#and here we goooo! finally every family is complete!

[kusin-tisdag]

Goth-Pancakes

Iggy Pancakes (34) holding Edgar Goth-Pancakes (2) - Alexander Goth (40) - Mortimer Goth (71), Evan Goth Pancakes (4) - Belladonna Goth (8) Maggie and Pixie

Missing: Bella Goth (64), Cassandra Goth (45)

They used to be so happy. Mortimer had loved Bella since they were teenagers, and when Cassandra and Alexander came - their joy was complete.

Mortimer still doesn't know why Bella disappeared.

Afterwards, the family struggled hard. Maybe mostly so Cassandra, a young teenage girl who had lost her mother - still wondering if she was out there somewhere.

This manifested in depression and behavior that Mortimer couldn't handle. A few years later, Cassie disappeared too.

Alexander and his father chose to channel their grief into the arts. Mortimer wrote, Alexander painted. No one played the violin -it stayed in Cassie's room waiting for her.

Yet, life has a way of blooming, even in the darkest of soils.

Alexander met Iggy and he eventually turned into Alexander's love and partner. Iggy moved in with Alexander and the house slowly felt lighter.

Then one night, a baby was left on their doorstep. 

Tend to my belladonna, I can’t Love, C

And so, Iggy and Alexander now find themselves tending to Cassie’s daughter, Belladonna. She is spoiled with love and attention, especially from her grandfather.

And a few years later, the house gets even more new life breathed in to it as the boys Evan and Edgar are born.

Mortimer Goth

Life turned so dark there for a while. It was almost too much for Mortimer, but for Alexander he had to keep going. He still mourns his wife and his daughter, so sad not to have either of them here to see the family grow and live.

Mortimer now mostly focuses on being a present grandfather to his grandchildren, helping Iggy with the house. And of course, spend time with his beloved dogs.

Alexander Goth

The grief of his missing mother and sister will never fully leaves Alexander. But having met Iggy, and talked to him about families and growing up - Alexander realized that even if his family was now broken, it had still been full of love.

Iggy moved in 9 years ago. Their plan was to initially take it slow. Alexander has long feared daring to love again. But then, Donna was left on their doorstep and in a way helped Alexander realize that he wanted a family of his own. He is still afraid it will all one day disappear, but is trying to live in the here and now.

Alexander has for a long time worked in a science career, always curious to find new discoveries. However, he has recently taken up his painting again. With the support of Iggy, he is just about to start trying to sell his works!

Iggy Pancakes

Iggy grew up with his parents in the same house. He sometimes wished his mother would disappear, but no such luck.

Instead, they tried for years to keep up the appearance of a happy family - fooling no one. Definitely not Iggy, or his baby sisters; the twins Robin and Dylan. His parents had finally broke up not even five years ago.

He sometimes think that moving in with Alexander at the age of 25 was young, but he has never regretted it. Now, he can be a stay-at-home dad to their family - taking the youngest to the park, helping Donna with her homework and spend time with his own father (who lives nearby) and his father-in-law.

And play with the dogs.

Belladonna Goth

Donna, as she is mostly called, knows that her mother left her in the care of her uncle and his husband. However, she has decided not to be saddened by things that happened before she was even old enough to remember anything.

She does love hearing about her mother and grandmother, and is trying to learn the violin (but she is not as skilled as the women before her, sadly). She is fascinated by the paintings her uncle makes, and impressed by the stories her grandfather tells! She is social and apparently much more outgoing than what her mother used to be (or so they say).

Donna doesn't know who her father is, and she sometimes can't help but wonder if he is out there looking for her.

Evan Goth-Pancakes

Evan is a pretty easy child, who loves being near his parents. Most of all he loves being outdoors and go to the park with his father!

Edgar Goth Pancakes

A bit on the cautious side this one. As the youngest in the household, Edgar is both very spoiled with love, but also left unattended when someone else needs attention. Luckily, he is best friends with Maggie the dog, and she makes sure nothing bad happens to her "puppy".

The dogs

Pixel is the tiny, but active bichon frise. Always running around Mortimer's legs.

Maggie is a mastiff, and loves just lying on the floor. Or checking in on the children. But then she has to go rest again.

[kimbapisnotsushi]

literally have not stopped thinking about that nationals panel where fukurodani players have ppl to fucking MASSAGE them or whatever it was and i truly don't think we have realized the pure absurdity of how rich some of the schools are so here's some hcs let's goooo

every private/rich school team has at least one (1) token nonrich kid

i could list them all but like. that would take a while

shirabu and yahaba are each HORRIFIED to learn that the other is the token nonrich kid bc all this time their insults were based on "tch, bet he wouldn't even survive in PUBLIC SCHOOL"

karasuno🤝🏻dateko: determined to beat the shit out of private school teams

the real reason nekomata invited karasuno to the tokyo training camps was so that they could have another public school team just completely fuck up fukurodani, ubugawa, and shinzhen

(i know shinzen and ubugawa aren't exactly confirmed but it's SO much funnier this way)

also. nekoma will finally have other people to do The Eyeroll with whenever one of the students from the other schools say something COMPLETELY out of pocket

like okay yeah they love hanging out with each other but like. how the fuck else are you supposed to react when komi goes "haha yeah we just got a new tv it only cost like a million yen" and everyone else just starts nodding and comparing prices from these fuck-all brands

god and inarizaki . . .

look regardless of whether we're ever going to get confirmation if inarizaki is public or private. they're still rich as hell and we NEED to acknowledge that!!

like hello? you think a normal school would have the resources to recruit students from a whole other prefecture?? you think a normal public high school could afford to send THEIR ENTIRE BAND TO TOKYO??

suna gets to inarizaki and is immediately blown out of the fucking water by how nonchalant people are about . . . just pretty much everything that goes over his weekly budget

one of his classmates is like "yeah i broke the dorm washing machine once but it's okay my family just bought them a new one" and suna has never wanted to punch anyone more in his entire life

ANOTHER REASON WHY I THINK YAKU AND SAKUSA WOULD DISLIKE EACH OTHER SO MUCH

the only time you'll find nekoma and nohebi allied is when they want to trash talk the rich kids

shirabu: "yeah if you get the shiratorizawa uniform dirty you know we can sue right" futakuchi: "oh fuck off like the cops could ever catch me anyways"

[hurgablurg]

okay so Owl Thoughts I guess because i am physically shaking while I type this

Foist, a CLIFFHANGER?? FOR A SERIES SEASON FINALE??? BOLD BOLD BOLD BOLD BOLD BOLD BOLD BOLD!!!! AND YET TRAGEDY! FUCK YOU RAT-MOUSE CAPITALIST FUCK DISNEY.

I legitimately thought that this was the series finale, and for a whole half hour thought “Oh my god, that is incredible, like an open floodgate for fanfiction.”

I wasn’t sold on the Collector at first, because i really do hate “childlike god” characters, but that outfit has put it ALL in perspective for me. The outfit, the pronouns, the power - that’s kids a FUCKING WIZARD. Every possible question about their behavior can be answered with “he’s a wizard”! And on this blog, we STAN an irresponsible master of the arcane!! Fuck it up little guy! Get all the fun out before you’re locked in a crystal prison or sniped in the Wildy or something. Wizards live fast and die in-a-young-or-old-extreme-median-like-infant-mortality-affecting-medieval-average-life-expectancy and to the benefit of everyone around them.

Also, FUCK. BELOS IS BACK. Little slimey fuck is back in the human world. As a goo-bitch, which will lead to some way more interesting character dynamics as the little hitler will be forced to confront his inhumanity and pay for his crimes.

Speaking of Whittlebanes, THAT WAS A FUCKING LOT OF GOLDEN GUARD MASKS. WAY MORE THAN 16. He was murdering kids left and fucking right!!!!

Kikimora and the Coven loyalists all got a taste of the ultimate fate that awaits sub-villains: being tossed away like a c*mrag with a “you really thought I did more than barely tolerate you...?”

We’ll see if this leads to a heel-face turn or not. Some of their crimes are too extreme to be forgiven. I wanna see that flora lady get lit up like a blunt. Kikimora is on the teetering edge though, and only because I like goblins.

And GOD, everyone is left absolutely hanging in the Isles. Eda can probably get a new arm? But CATTS has taken some damage, King is MIA and the Collector is in complete control.

Though, I’m fairly certain it’s going to turn out that everything is okay. The collector is an irresponsible wizard-child, yes, but he also has King to lead him right. He was promised to play “The Owl House”, which sounds an awfully lot like just a domestic slice-of-life thing, especially with King instructing them on how to “play”, which will probably be just “let it run and see what happens, minimal interference”. If the little fucker can find hide-and-seek fun, then they’ll be blown away, captivated for century by The Sims™ in the way Maxis intended. No deleted pool ladders here!

With the next 3 specials (?) on good old Earth, we can get some more fish-out-of-water shenanigans with the kids (Gus especially), plus, we can finally see more of Vee! 120 minutes to fill out sibling relationships, lets goooo.

The breaking-bread thing on the airship was cute! It’s not in my culture so it did feel a little awkward on first viewing, but I know communal eating like that is a big thing for the vast majority of people, and a sign of strong family.

And, being set in the human world with a principle villain hiding in the woods, it does make it infinitely easier for my Hunter: The Parenting X The Owl House fic to actually happen. We’ll see how slimeboy faces off against a bunch of meddling magical kids AND some absolutely unhinged Imbued.

Fuck this was all so wild, I love it!

[air-in-words]

My Sorting Hat Chats Journey

So, hi! I'm back!

I've been doing fun stuff off in the real world, but I decided to talk a little bit about my own Sorting Hat Chats sorting journey, and how it says a lot about self-acceptance, and how understanding who you really are can sometimes only come from being an active participant in life. Here we goooo...

The Beginning

So, my initial sorting was a Burnt Badger/Bird. This had struck me, because I'd never considered myself a Badger in ANY media. I was seen by my friends as a borderline loner, someone who didn't need anyone else. And yet, all the signs were there.

Looking back on my life, I've always migrated in groups, always looked for a nesting ground, and truly that's all I want. A place to nest, a place to rest, where I can feel safe and surrounded by people who love me. But, after a childhood filled with bullying, I found myself embarrassed of my bold face need for friends, and, for some reason, decided getting too close to people for too long was unwise, so I could probably never have a permanent home. And yet, I always found myself in these little "groups," little packs of people that all travel together.

I've always had these friend groups, where everyone knows each other, we all hang out together, and yet it always manages to eventually fall apart. I asked one of my friends how this keeps happening, and who keeps setting up these groups. She blinked sort of vaguely and said, "uh, you do." It was such a strange realization to look back and see myself as the "shepherd" I was, always creating a flock wherever I went. I had always been the spoke of my friend wheels, the only one that was friends with everyone, or actively tried to be friends with everyone. And I would attempt to hold it together, but it would always ultimately shatter, and I'd leave to find and form another. Family is important to me, and it isn't enough for me to bond with one person. I like for all my friends to be friends with each other, for us all to hang out together and enjoy each other's company.

So, although I still struggle, Burnt Badger came out on top, and I believe is still at the top to this day. I still search for belonging. I still search for family. And, yet, my heart seems to have no intention of unburning. Until recently, I had no idea why.

On the other hand, the secondary I received, Bird, seemed to fit like a glove, and was very obvious to me. I've been called the Encyclopedia before, I was made fun of for being caught reading the dictionary like it was a book, and I always seem to have a "fun fact" for every occasion. And all of this seemed to flow directly into me trying to use these facts and this knowledge to win people over, to get to see me as someone that could be their friend, or that I could be reliable as a member of their "group." So, Burnt Badger/Bird simply made sense. The reasons for me avoiding unburning my primary were irrelevant.

The Now

I'd been gone from this side of Tumblr for a bit, and decided to return on a whim. Saw @wisteria-lodge still posting as much as ever, and saw a lot of my posts had been passed around in the meantime (thank ya by the way) and decided to dive back in, because since then, so much of my life has changed. I've had certain people out of my life for a while that were a hindrance on my self-acceptance, I've moved out of my childhood home, and left a job I've had for the past 5 years. I've been forced to constantly LIVE, to make choices, actual choices, and have been offered the chance to be who I truly am, unapologetically.

So, I took the quiz again, curious if I would come up any different.

I got Burnt Badger/Burnt Snake.

This time, I was almost insulted. A flush of memories, of past feelings came to me, most of all the need to push back, to insist in exasperation I'M NOT A LIAR, as though I was tired of defending myself. As hard as I tried, I somehow couldn't seem to get Bird secondary to reappear.... at all. Which was so crazy, because before, that was pretty much all I could get.

So, I went to the experts, the aforementioned wisteria-lodge and @sortinghatchats .

I looked through the Snake secondary tags and found myself lost in memories I had pushed down, so far down even I couldn't find them, wracked with shame and a need to hide this side of myself, something I'd hidden so well I'd pretty much convinced myself it had never existed.

Being a Bird had always been a choice for me. I decided that was what people must want, becoming intelligent, knowing all of these things, showing off, that would make people like me. But, although I can devour books like nobody's business, and I tend to worry and whinge before every major decision, feeling unprepared, I would always find myself falling short of my own expectations. The amount of times I'd promised myself and others to create a plan and study hard, ultimately fail to do so, and then lie to everyone about it was astounding. My public image continued to be "air-in-words the smart girl" but my private image was still LIAR and FAKE.

I would still somehow get all A's. I was very good at remembering facts and excellent at taking tests. I always thought of them like little tricks themselves, meant to trip you up, but if you paid attention, you could figure out the patterns and be able to bluster your way through stuff you might not even fully understand. You can figure out certain words through context clues, and I was always very comfortable trusting my memory with little preparation beforehand. And yet, I still lied and told everyone I'd studied, at least as a child, before high school.

Math was what eventually messed me up, and sent my self-image whirling into the ground. My grades suddenly went from straight A's to D's and F's. My parents were aghast, what had happened??? I was so intelligent, so smart, such a good student. What had gone wrong?? And, although I never admitted it outloud to them, I knew the answer. With math, you can't trick your way out. You either know how to do it and give the right answer, or you don't. And I had never studied a day in my life, never practiced, never worked hard at all. It was my horrible little secret and math had outed me. It continues to out me, because rather than actually work at it and get better, I managed to keep my grades through high school afloat by leaning on my other grades and taking remedial math courses with a teacher who loved me very much and would let me off easy. To this day, honestly, I can barely count. I might actually have some form of dyscalculia, but I know that if I were willing to try a little harder I could get better. But, why would I do that, when this way works just fine? Just coasting through? But, again, no one could know. Not even myself.

Through high school, I began letting people in on my secret Snake, because being a "slacker" was suddenly cool. I still couldn't let my parents know, or the teachers, but coming clean about not being a keener was what earned me new friend groups. I wasn't some weirdo who actually studied all the time: I was a kid who maybe did 60-70% of my homework and slid by on my good memory and general interest in learning. And my reputation. My reputation was key to my success.

College would be the thing that completely threw me to the ground. There were simply too many sirens singing at me, distractions pulling me away from my work. I'd never looked less like a Bird than in college. I was always skipping class, always not studying, and in fact, would openly fail most of my courses. And I just didn't seem to care. I slid into what I guess must have been a sort of neutral zone, but I wasn't happy. The mask was slipping off and I needed out. I couldn't keep up this charade anymore. It was stifling, trying to be a Bird, going to college for a very Bird degree, surrounded by actual Birds, it was all very much what I didn't want. I wanted something less "academic," less, well, boring. Maybe more Snake like.

And, so, here we are. Currently dropped out of college, living in an apartment with my friend, away from my parents' prying eyes, and with a new job that I chose for myself. On the brink of finally understanding myself, and maybe accepting myself as I am.

My Badger primary is burned because of my Snake secondary. Because I thought I was a sham, a liar, a con, and I didn't feel like I deserved to have people close to me. Those traits are bad, and I was a bad person. No one should be tricked by me.

But, after reading some of the stories from the experts and other Snake secondaries, I found this crazy thought, that perhaps being this way isn't a bad thing. Maybe I'm not a bad person. Maybe it's okay to be who I am. Maybe I can use these "powers" for good, and they aren't inherently evil.

So, at least for now, I'm choosing to identify as Burnt Badger/Burnt Snake with Bird Model. Seeing how it feels to accept myself and not try and force myself to be who I think I should be, or who others want me to be (which is a Snake secondary thing in the first place. Lol!)

For Fun, Here's Some Crazy Actual Snake Secondary Things I've Done That I'm Trying to Be Less Ashamed of Now

When I was little, I used to make up crazy stories about things I'd done to seem more interesting. The one that makes me cringe the most is that my uncle has a statue in his backyard that comes to life and goes on adventures with me. My uncle DID have a statue in his backyard that I really loved but no, it didn't (and still hasn't) come to life.

Some of these, I can't explain, like this one, where I somehow had more than one teacher convinced I'd handed in every piece of homework before the one I was giving them the sob story about that day. I literally had a teacher look me in the face, tell me I'd been handing in my homework really well thus far and knew I was trustworthy, so they'd let me slide with no mark against me. Meanwhile, I had missed the homework for the past THREE WEEKS IN A ROW. I just smiled and let it go. Variations of this situation happened throughout high school and college. And, no, I had no good reason not to do the homework. I just didn't want to do it. Lol.

I usually live in the "neutral state" around my close friends, since I think it's disrespectful not to be straight with them, but I have had to turn it on to help them occasionally. One of my friends was having issues with an ex of hers, she was thinking that maybe she should go back out with the guh, and I had been my blunt, neutral self the whole time, telling her flat out that that was a bad idea. But, it wasn't working. "Neutral state" isn't like a Lion's forceful natural state, I guess. So, I decided I would have to push her in a certain direction to help her get through it. I told her she should go back out with him, and although she did sort of call me out for lying, knowing I didn't actually want that, I told her she should if she really think she should. The dude didn't last one date without showing his ass again, and she thanked me for making her do that. Lol.

Finally, at least for this list, my most prized shameful memory, is when I was taking an acting class in college. We were supposed to create a wordless scene as our final, and I hadn't prepared anything, so I just skipped the day we were supposed to do them. But, I decided to show up for the last day to see if I could still somehow pass. She's going through the grades, and looks up and asks me, "I don't have anything written down for you, I can't remember, did you give a performance or not?" I knew I hadn't then, but decided to give one now. I told her yes I had done one, don't you remember came up with a name on the fly. The same friend from the last story was staring at me like she was about to burst. She thought for a moment, then exclaimed, "ah, of course! Yes, I think I remember. I remember you'd done pretty well. What grade did I give you?" I hedged my bets and said A-. Lol. I had never been filled with more pride shame in my life.

[mewtonian-physics]

my ranking of the alex rider original series (stormbreaker through scorpia rising) from ‘book i least enjoy rereading’ to ‘book i most enjoy rereading’ let’s goooo

spoilers for all 9 books under the cut

9. Ark Angel

...He went to space. He went to space. Also the entire plot could have been avoided if Drevin had actually bothered to provide a photograph of his son. I’m sure he had one. I still like this book but it’s literally so insane that I just don’t know what to do with it. 

It is however really funny that Webber just goes and gives a speech insulting this super high-profile ecoterrorist group and acts like it’s no big deal and then they kill him. Shock of shocks.

8. Skeleton Key

Okay, points to this book for terrifying the shit out of me. God damn it does that shark scene scare me. Also, points for making me feel a little bit bad for a man who wants to nuke his own country because he thinks it will fix the place up. I’m still not entirely sure how that’s supposed to work, but that’s probably a good thing. I feel like understanding his thought process would say bad things about me. Still, I actually did feel sorry for him, if only a little. Dude was clearly mentally unstable and I doubt his son’s death helped at all. I also got sad about what happened to Carver and Troy. (Yeah, yeah, I’m a cringe fail American who has the American release. So sue me.) What a nightmare that must’ve been to endure... Otherwise, though, I’m not super into this book. The opening is just kind of meh and the way it leads into the rest of the plot seems a little bit unbelievable. Also, this might be an unpopular opinion, but Sabina annoys me. I would not get along with her at all and I can’t imagine her as a girlfriend. Skeleton Key does, however, absolutely excel at the emotional scenes. 

Also, why are all the spy agencies so comfortable with sending in a 14-year-old? Especially when they outright admit that the other attempts have all died horribly? Bureaucracy’s a bitch.

7. Point Blank

Boo, Dr. Grief! Boo! We hate your white supremacy! I’m so glad you got a snowmobile to the face, you deserved it. (Perks of books written by Jewish people--we aren’t afraid to give the neo-Nazis an unpleasant death.) Anyway, this book definitely isn’t bad, but I wouldn’t really say it stands out in the series. It definitely does hammer home the point of just how trapped Alex is, since MI6 isn’t going to just let him go after one mission, and let’s face it, the plot with the clones is creepy as hell, if highly improbable. But I’m largely just here to see the neo-Nazi get snowmobiled. That’s right, I just completely changed the definition of a pre-established word. I’m a rebel.

Also, I hate Fiona Friend so much and overall think she just didn’t need to be in the book, but the line about ‘I’d rather kiss the horse’ made me laugh so hard. Alex, you sass.

6. Snakehead

Okay, let’s talk about how genius the plan in this book is. I love it! I love how Yu wants to kill the people involved in the peace conference without making them into martyrs, so he comes up with this whole elaborate plan to stage a natural disaster. It’s incredible. This dude was thinking so far ahead. And he would’ve gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for that meddling kid... But anyway, I don’t see a lot of books where the villain really acknowledges that killing their enemies could just cause more problems for them via turning them into martyrs for a cause. Also, the way he’s so polite and soft-spoken while also being a complete monster... This book genuinely gives me chills. Extra bonus points for the part in the hospital, the absolute nightmare of having all your organs slowly removed and sold off and everyone around you is being so nice about it? ‘Oh, don’t worry, Alex, it won’t be so bad. Here, take your medicine. Do you need anything?’ Literally just. What the fuck. 

Also Ash can fucking fight me. You put your own godson in horrible danger on purpose! You killed your best friend! Bastard. 

...And just in case the book wasn’t disturbing enough, Yu’s fate at the end lives in my mind rent-free and I think about it on a concerningly regular basis considering that the chances of that happening to me are so low they’re practically in the negatives. Damn you, Horowitz.

I would also be remiss if I did not mention just how much I love the tagline ‘once bitten, twice spy’.

5. Crocodile Tears

Ah yes, the book that kickstarted my drift away from the church... I kid, of course. I drifted away from the church for completely separate reasons. But Desmond McCain is always going to scare the shit out of me. The ability to kill countless innocent people while blissfully quoting Bible verses (that he takes wildly out of context and uses for his own self-serving means) is... well, I could actually say a lot about what that reminds me of, but I’m here to rate books, not religion. Moving on. This book has some really stellar antagonists, and the plot is chilling in a way that feels a lot more realistic than most of the other books. Even if some of it is a bit farfetched (sabotaging a nuclear power plant? Really?), the idea of using disasters for your own profit... well. I’m sure I don’t need to elaborate on why that is so believable. The Poison Dome is also a really cool and chilling scene--even Alex, who has the luck of the devil, can’t get out of that one unscathed. Further scares come in with the fate of Harold Bulman--imagine having your entire existence wiped and your identity changed while you were asleep! The breakdown he has over it is almost enough to make me feel sorry for him, even though he was ready to exploit a teenager and make his life a living hell just to turn a profit. Note the word almost.

Also. The opening makes me cry. Specifically the line talking about how Ravi’s kids would ‘never meet Mickey Mouse’. I lose my goddamn mind every single time I read it. That little personal touch turns the scene from a statistic to a tragedy. Once again: Damn you, Horowitz.

4. Stormbreaker

Yeah, this one gets the special cover shot. And why not? What we are looking at here is the birth of a legend. Move the fuck over, James Bond, Alex Rider is on the scene now. Anyway, yeah, this book is pretty damn spectacular. It has its stumbles, but as the first book in a series, that’s to be expected. Still, it pulls you in from quite literally the first line and keeps you going right up until the end. (If you came here from my post of memes, you know how much the line ‘Killing is for grownups, and you’re still a child’ destroys me.) It has the debut of much-beloved characters such as, of course, Alex--but also Jack Starbright, and of course, the best MI6 agent of them all, which is to say Smithers. Hell, even Yassen Gregorovich, especially once you get through Russian Roulette... Man, that was a rough one. 

Seriously, though. This is a really good book. The scene with the Portuguese man-o’-war still gives me the chills to think about. (Have you ever looked up pictures of those things? They’re beautiful, but holy shit will they make you regret being born. Nature is funny like that.) 

We also get the introduction of, of course, Alex’s patented sass (his response to Sayle saying he relates to the man-o’-war is HILARIOUS) and we get the inherent humor of Alex screwing up an alias one time and then just going by Alex for the rest of the series so he doesn’t do that again. Really, kid, I know you’re not a trained spy or anything but did you never play pretend growing up? Ever? You can’t pretend your name is Felix for a little while? That sounds like a you problem.

3. Scorpia Rising

I distinctly remember when this book came out, actually. I was on vacation at the time, and I remember my brother annoying the hell out of the poor workers at a bookstore we frequented there to see if/when they were going to get it in. They did, finally, and we bought it immediately, and I was of course absolutely desperate to read it. He got to read it first, though. -_-

This is a great book, an absolute emotional rollercoaster all the way through. The way Blunt tricks Alex back into service by staging a shooting was exactly the kind of cold, brutal behavior I’d expect from him. Seeing Julius come back was shocking, but very exciting, too. And Razim makes an incredibly chilling villain, with his absolute disregard for human life and his desire to measure pain. Also, seeing Smithers’s house was so much fun. Smithers in this book was just really fun in general, but he’s really fun in every book, so... nothing unusual there. But also, I want an unwelcome mat. Please?

2. Eagle Strike

‘But Penny,’ you might ask, ‘why is this book so high on your list? It has so much of Sabina in it, and you said she annoys you.’ That is true. What does not annoy me, however, is basically the entire rest of the book. I love the tense opening, and then reading through Alex’s real-life ‘playthrough’ of Feathered Serpent is still one of my favorite scenes. Cray is absolutely incredible as a villain, with the way that he truly believes in his cause--which is undoubtedly a good one! Yet the extremes to which he will go for that cause, and the fact that he very nearly succeeds, are what elevate him to one of the most dangerous villains in the series. That scene with Charlie Roper and the nickels is something I can never seem to stop thinking about. Actually, I think about it basically whenever I think about large amounts of money paid in small increments... 

Also, I really enjoy how he gets into the whole plot in the first place, and I really enjoy Smithers saying ‘ah, fuck it’ and helping him out anyway. Go, Smithers. You once again prove me right in saying that you’re the coolest adult in MI6.

The revelation that Yassen knew Alex’s father is one that absolutely blew my mind first time around. The way his life was threaded into the lives of the Rider family--he worked with John Rider, was saved by him, killed Ian Rider, and then died for refusing to kill Alex Rider--wow. Wow. It gets to me. It really gets to me. This book is a masterpiece. I heard that it’s going to be what the second season of the TV series is based off of, and I’m so hyped for that. We love to see it, we really do.

1. Scorpia

I don’t believe anyone who says this book didn’t get to them at all. I just think they are lying. I don’t think it’s humanly possible to not be affected by this book. God. Just thinking about it reminds me of why I don’t think it’s possible. I mean, come on. We get all this backstory about Alex’s parents, we get tricked along with him into thinking MI6 killed his father, then bam, that was a lie, and Alex may have just fucked himself over big time. Also, that plot is terrifying! (And I bet anti-vaxxers had a field day with it, huh.) Julia Rothman is a really great antagonist, one of the only ones who didn’t go and explain her plan in great detail to Alex--the fact that she didn’t actually being a plot point was something I personally found pretty clever. In general, this book is... I tend to hate when people say they ‘can’t put it down’ because it’s usually an obvious exaggeration, but that really is how I feel reading it.

And again. If that ending didn’t get to you... Well, I just think you are lying.

[houndin-around]

Covenant | Maul

warnings; slight age gap? I guess, can’t remember if there’s cursing oops, boss-employee relationship

a/n; First ofF I’M DROPPING THIS BC IT’S A SPECIAL SOMEONE’S BIRTHDAYYYYY!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY KENNA ILY<3 @hxldmxdxwn 

- I’ve been avoiding dropping this because I’m super self conscious about my writing but oh well here we goooo! This is a more modern AU even though I use a lot of SW terms/lore but i’ll probably branch out as we go on throught he chapters. Takes place in coruscant and reader is 23! Maul ios around 30-31 haven’t fully decided yet. Uh hope everyone enjoys this!!

Summary; Getting an opportunity at a reputable company, you’re eager to show everyone what you’re made of. The only odd part is...no one knows who the owner is. 

not my gif

Curses rolled off your tongue as the silence was disturbed by the raucous alarm emitting from your phone. Hurriedly you tried to silence it, avoiding waking up your partner that is sleeping next to you. The clock read 4:55 am and the sky was still pitch black. Yet the lights of Galactic City never died, it was hard to get rid of the illumination in your room. Even some curtains weren’t enough to block the livelihood, something you still have yet to get used to. Staring up at the ceiling, the dread of leaving the warmth that consumed you whole was winning the battle lulling you back to sleep. Another ear-piercing song flowed out of your phone causing you to jolt upright. Rubbing the back of your neck, a sigh escaped your lips before you tossed your legs over the side of the mattress. From the second alarm, your boyfriend grumbled before turning over, aggressively pulling the sheets over himself.

Today was the day of your brand new job. Anxiety nestled in your gut the more you thought about it so you tried not to. Two years ago you were leaving Naboo and your family after school. It was one of the hardest things that you had to do, and being an adult wasn’t easy or all that it was chalked up to be. Living on Coruscant was a totally new experience. Everyone dressed so differently-- obsessing over the latest fashions, erasing the idea of modesty as well. Luckily for you, that’s when you met Kenth Madon. Upon arriving, your ship was having difficulties, and you needed a mechanic. Out of all the shops around you, you chose his almost as if it were fate. Due to frequenting his shop, Kenth got the courage to ask to see you outside of the permanently grungy, gas smelling establishment. It wasn’t your first relationship, although it has been quite a while. It was nice to have someone give you the type of attention Kenth did.

Since he grew up on Coruscant, your boyfriend claimed to know what real fashion was. Hinting at the fact yours was a little outdated. So,  he helped you restyle your wardrobe as you lacked any type of pizazz when it came to fitting in. At least according to him. During your outing, you still were drawn to rather lackluster choices of apparel, but at least it was slightly updated. Slipping on a white puff-sleeve shirt, you quickly tucked it into the black dress pants you were insistent on getting. The reality of putting on this outfit made your palms sweaty, your heart lurch up in your throat. with the realization of starting this new chapter in your life. Grabbing your white one-button jacket, you scanned your room one last time before placing a feathery kiss on Kenth’s stubbled cheek.  

—————————

“Next stop: Galactic Square. Please, refrain from getting up early and blocking the exits. Thank you.” the feminine voice echoed throughout the subway train.

You rubbed your hands up and down your thighs, staring out of the viewport of the train. The job itself was competitive and the position wasn’t guaranteed. Nineteen other candidates were presenting their brand new prototypes for QuanCom, as well. The business that created the HoloNet, the Holocomms, comlinks, and much more. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This job could start you down a successful track, but you didn’t care. It was honestly only for the good-paying credits, since it was hard to find a job degree or not.

With a sudden stop shoving you against the seat, you quickly checked the time on your iPhone. 6:00 am. “Kriff!” you hissed to yourself. You were told work began at 8:00 am, so what in the hell were you going to do for an hour and a half? Being early helped ease your anxiety, though being this early only fueled it-- making it a lose-lose battle. Waiting for the other passengers to exit, you soon rose to your feet, swiftly leaping off the train. Examining the underground tunnels, your eyes shifted all over trying to locate the staircase leading upwards. It was crowded in the subway, yet it didn’t compare to the hustle and bustle that hurried by on the streets of Galactic City.

Humans, Rodians, Twi’leks, and species that you could swear you’ve never encountered before shouldered past you, as if you didn’t even exist. One long blink and an exasperated sigh later, you began to move your feet in the direction of QuanCom. The directions on your phone were confusing. The arrow rotating every once in a while was unable to read your location. Regardless, you continued hoping it was the correct way. The sudden smell of caf penetrated your nostrils, causing you to scrunch up your nose.

“If they sell caf, they probably have some deychin tea and maybe some food…” you trailed off hurriedly toward the small shop named “Caf Project ''.

Inside, it was cozy, brick-lined walls with a large sign hanging over the counter. Swallowing thickly, you stood back just far enough to show you were thinking of what you wanted, but really you were trying to stifle the anxiety welling back up as your mind kept going blank. A jingling sound interrupted your inner battles, and so did the voice of who was walking in.

“I don’t care. I told you to get this done yesterday. Not an hour before I arrived at the office. Is it really that hard to follow through? Do you not realize the utmost significance of this report? I swear I’m dealing with a bunch of imbeciles. Sith give me strength…'' Sucking in a breath, he glanced at you, brow raised. “Shut up for a second, Tannis.” He demanded before turning to you. “Are you in line?”

Your face went completely blank, just a second ago it sounded like he was about to murder whoever he was speaking to. But while speaking to you…his voice was smooth like silk, endearing actually. Swiftly shaking your head “no,” he stepped forward and flashed a warm grin at you, incisors slightly visible. Once again he continued yelling at someone, the barista not even batting an eye. His order was briskly made, though he didn’t even give any notion to what he had wanted. You couldn’t help but examine this stranger before you, attired in a charcoal grey suit that was paired with a very light grey dress shirt with two buttons undone. On his feet were freshly polished black Oxfords, his outfit so simple yet so suave. Once he handed the cashier some credits, you noticed a glimmer on his wrist, by the looks of it one kriffing expensive watch.

Adjusting the lanyard around your neck that holds your ID for QuanCom, the stranger with geometric tattoos all over his face turned to face you. You noticed a shiny stud piercing on the upper cartilage of his left ear. Maintaining some eye contact, you couldn’t help but feel a knot in your stomach. He was quite handsome, and his ivory horns…wow, you thought to yourself, cheeks running hot. “Get yourself together...you’re with someone,” You reminded yourself.

Lips parting, he studied you up and down.

“Good luck.” The words were quietly mumbled as he continued listening to what you assumed to be an employee, on the other line.

“Thank you,” you mouthed back, a sheepish smile tugging at your lips as you continue to fidget with the lanyard.

Maybe, he had heard of the big job offer at QuanCom? Advertisements were flaunted everywhere; it was hard to miss them. Shaking your head lightly, you step forward, showing that you’re ready to order.

“I’ll have a small deychin tea please and…uh- um..a croissant?” Everything on the menu food-wise wasn’t too appealing, but you needed something in your stomach to satisfy the beast. “Uh..how much, sir?” you inquired, pulling some credits from your spotless white jacket.

Shaking his head, the cashier's lips opened to a wide grin, “No need, miss, the man before you covered your order. You’re all set!”

There was that wave of nausea again. Why would he do that? Who even was he? Was it just his generosity for the day? Or did he think you couldn’t afford much based on your attire? Sighing, you frantically think about what you’ll be expecting for this job, continuing on your path toward the QuanCom headquarters. Getting closer to your destination, you glance over your phone, once more checking the time. 7:50 am. Finally, what felt like forever was finally here, and you were so eager to start on a positive foot.

Entering the monstrous building, people were hustling all around you-- confused, lost, and eager to get their days going, as well. You had to remind yourself that you were here as competition and not as a friend for anyone. Though right now, you could really use a friend and some directions as this place was large and filled to the brim. Inspecting the environment, you noticed a few flimsies posted. Maker’s sake, it made things easier by telling you where to go. Padding toward the nearest elevator, you crammed yourself in amongst the other bodies seemingly all going to the same exact floor. Not being able to help it, you held your breath midway until the doors opened on floor 18. Exiting, you followed the tall, skinny woman down the hall to meeting room 1804. To your amazement, it was already quite full, so you took a seat nearest to the door, pulling out some flimsy and a stylus so that you’re ready to jot down any information. The room was white-walled with very little decor besides a large glass table in the center. This is where the fun begins, the long drawn out rules and regulations.

“Alright! Now that we’ve gone over the workplace protocol and the prototype expectations, I will pair you up into four groups of five.” Her voice was raspy, though flat enough to make your eyelids heavy. Everyone around you was also struggling to fight the sleep that tried overpowering them. Names being called brought you back to attention every now and then, but you couldn’t stop thinking about him. “I’m sure Kenth sees more attractive women daily anyway…” you try to convince yourself.

“(Y/N), Fox, Steela, Hardcase, and…Finn. You five will make up group three.” The grouping continued slowly, but the names rang in your mind over and over. “Alright, now that groups are established, get to know one another and start some planning. Each member in your group has a very different degree path; this will help you all utilize one another's skills to create the best results for QuanCom. You have three weeks until you pitch your prototypes to Dooku, the COO.. Remember, 5 pm concludes your workday, so get to it.”

Sitting around your new coworkers, you fumbled around with your stylus, afraid to make the first move for introductions. It seems that you weren’t the only one being fidgety;  the gentleman named Hardcase was bouncing his leg vigorously. If you were correct, he and Fox were clones. After the bill was granted clones rights and citizenship, they ended up all over the system. So many felt that cloning was unethical, especially for the fact they were treated similarly to droids. Though it was nice to see the two making something of themselves.

“Guess I’ll start! The name’s Hardcase. Yes I’m a clone, and--yes--I’m perfectly capable of thinking for myself. I’m great with my hands and can assemble anything together. For a short while, I was working as a mechanical engineer for the GAR.” The clone oozed with excitement and enthusiasm, which was quite entertaining. Clad in a pink-hued dress shirt and a blue suit, which matched his facial tattoos. On his feet were freshly polished loafers still tapping the ground.

“Well, I’m Fox. My skills are geared toward CAD and any type of 3D rendering. Once I devote myself to something, I see it through. You can trust me on this project; I assure you that,” he barely showed any type of emotions compared to his counterpart. His attire was dark-- suit, shoes, everything. It said a lot about him and which made you anxious.

“Well, I’m Steela! Researching is my speciality. Problem-solving is also a breeze. I’ll be able to find the answers in order to help us advance to a whole other level! I enjoy leading projects like this, since I know I can keep us on track one hundred percent!” The excitement radiating from her was encouraging. She seemed like a strong woman ready to lead this team to success. She wore brown high waisted dress pants with a matching blazer, and white blouse. On her feet were suede, caramel heel booties.

“I’ll go next…” the young Twi’lek’s voice was soft and elegant, soothing to everyone in the group. Just as she was about to speak the double-doors swung open.

“Asajj, we have a problem,” her voice hushed but full of urgency as she glanced around the room. “Tannis was fired. We need to fill her position. Now!”

“Gods, I knew this was going to happen. I told her she wasn’t ready for this position. Now he’s going to take it out on me,” Asajj let out a long sigh, arms folding across her body. The woman that just emerged looked similar to her, though her face was more relaxed.

“(Y/N), can you come over here for a second please?”

Everyone in the room glanced up at you before continuing their tasks.. Rising from your chair, you crossed the room sliding past everyone with ease. Asajj acted like she was presenting the finest delicacy in the galaxy; arms held out at you.

“I think she’ll do. A tad on the quiet side, but I’m sure Mr. Crimson can work with it,” Her response was more of a question, as both women had their eyes upon you.

“It’s not like we have much of a choice. You cannot run this and take on two secretary positions. You’re going to need the help,” The woman’s pale grey eyes burned into you.  

“Fine. Take her to Mr. Crimson. You better hope he approves,” Asajj warned, giving you one last glance.

Quickly grabbing your belongings, the conversation you just had replays in your mind.

“Tannis,”

Why did that name sound so familiar? Who’s Mr. Crimson and why did you have to go see him.  Your mind whirled around, anxiety eating away as you set foot in the elevator. It felt like a full rotation cycle before reaching floor twenty. Being led out you walked down a hallway that was decorated lavishly. The flooring was a beautiful dark marble. Each step you took echoed off the walls. Nearing the end of the hall, both of you walked through another set of tall glass double doors. Entering the spacious room, you can’t help but notice the viewport walls. Also catching your attention were two long black desks. They were set across from one another stacked with datapads and pieces of flimsy. Towards the middle was a closed black door that had a frosted glass panel. Without a doubt this room was breathtaking and even though it lacked decor compared to the hallway, the view of Galactic City made up for it. Light knuckles hit against the panel three times, waiting for a response.

“What is it now?” The aggressive tone was enough to send a chill down your spine.

Slowly opening the door to peek her head in. A few words were exchanged before she fully opened the door, motioning for you to follow right behind. Inside was a long glass desk, the legs were black; matching some of the furnishings or complimenting them. In front were two rounded leather chairs, the area rug underneath a bright white. Paintings and picture frames hung on the right side of the room, though you were too afraid to really gawk at them as a gruff voice began erupting again. There he sat, his black leather chair facing the viewports behind his desk seeming to be amidst another phone call.  Something about his voice was all too familiar but the fear bubbling inside you made it difficult to pinpoint. Soon enough he swung his chair around slamming the phone down, right hand pinching the bridge of his nose.

“What was so important that you had to interrupt yet another phone call, Leys. If it’s not about numbers, you know, the job I pay you to do? Then leave. I’ll fire you too. I’ve had it with everyone’s complacent behavior. Any fool could be my financial officer, so if you as so step out of line again, you’re done,” The snarl erupting from this man was horrifying, bringing you back to the Caf shop.

It was him! The same eerie tone used then too, and yet he was able to turn it off so quickly when addressing you. Your hands began to clam up, eyes not even daring to meet his.

“Yes sir, I understand I’m very sorry. I just wanted to bring you Tannis’ replacement,” voice quivering, Leys bowed her head and hurriedly left Mr. Crimson’s office leaving you behind, alone and defenseless.

A satisfied chuckle was released from Mr. Crimson as he watched his employee scatter from his office. Brow raised in your direction, his stare intense, a sneer presenting itself. “Well. Take a seat.”

His hand motioned to the smaller round chairs, eyes never leaving you. Pushing his seat back just a smidge, a polished shoe crosses over his left thigh and his hands fold against his stomach. Releasing the breath you were holding in, you padded over to the seat in front of his desk sitting as straight as humanly possible.

“It seems I’m in need of another secretary. But it’s not an easy job-- I need someone reliable, someone organized, and to understand the urgency of when I say to do something, they do it,” Towards the end of the sentence, his voice dropped a little lower, eyes narrowing. “It is a permanent job that is until mistakes are made. Pays reasonably well especially for dealing with...someone like me. Seems Asajj and Leys picked you and they’re typically alright when it comes to the judgment of character.”

Something about the way he spoke to you made your heart skip a beat. Even the way he stared at you had your arms lined with goosebumps. Trying to compile a coherent sentence was no easy feat with his eyes burning into you.

 “I-I, um..” fumbling over your words caused your cheeks to run hot. “Well...first off I wanted to thank you for this morning. You really didn’t have to pay for me...but I greatly appreciate it. As for my work, I am quite organized and pay attention to directions given, but I don’t exactly have the experience in being a secretary, which would probably be important…” trailing off, you broke eye contact with him to glance at a red light blinking on his phone.

He barely acknowledged your thanks, just giving a small nod. A deep hearty laugh left his lips, “Any fool could be a secretary, but you don’t seem like a fool. No, just the way you speak and hold yourself exudes intelligence. Normally a secretary is chosen from within the company, as an outsider could be one that would leak vital information about QuanCom to its competitors. Someone that has worked their way up the ranks, whom I could trust. However, due to obvious circumstances here we are. If you so choose to take this job you will have limited access to certain databases as I need you to earn that trust. Understood?” The sneer plastered itself once more upon his face, incisors visible this time.

“Yes sir, I understand. I’ll make sure I do this right Mr. Crimson!” a little bit of enthusiasm worked its way to you, eyes lighting up like Coruscant itself.

“Please, call me Maul.” he pleaded, followed by a half-smirk.

Rising to his feet, he outstretched a hand that you mirrored. His callused hand engulfing yours in a gentle embrace. Just this morning you were going in ready to compete against nineteen other candidates, and here you are sealing a deal with the CEO of QuanCom to be his second secretary. Breaking the handshake, he opens up his desk drawer pulling out a datapad, handing it to you.

“That will be yours. You’ll need it for all the paperwork and emails. You’re free to take it home, just don’t lose it. Asajj will send you some emails tonight that will need to be completed before you come in tomorrow morning at 6 sharp. Once you do that you’ll be set up in our system and able to begin your duties. You’re dismissed for the day, but you will be paid for a full day. Just a small token of gratitude.”

Taking the datapad in your hands, you gave a curt nod, ensuring you understood the importance that was just given to you. Getting yourself together along with your things, you exchanged a few words expressing how grateful you are for this new position. Heading toward the door, you outstretch a hand to grab the handle. Just as you’re about to open the black door, his voice cuts the silence.

“Oh, one last thing, don’t mention our little encounter this morning to anyone. Some may think... I’m beginning to play favorites.” his voice honeyed paired with a smirk and eyes ogling you, trying to take in one last visual before you leave.

---------

taglist: @maulfrk​ @honestlystop​ @pinkiemme​ @idiotonastar​ @nawpitynopenope @maulieber​ @rishi-moon​ 

[purplerose244]

Thoughts journal Ninjago season 13!! 🖤🖤 (4/4)

Here we are, at the end of just another season of Ninjago! And I've gotta say, until now it has been very good, I think I'm liking this season better than Prime Empire and Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu. I liked them too, but this one feels more complete and deep, also LILLY GOT A BACKSTORY HECK YEAH 😍😍

Prime Empire had one really great ending, so I'm very curious how this season will conclude! Spinjitzu burst? Some last minute plot twist? Cole and Vania confirmed...? 🙄

Here we go!!

THE DARKEST HOUR

So I'm guessing the guys aren't doing too good at the moment 😅

I know this is kind of a tense situation, but honestly Kai looking so confused at having to lead cracks me up 😂 "Do I have to say it? Is that what being in charge means?"

Lloyd: YOU

Jay: SHALL

Kai: NOT

Zane: BE GRANTED THE PERMISSION TO TRAVERSE BEYOND THIS POINT

I have no words, that was such an obvious reference in full Zane style so in character, I have tears. Beautiful 🤣🤣

Also they all look SO COOL 💚💙❤🤍

My ninja babies fighting together screaming NINJA-GOO!! Really this season feels like we're back in the old days, so cool! And they are so in sync, Kai lifting Lloyd up and Zane pushing others away and I LOVE THE FIGHTING ANIMATIONS 🤩

Poor Skull dude, he's trying to do his big bad guy monologue and he keeps getting interrupted 😂

It was cute that both tribes immediately refused to surrender, not sure if it was for pride or they actually care about their new ninja friends, but it was nice

Aahh, near death life experiences, the best way to elicit teamwork 👍 Nice scene, nice cute scene

Nnnnnyyyggg, Lloyd, that's the sacrifice look right there 😱 At least they just turned themselves in peacefully after reuniting the tribes... aaand of course he was lying, I hate that Skull dude 👿👿

THE ASCENT

Back to team Cole! Back to the Upply! 🖤 Quick guys, we're only three episodes left!! NEED TO GO BIG!!

Heeeeeyy, Wu back in business! I kinda missed him a bit taking control of the situation, it used to be him because he was the master. It really is a jump into the past this season! 🤩🤩

Sure let's go with the explosive cart, not like Cole and the other ninja haven't been piloting a falling apart rocket back to Earth before 🤷‍♀️

A Mech on rolleskates, why not? Does Cole even know how to go on those though? He was already out of the Tournament of Elements during Chen's Thunder Blade so I don't really know...

Lolz the monster was actually waiting staring at the wall, guess you don't get much fun in this mine 😅

COOL FIGHTING SEQUENCE COOL FIGHTING SEQUENCE COOL FIGHTING SEQUENCE 🖤🖤🖤

And a poor old couple of civilians traumatized. They need to be trained by the people of Ninjago City on how to deal with weird appearances 💪

I guess we're doing this 😅 Gonna be honest, this is the first very evident sweet look I see from these two. I like Vania, a lot, but another classic love interest? Uuuuhhh, Idk, Imma see the rest of the season and see what happens 🤷‍♀️

A baby dragon on a giant spider, one of my favorite things ever on one thing I fear... I'll let it pass just because Adam is a good boy 🕷🕷🕷

GO VANIA GO GIRL LET HIM KNOW WHO IS THE BOSS HERE!!! 💛💛💛

THE UPPLY STRIKES BACK!

I really like these DnD guys, they've grown on me, let's see what they have in store! 😁

Munce and Geckles under chains, ninja in a cage, the Skull dude has the control, we're back when we started... sucks to be a ninja sometimes 😅

Omg I'm loving that this dude is trying so hard to be menacing and he keeps getting ignored 😂😂 Aww cute, you think you're the first that wants to destroy the ninja? Such a special little snowflake 😘 Evil monologue, we've been going for 13 seasons now with various specials and a movie, we heard it already 🤷‍♀️

Also the reveal, and he's all "Your friend Cole is dead" and Lloyd "That's what they all say, buddy" 👌👌

Poor Cole just wants justice for his mom HELP EMOTIONAL AGAIN

I'm all for Cole's personal team, they should do missions together, like Jay's team in Skybound!... that technically never happened, BUT STILL COOL 🖤💙🖤💙

Oh boy oh boy oh boy got the swords, confrontation ready, BRING IT!! Ninja team is all in for this!! ❤💚💙🤍🌊

REVOLUTION!!!! 💪💪💪💪

Swords aren't usually Cole's weapon of choice... BUT DANG IT HE CAN SWING THEM, HOLY GARMADON!!! THIS IS THE FIGHTING SCENES I WANT!!! 😍😍

How is this the episode prior the finale? It already feels like the finale! What else is going to happen?

SON'S OF LILY

Oh with a title like this, it's a given that I will not survive. Oh boy, here goes, the FINALE!

Chaos, chaos, beautiful dragon of death and distraction, also gently reminder that Mino is also a very good boy 💕 Are the skeletons connected to the skull? Are they gonna stop reform when Cole defeats the Skull Sorcerer?

The swords are not actually magical? Huh, first weapon in this show that turns out to be a fluke, apart maybe the Dragon Armor of the Firstborne... that one stayed intact at least 😅

HERE COMES THE VALKIRIES!!! *classic related music plays*

THIS. FIGHTING. SCENES. ARE. SO. FREAKING. GOOD 😍 Also wow sensei, full kamikaze with a dragon? I guess the sacrifice gene really runs into that family 😅

COLE NO DON'T HURT ROCK BABY 😭

"Always." KIRBY STOP MAKING ME CRY WITH YOUR AMAZING VOICE ACTING SKILLS ALSO HOLY HOOLA GANG

THAT'S LIKE A SPINJITZU WITH THE TRUE POTENTIAL OMG HECK YEAH SHINE COLE SHINE!!! 🖤🖤🖤

A bit red, could mistake it for Kai's, but it's an orange earth lava burst so I understand

Cole: okay guys, done my part

Cole: wake me up when next season is out

LOOK AT VANIA BECOMING THE QUEEN WITH THAT BEAUTIFUL ATTIRE AND USING COLE'S MOTHER QUOTE BECAUSE SHE LEARNED SO MUCH FROM COLE AWWW 💛

Okay, since there weren't evident references to Nexo Knights this season, can I pretend Fungus shooting fireworks is one? Merlok used to do that almost at every season finale... IMMA PRETEND 🙃

She is so adorable, I really love her. Wished we've seen more of her bond with her father, it felt a little easy her giving up on him. Idk, Sky and Chen didn't have that much of a bond but she struggled a lot! But she is super cool and cute, I ADORE her 💕

This sounds like a pretty good experience for Lloyd who FINALLY spent a season without being scarred for life!!! He even met a princess who didn't plan his death!!! Montgomery things are getting better 💚

Well, that surprised me, I guess Cole and Vania like each other but not heavily? Just a very light mood, like they care a lot but no other step further. I'm very happy about this choice, you can see it as a couple if you want, but you can also say they are just good friends. Nice 👍

Oh no, Wu got his midlife crisis, SOMEBODY STOPS HIM 😱

Wherever the wind will take them okay, wherever the producers will decide to torture them 😗

Overall, great finale! 😁

FINAL THOUGHTS

I think I enjoyed Prime Empire's finale more than this one, but this season with all of its episodes was absolutely AMAZING 🖤

The Skull Sorcerer wasn't necessarily a bad villain, but the story kinda went into another direction in my opinion so his part wasn't fundamental. Which isn't a bad thing for me, it's actually new and exciting see the attention to the story instead of the villain, and I did enjoy how they made fun of how cliche he was being 😂

Vania was GREAT. Wished we had more time with her father to really establish what kind of bond they had, but overall I loved her, new best girl acquired 💛💛💛

FREAKING ROCK MOM!! FREAKING LILLY!! I'm so emotional just thinking about this family, omg, THIS is the content I want for Ninjago! Impactful, that makes sense, connected to the heart that makes you so much closer to a character! Finally the Rock family is getting more complex 🖤

I think this season really gave Cole justice, we got her mom's story, we've got him leading a team again, we've got him with a cool new power! 😍😍

For the other ninja it was okay, I really liked the shenanigans with the tribes and the cultures were really fun to explore. Was kinda like a side quest and for me didn't bring that much to the main story, but it was fun and it's fair, Cole had all the attention he deserved 👌

FIGHTING ANIMATION OMG HECK FREAKING YEAH 10/NINJA-GOOOO ❤💚💙🖤🤍🌊

Beautiful designs for the characters, in particular the Shintaro citizens, and also wonderful backgrounds and sceneries, that I thought were starting to lack but here seems much nicer to look at 🤩

What can I say? Ninjago still knows how to mess with my heart, and I'm so very happy about it. I think the so wanted Cole season was definitely worth it 🖤🖤🖤

Now, I heard voices about a possible Nya season... ABSOLUTELY YES, YES TO EVERYTHING, QUEEN GETTING HER OWN SEASON YES YES YES!!! 😍😍😍🌊🌊🌊 Besides that apparently Maya will come back, which is a dream coming true, if they give Nya the same attention they gave to Cole this season, I will be happy 😊

[trashyswitch]

7 Fluffy Balls of Joy

Chapter 6: 7 Puppies Becomes 6

Chase finds a house for one of the puppies to live in, and the three boys have fun with the puppy before its eventual departure.

There are a few swear words, but that's it.

This fanfic is for Shannon, the lovely person who asked for more ego content! I hope you enjoy, Shannon!

Chase was giggling and loving every moment he spent with the puppies. The puppies had grown to 7 weeks old, making them able to sprint everywhere, playfight with the other brothers and sisters, and bite everyone’s fingers till every layer of skin was shaved down.

Henrik was struggling to work with the puppies barking, growling and tappy tapping all over the ground. Looking after 8 dogs was a lot of work and a lot of training too. They were trying to think of ways to maybe get rid of a couple of them. Maybe keep Matilda and 5 puppies for themselves (Still gonna be a lot of work), and sell a couple.

“Hey Henrik?” Chase asked.

“Ja?” Henrik replied.

“Could I maybe ask my ex-wife if they want a puppy?” Chase asked.

“Of course!” Henrik replied. “See, see!”

Chase pulled out his phone and called his ex. While that happened, Henrik began to think about who else might want a puppy.

Suddenly, JJ ran to the middle of the room, with an army of puppies sprinting and barking at the man. JJ was visibly happy as he flopped onto the carpet and laid on his stomach. One after the other, all the puppies came flopping onto JJ and covered him in licks and little bites. Three of the puppies were growling and playing with JJ’s hands with their front paws and snouts. 2 of the puppies were jumping onto JJ’s back, and three of the puppies were pulling JJ’s socks right off his feet. JJ was truly the dog whisperer of the house.

Chase had to move to another room to actually listen to what his ex was saying, while Henrik was sitting with good ol’ Matilda on the couch. Matilda was a lot more calm and collected, compared to her rambunctious kids.

“Vhat’s it like being pregnant?” Henrik asked the dog.

Matilda looked up at him, and wagged her tail while her ears lifted.

“Was it painful?” Henrik asked as he started petting the somber dog. “Was it worth it?” Henrik asked as well.

Chase chuckled as he walked back into the room with the speaker on for Henrik to hear. Both his kids were pleading and begging for their Mom to get them a german shepherd puppy.

Their Mom sounded both entertained by this begging, but also slightly annoyed. “Are you boys gonna take care of the dog? Cause I’m not gonna be doing all the work around here! You boys need to help out as well!” Their Mom told them.

“Yes yes yes yes!” Grayson begged.

“we’ll do it, we promise”. Trey promised.

“We’ll feed him! And take him to go pee!” Grayson promised.

“And walk him and clean him!” Trey added.

It was around a dozen begs that the mother finally caved in.

“Alright. I think we’re getting a dog.” The mother decided.

Chase smiled as he looked at the puppies. His kids were really gonna get a dog! From his father!

“Alright, you boys need to help with buying things for the pup then. We’ll head to the store in half an hour.” She told them.

“Okay Mom!” One of them replied.

Chase listened calmly as his ex headed to a quieter spot. “So, when did you become a dog breeder?” She asked.

“Well...It’s a bit of a long story. But to sum it up: one of my roommates found puppies and brought them home. The puppies were maybe three weeks old and the mother was growly and untouchable…” Chase told her. “We didn’t know he brought them home until I got up the next morning. I just about dropped my coffee upon seeing the little pups!” Chase turned around and bursted out laughing:

JJ was being licked and bitten all over! But more specifically, JJ's neck was being licked non stop by 3 separate puppies, while four puppies were licking and nipping at JJ’s feet. His socks were completely off and placed aside, while the seven puppies overwhelmed his poor, ticklish roommate.

“Ohoho my god you have to see this!” Chase quickly turned the facetime option on and set up the camera while his ex answered the facetime call. When the call was answered, Chase had the camera focused on JJ and the puppies.

“Ohohoho lohohohord! Hahahaha!” she laughed. She brought the phone over to the kids, and showed the commotion over at Chase’s house.

The kids bursted out laughing at JJ, and made little funny comments.

“Hey Trey, you gotta be careful too if we get one!” Grayson teased.

“Says the one with the ticklish neck~” Their Mom mentioned.

“Hey!” Grayson reacted.

Chase laughed at this and walked over to JJ. “Hey Jamie! Need some help?” Chase asked. JJ nodded his head and let out a breath of exhaustion. Chase put down the phone and picked up the puppies. “Come here guys! Come here!” Chase called.

The puppies didn’t waste a second to sprint over to Chase and shower him. While Jamie was only panting from exhaustion. Chase was now the one overpowered by the puppies. “AaahahaHAHAH! Awww, ya little nutballs!” Chase fluffed each puppy’s head, causing every puppy’s mouth to open up and flop its head around. They all were wanting to play with Chase!

Jamie ended up getting up and showing the family the crowd as Chase was surrounded by puppies. “EEEEK! HEHELP! AAAH!” Chase yelled out, reaching his arms out to the camera. Right at the same time, one of the only named dogs that was Henrik’s, shoved her snout into his armpit.

“EEHEHEHE! Cahahareful Angela!” Chase told the pup.

“Is one of them named already?” Trey asked.

Chase got up and let the puppies nibble at his feet while he picked up Angela. “Yup! Dr. German over there already chose his dog and named it accordingly.” Chase told them.

“Schneeplestein, jou uncultured bas-”

Chase shot him a glare.

“-Uncultured fish!”

The Brody kids DIED upon hearing that. “Daddy the fish!”

Their mother chuckled. “Maybe you should draw that.” she encouraged.

Chase laughed. “Oho my god that would be awesome!” Chase reacted.

Feeling encouraged, Trey nodded. “I think I will!”

Chase smiled proudly. “That’s great!” He didn’t feel insulted by the idea of a fish Chase at all. He was just happy to know they were alright and had inspiration from their cool Daddy Brody.

A few minutes later, Chase ended the call and looked to JJ with a smile. “That wasn’t very nice, you know...leaving me surrounded by puppies when I was the one that saved you.” Chase teased.

JJ raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. ‘Little dog love Chase.’ he signed. The American sign language grammar was the strangest thing...but it worked despite that.

“True! That’s true.” Chase replied.

Then Jamie giggled and covered his mouth before signing the following words: ‘Chase fish with hat’.

Chase laughed and hit his shoulder gently. “Hey now! You be careful or I’ll draw you as Jamie the shrimp.” he teased.

Jamie chuckled and started fluttering his fingers closer and closer to Chase, to imitate the little shrimpies that clean dead skin off things. Chase squeaked like a little kid, and ran away. Jamie started chasing after him, signing the words ‘I clean you! I clean you!’.

“NOhoho! You’re sohohoho weihihihird!” Chase giggled, jumping over a few things on the ground. Jamie grabbed a blanket and managed to get close enough to throw the blanket onto him. This distracted Chase long enough for Jamie to grab onto him and start tickling him all over his middle and ribs. “AAAHAHAHAHAHA! JAHAHAHAY! STAHAP THAHAHAHAT!”

Jamie smirked and signed the word ‘no’...then resumed tickling him.

“Vhat zhe hell are you doing?” Henrik asked.

“Gohoho gehet Henrihihik, ya lihittle bahahastahard!” Chase argued, trying to push him away.

“So YOU can say ‘bastard’ but I cannot?!” Henrik asked.

“My kids were on the phone!” Chase shot back.

Jamie giggled and started sneaking up to Henrik in plain sight.

Henrik scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Not scary...Not to me. Leave.” Henrik tried to tell him.

Jamie started wiggling his fingers more and signing the word ‘tickle’ over and over and over again.

Henrik in response, started imitating his wiggling fingers. “Goooo tickle somevone else, vhy don’tcha?” Henrik teased.

Jamie took a moment to dramatically think and stroke his mustache. Then...he looked at Henrik with an evil smirk. ‘No’

Jamie sat down right beside Henrik and started digging into his side. Henrik, surprised by the sensation, curled away from the ticklish fingers. Immediately upon seeing his reaction, Jamie stopped and snapped his fingers at him.

‘Liar!’ Jamie signed with a huge smile on his face. ‘Liar!’

“Am not! I don’t lie!” Henrik reacted.

To prove his point, Jamie skittered his fingers on his side again. Henrik jumped and pushed his hands away. Jamie giggled. ‘Liar! Henrik liar!’

“Oooooh! I see Henrik is telling some little lies! Or Lügens, in your language.” Chase teased.

“Du hälst deinen Mund!” Henrik spat in German.

Chase smirked and imitated the classic bugs bunny meme while signing it for Jamie: “No”

Chase sprinted to Henrik and held up his arm. “Quick! Get his armpit!”

Jamie jumped at first, but didn’t waste a second to tickle his armpit.

Henrik hissed and quickly grew a wobbly smile. “Duböserkleiner- AAH JAHACK-!” Henrik pulled on his arm desperately as his armpit was pretty much dug into. Jamie smiled proudly as he basically struck gold.

Jamie decided to stop...he reeled backwards...breathed in dramatically...and…

ATTACKED as rapidly as he could! He was even making ‘ticki-ticki-ticki-ticki-’ noises as he tickled all over Henrik’s right side.

Finally, the dam broke right open and out came all the laughter. “JAHAHAMIHIHIHIHAHAHAHA! HEHEHEHEHE!” Henrik’s hand was let go as Henrik laughed absolutely hysterically! It would turn out that Henrik was a super wiggly person whenever he was being tickled. Like, SUPER wiggly and all over the place!

Chase had to grab onto Henrik from under the armpits, and hold onto him across his chest, as if he was about to be pulled out safely from under a truck.

“CUHUHUT IHIHIT OHOHOUT! EEEEEHEHEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Henrik ordered as he laughed. But Jamie was, and never will be, in the mood to listen to instructions. Especially if they were instructions coming from a LIAR!

“Hey Jamie! Watch this:” Chase leaned in...and blew a big raspberry onto Henrik’s neck. Henrik SCREAMED and snorted right back to back! “DAHAHAHAS IHIHIST ZU VIHIHIHIHIHIEL!” Henrik yelled, falling back into his first language.

“Really now?” Chase reacted, acting like he understood him.

“JAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHALT BIHIHIHIHITTE!” Henrik begged.

Jamie stopped tickling him for a moment and tilted his head. ‘You understand H-E-N-R-I-K?’ Jamie asked.

“No...I don’t. But I do know that ‘Halt’ is stop.” Chase told him.

Jamie gasped and snapped his fingers. He ran to the puppies, picked up his favorite, and brought it to Henrik. Jamie grabbed treats, and started placing them into Henrik’s belly button.

“OOOOooooh! You evil little genius!” Chase reacted as he grabbed Henrik’s arms and raised them up.

“No! NO! JAMIE BITTE! BITTE!” Henrik begged.

Jamie, understanding Henrik as saying ‘bite’, started making dramatic nomming expressions as he put his hands up against his own chest like a puppy.

Then, Jamie watched as the puppy ran to the belly, and hopped up onto Henrik’s belly. The puppy started sniffing for the treat, which tickled enough to make Henrik giggle already. But Henrik basically lost it the moment the dog’s tongue started absolutely covering Henrik’s tummy in doggy slobber.

“Ehehehehehew! Ihihit’s sohohoho wehehehehet!” Henrik complained in the middle of his giggles.

The puppy kept licking and nipping at the belly button to get the treat that was lodged in the buttonhole. Soon, the puppy successfully got the treat out. But what’s this? More treat smells were filling its little sniffer?

Jamie had giggled as the puppy’s head looked up to sniff the air more. The man had started hiding treats under Henrik’s side as well, to get the puppy sniffing and tickling there too. It didn’t take long for Henrik to feel a little wet nose shoving itself into his side to get to the treats.

“EEEhehehehehe! Hehehehehey! Thahahahat kihihitzehehelt, leetle hündchen!” Henrik giggled.

The puppy stopped for a moment and let out a ‘BOWWWOOOOWWW’ kind of yowl.

Jamie, Henrik and Chase all DIED at the sound. “Ahahahahaw! He’s more vocal zhan Jamie!” Henrik teased.

Jamie narrowed his eyes at him and threw him two middle fingers in response. Chase and Henrik wound up dying yet again at the reaction.

Chase then gasped. “How dare! There are children here, Jamie!” Chase reacted.

Well in response to that:

‘B-A-S-T-A-R-D!’

“BASTARD!”

Chase wounded up destroying both of the boys after THAT response. He had to teach them one way or the other to not swear! Or, you know, not give the kids any more ideas.

A couple days later, Chase’s ex-wife and kids showed up at the house and picked the dog they wanted. Funnily enough, they ended up choosing the same dog that made the “BOOWWWOOOOWW” sound a few days before! And the kids got to play with the dog for a few minutes or so to get to know the dog more.

But before the dog left…

Chase let the other puppies say their last goodbyes to the puppy. The kids insisted this be done, despite what a majority of the adults believed. The boys ended up coming up with the name ‘Marble’, due to the puppy’s multitude of colors.

Matilda soon walked up to her little puppy, and gave it a few little licks of luck and farewell. The little Marble had grown up so quickly and was now moving into a new family: a family of loving kids who would treat the dog like a king.

Farewell Marble!

[imherongraystairstrash]

Matthew x Lucie Part 3 (Final Part!)

Author’s note: Hello again! This is the final part of my Fairondale Fanfic. I apologize in advance for it’s length. Here are the other parts if you haven’t read them yet: Part 1 Part 2. Also, if you have any requests (a ship or a scene between two or more characters) feel free to send me a message! FOUR MORE DAYS ‘TIL CHAIN OF GOLD LET’S GOOOO!!!!

-Ana (aka imherongraystairstrash)

The night dragged on, and after their intricate plan was done, Lucie and Matthew stood together, their shoulders touching.

“Soak it in, Luce. This is the last time our parents will look at us with love for a long time.”

Lucie couldn’t help but smile.

“Are you ready, Fairchild?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

Matthew gave Anna a thumbs up. She had initially refused to help, but even she could not resist their pleads. Thomas had managed to round them all up, and now they were talking amounts themselves. Anna walked out of the shadows, and moved her way towards the table. She greeted them all and stayed with them chattering along. Matthew looked at Lucie.

“Here it goes.”

Matthew, got on one knee. He looked up at her, through his blond hair. Then, he began talking nonsense, quietly enough so that they could still hear what their parent’s reactions.

“Lucie, since the day I met you, I knew we were destined to be together.”

“Is that Matthew Fairchild proposing to Lucie Herondale?” They heard Anna say.

Although the action did not make sound, Lucie felt like she could hear their heads turning.

“Lucie Herondale, will you marry me?”

Tessa gasped. Charlotte paled. Henry was smiling absentmindedly, probably not even aware of what was going on. Will, who had usually held a calm dementor, was clutching his glass tightly, whispering something to Charlotte.

“Matthew,” Lucie said, “I would love to, but I do not want you to marry me if it is not out of love. I not even sure if it’s yours or Thomas’.”

“Lucie,” Tessa began, “What are your talking about?”

“Mother! How could you not know?”

“Know what?” Will and Tessa both asked.

“I’m expecting.”

At that moment, Will, Tessa and Charlotte were in complete shock. Later, Sophie and Gideon joined them, realizing that their son, Thomas, could potentially be the father. Cecily and Gabriel looked relieved that for once Christopher was not the one that screwed up. Henry just looked confused.

“Expecting what?” He asked.

Lucie and Matthew just looked at him. Surely he knew what they were talking about.

“A baby.” Matthew said finally.

“Oh. That’s great news!”

“No, it’s not, Henry! They’re sixteen!” said Charlotte.

“Actually, I’m seventeen.” said Matthew.

“Matthew, I don’t care how old you are right now, all I know is that, at this moment, it’s not old enough to have a child.”

“Lucie,” said Tessa, after regaining some of her composure, “Whatever do you mean by you don’t know who’s baby it is.”

“Oh, right. Well, it was a wild night, there really is no way of knowing.”

Will and Tessa looked like they might just pass out right there.

“Lucie, Matthew, what have you done to our parents?” asked Jamie, seemingly come out of the shadows.

“I just told them about the baby.”

“Lucie! You were supposed to wait for us so it would soften the blow when we confessed our wrongdoings.”

Every turned to Jamie.

“What did you do James?” asked Will

“Oh nothing.”

“James Herondale, whatever you did, I don’t think it could be worse than what your sister did, so tell me what happened before I hurl you into the pits of Hell.” said Tessa

“Hey Jamie.” Said Matthew

“What?”

“I think you should tell her. I’ve never been to Hell, but I have lived with Charles my entire life, so I have a pretty good idea on what it must be like. It’s not good.”

“Thanks, Matthew!”

“Anytime!”

“What did you do?” interjected Tessa.

“Oh right, well I was strolling through the park one Sunday afternoon—”

“Sometime today please.”

“I set loose approximately 50 ducks in the institute.”

Will choked on his water and fell out of his chair.

“50 ducks?”

“Approximately.”

Will turned to Tessa. “Forget about hurling James into Hell, throw me instead! I would rather burn in Hell than come home tonight.”

“Mum, dad. I got a tattoo in Spain.” Thomas said.

Sophie seemed to be having difficulty breathing.

“Are we confessing?” said Christopher out of nowhere.

“NO.” Cecily and Gabriel said in unison.

“Yes,” said Anna, “Do you have anything you would like to contribute?”

“No, not really.”

Gabriel released the breath he had been holding. Cecily got up from her chair and embraced her son tightly, kissing his cheeks and forehead while repeating “My sweet son.” It was a heartfelt moment nobody seemed to what to break.

“Well I do have a confession.” said Anna out of nowhere.

Everyone turned to her.

“I’ve decided to learn to play the Pibgorn.”

Everyone looked blankly at her except for Cecily and Will, though their expressions were completely different. Cecily looked like she had just seen a ghost. Will looked very amused.

“Well Cecily, it looks like you’re in for a treat!”

“Shut up, William. Your daughter has a 50% chance of being pregnant with either a Lightworm’s or Matthew Fairchild’s offspring.”

“Oh, that reminds me.” He turned to face Matthew. “I’m going to have to kill you.”

“What? The baby could be Thomas’ just as much as mine!”

“Yes, and despite the fact that he is a Lightworm, it would be an honor to have my grandchild be half Thomas.”

“Why, thank you Mr. Herondale.” said Thomas

“You’re very welcome, Thomas.” Will said “Alright, where was I? Oh yes, I was going to kill Matthew. And then I’m going to kill James because he betrayed me.”

“You can’t kill me!”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m your only son!”

“Tessa’s immortal, we can make another one.” Will rebutted, while Tessa made a finger gun, and pretended to shot it at Jamie.

“It’s a good thing I am not pregnant than.” said Lucie

It was Tessa’s turn to go up the Lucie and hug her.

“I was ready to peel your skin off.” She told her.

Will turned to Jamie and raised an eyebrow.

“Where would I find 50 ducks, father?”

Will stared at Jamie.

“It’s going to take a while before I can trust you, son.”

“I can live with that.”

Anna reassured Cecily she was not planning on learning the Pibgorn anytime soon.

All eyes fell on Thomas.

“Oh, I really did get a tattoo.”

Gideon considered him for a second before saying:

“Well, we are Shadowhunters…”

Even though it wasn’t at all funny, all the parents laughed like crazy. It was probably out of relief that their children were not going to be parents or learn instruments at time soon.

They were all outside. James and Will seemed to be playing a game of some sorts were they had to touch the other’s shoulder without getting their shoulder touched by the other. Lucie and Tessa were watching them, laughing when Tessa told Will to duck, and Will looked over his shoulder yelling “Where?!”. Matthew was kneeling down beside his father.

“So, Lucie is not pregnant?”

Matthew laughed. “No, it was just a joke.”

“I don’t think your mother found it very funny.” Henry laughed.

Matthew couldn’t help but join him.

Soon, the Herondales had to depart. Matthew said goodbye the Aunt Tessa and then Uncle Will.

“I apologize for wanting to kill you today.”

“If he really did get Lucie pregnant, I would have killed him too.” said James

Finally he said farewell to Lucie.

“It’s a shame Cordelia had to leave on such a short notice.” said Matthew.

“It is. She would have loved this.”

They stood there.

“Lucie?”

“Hmm?”

“You never answered my proposal.”

“Lucie!” Tessa called.

“Coming!” she turned to Matthew, “Until next time, Fairchild.”

Before leaving, she planted a kiss on Matthew’s cheek. Matthew stared at her as she ran to her family, getting caught her father’s embrace.

Thanks for reading! Please reblog instead of reposting!

[tfw-no-tennis]

mtmte liveblog issue 18

lets goooo

I love the ‘no guns no swords no briefcases’ sign sm

NEVER over the ‘my first blaster(tm): big grip for little hands’ fucking iconic

‘get the hell out of my bar’ swerve lmao ily

so now we continue on with the remain in light arc, this issue subtitled ‘house of ambus,’ which is a dopeass name and also promises some ambus lore, which is exciting

first aid holding his gun sideways like a gangsta lmao I canttt

forgot there's literally a guy named dipstick LMAOOOOO that's funny on so many levels like...it sounds like dipshit, and also a urine dipstick is a urine test used to detect various stuff so that's the first thing I think of...what a name

‘put two and two together and make it a fist’ skids ily sm

pharma is in full-on dr thot mode over here, oh boy

lockdown looks like such a nerd on his edgy decepticon hoverboard

the fact that cyclonus immediately goes along w/whirls suggestion to disobey rodimus and attack the enemy....both of them are icons

OOOH ALL THE TITANS...that's such a good panel 

ok but I cant get over how lowkey funny it is that there's this battle going on rn where most of the participants can turn into various vehicles, but they're all riding around on dorky air scooters instead. this series, man

well, at least chromedome transformed

I fucking love that rodimus is always doing this like, ridiculous 80s action movie nonsense, I feel like that's perfect considering his g1 debut was in a ridiculous 80s action movie

poor tg just found out he’s gonna die in like 3 days and then rodimus immediately is like ‘wanna make that today?’ and does some crazy shit while tg clings to him like a terrified baby

rodimus mid-car transformation is fucking wild lmao

and now we finally get to see a bit more of what’s going on with our framing device flash-forward - it’s not just rodimus, everyone’s there! except ratchet...also, they’re in jail. woohoo!

and then there’s magnus, looking completely healthy but strangely unresponsive...

TYREST....this motherfucker....he is like, SO MUCH. the cape...the helmet crown thing...the holes....

tyrest told rodimus to ‘shut up or be held in contempt’ ayyyyyyyyyyyy

‘crimes against creation’ that's pretty dramatic dude

Let The Robots Swear!!

ok but rlly I find it funny that they're not allowed to say swear words (I'm assuming its not allowed rather than it being a creative choice) but all the death and violence and body horror is ok

chromedome is sitting there like oh holy shit did I find my now-dead husbands missing 1st husband after millions of years, like a WEEK after my husband died

chromedome mimicking the moustache with his finger...cute

its interesting to see a ‘sibling’ type of relationship here, since that's really uncommon for tfs since they don't really have families/lineage - of course, we don't really get to see dominus and minimus interact (until the FU), so

minimus really tried to pass himself off as a law-breaking smuggler lmaoooo that was never gonna work mdude

like he just continues acting exactly like ultra magnus except he pretends not to know these guys lol

‘forceful expressions of innocence’ tailgate ily

poor tg :( 

OH GOD pharma time. he’s out here looking totally unhinged and also thotty somehow, like usual

I SO subscribe to the idea that ratchet and pharma are exes are pharma still isn't over ratchet. that's the most entertaining and interesting way to read their interactions imo

dual chainsaw hands.....Bruh.

skiiiiiiiiiiiids....I love skids, he’s just such a good dude

also he’s really cool and also sexy. I feel like if anyone would be the mary sue of the series it would be skids rather than rung lmao 

oh shit I forgot skids gets skewered by star saber

aaaaaand ratchet’s in the box!!!! jesus pharma just say you kin the joker and go

HOW is ratchet alive tho like....wouldn't he need energon?? isn't energon basically blood for them, but also food, and fuel, and basically everything? I don't get it but yknow what, ill suspend my disbelief bc its so entertaining 

see, the little backstory on tyrest is really interesting, cause it seems to me that at one point, tyrest did have the best interests of the cybertronian people in mind, and he really did stand for true justice and tried to end the war peacefully - but somewhere along the way things went bad, and now here he is

oh rung, scolding somebody for revealing top secret information, that’s rich coming from mr hipaa violations himself 

lmao and minimus cant restrain himself from scolding rodimus either, and then very obviously fishing for information so he can ask questions without it being clear that he already knew all about the lost light 

vhbjahdbhjhdf im NEVER over rung passive-aggressively antagonizing minimus so he can accuse him of being ultra magnus hvbhjkdnfssfhsabjhdfk that's so funny

also its another example of rung maybe not being the best at his job - he’s basically manipulating magnus’s OCD to try to force minimus into revealing his identity...ethical? perhaps not. effective? oh yeah

I mean I guess you could say this is an example of rung being really good at his job, bc he was able to use psychology to deduce minimus’s identity...it’s more like he also decided to disregard medical ethics and ethics in general 

and then the reveal....ultra magnus is actually a much smaller green dude?! whaaaat!? 

ill talk more about it later but fr this is one of my favorite concepts that mtmte introduced, I fucking love it 

ahhhh I love this issue. tho tbh I love basically every issue. anyways tho I love the continuation of ratchet and pharma’s story, with pharma officially going off the rails with some complete bullshit, and also the big reveal about magnus/minimus! great stuff

[queerhargreeves]

Makes sense

nb Klaus and trans Diego are the only acceptable headcanons

here’s a lil self indulgent fic i wrote :’))

—————————————————————————-

It had been a few months since the Hargreeves had avoided the end of the world. At first they were all sort of shocked. Nothing felt quite real - nothing felt the same. They didn’t feel the same. They’ve been working together to regain some sort of normalcy in their lives. All seven of the siblings had their own unique “quirks”.

Luther was learning how to be an actual person without a mission. He spent 30 years aimlessly following orders and now that he has this newfound freedom, he’s working on trying to find his “thing”. Right now he’s experimenting with painting. He had spent about $1,500 of their fathers money on art supplies and his siblings fully supported that use of his money. Often times he’d end up painting the moon and the sights he saw while up there.

As time progressed Diego’s stutter started to reappear and not just when he was emotional. He would wake up every morning and say the same line to the reflection.

“My name is Diego Hargreeves and I am here.” That line became his new mantra. He affirmed his existence every morning while seeing where his brain and his body lined up that day. Sometimes it wouldn’t come out of his mouth as clean as he’d want. Sometimes it wouldn’t come out at all. During those times he signed for the day. Klaus and Diego had learned the basics as kids. They would sneak in the library and find the ASL books and cram as much information as they could in their heads before they got kicked out of the room. Klaus wanted Diego to know there was more than one way to communicate; he wanted him to know that he could express himself without words. Diego had been busying himself in boxing once more. Him and Luther turned one of the rooms downstairs into their own personal gym. He found it to be a good stress release even if he wasn’t living at the boxing rink anymore. He was still competing and his family came to every event to cheer him on.

Allison may have lost her voice but she didn’t lose her passion for acting. She’s been interpreting for shows and musicals. She even auditioned for Deaf West Sprint Awakening with the encouragement of the other six Hargreeves of course. Vanya was not the most fluent in ASL. She wanted to help her sister with rehearsing and also wanted become more fluent herself. She felt like Allison deserved at least that much. The two sisters spent many nights together rehearsing the lines, making sure she was as good as she could be. She got the role. And Vanya is playing in the pit with her. Allisons siblings made sure she didn’t lose that part of herself.

Klaus, newly sober and doing well, painted his nails weekly and has started experimenting with makeup. He had bought just about every palette he could get his hands on and everyday he would look like a different person. The siblings always made sure to comment on the look of the day. Even Luther was able to tell he was improving. They spent too long not taking Klaus seriously that the least they could do was give him the affirmations he deserves. And every week he’d have a new nail color; this weeks being hot pink. He had his “weekly appointments” with Allison that involved gummy worms, soap operas, and nail polish.

Five made sure to make a marshmallow and peanut butter sandwich every morning for breakfast with a hot cup of coffee. He often read the newspaper and usually Ben was the only one up early enough to join him. The 13 year old body had been touch deprived for 45 years and the 20 year old had been unable to get in contact with anyone for 10 years. Ben and Five always made sure they had company within each other in the mornings.

Ben was able to be physically present for about 12 hours of the day. Klaus and Ben has been training hard so they could have their brother in their life again. All Ben wanted to do was spend time with his family. He helped Luther pick out the brands of paints he should from his research of art. He also made sure to research the best, non problematic makeup brands for Klaus to buy from. He even accompanied Vanya’s students on piano as he was an avid player until the day he died. If he wasn’t physically doing things with his family, he would be reading with them.

Even after all that happened Vanya is still playing violin. She’s not currently in school as she’s already a grad student. She doesn’t have any intentions on getting her masters in violin performance. She’s content teaching kids at home. Her family has made it a big thing: Grace always made sure the children had plenty of “brain food”. Allison helped turn one of the many bedrooms into a studio with creative design rightfully going to Klaus (or more so he insisted).

However one thing that Klaus didn’t expect to happen was the euphoria he started to feel. Not only was his family actually acting like a family, but he was able to actually discover who he is. His brain has finally been given a break. He’s able to have clear, cognitive thoughts that were entirely his own without the cloudiness or influence of any substance. This was the first time he was able to do so in 17 years.

Since he started playing with makeup he realized something. He wasn’t sure if he was really a “he” at all. Klaus knew he wasn’t a girl like Allison or Vanya are. But he knew he wasn’t a man like Diego or Luther.

Klaus learned about the difference between gender and sex after a long talk with Ben. Ben had found his sibling staring at their reflection in front of the, noticing the way they eyed every centimeter of their body with confusion one night. They had on black overalls with a black and white crop top underneath and their buckled booties on. They had a simple makeup look: just winged eyeliner and a red lip. They had grown out their curls long enough to where it touched their shoulders however they had it tied up in a bun.

“I just...i don’t feel like a guy.” Klaus finally let out after he noticed Ben’s gentle presence.

“That’s okay.”

“But I don’t feel like a girl.” They shifted, looking away from their reflection and staring at Ben’s. They weren’t sure what they were saying this out loud for but Ben has been their clarity filter for quite a few years now. He always knew what to say.

Ben came up right behind Klaus and peaked his head over his shoulder. Although they were taller than Ben, Klaus had never felt so small.

“Tell me what you’re thinking. What are you seeing?” Ben asked softly, putting his hand on the small of Klaus’ back for support.

They blinked at the question. They weren’t too sure how to answer that.

“I uh,” they paused and tugged at one of their sleeves and pulled it down, “I see a lanky person who doesn’t look like anything.”

Ben nodded and waved his hand as a sign to make them elaborate.

“I think I’m...I’m not anything? I’m just Klaus.”

“And just Klaus is good enough for me. Good enough for all of us. Have you considered that you may be nonbinary?” Ben spun their sibling around so they were now facing each other.

“Non-binary...?” Klaus’ voice tapered at the end. They had never heard of such a thing.

“From what I’ve read, nonbinary people are individuals who don’t identify as male or female. They don’t fit within either binary. They simply exist as a person regardless of the binary genders assumed of people. Some go by they/them pronouns,” Ben explained, “so like ‘oh that’s Jay’s jacket. They must have left it here when they went home’. It’s completely grammatically correct. Others are comfortable with he/she pronouns. Or all of the above! It all depends on the person. This identity fits under the trans umbrella which a lot of people don’t realize.” Ben found himself rambling which he usually did when educating someone about a subject. Even if he didn’t know the most about a topic he always appreciated when anyone would listen to him.

“You can do that? You can...you can actually live like that?” They were in shock. Everything Ben had just said felt like it came right from their brain as if he had peaked inside their head at their most intimate inner thoughts about themself.

“Absolutely.” Ben put his hand on their shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. Klaus’ eyes started to sting as they started to tear up. They immediately wrapped the shorter man into a hug, careful not to get makeup on his hoodie.

“Thank you. I think...I think that’s it. I’m nonbinary.” Klaus took a step back and wiped a tear from their eyes, looking up as they did so to not mess up their eyeliner.

“What pronouns are you comfortable with?” Ben inquired with a grin on his face. He loved seeing his sibling this happy.

“I...want to try they/them.” They stated, “if...if that’s okay.” Their head always made them feel like they were asking too much of people. They didn’t want to add any unnecessary stress to their siblings lives, not anymore.

“Of course it is, Klaus. Should we tell the others?” Ben nodded towards the door. “There’s absolutely no rush though.” He added, not wanting to make them feel like they had to announce their identity to the world.

“No yeah, I’d like to. I want to be 100% me to everyone.” Klaus agreed, a grin forming on their face.

“Alrighty then, family meeting time!” Ben marched to the door like a soldier which caused Klaus to bark out a laugh.

“Yeah okay buddy.” They rolled their eyes and followed suit.

They didn’t think they’d ever have to come out again. To say they weren’t scared would be a lie but they knew the could do this. Ben was on their side after all.

Ben grabbed Klaus’ bell on the way out and rang it through the halls.

“Non emergency family meeting people! Let’s go let’s go let’s goooo~” Ben chanted as each of their respective doors opened.

“Okay c-cool it with the bell, Ben. We heard it the first th-th-thousand rings.” Diego yanked the bell from his hand and ruffled his brothers hair.

“Fair enough. But you know I always need to make an entrance now.” Ben laughed as they seven of them seated themselves in the living room.

Ben walked up to the front with Klaus basically attached at his hip. It wasn’t unusual to find the two of them this close but they way Klaus was closing in on themself worried the family.

“What’s this about? I know you said nonemergency but,” Luther gestured to Klaus, “is this about-“

“Did you relapse, Klaus?” Five interrupted. He didn’t sound mad or accusatory, just concerned. His brows were furrowed and he was twirling his fingers in his lap.

“What, no? God no, don’t worry. I’m okay.” Klaus reassured their family as they waved their hands in front of them.

The rest of them immediately relaxed and all shared glances.

“What is this about then?” Allison signed carefully.

“I wanted to tell you guys I’m. Uh,” Ben gave them a nudge and a nod, reassuring them they can do this.

“I’m nonbinary.” They blurted in one breath. Their eyes were wide and he was frantically looking at each of them awaiting their reaction.

“I’m not familiar? What is this term. Nonbinary?” Five asked and leaned forward, ready to listen.

“It’s um, well, Ben knows more about this then I do but basically I don’t identify as a man. Or woman. I’ve never felt like either so...” Klaus trailed off

“Well I can’t really say that’s a far fetched concept to wrap my head around. You’ve always just been Klaus so this makes sense.” Luther pondered aloud almost like he was talking to himself.

Allison nodded. “I love you no matter what Klaus.” She signed and gave him a big smile.

Klaus signed thank you, feeling themself already getting emotional again.

“I could’ve told you that, K-Klaus. Is that name ok-okay still?” Diego asked and signed.

“Mmhmm! And I don’t think I really like he/him pronouns. They make me all,” they waved their hands in a dramatic motion and made a “ufjsjfjs” sound

“Dysphoric?” Diego finger spelled, knowing all too well what that felt like.

Klaus took a sharp inhale and snapped their fingers.

“Yes! Yes that’s it. It makes me uncomfy.”

“Now there’s two trans people in the family, one ace, five queer, and only one cis straight.” Vanya giggled and pointed at Luther at the last bit which earned the roll of his eyes.

“I’m the minority now.” He retorted in a fake ‘hurt’ voice and pointed at himself.

“It gets better.” Allison signed next to him and pat his shoulder.

The entire family bust out laughing, the quiet house filled being filled with their joy.

“Thank you for trusting us with this, Klaus.” Five stood up and walked over to his sibling and stopped right in front of them and turned around expectantly.

“Family hug time!” Vanya exclaimed and jumped right up. She attacked her sibling with a hug and the rest got up to do the same.

“Who ever would’ve thought it would take the end of the world for the Hargreeves to finally develop communication skills.” Ben’s voice was muffled in the middle of the 7 bodies but everyone heard him clearly.

“Let’s go shopping, yeah? I want to blow more of father dearests money on some new dresses. The ones I have are a bit dated.” Klaus suggested as they tried to wrangle themself out of the hug to go fix their makeup.

Everyone broke apart and watched their sibling dash up the stairs before giving anyone a chance to respond. Guess they were going to the mall.

But they would be going together. Even if that meant spending an hour in and out of the changing rooms as Klaus put on their own fashion show. They all enjoyed their time together nonetheless.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 158: Deku VS Overhaul ~Conclusion~

Previously on BNHA: Eri escaped Overhaul and leaped into Deku’s waiting arms. Before Overhaul could grab them, Deku instinctively activated 100% OFA in his legs and leaped to safety on the surface. Back in the Pit of Despair, Nighteye told the others he’d seen Deku’s death in a vision, and he believes they can’t do anything to stop it. Up on the street level, Deku marveled at how all of his wounds were suddenly healed up. But then he collapsed in pain feeling like his body was being “pulled apart from the inside.” Overhaul reappeared, having merged himself with a new minion, and explained that Eri’s quirk gives her the power to “rewind” humans, reverting them back to a previous state. Depending on how she uses it, she can even rewind them back to nothingness. He made it out to be some cursed thing, but Deku was all “8D” and realized he was carrying a full-HP-restored-and-all-status-ailments-cured healer who was currently using her quirk uncontrollably, unable to turn it off. So he literally fucking strapped her to his back with Mirio’s cape, and activated 100% One for All Full Cowl.

Today on BnHA: We say goodbye to volume 17 and usher in the new era of volume 18. Overhaul monologues a bunch about quirks and mutations and disease and blah blah blah. He says brats like Deku can’t appreciate Eri’s value and the power of her quirk. Meanwhile Togawice watch from a safe distance, and Ochako floats Nighteye up to get him some medical help. Overhaul has more flashbacks about how the Comatose Boss (back before he was comatose) told him to stop selling quirk drugs and not to stray from the right path. Of course, as we all know, he didn’t listen, wanting to restore the yakuza to their former glory by starting a drug war and supplying both sides. It’s arguably implied here that Overhaul may be the one who put the Comatose Boss in his coma, but Horikoshi is very vague about it. At any rate, back in the present day Overhaul continues to rant at Deku, but Deku has fucking All Might power now, and he just. Beats the everloving shit out of him. Like, it takes about four pages. Holy shit. And just like that, this battle is finally over.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 187 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

WE’RE DONE WITH THE PREVIOUS VOLUME OH MY GOD. WE’RE ON TO A NEW VOLUME. A NEW VOLUME WHICH WILL FINALLY INCLUDE A NEW FUCKING ARC AT LONG LAST. SOMEBODY HOLD ME

IF KACCHAN ISN’T ON THE CHARACTER PAGE, I WILL FUCKING FLY TO JAPAN AND FIND OUT WHERE HORIKOSHI IS KEEPING MY BOY HOSTAGE AND SAVE HIM MYSELF

HERE WE GOOOO

ooooohhhhh

(ETA: I recall reading in an interview somewhere that Horikoshi usually colors the volume covers in Photoshop, but for this one he felt like doing something different and so he colored it by hand and very much enjoyed it. it looks good!)

somehow I wasn’t picturing this weird mutant Overhaul creature to be red. somehow it makes him look even more like a Zelda boss

100% OFA Deku looks so cool! and his OFA lightning has turned yellow just like All Might’s oh gosh

“a bright future” OH GOD YES PLEASE

THIS TITLE PAGE IS GIVING ME ALL THE FEELS??

NIGHTEYE YOU REALLY ARE GOING TO FUCKING DIE AREN’T YOU. FUCK

MIRIOOOOOO

FUCK THIS STUPID PAGE AND ITS “BACK IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS BEFORE ALL THE HORRIBLE THINGS HAPPENED” VIBE

(ETA: I HATE IT EVEN MORE NOW!! looking back on it now is giving me the headcanon that Mirio is actually sitting on the bench alone, sometime after this arc, and that’s actually Nighteye’s spirit sitting there, watching over him. I have no idea why my subconscious would choose to come up with a background story for this page that makes me want to cry even more.)

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LEAPS OUT OF MY CHAIR AND POUNDS MY FIST ONTO MY DESK IN TRIUMPH]

(AND I REALLY DID YOU GUYS, AND THEN I THUMPED MY FIST ON MY DESK SEVERAL MORE TIMES FOR GOOD MEASURE!!!)

BAKUGOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

AND SHOUTO! AND INASA OH MY GOD, WHAT A PLEASANT SURPRISE. ARE WE FINALLY GOING TO SEE THEIR SPECIAL TRAINING??

(ETA: I love this volume)

AND SEIJI. MR. MEATBALL. SO YOU’RE STILL AROUND. YOU DIDN’T MAKE IT PAST THE FIRST ROUND, SO I’M VERY SURPRISED THEY APPARENTLY ALLOWED YOU TO TAKE THE SPECIAL TRAINING COURSE. BUT I GUESS WE’LL FIND OUT ALL ABOUT THAT

(ETA: Seiji sure has a lot of spare time on his hands huh)

WELL GUESS WHAT, OVERHAUL, THIS ONE PAGE HAS GIVEN ME THE POWER NEEDED TO DEFEAT YOU AND YOUR STUPID ARC ONCE AND FOR ALL. LET’S DO THIS. FOR KACCHAN AND SHOUTO. THE FORGOTTEN CHARACTERS

wow this opening panel is talking about the possible origin of quirks as a fucking virus spread by rats. like if the fucking bubonic plague gave you superpowers

oh no

I did not ask for an Overhaul flashback and I don’t care about him. go ahead and flesh him out if you must, but no amount of backstory can satisfactorily explain why he’s such a fucking creep

Tongue!Overhaul says that neither Deku nor Eri understand the value of Eri’s power

idk man, Deku’s already making some damn good use of it barely two seconds after discovering that it exists

so he’s explaining that her quirk can be used to rewind the mutation that brought quirks about

how come the version Tamaki got shot with only did this temporarily, though? does this mean the effect is eventually going to wear off on Deku and he’ll collapse with every last one of his bones shattered and probably die immediately omg

also would it then be possible to undo what happened to Mirio? or does the quirk not work on itself? goddammit

and in theory this could potentially even be used for creepy necromancy purposes. ohhhh man

(ETA: and also I’m telling you, the more I think about it, the more I’m becoming convinced that this is the quirk which will eventually bring All for One back to power. eventually someone is going to make the mistake of letting AFO come into contact with Overhaul over in Tartarus, and once that happens, things are going to go downhill fast.)

ironically, this actually seems like the most narrow-minded view of Eri’s quirk possible. most people would look at Eri’s quirk and immediately identify it as a healing quirk. the fact that he turned it into a destructive quirk tells you all you need to know about the kind of person he is right there

also, those buildings he’s casually smashing just so happen to have people in them omg

why would they not have evacuated by this point. there was a fight going on between a dragon and a giant villain for a full 20 minutes. for that matter, you’d think that local heroes would have eventually stepped in at some point. that’s plenty of time for backup to have arrived, and it should have been abundantly clear by that point that they needed it. so much about this doesn’t make any damn sense smh

(ETA: I think later on they confirm that there were only a handful of civilian injuries, though, and they were only light scratches and stuff. but all that means is that they got lucky goddammit.)

wowwwww Overhaul. wow

I’ll take “most ironic things villains have ever said” for $500, Alex

LOL

AND SO OVERHAUL WAS KICKED INTO SPACE, NEVER TO BE HEARD FROM AGAIN. NOTHING OF VALUE LOST, ETC

Deku’s thinking to himself that Eri’s power is getting stronger and that she doesn’t know how to stop it. “just like the first time I used One for All”

he’s thinking that she basically has her foot stuck on the gas pedal

OH HEY YOU GUYS

is he “Deku” now? no more Izuku-kun or -chan or whatever?

as for Mr. Compress, he got squished by Ryuukyuu and melted

Ochako’s floating up to the surface with Nighteye in tow. and they were smart enough to avoid removing the spike in his stomach so he doesn’t instantly bleed out

does Nighteye even still have his left arm omg

now we’re flashing back again to the old boss chewing out Overhaul for getting into a fight with some dude and laying him out in critical condition

the boss thinks Overhaul is going behind his back and undertaking some secret venture in the drug business

he says he told Overhaul not to get involved with those drugs. I think that was the flashback we saw some chapters earlier

and he’s again telling him “you must not stray from my path”

why am I starting to get the feeling that the boss never actually got “sick” and that was Overhaul’s doing as well...?

oh my god is he talking to Kurono here

I feel like this is the only person who could plausibly be shipped with him. it doesn’t hurt that at this point he’s literally the last Precept standing

Overhaul’s determined to restore the family back to its former glory

oh here we go. finally the complete master plan

so first they flood the streets with some of the “incomplete products” they have on hand that can temporarily erase quirks

and once people have gotten a taste of that they’ll all be clamoring to purchase the completed product from them at sky-high prices

!!!!!!

SO YOU’RE TELLING ME MIRIO’S QUIRK CAN BE RESTORED OH MY GOD. THERE IS HOPE!

did they actually start to work on that particular serum yet?

anyways, because the boss isn’t A COMPLETE MONSTER, he’s immediately telling him no

you know, this is one of those instances where the time-honored mob tradition of doing away with a troublesome family member before they get even more troublesome would not have gone amiss. just sayin’. in hindsight he probably wishes he had

instead he just told him “if you’re going to disobey our way of thinking then you should just leave”

Overhaul says all he wants to do is repay the boss for taking him in

then why don’t you start by, I don’t know, FUCKING LISTENING TO HIM oh my god

but instead he went behind his back, continued torturing the innocent little girl, and proceeded with his plan

(ETA: okay, so! after much discussion, I have come to agree with the people saying that this scene...

...which I initially took to be Overhaul relenting, followed by the transition from the flashback back to the present, is in fact actually Overhaul making the decision to take his boss out of commission. the fade to black and the startled look on the boss’s face are intended to show that Something Bad is about to happen. and the next panel after that is just Overhaul thinking about how he owes a great debt to the boss, and that if they proceed with his plan, they can restore the family. “look forward to it, Pop.” so yeah, that does make sense.

what still annoys me though is that they don’t explicitly confirm it, even though it’s arguably the key moment in terms of Overhaul’s development into a villain. the series has no problem showing Eri’s torture in way more detail than anyone ever needed or asked for, and yet this key scene merely gets hinted at. it’s basically the thing all of these flashbacks are leading up to, and then they just... don’t show it.

there is one possible reason I can think of for this, which is that this scene is from Overhaul’s perspective, and because he wants to continue thinking of himself as the loyal son who’s doing this all for the sake of his father figure, it makes sense that he would censor his own recollection of the incident in order to further convince himself that it was all for the best. but while that explains the vagueness, there are still tons of other ways Horikoshi as the author could have confirmed it for us. for instance he could have showed it from Kurono’s perspective instead. or hell, just confirm it with a simple line of dialogue if you have to. but narratively, I think the decision to leave it inconclusive hurts the story by robbing us of the coolest, most dramatic and defining moment of Overhaul’s past.

so idk, I’m still not the biggest fan of this scene. for me, it comes tantalizingly close to being the kind of super dark twist I was hoping for, but then fails to stick the landing. so I’m hoping the anime can improve on this a little bit.)

so now we’re back in the present, and there are a few panels of Overhaul screaming that everyone else is missing the bigger picture, and he’s trying to destroy this world (the word “world” being in quotation marks, so I assume he means society, not the actual world), and that the “fake heroes” who are fixated on their tiny notions of justice need to stay out of his way

boy this is getting tiresome. it’s like someone combined Stain and Overhaul and created... Worse Overhaul

but he really doesn’t stand a chance against a 100% Deku, I think

well, we just had three huge pages of Deku beating the shit out of Overhaul. what do you guys think. climax? are we done at last?

oh my god you guys

;________; WE DID IT

(ETA: this is the quickest Final Battle a 40+ chapter arc has ever had. I’m not complaining, mind. good god am I not complaining)

so Deku punched Nighteye’s vision in the face?? apparently?

I mean, there didn’t even seem to be any point where he was even remotely in danger of dying. so either there’s something coming up, or Nighteye really screwed up on that one

either way it’s not like I mind? holy shit. we’re done? we’re really done?? ARE WE MOVING ON FROM THIS ARC

oh my god you guys. hey google play “We Are the Champions”

hang in there Kacchan and Shouto. we’re coming, lads

no bonus, this volume is pretty skimpy on the omake content honestly. but hey guys, tomorrow our favorite villain with too many hands makes his own long-awaited reappearance! google, when you’re done with this song, get ready to play some AC/DC next. we’re about to embark on the Highway to Hell, baby.

[rontra]

do you have any recommendations on how to like. Take In Umineko. I think it looks really cool and I’d like to get into it, but there’s a lot of things that are confusing (like all of the different games, the manga, the anime, ect.) and I’m not really sure where to start watching/reading it. Do you have any advice on where the best place to start is?

HOH BABY NOW THIS IS A GOOD ASK

Basically, a lot of this depends on you and how you prefer to take in media. People are different after all; some people like reading long novels, some prefer comics, u know! So let’s just go over all the avenues and how to get at them, and the rest is up to you!

I’m gonna make this post very long. VERY VERY LONG. IM SO FUCKn SORyr

First, I’ll talk abt what umineko is; then I’ll discuss the various media; finally, at the end, I’ll write down what I typically recommend to newcomers! SCROLL REALLY FAST TO THE HEADERS IF U HAVE NO TIME FOR MY RAMBLING LOL

So…here we goooo

READING UMINEKO: UNTANGLING THE WEB

OR: what the fuck is umineko and why do you want me to read it, diesel?

Since this is a general To Whom It May Concern post: Umineko no Naku Koro ni (Or Umineko: When They Cry, alternatively When The Seagulls Cry) is a murder mystery/fantasy/metafiction visual novel published between 2007 and 2011. I know “murder mystery” and “metafiction” sound pretty boring when you combine them, but trust me–Umineko’s unlike anything you’ve seen, and defies explanation. Still, I’m here to do my best!

Umineko is about a rich and complicated family, and their annual family conference–and the year it goes super duper badly. On an isolated island, in the middle of a typhoon, tragedy befalls the family–on a massive scale! Someone is killing them–all of them–and the only answer that seems to be rising is–

“Beatrice did it.”

But Beatrice isn’t supposed to really exist. Not for real!! No one by that name is on the island. It’s just a story! She’s made up–Beatrice is a legend. A witch who has lived for a thousand years–who loaned the family patriarch ten tons of gold, an insane amount of wealth, in exchange for his soul. Now she’s collecting on that loan, taking everything back, with interest–the lives of the family included.

Is the culprit a human, or not? Does the witch exist, or not?Is the culprit one of the 18 people? Does a 19th person exist? Or…?And, most importantly–when the typhoon passes, will anyone remain alive on the island?

[YouTube: Umineko opening]

I’d super-recommend Umineko if you enjoy: strong characterization, a solidly built mystery (with plenty of smaller mysteries to try your brain with along the way ;) ), complex and nuanced characters, hype magic fights, Logic-Based Combat(???), deep discussions of trauma and its consequences, large casts of characters, Genre Fuckery, coping, Meta™, and milfs Complex Lore

I would, however, NOT recommend Umineko if you are triggered by/can’t stomach reading about: body horror, gore, death, trauma, child abuse, bullying, discussion of suicide, discussion of sexual assault, etc (you can message me for a more complete list of warnings; I’m happy to provide super-specific ones if there’s something specific you’re concerned about, or even give you specific scenes to watch out for. I kept this vague on purpose, but if you message me off anon or via DMs here or at @aceyasu, I’ll be happy to answer anything!)

Overall it’s a pretty dark, emotional story, with a lot of Themes™–but it’s also full of love and genuine heartfelt Feelings. I don’t think any story has touched me the way Umineko has! Of course, everyone’s experience is very unique to them, but I think Umineko has something for everyone (provided, of course, that we’re taking into account the content warnings and excluding people who can’t/don’t want to encounter those things!). The characters, music, story and message–it all has a lot of heart and it all is very important to me as an individual. Obviously no media is flawless, but I think Umineko’s good outweighs its bad…YMMV though of course :p

Also, hype magic fights.

OKAY WITH THAT OUT OF THE WAY

Umineko’s story is told over 8 arcs–styled as “episodes”. I use “arc” and “episode” sort of interchangeably! Specific ones I just call “EP#” though. All you really need to know though is there’s 8 of them, of varying length, and you have to read them all for the full story.

Thankfully they’re numbered, am i right?? HAFDmgkdfmg

Each episode has its own focus within the overarching narrative and comes with its own fun mysteries and harrowing developments just for you! yay! But basically, the important thing is that they’re divided into the Question Arcs (1-4) and Answer Arcs (5-8).

Sometimes, to make things confusing, the Answer Arcs are also called “Core Arcs” or “Chiru”. I will use “Answer Arcs” here, but if you encounter those two elsewhere, that’s what they are. :p

ACTUALLY EXPERIENCING UMINEKO

(now that im done YAPPING)

The anime

Generally viewed as a poor product. It’s a bad adaption that fails as a standalone, too, because of the amount of important scenes that are missing. Don’t watch the anime first if you really want to get into Umineko. It’s a fun watch once you know how it’s supposed to go, though :p Covers the Question Arcs only, ends with EP4–so even if it was good, it would only be half the story… press f to pay respects. The opening fuckin slaps though, and all the VAs are solid.

The manga

Each Episode has its own manga adaption, usually done by a different artist (with exception of EP1, EP3, and EP8, which are all by the same artist). Generally solid; gets the most important parts. For people who want to get through quicker, the manga helps a lot.

The primary cost is that a lot of characterization doesn’t get to shine AS bright, as there’s simply no time to get into the nooks and crannies (still a great cast, though). However, the art is usually fantastic–since the artist changes every EP, it’s easy to deal with even if you don’t like a specific one’s style. It’ll be gone by next Episode!

A lot of moments get punched up by the more visual format of the manga. You really get a better sense of the characters interacting physically with one another! You do, however, run into the Scanlation Problem…..

I know, I know–most people, when given the option to, don’t want to pay for things. So when given the choice between fan scanlations and the official release, a lot of people would choose the scanlations. And they’re fine…for the most part…except for the parts that aren’t. Some parts (notably in the Answer Arcs) are…bad. Really bad. Even I can’t really understand it sometimes, despite knowing this story inside out… LOL

If you’re good at parsing Scanlation SNAFU or can’t afford/don’t want to buy it, you can find Umineko on MOST manga hosts! I don’t know which you prefer so I’m not gonna link ‘em hahahafkgmfh I usually use Manga Rock but that’s because I usually am reading on my phone and I like their app. The episodes are all numbered, so it’s pretty easy to find your way around!

On the other hand, if you have a hard time understanding poor translations, reading inconsistent typesetting/fonts, or simply Can afford it/prefer buying media, the manga is being officially released in English by YenPress! As is standard nowadays, you can get them in both physical volumes and digital e-books! However, YenPress’ release is currently ongoing–the first volume of EP8 is slated to release in March.

[YenPress link]

The visual novel

Ah, here we are–the head honcho himself…! This is the original version of Umineko. These are the ones we call “games”, and why we sometimes say u “play” Umineko, but. Really. It’s just reading. They’re kinetic novels. Its literally just reading. So I don’t know why we complicate things like that.

(“if she an .exe, shes a game”, I guess… xD)

This is where the characterization and voice of Umineko really shines! The style is often simple to read, sometimes even comically casual, but it cuts deep when it wants to. Even really simple lines can have a really strong impact–it’s a really pleasant style to read, IMO…pretty easy to understand most of the time, but emotionally resonant all the same!

Reading the VN is somewhat of an undertaking, because of the amount of hours required…It’s a far longer read. Depending on your reading speed and whether or not you pause to think/talk about things as you read, people clock in 100-200 hours to finish it.

But, on the upside–because it has so much more time than the manga, the VN can really get deep into the characters, their dynamics, and their inner conflicts. You really get a deep sense for everyone’s character and it makes most of the cast feel fleshed-out enough that you appreciate all of them to some extent (whether positive or negative :P)

Oh, actually–the original Umineko branded itself a “Sound Novel”….as opposed to a Visual Novel, where the emphasis is on, uh–Visuals–Umineko leans more heavily on audio to create its atmosphere. And the music? Fuckin rips!! The Umineko soundtrack is huge and has tons of absolute bangers. It’s easy to see why it decided to market itself as a Sound Novel rather than a visual novel–the graphics of the original PC version are simple, but the atmospheric sound effects and BGM really shines.

Here’s some enticing tracks to pique yr interest (be careful about the comments/etc though, there’s Definitely spoilers in there xD)[worldenddominator] [dead angle] [dir] [system0] [hope]

The VN nowadays is split into the two halves; if you get EP4, it’ll include 1-3 as well, essentially. Picking up Question Arcs (or EP4) and Answer Arcs (or EP8) gives u the whole 8 episodes. Easy peasy! Because we live in the future now, and retroactive inclusion of past games is just convenient!

There is an official English release now, which is a brand new luxury. It’s even on Steam! Wow! That’s the easiest way to get your paws on the hands-on experience. The translation has been slightly updated as well! Also, they added a new set of toggle-able graphics that are…um…I mean they’re certainly new…#BarelyContainedOpinionAlert

If you don’t want to pay or can’t afford it…uhhh….I used to have torrent links but they’re all dead. :T still, you can probably just find them, if you know your way around torrents. For the translation, you’ll have to either get a pre-patched version of the game, or use the translation group’s instructions to patch it yourself. 

If you can’t do either of those, or just don’t really have a preference, or…any number of reasons, you can also find all the games fully recorded and uploaded to YouTube (with or without commentary)!

As for the links, I’ve got them right h–

Wait–oh, sh–the graphics are bad?!? You think the graphics are bad? Or you think plain reading is boring? Y-you can’t understand what the background image in this scene is even supposed to be? Ah…the post-2007 struggle….

The visual novel, Part Deux: AH, THE JPEGS edition

OKAY SO I SPLIT THIS APART BECAUSE IT*S IMPORTANT

If you wanna spruce up your VN-reading experience, here’s the thing: they ported the game to PS3, with brand new graphics and–get this–full voice acting. Wow! There’s even CGs now…Jeez!

These are NOT the same graphics as the new ones from the official English release! That’s important!

SO, if you wanna spruce up the graphics a bit, or you enjoy voice acting with your novels, you can do that! People took apart the PS3 games and made patches for the PC version to enjoy the new graphics and voices. And now it’s available for the Steam version as well!

[SPRITE COMPARISON: ORIGINAL PC | PS3 | STEAM]You pick your favorite!

ALSO VOICE ACTING! WOW!! Remember how I said the anime got two things right and they were the OP and the voice cast?

SAME CAST, BABEY!!!! They are all excellent and do a wonderful job! It can really add some more interest if you struggle with staying focused on “plain” reading.

Okay so NOW the links:

You’ll have to dig up torrents yourself if you want those, bc its 6am and I’m too sleepy to… uzu

QUESTION ARCS[Physical Eng release] or [Steam page] +[PS3 PATCH]

ANSWER ARCS[Physical Eng release] or [Steam page] +[PS3 PATCH]

YOUTUBE[Non-commentated, with PS3 patch] you can find more just by searching but this one looks good to me :p

RONTRA OPINIONS / SUGGESTIONS

Personally, I favor the VN for most scenes, but the manga for my light casual reading. Y’know? The VN can be pretty…um…dense, at times.

Ironically, I think EP1 itself might be the biggest hurdle for total first-timers. It’s definitely paced as a “part 1 of 8″ for the first solid portion! By which I mean, it really takes its time establishing the cast and their individual situations. Which isn’t a bad thing–especially in the overarching scope of how long the story is–but if you aren’t sure about the premise, format, or if you’ll enjoy Umineko at all, it can be sort of…challenging.

It all really depends on the individual–things like attention span, investment, and personal preferences, imo. Some people just don’t enjoy reading that much text at once! And that’s fine! Some people love it and that’s fine! Some people think the intro is too long, some people think it’s intriguing from the start. Some really like watching character building, and some prefer to see action happening. Either way is fine, so it’s really up to you!

Usually, if someone isn’t sure, I suggest they try EP1 in manga form first, just to see if the general premise entices them; it’s fully possible to jump back and do the VN if you decide you like it! It sacrifices some characterization in exchange for exploring the main premise a little faster.

Similarly, if you just can’t get into the VN–you can read the entire thing with manga too, if you favor action over the deepest character lore. It’s still a good time and a good experience!

Though, in EP1′s favor–if you ARE sure about it, and are able to dedicate your attention to the first 10-13 hours of set-up, EP1 has one of the most rewarding escalations I’ve encountered! If you are able to sit and read a fairly long-winded introduction, you are rewarded with the most buck wild Popping Off you can imagine.

So there’s nothing wrong with jumping right in there with the VN, if you enjoy reading!

However, if you do find that the VN is dragging too much for you, you can go in reverse too–and finish EP1 by manga, then decide if you want to jump back to the VN or not. I promise, the novels pick up the pace too–it’s just getting all the introductions down that can be daunting, when the initial cast size is a staggering 18 people (plus the LORE has to be established too)!!

Just for you–if you want to get into Umineko, but struggle with EP1, I’ll offer my private archive of YenPress manga rips for EP1–read the manga, official english translation, for free thanks to your dealer friend, rontra,You will have to message me about it, though–off anon or via DMs, here or at @aceyasu.

My favorite setups when I play by myself are either Original PC Graphics + Voice Acting, or Full PS3 Patch. I personally really like the original PC graphics, but I understand some people think they’re kinda…um…Rough, to say the least xD PS3 graphics are a close second for me though.

I don’t really like the steam version’s new sprites. Some people don’t mind them, so it’s up to you what you prefer, but I think they don’t really convey the feeling as well as their counterparts sometimes… :/

But hey, everyone’s got their own opinions!

I also prefer the EP8 manga to the EP8 VN. If I have control over someone’s first playthrough, I always push over to the manga for EP8! In my opinion, it’s a rare instance where the adaption is better than its original. People have different opinions on this, of course, but since this section is My Opinions Central, that’s my opinioooon!!! :D

SO BASICALLY MY OWN PERSONAL PREFERRED STRUCTURE IS

->TRY EP1 (jump over to manga if struggling; if enjoyed manga ep1 until the end, hop back into the VN at EP2 and come back to EP1 if you want to later)

EP2-EP7 VN

EP8 MANGA(EP8 VN if desired afterwards, once the dust settles)

But you’re free to do what you want, of course. ;9

And then after that there’s some spinoffs that I didn’t talk about because that’s a post for another time. (There’s a fighting game! It’s packed full of spoilers.)

AFTERWORD

All in all, Umineko is…big. its very very big. it has a huge cast (the final count comes out to like, almost 70 characters!) and a huge story. and huge feelings.

The manga and the VN are the main avenues of getting into it. It’s easier than it looks at a glance; and yet, more daunting than it seems…

If you have the time and energy to pour hours of your time into it, Umineko is a super worthwhile story that tackles genuinely difficult material with a delicate but honest hand.

It clowns up sometimes and stumbles over its own demographic–see: Weird Vaguely Unpleasant Anime-brand Sex Comedy that springs up a lot in EP1, some in EP2, and then largely disappears save for a few dumb jokes here and there–but overall is a solidly built and solidly delivered story about trauma, love, loss, and getting your family ritual-murdered by a thousand-year-old witch who may or may not be real.

And if you have any questions at all (or just wanna talk Umineko), you can send an ask or IM me here or at @aceyasu–you can ask for my Discord too if you wanna really get into it. Or DM me on twitter! I’m happy to answer any question or elaborate on anything you’re confused about. I tried to go over this post quickly, so if I was too vague on something, feel free to ask!

The same of course applies to content warnings; if there’s something specific you’re worried about, I can answer it for you, whether it’s “does [specific thing] happen/appear” or “how much of [thing] is there, i can handle a little bit”! Anything! Of course I want people to read my favorite, but I also more than that want u all to be safe.

I’m very sorry that this post is literally three thousand words long. Umineko’s been my special interest for almost ten whole years. I get chatty! But hopefully my passion shines through and gets you excited!!!

LOVE, A BIG NERD

[the-kittens-of-vol-tron]

Sing Along

So a little bit ago my lovely friend @nalusrainbowtree messaged me a little prompt and I’m honestly in love with it. 

Prompt:

You know what fic I need? One where lance is listening to his music but no one's around so he takes the headphones out and just plays it out loud. Bohemian Rhapsody starts playing and he gets really into well the other paladins hear and start singing with him word for word. Allura and Coran look at them in horror at the lyrics (‘momma just killed a man, put a gun against his head pulled my trigger now he’s dead’) 

I’m so excited to write this, I love Bohemian Rhapsody or anything by Queen. 

Also slight homesick Lance because I had too 

—

Lance was cleaning his lion, he needed to keep busy. Being still made him too fidgety. It made him feel lazy, like he was suppose to be doing something, so he started to clean. 

He started with his room, making his bed, dusting his shelf, washing his closes, organizing his bathroom and vacuuming the floor. Yet Lance still felt like he hadn’t done enough so he moved into the kitchen. 

Hunk usually kept the kitchen pretty clean but Lance still found things to clean. He scrubbed the stove a few hundred times, he washed the dishes and wiped down the counters. 

Lance hummed as he cleaned, he felt more at home than he ever felt on the castle. Lance leaned back and rested his elbows on one of the counters, his eyes fluttering shut and he sighed. Just like home, cleaning. Now I’m just missing music and my family dancing and singing. Lance’s eyes flew open as he thought about what he just said. “MUSIC! I need music!” He looked around the kitchen, “now where are Pidge’s headphones?” 

-

Lance was on a roll, he had already cleaned the common room, the bridge, the star room and was now making his way down to Blue’s hanger. Music was pulsing through his veins and he could feel the beat in his bones. Lance had his phone on high volume and swayed to the beat as he strolled into the hanger. 

Blue immediately perked up at her paladins presence and Lance gave her a huge smile, pulling his headphones around his neck. “Hey beautiful, ready to be cleaned?” Lance heard her purr and started to wipe down one of her front paws. 

Lance started to scrub at some of the dirt but found himself working up a sweat the longer he scrubbed. Man this stuff is really on here. He felt sweat fall down his face and soon pulled off his headphones and unplugged them from his phone. “Well Blue, I hope you like my music.” Lance was off again, his music echoing off the big room and Lance’s voice blasting through the music. 

Lance’s mom always liked his voice and Lance liked signing for her, she always encouraged Lance to sing everywhere and he fell in love with singing. Every time he sang he felt closer to his mom and the hole in his chest filled in a bit more. 

Lance was so lost in thought thinking about his family that he completely missed the first words to one of the best songs ever. His brain focused on the words around, “Is this just fantasy?” and without hesitation Lance immediately started to belt the lyrics. 

“Caught in a landslide! No escape from reality!” Lance started to dance around the room, the familiar harmonies fill his ears. 

“Look up to the sky and seeeeeeeee!” Lance heard another voice join him and looked toward the door, seeing Hunk smiling as he kept singing. 

Lance ran towards his best friend and they both continued the lyrics. “I’m just a poor boy!” 

“I need no sympathy!” Pidge ran into the room and immediately joined the two boys in their singing. The three of them sand “To meeeeeee,” and without fail both Keith and Shiro entered the room, singing the piano part, keeping their voices light for the piano. 

Lance gave a giggle at what they were doing and immediately composed himself to sing the most tragic part. “Mamaaaaaa, just killed a mannnnn. Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger now he’s dead. Mamaaaa life had just begun!! But now I’ve gone and thrown it all away!” 

The five paladins kept on signing, filling each word with emotions for the story that they were telling, all completely oblivious to the two Alteans who entered the room to check on the noise and their horrified expressions. 

“Coran! Did the paladins kill a man?” Allura whispered as she grabbed onto the older man’s arm in fear and concern for her paladin. 

“I do not know princess.” Coran stared at them, “maybe they finally lost it?” 

The paladins kept singing, all of them swaying to the beat keeping the mood heavy. “Too late, my time has comeeee. Sent shivers down my spine,” Lance moved his hand down as to motion the chimes and Keith smiled widely at him. “Body’s aching all the timeeee. Goodbye everybody, I’ve got to gooooo.” 

“Are the paladins leaving? Coran they can’t leave they need to defeat Voltron! And why are they singing to their ‘mama’?” Allura stepped forward to questioned the paladins but Coran stopped her, she didn’t understand the stroy at all. 

“Princess, let’s not jump to conclusions, maybe they are just having fun?” Coran voice was low and he didn’t even believe himself. 

“Killing a man is fun?! Oh I do not wish to visit Earth.” Allura placed a hand on her head as the group moved on to another part of the song. 

Lance took this part over, dramatically falling to his knees. “I don’t want to dieeeeee! Sometimes wish I’d never been born at allllll!” The paladins all played invisible instruments and Allura looked like she was ready to slap some sense into her paladins, hoping they would explain the song. 

“Does Lance really think that?” 

The paladins still ignored their guest and soon broke out into piano playing, switching between the notes for Gallieo. Pidge taking the high notes while Shiro took the low notes. Lance went solo for the next part and his friends covered the background notes. 

“I’m just a poor boy nobody loves me.” 

“HE’S JUST A POOR BOY FROM A POOR FAMILY!”

The paladins unconsciously split into groups, Lance, Keith and Pidge singing the first “LET HIM GOOOO!” While Hunk and Shiro sung, “BISMILLAH! WE WILL NOT LET YOU GO!” This followed to the hard guitar playing and the paladins screaming at the tops of their lungs, feeling the high fall down towards the end. 

“SO YOU THINK YOU CAN STOP ME AND SPIT IN MY EYEEEEEE? SO YOU THINK YOU CAN LOVE ME AND LEAVE ME TO DIEEEEE?? OHHHH BABY!” The paladins played intense air guitar as they danced around the room, ignoring the words and stopping when the song started to come down from its high. 

“Nothing really mattersssss, anyone can see. Nothing really matters. Nothing really matters. To meeeeeeeeeeeee.” The group stopped where they started, only then realizing Allura and Coran horrified faces. They all caught there breath for a minuet and Lance waved them over. 

“Hey you guys, did you like the song?” The paladins smiled at the two of them and Allura couldn’t contain her emotions anymore. 

“That was the most confusing sing ever! You killed a man then sang to be let go??? I have so many questions.” She leaned against Blue and heard laughter around her. 

“Join the club Princess.” 

—

Does anyone actually understand this song????? Jk

I based this off of how my sisters and I act when we sing this song, it’s a family and school classic. 

I had so much writing this and I really hope you have fun reading it!!!!

I recommend that you check out this song if you haven’t heard it before! 

Thank you so much for letting me write this

I hope you like it! Sorry it took so long!!!!!

[trashyswitch]

7 Fluffy Balls of Joy

Chapter 6: 7 Puppies Becomes 6

Chase finds a house for one of the puppies to live in, and the three boys have fun with the puppy before its eventual departure.

There are a few swear words, but that's it.

This fanfic is for Shannon, the lovely person who asked for more ego content! I hope you enjoy, Shannon!

Chase was giggling and loving every moment he spent with the puppies. The puppies had grown to 7 weeks old, making them able to sprint everywhere, playfight with the other brothers and sisters, and bite everyone’s fingers till every layer of skin was shaved down.

Henrik was struggling to work with the puppies barking, growling and tappy tapping all over the ground. Looking after 8 dogs was a lot of work and a lot of training too. They were trying to think of ways to maybe get rid of a couple of them. Maybe keep Matilda and 5 puppies for themselves (Still gonna be a lot of work), and sell a couple.

“Hey Henrik?” Chase asked.

“Ja?” Henrik replied.

“Could I maybe ask my ex-wife if they want a puppy?” Chase asked.

“Of course!” Henrik replied. “See, see!”

Chase pulled out his phone and called his ex. While that happened, Henrik began to think about who else might want a puppy.

Suddenly, JJ ran to the middle of the room, with an army of puppies sprinting and barking at the man. JJ was visibly happy as he flopped onto the carpet and laid on his stomach. One after the other, all the puppies came flopping onto JJ and covered him in licks and little bites. Three of the puppies were growling and playing with JJ’s hands with their front paws and snouts. 2 of the puppies were jumping onto JJ’s back, and three of the puppies were pulling JJ’s socks right off his feet. JJ was truly the dog whisperer of the house.

Chase had to move to another room to actually listen to what his ex was saying, while Henrik was sitting with good ol’ Matilda on the couch. Matilda was a lot more calm and collected, compared to her rambunctious kids.

“Vhat’s it like being pregnant?” Henrik asked the dog.

Matilda looked up at him, and wagged her tail while her ears lifted.

“Was it painful?” Henrik asked as he started petting the somber dog. “Was it worth it?” Henrik asked as well.

Chase chuckled as he walked back into the room with the speaker on for Henrik to hear. Both his kids were pleading and begging for their Mom to get them a german shepherd puppy.

Their Mom sounded both entertained by this begging, but also slightly annoyed. “Are you boys gonna take care of the dog? Cause I’m not gonna be doing all the work around here! You boys need to help out as well!” Their Mom told them.

“Yes yes yes yes!” Grayson begged.

“we’ll do it, we promise”. Trey promised.

“We’ll feed him! And take him to go pee!” Grayson promised.

“And walk him and clean him!” Trey added.

It was around a dozen begs that the mother finally caved in.

“Alright. I think we’re getting a dog.” The mother decided.

Chase smiled as he looked at the puppies. His kids were really gonna get a dog! From his father!

“Alright, you boys need to help with buying things for the pup then. We’ll head to the store in half an hour.” She told them.

“Okay Mom!” One of them replied.

Chase listened calmly as his ex headed to a quieter spot. “So, when did you become a dog breeder?” She asked.

“Well...It’s a bit of a long story. But to sum it up: one of my roommates found puppies and brought them home. The puppies were maybe three weeks old and the mother was growly and untouchable…” Chase told her. “We didn’t know he brought them home until I got up the next morning. I just about dropped my coffee upon seeing the little pups!” Chase turned around and bursted out laughing:

JJ was being licked and bitten all over! But more specifically, JJ's neck was being licked non stop by 3 separate puppies, while four puppies were licking and nipping at JJ’s feet. His socks were completely off and placed aside, while the seven puppies overwhelmed his poor, ticklish roommate.

“Ohoho my god you have to see this!” Chase quickly turned the facetime option on and set up the camera while his ex answered the facetime call. When the call was answered, Chase had the camera focused on JJ and the puppies.

“Ohohoho lohohohord! Hahahaha!” she laughed. She brought the phone over to the kids, and showed the commotion over at Chase’s house.

The kids bursted out laughing at JJ, and made little funny comments.

“Hey Trey, you gotta be careful too if we get one!” Grayson teased.

“Says the one with the ticklish neck~” Their Mom mentioned.

“Hey!” Grayson reacted.

Chase laughed at this and walked over to JJ. “Hey Jamie! Need some help?” Chase asked.

JJ nodded his head and let out a breath of exhaustion. Chase put down the phone and picked up the puppies. “Come here guys! Come here!” Chase called.

The puppies didn’t waste a second to sprint over to Chase and shower him. While Jamie was only panting from exhaustion. Chase was now the one overpowered by the puppies. “AaahahaHAHAH! Awww, ya little nutballs!” Chase fluffed each puppy’s head, causing every puppy’s mouth to open up and flop its head around. They all were wanting to play with Chase!

Jamie ended up getting up and showing the family the crowd as Chase was surrounded by puppies. “EEEEK! HEHELP! AAAH!” Chase yelled out, reaching his arms out to the camera. Right at the same time, one of the only named dogs that was Henrik’s, shoved her snout into his armpit.

“EEHEHEHE! Cahahareful Angela!” Chase told the pup.

“Is one of them named already?” Trey asked.

Chase got up and let the puppies nibble at his feet while he picked up Angela. “Yup! Dr. German over there already chose his dog and named it accordingly.” Chase told them.

“Schneeplestein, jou uncultured bas-”

Chase shot him a glare.

“-Uncultured fish!”

The Brody kids DIED upon hearing that. “Daddy the fish!”

Their mother chuckled. “Maybe you should draw that.” she encouraged.

Chase laughed. “Oho my god that would be awesome!” Chase reacted.

Feeling encouraged, Trey nodded. “I think I will!”

Chase smiled proudly. “That’s great!” He didn’t feel insulted by the idea of a fish Chase at all. He was just happy to know they were alright and had inspiration from their cool Daddy Brody.

A few minutes later, Chase ended the call and looked to JJ with a smile. “That wasn’t very nice, you know...leaving me surrounded by puppies when I was the one that saved you.” Chase teased.

JJ raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. ‘Little dog love Chase.’ he signed. The American sign language grammar was the strangest thing...but it worked despite that.

“True! That’s true.” Chase replied.

Then Jamie giggled and covered his mouth before signing the following words: ‘Chase fish with hat’.

Chase laughed and hit his shoulder gently. “Hey now! You be careful or I’ll draw you as Jamie the shrimp.” he teased.

Jamie chuckled and started fluttering his fingers closer and closer to Chase, to imitate the little shrimpies that clean dead skin off things. Chase squeaked like a little kid, and ran away. Jamie started chasing after him, signing the words ‘I clean you! I clean you!’.

“NOhoho! You’re sohohoho weihihihird!” Chase giggled, jumping over a few things on the ground. Jamie grabbed a blanket and managed to get close enough to throw the blanket onto him. This distracted Chase long enough for Jamie to grab onto him and start tickling him all over his middle and ribs. “AAAHAHAHAHAHA! JAHAHAHAY! STAHAP THAHAHAHAT!”

Jamie smirked and signed the word ‘no’...then resumed tickling him.

“Vhat zhe hell are you doing?” Henrik asked.

“Gohoho gehet Henrihihik, ya lihittle bahahastahard!” Chase argued, trying to push him away.

“So YOU can say ‘bastard’ but I cannot?!” Henrik asked.

“My kids were on the phone!” Chase shot back.

Jamie giggled and started sneaking up to Henrik in plain sight.

Henrik scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Not scary...Not to me. Leave.” Henrik tried to tell him.

Jamie started wiggling his fingers more and signing the word ‘tickle’ over and over and over again.

Henrik in response, started imitating his wiggling fingers. “Goooo tickle somevone else, vhy don’tcha?” Henrik teased.

Jamie took a moment to dramatically think and stroke his mustache. Then...he looked at Henrik with an evil smirk. ‘No’

Jamie sat down right beside Henrik and started digging into his side. Henrik, surprised by the sensation, curled away from the ticklish fingers. Immediately upon seeing his reaction, Jamie stopped and snapped his fingers at him.

‘Liar!’ Jamie signed with a huge smile on his face. ‘Liar!’

“Am not! I don’t lie!” Henrik reacted.

To prove his point, Jamie skittered his fingers on his side again. Henrik jumped and pushed his hands away. Jamie giggled. ‘Liar! Henrik liar!’

“Oooooh! I see Henrik is telling some little lies! Or Lügens, in your language.” Chase teased.

“Du hälst deinen Mund!” Henrik spat in German.

Chase smirked and imitated the classic bugs bunny meme while signing it for Jamie: “No”

Chase sprinted to Henrik and held up his arm. “Quick! Get his armpit!”

Jamie jumped at first, but didn’t waste a second to tickle his armpit.

Henrik hissed and quickly grew a wobbly smile. “Duböserkleiner- AAH JAHACK-!” Henrik pulled on his arm desperately as his armpit was pretty much dug into. Jamie smiled proudly as he basically struck gold.

Jamie decided to stop...he reeled backwards...breathed in dramatically...and…

ATTACKED as rapidly as he could! He was even making ‘ticki-ticki-ticki-ticki-’ noises as he tickled all over Henrik’s right side.

Finally, the dam broke right open and out came all the laughter. “JAHAHAMIHIHIHIHAHAHAHA! HEHEHEHEHE!” Henrik’s hand was let go as Henrik laughed absolutely hysterically! It would turn out that Henrik was a super wiggly person whenever he was being tickled. Like, SUPER wiggly and all over the place!

Chase had to grab onto Henrik from under the armpits, and hold onto him across his chest, as if he was about to be pulled out safely from under a truck.

“CUHUHUT IHIHIT OHOHOUT! EEEEEHEHEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Henrik ordered as he laughed. But Jamie was, and never will be, in the mood to listen to instructions. Especially if they were instructions coming from a LIAR!

“Hey Jamie! Watch this:” Chase leaned in...and blew a big raspberry onto Henrik’s neck. Henrik SCREAMED and snorted right back to back! “DAHAHAHAS IHIHIST ZU VIHIHIHIHIHIEL!” Henrik yelled, falling back into his first language.

“Really now?” Chase reacted, acting like he understood him.

“JAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHALT BIHIHIHIHITTE!” Henrik begged.

Jamie stopped tickling him for a moment and tilted his head. ‘You understand H-E-N-R-I-K?’ Jamie asked.

“No...I don’t. But I do know that ‘Halt’ is stop.” Chase told him.

Jamie gasped and snapped his fingers. He ran to the puppies, picked up his favorite, and brought it to Henrik. Jamie grabbed treats, and started placing them into Henrik’s belly button.

“OOOOooooh! You evil little genius!” Chase reacted as he grabbed Henrik’s arms and raised them up.

“No! NO! JAMIE BITTE! BITTE!” Henrik begged.

Jamie, understanding Henrik as saying ‘bite’, started making dramatic nomming expressions as he put his hands up against his own chest like a puppy.

Then, Jamie watched as the puppy ran to the belly, and hopped up onto Henrik’s belly. The puppy started sniffing for the treat, which tickled enough to make Henrik giggle already. But Henrik basically lost it the moment the dog’s tongue started absolutely covering Henrik’s tummy in doggy slobber.

“Ehehehehehew! Ihihit’s sohohoho wehehehehet!” Henrik complained in the middle of his giggles.

The puppy kept licking and nipping at the belly button to get the treat that was lodged in the buttonhole. Soon, the puppy successfully got the treat out. But what’s this? More treat smells were filling its little sniffer?

Jamie had giggled as the puppy’s head looked up to sniff the air more. The man had started hiding treats under Henrik’s side as well, to get the puppy sniffing and tickling there too. It didn’t take long for Henrik to feel a little wet nose shoving itself into his side to get to the treats.

“EEEhehehehehe! Hehehehehey! Thahahahat kihihitzehehelt, leetle hündchen!” Henrik giggled.

The puppy stopped for a moment and let out a ‘BOWWWOOOOWWW’ kind of yowl.

Jamie, Henrik and Chase all DIED at the sound. “Ahahahahaw! He’s more vocal zhan Jamie!” Henrik teased.

Jamie narrowed his eyes at him and threw him two middle fingers in response. Chase and Henrik wound up dying yet again at the reaction.

Chase then gasped. “How dare! There are children here, Jamie!” Chase reacted.

Well in response to that:

‘B-A-S-T-A-R-D!’

“BASTARD!”

Chase wounded up destroying both of the boys after THAT response. He had to teach them one way or the other to not swear! Or, you know, not give the kids any more ideas.

A couple days later, Chase’s ex-wife and kids showed up at the house and picked the dog they wanted. Funnily enough, they ended up choosing the same dog that made the “BOOWWWOOOOWW” sound a few days before! And the kids got to play with the dog for a few minutes or so to get to know the dog more.

But before the dog left…

Chase let the other puppies say their last goodbyes to the puppy. The kids insisted this be done, despite what a majority of the adults believed. The boys ended up coming up with the name ‘Marble’, due to the puppy’s multitude of colors.

Matilda soon walked up to her little puppy, and gave it a few little licks of luck and farewell. The little Marble had grown up so quickly and was now moving into a new family: a family of loving kids who would treat the dog like a king.

Farewell Marble!

[panda-noosh]

Could you do a scenario with Shiro and his s/o saying their goodbyes before he went to Kerberos? Years go by and when Voltron finally defeats Zarkon, Shiro comes back to his s/o, but she doesn't recognize him at first. After a couple of weeks she starts to notice that is her lost boyfriend, they hug and spend time together like old times ; v ; I'm dying for Shiro fluff, he deserves it. (and I can't get Pre Kerberos Shiro out of my head.) Thank you so much! I love your writing💖

Words: 2696

 Genre: Angst + Fluff

  Notes: Here ya goooo x

  ---

  This was the worst part. This was always the worst part.

  You two had been in this prediciment only once before, and it hadtaken every fibre of Shiro's strength to stop himself from crumblingthen and there, right in front of you. Going off to the GalaxyGarrison, having to say goodbye to you, was one of the hardest taskshe had ever been faced with.

   But now he was saying goodbye again, and it hadn't gotten anyeasier. He stood in front of you with his hands tucked into hispockets and his head down, a steady silence filling the gap betweenthe two of you. You had your hands bunched up in front of you, tearsrunning down your face and your lower lip quivering in that way thatalways made Shiro's heart break – that was why he refused to lookat you right now. He was having a difficult time trying to keep histears back as it was; if he were to look up and see your ownexpression in this moment, there would be no doubt in his mind thathe would break down then and there.

   So he kept his gaze to the floor and let the silence consume thetwo of you. There was nothing to say. Not really. You had beenthrough it all before, and nothing that could have been said wasunknown. You knew he loved you. You knew he would miss you. You knewhe would do everything in his power to get back from Kerberos in onepiece, purely just so he could hold you again.

   Saying those things out loud just seemed pointless right now.

   The sound of jets coming into the Garrison was like a howlingbeast around you. Any one of the ships could be the one Shiro was dueto board. Any of them could be the ship that was going to take Shiroaway from you for the second time, only this time he didn't have thepromised safety of the Garrison on his side – this could veryeasily be the last time you ever saw him.

   The thought sent a ripple through your body. You closed youreyes, inhaling deeply in any and all attempts to pull yourselftogether. Was Shiro crying? You couldn't tell. He was doing thatthing where he refused to meet your gaze, where he kept his head downand tapped his foot against the concrete as if movement was the onlything keeping him grounded at this moment.

    You inhaled deeply and reached forward, finally taking theinitiative. You scraped your hand through his black hair, tilting hishead to look at you. His grey eyes met yours, filled with sadness andfear that had your heart breaking all at once.

   You forced a warm smile on your face. “You're gonna be amazingup there, Captain Shirogane.”

   His eyes fluttered closed. He ever so gently leaned his head intoyour palm, biting down on his lower lip. “I don't want to leaveyou.”

   “You have to. You know you have to.”

    “But I don't want to. It feels like all we do nowadaysis say goodbye to each other, and I hate it.”

   You nodded slowly in agreement. He was right. It hadn't been allthat long ago that you stood in this very same spot, hugging himgoodbye for the first time. He had been gone for nearly nine monthsafter that with barely any contact with you throughout that entiretime.

   “It'll be okay,” you said, voice cracking. “We'll be fine.I'll be here waiting for you when you get back, okay? But you have tostay with Matt and Sam for now. They're your team.”

   Shiro nodded, looking up fully now. He glanced over the concreteledge the two of you were standing upon towards the arrival area forthe ships; Matt and Sam were already huddled around the hubs, huggingtheir family members goodbye. Shiro didn't have family – he onlyhad you. You were happy to be the only one here for him. You wouldn'thave missed this for the world.

   He turned back to you, his eyes glossy with a fresh coat oftears. “I'll try and get home as soon as possible.”

   Younodded. “I know you will. And I'll be here.”

   ---

   You weren't waiting for him when he returned.

   It wasn't as if he had expected anything different – it hadbeen years. Too many years for him to count. He had lost all track oftime during his capture in Kerberos, and still wasn't entirely surejust how long he had been caught up in the Galra ship.

    All he knew was that he was free, and he was back on earth, andhe needed to see you.

   It was weird how it worked, but he supposed it made sense. Mattand Sam had a family to return to, multiple people who would bejumping up and down in excitement waiting for their expected return –Shiro didn't have that. He only had you. That was the reason you werethe first person he thought of whenever his feet touched the soil ofearth for the first time in multiple years.

   Multiple long, drawn out years.

   He wondered if you still worked at the coffee shop you had workedin all that time ago. It was the first place he thought to try; hewouldn't go to your home until he was certain it was the only placeyou could be. He wasn't entirely sure how he could possibly face theembarrassment of talking to your parents – they no doubt hated himfor leaving you without an explanation.

   Or perhaps they would be shocked. They probably thought he haddied.

  You probably thought he had died.

   The thought pained him as he walked down the road towards thecoffee shop he was so familiar with. The idea of you waiting for himto come home for so long, having to slowly come to terms with thefact that his death was a genuine possibility. And Shiro knew you –he knew you had so much faith in him. You would try to deny it asmuch as possible, up until the very last moment. He knew you wouldrefuse to accept anything less than what you believed until it wasstupid for you to think otherwise.

   But after this amount of time, it was no doubt that you hadstarted to lose hope. It had to have been expected.

   Shiro caught a glimpse of himself in the window of a passingshop. He didn't stop too long to gaze at his reflection, but he sawenough of it – he nearly didn't recognise himself for the man heonce was. The Galra ship had no mirrors. They didn't see a reason forsuch things. He hadn't gotten a good look at himself in years, and hewas beginning to see how detrimental that had been.

   His slick black hair was no longer just black. There was a clumpof grey at the front, dangling in his eyes in ratty clumps. Hischeeks were now sunken in, black circles lining his eyes, hispreviously hard jaw suddenly more pointy that muscular. His clotheshung off of him in rags, though he had changed into a clean pair assoon as he could – nothing fit him any more. The size he once washad deteriorated tremendously, leaving him looking as if he waswearing a parachute rather than an old shirt and jeans.

   He hollowed out his sunken in cheeks, wiped a hand over his paleface and continued walking; sure, putting some effort into hisappearance for their reunion would have been pleasant, but he didn'thave the patience to do such a thing. He needed to see you. He neededto make sure you were okay, and then he could worry about hisphysical appearance.

   He entered the coffee shop not long after that. His heart wasracing in his chest. It was warm today, meaning the shop was barelypopulated save for a few people working on laptops and sufferingthrough sips of scolding coffee.

   Shiro's eyes immediately trailed to the front desk. He knew youworked the tills more than anywhere else – or, you used to – andthat was always where he used to find you whenever he visited youduring his own breaks from pilot training. He would sit by thecounter and hold your hand, groan whenever you claimed you had acustomer to see to. He missed those days, acting like a child in ahuff purely because you had to go and do your job.

   For a second, he couldn't see you. There was a clutter of stafftrying to fix a coffee machine, obscuring his view of the back roomor any part of the counter for that matter. It frustrated him.Perhaps it was his worn down temper or his non-existent patience, buthe suddenly felt the urge to scream at them to move out of the way.

   But then you were there, trailing your hands down your apron asyou came around the side of the group. His eyes nearly bulged out ofhis head when he saw you – he had changed so much, deterioratedinto a completely different person, but you had barely changed. Yourhair was longer, darker, now pinned back into a messy bun at the napeof your neck. You were smiling at something your co-worker had saidwhilst wiping coco powder down the front of your apron.

   Shiro swallowed thickly and approached the counter in quicksteps. He sat down in the same seat he always used to sit in, and hewaited for you to notice him.

   It didn't take long. You had always been good at your job, neverleaving a customer waiting for too long.

   But whenever you looked up, your eyes held no recognition. Youdidn't suddenly stop to stare at Shiro in surprise – you simplysmiled at him, approached him with the notepad and pencil in yourhand, and requested his order.

   And the pain that sliced through Shiro's mind in that moment wasindescribable. You didn't recognise him. Of course, he knew he hadchanged a lot and it had been a very, very long time, but he wasShiro. He was your Shiro – that was what you hadsaid, wasn't it? He was yours, and you were his, and you wereforever? There was no splitting you two up – not even a mission asbig as Kerberos had been.

   And yet you stood in front of him now without the slightest ideaas to who he was.

   He swallowed thickly once again. “Just a water, please.”

    You nodded, turned and opened the fridge. You placed a coldwater bottle in front of Shiro, told him to enjoy before attemptingto make your leave.

   Shiro couldn't have that.

  “Wait!”

   You paused, turning to look at him with acurious expression on your face. God, how he wanted to kissyou right now. With your raised eyebrow and your pursed lips and theloose strands of your hair blowing around your head due to thehumidity. You looked so casual. You looked so good, andShiro could do nothing but sit back and remember a time where hecould so easily reach over, grasp your chin and press your lips tohis.

   “Is something wrong, sir?” you asked. It was only then didShiro realise that he had been staring at you rather than actuallyspeaking.

   “Uh, no. Nothing's wrong,” he replied. “I just – I'm newto the town, you see. I've been travelling for a little while and Iwas wondering if you could help me out with some stuff.”

   “Ofcourse! What do you wanna know?”

   “Just. . . Everything.”

  ---

   He looked so familiar, but you refused to think that way.

   Shiro was dead. Shiro had been dead for months now – theGarrison had said so. They said he and the Holt's ship had gone offthe radar and hadn't been heard from in months – their rationswould have ran out eventually and they had either been blown out ofthe sky or they had starved to death after getting lost in space.

   Shiro was dead. This man who kept appearing in the coffee shopwas not Shiro.

   Still, you found yourself drawn to him for his resemblance, andhe didn't seem to mind. Every time he walked into the coffee shop,you would shove past your co-workers in your haste to go and servehim, to go and hear his voice which reminded you so much of the manyou had lost. It was a little deeper than what you remembered Shiro'sto be, a little bit rougher in comparison to Shiro's smooth, calmingtone – but it still had the essence of Shiro within it, and it wasenough to make you smile.

   It was only two weeks after this man started coming into thecoffee shop did you start to question your own doubts.

  In a way, you didn't want to believe that this man was anyone youknew – he was just a customer who had just moved into the cityafter travelling. He had told you that much about himself, but youvery rarely got enough time with him to know anything else.

    Except today, he ordered a coffee.

    A simple order – no ice, no weird toppings or styles to it.Just plain coffee. Just like Shiro used to drink.

    “Of course I can get that for you. Can I get your nameplease?”

   There was a brief moment of silence, a strange hesitation thatseemed to drag out a lot longer than you would expect. You glancedup, black Sharpie still hovering above the plastic cup.

   The man was biting his lip, glancing down at his hands which werethreaded together in front of him – one metal hand, one flesh.

    And then he looked up, grey eyes meeting yours before he said,“Shiro. My name's – My name's Shiro.”

   The tears started almost immediately. Before his words had evenproperly filtered in your head, before you could truly come to termswith what was going on – they were streaming down your cheeks inseconds, the cup falling from your hands and landing in the sinkbefore you. You didn't care. Your hands snapped up, covering yourmouth. They were trembling.

   Shiro sat up a little straighter, grinning from ear to ear.

   “You recognise me?”

   “I knew it,” you exclaimed, no longer caring about yourco-workers who were staring at the scene playing out in front of withthem with equal looks of concern and confusion. You didn't care asyou rushed around the side of the counter and threw yourself intoShiro's arms, burrowing your head in the crook of his neck andallowing yourself to break down.

   “Knew what, baby?” he chuckled, breath tickling your cheek.

  “I knew – I knew you weren't dead! They all told me you weredead, that I would have to move on, but I tried so hard not tobelieve it.” You sniffled, pressing your lips to his collar bone.His grip tightened on you, his eyes fluttering closed as he nuzzledhis nose by your jaw. “You said you would be home. You never breaka promise.”

   Shiro kissed your cheek over and over again. Hislips were dry – drier than you remembered them to be – but youdidn't care. You savoured the feeling of his lips pressed upon yourskin, savoured the feel of his arms around your waist. You would askhim about the changes soon enough – his metal arm, his extremeweight loss. They were questions which could wait for now.

    Because right now, you had him back, and that was all thatmattered. He had kept his promises.