Alright Kitty, here goes nothing,” Ladybug smiled at him.

“No matter what we finish this together,” Chat smiled in return.

“Like Always,” she confirmed, “Lucky charm!”

Ladybug threw her yoyo into the air where it spun, shooting out shapes of red. Then a small object fell landing in Ladybug’s hands.

“What is that?” Chat Noir asked looking at the red and black polka dotted object. It looked oddly familiar to Chat, like a bracelet or keychain made of beads but he couldn’t quite place it.

“It’s- It’s a lucky charm, of sorts,” Ladybug said, “but I’m not sure what to do with it,” she offered looking around for a clue. 

The akumatized villains started to reach them then and Chat and Ladybug began to reflexively reflect their attacks as they continued their conversation.

“A lucky charm?,” Chat asked, “like the ones Nino and Alya are using to create that force field.”

“Not exactly,” Ladybug said, still looking around frantically, as her and Chat defended themselves “this one doesn’t have any magic. It was made for me by a friend. Actually he’s my boyfriend now,” she blushed.

Something in the back of Chat’s mind told him that that should mean something to him, as he asked her, “do you have it with you?”

“Yeah- ah- I think so- I don’t go anywhere without it,” she admitted as her blush deepened and she reached into her yoyo while Chat defended her. 

“Here it is,” she offered showing the beaded bracelet to Chat. As soon as his eyes landed on it he froze. Once it was in colour he recognized it instantly. He had made it. And given it to-.

“Marinette,” he gasped as he was nearly impaled by an arrow, and the charm started to glow, “-it’s -it’s you. I can’t believe- But I guess I should have known. Smart, kind beautiful-.“ 

As Chat continued to talk the charm glowed brighter and brighter and the villains started to fall back, seemingly repulsed by the glow. It’s a good thing too because Chat was completely distracted and Ladybug was staring at him dumbfounded.

“What- How-,” she managed to stutter.

“It’s me,” Chat began, then figured it’d be better to show her. He opened his staff, reached in and pulled out a beaded lucky charm of his own.

“A friend made this for me too,” he offered, “she’s my girlfriend now,” he finished with a smirk.

Ladybug just stared at him blinking, “Adrien?“ she finally managed to get out.

“The one and only,” he said with a bow.

“This whole time,” Ladybug shakes her head, “with the puns and the showmanship-.”

“-and the loyalty and the partnership,” Chat defended.

“And that,” Ladybug smiled, and the charm in Chat’s hand continued to glow brighter.

“I’m so glad it’s you. That it’s always been you,” she said pulling Chat into a hug. “My boyfriend is also my best friend,” she laughed.

“My first love is also the love of my life,” Chat offered, “the only girl I’ve ever loved.”

“I love you too,” Ladybug said before pulling him into a kiss.

As they kissed the light from the charms grew brighter and brighter until it was blinding, then it continued to grow and grow sending light across the entire city, de-akumatizing every villain and de-evilizing every akuma in its path, leaving the streets full of confused citizens and the sky full of white butterflies. 

Ladybug and Chat Noir were too preoccupied to notice any of this. In fact, they had been too preoccupied to notice that for the last several minutes their miraculouses had been blinking and beeping warning them of their imminent detransformations and that those detransformations were currently taking place as they continued to kiss. 

So when they finally pulled apart they weren’t staring at their superhero partner but instead their civilian love.

“Ah- Marinette,” Tikki asked pulling the lovebird back to reality, “are you going to clean this up?” She finished gesturing to the ravaged city around them.

“And give me some cheese,” Plagg added, addressing Adrien.

“Together?” Marinette asked Adrien as she held out the spotted lucky charm.

“You got it Bug-a-boo,” he responded taking her hand.

“Miraculous Ladybug,” they shouted together as they threw the charm into the air and watched the magical ladybugs swarm out to repair the damage.

“So now what?” Adrien asked.

Marinette shrugged, “We’ll have to face Monarch eventually, but-“ she cut herself off, “I’m sorry, I- I wasn’t thinking,” she finished as she remembered that although Monarch was a supervillain and terrorist he was also Adrien’s father.

Adrien just shook his head but Marinette could see tears forming at the corner of his eyes, “It’s Ok,” he said, “he made his choices and now I get to make my own,” Adrien continued playing with a pair of rings, Marinette hadn’t seen before, “And I choose to build my own family. One where we love, care about and respect each other. One where we actually value each others happiness,” Adrien gave a small smile, “and I think I’m off to a pretty good start,” he paused looking at Marinette. “So when the time comes I want to be right by your side, and I know we will win. Together.”

“Always,” Marinette confirmed pulling her boyfriend into a hug.

She knew it wasn’t going to be easy but as long as they had each other they could get through anything.

THE END

[human-psyche]

INCARNADINE.

CHAPTER 03.

He watches Y/n quench her thirst, her physique becoming fortified, beautified, along with her change. Her hair, her complexion, her fingers become stronger, her features…she is so, so beautiful…gasping her first breath of life as a vampire. 

It's not enough: she throws the glass away and takes his hand.

The older vampire has the sudden urge to kiss her and shove his tongue into her mouth, to taste the cooper that coats it at the action of her licking the spilt blood. She's too fast though, one second she's with him and the next she's gone: as expected of a new one of their kind.

The curtains settle from an aftermath gust of wind.

She may not know but she is the first female vampire he has ever created in over a century. The sire bond occurs between individuals of opposite sexes but it brings a lot of misfortune due to its tension and closely knit romantic implications, that's why all his creations before her, untill now, were males, because he used to keep females a long time ago and things got very bad, very quickly. Jimin preferred it that way because it caused less trouble, both for himself and their race. So far, he had turned three other girls: Genevie, Honoria, and Anetta.

Genevie was a servant at a farm back in the 1540's, working tirelessly on the land of a noble family. She was more of an accident but Jimin considered her his most loyal covenant, eventhough he freed her so that she could go explore the world and she couldn't bear the sadness their separation caused, knowing he chased her away due to her clingy attitude, so she threw away her sunlight ring and walked in the sun on her own volition. Honoria, on the other hand, had been the daughter of a deceased marquis in 1689, whom he turned because she came to Jimin offering her life in exchange for immortality. She held a burning hatred for her uncle, an abusive, greedy and unfair man, thus after stumbling upon him feeding on one of their maids at a banquet, she stupidly yet courageously confronted the vampire. She was the hardest to deal with, with a capricious temper, and the only one Jimin had to end himself because she was so attached to him to the point of harming anybody and everybody around him. And last but not least, the youngest, Anetta, proved to be the timid, obedient offspring with her kind heart and shy humour, and the newest addition to his collection due to Jimin rescuing her from a lake a little too late in 1863. As a request, she asked that he let her mourn her lost lover and allow her time to adjust, which Jimin agreed. She too, however, was finished by her own lack of resistance. Between her love for her lost husband and her bond to him, she got conflicted enough that she picked to be gone.

She resembled Y/n's situation but Y/n's nothing like her. She is much better.

He zips through the trees like a blur, expecting the worst. Sweet Y/n might have her feeding now, maybe she's terrorizing the town or she's stirring up a bloodbath. Anything could happen. With being new comes the heightening of her senses and the desire for blood, tethering on a thin edge of control.

Once he gets near a clearing where the moon's not covered by the folliage, he finds her, surprisingly tame. She's not raging, not killing someone, she's simply sitting on the grass, her arms drawn around her bent knees. Acknowledging his arrival, she looks to him...peculiarly calm. She isn't upset with him, or the opposite, she's just being neutral.

"I don't like this..."

"What?" he halts, tilting his head to the side, one elegant eyebrow arched.

"I feel strange...I feel...like there's something inexplicably deep tying me to you."

"It's called sire bond. But you're fighting it, aren't you?" walking closer, Jimin adds: "If you wouldn't, you'd be kneeling at my feet."

The notion infuriates the female. She sneers, "I will not."

"Yet, you can't deny the pull." he smirks, holding his arm to her. "Come, Y/n."

Y/n rises and touches his hand, realizing her compliance. She tries to retreat, to no avail: he catches her back in his grasp. 

"Let go of me."

"This is the price you have to pay."

Truthfully, she wishes she would've rotted under the cruel moon tonight. But she already chose her path.

"Does it ever stop?"

"No, but it fades over time. The older you get...the stronger you get, it will. Why, are you that eager to get rid of me?" Jimin laughs. "Sorry to break it to you, sweetheart, that'll take centuries."

. . .

From midnight to sunrise, he teaches her everything she needs to know about her strength as a vampire. She learns to pace her breakneck speed, her throws, her punches, she learns to climb trees, to differentiate potent scents, to hide. She's a fast learner, and seems to be an even better newborn with a powerful sense of hearing and smell, capable to tell a rabbit apart from a stag miles away from their spot. Jimin's impressed by her abilities. He'd seen vampire females but there's an appeal to her that almost makes him regret turning her...because she's distracting him.

He also tells her about a vampire's weaknesses: the sun and silver. 

"I'm not staying here."

"Yes, you are. You can't go anywhere out in the sun without a piece of jewelry containing a bloodstone gem."

Which is how he convinced her to remain home at his mansion while he goes out in town to buy her things and procure the item she requires in order to have more freedom.

"What do you want? A necklace? A bracelet? Maybe we should get you another ring..." he smiles wickedly, rubbing her engagement ring.

She slaps his hand away. Although insensitive, his comment isn't as caustic as it would be should she still be human. "A necklace. And a small jewelry box, I will keep this ring forever."

Hours after bathing and changing, she has no other occupation than wandering his lonely mansion that hosts an opulent decor, inspecting his fascinating shelves with countless books and walking through each room with the exception of one. It's locked, and the knob burns her hand upon trying to force it, made of silver complete with a lock.

"For awhile, you will lay low. I don't want any of the townspeople to see you walking around in daylight. To them, you died with your family and Taehyung."

With her thoughts racing, Y/n doesn't notice a foreign presence untill she goes downstairs into the livingroom.

A woman dressed in a rich dress must have infiltrated the mansion but she doesn't smell like a human: she's a vampire. Instinctively, Y/n runs to her quickly and grabs her by the throat, but the woman's far stronger, tossing her across the large room like she would a rag doll; vases break, and she falls to the floor.

"Why are you here?" her painted lips twist. She is older by a decade yet exceptionally beautiful for her age.

"Who are you?" Y/n questions, phasing back to her full height.

The front doors screech and Jimin enters his domain, just in time to prevent a bloody fight between the two women.

Y/n perceives how his eyes gravitate to the other woman with a glint bordering on scorn and intimacy. A confusing mix...

"Mirene."

"Hello, Jimin."

"I haven't seen you in years."

Y/n's half intrigued - half annoyed. "You know her?"

"She's the one who turned me."

So he was locked in a sire bond too, once upon a time.

Only, he broke his...she can tell.

. . .

a/n: IMPORTANT! this story is now exclusively on my kpop membership tier : http://ko-fi.com/psyche_/tiers, where you can have access to all my stories and content for only $2 per month! you will not regret it as INCARNADINE and other popular stories of mine have chapters in advance and will have a lot of interactions to come! here are all the benefits you get by joining:

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[frozeninice]

Notes upon my re-read of The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins.

Part I: The Hunger Games

November 9, 2023

Warning: Spoilers !!!!

- Madge gave Katniss the mockingjay pin and kissed Katniss on the cheek. Was Madge part of the rebellion???

- Katniss was only 16yo ??

- Peeta telling Katniss and Haymitch that his mom, when she came to say goodbye the day of the reaping, “she’s a survivor, that one. She is” 😭😭

- THE BOY WITH THE BREAD

- Peeta, “I think we have a shadow”, RUE

- Katniss shooting the arrow at the apple in the pigs mouth. “Thank you for your consideration”, bow’s then leaves. SLAY QUEEEEEEN

- Peeta asking to be coached separately. I see what you’re doing boi. You’re trying to save her. I seeeeee youuuu boi.

- Good ol Haymitch. “You’ve got about as much charm as a dead slug.”

- Peeta’s “because she came here with me” AHHHHHHHHHH

Peeta being a boss ass bitch

“My best hope is not to disgrace myself and … I don’t know how to say it exactly. Only … I want to die as myself. Does that make any sense?” he asks. “I don’t want them to change me in there. Turn me into some kind of monster that I’m not.”

I bite my lip, feeling inferior. While I’ve been ruminating on the availability of trees, Peeta has been struggling with how to maintain his identity. His purity of self. “Do you mean you won’t kill anyone?” I ask.

“No, when the time comes, I’m sure I’ll kill just like everybody else. I can’t go down without a fight. Only I keep wishing I could think of a way to … to show the Capitol they don’t own me. That I’m more than just a piece in their Games,” says Peeta.

- “Nervousness seeps into terror as I anticipate what is to come. I could be dead, flat-out dead, in an hour. Not even.”

- Katniss is in the cylinder, with the podium thing she’s standing on rising to bring her to the arena. Random thought. What if one year, they actually launched the tributes into the area? They landed in like idk water or something? What a thought.

- Oh my god. This is bringing back sooooo many memories. Remember the Goodreads groups? Like discussion threads? I was in so many for the hunger games. You’d make up your own character and reenact the HG with other people’s characters. Wild time.

- Ah fuck the game makers for creating a forest fire. Don’t they know about climate change??

- Ohhhhhh shit. Rue pointing to the wasp nests above Katniss in the tree. Shits about to go downnnn

- “Peeta Mellark just saved my life.”

Katniss being dumb ass shit about Peeta

“You know the boy from my district? Peeta? I think he saved my life. But he was with the Careers.”

“He’s not with them now,” she says. “I’ve spied on their base camp by the lake. They made it back before they collapsed from the stingers. But he’s not there. Maybe he did save you and had to run.”

I don’t answer. If, in fact, Peeta did save me, I’m in his debt again. And this can’t be paid back. “If he did, it was all probably just part of his act. You know, to make people think he’s in love with me.”

“Oh,” says Rue thoughtfully. “I didn’t think that was an act.”

- OMG KATNISS YOU ARE SO DUMBBBBB “So Peeta is out there in the woods, wounded badly. But I am still in the dark on what motivated him to betray the Careers.” YOU. YOU ARE WHAT MOTIVATED HIM YOU BIG O DUMBASS

- Not Katniss blowing up the Careers’ supplies with 3 arrows like a mf badass

- “Let the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games begin, Cato, I think. Let them begin for real.”

Katniss not realized Rue has gone missing

- “There’s no sign of Rue, not on the ground or in the trees. This is odd. By now she should have returned, as it’s midday … She’s probably just being cautious about making her way back. I wish she’d hurry, because I don’t want to hand around here too long.”

- “I go ahead and eat the second fish. It isn’t going to last long in this hot sun, but it should be easy enough to spear a few more for Rue. If she would just show up.”

- “Dangling up in the tree, with the sun warming me, a mouthful of mint, my bow and arrows at hand . . . this is the most relaxed I’ve been since I’ve entered the arena. If only Rue would show up, and we could clear out.”

- “In less than an hour, I’m at the place where we agreed to have the third fire and I know something has gone amiss.” Fuckkkkkkkkkk Katniss only now realizing.

- “When I break into the clearing, she’s on the ground, hopelessly entangled in a net. She just has time to reach her hand through the mesh and say my name before the spear enters her body”. 🥺😫😭

Rue has rolled to her side, her body curved in and around the spear. I shove the boy away from her and pull out my knife, freeing her from the net. One look at the wound and I know it’s far beyond my capacity to heal. Beyond anyone’s capacity probably. The spearhead is buried up to the shaft in her stomach. I crouch before her, staring helplessly at the embedded weapon. There’s no point in comforting words, in telling her she’ll be all right. She’s no fool. Her hand reaches her it and I clutch it like a lifeline. As if it’s me who’s dying instead of Rue.

“You blew up the food?” she whispers.

“Every last bit,” I say.

“You have to win,” she says.

“I’m going to. Going to win for both of us now,” I promise. I hear a cannon and look up. It must be for the boy from District 1.

“Don’t go.” Rue tightens her grip on my hand.

“Course not. Staying right here,” I say. I move in closer to her, pulling her head onto my lap. I gently brush the dark, thick hair back behind her ear.

“Sing,” she says, but I barely catch the word.

. . .

Sing. My throat is tight with tears, hoarse from smoke and fatigue. But is is Prim’s, I mean, Rue’s last request, I have to at least try. The song that comes to me is a simple lullaby, one we sing fretful, hungry babies to sleep with. It’s old, very old I think. Made up long ago in our hills. What my music teacher calls a mountain air. But the words are easy and soothing, promising tomorrow with be more hopeful than this awful piece of time we call today.

I give a small cough, swallow hard, and begin.

. . .

Rue’s eyes have fluttered shut. Her chest moves but only slightly. My throat releases the tears and they slide down my cheeks. But I have to finish the song for her.

. . .

Everything’s still and quiet. Then, almost eerily, the mockingjays take up my song.

For a moment, I sit there, watching my tears drop down on her face. Rue’s cannon fires. I lean forward and press my lips against her temple. Slowly, as if not to wake her, I lay her head back in the ground and release her hand.

“Rue’s Farewell”

I can’t stop looking at Rue, smaller than ever, a baby animal curled up in a nest of netting. I can’t bring myself to leave her like this. Past harm, but seeming utterly defenceless. To hate the boy from District 1, who also appears so vulnerable in death, seems inadequate. It’s the Capitol I hate, for doing this to all of us.

Gale’s voice is in my head. His ravings against the Capitol no longer pointless, no longer to be ignored. Rue’s death has forced me to confront my own fury against the cruelty, the i justice they inflict upon us. But here, even more strongly than at home, I feel my impotence. There’s no way to take revenge on the Capitol. Is there?

Then I remember Peeta’s words on the roof. “Only I keep wishing I could think of a way to . . . to show the Capitol they don’t own me. That I’m more than just a piece in their Games.” And for the first time, I understand what he means.

I want to do something, right here, right now, to shame them, to make them accountable, to show the Capitol that whatever they do or force us to do there is a part of every tribute they can’t own. That Rue was more than a piece in their Games. And so am I.

A few steps into the woods grows a bank of wildflowers. Perhaps they are really weeds of some sort, but they have blossoms in beautiful shades of violet and yellow and white. I gather up an armful and come back to Rue’s side. Slowly, one stem at a time, I decorate her body in the flowers. Covering the ugly wound. Wreathing her face. Weaving her hair with bright colours.

They’ll have to show it. Or, even if they choose to turn the cameras elsewhere at this moment, they’ll have to bring them back when they collect the bodies and everyone will see her then and know I did it. I step back and take a last look at Rue. She could really be asleep in that meadow after all.

“Bye, Rue,” I whisper. I press the three middle fingers of my liegt hand against my lips and hold them out in her direction. Then I walk away without looking back.

. . .

Another mockingjay, a young one by the look of it, lands on a branch before me and burst out Rue’s melody. My song, the hovercraft, were too unfamiliar for this novice to pick up, but it has mastered her handful of notes. The ones that mean she’s safe.

“Good and safe,” I say as I pass under its branch. “We don’t have to worry about her now.” Good and safe.

- ITS A LIE. DON’T FALL FOR IT. DON’T BELIEVE IT. ITS A TRAP. NOOOOO. “The news sinks in. Two tributes can win this year. If they’re from the same district. Both can live. Both of us can live. Before I can stop myself, I call out Peeta’s name.”

- Ooooooh shit i forgot Katniss drugs Peeta with the sleep syrup, so she can run for the feast prize. You sneaky bitch.

- Katniss @ Gale. “I wonder what he makes of all this kissing.” ASHSHSHHS KATNISS YOU FOOL.

- Thresh sparing Katniss after learning she was allies with Rue and protected her before her death. An eye for an eye.

- I wonder what was in District 2’s feast bag that they desperately needed.

- Also, as a nurse. I wonder how one injection is gonna help save Peeta from sepsis. How strong is that one shot?? The fuck is in that thing?

- “It’s him. I do not want to lose the boy with the bread.”

- Mutations time.

- OHHHHH SHIT. THE MUTTATIONS ARE MADE FROM THE DEAD TRIBUTES!!!

The ending

“Greetings to the final contestants of the Seventy-forth Hunger Games. The earlier revision has been revoked. Closer examination of the rule book has disclosed that only one winner may be allowed,” he says. “Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favour.”

There’s a small burst of static and then nothing more. I stare at Peeta in disbelief as the truth sinks in. They never intended to let us both live. This has all been devised by the Gamemakers to guarantee the most dramatic showdown in history. And like a fool, I bought into it.

“If you think about it, it’s not that surprising,” he says softly. I watch as he painfully makes it to his feet. Then he’s moving towards me, as if in slow motion, his hand is pulling the knife from his belt—

Before I am even aware of my actions, my bow is loaded with the arrow pointed straight at his heart. Peeta raises his eyebrows and I see his knife has already left his hand on its way to the lake where it splashes in the water. I drop my weapons and take a step back, my face burning in what can only be shame.

“No,” he says. “Do it.” Peeta limps toward me and thrusts the weapons back in my hands.

“I can’t,” I say. “I won’t.”

“Do it. Before they send those mutts back or something. I don’t want to die like Cato,” he says.

“Then you shoot me,” I say furiously, shoving the weapons back at him. “You shoot me and go home and live with it!” And as I say it, I know death right here, right now would be the easier of the two.

. . .

If Peeta and I were both to die, or they thought we were …

My fingers fumble with the pouch on my belt, freeing it. Peeta sees it and his hand clamps on my wrist. “No, I won’t let you.”

“Trust me,” I whisper. He holds my gaze for a long moment then lets me go. I loosen the top of the pouch and pour a few spoonfuls of berries into his palm. Then I fill my own. “On the count of three?”

Peeta leans down and kisses me once, very gently. “The count of three,” he says.

We stand, our backs pressed together, our empty hands locked right.

“Hold them out. I want everyone to see,” he says.

I spread out my fingers, and the dark berries glisten in the sun. I give Peeta’s hand one last squeeze as a signal, as a goodbye, and we begin counting. “One.” Maybe I’m wrong. “Two.” Maybe they don’t care if we both die. “Three!” It’s too late to change my mind. I life my hand to my mouth, taking one last look at the world. The berries have just passed my lips when the trumpets begin to blare.

The frantic voice of Claudius Templesmith shouts above them. “Stop! Stop! Ladies and gentleman, I am pleased to present the victors of the Seventy-forth Hunger Games. Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark! I give you — the tributes of District Twelve!”

KATNISS UGH WHY CANT YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS EVER

I want to tell him that he’s not being fair. That we were strangers. That I did what it took to stay alive, to keep us both alive in the arena. that I can’t explain how things are with Gale because I don’t know myself. That its no good loving me because I’m never going to get married anyway and he’s just end up hating me later instead of sooner. That if I do have feelings for him, it doesn’t matter because I’ll never be able to afford the kind of love that leads to a family, to children. And how can he? How can he after work what we’ve just been through?

I also want to tell him how much I already miss him. But that wouldn’t be fair on my part.

So we just stand there silently, watching our grimy little station rise up around us. Through the window, I can see the platform’s thick with cameras. Everyone will be eagerly watching our homecoming.

Listening to the official OST

- the way “The Cave” introduces Katniss and Peeta’s theme so well. Sounds so similar to “I Need You” from CF.

- The second half of “Rue’s Farewell” hits hard. The emotion. The hints of rebellion. Yessss. Also fuck the Capitol for choosing Rue and choosing her death.

- Second half of “Tenuous Winners/Returning Home”, or the “Returning Home” part is interesting. As in CF, “The Tour” has the same theme. It’s a nice play where returning home and returning back to the Capitol has the same theme.

[terminaxshowtime]

Hello Termina. I am not actively falling asleep from medication right now so I bring more abt my ageswap au.

Since Mogami's a child star, he has brought plenty of publication to Mob's business (dunno what that'd be called, maybe something to do with broccoli) which is bad for Mob's social anxiety but it's ok, he gets used to it, smile.

And while the main arcs and stuff go on, like claw arc where the claw gang are actually at Mogami's school, terrorizing other kids until Mogami decides "these kids are messing up one of the only places I FEEL GOOD IN >:(" and ruins their whole plans+other arcs, Mogami is actually going through a LOT at home.

When tha main story starts, Mogami's mother has grown a chronic illness, forcing her to do work from home and basically always be sick and just at home, which has unfortunately led to more neglect, since she can't do too well in taking care of the two all the time, and even some abuse accidentally from yelling at him or being harsh when he makes mistakes and etc. There's also the whole being idolized thing so he has to play up his kindness and etc when outside home, and ofc at home so he doesn't get yelled at for being ungrateful or something, building up plenty of stress upon him.

And, uh, Mob really isn't good at the whole emotions thing as you can tell, so he can't help Mogami there either, and he doesn't even really notice the stress he's under a lot of the time because Mogami's that good at hiding it and looking like just any regular kid. But, bc the stress grows, it needs an output, which lead to Mogami's own little 100%s, most specifically when he feels the need to be violent because he feels he's cornered without another choice.

And in the end, Mogami starts to BREAK, he had to deal with Claw, Reigen choking him, Toi, Minori, his mother seeming like she hates him for even existing (even if that's not true, it just feels that way to him), the media all NEEDING him to be their perfect little attention seeker, and his own master not helping him with anything he needs help with when he tries giving tiny signs he meeds it (not Mob's fault however bc they are tiny and Mogami just doesn't know how to actively ASK for help lol) and Mogami goes "everybody in this world is so evil. Why should I hold back? They all hate me, just like that one girl's spirit said. But I'll MAKE THEM PAY." Cue anger-fueled destruction, friends trying to stop him and then Mob calming him down or something idk I honestly am not going into much detail 4 this au bc it's just a one-off thang to me lol.

But I did doodle this Mogami and Reigen in my sketchbook doe. I should prob do them digitally at sum point.

OH THAT'S AWESOME I LOVE THAT. sorry I didn't see this sooner I forgot to check my asks lmao but this is GREAT !!!

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