#and if he stops bein fun and scary and all the things he was written to be. like how he spent so much of loveball just havin constant

[neon--nightmare]

YA anon i understand where ur coming from AND AGREE HONESTLY, but fresh specifically + at least geno/error were never intended/designed to be thin!!! it’s a lot more of a fanart issue than a canon one unfortunately, but it’s still def an issue :(

imo i genuinely think we as a society should move back to drawin fresh with the ORIGINAL original official design’s bodytype from @\determinedtopun-archived …. BARA SKELETON REVOLUTION <3

Transcript: I probably wouldn't dislike ink, fresh, or the rest of the main utmv sanses so much if they weren't so skinny. If your sans could be replaced by papyrus then what's the point in having them be a sans? Ink should be fat let him be fat, same with dream. Why is nightmare the only one consistently drawn bigger?

Like seriously slash gen why make ur oc a sans if your just going to not only strip his entire personality but also any defining characteristics of him? Anime boy sans with eye brows and tiny noses I hate you, we need to bring back the Bara sanses, they may take away his short king status but at least they have some heft to them.

[dialovers-translations]

Diabolik Lovers VANDEAD CARNIVAL ;; Sleeping Vampire ー Sakamaki Ayato

Source: Diabolik Lovers Vandead Carnival

Seiyuu: Midorikawa Hikaru

Audio: Here

→  LIKE MY TRANSLATIONS? SUPPORT ME ON KO-FI!

Ayato takes a seat on your bed.

*Thud*

"Che...Oi, wake up, Chichinashi. I don’t mind assaultin’ you in your sleep like usual. But I’m not really hungry, you know. I actually came all the way to your room to have you keep me company, so whatcha sleepin’ for, huh? Geez. Wake up already! (1) It’d be hella dull if you’re just snoozin’ away, right? Come on, look this way!

*Rustle*

“What? You really think you can pretend to be asleep and trick me with that crappy act of yours? Hehe...Well, I don’t mind playin’ along though? You’re basically givin’ me a free pass to do anythin’ I want, right? Hmー... Touchin’ you somewhere you wouldn’t want me to sounds fun...but to your current self, anythin’ I do is basically a reward. You’ve gotten totally used to it...You’re the scary one of us two. You feign ignorance, but you can’t fight back ‘gainst my fangs. If anything...They make you totally happy. ...For real, that’s what makes you fascinatin’, hehe.

Speaking of which, I feel like I haven’t seen you twist your face in fear very much as of late. Even the face you make when in pain...always changes right away? You end up looking at me with a longing expression...Well, that’s not bad either though? Hehe. I won’t let you deny it, you know? ‘Bout the expressions you make to entice men. ...It’s a conscious decision you make, isn’t you?”

You remain quiet.

“Che...You’re really persistin’ ‘bout pretendin’ to be asleep, huh? Fine by me? In that case, I’ll do as I please too. Your expression yearnin’ for pleasure isn’t the only face I wanna see you make after all. Seeing you shake all over like a fool from fear, or even hearing you cry out like an idiot from the pain and sufferin’ would work too. Also...Those eyes full of despair, not even capable of sheddin’ tears are quite the treat as well. ...Aah, makes me wanna see them again for the first time in a while. Say...You don’t mind, do you?

You still give no reaction.

“...Che. Oi, Chichinashi! This is the part where you jump up and make a fool out of yourself by gettin’ mad, no!? The fuck’s up with that reaction? It’s annoyin’! At this rate, I’m actually gonna do it, you know? My fangs only ever make you happy...so I’ll do somethin’ different. ...Hehe. Seems like you think that you’ve been through hell and back already. But that was only the very beginning. I’m more than capable of givin’ you a taste of pain you’ve never experienced before, don’t forget that? I’ll test whether you can...endure it or not.”

You flinch.

“Haha...You’ve got your brows furrowed, you know? (2) Even if you tense up your body, it’ll still hurt...and you’d still suffer...right? Better not regret it? Nn...”

*Smooch*

*Rustle rustle*

You open your eyes.

“Pfft...That face! What are you looking so surprised ‘bout? Haha...Nn...”

*Smooch*

*Rustle rustle*

“You’ve finally woken up, huh?”

*Thud*

“Oi! Don’t be pushin’ me away from the moment you open your eyes! Hehe...Aren’t your cheeks a lil’ flushed?”

You ask him what this is about

“You wanna know what I’m doin’? ...Kissin’ you, duh. I don’t know what you were thinkin’ I’d do...but you like this sorta stuff, don’t you? You had this really dreamy look in your eyes after I kissed you, you know? Well, I’m the one kissin’ you. I guess that’s a given. 

You try and explain your reaction.

Even so...Don’t be resistin’ when I’m kissin’ me. Ahー Did you think I’d do somethin’ a little more intense? Say...What were you imaginin’ while layin’ there with your eyes closed?”

You refuse to say.

“I’m askin’ you a question so answer me. You thought I’d do something a little more extreme, didn’t you?”

You avert your gaze.

“Hehe...Oi, what’s your answer? You can shake your head and pretend to be innocent all you want, but I already know what kinda girl you are deep down. You were imaginin’ what horrible things I’d do to you, weren’t you?”

You bite your bottom lip.

“Say...Just a few smooches doesn’t satisfy you, does it?”

You puff out your cheeks.

“Haha...Ahー Geez, shut up. Don’t get your panties in a knot. You’re the one who kept quiet this whole time, and now you’re this wide awake. You’re a hundred years too early to try and defy me.”

You ask him to stop.

“...’Stop’? Hmph. You think you have the right to say that? I’m hurt. I mean, you tried to deceive me just now, didn’t you? Why were you pretendin’ to be asleep?”

You explain.

“Hah? You were actually sleepin’? Are you stupid? No way I’d listen to your excuses!”

*Rustle rustle*

“...Where do you think you’re goin’? Don’t move without my permission.”

You try and blame Ayato for sneaking into your room. 

“Haah? I attack you during your sleep all the time though? Why complain about it now?”

You tell him you want to sleep now.

“Fool. You really think I care if you’re tired or not? Why are you so tired anyway? ...Che, were you doin’ somethin’ behind my back? Don’t tell me...You haven’t been bitten by one of the other dudes, right? You know what will happen if you let someone else suck your bloo...Wait, that’s not the case?”

You try and explain yourself.

“You were studyin’ the whole time...Up until this late at night? Well, that’s not my problem tho...”

You point out that Ayato has gotten the same assignment. 

“It does? ...Homework? Math problems? ...No idea. I don’t even know which problems you’re talkin’ ‘bout.”

You tell him there will be a test as well. 

“A test for English class? No clue either. ...Why, you ask? ...I was asleep durin’ class so how do you expect me to remember?”

You sigh.

“Wouldn’t anyone grow sleepy whem havin’ to listen to some teacher recitin’ formulas or English phrases like it’s some sort of spell?”

You tell him it’s important to write that stuff down. 

“Haah? Why would I take notes? I don’t need that crap, and even if I do, I can just steal yours.”

You complain.

“Fuck off! Don’t talk all high and mighty for a Chichinashi! You keep on tellin’ me not to snooze during class but who gives a damn? Listenin’ to those borin’ lectures like you do isn’t my cup of tea.”

You tell him he’ll be in trouble for the exams next week.

“...Aah? We’ve got tests next week as well? First thing I hear ‘bout that.”

You scold him.

“...Aah!? Shut up! Who cares ‘bout that trivial crap!?”

You warn Ayato about having to repeat his year.

“...Heeh? You’re worried ‘bout me havin’ to repeat my year, huh? Aah, right. I guess you don’t want us to get separated.”

You shake your head.

“Aah? You wouldn’t like that, no?”

You shrug.

“For example...You’ll no longer be able to beg for my fangs whenever you’re craving them, you know?”

You get flustered again.

“Haha...What? Sometimes you’re the one who asks for it, remember? Being all like ‘I want to be pierced by Ayato-kun’s fangs so badly, I don’t know what to do with myself!’ Even if you don’t voice it out loud, it’s written all over your face, you know?”

You try and deny it.

“Haha...That’s what it looks like to me so can you blame me? For example...Right. You were spacin’ out during last period yesterday, weren’t you?”

You tell him that’s not true.

“Nah, I remember? Your jaw was all slacked (3), I was actually wonderin’ whether you’d start droolin’ or not. ...You were thinkin’ of me, weren’t you?”

You shake your head.

“Don’t lie! Then why did you have that dreamy look in your eyes!? You’ve been tellin’ me off for sleepin’ during class, so there’s no way you’d admit you were sleepy yourself and yawned, right? So, what was the deal, huh?”

You don’t reply.

“...Hehe. Since you’re stayin’ quiet, you’re basically admittin’ it, huh? What were you daydreamin’ ‘bout during class? Come on, tell me. ...Specifyin’ which part of me you were thinkin’ ‘bout is fine as well, you know?”

You tell him to stop since he already saw right through you.

“Shut up! I don’t care if I’m right or not! Answer me...Is it my fangs you like? Or perhaps...”

*Rustle rustle*

*Sluuuurp*

“Nn...This tongue? Haha...You like gettin’ licked, don’t you?”

You flinch.

“Say, does bein’ licked really feel that good? ...Hehe. Ahー I guess it depends on where I lick you? Well, I know all of your sensitive spots tho. You prefer bein’ licked over bein’ carrassed, no? How is it?”

You look away.

“If you don’t give me an answer soon, I’ll only keep on addin’ questions? It’d be in your best interest to stop blushin’ and just honestly tell me, you know?”

You respond.

“...Haha. You should have just genuinely admitted you like it right away. Well, it’s something I already knew though. That you just love me oh-so much.”

You tell Ayato it’s embarrassing to hear him confess his love like that.

“Hehe...You’re the one who confessed, no? You like bein’ licked by my tongue, don’t you?”

You whimper softly.

“...Haha. You’ve totally gotten a taste of it.”

You blink in confusion.

“Of what, you ask? The taste of joy from bein’ toyed ‘round with like this?”

You deny it.

“Hah...? Oi, what didya say just now?”

You repeat it.

“Heeh, you really think you can tell me you hate me and get away with it?”

You retaliate.

“That’s exactly the part of me you dislike? ...What a cruel woman you are. I’m doin’ this to please you tho?”

You frown.

“What? Got a problem with that?”

You reply.

“Heeh...You’ve sure got guts. But you won’t get away talkin’ back to me like that. If you wanna know what I’ll do...For starters, I’ll kick you out from underneath these soft, comfortable covers...How ‘bout payin’ a visit to the torture chamber for the first time in a while? Hehe...I won’t let you say you’ve forgotten ‘bout that place.”

Your eyes widen.

“Hehe...Seems like imaginin’ it gave you a good wake-up call.”

You tell him it’s bed time. 

“Shut up. Do you really need to sleep? I’m invitin’ you along to keep me company. You should feel honored?”

You remind Ayato that you have school tomorrow.

“Aah? You really think I’d give a damn ‘bout classes tomorrow? If you get sleepy, you can just snooze there, or you could always skip school as well. ...Hah? Whatcha mean, you’d leave me behind and go to classes? You really think I’d let you? Fool! For one, why are you so damn fussy ‘bout goin’ to class? I take my eyes off you for one second and you’ve run off to some other classroom...Just the other day, you didn’t come back until 3rd period!”

You explain.

“...Off-campus activities? You were participatin’ in that shit? ...What I did in the meantime...? Nothin’, really. When I woke up, the classroom was empty, so I decided to kill time by sleepin’ some more but you just wouldn’t come back...So when I wandered ‘round the hallway for a bit, I messed up and let Reiji find me. I panciked and made a run for it, endin’ up in the broadcastin’ room. Mr. Sleepyhead was snoozin’ soundly there, so I decided to drop one of the vases in the room on the floor. Yet he wouldn’t wake up at all! That dude definitely has some screws loose!”

You tell him off. 

“Aah? Who cares ‘bout a stupid vase or two. I was honestly goin’ to throw it at him, but it was heavy so I scratched that idea.”

You tell him that would have hurt Shuu.

“The fuck...? Don’t be worryin’ ‘bout some other guy!”

You ask if he’s upset because you were worried about Shuu.

“Of course. What else could I mean? Geez...I was runnin’ ‘round lookin’ for you ‘cause you had disappeared, remember?”

You explain.

“Fuck off! Whether it’s goin’ to another classroom (4) or havin’ to go change for P.E., you just wander off on your own too often! You really expect me to remember our time table? ...Hmph! You can just drag me along to the next classroom, can’t you? ...It’s dull ‘cause you keep on disappearin’ on me without a word of warning.”

You sigh.

“Hmph. I’m definitely not lettin’ you sleep until it gets dark outside...We’re skippin’ school today.”

You protest.

“Heeh...Then let’s see if you can lull me to sleep instead. Hehe. Give it a try if you dare. However, I slept through most classes except for gym today, so it’s not gonna be easy?”

You ask for a hint.

“A hint? How am I supposed to think of somethin’ when I’m the one who can’t sleep? On top of that, you have to do the work, right? ...Hehe. Altho I feel like I’d only feel even more awake if you were to sing me a lullaby or somethin’. What else...I guess you could read me a book too. Hmー Actually, there’s this book I’ve been curious ‘bout, so read it to me.”

You ask for the title.

“The title? What was it again? ...I don’t remember, but the contents seemed really excitin’. It was somethin’ ‘bout what happens beyond the stuff they teach you in health class (5)...Which means it has a bunch of good stuff written in there, right? I’m sure it teaches you ‘bout the things left out by the textbooks, don’t you think? Hehe, aren’t you curious too? I’m pretty sure I saw it layin’ ‘round in Laito’s room...”

You seem skeptical.

“Hehe...Exactly. I saw it lined up in that freak’s room. Seeing as he kept it on the very back of the shelf, I’m pretty sure the contents are pretty extreme...? Say, doesn’t that pique your interest?”

You tell him it is an anatomy book.

“Ahー A book on the human body? Then, it’d talk ‘bout the different mechanisms of the body too, righ?”

You explain.

“Hah?  It has anatomy drawings in it? The different parts of the ‘capillary vessels’...And now in English? (5) Don’t think you can deceive me like that! ...Whatever. I’ll find out once I go fetch it.”

You frown.

“I’m looking forward to it, you know? Especially...the erotic scenes and such? I don’t mind if you teach me directly with your body either? Aah, by the way, you can’t just read it with a monotone voice, okay? Make sure to put some emotion in there. ...While imaginin’ it, okay? If there’s a part you don’t get, I’ll teach you. For example...Like this, perhaps?”

*Rustle rustle*

“Haha...What’s with that...Pfft...lame reaction?”

You get mad.

“Ahー I know! Stop complainin’ and get to business.”

You frown.

“Whatever, just listen to what I say. You want me to fall asleep, don’t you? Then you’ll have to do somethin’ ‘bout that. And who knows, your book-reading might actually do the trick.”

You nod.

“Haha, if you understand...then hurry up and go get the book.”

You open your mouth to protest.

“I’m not listenin’ to what you have to say. Come on, get movin’. Ahー... But, I guess I can’t let you go to that pervert’s room at this hour.”

Ayato moves away

*Rustle*

“I’ll go get it instead so wait here, ‘kay? I’ll choose a really intense one. Once I’ve got my hands on the book, I’ll have you read it out loud no matter what, okay? Hehe.

You tug him back into the bed by his sleeve.

*Rustle*

"That hurt! Che...Grabbin’ me so aggressively, when the fuck did you get that strong?”

You apologize.

“Hehe...Well, this isn’t a big deal. More importantly...What do you want from me to grab me that desperately? You don’t want me to go get the book? But aren’t you the one who said you wanted to put me to bed? Or maybe...Ahー I see. ...Since you’re this frantic, I guess you really don’t want me to leave your bed, huh? If you admit you don’t want us to be apart for even one second, I don’t mind listenin’ to your request? So...Beg me not to leave.”

You whisper.

“...Can’t hear you. Well then, guess I’ll go fetch that pervert’s book...”

You grab hold of his hand.

*Rustle*

“Haha...Didn’t think I’d see you cling onto me like that.”

You try and explain yourself.

“What part am I wrong about? You don’t want me to leave, right? I won’t let you say it’s just ‘cause you don’t wanna read the book. Hehe...Be honest with yourself already. You don’t want to be separated from me, do you?”

You nod.

“Heehー Fine, fine. If you want me to stay close that badly, I’ll embrace you...like this.”

*Rustle rustle*

“...Your heart’s beatin’ way too fast. Are you that happy? Also...Nn...You smell sweet. I wonder why you smell this sweet...?”

You ask if he’ll suck your blood.

“Not really...I’m not gonna suck your blood today.”

You seem puzzled.

“...Since you seem to want it so badly, I won’t.”

You giggle.

“Don’t laugh. Instead...”

*Rustle rustle*

“Mmh...”

*Smooch*

“Hah...Haha, that expression...I can’t get enough of it. What do you mean? ...Exactly like I said. I mean you’re incredibly cute.”

You protest.

“What’s the problem? I feel that way so just honestly accept it.”

You note that Ayato is acting off.

“It’s out-of-character for me...? I don’t go ‘round sayin’ this to just ‘bout anyone, you know? ...Hehe. It’s written all over your face that you’re actually barely containin’ your joy. Well, I guess that’s to be expected since I made an exception to praise you like that. Come on...Cling onto me tighter. Nn...”

*Smooch*

“You should take some initiative as well. While kissin’...I’ll let you do as you please.”

You kiss him.

*Smooch*

“...Pfft. You suck. Press them properly against each other. That wasn’t nearly enough. More...Nn...”

*Smooch*

“Hehe...It’s already night out, huh?”

You seem worried about school.

“...Well, I don’t mind lettin’ you sleep soon. ...If you were to fall asleep now, you’d still be in the land of dreams by the time the limousine leaves after all.”

You shake your head.

“What? You’re gonna go to school without gettin’ any sleep? Che...Don’t be actin’ like such a miss goody-two shoes. Hold up...Oi. Your eyes are already startin’ to look drowsy...Well, fallin’ asleep while kissin’ doesn’t sound half bad either, does it?”

He kisses you again.

“Nn...”

*Smooch*

“Hehe...Dozin’ off while entangled like this might be nice too. The possessive side inside of me will feel satisfied seeing your melted expression, and at some point, I’ll just nod off without realizin’...I thought that was normal but this might be another way to go ‘bout it as well. I’ll kiss you, so just go sleep already...Nn.”

*Smooch*

You try your best to stay awake.

“Just forget ‘bout school. You’d just fall asleep during the test if you were to go, don’t you think? Stop strugglin’ in vain already. Instead of...goin’ to that stupid school, you should just stay with me the whole time...I’m tellin’ you you can sleep in my arms.”

You blush.

“That way, you won’t suddenly disappear on me the second I take my eyes off you. You’re always talkin’ ‘bout havin’ to collect hand-outs or cleanin’ the classroom (7), right? There’s no need for you to do that shit though. You should only ever work for my sake. For one, I don’t like it when you get up from your seat...Actually, why do we have individual seats at school anyway? They should just use sofas instead.”

*Rustle*

“That’d be perfect to keep you locked in my embrace like this...don’t you think? I definitely won’t let you go. ...Hehe, just give up. You can no longer run. Fall asleep already. ...Goodnight.”

You close your eyes.

“...What? You actually fell asleep? ...Pfft. What a silly face. You’ve got your mouth wide open, you know? This kind of expression of yours...It’s not that interesting, but not bad either. Nn...”

*Smooch*

“I didn’t think I’d feel this way...just from connectin’ our lips. Say...How ‘bout you? Che, she’s sound asleep...Guess she won’t wake up anymore now that it’s this late. Hehe...I won’t allow you to dream ‘bout some other guy, okay? Only ever...look at me...”

Ayato closes his eyes as well.

Once you wake up tomorrow morning...You better tell me...what you dreamt about...”

He dozes off.

“Nn...Yui...I love you...Nn...”

ーー THE END ーー

Translation notes

(1) 目をさます or ‘me o samasu’ literally means ‘to open one’s eyes’, but in English the verb ‘to wake up’ is actually a little more accurate.

(2) Literally he points out that there are ‘wrinkles’ in between her eyebrows. 

(3) しまりのない or ‘shimari no nai’ is always tricky for me to translate because it means ‘loose’, ‘lax’ or ‘slack’. I can’t help but feel like it sounds awkward in English though. 

(4) At Japanese high schools, the students generally stay in the same classroom while the teachers swap. However, for certain classes such as art, music and science, they may have to move to another classroom which has the right equipment. These are called ‘移動教室’ or ‘idou-kyoushitsu’ which means ‘moving classroom’, literally. 

(5) Sex education is also a part of 保健体育 or ‘hoken-taiku’ which is ‘health class’, so I’m sure Ayato is talking about some sort of erotic novel.

(6) Literally he asks her what language she is speaking, implying he has no idea what she is talking about.

(7) Students at Japanese middle & high schools usually help out with several tasks such as cleaning the classroom after classes are over, or collecting print-outs and carrying them to the staff room. Even in the games, there’s a bunch of scenarios where Yui is asked to do that sort of stuff. 

[bybdolan]

Rating all the songs from “Across The Universe” (2007)

Girl (7/10) – A fun intro! Nothing too special, but it’s a bit mysterious and Jim Sturgess is looking directly into my soul, so it definitely draws you into the story. The mashup with Helter Skelter plus the whole protests/wave thing is veeeery dramatic, I dig that.

Hold Me Tight (7.5/10) – A cute lil’ dance scene, some sweet character introduction that immediately highlights Jude’s and Lucy’s different lifestyles… We love to see it! Also: The casting directors really found the most American looking guy ever to play Lucy’s boyfriend (I just assume he doesn’t have a name), huh? That’s talent.

All My Loving (8/10) – It’s one of my favorite Beatles songs, so I am biased, BUT Jim Sturgess really sells it and I love the scene that goes along with it. Him singing it to her in the alleyway feels very genuine and organic. (Side note: Jude you are a fookin’ bastard for cheating on Molly, gee.)

I Want To Hold Your Hand (9.5/10) – Incredible. Showstopping. Revolutionary. Ten times better than the Beatles’ version. Seeing this song from a gay perspective makes it so much deeper… She’s just asking to hold her hand… Wanting the simple things because maybe they can get away with doing that…. Maybe people won’t talk because girls holding hands could just be good friends…. The yearning of it all!!!!! The tenderness!!!! When I first saw that scene and the camera stayed on the girl as the guy was walking away and Prudence kept singing… Cultural reset. Only reason this isn’t a 10 is because this movie has even better scenes! (On a side note: It is hilarious that the school’s team is called Wildcats.)

With A Little Help From My Friends (8/10) – Boys being boys! Dudes bein’ guys, guys bein’ dudes. It’s a fun scene and a fun version of the song. All that’s left to ask is: DO YOU NEEEEEED ANYBOOODAAHHHYYYY? (Side note: Max Carrigan… Sir…. Spare hand in marriage?)

It Won’t Be Long (6.5/10) – Not gonna lie… I have no idea what purpose this scene serves. We never see Lucy’s boyfriend actually meeting her. However, I am not mad to hear Evan Rachel Wood perform this absolute banger, so I’ll take it. The school scenes are fun, I guess. It’s also one of the few times we see the other Carrigan sisters, who disappear for the rest of the movie. Maybe they also got drafted. Or they died. Who knows. They aren’t even there for Thanksgiving. Where did they go.

I’ve Just Seen A Face (9/10) – I don’t care if it is basic or simple… This song is instant serotonin and the bowling scene is so! Much! FUN!!! The chemistry between Max, Lucy and Jude is amazing… I love my dumb children.

Let It Be (12/10) – The full score doesn’t even cut it for this masterpiece. You thought the Beatles’ version was moving? Watch this damn scene. I can’t even think about it without getting emotional. If you don’t believe in a higher power, you will after hearing this song. The acting of both of the mothers is also spot on; when the mother of Lucy’s boyfriend clutches the flag and just breaks down? That kills me. Julie Taymor saying that she wanted the scene to make us empathetic for what’s going on in the world instead of apathic after becoming desensitized from all the violence we see on the news every day makes it much more impactful. I’ll stop talking now. I can’t handle it. EGOT!

Come Together (9.5/10) – It’s fucking Joe Cocker singing Come Together. The musical arrangement is LIT as fuck and the choreography is *chef’s kiss*. Shout out to the hooker girls! You are Queens! Only reason this isn’t a 10/10 is that pimp!Joe Cocker creeps me out. What’s up with that beard?

Why Don’t We Do It In The Road (7./10) – We don’t hear much of the song since Jude and Lucy are talking so much, but Sadie is amazing. Her voice is great. She’s gorgeous. Sadie sexy. I’m gay for Sadie. That’s it that’s the review.

If I Fell (8.5/10) – Evan Rachel Wood I have feelings for you.

I Want You (She’s So Heavy) (11/10) – This is THE scene, okay??? You may argue that the symbolism is a bit too on the nose, but it fits this very imagery-heavy movie perfectly. *Childish Gambino voice* This is America. You can tell that the writers of the movie thought long and hard about what to do with each and every song and it truly pays off in this scene. It is scary, it is weird, it is stunning. It is… Dare I say… Perfect.

Dear Prudence (9/10) – Prudence literally being in the closet… Iconic. This song makes me feel like I am floating. It’s so soft yet euphoric. Love the protest scene, too. Really captures the spirit of the time. (I say as if I was already born.)

I Am The Walrus (8/10) – I want to rate this lower because the whole LSD ordeal serves no purpose whatsoever and doesn’t drive the story further, but… Bono kills it :/ It’s a banger. Sorry Beatles, but Bono is the REAL walrus. There’s no competition.

For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite (3/10) – What’s the point??? Why is this scene in the movie? I guess they all had fun making it, but sorry Miss Taymor, cool set design doesn’t make a good scene. The blue guys are cool though. And Prudence got herself a gf!!! Good for her.

Because (8/10) – Deep sigh… It’s just a very good song. And the transition that shows Max has been shipped away is amazing.

Something (8.5/10) – Greatest love song ever written, blah blah. What can I say. Again: Mr. Sturgess kills this performance. He has the perfect voice for the song.

Oh! Darling (8.5/10) – My parents Sadie and Jojo are going though a tough spot, but they are kind enough to turn their anger and sexual frustration into a show that we can enjoy. And oh boy, we DO enjoy it. Their voices work together so well and the eMoTiOnS!!! Splendid. Good job, guys. Now please make up :( You love each other, after all.

Strawberry Fields Forever (10/10) – I’m spiraling. This song and this scene is god tier. It is beautiful and heartbreaking and simply gorgeous. Just… Wow.

Revolution (8/10) – Jude you are a little bitch but this song slaps. Next!

While My Guitar Gently Weeps (9/10) – Jojo’s voice… Heavenly. Just a damn good version of this song. Bonus points for the Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan vibes near the end of the scene when Jojo and Jude are walking down the streets.

Across The Universe (10/10) – This movie is cranking it up near the end, damn. This is just beautiful. Plain as that. The scene of Jude seeing Lucy and himself from the past in the subway driving past evokes feelings in me that I can’t explain.

Helter Skelter (9/10) – BANGER! Better than the original; Paul McCartney wishes he had what Dana Fuchs has. Works incredibly well with the riot scene.

Happiness Is A Warm Gun (10/10) – INCREDIBLE! Julie Taymor managed to make this song makes sense, wow. Joe Anderson’s delivery is incredible, and the hospital scene is really creepy but in a very very good way. Bonus points for Salma Hayek.

Black Bird (7/10) – I’m always too focused being sad about Max to pay attention, sorry. But it’s Evan Rachel Wood softly singing a ballad. What more do you want?

Hey Jude (9.5/10) – THIS SONG! MAX AND JUDE! T H E Y! All friendship is romantic, bitch!!! I can’t properly express my emotions but let it be known that I cry at the first note of this song. Hey Jude……

Don’t Let Me Down (7.5/10) – My parents are back together :) And they sound great!

All You Need Is Love (10/10) – Get your tissues ready. We’ve reached the end and it is flawless (just like the rest of this movie – except the LSD scenes). You probably will cry of happiness. Love truly is all you need.

Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds (7/10) – A solid banger to finish it all off. Gives you time to wipe your tears away and get carried away on the waves of funky Beatles songs.

[dallanebbia]

selcouth

fandom: bnha pairing: kacchako; bakugou katsuki x uraraka ochako word count: 6.6k warnings: minor descriptions of injuries synopsis: five times uraraka held bakugou’s hand – and the one time he held hers. pre-relationship, second year, future fic notes: written for day 5 of kacchako week 2020, with the prompt ‘hand holding.’ fun fact, this was the very last prompt i wrote for this event! i went back and forth with a ton of different plots,  but i ended up with a good ol’ 5+1 fic, ft. lots of fluff and an emotionally dumb, oblivious bakugou. when i started writing this ship, it was hard for me to get into bakugou’s head to write from his pov, but i think i’m getting a little better at it :) ao3: [link]

selcouth (n.) – Old English, something unfamiliar, unusual or wondrous

─── ･｡ﾟ❁ﾟ｡･ ───

The first time Uraraka held his hand was literally only because he had no other choice.

“Jeez, Bakugou… do you always hafta be so intense about things?”

Uraraka winced at the grotesque sight of Bakugou’s knee, swelling into an angry purple color between the shredded remains of his hero costume pants. 

“Tch, like I was gonna let someone else beat me to the action,” he scowled, leaning against an electrical pole for support.

In retrospect, launching himself headfirst into an ongoing robbery wasn’t the smartest idea – especially when he was only supposed to be an intern. He’d kicked ass of course – those shitty villains had nothing on him – but the busted kneecap and fractured foot he got in exchange weren’t really doing him any favors. 

Kamui Woods had taken one look at him, sighed heavily, and radioed Uraraka to escort Bakugou back to the agency for healing while he dealt with the police.

Bakugou had protested, saying that he didn’t need help – but it was quickly becoming clear that he wasn’t going anywhere. The pain in his legs was excruciating, throbbing in time to his heartbeat, and it took every ounce of his remaining energy to keep himself from collapsing in the middle of the street. 

“Bakugou –” Uraraka bit her lip, watching in worry as he tried to push himself upright, flinching violently. On instinct, she stepped forward, immediately coming up to try and steady him. “Let me –”

“I don’t need your fuckin’ help, Round Face,” he barked, jerking himself away from her outstretched hands. It was a mistake, though – he grimaced, his face crumpling in pain, and he missed the way Uraraka’s eyes narrowed in determination. 

“There’s no way you’re gettin’ back to the agency like that, Bakugou,” she said sternly. “Quit bein’ such a damn edgelord and let me help you!”

“Fuck off,” Bakugou snarled. “I don’t need some pink-cheeked – you bitch, don’t you fucking dare.”

“You really wanna be carried outta here on a stretcher?” He felt anger boiling in his blood just thinking about it. “That’s what I thought.” The set of Uraraka’s mouth just tilted down stubbornly, and before he could keep protesting, she slapped a hand over his bicep.

“I’ll murder you.” His eyes glared daggers into the side of her head, but the pain in his expression eased as he rose into the air.

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Uraraka rolled her eyes, grabbing a fistful of his pants and tugging him along as she started down the street. There were already emergency responders helping to clean the crime scene, the police herding the robbers into cars, and all that was left was for them to check into medical and write up their reports. “Lord Explosion Murder, we get it already.”

“That’s King to you, Round Face,” he spat out, making a face as his body started to turn awkwardly in the air. “Oi, quit movin’ me around so much, I’m gonna flip over!”

Uraraka threw him an annoyed look, and adjusted her grip so that she was holding a bigger handful of fabric. “Well, it’s this or your foot, and I don’t wanna risk makin’ your injuries worse than they already are.”

“You’ll make them worse if you keep making me bump into random shit,” he sputtered furiously. He tried batting himself out of the way of a traffic sign, only to be jerked out of the way at the last second like a balloon. “Fuck – I said quit that!”

“If I knew you were gonna be such a pain about this…” Uraraka huffed and came to a stop in the middle of the goddamn sidewalk, ignoring all the attention they were drawing. “Fine, lemme just – “

Bakugou faltered as she yanked him down closer to her, grabbing his gloved hand in hers.

“O-oi, what are you – ?” He scrabbled at his arm, trying to shove her away, but his bulky gauntlets made it virtually impossible.

“S’just my hand, Bakugou,” Uraraka sighed, and tossed him a frown when he kept trying to pull himself out of her grip. “Stop bein’ so weird about it!”

“I’m not being weird,” he snapped, biting the inside of his cheek to hide his discomfort. Had her grip always been so strong? “I could blow your fucking arm off!”  

That earned him a scoff. “You’ve got the most control over your quirk outta anyone from our class, Bakugou. There’s no way you’re gonna blow my arm off,” she said exasperatedly, and he blinked a little at the way she said it, as if it were obvious. “Look, if it’s such a big deal, I’ll princess carry you back instead.”

“Try that and I’m actually gonna kill you,” he growled darkly. Shitty Hair was supposed to swing by the agency so they could grab dinner, and there was no fucking way Bakugou was letting his dumbfuck best friend see him carried in like a damsel in distress.  

Uraraka grinned to herself in victory. “You already said that.”

“Well, I mean it!” he grumbled, and slowly resigned himself to being dragged along like a balloon. At least he was floating right-side up now – and facing the right direction this time.

“… Wait. Did you call me a fuckin’ edgelord?”

─── ･｡ﾟ❁ﾟ｡･ ───

The second time Uraraka held his hand was an accident.

“Oh sweet Jesus.”

Bakugou exhaled slowly, trying to quell the frustration bubbling in his stomach, and shot a dirty look to the side.

“Oi,” he snapped, glaring at the petite brunette sitting next to him. “Zip it, Round Face.” Uraraka had been squealing and muttering under her breath since the damn movie started, and he was over it.

“Eeek – sorry!” Uraraka whispered, flashing him a wavering, apologetic smile before an upswell in the creepy background music made her features contort in a wince.

Bakugou just grunted, turning his eyes back to the laptop screen. He didn’t know how Pinky got Uraraka to join their weekly movie night ritual, but he had ended up next to her on Shitty Hair’s bed, the two of them squished her up against the wall. Pikachu and Tape Face were sprawled out on the rest of the bed, slowly dozing off, but Shitty Hair and Pinky, who had commandeered the floor space, had left the room ten minutes ago for snacks, and they hadn’t come back yet.

He hoped to hell that they weren’t making out in the hallway again.

“Oh god,” he heard Uraraka squeak quietly, as on the screen, a flash of lightning showed the silhouette of a man in the dark house, while the female protagonist was sleeping, completely unaware. “Oh god, oh fuck no – “

His eyes cut over to the side, eyeing Uraraka in surprise. “The hell?” he muttered, and brown eyes darted in his direction. “Since when do you curse?”

Uraraka frowned at him, but flinched as the woman on screen jolted awake. “M’allowed to curse, Bakugou, I’m not a kid,” she whispered back fiercely, but flinched as another flash of lightning showed the dark figure standing by the woman’s bed. “Ohmygod, ohmygod –“

He scoffed. “It ain’t even that scary, Cheeks,” he murmured with an eyeroll. “This is pussy shit.”

“Maybe for you!” she hissed, and let out a whimper as the music faded, leaving only the sound of the woman’s heavy breathing filtering through the speakers. “Oh my god, no no no – ”

At this point, Bakugou just tilted his head to sneer at her. “Seriously? You could literally fuck that guy up in a second.”

Uraraka made a face. “Just ‘cause I could, doesn’t mean it’s any less creepy! Nobody wants to wake up and find some serial killer in their house!” she protested, a little too loudly, and they both froze as Pikachu groaned a little, shifting so he was sprawled over Tape Face a bit more, before falling limp again.

For a few blissful minutes, she kept quiet while the movie played – but when the main character let out a dramatic gasp, she jumped again, hands flying to her face. She curled herself into a ball, peeking through the fingers covering her eyes, and Bakugou couldn’t help but mutter, “Tch, you’re such a wimp.”

Uraraka’s head whipped up, eyes narrowed. “I am not a wimp!” she whispered hotly.

A blonde eyebrow rose doubtfully. “Are too.”

“Are not!”

“Are too.”

“Are not!”

“Yes, you are,” he emphasized lowly, nodding at the laptop screen. He recognized the scene playing on the screen, and he had to bite back his smirk as he goaded, “You’re not even watching the damn movie.”

“Fine, I’ll prove it!” With a huff, Uraraka sat up, leaning forward and staring at the laptop with knitted brows. Bakugou let himself grin a little – baiting her was fun, but he kept his eyes on her as the main character crept down the dark hallway. He’d seen the movie once a while back, but he remembered that there was a jump scare, just after –   

“Holyfuckingshit!” The shrill, tinny scream from the movie almost covered Uraraka’s strangled squeal of fright, but Bakugou sure as hell didn’t miss the way the brunette leapt clean into the air, diving into Shitty Hair’s comforter like an ostrich hiding its head in the sand. Bakugou couldn’t quite hide his snickering, his body shaking as he cackled quietly, but when he tried to bring his hand up to wipe at his eyes, something was preventing him from moving.

“The fuck?” he uttered, staring down in bewilderment. At some point, Uraraka had grabbed his hand during her freak out, clenching it tight against her forehead, as if trying to hide her entire body behind the width of his hand. She looked utterly ridiculous, but some part of him couldn’t help but notice how fucking tiny her hands were.

Then, he realized that he was starting to float off the bed.

“Oi, let me go!” he hissed, shaking his hand to try and get her attention.

“H-huh?” Uraraka sat up, a little wild-eyed, and Bakugou leaned over to poke her in the middle of her forehead, hard.

“Your quirk, you idiot!”

Her mouth dropped open in mortification as she realized she had commandeered his hand, pushing it away from her abruptly as she quickly pressed her fingers together. “Sorry, sorry!” she squeaked, and Bakugou dropped back onto the mattress with a thump. “Oh god, I didn’t mean to – ”

“Will you chill the fuck out already?” he grumbled, repositioning himself on the mattress and kicking Pikachu’s fat ass over to give him some more room. He didn’t want her to use him as a teddy bear again, so he grabbed a pillow and shoved it at her. “Here, if you really need to hide behind something...”

He let his voice trail off as Uraraka took the pillow, still flushed in embarrassment. “… sorry,” she offered again, a little timidly, and Bakugou sighed.

“…Whatever, it’s fine,” he muttered, balling the hand she had held in a fist. It felt weird for some reason – why did his palm feel so prickly all of a sudden? “Just shut up already, will you?”

Uraraka just mimed zipping her lips together, nodding furiously, and he rolled his eyes as he turned back to the screen, a good half-meter between them.

─── ･｡ﾟ❁ﾟ｡･ ───

The third time Uraraka held his hand was just… weird.

“Shit.”

Bakugou glared down at the sloppy tangle of gauze wrapped loosely around his hands. With a grimace, he yanked the bandages away, gritting his teeth against the pain that shot through his body, the echoing ache digging down deep into his bones.

He wanted to call Shitty Hair for help, but the redhead was out for the weekend, visiting his family. There was no way he was going to cave and ask anyone else for help, so Bakugou had sucked it up and tried taking care of it himself.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t going so well.

“Eh? Is that you, Bakugou?” His head snapped up at the sound of a familiar voice, and a glance over his shoulder revealed Uraraka, standing in the entrance of the common room in her pajamas. Her hair was a mess and she was rubbing at her face sleepily, but none of that explained what she was doing up at three in the fucking morning.

“What the hell are you doing?” he scowled, turning his back to her.

“I got thirsty,” she yawned. “Why are you up so late? Isn’t it past your bedtime?”

“What are you, my fuckin’ mother?” he snapped. “Fuck off.”

“Right…” Uraraka pursed her lips, padding to the kitchen. “I was just askin’, sheesh…”

Even though his body was hidden by the couch, and there was no way for her to see anything other than his head as she crossed the room, Bakugou still buried his hands into the front pockets of his hoodie. He was in pain and frustrated and exhausted, and he felt like a spring wound too tight. Uraraka’s sudden appearance had caught him off guard, and he felt oddly exposed for some reason.

She disappeared into the kitchen, and Bakugou exhaled slowly. He slowly pulled his hands back out, grabbing the bundle of gauze with a wince and settling down to untangle the mess for the hundredth time. He could feel his hands protesting, the stitches crawling up his palms already starting to bleed through antibacterial gel he’d lathered on earlier, and he slumped even further into the couch as frustration burned at the backs of his eyes.

“Um… Bakugou?”

He froze, eyes sliding to the side to see Uraraka. She was standing at the other end of the couch, a glass of water in hand, and looked both hesitant and determined all at once.

“Mind your own fuckin’ business, Round Face.” He ducked his head, swallowing as he took a steadying breath.

He picked at the tangled bandages, but the couch dipped suddenly under him. He felt Uraraka scoot close until she was sitting at his side, body turned to face him as she said softly, “If you want, I can…?”

She held her hand out, waiting for him to give her the gauze.

His first instinct was to say no. It was bad enough that he had to ask Shitty Hair for help, but he didn’t want anyone else seeing what a weak little shit he was. He had to learn how to do it himself at some point too – there wasn’t a point in relying on someone when he could do it alone, just as well or even better.

Still… his gaze fell to her outstretched hand, and he noticed the faint scars covering the skin of her palm and fingers. The pale marks were obviously not new, not years old either – but they were well healed, without any excess scar tissue. He didn’t know how he never noticed them before.

Huh. He flicked his gaze up to her face, where she watched him with patient eyes, gnawing at her lip nervously. Well, not like she can make it worse.

“… whatever.” He slapped the bandages into her waiting palm, and cursed himself for being a dumbass as pain and black dots exploded across his vision. “Do what you want,” he muttered with a grimace. He turned his head away, jaw set stubbornly, but slowly, he let his gaze slide to the side, watching her from the corner of his eye.

To his disgruntlement, Uraraka combed through the mess easily, fingers plucking until the length of gauze was coiled loosely in her lap. She reached towards him, and Bakugou had to bite back the instinct to recoil from her touch as she tugged his hand over, cupping it as she started to wrap his palm.

Her hands were cool against his skin, her touch firm yet gentle. She moved quickly and confidently, as if she’d done this exact same thing a hundred times before, and he didn’t notice his head turning to watch her work until she glanced up at him. She met his gaze with a startled “eep!,” and then immediately directed them back down with an embarrassed flush.

He felt his cheeks turn hot, and a weird buzzing sensation settled below his skin, one that got really loud every time Uraraka’s fingers brushed over his. It wasn’t a bad thing per se, but it felt disconcerting – and after she finished tying off the ends of the bandages, he immediately pulled his hands back.

He examined them, begrudgingly impressed. The wraps looked as good as when Recovery Girl had done them, possibly better – but he figured the pain was the reason he was thinking so weirdly, so he pushed the thought out of his head.

“How do they feel?” Uraraka asked. “Not too tight?”

“S’alright,” he mumbled. “Better than how Shitty Hair does it.”

For some reason, she laughed. “Don’t let him hear you say that. He was really touched that you asked him for help, y’know?”

“He’s fucking dead,” Bakugou growled, because of course Shitty Hair went and blabbed. He leaned back against the cushions with a sigh – the stabbing ache was still there, but it was slowly dulling. Without the stress of trying to wrap his injuries by himself, he felt ten times lighter.

He glanced over to Uraraka, who was staring off into nothing, toying with her half-filled water glass absently. His gaze dropped to her hands again, curiosity niggling at the edge of his brain, and he asked brusquely, “How the hell do you know how to do shit like this anyways?”

She jumped a little, blinking in surprise, but when he didn’t say anything, just waiting for an answer, she giggled nervously. “Oh, well… durin’ my internship with Gunhead, he taught me how to throw knives!”

He jerked upright at that, his eyes bugging out, because what the fuck?

“And I was pretty bad at it at first,” Uraraka continued, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. “I kept cuttin’ my hands up… so I got a lot of practice with takin’ care of stuff like that!”

“Knives?” he repeated incredulously. “You can throw fuckin’ knives?”

“Yeah?” She shrugged, as if she wasn’t aware of how fucking badass she sounded. “I mean, you never know when you’ll need one – that’s what Gunhead always said. I asked the Support Department to add a bunch to my hero costume, but I hafta pass some sort of test before I’m cleared to carry them…”

Bakugou huffed, clicking his tongue. “Un-fucking-believable,” he muttered, shaking his head. He knew that she was strong, but he could feel his respect for her leaping up a few notches.

Knives. Who would’ve thought?

Unfortunately, Uraraka somehow interpreted his words as disbelief, and her eyes narrowed into a glare.

“Hey, I’m serious!” she scowled, scooting closer so she could shove her hand into his face. “See – this one’s from where I dropped one and tried catchin’ it, but I didn’t get all my fingers on the handle… and this one is because I was testin’ out different weights, and there was this one that was super heavy and slipped and cut my palm. And this one –”

Bakugou rolled his eyes, but continued to listen as she chattered away. His gaze settled on one scar that curved from the middle of her left palm across the meat below her thumb, grazing the back of her wrist like a half-drawn contour line. The mark shined a little, catching the light as her arms moved, and he found himself oddly mesmerized by it.

Absently, he wondered what it would feel like, pressed up against the skin of his palm.

─── ･｡ﾟ❁ﾟ｡･ ───

The fourth time Uraraka held his hand didn’t really count – not until he apologized.

“Yield?”

Bakugou scowled, hands scrabbling against the muscled thighs squeezing his neck. “Hell… no…” he croaked through gritted teeth.

 “Ah-ah-ah,” Uraraka chided, her voice already lilting gleefully. The legs around his throat tightened just a little more. “You ain’t gettin’ out this time, Bakugou – yield already!”

He struggled against her for a few more seconds, trying to squirm his way out of the chokehold, but after another warning squeeze, he sighed, falling limp with a groan. “Fine, fine,” he grumbled, “I yield, now let me go!”

He gasped as Uraraka released him, gulping down air as he tried to catch his breath. At his side, Uraraka rolled onto her knees, grinning in victory.

“Heh, that’s one more for me!” she cheered, pumping the air with her fist, and she gave him a cheeky grin. “Better watch out Bakugou, soon you’re gonna be eatin’ my dust!”

“Tch, don’t get all cocky just yet,” he barked, pushing himself up off the floor. He used the bottom of his tank top to wipe at his face, wincing at the sting of sweat dripping into his eyes. “I’ve still got fifty wins to your forty-eight!”

“Yeah, but I’m catchin’ up!” she shot back, waving her hand dismissively. “You used to have like, ten wins on me at one point – just a few more spars and we’ll be tied!”

He scowled, but only because she wasn’t wrong – when they’d first agreed to start sparring together, a little while after his hands had finally healed up properly, he’d been pinning her to the ground consistently. Then, she started going to those supplemental martial arts classes, and he started getting his ass kicked more and more.

For some reason though, he didn’t mind the idea of losing if it meant he was losing to Uraraka.

Still, he had a reputation to uphold, so he rolled his eyes and spat out, “Pft, in your fuckin’ dreams, Cheeks.”

Uraraka paused, head tilting in confusion. “Cheeks?” she asked, brow raised. “What happened to Round Face?”

“I mean…” Bakugou cursed internally – he hadn’t meant to let the nickname slip out, but since it was already out there… he leaned forward and poked her, right below the pink blush staining her cheekbone. “If the shoe fits, and all that shit.”

It was also meant to refer to her ass, but he figured that she didn’t have to know that.

Uraraka’s expression darkened as he kept poking at her cheek, jerking her face away. “Stop that,” she snapped, and Bakugou just smirked.

“Or what?” he said teasingly. He didn’t quite know how it happened, but trolling Uraraka had become his favorite pastimes – she was just too easy to rile up. He just reached forward and poked her again, ignoring the glare she was giving him. “Whatcha gonna do, Cheeks?”

“If you poke me one more time, I swear – ”

He just snorted, going in to squish her cheek again, but Uraraka’s arm whipped up and caught his hand in a claw-like grip, her thumb digging into a pressure point that sent a stabbing pain shooting through him. “Ow, ow – fuck, what the hell – ?!”

She shoved him away as he crumpled under the force of her grip, and her voice was loud and angry as she yelled, “I said stop, Bakugou!”

He fell back, brows knitted in confusion as Uraraka stood up abruptly, stalking over to where they’d placed their things earlier. She pulled on her jacket roughly, grabbing her water bottle, and Bakugou scrambled to his feet as he realized that she was actually upset.

He caught her right before she made it to the locker room, grabbing her shoulder. “Oi, what was that for?”

“Let me go!”

“Not until you explain,” he growled, and yanked her back so she was facing him. “You’re being all moody now, what gives?”

“You were bein’ a jerk,” she snapped, mouth downturned as she stared at him defiantly. “I don’t appreciate bein’ made fun of.”

What? He frowned. “When the hell did I make fun of you?”

“You called me Cheeks!” she exclaimed furiously. “And you kept pokin’ at ‘em, lookin’ all smug!”

She said it so pointedly, as if that had proved her point, but Bakugou just felt even more confused. Were all girls so fuckin’ weird?

“You’ve got chubby cheeks, so I called you Cheeks.” He didn’t know what was happening – he thought the name fit pretty well, but clearly she didn’t agree. “How the fuck is that making fun of you?”

Uraraka’s jaw clenched. “You literally just called them chubby,” she said, her voice tight as she looked away.

“Cause they are, dumbass.” He paused then, studying her, and as she curled an arm over her stomach, he finally realized what she was going on about.

Bakugou frowned. He knew girls were all sensitive about their bodies and stuff, but he’d thought that Uraraka wasn’t the type to worry about that stuff. She was always stuffing her face when there was free food around, and her costume was basically skin-tight; he figured that she had to have some measure of confidence to pull that kind of shit off, but maybe he was wrong.

“M’not saying that you’re fat,” he said slowly, trying to come up with the right words to explain himself. He knew he could come off as an asshole, but he wasn’t the kind of guy who said shit like that. “You’re not, alright?”

“Whatever, Bakugou.” She didn’t seem convinced, rolling her eyes as she tried shrugging his hand away.

“Oi, I mean it.” He tugged on her shoulder insistently until she met his gaze. “Nobody gives a fuck about what you look like, Uraraka. You’re strong, and that’s all that matters. So fuckin’ what if you’ve got chipmunk cheeks – they’re c-cute, so fuck whoever gives you crap about ‘em!”

He stuttered over the word, his face flushing a little, and he had to avert his eyes when she blinked up at him in surprise. It felt awkward as hell, saying something like that out loud, but he didn’t want her to get the wrong idea about him.

He didn’t want her thinking that way about herself.

“Oh.” He heard Uraraka exhale slowly, as if trying to gather her thoughts. Then, she laughed a little and said, “Who are you and what have you done to Bakugou?”

“Oi, what’s that supposed to mean?” His head whipped up, a glare ready, but it faltered as he saw the smile on Uraraka’s face as she stared at him. It was small and soft, and there was something he couldn’t quite name lingering in her expression. He felt his tongue go heavy all of a sudden, and all he could do was swallow thickly as a swooping sensation erupted in his stomach.

She shrugged. “You bein’ nice is just… strange, I guess.”

That made him scowl. “I’m always fucking nice, what the hell?”

“Keep tellin’ yourself that, Bakugou,” she said dryly, and then shook her head, huffing a little. “Well, I guess Cheeks is better than Round Face, in any case…”

Her voice trailed off, and the silence that fell between them felt heavy and oppressive as Bakugou shifted on the balls of his feet. There was something weird about the way Uraraka was peering up at him, almost expectantly, but he didn’t know what she was waiting for.

Eventually, he settled on just repeating himself – he figured it wouldn’t hurt to hammer his point in, just one more time. “I mean it, y’know,” he grumbled. “You’re fine the way you are.”

“… Thanks.” For some reason, that made Uraraka’s shoulders slump a little, but before he could read into it, she offered him that weird little smile again. “That means a lot, comin’ from you.”

“Hah?” He blinked. “Why?”

“You’re always upfront and blunt ‘bout what you’re thinkin’,” she explained, and reached up to lay her hand over his, still resting on the curve of her shoulder. She squeezed gently, before dragging it off of her. “I know you really mean it – you aren’t sayin’ stuff just to make me feel better.”

Their hands hung between them, Uraraka still holding his, and goosebumps trailed up his arm as he felt his skin tingle under her touch. Even as she let go, the feeling lingered, and he couldn’t help but flex his hand, trying to work the strange sensation away.

“I don’t do that kind of fake shit,” he said, clearing his throat a little, and tried to hide his discomfort by shoving his hands in his pockets. “But… if you really don’t want me to call you that, I’ll stop.”

Uraraka shook her head. “No, I… I don’t mind it,” she said shyly, twisting her fingers together, and he offered her a nod, mouth quirking upwards as he resisted the odd urge to let himself grin wildly.

“Cheeks it is, then.”

─── ･｡ﾟ❁ﾟ｡･ ───

The fifth time Uraraka held his hand was only for half-priced ramen.

“Oh my god.” The brunette stopped dead in her tracks, eyes going wide in awe. “Bakugou, look!!”

He paused, confused, and followed her outstretched arm to the storefront of a local ramen shop. They’d gotten permission to leave campus to grab something for dinner after their sparring session, but they’d agreed on going to the supermarket for food.

Bakugou took a second to examine the restaurant façade, head cocked in confusion. There was nothing out of the ordinary – it seemed like the shop probably had decent ramen, but he could make his own just as easily.

“What the hell am I supposed to be seeing?”

“It’s right there! Look!!” Uraraka made an impatient noise, pointing at the shop again in excitement. “They have a 2-for-1 special on their ramen! It’s half the usual price!!”

Ah. Sure enough, there was a sign propped out in the middle of the sidewalk, advertising the very offer Uraraka mentioned. “Yeah? So?”

“So,” she said, dragging out the word expectantly, “Let’s go!”  

It was his turn to stop, this time turning to her incredulously. “… Hah?”

“Let’s go eat there!” she exclaimed, all starry-eyed. “We came out here to grab dinner, right? I bet they have spicy ramen too…”

“Cheeks…” he said warningly, rolling his eyes at her wheedling tone. “We’re supposed to be getting groceries.”

“Aw, c’mon, Bakugou!” she pouted. “We can get groceries after; this is a once in a lifetime opportunity!”

“Pretty sure that’s supposed to apply to things like winning the lottery, not some deal at a restaurant,” he said dryly. Still, he took a closer look, his brows rising as he read the tiny characters lining the bottom of the sign. “Besides, it’s only for couples. Unless you’ve got a secret boyfriend, I think you’re shit outta luck, Cheeks.”

Without missing a single beat, Uraraka said, “Well, I have you, don’t I?”

Bakugou sputtered, his heart stuttering. “What?”

Uraraka just blinked up at him even more eagerly, a determined smile growing on her face. “My auntie and her best friend used t’pretend to be a couple to get the paired ticket discounts at amusement parks,” she explained casually, and Bakugou could almost begrudgingly admire that – those places were expensive as shit. “This is the same thing!”

“Uh huh,” he said doubtfully. “And how the hell are we supposed to convince people we’re a couple?”

“All we gotta do is hold hands and be happy together,” she said cheerfully. “They’ll totally buy it!”

Hold hands. Bakugou swallowed a little, something turning uncomfortably in the pit of his stomach as he recalled the last few times she had held his hand. The weird feeling in his hand had eventually gone away, but when he’d gone online for more information, the only rational explanation he found was that his skin was reacting badly to her soap or something.

He scowled – he wasn’t going to risk a full-blown allergic reaction just so Uraraka could get a cheap deal on ramen. “Yeah, not happening.”

“C’mon, Bakugou – please?” He faltered a little as she stared up at him with wide, brown eyes. That weird, warm itch started to spread again, his palms going a little sweaty for some reason – what kind of weird-ass soap did she use? “I can’t eat out all that often… and we did come out to grab food, right?”

He clenched his jaw, folding his arms across his chest stubbornly. “No.”

“Please?” she pleaded, shaking his arm. “C’mon, just this once!”

He studied her with narrowed eyes, chin jutting out as he glowered down at her, but she just kept staring back at him, unblinkingly. As they stood there in stubborn silence, he felt that uncomfortable feeling surge to life, crawling up his spine, but he refused to look away even as he felt heat blooming across the back of his neck.

“Cheeks…” he growled warningly. His throat felt a little thick, a weird tightness spreading through his chest, but somehow, he found his resolve wavering a little. Clearly, whatever he was reacting to had already got to him – he might as well just take advantage of it. And it had been a while since he’d eaten ramen…

“Please?” she asked again, and he held her gaze for a few seconds longer before exhaling heavily.

“Ugh… fine,” he growled, scowling at the way Uraraka’s expression switched from puppy dog eyes to satisfied smugness in the blink of an eye. “But if you tell anyone this happened, you’re dead. Got it?”

“My lips are sealed!” she said cheerily, punching the air in enthusiasm as she beamed. “Ahh, this is gonna be great!”

She didn’t even hesitate as she pulled his arms loose, wrapping a hand in one of his. As their palms slid together, something in his gut did a little flip. Somehow, her hand snugly in his, clasped together as she started to tug him forward, and he could feel the ball of his hand rub against that scar he had noticed, back when she’d helped him wrap his hands that one night.

If she ever decided to switch soap brands, he decided that he wouldn’t mind her holding his hand again.

─── ･｡ﾟ❁ﾟ｡･ ───

The one and only time Bakugou held her hand was because she was a forgetful idiot.

He looked over at Uraraka again, watching the way she rubbed her hands together, breathing on them as she shivered. He cast a glare over at her shitty friends, who were standing around like oblivious idiots – couldn’t they see she was freezing?

Ending up at the open-air mall with the rest of his classmates had been the very last thing he’d wanted to do today, but Shitty Hair had gotten Tape Face and Pikachu to help drag him out of the dorms, ignoring his hollering as they literally wrapped him up in tape and carried his squirming body onto the train station. He’d given in at that point – especially when he saw the way Uraraka’s face brighten a little as she saw him enter the train car. She had offered him a wave and a smile, but had otherwise stayed with the rest of her stupid friends, even after arriving at the mall.

He kicked at the ground, slouching as he shoved his hands further into his pockets. Peeking at where Uraraka was sitting again, his eyes narrowed as he saw Deku and Frogface and Four-eyes wandering off, Ponytail and Icy-Hot heading in a different direction, until Uraraka was left alone on the bench, surrounded by a bunch of shopping bags that were too expensive to belong to her.

He chewed on his lip, staring as she rubbed her hands together again, and finally made up his mind.

A glimpse over his shoulder showed the other four idiots he called friends running around the shoe store, surrounded by piles of boxes, and he quickly spun on his heel and stalked over to where Uraraka was sitting, humming some song with her eyes closed. When she didn’t react to his presence, he nudged her leg with his knee.

“Oi. Cheeks.”

“H-huh?” Her eyes fluttered open, focusing on him, and he shifted a little as those big brown eyes made his knees feel oddly weak. “Oh hey, Bakugou, what’s up?”

He thrust his hand out with a sigh. “Gimme your hands.”

“Uh… what?” Uraraka watched him in confusion. “Why – ?”

He huffed, wiggling his fingers. “Just give ‘em to me, Cheeks.”

“O… kay?” The wary glance she gave him almost made him want to roll his eyes, but she still reached forward. She placed her hands on his open palm, almost tentatively, but Bakugou quickly grabbed them, engulfing her tiny ones in his as he squatted down to breathe hot air over her bare fingers.

“What kind of dumbass doesn’t bring gloves with them?” he muttered, brows scrunching in concentration. Uraraka squeaked in surprise, but she let out a sigh of relief as he activated his quirk just enough to let heat radiate out from his glove-covered palms. “It’s the middle of the winter, you idiot.”

Uraraka’s face went a deep pink, most likely from the cold air. “I was runnin’ late!” she said bashfully. “By the time I remembered them, we were already on the train…”

“Stupid.” He wanted to make a comment about how shitty her friends were for not helping her, but he bit it back in favor of bringing his hands to his mouth, pulling the gloves off with his teeth. “Here, put these on.”

“E-eh?!” Uraraka waved her arms, flustered, as he shoved them towards her, shaking her head. “Bakugou, what… won’t you be – ”

“I have my quirk, Cheeks.” He gave her a flat stare, holding up a sparking hand. “Take ‘em, it looks like your fingers are gonna fall off.”

“Ah, I’ll be fine, you don’t have to – ”

“Fuck, do I have to do everything myself?” he grumbled, and her mouth fell open a little as he took her hand – and he was right, even with how he’d warmed her hands up, they were still practically icicles – and shoved it into one glove, before doing the same to the other side. Uraraka was still staring at him in bewilderment, so Bakugou tucked in her sleeves before tightening the toggles around her wrists to keep her body heat from escaping.

He checked one last time to make sure all her fingers were in the right places, before letting out a satisfied huff. “There. Now you won’t get fuckin’ frostbite,” he said firmly, and smirked a little – there was no way Uraraka could say he wasn’t nice after this.

Except… when he looked up, she was staring at him with a strangely soft expression that made his lungs go tight. It made him feel all hot and weird all of a sudden – the stupid allergies were coming back, dammit – and he stood up quickly, wiping his sweaty hands on his pants.

“Give ‘em back later,” he said, suddenly feeling nervous for some reason. He shoved his hands into his pockets, nodding at her as he tried to act cool, and turned around to head back to the shoe store.

He only took a few steps before the sound of Uraraka’s voice called out to him. “W-wait! Bakugou!”

He turned quickly, seeing her standing behind him, his gloves looking comically large hanging off the ends of her arms. “Hah?”

“U-uh, just…” She fidgeted, shifting her weight between her feet, but then her lips stretched into a huge, beaming smile, her eyes crinkling. His heart started to race in his chest under the force of Uraraka’s grin. “Thank you! For…”

“Y-yeah, yeah,” he stuttered, feeling his cheeks burn. “Whatever.” Her smile somehow got a little wider, and he quickly spun around, nearly sprinting away.

Bakugou didn’t look back at her, despite how much he wanted to – but if he had, he would’ve seen the way Uraraka brought his gloves to her nose, inhaling the lingering smoky-sweet smell as she hid a goofy grin behind her hands. 

[phantomgirl15]

We Aren’t Just Clones

Okay! Request done for @dp-marvel94! This was so much fun to write and I took a take on the clones that I never thought I would touch. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do! Hoping to have it posted on my AO3 account later which can be found in my description if you would rather read this request on there.

Words: 5,686

Dani looked out the window and sighed, her teacher droning on about how when writing proper essays there were introductions and paragraphs and conclusions that needed to be used correctly. He talked about how sentence structure was an important part of how the essay was written. She didn't care. It was eighth grade, and she already knew that she had much more important things to think about than if her sentence said: "a" as opposed to "the". There were better things to think about, like Outerspace.

She felt a shiver run up her spine as she looked out the window, a small blue wisp passing through her line of vision for a moment as her hand shot into the air, faster than it ever had. The teacher gave Dani the usual dirty look before asking what lame excuse was going to be given this time.

"Uhh... well, you see, I need to... feed my brother..?"

"Feed. Your brother."

Dani gave the teacher an awkward smile as she saw the glare of disapproval.

"Miss Fenton, I had your brother, Danny, right? I highly doubt you need to feed him, he seemed to be capable while I had him."

"Well, yes, but you didn't let me finish. I need to feed my brother's dog."

Dani wriggled in her seat, the cold running up her spine again, the ghost getting closer to her with each passing moment. She wanted out of that class more than anything.

"Go. I expect to see you after classes are done today for your detention."

"Yes, Sir!"

Dani dashed out of the room, her belongings going with her. She shoved her hand into her backpack while sprinting through the hallways, grabbing a thermos and strapping it to her belt as she felt a cold pass over her whole body and her black and white suit covered most of her skin. She began levitating off the ground and was able to blast through the halls, phasing through the wall and ending up in the sky outside the building, a cry of relief coming from her throat.

Dani flew in the direction that her ghost sense was pointing her in. She saw two figures in the distance and sped herself up, hands now plastered to her sides from the wind. She slowed down as she saw the two ghosts, one of them being her brother, Danny, who automatically turned his head to face her and gave her a look of shock as he realized she was there.

"Oh no..."

Danny looked to see his little sister as he felt her core getting closer to him. She sheepishly grinned at him and he groaned, his hands already full with whatever ghost was looking back at him. He saw the pale skin coming closer to him, large muscles bulging beneath the grey epidermis. He saw the large scar traveling all the way around the head, and the black cuffs around the wrists. Danny tried to get the ghost to talk, calling out to what he assumed was a "him" from how low the ghost's voice was while mumbling under its breath lightly.

"So do you want to tell me why you're not wearing a shirt? Or shoes? Cause without either of those I can't give you any service!"

Danny felt his sister pull up next to him, the ghost looking around in fear as Danny threw a rope made from his ecto-energy around it and tied it to a light post.

"Are you going to say anything?"

The ghost stared at Danny in silence, fear filling its eyes. Danny threw his hands up in frustration, a loud groan coming from him as he floated upwards a bit, giving up and knowing he had time until that ghost started talking.

"Fine, Do YOU have anything to say for yourself?"

Danny turned to Dani and saw her blushing green as he angrily looked to her. She stuttered out that she wanted to help him and get out of class for a little bit.

"Why aren't you in school?! What made you think I needed your help with a ghost who's less of a threat than the Box Ghost?!"

"I didn't like my class and I didn't..."

"You didn't what?"

Danny turned his body away from her, her eyes drifting towards the left as she tried to explain herself to Danny. He almost wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.

"You need to stay in school! You're almost done with eighth grade and still have a chance to accomplish your goals. You still have a chance to do what I'll never be able to do."

Danny turned his top half towards her, letting his lower half turn a moment later, his voice stern as he looked at her with disapproval. Dani tried to explain herself, but Danny wouldn't have it.

"Danielle Jamie Fenton, go back to school now. I don't need your help with this ghost and you still have a chance to go to college. You still have a chance to get good grades in high school and pass the standardized tests, both of which I failed at. I have no chances."

"But, Danny it's boring and I don't need to be in class the material is too easy and..."

"You have to go back. Jeez, Dani, you're just a stupid clone and supposed to do what you're told!"

Danny instantly regretted what he had said to his sister, watching her eyes widen as she floated above the ground. She sniffled for a moment before Danny wrapped his arms around her and apologized. He felt his own self-hatred dissipating as he tried to comfort her after what he had said.

"Dani, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it. I didn't mean it, I promise. You're not just a clone, I just don't want you to feel the same way I do about failing. You're a smart girl, I promise you aren't my clone, I didn't mean it. You're not just a clo..."

"Daniel. Fenton. Clone?"

Danny and Dani both jumped and looked to the ghost who had questioned who was in front of it. Danny gave it a questioning look and let go of Dani, reaching an arm out as Dani rushed past him and floated closer to the ghost, her face even with the ghost's face. Danny sighed and quickly made himself even with Dani, floating just in front of the giant ghost that made Danny think of the monster from the classic movie and novel.

"Yeah, my name is Danny. We did say clone. Was that something important to you?"

"I clone of Daniel. Fenton."

"Are you... Are you sure?"

Danny was taken aback as he saw this monstrosity and it said that it was his clone. He now knew for sure that the ghost was a guy.

"Father said find Phantom. Father mean. Father scary."

Danny exchanged glances with Dani, an uneasy feeling in both of their stomachs as they realized what was happening. Dani floated up to him and forced the rope Danny had used to hold him to the pole to disintegrate and let the ghost go.

"Come on. You wanna come and stay with us?"

"Can have home?"

"Yeah, C'mon Frankenstein. You need a good home, just like us. You won't have to be afraid of your new dad. Unless you're afraid of fudge."

"You sure?"

Danny didn't even say anything, just motioned for the other two versions of him to follow him back to his home, waiting to see what his family would say when he tried to explain what had happened.

. . .

"Another clone?"

Their mom questioned as Danny and Dani stood in front of the giant ghost that Danny had nicknamed Frankenstein. Dani flinched and bit her lip as Maddie rubbed at the bridge of her nose. Danny rubbed at his neck with his left hand like usual.

"You know the spare room is a mess right now. You should have given me a heads up so I could fix that. He'll have to stay in the ops center tonight. You two are welcome to join him if he needs comfort. I'll try to get the room clean after tonight so he can have his own room."

"Thanks, mom!"

The kids ran up to the ops center while Maddie stood in the kitchen sighing, knowing that the spare room on the second floor needed to be cleaned and began walking up to the room and seeing all of the old ghost hunting weapons that Danny and Dani were uncomfortable with, even after coming out about their ghostly alter egos.

. . .

So, Frankenstein, what's Vlad doing?"

"Fath... Vlad mean. Vlad cruel. Vlad hurt brothers. Vlad focus on Perfect Son. Vlad disappointed in us."

"Us? Who's us?"

Dani sat herself up on one of the desks in the upper lab area, her phone in her hand as she ordered pizza for the three of them. She gave a questioning look to the large ghost as Danny opened the blinds, sunlight streaming into the open floor layout. He was only able to freeze as he saw Frankenstein walk over to the window waving.

"What are you doing...?"

"Hi, brother!"

Danny and Dani exchanged looks as they saw another ghost flying towards the window, what looked like a sheet draped around the body. The heard Frankenstein clapping and prancing with joy, his mohawk bouncing slightly as he hopped around.

"Put in an order for another pizza, I have a feeling we're gonna be here a while."

Danny whispered to Dani and she quickly nodded, what they assumed was the next clone phasing through the window and hovering just above the floor. Dani looked at him and half-smiled.

"Hellooooooooo."

"Uhhh... Hi?"

Danny waved once, flicking his hand through the air, confusion filling his mind as he waited for something more than a hello. He sat motionless for a moment, before being almost barrelled over by the larger clone rushing past him, grabbing the small little ghost in a sheet and wrapping him between large biceps and the chest area. The sheet had fallen, and the other two saw the small, black, top half of a skeleton.

"Brother! You here!"

"Faaaaatheeerrrrr saaaaiid to fiiiind the Phaaaaantoooommm."

"That's us. Is your dad Plasmius?"

Dani asked, and both ghosts nodded violently, their heads looking like they were about to fall off from how quickly they were being shaken.

"Great... that guy is a real pain in the neck. What has he been doing this time?"

"Experiments have been done on us repeatedly. They've caused the last one to be unstable, all except for Father's "perfect son" that he says will be completed soon. But that was days ago."

Danny stopped the ghost by holding his hand up. He heard the words being held out too long to make them sound more like how the ghosts from Halloween speak and would say any words. He grabbed his phone and called Jazz on it for a moment. The skeleton looked at him, nervous about why Danny had stopped him in the middle of explaining.

"Uh huh... okay. Thanks, Jazz."

Danny hung up and took a deep breath.

"Jazz is gonna teach both of you how to properly speak. Whether that be without elongating words or create proper sentences. She's gonna make it so that we can understand all of you. If you could try to speak so I can understand, I want to know what else is happening."

The skeleton nervously let himself float downwards and lean up against the window, what appeared to be a spine curving with the floor so the clone appeared to be seated. Dani walked over and tried to comfort him, but the ghost saw the hands coming towards him and was filled with fear so that Dani had to pull away. Obviously, Vlad had done more experiments on what Danny was thinking of calling Skelly than he had done on Frankenstein.

A knock on the front door interrupted the eerie silence in the ops center and Danny told Dani to grab the pizza from the front door. He stood with the other two, who were really comforting each other with what Danny figured was a strong trust from the fact that they were technically siblings. He kneeled in front of Skelly and put a hand on his knee.

"Hey, man. I know you're scared. I know this seems to be like PTSD cause of what Vlad did to you, but I want you to know that you're welcome here, that you're me and Dani's brothers, and that Jazz can give you therapy sessions to make the memories with Vlad a little easier to process."

The skeleton and giant looked at Danny and slightly nodded, Danny, knowing that it was the same thing he would have done so that he didn't look weak. He smirked, thinking that maybe they were related. He stood back up, hearing Dani walking back into the ops center. He looked at her and smiled, but it quickly fell as he saw the look of concern on her face.

The pizza was in one hand, and a slight green glow was found in the other. Danny walked up to her hand and saw what looked like a small pixie sized version of him lying passed out in her hand.

"That brother two!"

"Like, brother number two, or another brother?"

"Uhhhh..."

The giant pressed his pointer finger to his chin, trying to figure out what it meant. Danny pressed his hand against his face, pinching the bridge of his nose as his hand lowered.

"Work with me, Frankie. How many more clones, are there? Skelly?"

"Just one after this one. But it's the "perfect son". This brother is the last one of us. Of the mistakes."

Dani firmly stated that they were not mistakes. That they were people, with their own minds, just like her and Danny, and he agreed.

"You help brother? Brother melty."

"Wha...?"

"He is unstable from the experiments. Even more unstable when he's full size rather than minuscule. Please, can you stabilize him? Can you save him?"

Danny motioned to the door, and the others followed him, hoping to find a cure for the instability. The lab was a disaster, the little clone still passed out and not responding, one eye missing and the consistency of the epidermis proving to be gelatinous. Danny scanned the lab trying to if any experiment would prove useful.

He heard a call from Skelly from across the room.

"Will this do anything? It's labeled to be a stabilizing fluid."

Danny grabbed the vial and saw that it was the same liquid as what he spritzed Dani with. He handed it back to Skelly and nodded grimly. The ghost grabbed the needle and watched his hand shaking slightly, tapping the bubbles from the vial before inserting it into his brother's arm.

He was not one that was fond of needles, but he was less fond of losing his brother. He watched as the fluid was injected slowly, a thick liquid making it look even more disgusting to a non-medical professional. He looked at Danny and saw a nod of approval.

Frankenstein and Skelly watched their last misfit brother and watched as his body melted between Dani's fingers and fell to a puddle on the floor. Screams of terror echoed around the room, Jazz running down the stairs thinking that she had been hearing screams of a traumatic experience, which was true.

"Danny! What happened."

"Wait for it..."

Danny held up his finger, shushing Jazz as she walked into his hand, nobody's eyes leaving the puddle on the ground. Skelly and Frankie cried in front of the puddle, the green goop showing reflections of the tearful eyes.

A moment passed in pure silence before the puddle began to ripple across the surface. The clones stopped crying and watched the little ghost suddenly zip out of the puddle, his energy glowing brighter than it ever had as he zoomed in circles around the room. Danny and Dani fist-bumped as they saw the expected results.

The little zippy ghost floated over to the others, talking fast and higher-pitched from his smaller size, thanking them for saving him.

"You guys don't quite understand, I cannot thank you enough for saving me I thought I was done for! You must be Danny, and you must be Dani, and you must be Danny and Dani's sister Jazz, and you guys are awesome and are we all related in some way? Do I get to call you bro and sis?"

"Woah woah woah. Slow down little jibber-jay."

Jazz held her hands up and offered to shake the little guy's hands, Danny snickering and calling the little guy Tiny. The ghost suddenly had a bright flash of light around him and was full size. Danny took a double-take and his jaw fell open, entertaining the two other clones, Tiny laughing slightly, the only difference being that he was a mirror of Danny, his hair parted to the left rather than the right, being left-handed rather than right-handed, his smile lopsided on the right as opposed to the left, and had two right feet rather than two left. His laugh was also slightly deeper than Danny's, the voice coming out smooth and happy rather than Danny's constant voice cracks and anxious tone.

"You guys okay?"

Tiny hovered a bit off the floor, leaning back on the air. He laughed a bit more, his personality was the opposite of Danny's. His calm composure made him understand why this clone was experimented on the most out of all three brothers. Danny saw that he was trying to play cool even though he was having traumatic memories even worse than his brothers'.

He looked like he was happy, however, to be in a safe environment. He looked like he could get used to it easily, and Danny knew he now had three new brothers as opposed to what was going to be two, which was supposed to be one. He sighed and made sure to mentally note that they would need to produce "adoption papers" to make the three feel welcome, even though they had nowhere else to go and his family was already going to be welcoming them with open arms.

"So... ummm... what about the "perfect son" that Father kept talking about?"

Tiny tried waving his hand in front of Danny's eyes, getting chuckles that relieved his anxiety from his brothers, and a small "what?" from Danny. Dani telling Jazz that they would be back upstairs for the therapy when they were ready. Jazz nodded and walked to the stairs, wishing her five siblings luck.

"Well, you guys need to not call him "Father" that's weird. We call him Plasmius. Or Vlad. Or Fruit-Loop. Whatever fits your style. And, you'll have to tell me about the "perfect son". I don't know about that."

"Oh."

Tiny lowered himself, his happy-go-lucky spirit weakening for a moment. Skelly dipped his head, and Frankie tried to look anywhere else to avoid eye contact.

They began to explain;

"The perfect son is the clone of you that Vlad takes the most pride in. He tried to make another you, supposedly for love, but we assume he wanted an obedient son that he could use as a sidekick. He ordered us, we felt no love. He ended up destroying more clones than just us. We were three of the five who didn't fall apart instantly. Dani was one, we were three, the perfect son is the last one.

He is perfect, at least in Vlad's eyes. He is supposedly half-ghost, Vlad had been a stalker and found your mid-morph DNA, and tried to make the clone stabile. And he succeeded. That clone is functioning, but he does not have his own mind, at least, he doesn't get control over what he gets to do. He might as well not be alive at all, because Vlad won't let him live.

We thought we would be able to love him, to hang out with him into the late hours. But we didn't. Nobody - Nothing - was allowed to be anywhere near the "perfect son". We don't even know if he has a name now. If he does, it would be Daniel. Unlike us. We were unnamed the whole time. The nicknames Danny has provided us are as close as we're gonna get to names."

The eerie sound of their voices all in unison gave Danny chills, his mind racing to try and decide what was going to happen to Vlad next. This was child abuse, this was malevolent action, and it sounded like he was berating the undead, or, half-dead beings. The concept of cloning him was already criminal. But who would take a large group of teenage ghosts seriously?

Dani had placed her hands over her mouths, the horror of what was happening to their last brother scarring her and worrying her brothers. All five of them were scared for their last brother's safety. Danny finally put his fist down.

"We're gonna save that last ghost. Daniel, you said? We're gonna go save him."

"Aaaare... Aaaaaare yoooooou suuuuurrre?"

"He's not easy to work with. Vlad's probably been poisoning his mind so he thinks he's better with Vlad than to come and live with us."

"You save brother?"

Danny looked them over, making a plan, the boys and Dani gathering in a circle to help their sort of biological brother.

"This is what we're gonna do..."

. . .

Tiny busted the lock open to Vlad's lab, Skelly and Frankie not too far behind him as he rushed in, faster than anyone could ever imagine a little pixie sized ghost moving, his body returning to full size once he was in the room and waiting for Vlad to see that they were there. They didn't see the old man, only their brother sitting in the usual tube he had been created inside of. The three ghosts gasped in shock, Danny and Dani trailing behind them and having their mouths drop, seeing the young teen captive in what he considered his room in Vlad's mansion.

"Oh my god... He thinks this is how people are supposed to live..."

Dani couldn't pull her hand away from her mouth as she saw where she had been created, how she had felt before Danny had rescued her. She saw her shattered tube, the one Danny had broken out of when she let him go. The three clones they had just met flew to their brother and began to bang on the glass, trying to wake him up from what appeared to be sleep.

The young boy opened his eyes, his vision being blurry as he tried to see who was tapping the glass. He saw Frankie first, the giant waving frantically and smiling. Daniel blinked a few times and saw a skeleton that was only a top half was floating at about shoulder height and was breathing a sigh of relief. Daniel started to ask, "who are you," and Tiny flew up to him and grinned, the lopsided grin making Daniel feel safe.

"We're here to get you away from the fruit loop."

"But... But I can't go. Everything I know is here. What will I do without Father?"

Frankie smashed the glass, his hands easily breaking the thin layer, Skelly pressing the button to release his wrists.

"You come home. With us."

"You... you would want me to come home with you?"

Tiny leaning an elbow on his shoulder, Skelly wrapping an arm around him, Frankie picking them all up.

"We wouldn't be a family without you."

Danny and Dani were keeping watch, the four clone siblings all crying tears of joy from seeing each other and all being able to have a safe home. They finally got Frankie to set them down, making sure to keep quiet and sneak out of the house properly. Daniel shook hands with Danny and Dani, knowing that they were going to be taking him and his three brothers in.

"I'm surprised we didn't see Vlad."

"Don't worry about it, Daniel. Our dad will make sure you guys cant get hurt."

"Thank you."

Daniel looked over at Danny while they were flying back to FentonWorks, The six of them nervous about what Jack and Maddie would say in the morning. He looked to see everyone smiling and then asked a simple question.

"Can I be called Danny, too?"

Danny glared at him for a moment, only glancing at him before looking forward again.

"Okay, okay... fine. Not Danny. How about Dan?"

Danny's eyes widened and he quickly told the clone no, his mind wondering if maybe all six of them needed trauma therapy from Jazz, rather than just the four that were the recent clones. He briefly told the clone why that couldn't be his name. They saw FentonWorks coming into view and Danny laughed as he saw the pizza in the ops center.

Dani sat and talked with the four other clones, while Danny went to his room, saying he had a special project to work.

"You guys are pretty cool. You're just like me! Except Danny gave you guys nicknames."

"Yeah. Danny funny."

Frankie sat on the floor, leaning against a wall. Skelly floated around the light in the ceiling for a moment before deciding that he was going to lay back in the air. Tiny paced, his curiosity making it hard for him to sit still. Daniel smiled at the other clones.

"I can't believe you guys wanted to be with me. I was horrid to you."

"Cause of Plasmius. Dude, we were experimented on. Unstable, controlled, told that we're worthless. But Danny said it himself. We're all people. And I guess that's good enough for the Fentons. They're letting us stay with them."

"It's okay, really. Tiny, Skelly, Frankie, Daniel, you're welcome here. But it's late. Get some sleep and you'll meet Mom and Dad tomorrow. They'll love you."

The lights were all turned off except for the one in Danny's room.

. . .

Dani walked into Danny's room and woke him up off his desk, a puddle forming on his desktop between his arms.

"They're waiting downstairs. What do you have up your sleeve this time?"

"You'll see."

Danny grinned, grabbing stuff from the printer in his room as Dani shrugged and walked towards the stairway leading to the kitchen and seating area in FentonWorks. He saw his four new siblings sitting at the kitchen table, feeling love and affection from his parents, the whole story from the night before already told to them. Danny knew the dark circles underneath his eyes proved how much effort he had put into this project.

The clones looked in his direction as they heard his footsteps from across the room.

"Hey, Frankenstein."

Danny held out a paper to him, smiling widely the whole time.

"I think I say this for all of us, but we're glad to have you in the family, Adam."

"Adam...? Where get name Adam?"

"Heh, I remembered when we read that book about the monster you made me think of, he said he was like Adam from the bible and that he should have been called Adam. I thought it fit you."

"Thank you, Danny."

Danny smiled at his new brother, hearing his first proper sentence, knowing that Jazz must have started working with him.

"No problem, bro. Skelly? You next? C'mon over here."

Danny handed Skelly the adoption papers he had come up with, revealing his new name.

"Remy. I like it. It rolls off the tongue. Remy. Remy Remy Remy. Thank you, Danny! You gave me a place to be a person."

"You showed you had guts last night. You've earned a real name and a real place to live. Welcome home."

Danny turned and grabbed the next paper off the ledge to the stairs where he had set them. He read the name on it and smirked to himself, glad that he could do something for the clones who deserved so much better. He didn't know how long Vlad had been torturing them, and now, two of them couldn't lose their smiles. He hoped the other two would feel the same way.

"Tiny. You're the paper I just picked up."

"You got me a paper, too?"

He took the paper and looked at it, his hands shaking as he saw the name.

"Link."

"You made me think of the little video game elf. Happy, small, energetic, fun. I got a lot of entertainment out of that game. I'm sure you'll be a hundred times more entertaining, but I felt this name fit you."

The ghost shrunk down to pixie size in an instant, Danny already seeing the tear stream down his face before his face was too small to see.

"Thank you. I... I love it."

"Anytime, my dude. Just don't let Dad mistake you for a fly."

Danny grabbed the last paper and turned back to the last clone, who had been holding his head down, thinking that he would be kicked out.

"You think I forgot about you? Daniel, come here and see this paper. It has your name on it."

Danny held the paper out with two hands, his clone moving slowly, so far his face not matching the smiles of his brothers. Danny called his name and then he looked up.

"Oh. Okay, okay."

"You're welcome here."

"Thanks. My name is... Niel?"

"Yeah. The other Daniel in my class in fourth grade said to call him Niel cause I was already Danny. I thought of you, cause there can only be one original me, but that doesn't mean we can't be similar or brothers. I ended up being good friends with him until he moved away from here. You're not gonna leave me, too. Are you?"

"I could never. Thank you for your acceptance."

"You're just another me. How could I not want you around?"

Danny laughed as he finally got a smile out of Niel. Link, Adam, and Remy were smiling just as wide, Dani and Jazz giving him Kudos for what he did for the guys.

"They're not just clones, They're family."

Danny felt a family hug around him, the clones thanking him repeatedly. Danny only grinned and hugged them back. Remy floated upwards, asking when they would be able to start school, and Jack and Maddie exchanged nervous glances with each other as they realized they couldn't send their ghostly children to public school. Link and Adam began chattering about how much fun learning would be.

. . .

"Welcome to the new Fenton School for Ghost kids!"

"A school, just for ghosts?"

Remy and Link exchanged glances, as the Fentons opened a brand new school just for them. They saw a couple of other ghosts at the school and smiled, watching Adam try to make friends, Jazz having taught him how to speak a bit better.

"The Fentons opened this school just cause of us. I didn't think they really cared."

Link waved as Danny, Dani, and Niel walked to Casper since they all had human portions they could use to go to public schools. The three of them were all annoying each other like real siblings rather than the original and two clones.

"From what I hear, this is gonna be permanent, even though Mom and Dad are trying to find a way to make us look right and have human portions."

"Really? I didn't think they would even consider trying to find anything past the bottom of my ribcage! They're really trying to make us at least semi-normal and partially human?"

"Yeah. And last I knew, they were headed in the right direction. But they like ghosts now. So this school is gonna be open either way."

"Oh neat! Hey, are those my pants?"

Link started to walk towards the front door and the steps leading to the new ghost school, half buzzing his lips as he rolled his eyes and slung his backpack over one shoulder to try and look cool.

"Remy, you can't even wear pants. Are you gonna come with me to make friends or worry about the pants you can't even wear?"

"I'm coming!"

He rushed after his brother, hearing Adam trying to flirt with one of the girls that now went to the school when he passed him.

"I wonder how Niel is doing?"

. . .

Niel looked to his left and saw Dani, and then to his right and saw Danny. He watched Dani wave and walk into the Junior High that was just a couple blocks before Casper High.

"Thanks for letting me come to school with you guys. I know it's only been a couple of weeks since you welcomed me into the family but I can't thank you enough..."

"Just don't embarrass yourself too much and you'll be fine. Most kids leave us alone now that they're too busy with ghost attacks."

Danny threw his books in his locker and waved to his two friends from down the hall.

"Good luck man, you'll be fine."

Niel saw his new locker next to Danny's, the thought of class making him nervous as he figured out where his first class would be, then his second. He thought of how his brothers were doing at the ghost school, their excitement being just as much as his was that morning. He stood in front of the door to his first class, his palms getting sweaty as he tried to get there without being early or late or on time;

Link and Remy stood in front of the door to their first class, Adam towering behind there. The look of the door making them nervous to see who else was in their class. They pressed themselves towards the door, whispering as they tried to look cool when the door swung open;

. . .

"Here we go."

Four smiles entered the classrooms on the first day that ghosts were allowed at school. Because just as Danny had told them, they weren't clones. They were their own people. They were family.

[thelastspeecher]

✨ - witch/wizard: Big Sis Au

✨ - witch/wizard

I haven’t written much stuff that takes place during the time Molly and Ford crash at Angie’s place while Stan is in the hospital.  So, here’s something that takes place during then.  It was really fun to write, lmao.

Send me an emoji and I’ll write you a ficlet!

               Molly was asleep, curled up in aball in Marley’s old room.  Angie sighedand wrapped her fingers snugly around her mug of herbal tea.  It always took a few minutes for her to workup the courage for a conversation like this.

               “Stanfordcan be trusted.”  That’s what Fidds toldya.  “He’s good folk.”

               “Are- are you all right?” Fordasked hesitantly.  Angie looked up,startled.  Ford rubbed the back of hisneck.  “You just seem a bit nervous.  If- if you’re not comfortable housing Mollyand myself, we can find somewhere else to stay while we’re in San Diego.”

               “No, Stanford, it ain’t that,”Angie said.  Ford noddeduncertainly.  She nodded at a chair atthe kitchen table.  “Take a seat, I- Ineed to tell ya somethin’.”

               “Okay,” Ford said slowly,sitting across from her.  “…What is it?”

               “Look, I- yer brother, he’s in abit of a rough spot, from what I understand. Is that right?”

               “Yes.”

               “I can help.”

               “What do you mean?” Ford asked,leaning forward, curiosity piqued despite himself.  

               “Fidds said you were familiarwith, ah, ‘gifted’ folk.  That correct?”

               “Gifted…how?”

               “With abilities.  Y’know-” Angie wiggled her fingers in a vaguely “magical” gesture.  It got her point across.  Ford’s eyes widened.

               “Are you-” he started.  He stopped, then began again in anundertone.  “Are you gifted withsupernatural abilities?”

               “Yes.”

               “Incredible,” Fordbreathed.  “Why- why didn’t Fiddlefordtell me?”  Angie smiled weakly.

               “Well, Stanford, it ain’texactly his secret to share.  And our fam’ly’sbeen persecuted fer it ‘fore.  We’re morecareful now.”

               “Is Fiddleford-?”  Angie shook her head.  “But if you’re-”

               “The magic in the McGucketbloodline, it- it’s too diluted fer abilities to show up ‘cept fer underspecific circumstances anymore.  Likebein’ born durin’ an eclipse or at twilight. Or bein’ a twin.  But that don’thappen in the McGucket fam’ly anyways.”

               “Then what’s your…specificcircumstance?” Ford asked.

               “Goldarn, Fidds was right ‘boutya not knowin’ social niceties,” Angie said idly.

               “Oh.  My apologies.”

               “No, it’s fine.  I don’t expect ya to be well-versed on witch ‘nwizard etiquette.”  Angie paused.  “I’m a seventh child of a seventh child.  That’s why I can, well…”  Angie wiggled her fingers again.  Ford frowned.

               “I thought it was the seventhdaughter of a seventh daughter.  Or viceversa, with sons.”

               “The magic in our fam’ly ain’tso weak fer that,” Angie said proudly.  “Atleast, not yet.”

               “Wait…Fiddleford said he hadfive siblings.  You’re only the sixthchild.  Not the seventh child,” Ford saidslowly.  Angie stilled.

               “The rules don’t specify all thechildren have to be born alive,” Angie whispered.

               “Don’t have to be…”  Ford’s eyes widened.  “Oh! Oh, I-”  Ford ran a hand throughhis hair.  “I’ve really overstepped mybounds now, haven’t I?” he said with a shaky laugh.  

               “Oh, hush.  I ain’t goin’ to curse ya fer not knowin’ ‘bouta stillbirth,” Angie said shortly.  Shegripped her mug of tea tighter.  “I’mactually tellin’ ya all this fer the opposite.”

               “What do you mean?”

               “There are different schools ofmagic.  One I’m ‘specially strong in ishealin’.”  Angie bit her lip.  “Now it’s my turn to overstep my bounds here,but, uh, I can get yer brother out of the hospital tomorrow.  If ya want.”

               “You can heal him?”

               “I just said that,” Angie said, exasperated.  “Stanford, pay attention!”

               “I am.  I’m just, startled, is all.  Normally, there’s a price one has to pay forassistance from magical beings.”

               “‘Magical bein’s’,” Angie repeatedwith a chuckle.  “Yer quite the comedian,without meanin’ to be.  Let me get thisstraight with ya.  I’m human.  Just more in tune with the world, isall.  I can dip into that magic whatflows everywhere.  Any human can do it,if’n they’ve got the right circumstance.”

               “Any human?” Ford saideagerly.  “Could you teach me?”  Angie looked him up and down.

               “Hmm.  Maybe. But that’d cost ya.  ‘Cause yerright.  I can heal yer brother, but I’llwant somethin’ in return,” Angie said. Ford nodded reluctantly.  

               “I suspected.  Name your price.”

               “First off, I’d like to meet theman.  From what Miss Molly says ‘bouthim, he’s quite the individual.  And fromthe picture she has of him, he’s quite the looker.”  

               “You’d like to meet the personyou heal.  Fair enough.”

               “Second, let me take a peek atyer research on Gravity Falls.  If whatFidds has been tellin’ me is true, there might be some clues ‘bout the originof the McGucket family magic somewhere up there.”

               “By all means, do so.  And if you have any insights that I missed,since I can’t ‘dip into the world’s magic’, feel free to inform me.”

               “Third, ‘cause this sort ofhealin’ will cost me, I’ll need some of yer life force as collateral.”

               “…What?”

               “We’re both adults.  We know how the world works,” Angie saidflatly.  “I need reassurance that ya won’tutilize my services and then run off without payin’ me.”

               “Even though this payment isincredibly informal?”

               “Yes, Stanford,” Angie said, nowbeginning to get agitated.  “You’ve donebusiness with magical folks ‘fore.  Youknow how this goes.  Any deal, anycontract, formal or informal, is binding.”

               “Ye- yes, of course,” Fordstammered.  A small twinge of guiltnudged at Angie, for using her “scary witch voice” on him.

               No, Ishouldn’t feel guilty.  It’s always thesmart ones what try to get out of the contract. I need to make sure he’ll do what he’s supposed to.

               “Good.  Now, what form would ya like the life forceto take?” Angie asked him, returning to an optimistic tone.

               “What do you mean?”

               “It can be one of yer skills, ora bit of yer energy, which won’t replenish until you’ve paid me in full, or evena couple years of yer life.  In all of ‘em,I won’t add it to me, or use it, don’t worry. I’ll just put it in a pocket fer safekeepin’.  Metaphorically, of course.”

               “That last one…what does thatentail?” Ford asked curiously.

               “Hmm, depends on my mood.  It can mean takin’ a couple years of yerexperience and wisdom, in which case, you’ll get younger.  Or it can mean takin’ a couple years of yerlife, in which case, you’ll get older.”

               “I can’t really afford to loseany of my energy,” Ford murmured.  “Orany of my skills.”  Angie set her mug tothe side and took a hold of Ford’s hands.

               “So it’s the years of life,then?”

               “…Yes,” Ford confirmed.

               “Sounds good to me.  Don’t worry, I won’t take too much.  Friends ‘n fam’ly discount.”

               “Thank you?”

               “Yer quite welcome.”  Angie closed her eyes.  Transferring life force was one of the first thingsshe’d learned how to do.  It was secondnature to her at this point, and only took a couple minutes.  She opened her eyes again.  A smile quirked her lips.  “Goodness, ya didn’t have much baby fat, didya?”

               “What?” Ford asked.  Angie reached out and unstuck a mirror magnetfrom the fridge, then slid it to Ford. Ford picked it up, marveling at his reflection.

               “I was tempted to take more, ifonly ‘cause it’s always folks like you what try to get out of the deal,” Angiesaid idly.  “But I can’t have thehospital staff not recognizin’ ya.”

               “How much did you take?” Fordasked.

               “That’s fer me to know, sugar, not you.” Angie cocked her head.  “Fidds isclose to ya, though, so I’ll be kind and let ya know that it’d be illegal ferya to buy booze until I give yer years back. But ya can still buy cigarettes. Barely.”