#before anyone asks why I’m working on this instead of other animated projects: it’s a college final

[roostertuftart]

I’m working on something

[vervaincircle]

He had panicked, really. It was the same paralyzing fear he’d felt when he’d seen the lab assistants wheeling out Dr. Gaul’s snakes– the ones that were to go to the Arena. The fear had felt like something constricting around him, the panic stealing his breath. Just the thought of Lucy Gray being eaten alive in a far more gruesome way than how Clemmie had been attacked drove him to act, frantically slipping his handkerchief into the tank. 

“In fact, it was your girl who gave me the idea.”

The fear had echoed through him, just like it had when he thought Clemmie would die, all because he’d done the assignment without her. Just like it had during bomb time, when he was younger. The familiar fear seemed constricting and all-consuming, never giving Coriolanus any reprieve no matter where he was.

It had followed him to the hanging tree, tightening around his chest and his throat, hollowing out his insides and making him feel a pain that was almost impossible to suppress. 

He had done it. 

He had killed Sejanus, someone who thought of him as a brother. Someone who trusted him, like Lucy Gray does now.

His only defense against that familiar fear was to repress it, so he tried. He let himself cry it out, in the privacy of his room in the barrack, where no one would see him crumple. But he was a Snow, and he needed to face his fate, and Sejanus’s, with some dignity.

Besides, he had bought Sejanus a few extra weeks of life after his stunt in the arena. He was only caught up in Mayfair and Billy Taupe’s deaths because he had wanted to talk Sejanus out of his dangerous, self-destructive path yet again. But he never would have relented and Coriolanus knows that now.

But instead of getting out of the metaphorical line of fire, he had persisted, going into that shed. At gunpoint, but still, nonetheless. He had taken Sejanus down discreetly by using the jabberjay instead of reporting him to a superior. Maybe it was better that way, since it washed his hands of it. No one would target him for what he did and he wasn’t a rebel sympathizer, so it’s not like he deserved the fate Sejanus was trying to earn him, anyway.

He had simply loved too much. He had allowed himself too much love.

And here he was, loving too much once again. Why was he out here in the wilderness, with nothing but a few items and a compass, hoping he and Lucy Gray could survive? All while she asked him a simple question, awaiting his answer.

“Who’s the third?”

She had asked it while he was snapping a limb off of a branch. His hand slips from the shock, driving bark into his skin. “What? Ow.”

“Person you killed,” she persists. “You said you killed three people this summer.”

And he had. It had just slipped out, almost casually saying it. 

“It’d be nice, in my new life, not to have to kill anyone else.” 

“I’m with you there. Three seems enough for one lifetime. And certainly enough for one summer.”

Was he the Capitol monster she might think he was, if she knew the truth about Sejanus? How could it have slipped out like that? Unbidden, he thinks about the way the grief had suddenly choked him in his room, like an animal attacking him. How he had to shove it down. How he’d clawed it down desperately, locking it away, promising himself it was all he could have done. He had to get through this. He had to stop thinking about Sejanus’s cries, echoing in his head, just before the sound of his neck cracking.

He’s panicking, but how to get her not to notice? He focuses on his injury, the splinter in his skin. “Can you get this out?” he asks her.

“Let me see,” she takes his hand, turning it over. The gesture feels tender, despite how his heart is already racing in his chest for other reasons entirely. “So, Bobbin, Mayfair… who’s the third?”

The dam in him feels like it’s about to break. How much longer can he hold it? Wouldn’t she stop trusting him now, if he lied? And trust was, like she kept saying, everything to her. The song she had written to him was even more evidence of that. The way she’d worn her rainbow dress to show him they were in this together, like in the arena. She didn’t have that with Billy Taupe, the nobody, but she had it with him. Did he want to risk sacrificing that? Losing it forever? This was all he had. She was all he had now; the last vestiges of happiness he could cling to. He was never seeing the Capitol again, and maybe not Tigris or the Grandma’am. Not even any of his old friends.

Lucy Gray is the great love of his life and he’s about to lose her like he lost his other one. He had killed Sejanus.

He had killed Sejanus.

The tears well up again and for a moment, it feels surreal. Like bomb time. His knees feel weak, his body buzzing with anxiety. Coriolanus had never once been speechless. He always had something to say; some way to twist a conversation to his advantage. It was one of the things they had first connected on– their ability to perform. They both performed for their survival. The Capitol had been his stage, fooling everyone that the Snows had not lost everything. And then beyond just the Hob, the arena had become Lucy Gray’s stage. She had taken him with her, holding his hand, beckoning him to join her. Perform with her.

But this couldn’t be a performance. Not anymore. He can tell, now. They’ve laid themselves bare to the other. Through the games and now what happened with Mayfair and Billy Taupe, they’d seen the darkest parts of the other. She even knew about Bobbin, but she still loved him.

He realizes then that he doesn’t let himself cry, really. Not even with her, back before she first went into the arena. Tigris and the Grandma’am were the only ones to see it.

But the comfort Lucy Gray gives him is the only thing that reminds him of home. Her songs are what reminds him of the comfort his mother had given him; something he never felt from his father. Something only Tigris had given him after. Until her.

It makes him uncomfortable to think about; fearful. That familiar fear threatens to choke him again with its icy fingers. 

But everything becomes too overwhelming– Sejanus’s death, his hand in it, the murders both before and after. The way someone is going to buy the Snow penthouse, the vestiges of his family lost forever. His life, stretching in front of him, trying to survive the wilderness when he was bred and built for high society. Lucy Gray could never understand that– only the Capitol would. But he had lost the Capitol. He had lost his home.

So the tears spill over. Coriolanus pulls his hand from hers, ashamed as he tears the splinter out himself. There was no going back now– he would have to tell her. Why else would he be crying, unless there was an awful, undisclosed truth he had yet to tell her? She knew there was.

“Coriolanus, what happened? And why didn’t you tell me?” Her tone is off; stern and almost unreadable. Wary. Like she’s in fight or flight mode, and it’s all because he was stupid enough to break down in front of her.

Panic sets in again as he realizes he’s lost her forever– she would leave him, taking that happiness away. It’s over now.

“I don’t understand,” she continues. “We tell each other everything. You saw me and I saw you.” There’s a quiet vulnerability to her voice, but she still has walls up now. He can tell.

He wipes the tears from his face using his sleeve, only to feel a sting because of the dirt and sweat. “There was no time to tell you,” is the first thing he says, but he realizes it just sounds like a poor excuse. “And…I didn’t want you to hate me like I hate myself.” This was it. It was time to be honest; vulnerable. What else did he have to lose? Everything. She was his everything, now. He had nothing else. Would she still love him after this? “You’re all that matters to me now,” he reaffirms, because it’s true. “And I was afraid.”

“You didn’t,” she breathes, shaking her head. “No. You wouldn’t have. You loved him.”

“I did,” Coriolanus answers, just as quietly. “I do.” And he hates him just as much. Hates Sejanus for what he’d gotten him into. Hates him because if he didn’t, he would hate himself even more than he already does. He’d tried not to feel any of it anymore, but it was no use. He was as broken now as the shattered pieces of his life.

Lucy Gray takes a step back, shaking her head, and he can feel his heart break in two for the second time.

read more on ao3

[sschmendrick]

ok i've been meaning to send this ask all day but never caught the time. I see so much haikyuu on your blog lately! Tell me more! (funny thing is we are doing a rewatch at home too!) tell me your story and EVERYTHING you want. And also!!!! i can see you shipping hinata and kenma?

OK ok, strap yourself in because I cannot guarantee that this will make any sense. But I’ll do my best.

To be off to a great start, I do not remember how I got into Haikyuu. One day it wasn’t and the next it was. From pictures I have I can say that I was into Haikyuu in my last year of middle school (so 2015-2016). By then I already had mangas but I’m pretty sure I was first attracted to it by the anime so I’d already seen the first season (and maybe the second too) and I had started buying the mangas.

(I shall put a read more here cause this post is LONG, beware!!)

Pictured below is one of my productions during my mandatory stage de troisième. I was in a graphic design agency and I was shy so I’d eat real fast at lunch time and use the rest of the time drawing and my supervisor saw me one day and offered to give me an exercise around it that would make me both enjoy what I was doing and also understand more stuff about graphic design. He was awesome. He really went with all my little cringe interests and encouraged me. The exercise he gave me was to create a cover for Haikyuu. I had a lot of fun with the lettering, understanding the dimensions and everything. He then made me create a brand, understanding why brands are called what they are, making my own logo, and then I worked on one of their (maybe) projects.

(top is the cover I did, the second one is what I was working on when he gave me the assignment, last on is me being crazy and drawing yaoi in a room full of adults at 14 and them going good job, you wanna keep drawing ?)

Yes I already had a favourite character but it will become more apparent soon. I got really into volleyball because Haikyuu made it look so cool. I was never a sports guy so it was really hard to want to have fun while being so bad with endurance and athleticism. All I had to my name was my flexibility because of dancing for years. Once again I think I was very lucky with the people I met. My PE teacher was really nice and could have just let me skip the class but he didn’t. Wait no, this needs more context. I didn’t have many friends in middle school. I spent the first year with nobody. The second year someone approached me and more or less dragged me in the world of people and friends (once again, I met an amazing person that was just selflessly nice to me). She got me speaking to people and I met my friends through her. My best friend from elementary had abandoned me in a matter of days after we started middle school so I felt very awkward in all situations. Anyway, I had a few people I hung out with but that was about it. I wasn’t exactly the bestest of friends with them but they accepted me even if I was awkward and didn’t talk much. They all knew each other for a while and were much closer (and popular), so when PE would come around I didn’t have anyone to pair up with. SO, my teacher instead of turning a blind eye offered to help me with the volley practice (this was in quatrième (before last year of middle school) if I remember right ? but it must not have been before I learned about haikyuu). He took the time to make me practice everything and explain everything and honestly I think that helped a lot with my general technique cause otherwise there’s a lot I would not have understood or just learned wrong and would have to readjust when I got to high school.

Back to last year of middle school. My mind has been overtaken by Haikyuu cause it’s brilliant. I dabble in cosplay and I have no money I can use to buy an aliexpress one (yes the dreaded website but we would go there at the time haha) but I want to cosplay Haikyuu. Lucky me, I have found a group of cosplayer on Paris for the next Paris Manga that’s doing Haikyuu ! I was so pumped up. And they didn’t have my character but they did have his partner so we were all excited about it :) My parents were not very thrilled about it all because I was still just 14 and they were mostly adults but my mom still helped me make my own jersey! I still have it but I’m 100% sure it doesn’t fit anymore :’) Here is me starting to fall for the sport and the cosplay progress pictures I still have

(still so proud of it, I did everything by hand !! and last pic is me with a volley ball cause I was a little deranged already)

Yes I was Akaashi, I loved that character. Acting all polite but an overthinker much with a dash of mischievous and admiration for the people around him. Also nothing grand about him like so many of the characters, but he could still hold up with them. I think I have somewhere on my computer a picture of our group but first I don’t know where it is and second you can only see my face on it so I have no picture of my finished cosplay haha. The con was amazing, I had so much fun with these people, we started hanging out a little more often and going to all the anime cons around Paris as a group and we did more group cosplays. I loved it. However at this con I lost my phone and it was in February so when I needed my dad to come pick me up I had to wait for 45 minutes in short shorts and a thin jersey :’)

After that I kept enjoying Haikyuu as one does, and high school started. Oh high school, a lot happened there. First thing I did was being reborn ! And even though it wasn’t much and only social it helped me be a little more free already. Free enough to allow myself to pursue a certain sport I was looking forward to. Yeah I got the volleyball bug. I was so happy my high school had a volleyball “club” and the first day of it we were only two. It was me and another guy, even smaller than me, who had also loved Haikyuu but we didn’t talk much about it. He was just as fired up about it as I was and we really pushed each other to become better. I don’t know what he’s become now but I hope he kept playing volleyball.

Anyway we were off to a great start with…two players. But still our coach/PE teacher was kind enough to teach us. We managed to have a few more people to come now and then but it was rough the first year. In my three years (well two but that’ll come later) we never had 6 “full time” people in the club so any kind of competition, even to get completely massacred by the other teams, was out of the question sadly. We would play on a concrete court ! It was REALLY rough haha ! But these courts were situated in a sort of closed courtyard space that was surrounded by school buildings and on the top floor were the Prepa classes (preparatory classes to get in higher education schools like engineering private schools for anyone not French reading this). Unlike the rest of my classmates, they liked playing volleyball. They were soooo tall compared to us but they would play with us and teach us some stuff and they were really good compared to us. Thanks to them we got the actual practice we needed cause you can’t learn enough by just playing 3x3 or worse 2x2 with people who can barely keep the ball in play (I was one of these people, I get to trash talk past me).

In my first year of high school I was taking riding lessons at the military school since we wouldn’t be able to go to our family’s house village with the more apparent divorce and moving out and other difficulties. It was an experience and I don’t regret doing it but it wasn’t a great place. I stopped the next year. And then…then I have memory problems. I cannot remember if it was during my second or last year of high school that I did it, but I would say it was during my second year of high school, that I entered an outside volleyball club. It was a Sunday lesson, it was all adults and it was for beginners. We would mostly do matches but sometimes they would focus on serves or hitting (I only remember one lesson about it though lol). It was super cool, I got to play volleyball on the Wednesday with my school club, whenever at lunch break when the Prepa were playing, and the Sundays at my outside club. By then, I don’t think I was reading or watching much of Haikyuu. I think I might have gotten my adhd ass hooked on something else while waiting for the next season and I had fallen in love with volleyball for the playing not just Haikyuu by then. Also something that I’m working on (and I’ve noticed it has gotten better already) is that I have a hard time appreciating watching people do something I love (usually a sport) as much as I appreciate doing the sport. For example, I never enjoyed watching any horse jumping competition even though I love doing it. I think it might come from the fact that I am bad at the things I love and therefore cannot truly appreciate what’s going on. As of right now I watch volleyball matches and rallies and really enjoy it.

Last year of high school rolls around the corner and…our PE teacher/coach tells us that they are closing the club down cause we aren’t enough and she would rather not run from our practice to the badminton’s practice (that she also coaches) and only work with the badminton’s club. After all they had the regional and potential national champions there meanwhile we had no hope of ever participating in a competition. And I had learned at my last lesson at my outside club that since we weren’t enough coming to the practice they would close down their beginner lesson. It was a bit of a shock to go from two practice per week to none at all. I missed volleyball. I accepted to participate at the badminton’s practices (cause it’s also a sport I like but at leisure, not on a competitive level, and less than volleyball) but it was just to keep me doing something. What happened though is I got to choose which sports I wanted for my BAC (high school diploma) since I was in a club the year prior and I chose the one with volleyball and I aced that. I only resented the top players of our group a little cause it wasn’t their sport at all but since they were pretty athletic and good at sports in general they had no problem being good at it when it took me sooooo long :’) yes I am petty.

Then I don’t know what the heck happened. Well yes I know but I don’t know why when I arrived in Montreal in my school I didn’t try to get into the volleyball club. Anyway, I didn’t play for a whiiiiile, years ! And the only reason I did again was because my best friend’s parents ( @nyaoi-warrior ) invited me to play with them and their friends when I visited. I was bad at communicating when I was playing in France (I often forget to say “j’ai”) but this was in Czech Rep, and we couldn’t communicate in English. It was HARD but I had so much fun !! My team lost all of the sets but it was so cool :D

Recently I was looking for something in my old stuff in the basement of the building. I didn’t find it but what I did find were my old Haikyuu manga. And oh god the flame it awoken in me. So anyway here is me a few weeks later with a volley ball in my hands, I’ve found a place I can sneak in just for the end of the year and I’ve been looking at clubs I can enter (and hopefully get better and then do some competition).

Now more about Haikyuu. What an amazing sports manga/anime it is. Of course, with the protagonist being a spiker most people when they start volleyball because of Haikyuu want to spike. I was lucky enough to be in the tall half of my year in high school but now I am tiny compared to most volleyball players. And a thing I love in volleyball I quickly discovered is diving for the ball. I’d be running far back or on the side, sliding until my knees burn to keep that ball in play. I thank Haikyuu for giving each role a time in the spotlight in almost every game they play, cause with what we learned in my school club or outside club I would never have heard of the libero. Ofc when you play for leisure having a libero is a bit meh but now I know that if I ever want to play competitive this is the role I should gun for (or maybe setter but I’m still pretty small so idk).

I just finished watching the season 4 recently and I’m on my way to catch up, and then finish with the scans (and then buying the mangas too). I got spoiled about what happens at the nationals after season 4 and what happens after, the time skip etc but just in the grand lines and I’m fine with that. I don’t think that it takes away from it too much. And (IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS AFTER/DURING TIME SKIP DON’T READ BUT ALSO WE WON’T HAVE A FULL TIME SKIP ANIMATED SO IF YOU’RE JUST WATCHING THE ANIME I’D SAY MIGHT AS WELL READ IT BUT ALSO IT’S EVERYWHERE SO YOU MIGHT KNOW IT ALREADY) I freaking love Hinata in Brazil. It’s very funny to me too cause here is this little dude who got me into volleyball, with whom I had an anime-level betrayal and tragedy with my clubs, and now I’m learning Portuguese because of my Brazilian friends and I wanna go to Brazil and HE WENT TOO ?? That was hilarious to me. Maybe I should look into beach volleyball hehehe.

About the ships; I started with the “basic” ones, the most obvious ones that come from the strong bonds and non-stop interactions and how they are shown as more or less pairs by the manga/anime (so kagehina, asanoya, daisuga, bokuaka, etc etc etc) but I am a multi shipper now. I don’t know I have a much more relaxed approach to shipping now, especially for big casts where there isn’t clear cut villains, same with one piece. They all have great relationships with everyone around them and I like many of them. And yeah I stumbled upon kenhina recently and I really like their dynamic. I love kagehina just as much, and also the hilarious way Hinata seems to fascinate all setters. I have seen some really funny tsukkihina fanarts too. I’ve put a lot of stuff in my queue so you got some yakunoya coming soon as well haha. Also from what I’ve heard (haven’t got to see it yet) (yes the premiere was Sunday and it’s only out today) that the movie has big kenhina energy so I’m here for it.

This little red-head guy just makes me so happy. I’m so glad I got to discover one of, if not my favourite sport out there (and that says a lot coming from a horsegirl) and I want to keep it in my life. I’m asking around for clubs and selections and I hope I am accepted. And I’ll be celebrating my birthday watching Olympic volleyball matches :D

OH ! Another thing. During my intensive studying period for my current school’s diploma, I was with friends and before we started studying each morning we would put on music or some kind of stuff, and we put anime opening blind tests and one of them had the first Haikyuu opening (which is still my favourite cause yk…it’s the one that started it all) and I was hit with a wall of memories…yeah :’)

I think that’s all I might have forgotten a few things, I don’t know at this point.

I can’t believe you got me writing more about volleyball, in English, in 2 hrs than I’ve written for my THESIS in a WEEK. This is 5 word pages WITHOUT THE PICTURES.

[sizzleissues]

I liked the movie - it was enjoyable, I like seeing cinematic fanfiction of my favourite guys. The animation was gorgeous, the songs were bops, the lighting was a stand out and it had subtleties to the story and art that can be analysed. Saying that, was it great? No.

The plot was a bit jumbled so now allow me to fix it in some small ways because I don’t know how to shut up.

The Opening of the movie works well. It establishes Marinette as far too anxious to stand up for herself. She is a character who at this point doesn’t see herself as worthy of anything more. She sings her song about ‘what if I was confident, what would I do’ but she doesn’t make a move to be confident after it, she doesn’t believe she can be at the moment.

I’d have Alya already be her friend but Marinette doesn’t realise it (Again she’s anxious and feels worthless). Maybe a line like ‘You don’t have to stick up for me anymore, Alya, we’re no longer project partners.’ And Alya rebuffs her saying ‘Girl, you’re my full time project. I’m sticking with you.”

(This goes on - continues below cut to save your dash)

She bumps in Chloé again and runs away, like in the movie, and finds Adrien in the library. The only thing I’d change in that interaction is Adrien pulls her away from some falling books rather than helps her stand afterward. Adrien is then demonstrating his kindness and his heroic qualities. Marinette develops her crush. I like the fact the book that Marinette holds in the movie has a cat on it, foreshadowing as you call it, Adrien’s role, so a fallen book would be shown to have cat on it as Adrien puts them away. He asks offhandly is she’s alright, Marinette buffers, getting out word soup and he leaves. Noting her strangeness like in the movie.

Marinette getting her miraculous works already so it’s just Adrien’s I’d change. I’d have him be at the theatre still, notice the strange light and a cat stuck in a bucket. Once he helps it out, he see’s the ring. Again, he’s kind and curious so he helps the cat. He’s already got his saviour moment earlier but this helps further it.

Ladynoir’s first fight works already and the denial stuff later so our next change comes at the fair. Instead of deciding to be Ladybug again, Marinette runs at first from danger but see’s her father in trouble (or Alya and Nino) has her song and saves him. He’s like ‘You are so brave - like my daughter. Is she alright?’ Ladybug’s like ‘Anyone is brave with a mask, random citizen I do not know. Your daughter is safe, trust me’ and leaves him somewhere safely. Cue second Ladynoir fight which again works.

We montage and I’m not smart enough to figure out an alternative to it that isn’t just more movie run time. I’d have moments of Marinette helping her friends like when she talks to Adrien about his mom interspersed through the Ladynoir bonding. Her succeeding at gymnastics and her classes is one way the movie demonstrates how she’s growing in confidence but I think just one moment of her with Alya, talking like friends at a crossing and she saves her from oncoming traffic or something like that. She’s more than just more confident as Marinette now, she’s heroic and capable in her everyday life.

Pretty much everything up to the final battle works for me, that’s where I’d make some bigger changes while keeping the ending. Theme and character arc talk first though.

Our running themes at the moment are still ‘stronger together’ from the unchanged Ladynoir bits and ‘don’t let fear stop you’ as Marinette’s lesson to learn. There’s also the other message I see the movie attempted with Marinette still not feeling as confident without the mask. That’s why I have the line above, to try to strengthen it before it’s brought up in the finale. Also maybe add in something after Adrien rejects her that ‘No one would reject Ladybug but everyone rejects Marinette’ as she mopes about it. Adrien and Gabriel’s lessons are a lot to do with love. Adrien opens up through loving Ladybug and Gabriel succumbs to a toxic love to his wife at the cost of his son. His resolution would still be realising in a physical way, not just mentally, he’s hurting Adrien with his fruitless pursuit.

We have our third act break up kinda with the finale fight. They aren't working together to be stronger together. Chat Noir goes off to fight Hawkmoth, leaving behind Ladybug. The fight results in the Eiffel's Towers destruction - but from something Hawkmoth does, not Chat Noir. Ladybug is trapped by debris, Hawkmoth approaching and Chat realises the error of his way. He saves her by discovering his cataclysm to free her and they have an exchange like this while it happens. Ladybug, "You came back, I thought you were mad at me?" And Chat Noir "I can never be mad at you. It's like what you said, were stronger together. Even if we can't be together together. I will always save you. Cataclysm" or something like that.

They fight together against Hawkmoth but he's stronger. She fails and her miraculous is stolen. With that added power Chat Noir doesn't stand a chance. It's looking like they'll lose, Chat Noir near unconsciousness in Hawkmoth's grasp and Marinette tossed to the side. Marinette is defeated as she believes she’s nothing without the mask and she doesn’t even have the security of the earrings anymore. She looks around at a destroyed Paris, seeing what it used to be and the people she knows are possibly hurt or gone.

At the point Marinette as herself has saved Master Fu’s life, bettered her friends lives and demostrated courage as her civilian form, she just hasn’t realised it yet. I think the film attempted this parallel as her saving of Chat Noir by grabbing him mirrored her saving of Master Fu. But I think more can be done to hammer it home.

She turns from seeing the destroyed Paris to seeing Chat Noir in trouble, his transformation deteriorating. Like how she as to act as Ladybug to save her father (or Alya and Nino.) and act as Marinette to save Master Fu, she acts as someone between both her timid old self and her confident alter ego to save Chat Noir. She drags him away, getting the ‘don’t touch him’ line there instead.

Hawkmoth has no reason to recognise Marinette but as she drags Chat Noir away, his transformation fails. Hawkmoth sees its his son lying there unconscious and realises the error of his ways. Seeing this as a private moment, Marinette scuttles away with the discarded butterfly. Adrien completes his arc by opening his heart back up to his father who’d pulled away, forgiving him for the harm he’s done. Something in their exchange that Marinette can still hear sparks an idea in her. Love.

As she hands back the butterfly miraculous to Master Fu, she asks if he’d known who Hawkmoth was when choosing Adrien. Master Fu says somethings can never be known, that the miraculous work in mysterious ways and maybe that’s why Adrien was the perfect candidate. Their familial love was what was needed, that more than just Hawkmoth was defeated today. A broken family was healed. She then asks what about Paris and Master Fu reminds her of her miraculous’s main power. Creation.

Putting this together with her realisation that love heals, she discovers the cure.

The ending would go the same except I WOULDN’T CUT BEFORE THE KISS. I’d also add as Marinette pulls up to the ball she’s watching a video press conference and while we can’t hear what’s being said, it’s Gabriel speaking with ‘public apology for wrongdoings, fines to go to charity as a tagline’. Realistically since Marinette had fixed the damage to Paris and Gabriel is rich, a slap on the wrist is all he’d get.

There are issues with my take most likely but writing this has also helped me better understand the movie and appreciate it more. You could also completely rework the movie from the ground up but I wanted to make it stick to what they were going for with things I’d think would held the messages of love, stronger together and conquering fear being more clear.

Anything I didn’t mention that happens in the film is something to keep so read this with the understand those scenes still happen. These are just changes to certain bits. Also I’d take out Plagg farting and use that time to further Adrien’s loneliness, detachment for his father and also how he starts to move past his pain and open up to Ladybug, Marinette and even Nino. (That’s something I forgot to mention.) He’d talk to Plagg about this stuff and Plagg would act similarly to his show counterpart, being aloof and cheese obsessed but giving Adrien the ear to finally vent things to and a way to show he is feeling more open.

Anyways I want to say again I love the movie as a fan, but I can see its issues. The show has the advantage of being able to run for long enough that its patches of confusing writing can be corrected later. The movie had to get it right first try. I do like what they did with the character’s, but again I said it somewhere else; They’re different interpretations of the base concept of Parisian heroes that both the show and movie stem from. One isn’t necessarily better than the other or render the other pointless. And I’m not here to discuss that debate.

[drakothedragon55]

You remember the devlogs from Kaycee’s Mod? Well, here’s my spin on them for the Apocalyption AU. If they were real, they’d be accessible without Kaycee’s Mod (though still needing to be unlocked.)

— Devlogs and DATA (Part 1/2) —

LOG 1

Today I finally get to do something meaningful with this company. From the day they hired me, all I got to do was bug hunt and playtest weird games from franchises that no one has even heard of.

I know that I’m not the most experienced coder out there, but come on! I can do so much more than what they’re letting me.

Anyways, they’re letting me work on this new project. Inscription, I believe it’s called? I know virtually nothing about it. But hey. I’m sure It’l be more fun than reporting glitches all day.

LOG 2

It’s been a day or two since I started working on Inscryption, and I have to admit: it seems promising. I mean, how many virtual card games are out there? At least it’s not an UNO clone.

I’ve only done small things so far like making sure that certain animations display properly. It’s another 2D game, just like GameFuna’s previous works, but it looks like some 3D stuff will be implemented later on, which is cool.

I’m considering poking around the files when I get the chance. Wonder what other neat stuff I can find in here before it’s inevitably left on the cutting room floor.

LOG 3

So, I was looking through some folders when I found this file that looked out of place. It was labelled as ‘OL_CARD.zip’, so I decided to unzip it. What I got was a single exe file that did nothing when opened. Must’ve been a card placeholder or something?

Anyways, I left it alone because the last thing I want is some higher-up getting mad at me for ‘tampering with the game.’ Besides. I kinda want to look into it some more.

Now all I gotta do is find it. Call me crazy, but it’s not in the folder I last saw it in. I swear, I’m gonna be seriously angry if this is some virus.

LOG 4

ITS FUCKING ALIVE HOLY SHIT

LOG 5

Note to self: redo log 4.

I still don’t know what’s going on, but when I booted up Inscryption, there was this red mass of pixels right outside Leshy’s cabin. I tried interacting with it, and a text box full of gibberish showed up.

I decided to ignore it and check up on the scrybe, and I found that Leshy seemed…off. His personality still isn’t very fleshed out, but he seemed to be on edge. The other NPCs in the area were, too. That’s when I shut off the game.

But that damn red thing was on my desktop now. It couldn’t open a text box with Inscryption closed, so it opened Notepad instead. Let me copy and paste what it said.

H̷e̶l̴l̷o̶ ̴t̴h̴e̸r̸e̵!̸ ̵:̸)̶

I wish I was making this up. Is this some kind of advanced AI? If so, why are they keeping it hidden in this random-freaking file tucked away in the back of a card game?

I have so many questions. And a part of me wants to ask this thing for answers.

LOG 6

Out of every single employee, I’m the one who gets the haunted game. Seems about right considering my luck.

Well, I’m not sure if this thing is a ghost or not. I’ve been talking to ‘Olcard’ by adding text into the code, and it’s been responding with those bugged text boxes. At least it’s getting better at using them.

Whatever it is, it’s really curious about the game and its development. I’ve asked my fellow coders if anything similar is happening to them, and they all give me weird looks. I’m half expecting to wake up any minute now.

I’ve finished up Leshy’s area and I’m working on Grimora’s next. Olcard gave me some good tips when I got stuck, so I think keeping him around a little while longer wouldn’t hurt anyone.

[doodlegirl12345]

Promise? {One Shot}

Ever had a project that it seems no matter what you do it seems that you can’t get it right. So when you finally do you get the biggest rush of euphoria when it finally clicks? Yeah that happened to me. Hello my everyone, here’s my last story of 2022, “Promise?”. I hope you like it. 💕

Also available on Wattpad

Promise?

Sentimentality.

Often people put deep meaning into material possessions to the point that some may feel entitled to dismiss others feelings due to that connection. From one person’s point of view it appears to be just a bracelet, a stuffed animal or even a tattered article of clothing. It could be seen as shallow, even distasteful, to place so much worth into one item. However for the owner in the event where the item either gets lost, stolen or destroyed. It would be on the same level of losing a piece of themselves. Due to the fact that a simple trinket can represent beloved individuals or the tribulations that one person can through.

It was the first Friday afternoon of the school year as Sabrina Raincomprix leaned up against her locker while chatting with her best friends: Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Alya Cèsaire and Kagami Tsurugi. The girls were surrounded in the Collège Françoise Dupont’s locker room as other students were packing up their things since the school day had ended mere minutes ago. Instead of her usual outfit, the redhead was wearing a soft yellow v-neck tulip sleeve blouse, a white floral patterned black knee length skirt, a thin black ribbon headband and simple silver stud earrings. Propped against her locker was a lemon yellow backpack with white roses patterned across the bag. Almost as if they were creating a new habit after packing up, her friends had convened at Sabrina’s locker to finish discussing the final details of the party they were attending later today.

“So what time should we arrive at Liberty for the twins’ party?” Sabrina asked Marinette.

“Since we are bringing the desserts Juleka had suggested around three thirty,” the designer replied. “So there’s a little prep time before the party around four. Kagami, Tatsu is still picking us up at three, right?”

“Correct, my mother scheduled Tatsu to pick us up at the bakery around three,” the fencer answered. “It did take a lot of convincing but she promised to follow through.”

“That means that everything should be set as my dad was up this morning working on the cupcakes,” Marinette assured them. “They should be already packed up when we get there.”

“Sounds like everything is finally aligning up for us,” Alya smiled. “That’s a good sign since what usually happens when we all get together.”

“Please don’t remind us,” Kagami sighed. “It took me nearly a month to eat pizza again after the Pizza Creature attack at Marinette’s slumber party.”

“I felt the same way even though I didn’t see much. But based on what everyone told me,” the designer shuddered. “I had to turn down Luka when he suggested going to that pizza place near the Seine during a date a week after. He understood but it was way too soon.”

“I will say that was pretty bad. But things turned out alright in the end,” Sabrina admitted. “Let’s try to be more optimistic here. I’m sure that Kitty Section is excited to perform today.”

“I know Adrien is,” Kagami played with the strap of her red and black checkered messenger bag. “He was elated after he finally convinced his father to cut back on the photoshoots and let him become an official member of the band.”

“I’m glad that he’s getting more freedom. It also benefits the band as both Rose and Luka have been waiting to add keyboard tracks to their music for a while but didn’t know anyone else who could do it,” said Marinette. “Both of them have been working on a new set of songs since early August.”

“You sure that is not the sole reason why this party is being thrown?” Sabrina teased.

“You know the party being thrown to kick off the new school year. Especially since not everyone is in the same class this year,” the designer lightheartedly nudged her. “Plus Luka invited some of his old classmates he had kept in touch with. The performance is just a perk.”

“I know I’m just messing around,” Sabrina chuckled. “Honestly, I’m just excited to be invited.”

“Perk or not, this will definitely give Nino some great shots for the Kitty Section documentary he’s been working on for that contest,” mentioned Alya. “He’s probably on his way to Liberty right now.”

“When is the deadline for that?” Kagami asked.

“It’s the thirtieth of next month, however he’s been using the majority of his free time to work on it,” Alya explained. “Right now he’s doing interviews with Kitty Section’s friends and fans.”

“He already got me to do it yesterday,” the redhead held up her hand. “We have to do so many takes since I’m not that great on camera. I probably wouldn’t have agreed to it if he wasn’t a friend.”

Things change, a sentiment that Sabrina had heard throughout her life. Although it wasn’t until a few months ago she truly understood what it meant. Over the summer, the redhead had broken off her toxic friendship with Chloé. She had befriended Marinette when paired with her for a history project during one of the weeks of the previous school year. At first there were mixed feelings with Sabrina integrating into the friend group but things overall smoothed over. To the point it wasn’t much of a surprise when she was invited to the twins’ back to school party on their houseboat.

The redhead had gotten particularly close with Alya and Kagami to the point she has considered them as her best friends along with Marinette. But one accomplishment that had to keep to herself was her status as the second bee miraculous holder. It happened the day that she and Marinette started to work on their project in the local park. Ladybug had approached her with the bee miraculous after her father was attacked by the villain, Lord Justice.

After some hesitation, Sabrina accepted the mantle becoming the heroine, Honeybee.

A mantle that she still holds today as this previous Wednesday Honeybee had to fight the villain Gator with Ladybug and Chat Noir in Paris’ sewers.

“We should head over to the bakery to wait for Tatsu,” suggested Marinette. “Is everyone ready to go?”

The other girls confirmed while Sabrina picked up her backpack, noticing that the front pocket was left completely wide open. Her stomach began to twist while she shoved her hand into her pocket, feeling nothing between her fingers. Panic began to blossom all over her face.

“What’s wrong?” the designer questioned as the redhead looked back at the girls.

Although the two had only been friends for just a few months Marinette could always read her panicked face.

“My bracelet isn’t here,” she told her.

“Bracelet?” Alya looked puzzled. “I don’t remember you wearing one today.”

“I kept it in my backpack. It’s a gift I got recently…from Delmar. So I can have it with me as often as possible. I had made a promise to keep it,” Sabrina explained. “It was in this pocket when I grabbed my stylus after lunch but I apparently forgot to zip it up and now it’s gone.”

“It must’ve fallen out,” the designer figured. “What does it look like?”

“It’s a black and gold crystal beaded stretch bracelet with a silver rose flower charm,” the redhead described. “It’s really sparkly.”

“That sounds easy to picture, so how about we look around the locker room since I might have fallen out,” instructed Kagami. “Sabrina check your backpack and locker just in case it was misplaced. Is that good for everyone?”

The others agreed as the group broke apart to search. Sabrina remained where she stood, opening up backpack and pulling out all the contents. After a few minutes the items laid on the wooden bench behind her. Side by side lay her school issued tablet in a yellow fabric sleeve case, her phone, a modern history textbook, a purple pencil case that had her stylus, a yellow spiral notebook, a travel size bottle of hand sanitizer and a plastic baggie of snickerdoodle cookies. She moved onto her lockers but got the same results as the backpack.

No bracelet.

While Sabrina returned her belongings back in her backpack, her friends returned with solemn looks on their faces.

“We didn’t see anything,” Marinette informed her.

“Neither did the few people around here that we asked,” added Kagami.

“Personally, I think that it’s in the back of the classroom,” insisted Alya. “We should go there next.”

“What about the party?” questioned the redhead. “The last thing I want is everything to be sidetracked because of me.”

Kagami pulled her phone from her blazer pocket, checking the screen. “It’s only two fifteen and Tatsu will stay idle at the bakery until we come.”

“I can text my dad that we are staying here longer than expected since he’s waiting on us because of the cupcakes,” Marinette grabbed her phone from her trademark pink backpack. “I doubt that he would mind.”

“I’ll also send something in the group chat about the possible delay,” Alya pulled her phone from her jeans pocket. “Don’t worry Sabrina we got your back.”

After the girls finished on their phones, the four friends grabbed their things and walked to their new classroom. On the way they had discussed possible methods of spitting up to search. Meanwhile Sabrina carefully retraced her steps under the thinly veiled hope that was just simply in the middle of the hall. But once the girls got closer to the classroom that hope vanished causing her to place a new one on the classroom. If not, she would be unsure how to forgive herself. She remembered the promise that she had made about that bracelet to keep and cherish it. Already she mentally kicking herself as unintentionally she had broken that promise in less than a week.

The four friends entered the classroom, it had a similar layout to Ms. Bustier’s classroom from the previous year. It had the same shared desk setup and the teacher’s desk in front of the blackboard. The teacher’s desk had a few things scattered across it such as a cup of wooden pencils with a silver pair of scissors that had a black leather blade cover. An opened grade book in the center, a small stack of papers and a black travel coffee mug. Alongside the desk stood a woman in her late thirties. She had long jet black hair pulled back into a low ponytail, ocean blue eyes and fair skin. The woman wore a black short sleeve blouse, a black and white vertical striped midi length skirt, simple black high heels.

This was Mrs. Burke, their new teacher for the school year.

“Oh hello girls,” the teacher smiled. “I did not expect to see you four until Monday. Is there something that I can do for you?”

“Hi Mrs. Burke,” Sabrina greeted. “I recently realized that my bracelet that I had in my backpack is gone. Is it possible we can look around here for it? If that’s okay with you.”

“Of course, I haven’t seen any bracelets but you all are welcome to look,” Mrs. Burke told her. “However, I do need to make copies for next week’s assignments. You can manage this without me, right?”

All the girls verbally agreed.

“Fantastic, I hope you can find your bracelet Sabrina,” the teacher scooped up the stack of papers into her arms. Once she approached the doorway the teacher called over shoulder before leaving. “Oh Chloé, I expect you to continue working on your sentences. Remember you owe me one hundred. Do not let your classmates distract you.”

At that moment all four of the girls whipped their heads around to see Chloé sitting at a desk in the second row near the windows. Suddenly a frosty presence was transmitted into the air. The mayor’s daughter’s glared at them, practically shooting daggers. If looks could kill all of them would’ve instantly faced a full blown massacre.

“Um let’s start searching,” Marinette instructed, attempting to cut through the frosty tension.

With that all the girls put their bags up against the classroom’s walls before scattering across the room. Sabrina started at the desk that she shared with Kagami. Alya stayed on the ground floor searching around Mrs. Burke’s desk. Marinette checked the steps while Kagami checked the desks near the windows. The goal was to leave no stone unturned. But it seemed that all four acquired a secondary goal: not giving Chloé a scrap of eye contact.

But for Chloé that was simply just a challenge.

“So, it’s nice to see that my shadow couldn’t stay away from me for too long,” piped up the mayor’s daughter.

Sabrina flinched, almost banging her head as she looked underneath her desk. For the past couple days when Chloé was around her there was the muttering of the word shadow. The animosity between them was palpable so the redhead tried to ignore it, knowing that this was Chloé’s way to get a rise out of her.

Although it would not be a lie to say those words do not still stung.

“But again it makes sense considering all those years that you’ve been following behind me,” the mayor’s daughter cackled. “You know what they say, old habits die hard.”

More like bad habits. Sabrina thought, wanting to tell her that out loud before shaking her head. No, I can’t let her distract me especially since the girls are willing to help out.

Sabrina took a deep breath while realizing that the bracelet was not under the desk. She moved down to the next desk in the row as Chloé continued her vile remarks. Each one felt like a tiny cut attempting to get underneath her skin. But after a moment of the mayor’s daughter tirade Alya quickly cut in.

“Chloé, don’t you have something better to do besides spitting all that venom?” the reporter questioned. “From what I heard you have sentences to do for Mrs. Burke. Much more constructive use of your time don’t you think?”

“You have a lot of nerve since you four caused me to serve after school detention in the first place!” Chloé snapped. “All because everyone can’t take a joke.”

“A joke?” Kagami called out from the back of the classroom. “You’re lucky I did not send you the dry cleaning bill for my skirt!”

The mayor’s daughter smiled. “Just think of me doing you a favor. One less chance of making a fashion mistake. Red plaid is so last season.”

“That response shows you haven’t learned your lesson,” the fencer insisted. “No wonder Mrs. Burke had to write it out on the chalkboard.”

Sabrina looked up from the desk she was peering under to see on the blackboard written largely in chalk: I will not play pranks on my classmates. They’re mean sprinted, disruptive and unnecessary.

All this had started on Monday, the first day of school. Sabrina had outright ignored Chloé to sit Kagami to become desk mates for the school year. The mayor’s daughter was stunned from what seemed a complete betrayal.

Especially since she had told Sabrina that she needed to return to her senses by the start of the school year. However the resentment did not fully materialize until Wednesday. When the class had returned from lunch. Kagami sat down at their desk only to leap up in shock.

The back of her skirt was drenched with a thin pink liquid. The class was confused while Sabrina noticed the bench was covered with strawberry and banana smoothie.

“It’s only fair, you were one of the people who brainwashed Sabrina against me,” Chloé told her.

“Is that what you think happened?” asked the redhead.

“Of course why else you mentioned to Mrs. Burke that strawberry and banana smoothie are one of my favorites drinks linking me to what happened,” she told her. “Instead of keeping your trap shut like usual.”

“I’m not brainwashed. I did that on my own volition.“

“That sounds like what a brainwashed person would say, Shadow.”

“Or it’s because she doesn’t believe your self centered conspiracy theories,” said Marinette while she stood in the back of the classroom. “Also stop calling her that. You of all people know her name. By calling her Shadow just shows how petty and immature you are.”

“Shut it Dupain-Cheng,” the mayor’s daughter hissed. “You and Cèsaire didn’t help being one of the first pointing fingers at me.”

“It wasn’t that hard considering you were the only one cracking jokes at Kagami’s expense,” the designer reminded her.

“Not only that, you were the only one who wasn’t in the cafeteria at lunch. You also have a driver on call and there’s a smoothie shop a few blocks away from here,” Alya added. “Besides you pulled a similar stunt this time last year. It’s just this time you didn’t have anyone take fall for you.”

“At least the class got to watch you clean up your mess with the supplies from Mr. Haprèle,” said Marinette.

“Too bad I had to miss it because I had to change. Luckily, I had some clothes as I was going to do some practice with Adrien after school. Since fencing starts back again next week,” Kagami approached Chloé’s desk. “But I’m actually surprised that you got detention. From what I heard you’re made out of solid Teflon. Nothing usually sticks to you.”

“Don’t act so smug,” Chloé snapped. “The reason why I’m serving detention is because my mom wants to look good for Mrs. Burke. So in her words she won’t be embarrassed.”

“I never would’ve thought that your mom was the type that cares about teachers,” said Marinette.

“She doesn’t, Mrs. Burke was an old work colleague of hers before going into teaching. Her mother also works in the publishing industry and even gave her an internship during university,” the mayor’s daughter folded her arms across her chest. “She’s practically an old family friend. If this was anyone else the whole thing would’ve been wiped off my record. So, what do you have to say for yourselves?”

“That Mrs. Burke is now one of my favorite teachers and I haven’t known her for a full week,” said Alya.

“Why you little-“ Chloé started to hiss.

“Girls, can we have a word please?” interrupted Kagami.

The three remaining girls exchanged confused looks with each other. But still followed the fencer as she walked down from the desk platform and toward the classroom’s open doorway.

“Kagami, is everything okay?” Sabrina asked. “Did you find the bracelet?”

“Sabrina, this bracelet we are looking for. It’s not rare or unique is it?” Kagami asked. “You can just find it at any boutique downtown right?”

“No, based on what I was told. It’s pretty unique and was made specifically just for me,” the redhead told her. “Why do you ask?”

The fencer frowned. “I think that Chloé is wearing your bracelet.”

“What?” the redhead whirled around to face Chloé had returned back to her writing.

The mayor’s daughter’s dominant hand was busy holding the pencil she was writing with. While her other hand rests on the desk, around the wrist of a gorgeous black and gold beaded bracelet with a sterling silver rose charm in the center.

It was her beloved bracelet.

The redhead stood there baffled, wondering why she hadn’t seen it before. The feeling of dread surrounded her like a cape. She looked at her friends who had concerned expressions on their faces. It’s like they knew exactly what she was feeling but seemed unable to articulate what to say.

Sabrina’s feelings of dread quickly burned into anger. “Of course it had to be with her! It couldn’t be on the floor or the middle of the street. No, it would be too easy. It had to be with Chloé Bourgeois!”

“Did someone say my name?” called out the mayor’s daughter from behind her.

The redhead flinched realizing that she had summoned her former friend. She took breath before plastering a pleasant smile on her face and whirling herself around to Chloé.

“Uh…hi Chloé,” she said.

“Yes Shadow, what do you want?” Chloe demanded. “Have you come to apologize for all that you had done these past couple months?”

Suddenly Sabrina’s hands balled into fists causing her fingernails to dig into her skin creating half moons indents in her palms. “Actually I would like to know where you got that bracelet? It’s really pretty.”

“Isn’t it?” Chloé beamed, holding up her wrist with the bracelet. It sparkled in the sunlight that streamed from the windows. “Unlike what most people think, I only deserve the best.”

“Can I ask where you have gotten it?”

“That’s on a need to know basis and you of all people you certainly don’t need to know. You have been pitifully trying to copy my color scheme for months. The last thing you need is more ammunition.”

“I like to think that it is important for me to know. Since that is my bracelet on your wrist.”

The mayor’s daughter’s eyes widened for a few seconds before it shifted into a frosty glare. “Well we know what people say finder’s keepers.”

Marinette scoffed. “Why am I not surprised that it came out of your mouth, Chloé?”

“It’s because in many places possession is nine tenths of the law, Dupain-Cheng,” Chloé pulled her wrist protectively towards her chest. “That’s something I figured your friend would know since she’s the daughter of a cop and all.”

“This is really rich considering the stir you caused on career day last year,” Alya pointed out. “If things went your way the whole class would’ve been arrested if that meant finding your bracelet.”

“Well that’s different since that was then and this is now,” the mayor’s daughter told her.

“Hypocrite,” said Kagami.

“It’s better than being a loser like you,” Chloé snapped back.

“Alright, Chloé can I have my bracelet back please,” Sabrina attempted to do damage control. Even though she agreed with her friends’ statements. “I would really appreciate it.”

“I don’t think that’s not a good idea, especially since I found it on the ground here, completely discarded. It would be better if I just kept it. Since I take good care of my things.”

“It was an accident!” the redhead hissed before taking a deep breath. “Look Chloé, we are not doing this again. It was already getting old when we were little.”

“Do what? I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“Don’t act dumb, you know what I’m talking about. Throughout our friendship every time that I had something you wanted. You would convince me that I didn’t deserve to have it and force me to give it to you. Or the item would suddenly disappear to never be seen again. Do the gifts from my aunt and care packages from my grandparents abroad not ring a bell? I let it slide since we were friends but not now. So give me my bracelet back!”

Chloé just smirked. “You seem upset. What’s so special about this bracelet that got you so worked up?”

“It was a gift…from Delmar,” Sabrina sighed. “It’s specifically made for me in mind during the process and design. So you see that was never meant for you to wear. At this point it only makes sense for you to give it back.”

“Oh so this is from your boyfriend in New York? No wonder you’re so frustrated by the idea that a heartbroken Delmar realizes what a terrible girlfriend you are for losing his gift. That must be tearing you up inside.”

The fencer injected. “Chloé can’t you give this a rest?”

“I’m just vocalizing what she’s probably thinking,” said the mayor’s daughter.

“That’s one thing I know about Shadow that you three probably don’t. She’s always so hard on herself. Isn’t that right, Shadow?”

Sabrina glared at her. “I just want my bracelet back, Chloé.”

“Well that actually can be arranged depending on what you are willing to do for it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that I’m offering a proposition. If you make me promise and follow through. I’ll give you back the bracelet without any further questions asked.”

“That sounds like blackmail especially coming from you.”

“What was your first clue? So do we have a deal?”

“Depends on what you are asking for.”

“It’s not much, it’s just I heard from the grapevine that Luka and Juleka are having a party today. Now I don’t know how those silly twins thought they could have a decent party without inviting Chloé Bourgeois.”

Sabrina’s face bloomed with complete panic. “No.”

“Let me finish, the details are important,” the mayor’s daughter wore a malicious smirk. “I want you four to take me to this party and make sure that I am allowed to stay. If you are able to do it, I’ll give you the bracelet back at the end of the night.”

“Chloé, I’m only a guest. I have enough control of the guest list as you do. There will be a higher chance of me being asked to leave with you than you being allowed to stay.”

“Wow you hanging out with those losers really had made you soft. You were so much more cunning. It seemed that you forgot your besties with one of the co-hosts’ girlfriends. Everyone usually gives Dupain-Cheng whatever she wants. I’ll doubt her boyfriend would be any different. All she has to do is say a few sweet words and flutter her eyelashes. After that I’m sure Luka wouldn’t mind one more guest.”

“The problem with that plan is unlike you. I don’t manipulate others to do my bidding, Marinette glared at her. “And I wouldn’t manipulate Luka especially on your behalf!”

“I guess that means you don’t care about your friend like I thought,” the mayor’s daughter told her.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that!” the designer cried out. “I do care about you, Sabrina. She’s just twisting my words-“

“It’s okay,” the redhead assured her. “I knew what you meant.”

“Well if that’s too much for everyone there’s always a second option you can do,” Chloé interjected. “There are a few things that I need done for a while. My closet needs to be organized and my magazines are out of order. Not to mention since school started homework needs to be done.”

Sabrina felt her stomach twist into a knot. “You want me to reprise my role as your little lapdog. That’s what you are trying to say, aren’t you?”

“When you put it that way it sounds mean. But at the same time reprise seems like the right word. So do we have a deal?”

“Uh…I…” the redhead was completely shaken. “I need to talk to my friends since depending on what I choose it will affect them.”

Chloé returned to her writing. “Fine, but don’t take too long since my detention will end soon. I will need to notify my driver about a possible change of plans.”

Sabrina turned to her friends, who all three of them shared the same stunned expression as her.

“I’m so sorry I got you all in this terrible situation,” she apologized to her friends.

“No need to apologize,” Marinette reassured her. “I think that we all agreed that the first choice is the best option.”

“Definitely, no way we are doing option two,” Alya added. “The party is only a few hours while we don’t know how long Sabrina will be indebted if she agrees.”

“Personally, I think we should just charge and grab it back,” suggested Kagami. “It would be four against one.”

“With our luck we might break the bracelet in the process,” the designer warned. “Plus if Chloé screams she may alert the teachers who are still here. With Chloé’s influence we might get suspended or expelled if caught.”

“If that is the case we should notify Luka and Juleka of the situation immediately so they would not be blindsided,” said the fencer. “Tell them that we will owe them one.”

“We are going to bring Chloé,” the reporter groaned. “We are going to owe them at least one hundred.”

“We should take shifts watching her,” Marinette suggested. “I wouldn’t put it past her to pull something since she wasn’t originally invited.”

“So much for having a good time,” Kagami sighed.

This is all my fault. Sabrina thought. None of this would’ve happened if I was more careful. Now everyone’s afternoon will be ruined because of me.

She looked up at the clock that hangs over the door frame. Time had somehow slipped past her since it was already two forty five. The redhead felt eyes on her causing her to realize that Chloé was just sitting watching them. Glee filled her face like she was deriving pleasure from their panic.

At that moment Sabrina felt something inside her snap.

Her facial features sharpened as she stepped away from the group calling out to her former friend. “How long are we going to be doing this Chloé?!”

The mayor’s daughter looked stunned. “Excuse me?”

“I’m asking how long would I have to work for you if I choose option two?” Sabrina answered.

“Sabrina, what are you doing? We had already agreed you don’t have to do that,” Kagami asked, completely baffled.

“Yeah whatever you do don’t sell your soul to Ursula!” Alya exclaimed.

“Ursula!” Chloé slammed her hands on the desk. “How dare you compare me to that sea witch!”

“You two may not look alike but both of you sure have a knack for convincing redheads to accept crooked deals!” the reporter told her.

“Sabrina, don’t do this to yourself. The bracelet isn’t worth this,” the designer told her. “I’m sure that…Delmar would not want you to go through this. In fact he doesn’t even have to know.”

“But I will know. Look, I am the one who made this promise. So I should be the one to own up for this,” Sabrina told her friend.

“Do not think that I don’t appreciate what you three were willing for me. However this is my battle and I need to face it alone. So you need to trust me that I know what I’m doing.”

Marinette stared at her. Almost if she was reliving this conversation from a different life. After a few seconds of deliberation she gave a simple nod. With that the redhead turned away from her friends, taking her stride toward the mayor’s daughter’s desk.

“Glad to see that you had made a decision,” Chloé smirked, taking Sabrina’s hand once she approached. “Now we can pick up exactly where we left off.”

Sabrina yanked her hand from her former friend’s grip. “Except that will not be happening.”

“What? You promised to reprise your role.”

“As your unpaid servant. But I’m not your friend. Mainly because I don’t appreciate you using my friends as canon fodder. If you have a problem then take up with me directly as Sabrina not Shadow.”

“But I…”

“You what, you’re surprised? If that is the case you shouldn’t be. When I said that we were done after you came back from your trip. I take promises very seriously, including the one that I made to myself to never be your punching bag ever again.”

“What about my magazines and closet?”

“Oh don’t worry I will do that for you. I’ll even bring you some snickerdoodle cookies as I picked up baking over the summer. I can do that with no complaints.”

“What are you trying to prove here?“

“I’m just stating facts here, as this moment onwards this situation is transactional. I’m not doing this because I’m some sycophant that can’t last a day without a whiff of your lavish perfume. I’m doing this because I made a promise to someone special. And I’m sure as heck not going to let you interrupt that more than you already have. So if this deal is because you want to save a few euros by not going to the salon. So I can do your nails or it’s because your servants refuse to do my rainbow color coordination scheme for your closet that’s fine. But if this is what I think it is. For you to relive your glory days back when I was dependent on you. You will be wasting your time.”

“How dare you accuse me of something like that! I would never!”

“That the thing with you Chloé I’m unsure that you even know if that’s the truth or not. For years you thrived on having someone else underneath your heel,” Sabrina’s voice sounded like a blend of domineering and frustration. “Especially since the old Sabrina did nothing but give and give. Even the things she didn’t give you stood took. And how you thank her was treating her less than a person, practically subhuman. Do you know it’s like trying to understand algebra in a dark closet for multiple hours?”

“No I,” Chloé squeaked.

“Of course you don’t, as I would never have done that to you. It’s hard writing with one hand while holding your cell phone flashlight in the other trying doing two people’s work. It took a long hard reality check and being surrounded by amazing people that actually care about me to realize how toxic our relationship was. And you dare to try to hurt them through me?”

“You mean our friendship.”

“No, a friendship isn’t one-sided like we had. I was your friend Chloé but you were never mine. I have real friends now who were willing to sacrifice their whole evening to babysit you because of my mistake. That is one thing you need to realize. If I had to choose who saved first, the person in front of me or the three people behind me. I would pick them every time. So if this because there’s some chores that need to be done. That’s perfectly fine but my days of being in your shadow are over. You acted like this choice was that I would be stuck with you. Well it goes both ways. So you still haven’t answered my question. How long are you willing to do this?”

Chloé looked completely stunned before hissing. “You think that you are so special don’t you?”

Without another warning the mayor’s daughter stood up leaping over the desk sticking the landing on the classroom’s ground floor, surprising everyone. She darted toward Mrs. Burke’s desk pulling out the pair of scissors from the pencil holder and ripped off the cover. The girls ran over circling around her as she slipped off the bracelet and held it against the scissors.

“Don’t come any closer!” Chloé shouted. “One wrong move and I’ll cut it up in bits!”

“What are you doing Sabrina agreed to your terms!” Kagami exclaimed. “You owe her that bracelet.”

Marinette narrowed her eyes. “Except this was never about the bracelet, was it Chloè? This did not go as you imagined it, right?”

“I…I don’t know what you are talking about, Dupain-Cheng,” the mayor’s daughter stammered.

“Sabrina is right isn’t she? You really can’t thrive without someone under you. It explains your behavior this week with the smoothie, the blackmail and now attempting to destroy the bracelet. This is all about finding a new to hurt Sabrina to maintain your previous dynamic since she walked away. So this became your last resort, I’m I right?”

Chloé just glared at them, appearing unsure how to exactly answer. However the scissors still moved toward the bracelet.

“No!” Sabrina cried out.

“What in the world is going on here?” said a familiar voice from the doorway.

All the girls turned to see Mrs. Burke standing in the doorway with a large stack of papers in her arms. Her blue eyes were practically cracking with disapproval.

Chloé instantly dropped the scissors while wailing to the teacher. “Mrs. Burke, thank goodness you’re here. These girls have been harassing me since you left!”

“Oh you are such a liar!” said Alya. “If anything you’ve been harassing us!”

“All of you have been bullying me since you got here,” the mayor’s daughter slid the bracelet back on. “You tried to steal my bracelet!”

“If that’s the case why did you have scissors to chop it up?” the fencer questioned.

“I thought that was the only way you all would leave me alone,” Chloé turned to the teacher. “You have to believe me, you have known me for years.”

“I’m not sure that much of the accomplishment you think it is, Chloé,” said Mrs. Burke. “But girls, is what Chloé said true?”

“Of course not, Chloé found my bracelet and refused to give it back,” answered the redhead.

She told Mrs. Burke what had happened when she was gone. Although the mayor’s daughter attempted to interrupt multiple times Sabrina got her point across.

“Well it looks like we are at an impasse here. Now force someone else to hand over property unless I know for sure it belongs to another person,” Mrs. Burke sighed while placing the papers on her desk. “However, I do have a strong feeling of who’s telling the truth. Do either of you have any proof that the bracelet belongs to you.”

“Oh I do. It’s in my purse,” Chloé smirked before running over to her desk and pulling out a slip of paper in her purse. She walked back handing it to Mrs. Burke. “Here it is.”

“It’s a receipt from Gabriel’s Boutique,” the teacher read the slip out loud. “It has yesterday’s date and time stamped for last night at eight o’clock. Along with the word bracelet with the price tag two hundred and fifty euros.”

“See! It’s mine,” the mayor’s daughter told the teacher.

“That can be for any bracelet,” said Marinette.

“Maybe, but unless Sabrina has something to counter that,” informed Mrs. Burke. “I will have to take it.”

“I don’t have the receipt since it’s actually a handmade gift,” the redhead admitted.

“Oh no, Sabrina is caught up in a lie,” Chloé taunted. “I wish I had this on film!”

“Film!” the redhead exclaimed as an idea had struck her. “Mrs. Burke, can I make a phone call please?”

“Is it about the bracelet?” Mrs. Burke asked as Sabrina walked over toward her backpack and fished out her phone.

“Oh yes it is,” Sabrina selected one of her contacts and pressed her phone to her ear as it rang. “I may not have proof on me but I got a friend who does….hello Nino, thanks for picking up. Quick question: do you still have the outtakes of me from yesterday?”

A few moments later everyone huddled around Sabrina’s phone placed on Mrs. Burke’s desk as a video of the redhead started to play. She was wearing a bright yellow v-neck blouse with tiny black polka dots, black skinny jeans, a silver headband and black flats. She was nervously twirling the ends of her hair with the infamous bracelet around her wrist. It appeared to be mid-afternoon as Sabrina leaned against a brick wall while the sun rays caused the bracelet to sparkle.

“Are you okay?” asked the voice behind the camera.

It was Nino, after explaining the situation to him. He did not hesitate sending the outtake that she did previously for the Kitty Section documentary after hanging up.

“I’m just nervous,” Sabrina replied. “I just didn’t expect to see my Thursday afternoon like this. I’ve never been that good on camera. Are you sure that you want me of all people to do this? The last thing I want is to ruin this for you.”

“Don’t worry I’m not looking for world class acting here. Just act natural, since you’re a friend of Kitty Section not you qualify. Especially since you’ve been hanging out at a lot of practices with the others.”

“So that’s what I get for being a supportive friend, huh? Well it wouldn’t be the first time that has got me in trouble.”

“You’ll be fine, what we are doing right now can be a screen test to get familiar with the camera on you. So practice with what you are going to say.”

“Oh okay,” Sabrina took a deep breath while looking at the camera. “I have known the majority of Kitty Section for a while and I would like to think they are all great tens…”

“Wait, did you say tens?”

“You heard that too?” her face turned a deep shade of red. She looked down at her wrist almost as if she had gotten caught. “I mean to say friends. I thought I just heard wrong because I’m nervous.”

“It’s fine, even professionals need multiple takes. Besides, I’m thinking about changing the camera angle.”

“It’s probably the best since this bracelet has been sparkling too much,” the redhead slid off the bracelet. “I should’ve taken off after they approached me to do this. It’s not like I was wearing it the whole day anyway.”

“You sure? It looks fine on my end.”

“Yeah, I just don’t want to risk it especially since you said that you were going to put it on YouTube. Let me just put this in my backpack.”

Right at that moment the video cut off.

“Well that’s definitely more proof compared to a receipt,” Mrs Burke looked up from the phone toward Chloé. “Care to explain.”

“This video has to be edited!” the mayor’s daughter exclaimed.

“So you’re telling me that this video was edited to make it look like Sabrina was wearing a bracelet no one saw you wear until nearly an hour ago?” questioned the teacher. “Is that what you were trying to say?”

“Yes, because they’re all jealous of me!”

“Chloé stop, you’re done. It’s clear that this is Sabrina’s bracelet and you were using it to antagonize her and the others. Those foolish acts will not be tolerated in my classroom. So give Sabrina her bracelet back and apologize to her right now.”

The mayor’s daughter looked stunned; as if the teacher had just ordered her to run into oncoming traffic.

“I would like to think that you had heard me, Chloé,” Mrs. Burke spoke sternly. “Now apologize.”

Chloé grumbled while sliding off the bracelet and dropped it into the redhead outstretched hands. “I’m sorry that I took your bracelet and refused to give it back.”

“Well, I really appreciate your apology even if you needed a nudge in the right direction,” smiled the redhead.

The mayor’s daughter shot her a venomous look as if she wanted everything to burn.

Clearly this was not over.

“So Chloé please return to your seat as you and I will be having a long conversation about your actions,” the teacher folded her arms.

With that things came to a close. Time passed as the girls walked out of the Boulangerie Patisserie. Each one carried out a white bakery box filled with an assortment of cupcakes while approaching Tatsu who was sitting idle. Prior to carrying out the boxes the girls went upstairs placing their bags in the family living room. Sabrina placed her bracelet back in her backpack double checking that the pocket was zipped. With the acknowledgment the fact that large bodies of water and sentimental jewelry did not mix.

The four friends piled into the car as Kagami took the front passenger seat while the rest sat in the back. Alya took the left window seat, Marinette sat in the middle and Sabrina took the right window seat. Once everyone was buckled up and securing the bakery boxes on their laps Tatsu started to pull forward towards their destination.

Marinette checked her phone. “It’s only a little past three. We should definitely make it to Liberty prior to four.”

“I’m glad this nightmare is over,” Sabrina let out a sigh of relief. “I also want to thank everyone for helping me out and standing up for me.”

“It’s no problem,” said Alya. “That’s what friends are for. But it’s clear that you didn’t need too much help when you put Chloé in her place, yourself.”

“Oh definitely, I had never seen that side of you,” the fencer agreed. “It was like you were a completely different person.”

“Well you know what everyone says,” the redhead twirled her hair. “Everyone has a limit and Chloé has surpassed that. Especially since she was trying to pull you three into this. I rather deal with her myself then let everyone else suffer. But one thing that definitely got to do is thank Nino once we get to Liberty. I owe him one.”

“I’m sure he would consider you two even for yesterday,” the reporter assured her. “But if you want to get him something he likes Milo’s gummy worms from that corner store a block away from the school.”

“I’ll have a bag for him on Monday,” said Sabrina.

“I’m just keep thinking about that look Chloé gave you during her forced apology,” Marinette told her. “I don’t want to worry you but knowing Chloé this won’t be over. Especially depending on how harshly Mrs. Burke will chew her out.”

“You’re probably right but there’s at least a few things that Chloé knows now. I’m not scared of her anymore,” Sabrina smiled. “That I got at least four people who got my back. In addition, I will always value my friendships and possessions before even thinking about her. Refreshing since this time last year it was the other way around.”

Her friends smiled at the sentiment before switching to a more positive subject such as the party which Sabrina joined in. Tatsu paused at a stoplight as a group of kids crossed the street with backpacks presumably coming from school. Sabrina recognized a familiar face from the group which caused her smile once the car was allowed to coast through.

Two days ago.

Waves of ladybugs flew the afternoon sky of the city of Paris fixing the recent damages and misdeeds of the recent akuma attacks. A wave ran through a city block releasing the heroes Ladybug, Chat Noir and Honeybee. Along with the heroes was a young man who appeared to be in his early twenties. He had wavy brown hair, bright green eyes and fair skin. The young man was wearing a blue polo shirt, tan khakis, red canvas sneakers and a white lab coat. Pinned to his lab coat was a name tag with the name Chase written in black ink.

All four of them were brought from the city’s sewer that once was the domain of Chase’s former villainous persona, Gator. All the heroes had spatters of gray muck from the sewers on their suits. However, Honeybee had gotten the worst of it as she was covered head to toe in sewer muck.

So imagine her relief when the ladybugs washed over the heroes cleaning her off. The ladybugs ran through Honeybee’s black collared yellow jumpsuit with black full length gloves that had yellow fluffy pollen like cuffs. The suit’s bright yellow torso had a large black v-shaped stripe across the chest with two thinner stripes underneath. The lower half was black with knee high boots with yellow triangular bands at the knees and triangular at the bottom.

Before moving onto her face with her yellow and black mask with the colors divided longways. Lastly finishing with her long fiery red ponytail with jet black highlights that was pulled back by a black headband with ribbon like antennas and the golden bee themed hair comb on the right side of her head in one swift motion.

This lifted her spirits for only a few seconds before returning to the melancholy mood from before. Ladybug pulled out a green and yellow magical charm from her yoyo. She walked over to Chase to explain the charm properties. Meanwhile Honeybee stood waiting twirling the ends of her ponytail while thoughts of Chloé prank cloud her mind. Her hair comb let out a warning beep.

Chat Noir walked over to her holding up his hand for an fist bump. “Nice work, Honeybee.”

“Thanks,” the bee spoke softly while bumping his fist.

“Hey is everything okay? You’ve been acting down since the moment I saw you today.”

“My mood really gave it away didn’t it?”

“That and you screamed ‘this day just got worse’ when you landed in that lake of goo in the sewers. Besides, you don’t look like someone who wrestled an alligator man and won.”

“Oh please it was the venom that did him in.”

“You were the one who body slammed him into a wall.”

“It’s because it looked like a Gator was going to bite off your head like it was an animal cracker. I like to think that I speak for everyone that you look better with your head on.”

“Oh what is that a challenge?”

“Chat Noir, I swear if you get yourself hurt with you being reckless based on what I just said. The moment I find out head or not I’m gotta-“

“Do what? Depending on what happened, something or someone already did me in.”

Honeybee looked at him realizing the ridiculousness of this conversation causing her to laugh while shaking her head.

“Well, I got you to laugh,” Chat Noir smiled. “Did that make you feel a little better?”

“A little, it’s really not what anyone here did. It’s just some former friend trouble in my personal life,” Honeybee admitted. “That’s much that I can say without going into too much detail. Obviously it’s not as important compared to keeping Paris standing.”

“Well sorry about that. But as there’s always a chance today can get better,” the cat told her. It just happens when you usually expect it.”

“He got a point,” Ladybug approached them while Chase walked away in the opposite direction. “Things will get better.”

“Thanks for the sentiment but honestly we should get going,” the bee pulled the trompo off her waist while her hair comb beeped.

However before she could toss her weapon Honeybee heard someone calling out from behind her. “Wait Honeybee, please don’t go!”

The heroine turned around to see a young girl who looked about eleven years old running toward the heroes. She had deep brown skin, bright brown eyes and long gorgeous curly black hair that went down her back. The girl was wearing a lilac babydoll top, faded blue denim jeans, silver flats and had a purple messenger bag on her shoulder. She looked practically out of breath once she reached the heroes.

“Thanks for not leaving,” said the girl as stopped in front of them. However the moment she glanced at Honeybee she appeared starstruck. “Oh…uh…I mean hi.”

“Hi,” the bee looked confused. “Is there something that I can do for you?”

“Oh no, you have literally done enough. No I don’t mean that,” the girl put her head in hands. “Oh my gosh I didn’t expect to get so flustered when doing this. You know what never mind sorry for wasting your time-“

However before the girl could walk away the bee gave her a small smile. “Don’t worry, I know what that’s like. Just take a deep breath then speak.”

The girl appeared surprised but took a long deep breath before breathing out. After that she looked a little more relieved.

“So what do you need?” asked the bee. “If I can’t handle it I’m sure my teammates can.”

“Always wanted to talk to you. My name is Lydia, you probably don’t remember me. You saved me from that collapsing building near the park a few weeks ago.”

“Right, I think I remember. It was during that Collision Man attack, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah! There was so much going on. I never got the chance to thank you.”

“Oh it’s okay, trust me the reason why I put on this mask is not for praise. Just knowing that you didn’t get hurt is enough.”

“But I have something to give you,” Lydia opened her bag and dug through it to pull out a small black box with a mini gold bow on the top. “I’ve been carrying it around for weeks since I didn’t know the next time I was going to see you.”

She handed over the box to Honeybee who opened it to reveal a sparkly black and gold beaded bracelet with a silver rose charm.

“Wow, this is so pretty,” the bee lifted up the bracelet from the box causing it to sparkle in the sunlight. “Thank you!”

“Really, you’re not just saying that just to be nice right?” asked Lydia.

“Of course, this is gorgeous. I love the combination of the colors. Where did you get it?“

“Actually I made it.”

Honeybee was positively stunned. “Whoa you’re serious? That’s amazing!”

“I did have help from my mom. She owns a jewelry shop that makes their own beads. So I designed the bracelet and my mom did the beads. After she was done with the beads I put it together. It was specifically made just for you, so it’s one of a kind.”

“Thank you, I feel really honored. In fact this is the first gift that I ever got as a hero. I’ll definitely be cherishing this forever.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

The End.

Thanks for reading. 😊

So, I hope you liked this story. I really appreciate you reading this especially since I will admit this is a long one. But to be honest it didn’t seem right to break it up in two parts. I also wanted to showcase how much development that Sabrina got. Especially since there was so much happening in this story.

I gave my golden girl so much: she got besties, she got invited to parties, she put mean girls in their place, was filmed in documentaries and beat up an alligator man. Definitely a departure from the original source material but I kinda like that. It’s like comparing my work and canon in the same vein as comparing cats and dogs. Both animals have similarities but I think we all agree they aren’t exactly the same thing.

This so is also available on Wattpad:

The song for this week is a cover of “Still Standing” (Elton John) by Annapantsu. I hope you like it.

Author’s Note 📝: Hey it’s Doodle here. As mentioned in the header this is my last story of 2022. I plan to take a break to enjoy the holidays. I will still be on the platform so I will be interacting with others/ posts such as liking, commenting and so on. But posting won’t resume until 2023. Don’t worry this break should not be as long compared to 2022 especially since that was because of school ( At least I hope. Life throws curveballs.) I would like to wish everyone who’s reading this happy holidays and have a fantastic new year! 🎉

See you next time! 👋

[fancoloredglasses]

The Saga of Starro the Conqueror [Part 1: The Main Man (frackin’ bastich!)]

[All images are owned by DC Comics and Warner Bros Discovery. I hope I’m too small-fry to sue...]

(All videos are courtesy of The Night Beyond)

This review introduces the Justice League’s first opponent as a team...

(Thanks to Wikipedia)

...Starro the Conqueror, who has the ability to take over the mind of anyone it or its mini-clones (which it calls “spores”) come in contact with.

The first half of Starro’s saga doesn’t actually focus on Starro, but instead introduces another DC Comics character into the Dini-verse...

(Thanks to Collider)

Lobo (whose name roughly translates to “He who devours your entrails and thoroughly enjoys it” (that little tidbit never made it to TV for obvious reasons)) was originally a parody of the “grim and gritty” comic book characters of the 90s (and, not surprisingly, was embraced by the same fans the character was supposed to mock) He’s the last of his race (due to the fact that he killed the rest) and operates as an interstellar bounty hunter.

OK enough backstory...except a tidbit I forgot to mention in the original series review: Superman is voiced by Tim Daly (who played Joe Hackett in Wings, as well as voicing Superman in several other DC Animation projects)

Now, on to the review! If you would like to watch the episode, you can do so at B98.

We open to the desert, where Professor Emil Hamilton and his team are testing a rocket manned by Superman.

It turns out the rocket is Kryptonian in origin (built by Jor-El and designed for a very small passenger) and was refitted by Prof. Hamilton’s team for space travel with an adult occupant.

We then cut to another world, where Lobo is on the job and, in his usual subtle fashion, shoots up a bar while looking for his quarry. He catches his bounty, a rodent-like alien named Sqweek, and is about to return to collect payment when...

...Sqweek’s brother shows up, looking to collect. Needless to say, Lobo makes short work of him and his friends. He then calls for his Hawg...

...and jets off. I think you can see why he was so popular. I mean, he’s no Deadpool, but who is?

However, on his way to collect, he gets another job offer from...

...and entity known as “The Preserver”, who collects the last members of their race in a sort of zoo.

(Now why does that look familiar?)

The Preserver wants Lobo to collect the last Kryptonian.

Soon enough, Lobo makes the 6:00 news and starts shooting up downtown Metropolis (subtle Lobo ain’t), which draws out Superman.

With that, Lobo decides to leave while he comes up with a new strategy (other than “straight at ‘em”), but Superman doesn’t give him a chance as...

...he borrows his rocket back from Prof. Hamilton (and Hamilton got him a spacesuit with his emblem on it, too!) in order to drive off Lobo before he can return.

Too bad Lobo found him first. The pair tussle until they are within range of the Preserver’s ship. The Preserver then teleports the pair onto his ship...

...and throws Superman into a cell with an emitter that gives of Red Sun radiation (neutralizing Superman’s powers) Lobo then asks for payment.

Yeah...about that...

Remember what I said at the beginning of this review about Lobo killing off the rest of his race? That would make him the last member, wouldn’t it?

Aaaaaand one more for the Preserver’s collection as the episode ends on a cliffhanger! The conclusion is also available on B98.

In an effort to be magnanimous...

...the Preserver has returned Superman’s costume to him (I mean, the least he can do is make sure his specimens are comfortable)

Lobo is certainly comfortable...

...at least until he acts up.

Then Superman gets an idea after surveying his surroundings...

About that time, the Preserver’s drones arrive.

Yeah, that’s about the size of it. Lobo grabs Sqweek on their way to the hanger for their rides.

Unfortunately...

Sqweek’s brother still wants to collect that bounty.

...yeah

This draws out the Preserver, who demands that Superman and Lobo return to their cells. When they refuse...

So instead of all those creatures being held captive on a ship in deep space, they’re being held captive in the Arctic Circle. Not sure how that’s an improvement.

But what about Starro? I mean, it was in this story for all of a second. I thought I said this was its saga.

Well, you’ll have to come back next week for the conclusion!

[phoenixyfriend]

In Which Palpatine Leaves the Door Open

So, @purronronner suggested this on discord:

au where anakin finds out about palpatine during clone wars era like, coming in for a visit and overhears a conversation with Dooku about war planning he’s been pulled between palpatine and the Jedi/obi-wan/various things but I want to see him pulled between palpatine and his men could go either way on the sith part of the reveal even

palpatine is not aware! unless anakin’s course of action is to go “hey palpatine I must have misunderstood something right? :(“

(This was a group effort but there's a thing I wrote that requires this context so please bear with me.)

I'm just imagining Anakin backing out, closing the door, and turning to the Corrie Guard by the door to say a thing... and not finding words.

Eventually "Did you guys know he was evil?" "He's a politician, sir." "But like the evil ranting..." "He's a politician. Sir."

He's willing to use his men to save R2, but that's because R2 was part of the team and helping, not arranging battles to make things worse.

Anakin: Normally, I'd go to Palpatine to talk about my problems, but right now he is the problem... Obi-Wan and Yoda are off-planet.... Anakin, phoning up Padme: Help?

Per @atagotiak we also have some Intense Thoughts

Oh hey. The deception arc. And the subsequent argument that we don't see and stuff. Like there's all the ways you could justify it especially from an opsec standpoint (If Anakin acts like that around Padme why would anyone assume he can keep a secret about anything?) And it was a pretty tactically important thing for the war as far as anyone knew. But just. I've heard some people say that perhaps also Obi-Wan reasoned that hurting Anakin is an ok price to pay to make sure someone Anakin cares for doesn't die for real which seems plausible enough.

Anyways. My point is. Anakin gets a front row seat to sheevception when he actually sorta knows whats going on. Gets sidetracked halfway through yelling and stuff to think about how convoluted this whole mess is.

For more clone-centric things all the times Palpatine's like "I wish I could do more, it's truly regrettable, but..." Would just seem awfully fake now.

Anakin, belatedly: Wait, does this mean that, behind all the layers of bullshit, Palpatine was the one trying to kill Padme at the start of the war???

WHICH IS WHAT LEADS TO A WHOLE LOT OF FUN and yes this is the part I'm sort of proud of.

Okay so: Anakin's a shit liar, yes?

After he meanders over to Padme and has a breakdown, he then goes off to tell the Council about all this. I imagine she goes with him as moral support, and also because she wants to protect him from them calling him out on his legitimately terrible decisions. They're trying to come up with a plan to take Palpatine down without tipping their hands too early, because they need to investigate; for the sake of this plot point, we'll say that Palpatine mentioned a contingency plan while talking to Dooku, even if he didn't directly name the chips.

Someone mentions that Palpatine is going to ask to see Anakin, because he does regularly. And, as experience has shown, there is very little that will stop Palpatine from insisting that Anakin come see him. They can stall for a bit, maybe, but not for long.

"You could send me to the other side of the galaxy," Anakin suggests. "Short notice, so sorry, won't be around for a bit."

They point out that won't work forever.

"So... arrest me, or put me on a mental health hold?" Anakin tries. "Say I got violent at civilians or the clones for no reason and you need to make sure I won't hurt him, and then even if he visits me in the cell, I don't have to act normal 'cause he'll EXPECT me to be upset."

Palpatine presumably has spies all over, so he'd know that hadn't actually happened. Also, Anakin's too important to the war effort for anything short of a cold-blooded murder of an innocent, and they can't just take him off the field without an absolutely massive violation of the Code or his orders.

"Tell him I Fell," Anakin offers.

A Sith Lord would be able to feel that from across the galaxy, if it had happened, especially with the amount of time that he's put into grooming Anakin.

"Oh," Anakin says, and his stomach drops out as he realizes that he can either keep his secrets, or keep people alive.

He thinks about how Palpatine had targeted Padme already, and how if Palpatine thinks Anakin's betrayed him, then he'll probably do that again.

He thinks about 'a Sith Lord would know' and realizes... well.

Anakin values his freedom, but he also values his men, his padawan, his master, his wife... the wife that's in danger if Palpatine knows that Anakin caught him out.

The Order has to keep Anakin away from Palpatine. They need an excuse to arrest him. They need an excuse to hide him away, one that Palpatine won't question too hard.

A Sith Lord would know if Anakin fell. Even if he came back afterwards.

"So... so tell him you found out about the Tusken Massacre."

The what.

"...tell him you found out about the time I actually did Fall," Anakin says, squeezing Padme's hand. She knows. She's the only one who knows, on Coruscant, other than the Sith they're hunting. "On... on Tatooine. You can claim it was an anonymous tip. He already knows about that one. He's one of the only two people outside Tatooine that do. He might not question it."

(He won't question it.)

What did you do, Skywalker.

"I killed... a lot of people. A Tusken tribe. Including the children. Right before the war hit."

----

It's a hell of a way to fall on his figurative sword.

(Mace is... both impressed that Anakin would take the hit to make sure they can handle the Palpatine problem, and horrified about the Massacre, because... who wouldn't be.)

(Mace is unfortunately Anakin's main handler on this project.)

Anakin puts in so much effort, all the time, into not Falling, so it’s surprisingly (terrifyingly!) easy for him to fake a 'near miss' with the Dark just by thinking really hard about things that make him angry. Nobody wants him actually Falling for the ploy if they can help it, but they need to sell the bit, and Anakin's... well. He's Anakin. It's easy to think about his own emotional volatility until any control goes out the window.

He's sacrificing a lot for this mission! It's fine! He's fine!

(Padme, the council is judging you so hard right now.)

Palpatine comes to visit Anakin in prison, and it is very easy for Anakin to disguise his anger as... a different anger. I have a very intense mental image of Anakin working himself up into a frenzy when Palpatine comes to visit, and then at some point in the following conversation he just snaps something about how "you said they were animals who deserved to die."

The Council can even eke it out a bit, make it so they don't want to admit why Anakin's in prison or under a psychiatric hold or whatever they claim it is, so their "I'm hiding something vibes" look like "I'm hiding the fact that one of our most recognizable war heroes just came clean as a mass murderer and we have no idea how to handle it" instead of "I'm hiding that we know you're a Sith Lord and are working to take you down."

Obi-Wan comes back from an off-world mission to find out that Mace arrested his former padawan and Ahsoka hasn't stopped crying for three days because nobody will tell her what's going on.

(The Council decided this couldn't be risked on even an encrypted comm.)

(They maybe tell him soon enough? But also they might treat it like the Hardeen thing and use his reaction as fuel to keep Palpatine convinced.)

SKYGUY GOT ARRESTED AND NOBODY'S EXPLAINING WHY.

Rex is overwhelmed because it's been his job to keep her calm.

Anyway, padawanship has been temporarily transferred to the grandmaster. You were half-training her anyway.

Insert a subplot about Obi-Wan being horrified and betrayed and aiming the feeling at Padme because she knew about the Tuskens and never told.

[angelsxbelle]

how they push you away vs. how they make it up to you.

my first hurt/comfort scenarios let’s go😀

headcanons on how haikyuu boys cause stress on your relationship and how they fix things afterwards ~

note: shirabu’s and hirugami’s take place with them as adults, iwaizumi’s takes place as third years in high school

warnings: angst to fluff, timeskip occupation spoilers, swearing, iwaizumi’s ended up being a little long oops

pairings: shirabu x reader, hirugami x reader, iwaizumi x reader

shirabu, KENJIROU

to put it lightly, shirabu is  s t r e s s e d  af

medical school is already hard enough, but taking care of another person is even harder to do at the same time

he just wants to crawl underneath a blanket and not have to think about anyone else’s feelings for a while while he lets everything out

he appreciates that you want to take care of him, but he doesn’t want you to hover over him and distract him while he’s trying to focus

this one day he’s studying for an exam and when you come home from work you come over to where he’s sitting and ask him how is day was

no response.

you ask again, nudging him a little bit to get a response

his eyes squint the tiniest bit, and what comes out of his mouth next is worse than yelling, screaming, or even just saying something flat out mean

“can you go away? you being here is messing up my concentration and this is more important”. he says, in a cold tone

“this is more important”. so that was it. so that was how he felt about this whole thing. you walk away, dumbfounded at your realization of how he really feels, not hate, not disgust, just nothing. 

nothing.

you go to bed alone that night, an empty space in your bed where he used to sleep when he still cared

later in the week, after the exams are over, you’re sitting at your dining room table, and you look up as you see him coming towards you, gingerly sitting down next you with a soft expression on his face

“i’m sorry” - he says as he hands you a note, folded neatly between his fingers like the ones he used to make for you in high school

as you open the note, your eyes scan down the page

it’s a long letter, one that obviously took him a long time to make

you start reading and you see a list of all the things he loves about you, and how he wishes he could treat you better and how he’s sorry about how he’s been lately and he wishes he could take away the pain he’s given you

tears well up in your eyes and threaten to spill down cheeks, you squeak out “thank you jirou”, and look down

he tilts your chin up to look at his face and you look each other in the eyes

“i love you”, he says

hirugami, SACHIROU

as a a veterinarian, hirugami encounters all sorts of different situations with animals brought into the clinic

some of them not so good ones

one day you get a call from one of the people he works with, saying that that day a dog was brought in that they almost couldn’t save and that hirugami probably wouldn’t be in a great mood when he got home

you sat in the living room for while, a little nervous of the state he would be in when he got home 

when you hear his key click in the lock of your front door, your heart skips a beat and you get up to go greet him, not expecting to see the dead look in his eyes as you looked up at his face

“hey, how’s everything going? are you oka-”

“can you just leave me alone please. i’ve had a long day.”, he interrupts you 

“are you sure? they said something happened at the clinic-”

“i don’t want to talk about it.”

“but-”

“ oh my god can you please stop talking? somebody’s dog almost fucking died because of me, i don’t want to hear you yammer on about whatever right now. just go away.” 

he slams your bedroom door behind him, latching it shut with a click

ouch.

 you walk away to go eat dinner alone, feeling like someone just stomped on your heart, chewed it up, and spat it out

the next day you wake up having slept on the couch, and go get ready in the bathroom and eat breakfast before getting ready to to work

as you’re about to walk out the door, you feel a hand gently grab yours, stopping you from leaving

you whip your head around to see your boyfriend with a remorseful expression on his face, a different hurt in his eyes this time 

he pulls you closer and kisses you forehead, saying how sorry he is for hurting you and how he didn’t mean it, how he let his feelings get the best of him

a little apprehensively, you bury your head into his chest and cling into his shirt so he knows you accept his apology

later that day, he takes you to your favorite restaurant and sits you down at a table close to the big window outlooking the scenery below

as snow drifts past, softly twinkling from the lights illuminating your view outside, but he’s looking at you instead

he knows he never wants to let go of you, maybe he’ll tell you that soon as he slips the ring in his pocket on your finger :)

iwaizumi, HAJIME

iwaizumi had never had any problems with jealousy in your relationship, or even just problems in general mostly

he trusts you, and he knows how much you love him

but recently you and oikawa had gotten paired together for a group project, and you had been spending more and more time together as a result

it wasn’t really a problem at the beginning since iwaizumi knew it was just a class project, but as time went on he couldn’t help but feel his stomach twist every time he walked by the library to see you working away happily, you laughing at something oikawa had said

he didn’t want to admit it, but it hurt seeing you like that with pretty boy oikawa.

pretty boy oikawa that all the girls he had ever liked liked him instead.

pretty boy oikawa that got all the stares as they walked by.

pretty boy oikawa that probably looked better with you than he did.

he walked away, knowing he shouldn’t feel defeated as his eyes droop and he looks down at the ground

he has trouble sleeping that night, his head full of thoughts he shouldn’t be thinking, images he doesn’t want see of you with him

the next day, you’re eating lunch together, and you notice he looks a little off, so you ask him if anything is wrong or if he needs to get something off his chest

“i’m fine”, he says with a flat tone

“are you sure? you don’t look okay, you know you can always talk to me right?”

“nothing’s wrong.”, he says again

you pester him again, as he starts to look more annoyed in the process

“why don’t you just talk to oikawa if you need to bug someone that bad, i’m sure he’ll love the attention from a little whore like you”

both of your eyes widen at what he said, not believing it fully

even iwaizumi knows that was completely out of line, even as someone who likes to tease to show affection

“fuck you hajime” , you say, tears stinging at the corners of your eyes as you walk away from where you were sitting together

hajime feels like crying.

the next day he’s nervous to see you, knowing you’re probably still hurt from what he said, but still searching for you anyway

as he walks sheepishly up to you, you ask what he wants after the painful exchange you had yesterday

“i’m so sorry. nothing i said was true, and you didn’t deserve it at all. i got jealous of oikawa and i know it’s my fault and i want you to please forgive me because i can’t lose you and hate myself for letting it get the best of me.”, he lets out

“it’s okay hajime, i understand and i love you, but please don’t say anything like that ever agiain, it really hurt”

his heart breaks a little bit at hearing that, but he’s happy you still want to see him

“i love you too. more than anything, i promise i’ll never hurt you again.”

he wraps his big arms around you and holds you tight

you know he doesn’t want to let go, even when the bell rings letting you know you’re late for class

he doesn’t want to let go of you ever

the end :)

[pan-fangirl-345]

Hidden Panthers

Summary: Soulmarks aren't rare, and neither are soulmates, but what is rare, is a person who doesn't want to meet their soulmate, but Toho Academy has two.

Or: Five times Aomine was curious about your tattoo, and one time he saw it.

TW: a small amount of angst, I suppose one part might be comparable to a panic attack, and some swearing, but I promise it's mostly fluff.

A/N: I had an idea! Since I have no requests currently in my inbox, I thought I would jot it down before I forgot about it.

1.

"You guys do realize that you should be practicing, right?" you asked when you walked into the gym and the boys were all shirtless, showing off their soulmarks.

"They're trying to prove who's is the biggest," Momoi informed you, making you snort.

You were almost one hundred percent certain that you had them all beat, except for maybe Aomine.

Your soulmark was a special image somewhere on your body, and animal, a place, something like that. They were colorful, and looked like tattoos.

The mark on your body corresponded with the one on your soulmate's body.

You knew that Aomine had your matching tattoo, not that he knew that, and that was okay.

The black ink of his tattoo was stark against his tan skin, but you knew that he wasn't showing it off with pride, it was him just proving a point.

Top dog on the team, biggest soulmark, he was unbeatable.

Aomine had made it clear that he didn't appreciate the thought of soulmates, that he was fine with not knowing who they were, not knowing who you were, in your case.

"What's yours (Y/L/N)-kun?" one of the boys asked and you snorted, a hand flying to cover your mouth, sometimes you hated hanging around teenage boys all the time, it made your mind go to weird places sometimes.

"Sorry boys, you don't want to see my mark, trust me," you muttered, touching your shoulder softly.

Aomine's eyes were on you, burning a hole through your body, but you ignored him.

"What is it?"

"None ah," you said.

"None ah?"

"None ah ya business," you replied, dropping your bag by the bench.

The boys peeled off into laughter, and Momoi gave a small giggle.

You smiled softly, tugging your sweatshirt off.

The boys were getting to practice, though Aomine was still watching you, watching you with those startling blue eyes.

"Are you going to practice or are you going to just stare at me like a creep?" you asked, crossing your arms over your chest, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Nah," he muttered, moving to head out the door, but you moved in front of him.

"Nope, you're here," you told him, throwing your arms out. "If you're here, you're practicing, even if that means you have to practice with me."

Aomine squinted at you, and you were 99% certain that he was going to try and shove you out of the way, but he sighed, heading back to work in drills with the other boys.

Momoi was watching you, eyes glinting in the way they did when she watching a game and her data was proved correct.

"Momoi-san," you said, "why are you looking at me like that?"

"It's just a hunch," she murmured, wandering off to watch Aomine play.

You frowned after her, wondering what the hell she was talking about, but you shook it off.

Those two were weirdos.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2.

"So, (Y/L/N), what's your soulmark?" one of your friends asked, and you sighed.

"It's nothing all that impressive," you lied, flipping the page of the textbook you were skimming through.

"But what is it?" she persisted.

"A pain in my ass," you muttered, touching your shoulder lightly again.

"(Y/L/N)-kun," one of your classmates said, "one of the basketball boys is waiting for you outside."

"Thanks," you replied, gathering your stuff up.

You were a back-up manager for when Momoi was away watching other teams play.

You were surprised to find Aomine leaning up against the doorframe, practice clothes on.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey yourself. Are you actually going to practice again?" you asked, hauling your bag over your shoulder, wincing at the weight.

He made a small noise, which made you think that that was his version of a yes.

"Why don't you show off your mark?" Aomine asked.

"Why don't you?" you replied, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Soulmates are bullshit," he muttered. "I don't like being told what to do. I hate being told who to love even more."

"My soulmate doesn't want me," you admitted after a moment of walking, readjusting your bag on your shoulders. "No point in showing off something that symbolizes someone who hates that I even exist."

Aomine paused, running his eyes over you again, and you glanced back at him.

"What?"

He didn't answer, he just stood there watching you. He had been doing that a lot, and you were a little worried about it.

"Are you coming or what?" you asked, heading for the gym.

He followed behind you, eyes boring into your back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3.

"What's your soulmark?" Aomine asked.

You had gone to the roof to tell him to get his ass to practice. He had been coming more and more often, but he had been staring at you for most of it, despite urging from both you and Momoi to actually practice.

"Nothing important, not like you practicing," you deflected, standing in front of him with your arms crossed.

"Snippy," he quipped. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

"Perv," you muttered. "And I've already seen your mark."

"Yours is on your shoulders, right?" he asked. "You keep touching them whenever someone brings them up."

"Yeah, it's a pretty big one," you admitted, reaching to touch your shoulder absentmindedly before you registered that you were doing it. You dropped your hands to your sides again, frowning.

Despite the fact that you already knew your soulmate, and how he felt about the whole thing, the mark was still comforting to a degree.

Aomine was still watching you, he had been doing it a lot, though you weren't entirely sure why. Every time he did, it jump started your heart, making you wonder if he knew.

He made a small noise, then dragged himself to his feet.

"Gotta go to practice," he mumbled, bumping shoulders with you as he headed down to the gym.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4.

Aomine started appearing more and more after that. He wasn't following you exactly, but it was almost like your schedules had overlapped.

Then you had gotten assigned to do a group project together.

"Nice place," he muttered when he walked through the door into your home.

"Thanks," you said, shutting the door. "I'm telling you this right now, Aomine, I am not doing this entire project by myself, and if I do end up doing it by myself, you are not getting your name put on this. Do you understand me?"

"Yes ma'am," he muttered. "Do you have any bread?"

"What?" you asked, then you remembered his weird carb obsession. "Uh, yeah, just . . . give me a minute," you said, setting your things down on the couch before you headed into the kitchen.

Snacks were something you could do.

You got him a drink too, and when you set a plate and a drink down in front of him, he glanced up at you appreciatively.

"Thanks," he said.

"No problem," you told him, sitting beside him on the couch.

"What are we doing the project on?" he asked.

"I have no idea," you muttered. "It would be easy to do a keynote or something, but there are going to be so many people doing that."

You pulled the project requirements out of your bag, your eyes flitting over it.

"What if we did like a . . . a soulmark examination?" you asked. "We were reading a book about how people think soulmarks mean something to the pair that share it instead of simply being an indicator, right? All we would have to do it take a picture of one of our soulmarks and make up some sort of metaphorical bullshit and make it look pretty when we present it."

"We should do yours," Aomine immediately suggested.

"Why mine?" you asked, panic starting to float into your veins.

"Because I want to know what it is," he replied, grinning at you.

"How about we do yours? You have your own fan club and I'm sure they'd be ecstatic to know what it is. Besides, yours is easier to do than mine," you told him.

"How so?"

"Mine is across my back," you informed him. "That means that I would have to take off my shirt and my bra for us to get a picture, and there are so many things that could go wrong with that. Besides, it's not like anyone in the class hasn't seen your back already, it's not new information."

"Fair enough," Aomine said. "But, when I get fakers pretending to be my soulmate, you have to be the one to fight them off."

"Deal," you said, holding your hand out to him.

He took it, shaking it firmly once, before he tugged his shirt over his head.

"Let's get this over with," he muttered, curling his shoulders forward so that you could get a clear picture of the black panther lounging across his shoulders like it was a tree branch.

You snapped a couple photos from different angles, and resisted the urge to touch it.

It was the same as yours, and you wondered vaguely if you had ever found your tattoo as beautiful as you found Aomine's.

"We good?" Aomine asked.

"Yeah, we're good," you croaked, then cleared your throat as he pulled his shirt over his head again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

5.

Your project had gotten a great grade, and you were both proud of it, but now Aomine seemed to be hellbent on figuring out what your mark was.

"Just show me!" he'd whined.

He'd been up on the roof again, and you had been charged with getting him off the roof and down to practice.

"No, Aomine. Now get off your ass and get down to practice," you told him, arms crossed.

You had been in this position for the past couple of weeks, and it was almost routine now.

"I won't even be a dick about it," he had promised you, his eyes looking almost sincere as he pleaded with you. Almost.

Aomine, you had learned, had adopted you as a friend, in the last few weeks of being stuck around him.

You and Momoi had started walking to class together, and Aomine had started trailing behind like a lazy guard dog, much to the chagrin of Momoi's many suitors.

"He really likes you," Momoi said one morning.

"Oh yeah?" you asked, chuckling.

"He hasn't liked someone like this in a while," Momoi told you. "He's a long time basketball junkie, so seeing him take an interest in someone that doesn't have much of a connection to the game is a relief to me."

"Momoi, I thought we agreed that you wouldn't profile me," you told her, giving her a small smile.

"I can't help it," she whined, taking a hold of your arm. "You have to tell him (Y/F/N)!"

"Sorry Momoi-san, I can't do that," you replied. "He doesn't want that."

"How do you know if you won't tell him?" she asked, pouting.

"Momoi-san, he's made his stance on soulmates exceedingly clear, and he likes me now because he doesn't know. I want it to stay that way. I'd rather be a friend than anything else. Besides, he doesn't like me like that," you informed her.

"I've been friends with him since we were kids," she said, glancing at you with those eyes. "I think I know when he's interested in a girl."

You snorted, but your conversation tapered off when Aomine joined you again.

"Seriously, what the hell is your soulmark?" Aomine demanded. "I have asked literally everyone I can think of that might know. No one in this entire fucking school seems to know what it is."

"Sorry Aomine," you said, slipping into your classroom, throwing a grin over your shoulder at him. "A girl needs to keep her secrets, besides, you aren't the only one with a soulmark thing."

His growl resonated into the classroom and you chuckled lightly as you sat down at your desk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

+1

Of course, the one time the teams tries to do some team bonding they chose to go to the fucking beach.

Of course, Aomine had also been the one to suggest the beach. The others thought it was because he wanted to see girls in bikini's, but he had glanced at you and winked.

He wanted to see what your mark was.

"I hate you," you snarled, cornering him, before he left for his house. "You scheming son of a bitch."

"Such vulgar words," he teased, giving you a dark look. "And I have no idea what I could've done to make you hate me, baby girl."

"You know exactly what you did," you growled, ignoring the pet name. "The whole beach thing was your idea."

He grinned, and you suddenly understood why your mark was a panther.

Something flashed through you, and your let your own grin show through.

"You want to play games Aomine-kun?" you teased, keeping eye contact with him. "Fine, then let's play."

"What do I get if I win?" he asked.

"You'll have to choose that for yourself, if you win," you told him, storming out of the doors.

When the day came to go to the beach, nothing was out of the ordinary, save that the boys had decided that one of them had to be with you and Momoi at all times.

"You guys don't need to babysit us," you chided when you climbed onto the bus. "We tend to stick together anyway, and pervs, unless they're in groups, tend to pick the girl that splits away from the pack. Momoi-san and I can stick together and reduce the risk. This is more for you guys than it is for us anyway."

"Yeah, we don't need a guard dog," Momoi agreed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'll stay with them," Aomine offered, wrapping an arm around your shoulders and Momoi's, and you rolled your eyes.

"You just want to know what my soulmark is," you told him, glancing up at him.

"Wait," Sakurai murmured, "even Aomine doesn't know what your soulmark is?"

"Nope," you said, popping the 'p'. "He's been trying to figure it out for weeks now. That's why he suggested going to the beach."

"You clever son of a bitch," the captain said, and you shrugged.

"He and I have a small little wager going," you admitted, shrugging his arm off your shoulders. "If I can keep my soulmark hidden from him for the whole day today, he drops it."

"And if he wins?"

"She's being cryptic about that," Aomine said, and his eye twitched lightly.

"If he sees it, he can decide what he gets for winning," you told them. "He'll understand if he sees it."

And so the game began.

"Are you going swimming, (Y/F/N)?" Momoi asked you.

"Are you?" you asked her.

"No, I want to work on my tan," she admitted, waving a small bottle of tanning lotion.

"Then I'll stay with you. I have some reading I need to catch up on anyway. Besides, I want the sunscreen to sink in, I burn easily," you admitted, having applied it as soon as you got to the beach.

You were wearing a one-piece bathing suit (since it was harder for something to happen with one on), but you had thrown a thin white crop top on over it to cover your shoulders.

After Momoi asked you to get her back, you settled onto your towel, pulling your assigned literature book out of your bag, finding your page.

"Seriously, why don't you just show us what the damn thing is?" Aomine asked, settling down next to you forcefully.

"Because it's a part of my body, meaning I can show it off when I want, or cover it up when I want. Besides, I told you earlier, my soulmate doesn't want me," you said, flipping your page leisurely. "Don't need them hating me more than they already do without knowing my identity."

Aomine was clearly displeased, but it wasn't like he could argue with you about it, soulmarks were a very personal thing to some people.

"You're at the beach," he began a few minutes later, tone incredulous, "and you're reading a book. What is wrong with you?"

"A lot, which issue are you referring to?" you asked nonchalantly before he scowled at you. "I don't feel like going into the water," you told him, glaring at him over your sunglasses. "I have work to do, and this is a good time to catch up on it. Besides, shouldn't you be with the rest of the team? This was for you guys."

Aomine scowled, but stood up, heading for where the team was playing a game of beach volleyball. Or, they were attempting, none of them seemed to be having much luck with it.

"You know, not very many people can keep Dai-chan at bay as much as you're able to," Momoi said, making you snort.

"You just have to know how to deal with it. You can do it."

"But not for long, and not once he makes up his mind about something. You've kept him at bay for months, I've never been able to do that. My top score is a week."

"Does it bother you?" you asked quietly.

"No, not at all," she said, a little too quickly. "Okay, well, it bothers me a little. I've known him since we were kids, and you can handle him better than I can just after a few months, but I know why."

"Honestly Momoi, I don't think it's because we're soulmates, because he doesn't know. I think it's just I refuse to let him win at all."

"You two are definitely two of the most stubborn people I have ever met," she agreed, rolling over onto her stomach.

"I'm not sure whether that's a compliment or not," you muttered.

Momoi giggled and you smiled. It was nice, hanging out with her. It was nice to have a female friend.

"I'm a little peckish, do you want a pretzel or something from the concessions thing?" you asked, gesturing to the snack shack type thing that they had set up a few meters away.

"No, I'm all set, thank you though," she said.

"Alright, just thought I'd ask," you told her, standing up, wiping sand off your legs as you headed over with your wallet.

You dodged a pair of kids that looked like twins, who were trying to splash each other with water, and you laughed as one of them tackled the other.

"Idiot, you can't just wander off," Aomine chided as he sidled up next to you.

"I didn't," you pointed out. "I told Momoi where I was going."

Aomine frowned, glaring at a guy that stepped too close for his comfort.

"The point of this trip was so that the team could bond," you told him, "so that means that you should be over there with the team."

"You're a part of the team too right?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow at you.

"Technically, yes, but I'm talking about the part of the team that plays on the court. I just tend to make sure that your ass shows up."

You glanced at Aomine, who was frowning.

"Out with it," you demanded, glancing around as you walked to make sure neither of you bumped into anyone.

"Does your mark make you uncomfortable?" he asked, carefully choosing his words.

"No," you admitted. "It's comforting actually, but there's no point in showing it off. Besides, it makes my back really hot when I'm out in the sun. That makes me uncomfortable."

You placed your order, which consisted of a fruity drink on ice and a small snack that would hold you over until lunch.

"What have you eaten today?" he asked.

"Nothing. I had coffee this morning and then left the house. I don't normally eat breakfast," you told Aomine.

"How are you alive?"

"Have you taken health classes?"

"Not what I meant, asshole," he snapped. "You're gonna run yourself into the ground."

"Aomine, I'm fine," you assured him. "Besides, I'm drinking plenty of fluids."

He frowned, but he seemed to realize it was useless to argue with you about it.

"Go back to the team, Aomine, I'm fine," you told him, shoving him towards where the boys were sitting in the sand.

You tossed your snack wrapper in a garbage can that was placed strategically, glad for the little bit of food in your stomach.

But then the kids ran by again, and one of them got you instead of their brother.

"Sorry!" he called, darting away.

Normally you wouldn't have minded, the water felt nice against your skin, but you knew that your cover-up would start to be see through, and with the breeze blowing off the water, it was sticking to your back.

You sighed, slipping it over your head as you headed for your towel.

After drying your shoulders off, you set your shirt out to dry, then began rooting around in your bag for your backup, before remembering that you had forgotten to put it in your bag before you left.

"Fuck," you muttered, glancing at where Aomine and the other boys were chatting.

You supposed that it was fine for now, but you would have to be careful if they came back over.

"Momoi, please, for the sake of our friendship, you can't say anything to the boys about this," you said when she looked over and saw your back.

"Why are you so worried about him finding out?" she asked, carefully running a hand over your back, tracing the lines of the mark.

"Because, he might be a dick, but he's a friend, and I don't want to lose that friendship because of some dumb cosmic presence that decided we were meant for one another."

"Do you love him?" she inquired.

You licked your lips, then pursed them.

"Do you love him?" she repeated.

You waited for a few moments before you confessed, "I might. Whether it's love or a crush, I can't say for sure."

She sucked in a breath.

"What?" you asked.

"You know that he likes you back, right?" she asked quietly. "You know that it has nothing to do with the Mark. It's not like he's seen it and knows that you're the woman he's going to marry."

"He'll hate me if he finds out."

"No, he won't."

"I think he will."

"How long are you going to keep this from him?" she demanded. "He at least deserves to know that you're an option!"

"I'll wait until he's married if I have to," you snapped, making her rear back. "Satsuki, in the end, this is my choice to make, and I've made it. He can't know."

"It's his decision too," she reminded you. "This isn't a one way street!"

"Right now, it is," you snarled. Then you softened your tone. "If I'm ever put in a situation where he finds out, I will let him make his own decision, but right now, it's my decision, the ball is in my court so to speak, and this is the move I'm making."

"I think it's the wrong move," she whispered.

"Luckily, it's not your move to make," you replied. "I don't mean to be cruel, Satsuki. I want him to be happy. I just don't think that he'd be happy with . . . me."

"How are you so sure?" she demanded, looking close to tears. "How are you so sure that knowing you're his soulmate would make him miserable? Why can't you accept the possibility that maybe him knowing would make him love you even more?"

You remembered all the times he had raved to you about how soulmates were bullshit. You remembered every vehement denial that he wanted to know who his soulmate was. Every venomous word and the pure hatred in his eyes.

If he looked like that just because of the idea, how would he react to the real thing? Something physical he could take his anger out on?

You highly doubted that Aomine would ever physically hurt you, but the idea still sent a shiver up your spine, despite the warm weather.

"Call it a gut feeling," you murmured, wrapping your arms around yourself.

"I just want you both to be happy," she whispered.

"I can't speak for him," you told her, "but I'm content with the way things are right now."

"Content and happy aren't always the same thing," she argued.

Something in your eyes must've told her that you weren't in the mood, because she sighed, going back to her tanning.

You laid on your back, trying to think of ways to hide the mark, but it took up the entire expanse of your shoulder blades, there was no way to hide it unless it was completely covered with a shirt or you laid on it.

"Momoi-san, (Y/L/N)-san, do you wanna come play two truths and a lie with us?" Sakurai asked.

"Sure, I would love to," Momoi said.

"What about you?"

You paused, thinking it over, before you grabbed your shirt, throwing it over your head after beating most of the sand out of it, making sure that no one saw it.

It wouldn't do much, you didn't think, but it would make you feel better all the same.

"Okay," you murmured, wandering over to fit in the circle with the boys.

They had decided that the person to their right was going to have to guess which was the lie, and you despaired to find that Aomine was on your right.

"Since the girls have now decided to join, new score," the captain said and you winced.

"Ladies first," Aomine said, giving you one of those glances that made you want to kiss him and punch him at the same time.

You decided to find a good compromise and you pinched his arm, hard.

"Okay," you murmured, trying to think. "One: when I was six, I popped my elbow out of my socket throwing a tantrum. Two: I have more than five dresses in my closet. Three: my music selection has a disturbing amount of love songs."

The others started whispering amongst themselves, and Aomine squinted at you.

"Number two has to be the lie. I've seen your music selection, and you mentioned the arm injury when you first became the manager," Aomine declared confidently.

"Wrong," you told him, grinning. "I have six dresses in my closet. I wasn't throwing a tantrum when I popped my elbow out of my socket. I fell off the monkey bars at the park."

Aomine glowered at you, and you laughed.

"You're just shitty at paying attention."

The boys were surprisingly bad at this game, either that or you were just good at guessing when someone was lying.

"One: I hate cherry lip gloss. Two: I can play the guitar. Three: I've never had a celebrity crush."

"Every girl has a celebrity crush," Aomine muttered, but then glanced back at you, frowning. "I say one is the lie."

"Nope! I can't play the guitar. I was taking lessons until I was eleven but I can't remember any of it."

"Wow, despite how much time you guys spend together, you really don't know much about her, do you Aomine?"

"Shut up," he mumbled, cheeks flushing.

Momoi, who was situated on your left, seemed to be very concerned with how good you were at guessing hers.

"That's the sixth one in a row that you've guessed right!" Satsuki cried, and you laughed.

"Sorry Momoi-san, but you're just very transparent and I'm too competitive to lose."

Aomine hadn't managed to guess any of yours, and you could feel him simmering beside you.

"Alright, since Aomine sucks at this, and (Y/F/N) is simply too good, let's change it up a little."

Suddenly, they were all going against you.

"I take it back, we all suck at this," Imayoshi muttered a few rounds later when they had yet to get one right.

"Sorry guys, I'm just good at hiding things," you said. "Remember, I've been hiding my soulmark from you all since the beginning of the year."

"That's it!" Satsuki cried, pointing at you, making you jerk towards Aomine to get away from her. "If we can get one right, just one, then you have to show us your soulmark!"

You wanted to decline, you wanted to act your way out of it, you knew what would happen if you lost, but that glint in her eyes made you want to prove her wrong.

"Deal," you told her.

"Okay, think about your answers carefully," Aomine said.

"Shouldn't they be saying that to you?" you asked him as you thought of something to say.

After listening to the ocean for a moment, you said, "One: I sleep like a baby during thunderstorms. Two: snapping turtles scare me to death. Three: I have a college age reading level."

Everyone started deliberating, and you smiled, leaning back, soaking in the sun.

"We have an answer," Imayoshi said, and you cracked open an eye.

"Shoot," you told them, sitting up.

"It's number two," he said.

The blood drained from your face.

You knew that they had taken a wild guess, but you hadn't expected them to get it right.

You took a deep breath, closed your eyes, and nodded, not trusting your voice.

You took another steadying breath as you stood up, brushing yourself off, trying to control the shaking in your hands that was slowly spreading up your arms.

You vaguely heard Imayoshi telling you that you didn't have to, that you had the right to say no.

You wanted to take the out he was giving you. You wanted to act your way out of it, you wanted to try and run, and you wanted to tell them that you backed out but . . . .

But you had been keeping this to yourself for a very long time. And you wanted to know sooner rather than later whether Satsuki was right or not. You wanted to know whether this was as terrible as your mind was making it out to be.

You got a firm grip on your shirt, and you were about to lift it off, but suddenly Aomine was in front of you, his hands covering yours as he stared you down.

His eyes were boring into yours, and his hands were firm, but gentle, in their grip.

He was telling you that you didn't have to, that as much as he pried, he wasn't going to let you feel pressured into doing this.

You stared at each other for what felt like an eternity before you shook your head, lips pressed together in a hard line.

"You deserve to know," you whispered, barely able to keep your voice from shaking.

Aomine nodded, slowly moving his hands, before he settled back down where he had been.

You took one last, steadying breath, turning your back to your team.

You tugged the shirt over your head, pulling the straps of your suit to the side so that they could see the expanse of the mark across your back.

Your entire team was silent as they realized what they were seeing.

"Holy shit," someone breathed, though you weren't sure who it was.

"I'm sorry," you whispered, though you weren't entirely sure who you were apologizing to.

Momoi was suddenly in front of you, pulling the straps of your bathing suit back up.

"(Y/F/N), you're shaking," she murmured.

"I know," you told her.

"He's gone," she informed you, and you collapsed into the sand, letting out a shaky breath you hadn't known you were holding.

"How pissed with me is he?" you asked her.

"I-I don't know," she confessed. "I've . . . I've never not been able to read him. He . . . he was completely blank. I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," you murmured, staring at the sand in front of you. "I should have taken the out. I should have stayed home. I knew what he was trying to do. I knew that you wanted me to tell him. I knew how he would react. And a small, foolish part of me dared to hope that I was wrong. A small, naive, stupid, masochistic part of me believed that it wouldn't matter. I should know by now that I'm rarely wrong about this kind of thing."

"But I know him!" Satsuki said, looking close to tears. "I know how he looks at you! I see the little things! I don't why he . . . ."

"Don't worry about it Satsuki," you told her, standing up, turning to your team. "Sorry guys."

You headed for your spot, gathering up your things, making sure that you had everything that you had come with, just to give yourself something to focus on.

"Are you going to be okay?" Sakurai asked.

You saw that the whole team, save one member, was standing there in various states of shock, anger, and something akin to pity.

"I knew it would happen eventually," you murmured, then told them, "I'll survive. I'll be myself at practice on Monday, promise. Have a good rest of your weekend guys."

You dug your phone out of your pocket when you were far enough away from the team.

"Hello?"

"Taiga, hey, can you come pick me up?" you asked. "Something went down with Aomine."

"I'm on my way," he said. "Hold tight. Wait, where are you?"

You sent him your location, heading for the parking lot.

By the time Kagami actually found you, you were pretty sure you had cried yourself out.

You didn't remember crying, but Kagami had taken one look at you and wiped at your cheeks.

You had gone with Aomine when he had challenged Kagami at the street court, and you had stayed in touch with the red-head slowly becoming friends with each other.

He knew about your mark as well, though he had promised to keep it to himself. He hadn't told Kuroko either, which surprised you.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"He knows," you admitted, letting him wrap an arm around your shoulders. "He saw it."

As you explained what happened, Kagami got quieter and quieter, and when you glanced at his face, you were surprised to see a serious amount of anger on his face.

"Taiga?" you asked quietly.

"I'll murder him," Kagami growled. "He's such a fuckin'-!"

"You don't have to murder him," you told the red-head, who looked shocked at your response.

"But-!"

"No, I knew it was going to happen. I knew that I would lose him, I was just trying to hold on for a little longer. He hasn't done anything wrong," you said. "I guess that means that I don't have to hide it anymore."

"He's an idiot," Kagami declared.

"I already knew that though."

"Did he even explain himself to you?"

"No. But he doesn't need to. I already know that he doesn't want me. I knew when he started pawing around about my mark. I knew, but I didn't stop him. I led myself to this point."

"Stop taking responsibility for him being a dick!" Kagami snapped. "Do you realize how many people would kill to have you as a soulmate? Or to have one like you?"

"That's not the point!" you told him. "The point is that the one person I want to want me as a soulmate, doesn't. And there's nothing I can do to fix that! Because he seemed to like me just fine thinking I wasn't anything special to him, but the moment fate steps in, I'm fucked. So unless there's a way to pretend like this mark isn't a permanent reminder that the guy that's supposed to be perfect for me, hates my guts, then I guess this is my life now!"

"Kuroko is so much better at this than I am," Kagami muttered to himself. "Look, have you tried calling him?"

"He made it pretty clear that he wanted nothing to do with me."

"Try it anyway."

"I think I'm good. My heart's been broken enough today, thanks."

"Seriously, this is fucking insane," Kagami stressed, opening a door for you. "From what I've seen, your the one person he actually listens to and hears."

"Because he didn't know what I was! I took advantage of that, and now I'm paying the price for it. I should have just told him and dealt with the consequences when I didn't want him! Now it hurts that much more and I have to watch us go back to being strangers. Maybe I should just transfer."

"Um, (Y/F/N)," Kagami said, tapping your shoulder.

"No, I'm serious! Why torture the team with our angst when I can just move schools? There are plenty in the area. Maybe I could move to Seirin. My parents-"

"(Y/F/N)!" he hissed, turning your head to look at something.

"Fuck," you muttered, locking eyes with Aomine, who had his hands thrown up like he had been using them to make a point to Kuroko, who was glancing back and forth between the two of you.

Kagami dropped his hands from your face and you took the opportunity.

You turned and bolted from the Seirin gym.

You should have been paying attention. You should have made Kagami take you home, you should've asked where you were going before.

Multiple people shouted after you, but you ignored them.

You had to get away from him, you had to make sure that he didn't think you were trying to-

Do what?

You slowed down with a sudden realization. If your life had been a cartoon there would've been breaking sound effects and skid marks behind you.

Why should you care what he thought when you had walked into that gym? He didn't care anymore, not now that he knew what you were, why should you?

Fuck what he thought!

If he wanted to let you go, who gave a fuck what it seemed like? You were friends with Kagami, and by default, Kuroko.

How were you supposed to know that he would go to Kuroko after this sort of thing?

Was it really that weird, that wrong, for you to do what you had just done?

You took a deep breath, letting yourself relax. You were probably over thinking things yet again.

A street court caught your eye and you stared at it for a few moments before heading over.

Someone had left a ball there, whether from pure forgetfulness, or a trust in humanity that someone wouldn't take it.

You pushed on it, checking the air, before you dribbled it around.

You could have gotten on a team if you had wanted, but after middle school, you had had enough of the inter-team drama, and had decided to give it up. So you had managed the boys team to be close to the sport without having to deal with a lot of the drama.

You practiced with them sometimes, when Momoi was managing and you had nothing better to be doing.

You made a few lay-ups, a few foul shots, and moved onto half court shots, soaking in the sound of the ball falling through the net.

The heat of the day was soaking through your t-shirt, soaking into the mark, and you touched it lightly, wondering what you were going to do on Monday.

You had promised the team that you would be back to normal, but would you be able to fake being okay well enough to fool them? How much would it take to fool Aomine into thinking that you were okay?

"Why him?" you asked yourself, tilting your face up to the sun. "Why did it have to be him? It could have been literally anyone else, and you chose the one guy that would never be able to love me for what I am, for what we are."

A breeze rustled the trees around you and you breathed it in, moving to leave when you caught sight of him standing in the entrance of the court.

"Shit," you muttered, looking for another way out. There was no chance that he hadn't seen you, even Aomine wasn't that much of an idiot, but you were seriously considering climbing the fence to get away when he spoke.

"I'm sorry," he started.

"No, stop, I don't want your apology," you told him, wrapping your arms around yourself, not able to look at him. "You have nothing to apologize for. I knew when I made that damn deal that I was risking our friendship, I was just tired of having to hide the damn thing. You of all people realize how much of a pain in the ass it is to cover up. And now that I think about it, it's probably better that this happened now. I can't imagine how badly it would've been if I had gotten even closer to you.

"Besides, now you're free to make your own decision. Satsuki got what she wanted in the end. Go figure, I guess. Anyway, you don't have to worry about it. You won't have to worry about me doing anything now that you know. And I already told you that if you won you would get to decide what you got for winning. You won't have to deal with me after this, I promise. I'll disappear since that's what you want."

"So when you told me I got to choose, you were basically telling me that I could choose whether I wanted you or not?"

"Yeah, pretty much, and I shouldn't've. I already knew which one you were going to choose, I was just being naive."

"That's not how it works dumbass," Aomine said.

You screwed your eyes shut, turning your head away from him.

"I know," you whispered. "Why are you even here?"

"I was looking for you, obviously," he grumbled.

"Why? I already know that you don't want this, you made that abundantly clear with your stories and reactions to me at the beach. What are you trying to do here, Aomine?"

"Trying to tell you that I like you," he stated. "But you keep trying to push me away."

"Huh?" Your eyes flew open at the words, and you stared at him.

"Idiot," he murmured, walking over.

You backed up, trying to keep the distance but he backed you against the fence.

"Do you want me to be honest with you?" he asked softly.

You nodded, wondering what the hell he was doing.

"I might be in love with you, and not because you're my soulmate," he said, which made you cock your head in confusion.

"But . . . all that stuff you said about hating soulmates and not wanting to meet yours . . . ."

"I didn't think you were my soulmate moron," he murmured, reaching out to toy with your hair. "I'm okay with it being you. I'm grateful for it actually."

The look on your face must've said it all because he sighed.

"You should've told me sooner," he told you. "I want to go out with you. No secrets, no lies, no weird games where I'm trying to get you to take your clothes off."

"You had me until that last one," you muttered, taking the hand that was playing with your hair.

He laced your fingers together before you could take your hand away.

"Sorry, I couldn't help it," he told you, wrapping his other arm around your waist. "So what do you say? Go out with me?"

You watched his face as much as you could in the crappy lighting, waiting for any sign that he was joking, waiting for him to yell 'Psych!' and walk away.

But his arm stayed wrapped around your waist, and he seemed too busy watching you to question what was taking you so long.

"If I say yes, am I going to be the laughing stock of the school?" you asked.

"No, I may be a dick, but I'm not that mean," Aomine told you.

"Okay," you whispered. "Yeah, I'll go out with you."

The smile Aomine gave you could've lit the whole court.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"I hope you realize that Kagami and Tetsu think we're both crazy now," Aomine said.

"They already knew," you told him, wrapping an arm around his neck. "You have to be crazy to put up with the both of them."

Aomine snorted, nudging your forehead with his.

"I'm sorry that I ran from you," he said. "I shouldn't have done that."

You waited, sensing that he had more to say, he was just gathering his thoughts.

"I don't know what I was thinking," he muttered. "I just had to get away from my own stupidity I guess. I should have guessed that I was your soulmate. You were so on edge whenever I brought it up, but when someone else brought it up it was more like you were sick of the questions. I know you enough to know that if you reacted differently to me that it was because of me. I just . . . I acted on instinct."

"You don't have to explain anything to me Aomine," you told him, burying a hand in his hair. It was softer than you had thought it would be.

"No, you deserve an explanation. I am the whole reason you're even at Seirin."

"I was at Seirin because I wanted to talk to Kagami and that was where we ended up. We could have just as easily gone to his place or to mine."

"Tetsu's been trying for years to get me into the whole 'soulmate' thing, so he was the first person I thought of that could me explain what the fuck was going on. I wasn't upset that it was you, I was upset because you hid it from me and that you thought I was going to flip out about it. I mean, I did, but just not the way you expected."

"I figured you would yell at me, maybe push me around a little bit," you confessed. "I didn't think you were going to run like your ass was on fire to go talk to Kuroko."

"I wouldn't hurt you, for multiple reasons, the main one being I like you."

"I know, but the mind is a strange thing, and mine has a tendency to think worst case scenario first."

He hummed, and you saw the tension melt from his shoulders.

"Come on, let's get out of here," you told him. "Maybe you could go practice with Taiga and Kuroko."

"I want bread, we should go to a coffee shop or something," he suggested.

"Actually, yeah, that's a better idea," you agreed. "I really don't feel like explaining to Seirin what this whole thing was about. I'll call Taiga and explain, how about you call Momoi-san and tell her that everything's okay, 'cause she was really worried when I left."

"Yeah, I got it," he murmured, digging his phone out of his pocket, but he didn't unwrap his arm from around your waist.

"Hey, Taiga," you said when he picked up his phone.

"Where the hell are you, idiot?" Kagami asked.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you even more. Everything's fine now. Aomine kinda cornered me in a street ball court."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, we worked things out. You don't have to worry about it, I promise. We're gonna go to a coffee shop somewhere nearby. I'll call you when I get home so that you know that I got back safely."

"Alright, but if he starts being a dick again, just give me a call."

"I will, thanks for everything Taiga," you told him, ending the call.

It wasn't really explaining things, but you could always tell him about it later, which you were probably going to have to do.

"-fine, Satsuki," Aomine was saying, looking exasperated. "She wants to talk to you."

"Hi Momoi-san," you said when he handed you his phone.

"(Y/F/N)! Are you okay? Where are you?"

"Momoi-san, breathe," you ordered, laughing. "I'm fine. Aomine and I worked things out, I promise."

"Are you dating? Because if you aren't then that's not working things out!" she cried.

"Momoi-san, we worked things out," you assured her.

"So you're dating then?"

You pursed your lips and glanced at Aomine.

"You'll find out soon enough I suppose," you told her, hanging up before she could say anything else to you.

"I think she likes you more than she likes me," he said, and you could hear the repressed pout.

"Nah, you'll always be Dai-chan to her," you told him. "You're her best friend, I just happen to be someone she needs to like because of my affiliation with you."

"You make it sound like this is some sort of business thing," Aomine whined, wrapping an arm around your shoulders.

"I'm not used to you liking me, Aomine, you're going to have to let me adjust to this. I have been deliberately avoiding the fact that I like you all year."

"Fair enough," he muttered. "But don't expect me to be all conservative about this."

"What's this?" you asked him.

"Us, the fact that you agreed to go out with me."

"I retain all rights to pretend like I don't know you if you get too dramatic," you warned him, which made him scoff, like he wasn't expecting you to go through with it.

"Bold of you to assume that I'm joking," you said, letting his arm slip off your shoulders and he paused.

"You can't be serious," he muttered.

You kept walking.

"(Y/F/N)? You aren't serious right?" he called after you, slight panic in his voice when you didn't turn around.

"Right?" he asked.

[bestiesenpai]

Timorous - Itadori Yuji

I love hybrid au’s for the fact that I can google deep dive animal research for hours lol and speaking of research I went with a bunny, breed being a French lop with speckles. also this is a college au my guys, gender neutral reader! 6k words

A bit of a size difference thing here? Itadori is a tiger and tigers are bigger than rabbits...so I made him bigger and by that logic he’s bigger than you...tiger big rabbit small...I hope that makes sense lol and both reader and itadori are adorably skittish in this :) at least I think it’s adorable

To say Itadori had a problem would be both an understatement and an over exaggeration, depending on who you asked. Megumi said he was blowing things out of proportion while Nobara agreed that this dilemma he had was probably the biggest problem of their generation.

He had a crush on you, a rabbit hybrid. A soft, wonderful little thing with long ears and cute speckles all around your body. And it wouldn’t be such a problem if not for the painful fact of who Itadori was: a tiger hybrid. A predator nearly directly above you, much larger and stronger than you could ever hope to be.

He laid eyes on you during your first year of university, back in a prerequisite class for the major both of you had chosen. Seeing you walk in surrounded by other rabbits and sitting at the front of the class, he could barely take his eyes off you and when you said your name, he committed it to memory.

Everything about you was perfect, everything Itadori could ask for in a partner and more, but he knew there wasn’t any hope out there that he could approach you, at least not alone and especially not in your first year. So he waited patiently, almost too patiently, for the right opportunity to talk to you.

He waited so long it was now almost the end of your second year.

“Alright everyone, I’d like you to think about who you want to pair up with for this project and report back to me by the end of the week. Anyone that doesn’t have a partner by then will be paired up.” The professor announced at the end of class, closing up the textbook you’d been pouring over for an hour. This was the perfect opportunity for Itadori to get close to you.

Lingering in the classroom, Itadori packed up his things slowly and watched as the usual people you were with left class while you hung around to ask the professor a question. Holding his breath, Itadori walked out of the classroom at the same time as you.

You didn’t look in his direction at all, keeping your head down and ears framing your face. Itadori could smell the subtle unease rolling off you in waves and it disheartened him enough that he watched you walk away.

“H-hey (Y/N)!” Mustering up the courage to say your name, Itadori rushed over to your disappearing form. Looking over your shoulder, your eyes went wide seeing Itadori running toward you.

“What uh, what can I help you with?” This was the first time you were speaking to him and your voice was trembling. Your fingers were pulsing from how hard you were holding onto the strap of your bag, and you only briefly made eye contact with him.

“I was wondering…” Itadori’s tail twitched nervously and a lump began to form in his throat the longer he looked at you. You were just so cute it physically hurt him and all Itadori wanted to do was bundle you in his arms and nuzzle your fuzzy ears.

“I was wondering if you want to be partners for that project in class?” Seeing you flinch when he raised his hand up to scratch at the back of his neck, Itadori winced and tucked both hands behind his back.

“Uhm…” Worrying your lip, you took a look up and down the halls. There was a decent amount of people milling about, giving you a little more peace of mind. Even though Itadori was an arms length away he still took up a large portion in your field of vision.

“Y-you don’t have to give me an answer right now!” Putting both hands up in surrender, Itadori gasped as you stumbled back, clearly frightened by the sudden movement and his long claws. “Sorry! Sorry, I’m so sorry!”

Now he really felt bad. He scared you bad enough that you were pressed against the wall behind you, slightly crouched like you were ready to run away. Taking a generous step back, Itadori once again tucked his hands behind his back, idly grabbing onto the base of his tail as well.

“Can I give you an answer later?” You whispered, slowly coming to a full stand again.

“Of course! We actually have a few classes together later, so you can tell me then if you want.”

“Okay…”

“Itadori! M-my name is Itadori!” Blushing lightly as he told you his name, he watched you think it over.

“Okay Itadori.” Nodding curtly, you pressed your lips into a thin line and started to shuffle down the hall. “I’ll tell you later.”

“Bye!” Waving at your retreating form, Itadori felt a trickle of hope. Even if you didn’t say yes to being his partner, at least now you knew his name.

“Excuse me, Itadori?” Two classes later and you approached his desk, keeping a fair distance away.

“Yes?” Looking at you with hearts in his eyes, Itadori sent you a beaming smile with all his sharp teeth on display.

“Why do you want to be my partner?” The question was unexpected, at least for him, and his smile fell.

“Well I- I just thought it’d be nice?” Panicking as he saw confusion flash across your face, Itadori sat up a little straighter in his chair. “N-nice to get to know my fellow classmates! We’re in the same major, so why not get more acquainted?” Stretching his mouth into a tense smile, Itadori let out a breath the same time you did.

“That’s actually a relief. I thought you wanted to be my partner to make me do all the work.” He visibly watched your shoulders relax, the unease in your stance somewhat gone.

“No, never! I would never do that to you! In fact, I’ll do all the work if you want me to! Just say the word, (Y/N)!” Bolting up from his chair, Itadori slammed his hands on his desk. It was probably a good thing you weren’t close to him, you didn’t flinch as hard at his sudden movements.

“We can work on it together.” Laughing under your breath, Itadori’s chest tightened up at seeing a soft smile grace your face.

“So you’ll be my partner? For the project?” Nearly running around the room when you nodded, Itadori forced himself to take a deep breath instead. “That’s great!” His tail swayed happily from side to side, and Itadori had a silly smile on his face as he looked at you.

“So uh, I’m going to take my seat now.” You said slowly, unnerved by his unmoving smile. “But we should meet up later? To discuss what we’ll do for the project.”

“Good idea!” Ripping a piece of paper out of the corner of his notebook, Itadori scribbled his phone number down and held it out to you. “Text me anytime, I’ll answer!”

“Good to know.” Chuckling softly, you took the paper and Itadori swore he would never forget the way your fingers brushed against his. With one last final goodbye muttered under your breath you went to your seat.

Itadori watched you for the rest of class, just waiting to see you take out your phone and text him. He hadn’t seen you do anything with the paper he gave you except tuck it away into your pocket.

Keeping his phone clutched in his hand for the rest of the day, Itadori experienced the highest of highs whenever he got a notification, and then the lowest of lows when it turned out not to be you.

At seven pm, just after eating dinner, Itadori finally received the message he’d been waiting for all along.

(Unknown number): Hello, Itadori? It’s (Y/N) :)

(Itadori): HI HELLO HOW ARE YOU

He immediately cringed after sending the message. What kind of person replied like that to someone they’d just met?

(Y/N): I’m good lol I was wondering when you were free to meet up? I don’t have any classes tomorrow if you’re free

(Itadori): yes yes I’m free whenever tomorrow!

(Y/N): that’s great, how about we meet at the north library at 1?

(Itadori): I’ll be there!!

Itadori could hardly close his eyes let alone calm down enough to go to sleep that night. Much to the chagrin of his roommate Megumi, Itadori got up several times during the night to pace around the room and rummage through his closet to choose the perfect outfit.

He was nearly late meeting up with you, having properly gone to sleep just before 4am and sleeping through his alarm. Stumbling through his room, Itadori just barely remembered to grab his bag before he sprinted out of the room and to the library.

“(Y/N)!” Screaming your name as he got closer, he caught a lot of stares from people and from you.

“Did you run all the way here?” You asked, looking over his breathless, sweaty body nearly collapsing.

“Were you waiting long? I’m sorry I was late!” Fumbling to grab his phone, the time read 1:10pm.

“No, it’s okay, don’t worry about it!” Your cheeks were flushed with embarrassment. Not only had he ran all the way here just to meet you, but he had made quite a scene while doing it. You were eager to get inside and away from all the people passing you by and looking curiously between the two of you.

“Let's...let’s go inside…” Itadori panted, light headed from the run but still making his way to open the door for you. Slumping into the first available seat at the first table he saw, Itadori let his dry, narrowed eyes look over you.

It was a warm spring day and you’d chosen the cutest outfit, one that showed off the speckles on your ears and skin. Itadori always liked them, likening them to his own tiger stripes on his ears and tail. He wanted to compare markings with you, trace a line with the dots on your body and learn more about them.

“Have you had a chance to go over the list of topics our professor gave? A few others have already chosen their topics, so we have to cross some out.” Pulling out the assignment, you showed Itadori the ones you’d crossed off and the ones you marked having interest in. Even your handwriting had Itadori wanting to coo at you.

“Whatever you pick is fine.” He replied dumbly, staring at the way you’d written your name on the top of your paper.

“You should have some say in what we choose!” You pushed back, slightly shaking your head.

“No, whatever you want is fine, I swear.” Looking up at you with rosy cheeks and a dry mouth, Itadori watched the gears turn in your head before you looked away and back to the paper.

“If you say so.” Shrugging your shoulders, you looked over the list more seriously before circling a topic and showing it back to him. “Is this one fine?”

“It’s perfect.” Just like you, Itadori almost said. Pulling out his laptop, Itadori put it between the two of you. “We can start researching and making a rough draft, I was actually looking some stuff up last night about the different topics.”

Not using a private browser last night was Itadori’s first mistake. His second mistake was opening Google with you right next to him, where you saw exactly what he’d been looking up during his sleepless night.

French lops, French lops with speckles, French lop ears, how do bunnies get speckles, what do rabbit hybrids like to do for fun, rabbit hybrid favorite food, favorite things to give rabbit hybrids, how to befriend rabbit hybrids, can prey and predator hybrids be friends, what to do if you’re a predator that has a crush on a rabbit hybrid-

Letting out an indistinguishable noise from the back of his throat, Itadori slammed his laptop closed. His face was bright red, not that you could see much of it because he had slammed his face into the table in shame.

Your soft giggle was immediately picked up by him, and Itadori nearly melted from the chair and onto the floor, dissolving into a puddle of nothing but embarrassment and regret. He thought about switching classes or switching majors entirely, anything to save him from having to face you again after this.

“All of my spots grew in by the time I was five, in case you were still curious, Itadori.” He actually was, almost more than he was last night. The internet had given him answers, but just as many questions he still wanted to ask you.

“Really?” Smooshing his cheek against the table, Itadori turned to look at you. You didn’t seem phased at all from what you’d seen, not if the small smile on your face was anything to go by.

“Mhmm.” Opening up his computer again, you took a brief glance at some of the questions he’d looked up. “And I’m assuming from your research you learned I’m a strict herbivore? My favorite type of food is fruit, mangoes and melons especially.”

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” Still hanging his head low, Itadori pulled himself up from the table. He had wanted to get to know you more naturally, not have you find his obsessive search history.

“I want to! And It seems like you want to know, too!” Gesturing to the screen, you giggled when he hit his forehead against the table again. Patting him on the back for a few seconds revitalised him, the fact that you initiated physical contact enough to have him sitting straight in his chair again.

“I do, a lot! I’m really curious about-” Meeting your eyes for a second, Itadori screwed his eyes shut and forced the next words out of his mouth. “I’m really curious about you, (Y/N). I really want to get to know you more.” Nobara and Megumi were going to be so proud of him for finally saying those words to you. He’d been lamenting about wanting to befriend you for nearly two years, it was time to act on that desire.

“You can ask me any question, Itadori.” A soft warmth settled over your face and you tilted your head forward, blocking out your view of the world with your ears. Truth be told, you’d never had a predator show such genuine interest in you before, and it had your heart bumping hard against your ribs.

“My first question is: can we be friends, (Y/N)?” There wasn’t a doubt in Itadori’s mind that you hadn’t seen the last question he looked up, about having a crush on you. He almost wanted to address it, wanted to get his confession out of the way. But it wasn’t the right time or place, and there wasn’t a doubt in Itadori’s mind that if he confessed to you right now you wouldn’t reject him.

“What did your search say about that one? Is it possible for us to be friends?”

“100% possible.” Itadori said with no hesitation.

“Then yes, we can totally be friends.” There was a brief pause between the two of you, one filled by your nervous laughter and Itadori’s relieved sigh.

“Alright then friend, let’s get started on this project.”

Itadori tried his best to focus on the project, he really did. He typed up everything you said, bookmarked everything you wanted and even went back and forth between the stacks to get the books you needed for the project. But his mind was wrapped up in the new title of your relationship, and the greed he felt deep inside himself to make it something more romantic.

By the time you left the library it was well past five pm and the sun was already beginning to dip behind the campus buildings and to the horizon. Helping you clean and pack up, Itadori was astounded at the amount of time that passed; it barely felt like an hour had gone by.

“Man, I’m starving!” Itadori exclaimed as you left the library, throwing his head back and inhaling the fresh air.

“Me too.” You agreed, fatigued from all the work you’d just done and still needed to do.

“You wanna head to the dining hall together?”

“Sure.” Following his lead, you walked through campus. You still kept your distance from Itadori, not quite able to shed how nervous being around him made you, but with time he hoped it would come to pass. Someday, Itadori hoped to hold your hand in his.

Sitting down at a quiet table together, Itadori wasn’t sure how to make conversation with you now. At the library it was easy, there was the project he could talk about and keep a conversation going with that. But here, he was drawing blanks.

“So Itadori, what-”

“Yuji!” Just as you’d started to speak, the familiar voice of Nobara cut in all the way from across the dining hall. Both of you turned to see Nobara waltzing in with a big grin on her face and Megumi trailing after her.

“Oh god.” This was the one time he didn’t want his friends to come and sit with him. But there they were, already collecting food and coming to sit down at the table.

“Found you!” Nobara giggled behind her hand, her own tiger ears relaxing flat against her head.

“Yup, you did.” Speaking behind tight lips, Itadori took a glance at you. Megumi had taken the seat next to you and he easily dwarfed your smaller body. All of them did, it almost looked like you were a child among adults.

“Nice to see you again, (Y/N).” Making sure his large fluffy wolf tail wasn’t brushing against you, Megumi gave you a polite nod and you returned it.

“W-what?! You two know each other?” In all the time Itadori has been crying over you, he never knew of Megumi's connection to you.

“Yeah, Tsumiki and (Y/N) are roommates.”

“Really?” Itadori gasped loudly, exaggeratedly turning his back to you.

“Mhmm!” Picking up your utensils, you began to eat. “Having a wolf as a roommate was kind of scary at the beginning, but we get along great now!”

Itadori was floored. Positively flabbergasted. He could have gotten to know you this whole time by using the excuse of being Megumi’s roommate and best friend as a reason to drop by and ‘check in’ on Tsumiki and see you by extension.

Sending a sharp, pointed look to Megumi, Itadori began to eat in a huff. He would have to grill his friend later on why the connection was never brought up.

“Have you two been here long?” Nobara asked, tapping her long claws against the table.

“No, we just got here.” Your voice only sounded a little meek when you replied, only able to meet Nobara’s intense gaze for a moment before looking down at your plate again.

“Yeah, we just came from the library. We’re partners on a class project.” Mumbling childishly, Itadori snorted at the surprised looks on his friends faces.

“You are?” Nobara almost gasped. “Who asked who?”

“I asked.” Itadori raised his hand.

“And you agreed, (Y/N)? Just like that?”

“Well, not really.” Giggling softly behind your hand, you took a glance at Itadori. “I told him I’d think about it first. I know we’re all in university now and should be adults, but I still get so scared around predators, I needed to weigh my options.”

“Did Yuji say he’d do all the work?” Megumi chimed in.

“He did! It was pretty funny, I thought the desk was going to fall over.”

“Sounds like Yuji.” Snorting, Megumi gave Itadori a look before eating his food.

“Hold on, I still got a couple questions.” Rapidly tapping the table, Nobara flicked her fingers between you and Itadori.

“Can’t they wait until we’re done?” Itadori already had food stuffed in his mouth, his cheeks were bulging out quite a bit. You had also started to eat the mountain of vegetables on your plate.

“Alright, fine.” Heaving a sigh, Nobara grabbed the juice she’d gotten. “But don’t think I’ll forget!”

It was a blessing that Nobara ended up forgetting that she wanted to grill you and Itadori because there would have been no avoiding all the awkward questions she was sure to ask. As your meal progressed, she got onto the topic of beauty products for tiger hybrids and that was all that occupied her mind for a good while.

“(Y/N).” Catching you by the elbow as you walked out of the dining hall almost an hour and a half later, Itadori looked up at the dark sky. “Let me walk you to your dorm.”

“You don’t have to, I wouldn’t want you to go out of your way! Nobara and I can walk back together, we live in the same dorm.”

“Ha well, uh actually…” Scratching the back of her head, Nobara grabbed onto Megumi's sleeve. “Actually, Megumi and I are going to go to a…” Swatting him on the back, Nobara fell silent.

“My father sent Tsumiki and I some more things and I promised to give Nobara some old books.”

“Yup, books! Exactly! So you two walk together and we’ll see you later!” Grabbing onto the back of Megumi’s shirt, Nobara sprinted away, her orange and black tail the last thing you saw before she turned the corner.

“Let’s go, (Y/N).” Itadori tugged on your sleeve gently, bringing your focus back to him. Walking side by side, the night time didn’t seem as scary compared to if you had been alone. You generally tried to avoid being out alone at night, but with Itadori it felt like the sun was still high in the sky.

“Are you cold?” Itadori broke the silence that had settled over you.

“Huh?”

“You just shivered.” Right as he said that, another gust of wind went through the air and blew your ears back, making a strong shiver go up your spine. “Here.” Itadori was already taking off his thick hoodie and pushing it into your arms.

“But you’ll be cold!” Looking at the long sleeve he had on underneath, surely it couldn’t be enough to keep him warm.

“Nonsense, I’ll be fine. Put it on.” It was a miracle that Itadori hadn’t fallen onto the ground from how lightheaded he was. He had given you his hoodie in the spur of the moment and now his actions were catching up to him.

“Okay.” Giving him one last look, you put it on. Swimming in fabric and with the scent of Itadori all around you, it was truly a sight to behold. “How do I look?” You chuckled, trying to adjust the giant hoodie onto your body.

“You look good.” There was a high lilt to the end of his sentence, and Itadori slapped a hand over his face and turned his back to you. If he looked any longer, he would pass out from how cute you looked.

“Thanks Itadori, it’s really warm!”

“N-no problem.” He seriously couldn’t look at you, and seeing your sweater paws out of the corner of his eye had him tripping over his own feet. Thankfully and tragically, the walk to your dorm wasn’t too long, so Itadori didn’t have to deal with it for too long.

“Thanks for walking me back.” Giving him a smile, you began to take off the hoodie.

“K-keep it, keep it on.” Planting his hands on your shoulders, Itadori looked down at you. “I have a million, so just keep that one.” The mixture of your scent and his that was wafting up to his nose was going to be ingrained into his mind forever.

“Wow Itadori, you’re so nice! We should have become friends way sooner!” Patting him on the arm, you shuffled closer to the front door. “Text me when you get back to your dorm, okay?”

“I will!” Waving at you until you went inside, Itadori let out a breath he’d been holding in. The feel good chemicals in his brain were all flooding in at once; the day had gone from good, to great to perfect. Seeing you in his hoodie was one of the things Itadori had wanted for so long it hurt, and now that goal was finally reached.

His happiness turned to adrenaline, making his hands shake and body tremble from how excited he was to see you tomorrow and the next day and the day after that. He was so excited for the future that he ran all the way back to his dorm, letting out cheers and excited screams as he went.

(Itadori): made it to my dorm :)

(Y/N): have a good night!

(Itadori): you too! See you tomorrow!

Clutching his phone to his chest, Itadori threw open the door to his room and immediately made eye contact with Megumi.

“You!”

“Now let me explain-”

“Save it, wolfy! Tell me all about your relationship with (Y/N)!”

As days turned into weeks, Itadori noticed a subtle change in your demeanor around him. You slowly started to walk closer to him, sometimes close enough to occasionally brush shoulders. The fear that was so pungent before was now gone, only replaced with some unease whenever Itadori threw his hands around too much or chewed with his mouth open. All in all, Itadori felt like you could call him a true friend.

And what did friends do? Invite each other to parties of course! Being so personable and easy to get along with, it was only natural that Itadori got invited to a lot of events around campus, and he wanted you to join him.

Which is how you found yourself at probably the biggest party of the season, people pouring out of the doors and spilling into the yard around the university house chosen for this night.

“I’ve never been here before.” You mumbled to Itadori as you approached the house, flanked by Nobara and Megumi. Sure you’d been to parties before, but none this size.

“That’s okay, just stick by me!” Over the past few weeks the level of physical contact in your relationship with Itadori had risen high enough that he was able to put an arm around your shoulder and pull you a bit closer to him.

“Yeah (Y/N) we’ll make sure you have a good time!” Nobara chimed in, her words just a bit slurred. She had pregamed on the way to the party, the flask she kept offering you tucked snugly against her hip.

“Let’s find Maki and the others.” Fushiguro was the first to step into the house and take the lead on where to go. Pushing through the crowds of people for you, Itadori made sure you stayed close by his side.

Meeting up with Maki and a few other upperclassmen, you felt safe among the group. There was a plastic cup in your hand mixed with god knows what, the music was loud and overbearing, but you had been welcomed into the fray with open arms. No one looked twice at your floppy ears and tense body, they just launched into conversation like you’d always been there.

“G-gotta go bathroom.” Your words were slurring more than you expected after finishing your second cup of horribly mixed liquor. Standing away from the wall you’d been leaning against, the world was spinning.

“Need help?” Itadori held onto your elbow tightly, helping keep you stable.

“No.” Shaking your head slowly, you pushed him away. “I got this.”

“(Y/N), lemme show you where the bathroom is! I’ve been here like a million times!” Swooping in between you two, Nobara took confidently drunk steps with you under her arm.

“M’kay!” Giggling, you gave Itadori a wave and stumbled away with her.

“I’ll stay out here and keep guard!” She announced to not only you but to the people around you as well. Throwing open the door, you gave her a big thumbs up before slamming it closed and locking it.

Doing your business as quickly as possible, when you opened the door, Nobara was gone. You could hear her voice echoing throughout the house and when you turned a corner she was at the dining table playing beer pong and losing horribly.

Looking up and down the hall, you were at a loss at what to do. You didn’t remember the right way back to the group and Nobara was too ensconced in the drinking game she was a part of to be of any help.

Dragging your feet down the hall, you ended up at the front of the house, a far cry from where you wanted to be. There were so many people pushing past you to go deeper into the house, or yelling for others to come to them, some of them didn’t seem to care when they bumped you against the wall or nudged you a little too hard.

“Hey little bunny, you look a little lost.” You could smell the fox hybrid before you could see him appear before your eyes, cornering you against the wall as another wave of people walked by.

“I- no, I’m fine.” The lie was evident in your voice and he caught it right away.

“You sure? A little thing like you shouldn’t be all alone.” His voice was condescending, mocking you in plain sight. His soft red fur gleamed under the light of the house and while you would probably admire it from afar, now wasn’t the time.

Nodding instead of speaking, you looked down the hallway again. Surely someone would come looking for you and Nobara.

“Who’re you looking for, bunny? I could help you find them.” Leaning more into your space, the unnamed fox gave you a once over, flashing his teeth once he met your eyes. “Or maybe you were looking for me?”

“No.” The alcohol in your body was making it difficult to string together more than a few words or thoughts in your head, but you knew one thing for sure: you didn’t want to be around this guy anymore. The party was overwhelming enough as it was and adding him into the mix, a predator directly above you, was only making it worse.

“Aw, no need to be shy! All your dreams have come true!” Chuckling to himself, he grabbed onto your wrist. “Let’s go get you a drink, I’ll introduce you to some friends.”

“No.” You said a little louder, but he just ignored you. Trying to get your wrist free wasn’t working either and you quickly found yourself being dragged away from the wall. Digging your heels into the ground, you kept looking for a familiar flash of pink hair. “Itadori!” You shouted, voice mixing with the others in the air and hopefully travelling to the person it was intended for.

“You’re lookin’ for Itadori? Why, I know him! He’s my best friend, I’ll take you to him!” The fox hybrid sent you a sleazy grin, running his free hand through his hair.

“(Y/N).” A familiar heavy hand landed on your shoulder, preventing you from going anywhere.

“Who the hell are you?” The two men shared a sneer, sizing each other up. Finally getting your wrist free, you attached yourself to Itadori’s side.

“I’m their boyfriend. Now get lost.” Wrapping an arm around you, Itadori gave one last glare to the other man before turning and walking away. Getting you to the kitchen, he quickly got you a glass of water. “Drink this.”

“Thanks.” Downing it immediately, the growing tension in your body subsided just from having Itadori next to you.

“If anyone else gives you trouble, tell them I’m your boyfriend. I’m in sports clubs with a lot of the people here, they’ll know who I am.”

“Thanks.” Repeating yourself like a fool, you were overcome with sudden emotion and hugged Itadori. Burrowing your face into his chest, you muttered thanks over and over.

“S’no problem.” He grunted. Itadori was glad you couldn’t see the bright blush on his face right now; he’d only dreamed about hugging you almost every second of the day. Hugging you back, he let his hand come up and stroke your ears and your fur was just as soft as he imagined it to be.

For the rest of the night, Itadori was like your second shadow. He made sure you didn’t drink anymore alcohol, filling you up with water and snacks until you were as sober as he was. He also introduced himself as your boyfriend whenever the need arose, like constantly shouting ‘boyfriend coming through’ as he pushed through crowds for you.

“I hope you had fun, (Y/N).” Itadori said at the end of the night with Nobara passed out drunk being carried on his back.

“I did!” It was nice to meet some upperclassmen, a couple you learned were in your major as well. Fushiguro was walking with them a few feet in front of you, talking animatedly to them.

“That’s good. I was worried that the whole ‘boyfriend’ thing was making you uncomfortable.” A bashful blush coated Itadori’s face as he gave you a sideways glance. Your own cheeks got warmer as well.

“I uh, I kind of liked it.” You said quietly, hoping that he wouldn’t catch it.

“You did?” Of course he heard it. Stopping in his tracks, Itadori’s mouth hung open slightly. Biting his lip, Itadori checked to make sure Nobara was truly out before speaking again. “Well then, can we maybe make it official?”

Maybe it was the lingering energy from the party that was giving him the confidence to ask or maybe Itadori had finally lost it, either way there was no backtracking from what he had just said. Taking your lack of immediate answer as skepticism, Itadori quickly spoke up again.

“If you want, I can take you out on a proper date first! Truthfully I already have everything planned in my head, I’ve wanted to take you out on a date for a while now. B-but you don’t have to if you don’t want to! I just- I want you to give us a chance, but don’t feel pressured to say yes!”

His face was completely flushed, adrenaline pumping through his body. Whether you said yes or no, Itadori was just glad to have finally gotten it off his chest.

“I want to go on a date with you too.” You smiled gently at Itadori, playing with your fingers nervously. “I just have one question.”

“Yes?”

“Did you also Google best first dates to take a rabbit hybrid on?”

“(Y/N)!” Laughing breathlessly, Itadori felt the tension in his body release.

“It’s a fair question!” Laughing along with him, you started to walk down the street again.

“For your information, no I didn’t look that up.” A comfortable silence settled over you as the laughter died down. As soon as Itadori could get a second alone with you, he would. There was actually a lot to discuss for the date that he’d been planning since the first year of university.

“Mmmm…” Nobara groaned and both of you looked at her curiously.

“Nobara? Are you awake?” You asked, brushing the hair from her forehead.

“Kiss...kiss each other.” Her words just barely made sense and Itadori nearly dropped her once he made sense of what she’d said.

“Go back to sleep!” He shouted, nudging her with his shoulder. The blush that had managed to subdue itself was now back tenfold.

“We’ll kiss each other later, Nobara.” You added, fixing her hair and letting her relax onto Itadori again.

“Promise?” She sighed.

“Promise?” Itadori echoed.

“Yeah, I promise.”

[radexchangeprogram]

This is a random one but can I request head cannons of the Brothers and Dateables reacting to an MC that’s actually a half demon but was really great at hiding her demon side since she grew up in the human world? They see a demon man just bounding towards MC before the boys could do anything MC’s like “DAD! 😃” before jumping in his arms like a child. Around her Dad she gains fangs and horns like him but she reverts back to normal when she wants to. The boys are like “Why didn’t you say anything?” And she’s like “I’m just used to my human side” or “You never asked 🤷🏾‍♀️”

Of course! I love this idea. I didn’t get a chance to proof read this so I apologize for any grammatical mistakes.

Author’s notes at the end (marked by *s)

Spoiler warning for up to chapter 17 to be safe. Especially with Belphie.

Half Demon GN!MC Headcanons

General

Everyone noticed that you never seemed too bothered by the fact that you were surrounded by demons, but figured you were just rather good at adapting.

This theory was proven wrong at a party Lord Diavolo hosted.

As you chatted with the brothers, a large demon with griffon wings, a lion’s mane, and horns similar to a gazelle began to head in the direction of your group.

The demon, who the others instantly recognized as Duke Vapula, walked up to them with a cheeky grin.

The brothers were instantly on guard, Mammon even growling slightly, as it was extremely uncommon for anyone to approach them so casually.

Diavolo, Barbatos, Simeon, Luke, and Solomon all took notice and were prepared to intervine should something happen.

You turned around to see what the issue was and let out a loud gasp.

“DAD!”

Lucifer

Absolutely dumbfounded. How did he not know about this? He read your files to the point of practically memorizing them before you came here and he swears there was nothing about you being a half demon.

He was honestly a bit embarrassed that he didn’t know about something this major.

When confronting you, all you did was say that it wasn’t that big of a deal and that you figured they already knew.

You really give him a migraine sometimes.

He feels a bit relieved that he doesn’t have to worry as much about you dying, though.

If you wish, he may start teaching you demonic etiquette, such as having you shift form at formal events.

If you prefer your human heritage, he won’t pressure you to conform to your demonic ancestory.

Mammon

WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN HIS HUMAN ISN’T ENTIRELY HUMAN?!?

The loudest about his displeasure about not knowing.

“I’m your first man! I’m supposed to know everything about you!”

When you explain to him that you’re more comfortable with your human half, he calms down a little.

Tries to call you ‘stupid half-demon’ but it doesn’t feel the same as ‘stupid human’ :(

You tell him he can just keep calling you ‘stupid human’ :D

Wonders if he can get your dad to pay him for ‘providing his child with such incredible protection’.

You immediately tell him no.

Leviathan

Holy shit this sounds like something straight out of an anime!!!

Very upset that you didn’t tell him, you’re his Henry! You’re supposed to tell him these kind of things!

When you shrug and simply say that no one asked, he gets even more pouty.

You make up with him quickly by offering to play games with him all night.

Extremely curious about your demonic form for the primary purpose of cosplay. Do you know how many more characters you can be if you have a tail or wings?!?

You might inspire some fanfiction. (half demon Henry x Lord of Shadows au slow burn 100k words, def not Leviathan projecting no not at all-)

Satan

He is extremely shocked. Not only did he have no idea, but half demons are extremely rare.

From what he’s read, most half-human half-demon offspring don’t survive past birth and all documented cases that have survived reside in the Devildom so that their powers can be better managed.

He asks you about this and you reply that you’re actually quite good at controlling your powers, but that you prefer living as a normal human.

He’s not upset that you didn’t tell him, but he has a billion questions.

How long is your lifespan? Do you take more after your demonic father or your human mother in terms of power?What are your weaknesses?

He really wants to learn more about human-demon hybrids and will ask you to help in his studies.

Also a bit excited as your father is well known for some for his knowledge and writing about the sciences. He wants to discuss some of it with you, assuming you’ve read what your father has written.*

Asmodeus

Oh he is so excited.

A bit relieved that his charm isn’t wearing off, it just doesn’t work because you’re the child of a demonic duke!

You know those boiling hot springs he talks about visiting? Well he’s happy to learn that you actually can join him without fear of your skin melting off!

He’s not upset that you didn’t tell him, getting mad over stuff like that can cause wrinkles.

He will absolutely want to help you groom your horns/wings/scales/tail.

He already has shown you a lot about demonic fashion trends, such as extra clothing that can be fitted around demonic extremities, but now he actually can actually have you try on some! Do you prefer gold tail bangles or jeweled horn cuffs?

Beelzebub

Relieved that Duke Vapula wasn’t looking for a fight.

He can’t help but smile a little when you hug your dad. It makes him happy that you love your family.

When you blush and tell him that it just slipped your mind to tell everyone about your heritage, he isn’t upset.

Happy that he doesn’t have to be so scared of accidentally hurting you with how strong he is.

If you’re able to safely eat some more demonic food, he will absolutely get you to try some of his favorite foods that normal humans would die upon eating.

Overall, you’re still the MC he has grown to love and doesn’t treat you too differently.

Belphegor

Is now more awake than he has been the entire evening.

Half demon? Nah this is just some dream.

Is understanding when you explain to him that you prefer being human and living as a human.

He’s happy he found out after making amends with you. He used to despise half-demons just as much as normal humans, seeing them as repulsive.

He still very much treats you the same, but is a bit annoyed with his brothers.

With knowledge of your demonic blood coming to light, they drag you out even more often and naps with you are becoming rarer.

If you get too overwhelmed with his brothers constantly wanting to try things they thought would previously kill you, he will be more than happy to lend you some of his hiding spots. He does charge the small fee of getting to take a nap with you though.

Diavolo

Similar to Lucifer, is shocked that he didn’t know before you came to the Devildom.

You aren’t the first half-demon he’s met, but he is surprised that a demon of Duke Vapula’s rank had a child with a human.

He’s actually very excited to learn that you’re a half-demon who is in more in touch with your human side. He feels a lot more relieved that you aren’t as defenseless as previously thought.

He does, however, make absolute sure that you have full control over your demonic powers. Every other half-demon lives in the Devildom for a reason and he can’t have someone who is technically one of his subjects accidentally cause mass destruction.

He invites you for tea more frequently, asking so many questions about how being raised in the human world as a half-demon was.

He likes to exchange stories with you about your younger years and the power fluxes you both struggled with as you grew.

Tells you that should you ever wish to live in the Devildom that he would be more than happy to make the needed arrangements.

Barbatos

He knew the whole time. When Diavolo asked him to look into the success of the program, he made note of your heritage right away.

However, he decided that keeping this information hidden when he saw that you were raised human and preferred to be seen as human.

When he explains this to everyone, you can’t help but feel thankful.

While some of the others make no effort to hide how annoyed this makes them, he doesn’t mind. He knows he made the right choice keeping this from everyone and doesn’t regret it at all.

Barbatos is actually a pretty good friend of your father’s and grew up with him. He actually met you when you were a baby because of this.*

Solomon

He has seen a lot in his years in the world of magic, but nothing like this.

Usually, half-demons were very easy to spot as they struggled to control their powers, but you practically had it down to an art!

You explain to him that you’re actually pretty good at keeping your powers under control. He’s rather impressed by this and will ask to see your spell work.

Thinks it’s a little funny that he has a pact with your dad.*

Like Satan, he wants to know all about you. Unlike Satan, he is going to actually conduct experiments instead of stick to interviews.

He has a new potion that he wants you to try almost every day now.

Can half-demons make pacts? If so, you have now been added to the list of demonic beings he wants to make a pact with.

Simeon

Very surprised considering he’s blessed you before.

Blessings aren’t supposed to work on anything of demonic nature so he’s baffled.

When you explain to him that you were raised human and prefer to live as human, he smiles.

He comes to the conclusion that you being a good person must be greater than the demonic blood in your veins.

He treats you the same overall, knowing that you’re still you no matter your heritage.

Luke

Absolute denial.

There is no way someone as nice as you is part demon! He refuses to believe it!

Gets upset and accuses you of trying to manipulate him, which you quickly deny.

When you explain to him that you prefer being human, he huffs.

Simeon gives him a bit of a talking to, about how you’re still the same MC who he sees as a big sibling.

He bakes you some apology cupcakes for being rude to you.

You sometimes shift form to mess around with him, it never fails to make him let out a shocked yelp before he snaps at you for picking on him.

Everyone (except Luke) thinks it’s funny tbh.

Author’s Notes:

*Duke Vapula is described as being able to bestow knowledge about all science contained in books.

*Barbatos is also a duke in The Goetia. I thought a fun nod to this would be to have them as friends.

*The Goetia talks about the 72 demons that King Solomon evoked. Vapula is one of the demons that he evoked. The game actually references this by talking about his 72 pacts. Asmodeus and Barbatos are both included in the 72 demons which is why he has pacts with both of them in the game :)

[robininthelabyrinth]

NMJ is the only one that knows bc he’s the only one that NHS truly trusts, he’s the only one who knows why NHS focuses so much in painting and art, NHS doesn’t know why or how but with a little bit of spiritual energy he’s able to bring what he paints in paper to the real world and with that the Nie sect has the beasts of legends under their command

on ao3

“How about you draw a flower?” Nie Mingjue said without much conviction. It was hard to have conviction when you knew it was pointless.

“No!” Nie Huaisang shouted, unsurprisingly, because toddlers always shouted. They seemed to have a great deal of feelings and sound for such small frames. “Taotie!”

Nie Mingjue grimaced. “No, no, not Taotie,” he said quickly. Never Taotie, not again. “How about the Baihu? Nice fuzzy tiger?”

“No!”

“Fenghuang? You like birds.”

Nie Huaisang considered it. “I like birds,” he agreed.

Nie Mingjue heaved a sigh of relief. “Me, too,” he said enthusiastically. “I love birds.”

He had never had especially strong feelings about birds, but he was willing to develop some.

“Okay,” Nie Huaisang said, and patted his thigh comfortingly. “I’ll draw you a bird, da-ge.”

“…thanks,” Nie Mingjue said.

When Nie Huaisang was done, he proudly presented Nie Mingjue with the results of his work.

Nie Mingjue put the baby phoenix in the new aviary he’d secretly had constructed behind his father’s back, thinking to himself that the high-grade construction materials he’d insisted on were totally worth losing his allowance for the next year.

The phoenix chick - it looked like a plucked chicken with maybe three feathers total - weakly coughed smoke.

Because of course it did.

Sometimes Nie Mingjue wished that he could just tell someone about Nie Huaisang’s unusual gift – it was a pretty big burden to bear, and he really wasn’t sure he was old enough for this type of responsibility – but no one else deserved to know. If they didn’t have the good taste to like Nie Huaisang when he was no one and nobody, pointless and useless, they didn’t deserve the benefits of knowing him now that he could do stuff.

Even if it was weird stuff. 

Stuff like his ability to summoning the things he drew into existence. 

Even things that might not really exist.

Besides, the thought of Nie Huaisang getting wrapped up into war and politics when he was still so young –

No, better to just store away what he made and hope he grew out of it.

And no more Taoties.

-

“Lan Zhan said his uncle shows people his artwork,” Nie Huaisang said, sitting on Nie Mingjue’s table in the family study. “Why don’t you ever show my artwork?”

“You do art?” their father asked absently, most of his attention on the report he was reading.

“Huaisang does great calligraphy,” Nie Mingjue interjected very quickly. “You’ve seen it – it’s beautiful. And his poems are very well crafted, too.”

“But Lan Zhan said –”

Nie Mingjue mentally resigned himself to not being friends with Lan Xichen any longer, no matter how well they’d gotten along, on the basis that the other boy would probably take it personally when Nie Mingjue murdered his brother.

“He also said stuff about rules,” he said. “Hundreds and hundreds of rules. Do you want to listen to all of those, too?”

“No,” Nie Huaisang said sulkily, five years old and bitter with it. “But…”

“How about we show Lan Wangji your aviary?” Nie Mingjue coaxed. “Go ask him if he’d like to see it. I bet he’s never seen anything like that – and you can ask him what type of animal he likes best, too!”

Nie Huaisang’s eyes went wide at the thought and he dashed off.

“You spoil him far too much,” their father commented. “An aviary – you talk about it more than he does, and you’re always getting birds to fill it up for him, too. Why are you so devoted to him learning to like birds?”

“Better than him liking fierce beasts,” Nie Mingjue said, omitting to mention exactly where he obtained the birds that filled the aviary. “Or corpses.”

“If he liked fierce beasts, perhaps he’d be more martially inclined.”

No, we would be, Nie Mingjue thought. He’d gotten a lot of spare practice with Baxia trying to fight corpses that had no business being there during the period in which Nie Huaisang had gotten temporarily interested in the things in his father’s stories – and that was before Nie Huaisang had learned about yao.

“I don’t want him growing up morbid, that’s all,” he said.

“You’re his brother, not his nursemaid,” their father said, a little exasperated. “Nor are you his mother. Why are you fussing over him so?”

Nie Mingjue huffed and shook his head. “How goes recruitment for the border?” he asked instead, and listened to his father tell him about how people barely a year or two older than him were being sent to risk death in the name of sect honor.

Not Nie Huaisang, he promised himself. Not yet.

He’d tell his father when Nie Huaisang was old enough to handle the consequences.

-

“Huaisang, didi,” Nie Mingjue said, and tried to smile, even though it pained him. “Can you do me a favor? A really, really big favor?”

Nie Huaisang sniffed, clutching at his arms and shaking. “What, da-ge?”

“You remember Jiwei? A-die’s saber? Can you draw that for me, please?”

It only made it worse.

-

“Da-ge?”

“Yes, Huaisang?” Nie Mingjue asked, scowling at the map. It didn’t get any better the longer he looked at it, but maybe if he kept glaring he could cow it into submission.

“Don’t you want me to help?”

Nie Mingjue looked up at where Nie Huaisang was wringing his hands by the door. “Help? With what?”

Nie Huaisang rolled his eyes at him, like it was Nie Mingjue being dense instead of him having started a conversation in the middle. “Uh, with border defense?”

“Why would I ask you to help with that?” Nie Mingjue asked blankly, then realized how his words could be misconstrued. “Not that I wouldn’t ask you to help, of course, but you’ve never really liked battlefield strategy, and anyway you are only twelve –”

“Da-ge!” Nie Huaisang whined. “I meant drawing!”

“…as in maps?”

Nie Huaisang’s glare could light fires.

Nie Mingjue coughed and put aside his work to focus on his brother. “Huaisang, why do you think I would use your drawings in planning out a possible battle?”

“Because they’re useful?” Nie Huaisang said, crossing his arms. “I can make things appear, da-ge, just by drawing them. Not sure if you’ve noticed, but that’s not something that normal people can do.”

“I know,” Nie Mingjue said. “It’s not. But just because it’s not normal doesn’t mean it’s not a wonderful ability, Huaisang.”

Nie Huaisang looked a little bit appeased.

“But just because it’s wonderful doesn’t mean I’m going to abuse your ability,” Nie Mingjue continued. “You should be playing, not working, and if anyone tells you otherwise, you tell me and I’ll straighten them out.”

Nie Huaisang came up and hugged him. “So it’s not that you’re not ashamed of me being weird and useless?”

“I think we’ve already established that an ability like yours is far from useless. And I don’t care how weird you are, principles are principles: you’re too young to be used for battle. Sorry, Huaisang; my hands are tied.”

Nie Huaisang laughed at him and left, looking much happier.

-

“So what would you like?” Nie Huaisang asked, eyes sparkling. “Me and my brush are at the ready, here to help!”

Nie Mingjue rubbed his forehead. “If you’re sure…”

“Da-ge! I’m seventeen – you were already sect leader for two years by my age. And it’s not like I’m going out there on the front lines or anything; I’m just going to draw some stuff for you.”

“You say ‘just’,” he grumbled. “It does drain your qi, you know. That’s why you took such a long time to form a golden core…”

“Yes, but I did get there eventually, didn’t I? And anyway, it’s fine, I’ll do it instead of my usual landscapes. What would you like? A dragon to devour our enemies? The white tiger, nipping at their heels? A taotie –”

“No Taotie.”

“You’re so weird about that,” Nie Huaisang complained, rolling his eyes again. “Fine. Then what?”

“Sabers,” Nie Mingjue said, giving in. “Standard steel, not spiritual. Horses, feed, saddles. Say, how are you at drawing arrows?”

“Da-ge,” Nie Huaisang said. “I can draw you the beasts of legend, and you want me to draw you arrows?”

“Yes. As many as you can bring yourself to create, really; everyone’s always short on arrows. More rice would be good, too –”

“This wasn’t exactly what I was expecting when I volunteered to help,” Nie Huaisang grumbled.

“Are you going to do it for me or not?” Nie Mingjue asked, unimpressed. “You asked me to use you, not to give you an art project.”

His brother heaved a sigh. “Yes, yes, I will. Can you explain to me why this is your choice, at least?”

Nie Mingjue ruffled his brother’s hair. “Huaisang, when you draw something, it comes to life. Fully to life, as a separate and independent creature of its own – if you draw a dragon, who’s to say that the dragon will choose to fight the Wen sect, instead of turning on us? It wouldn’t be much help if we had to run out, sabers drawn, to deal with whatever it was, only to be exhausted before the Wen sect even arrived.”

“…oh.”

“When we’ve made some progress in the field, I promise to let you help build fortifications,” Nie Mingjue said. “You can start thinking of really nasty traps –”

“Da-ge?”

“Yes?”

“…is that why you hate the idea of me drawing Taotie so much?”

Nie Mingjue coughed.

“Da-ge!”

“Don’t worry about it. It was always really good saber practice…”

-

“And if anyone tries anything against you at the camp, you draw something really mean, okay?” Nie Mingjue said, pressing paper and a brush into his brother’s hand in addition to the ones he’d hidden away in his luggage - there was a chance that might be confiscated upon his arrival. “I don’t care what it is.”

“I know, I know –”

“Promise me!”

“I will!” Nie Huaisang exclaimed. “I promise already!”

“Not just if they’re aggressive. Even if things just look suspicious –”

“Suspicious? Like what?”

“If they take you somewhere secluded,” Nie Mingjue said, face drawn with worry. “Somewhere where it’d take us a long time to find your bodies. I don’t care if you put other people in danger from your creation, okay? Don’t make me have to find your corpse.”

Nie Huaisang was silent for a moment. “I understand,” he finally said. “I promise.”

-

“I’m never drawing anything legendary ever again,” Nie Huaisang sniffed into Nie Mingjue’s collar. “That Xuanwu was awful. It tried to eat all of us!”

-

“Do you want me to help with the logistics, Sect Leader Nie?” Meng Yao asked.

“You already help with the logistics,” Nie Mingjue said, not really paying attention. If it was serious, Meng Yao would bring it to his attention – he was a truly remarkable aide-de-camp. “You already help with everything.”

“I appreciate Sect Leader Nie’s confidence in me,” Meng Yao said, smiling a little. “But no, I meant – with the imports.”

“Imports?”

“Every week we receive new shipments of goods – food, weapons, defenses – from Qinghe, and we don’t send any money back. Surely such expenditures are putting a strain on the Nie treasury..?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Nie Mingjue said. “Huaisang is handling it. It’s good for him to have responsibility.”

Meng Yao looked a little skeptical, but in his defense, he’d met Nie Huaisang.

“Really,” Nie Mingjue assured him. “He’s not going to hurt our budget – it’ll be fine. They’ve come steadily every week so far, haven’t they?”

“If Sect Leader Nie is content, then so am I,” Meng Yao said, but he was pouting a little, perhaps at the perceived lack of trust. He did so love to be helpful.

“You know I trust you with my life,” Nie Mingjue told him. “But this is something that Huaisang is, for once, best placed to handle. Don’t worry about it.”

It wasn’t really his secret to share, after all. Maybe when the war was done.

-

Nie Mingjue was on his back in the throne room of the Fire Palace, staring up at the man who murdered his father and who was about to murder him, too, when he heard the sound.

A high-pitched squeal, unlike anything else he’d ever heard – a little like a pig, a little like a wolf, a little like the long slow grate of metal against metal. It burned on the ear, a vile sound on the verge of being physically painful.

“What is that?” Wen Ruohan asked, frowning. He was standing above Nie Mingjue, his foot crushing down on his chest; Baxia was out of reach, knocked away, but at least no longer in the traitor Meng Yao’s hands. “Meng Yao…?”

“I - I’m not sure, Sect Leader Wen,” Meng Yao said, looking equally confused.

Nie Mingjue laughed.

They both looked at him.

He grinned up at them, blood in his teeth.

“What?” he said. “Never heard a Taotie before?”

[superhero--imagines]

Part 1 Here! / Part 2 Here! / Part 3 Here! / Part 4 Here! / Part 5 Here! / Part 6 Here!

A/N: If I had to give this part a title, I would title it “(Y/N) and their human friends” Also I lied. This part was too long so it might be another part (or two) before we get to the Bella Arc.

* “You know you would be pretty good looking without the glasses.” Lauren says twirling a strand of hair and ignoring the algebra worksheet in front of her.

* Yeah that’s kind of the whole point

* “Contacts kind of freak me out.”

* You’re expecting a snarky response but instead she nods.

* “It’s the whole sticking your finger in your eye thing right, I totally get that.” She’s watching you with such inquisitive eyes, it almost you uncomfortable.

* It’s been a few months since you started school, you’re almost at thanksgiving break. So far you feel like you’ve assimilated well, and you have a good balance between school and caring for your animals, but it’s situations like this that totally throw you off.

* “Hey (Y/N/N), what did you get for number 5?” Jessica asks, you’re thankful for the distraction.

* “I got X = 8” Jessica confirms she got that too, and moves onto the next one

* You three are in the worlds most unlikely group. You didn’t even know Lauren was in this class you usually just pair up with Jessica.

* “Hey, me and a some people from the volleyball team are going to Port Angeles, you should come with, we could give you a makeover.”

*You wonder what the other angle here is

* It didn’t take long for you to realise that somehow, even with the ugly-duckling routine, the Cullen’s were at the top of the social hierarchy.

* Part of their popularity was probably because they didn’t really seem to interact with anyone outside of their own social circle. Which just made them all the more desirable.

* “I don’t know Lauren, I would have to ask Esme if it’s okay.” Though you can already bet Rosalie isn’t going to like this.

* “Oh cool, just let me know!” Lauren smiles, it turns out the act of considering her invitation was enough to placate her.

* For once you’re actually glad Edward’s waiting for you outside of your class when the bell rings.

* “Edward read that girls mind.”

* “It’s always straight to business isn’t it. No, ‘hi Edward how’s it going?’ Or ‘How was your class, how has your morning been treating you?’ It wouldn’t hurt you to make some small talk” You give him a look, and he returns it with an expectant expression. You sigh.

* “Hi, Edward how was your class?” You plaster on a smile, and he returns with a smile of his own.

* “It was fine. A little repetitive, we’re reading “to kill a mocking bird” in English.” You nod, offering a consoling pat on the shoulder

* “That sounds super boring,” the books great and all, but you’re guessing he’s already read it like 30 times by now. “Hey Edward,”

* “Yes (Y/N),” He nods, hiding his grin behind his hand.

* “Would you mind doing me a favor?”

* “Of course, anything for you.” He grins openly now.

* “Would you mind telling me what that girl Lauren Mallory is thinking so I can know why she invited me,” and not Jessica her good friend. “to hang out?”

* Edward loses his smile.

* “The varsity members on the volleyball team suggested it, they think it’s a shame they couldn’t have got you on the team since you just moved here.”

* Unexpected but not the worst. You’ve really been half assing it in PE so you’re surprised they even want you.

* “Lauren-she thinks you could be-“ a lopsided smirk twitches onto his face. “in her words- ‘two super good looking best friends’ “

*oh. So she just wants a pretty b*tch squad?

* “Maybe I’ll go with them then” you were scared they were going to force you to show them the Cullen’s house and introduce you to everyone, or leave you stranded in port A as some kind of prank or something.

* Edward stops you

*“you can’t be serious” he has his eyebrows scrunched together

* “Why not?” Nothing more natural to fitting in then hanging out with your classmates. Unless- “if you’re worried about any accidents don’t, I know they all look healthy but they eat a lot of carbs. Way too starchy for my palette.”

* “It’s not that-“ he gets that brooding-existence is suffering look. “You shouldn’t trust humans too much, they’ll let you down.”

* Well what’s that supposed to mean, but before you can ask he’s already walking to his class.

* Well whatever, at least Emmett will tell you a good joke to take your mind off of Mr. Eternal Damnations ominous words.

* Too bad when you get inside he’s not here, instead Mike Newton perks up when you walk into the room.

* “Hey Eleazar, how’s it going?” You still have a hard time adjusting to use Eleazar’s name as your own. Apparently they came from a time when last names were only for nobles, so he offered you his first name instead.

* “Hey Newton, any plans for this weekend?” You take Edward’s advice and start with small talk. Mike Newton smiles, you guess he’s kinda cute, all soft cheeks and baby blue eyes

* “No I’m completely free!” Weird how he’s so enthusiastic about being alone, he must be one of those “relish time alone” types. Good for him.

* “Everyone needs some time alone sometimes.” He deflates, oh man you guess that’s the wrong thing to say.

* He looks like he wants to say something to you, but then Emmett sits beside you.

* “Can I have a swig from your water bottle?” You hand it over

* “Making out with Rosalie make you thirsty?” Emmett cracks a grin

* “It’s that whole bookworm-soccer mom get up, it gets to me yknow?” That’s actually pretty funny

* “So what she’s the Velma to your Freddy?” When the reference doesn’t sink in you rephrase “the nerd to your jock.” He grins again.

* “I think I might join the swim team just so I can see her wear my letterman” that’s actually pretty cute

* “You should do that, I’ll cheer you on at your swim meets” Emmett grins.

*”I’ll hold you to that”

* School life goes on like it always has.

* Weeks pass, marked by tests, homework assignments and projects.

* You actually kind of become friends with Angela, Lauren, Jessica, Connor and Mike.

* “So like, are you and Cullen close?” Mike asks. You and the group are over at Tyler’s house using his fire pit to roast marshmallows. The others are invested in another conversation but you can tell by Lauren’s subtle head tilt that she’s eavesdropping.

* “Which one?” Mike gets flustered at that

* “The one in our grade.”

* “Hmm, well I’d say Alice and I are kinda close, but-“

* “N-no not her,” he clears his throat. “The other one-Edward”

* “Oh, Edward’s my best friend.” The answer slips out automatically.

* “I-Is that why you’re staying with the Cullen’s?” Jessica asks. Everyone’s blatantly listening now, the only one who seems uncomfortable is Angela.

* You sigh. You know everyone at school is probably wondering about the weird relationship. Jessica’s just the only one brave enough to ask you.

* “I mean, it might be.” You’re sure, Edward’s friendship with you is the reason everyone was so quick to accept the living arrangement. “But I actually met Car-I mean Dr. Cullen before I met the others.”

* “How does that work?” It’s Connor who pipes in this time.

* “Well-“ you sigh you really don’t want to do this but at least your sob story will make you seem less suspicious. “So Eleazer and Carmen, they’re my parents, but they’re not my birth parents.”

* You tell them how your parents passed away in an accident many years ago, and how Carlisle had been your Doctor at the time while you recovered. He worked with you for a long time, and you’re pretty sure he wanted to adopt you, but the agency liked Carmen and Eleazer better, probably because Carlisle already had so many adopted kids.

* “Still, Carlisle stayed in my life as my doctor and a family friend. Then I met Edward and the rest of the Cullen’s and... the rest is history...I guess.” You’ve found it’s best to mix a little bit of truth into the lie, though really all of that was mostly what happened.

* Everyone looks testy eyed, Angela is holding back tears, and Lauren hastily wipes her away so no one can see. You wonder if maybe your powers leaked out a bit while you were telling your story.

* “Dude... you’re so strong.” Tyler claps a hand on your shoulder and pulls you into a hug.

* “Ah, it all happened a long time ago, I’m mostly over it now” You tell them all about your Coven in Denali, and how you have two families now, how you don’t regret anything. Well, the only thing you regret, is not staying human, but you can’t mention that so you fake a smile instead.

* Connor breaks out a bottle of vodka he stole from his mom, and pours a shot for everyone

* “To (Y/N)” everyone raises their glass, and not for the first time you feel the urge to cry but no tears escape you.

* You’re a lot closer to everyone after that. You even start sitting at their lunch table every so often.

* In fact the others follow your lead and assimilate with their classmates with ease. Rosalie joins the school book club, and very loudly debates Jane Austen’s to whoever will listen.

* Emmett follows through and joins the swim team. Jasper starts hanging out with some wood shop kids, you’ve caught him arguing about the superior wood in between classes with his new friends. Even Alice joins the art club.

* You try out for the dance/cheer team, it’s the only thing you don’t have to hold back in. Also you’re a great base, you could hold everyone on the team up single handedly during stunts. But you won’t know if you made it until summer vacation

* Everyone seems to be assimilating well, everyone except for Edward

* “You can’t expect me to trust these people (Y/N), not when I know everything they’re really thinking.” You roll your eyes

* “I’m not saying you have to be their best friend Eddie, I’m just saying it looks super suspicious that all the Cullen’s only hang out with each other and refuse to get to know anyone else.” You shove a text book into his chest, and he scoffs

* “It wouldn’t hurt to make some small talk.”

* And so Edward joins your group of human friends, much to the joy of your female companions and dismay of your male ones.

* Life is still strange. But it’s good.

* When you’re surrounded by your new friends, it makes you feel - almost like you’re human again

* And then everything falls apart.

* It’s almost summer vacation. You’re excited, maybe you can go to the beach again soon, and you wonder if it will be alright to take a trip to Denali to see your Coven. You’re pretty confident you made the spirit squad so you’ll have to pencil in camp somewhere. You held back, but just enough by your own parameters to make the bottom end of Varsity.

* You’re at your locker, when Rosalie, and Edward show up. Quickly followed by Emmett, Jasper and Alice.

* “Oh hey guys, you wanna go on a hike tomorrow it’s supposed-“

* “You have to leave.” You’re surprised when it’s Emmett that says this. Kind, jovial Emmett holds a grave expression.

* “What, why-“ for a second you wonder if the Volturi has finally come to get you. It’s been at least seven years since your transformation, it’s about time they started thinking about you.

* But then you notice everyone staring, the quiet buzz of phones vibrating only detected by your super hearing. People are always staring, especially when you’re all together. but this time you notice they’re not staring at the six super models gathered in front of the lockers.

* They’re staring at you.

* “There’s a video of you going around,” Jasper says, and Rosalie placed a comforting hand on your shoulder. “I think it’s better if you see for yourself.”

* He hands you his blackberry, and the grainy image of you come into focus.

* It’s a YouTube video

* You’re in the locker room, your (Your Color Skin) in full view under the fluorescent lights. You’re wearing your underwear, and your abs are on full display. You’re Grey PE uniform shirt is limp in your hands, you remember this, you got extra laps as a penalty and as a result, you were running late for class, you were alone in the locker room

*well you thought you were alone.

* Your body is literally perfect, the way you’ve always dreamed, but you feel white hot shame rise in your throat like acid.

* Your hands shake as you scroll down to see the comments

* ‘Damn who knew they had a body like that under those dorky sweaters’

* ‘(Y/N) Eleazar: Best body Forks HS 10/10 would f*ck’

* ‘Hot body, if only they ditched the glasses, and started wearing some tighter shirts’

* And the comments go on, there’s at least a hundred. You hold your cardigan a little closer to your body. You don’t have the courage to turn around. You can already imagine them staring at you, picturing what they saw in the video transposed onto your body

* “I’m sorry, I didn’t see this coming until it was already happening-“ Alice touches your shoulder and continues her apology but you don’t hear anything.

* You want to cry, you want to be angry. But all you feel is shame. And the worst part is, you didn’t even do anything wrong. So why do you feel so ashamed?

* “Hey, look at me.” Edward grabs your face in his hands, your amber eyes meet his.

*”Snap out of it.”

* Oh, your powers are leaking through.

*Your gaze turns to your foster family, all of whom sport equally uncomfortable expressions.

* You take a deep breath, and imagine reeling in your emotions, imagining them receding back into a locked box, just like Eleazer taught you.

* You need a calm mind right now.

* “Are you fine now?” Edward asks, his hands still on your face. You nod, resting your hand on top of his

* “I’m good.”

* “Good, because we have to get you out of here.” He’s moved his hand to your arm, about to tug you back home when you pull back and shake your head.

* “We can’t do that.”

* “What do you mean?” Rosalie hisses, her hand curls around your wrist “we have to leave NOW.”

* “No think about it, they’re right.” Jasper says, his eyes meeting yours. At least someone’s on the same oage

* “Think about it Rose, if I leave now with all of you it’s going to look weird.” Normal 15-17 year olds wouldn’t think to handle the situation on their own, especially not entitled rich kids like the Cullen’s.

*She seems to have gotten it because her hand retreats to her side.

* “Well what should we do then, I’m not letting you walk around here with everyone-“ she cuts herself off, a deep frown creasing onto her face as her teeth dig into her bottoms lip.

* “We need to call Carlisle or Esme, they’ll pretend they saw the video from someone else and file a complaint with the school.” You take a deep breath, and imagine the locked box in your mind. Your emotions held carefully within.

* “Until then we all need to pretend like it’s not a big deal.”

* “No way in hell am I doing that!” Emmett growls. “I’m going to rip that fucking peeping Tom piece by piece.”

* “Not all of us need to pretend,” Alice says, her gaze somewhere far away, flicking between futures. “Only Edward, Rosalie and I do.” Her gaze lands on you.

* “You need to go to your class like normal,” a hint of a smile curls onto her mouth. “Everything’s going to work out fine.” Edward’s focusing on Alice, reliving her vision.

* “Do you think you can manage being alone?” Edward asks, you don’t have the next class with any of the Cullen’s. You’ll be on your own.

* You catch Jasper and Alice whispering to each other, but pay it no mind. Flirting even in the middle of your entire world crumbling down.

* You take a deep breath, picturing the locked box over and over, making it a visual mantra.

* “I can get through a period.” Everyone disperses, and Jasper walks you to your next class. Edward wanted to, but Jasper insisted.

*”You’re always hogging them, give someone else a few minutes Edward.”

* You’re almost near your class when Jasper talks to you.

* “Hey, I don’t know if I should tell you this”

*You wonder if he’s going to offer to beat up the person who took the video, or if he’s going to offer you a comforting word.

* “Alice told me you’re going to raise some hell on a misogynist in there” he gives you a wicked grin, his incisors sparkling.

* How is it that every vampire seems to say what you least expect to hear and yet, it’s exactly what you need in the moment.

* He holds out his fist, and you bump it with your own. A grin curling onto your face.

* “Hell yeah I am.”

* You take your usual seat in Spanish like normal. You sit in the front row in this class, diagonally from Jessica. Mike and Angela sit somewhere in the back.

* You just need to focus and keep your emotions in check for 45 minutes. You visualize the box, calming yourself separating the mind and body.

* How did the saying go... a calm soul resides in a calm body?

* “-Zar, Miss. Eleazar!” Your eyes pop up to the teacher, the locked box falling out of grasp.

* “Yes, sorry?” The teacher sighs, you look to the white board to see you’re going over the answers to the worksheet. You’re about to provide the answer for the number you’re on when the teacher cuts you off.

* “I know you might be focused on body building, but in my class you need to focus on the material.” There’s a scattered laugh that fills the room, but your blood runs cold

* “Excuse me?”

* And that’s when your teacher knew he fucked up. He stutters over himself, the sentences overlapping

* “-really you should take it as a compliment-“

* “Oh you think I should take it as a compliment that someone recorded me without my consent while I was changing?”

* The rooms pin drop silent. Your teacher is sweating.

* “Hold on now- I think you’re being a little dramatic don’t you think” A smirk curls onto his lips. “You were in your underwear, it was really no different than wearing a swimsuit” he’s got this smug smile, like he’s right.

*Honestly you were ready to put everything behind you and move on if he just apologized. It’s gross that a teacher is watching videos of a student changing, but what would you have done in his situation if a co-worker showed you.

* “It’s all about perspective, a positive per-“

* But not anymore, you’re not in a forgiving mood, especially not for an idiot like this.

* “No it’s all about consent.” All the anger and despair you’ve been holding back comes flooding out. “When someone wears a swimsuit they’re consenting to show skin and be seen, but I wasn’t contesting to being seen when I was changing in the privacy of the locker room.” You don’t stop for air, your voice trembling

* “And another thing, I wonder how the school administration will feel knowing the same faculty that’s supposed to make students feel safe and enrich their lives is watching creepy videos-“ you stop when you meet your teachers eyes, tears streaming down his face.

* Oh f*ck

* You look to your right, finding your classmates in a similar state, holding back tears.

*So this is what happens to humans when they come in contact with your power.

* You try to visualize the box, but it’s too far now. And all the crying people around you don’t help.

*You need to get out of here.

* “Pathetic, not even an apology for your gas lighting.” She shake your head as confidently as you can, grabbing your bag with trembling hands.

* You walk quickly, maybe there’s a mountain you can climb and wait it out on. You’ll text Carlisle and let him now what happened. It shouldn’t be too-

*” Hey wait!”

* You’re already in the hallway when someone call out to you. You turn, expecting it to be Angela or Mike. Never in a million years would you expect her to be standing there in the middle of the hall, her hand hastily wiping away a stray tear.

* “Mr. Peterson’s a f*cking jerk.” Jessica sniffles, walking quickly to catch up with you. You don’t miss the fact that her bags not slung across her back.

* She must have left a minute after you did. You haven’t thought about her as a friend. Not a real one at least. She’s kind of like hot sauce, it’s fun when it’s around, but if it’s not then that’s not a big deal.

* So to see her here, the first to follow you out, rambling about wether you want to get frozen yogurt or pizza, it warms your unbeating heart.

* “Hey Jessica?” She stops mid-sentence, her eyes swinging up to you.

* You haven’t been fair to her. But you’re going to change that.

* “Thanks for being my friend.” And she smiles at you, her arms wrapped around her tight. It’s not the fake ones you see often the ones she throws to Lauren when she’s asking for Jessica’s opinion on an outfit, or when Connor tries to copy her homework’s. it’s a genuine smile.

* Before she can open her mouth, you hear two more shouts from the hallway.

*Angela and Mike are jogging down the hallway to catch up with you. The latter carrying a bright pink backpack in his hand.

* “Geez Jess, the least you could do is take your bag before you go bolting out of there” Mike’s panting as he holds out her bag. You don’t miss the blush ghosting her face.

*Looks like she still has a crush on him.

* “Hey, are you okay?” Angela asks, and you wish you could cry as you nod.

* “Is it weird that I’m kind of happy right now?” And the three of them smile, before wrapping you into a group hug.

*They all smell terrible. Jessica smells like boiled broccoli, Mike is like the overwhelming stench of fat mixed with sugar, and Angela.. Angela’s probably the worst. She’s sickeningly sweet mixed with a healthy dose of starch.

*it’s disgusting. You have a hard time believing any of the Cullen’s would lose their minds when they’re this close to any of them.

*still, even with the repulsive stench, it’s nice. You haven’t felt the body gets of another human in a long time, or heard the quiet thump of their beating heart. Even the odor is nice, it reminds you that they’re human.

*And for a second it’s easier to pretend you’re human too, just like them.

* “Dude why are you so cold?” Jessica groans, breaking the moment. She taps your arm but doesn’t pull away.

* “While we’re asking questions, Mike how much axe do you use?” Angela’s eyes are watering as you both laugh.

* “Like you’re one to talk, I can smell your strawberry shampoo two hallways over!”

* You watch the three of them untangle and start walking to the back exit from the gym.

* “So where do we go now? We can’t stay here.” Angela says

* “I was thinking maybe a coffee shop, if we take out books we might pass for having a free period” Jessica pipes in

* “Oh, how about the Arcade? A buddy of mine works there since he’s already on break from college, I don’t think he’ll minds us hanging out there.”

* So this is what Alice meant when she said everything was going to be okay.

*Your Human Friends were going to save you

*You haven’t forgotten Edward’s warning, someone did break your trust and let you down.

* But that’s what it means to build friendships, you open yourself to being hurt, and so do they.

* “Hey (Y/N/N), what do you think?” Mike asks, and they all turn around to notice you’re not walking with them.

*You try not to smile to wide. You don’t want to scare them off now.

* “I think there’s something fun about an arcade during the day, no lines.” You say, walking a little bit faster to catch up with your friends.

Tag list: @moonlights27 @thebluetint @the100thtwilight @awesomebooklover17 @oneofthepotterheads @smileygirl08 @imdoingathingmom @iconicgguk @yrawn @alyciaswhore @little-horror-show

[dimonds456]

*sees your tags about being salty about suf spinel*

YOU CAN'T JUST SAY THAT AND NOT SHARE YOUR SALT /LH

Okay, but I'm warning you, you asked for it.

LONG POST WARNING.

LIKE A REALLY, REALLY LONG POST WARNING.

Dimonds456 Presents: How They Did My Baby Dirty: An SUTM and SUF Analysis on Steven and Spinel (Told by a Progressively More and More Angry Narrator)

THE CONTEXT: There was a post talking about how you think a character will fix everything, but then they wind up making it works. My tags were "#*looks at suf spinel* #I am still salty about that like the bitch I am fghdjskgfa"

Grab some water, guys.

Let's start by talking about Steven for a moment. In the original show, when we were following him as a 12-14-year-old, we watched as he built up trauma and then learned how to hide it expertly well, to the point that most of the audience didn't even realize he was struggling.

You can actually pinpoint the seconds he makes those decisions, too. The best example is in "The Test," when he's storming up to the gems. He's pissed. His fists are clenched, he's got that anime eye shadow overlay on his face, he's frowning, all that. the Crystal Gems are clapping for him and lying to his face, and he KNOWS they are because he overheard them talking about how it was "impossible for him to fail" that test (- Garnet).

And yet... he also overheard them saying that they're just trying their best. They don't know what he needs. They never really have. No one is sure. So, Steven realizes that by picking a fight, he would just be making it worse for them because they would know they messed up, and nothing gets solved, and everyone gets more depressed and Amethyst and Pearl go back to fighting each other and- well, you get the picture. He doesn't have a full understanding of what's going on, so his kid brain went "so I can either be angry at them and cause problems, or I can tell them I did a good job to make them happy."

"I can lie to make them happy."

He storms down there angry, still mulling this decision over. He drops to the floor, frowning and pissed, and says "I can't believe you guys." He is so close to yelling at them, and yet, when he looks up at them...

"That was so... INSANE!"

You never would have been able to tell. It was right there. That moment. And then he never stops. For the ENTIRE REST of the series, he NEVER STOPS. He puts the Crystal Gems above himself every time. Think Rose's Scabbard, The Message, The Return/Jailbreak. The Cluster. Peridot. Dealing with Jasper. The zoo arc (ESPECIALLY the zoo arc). Aquamarine. Then pretty much the entirety of Season 5.

(NOTE: I went back and rewatched that scene for the screenshot. There is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it lip tremble in there too! D,: )

He lives for the people around him, and not for himself. Almost never for himself.

Put a pin in that.

Now, let's look at his maturity. People thought that was just him being mature, right? That he grew up. No. That was not it at all. He was learning from his own behaviors as well as the people around him, and building up this idea that he had to "fight to be everything that everyone wants [him] to be when [he's] grown" (- Steven, the extended intro).

Yes, he matured, but not because of that. He started making various decisions to benefit the group that oftentimes he wasn't fully comfortable with, but something he believed would be better for everyone.

Put a pin in that.

Then, later in Future, we see it all manifest. He is selfless to a fault, to the point that he can't think of himself in a positive light in the sense that he's good. We see it a couple of times, but especially in "Prickly Pair," when he vents to Cactus Steven about everything that happened. He feels useless, which is taking a toll on his mental health.

"Why do I need to be needed?" He needs to be needed because that's everything he was as a kid. His entire IDENTITY rests on his ability to help other people, no matter what happens to him. He literally sacrificed himself for them countless times (the big one of course being the Aquamarine incident), and now as a teenager, his whole sense of self is wrapped up in this need to get up and do something to make the world better.

And when he can't make the world better, his world falls apart.

Put a pin in that.

Now, let's talk about Spinel, the moment we've all been waiting for.

Spinel, as a gem, was made specifically to be a friend. That is her niche, and her purpose. Her reason for existing. At first, she and Pink Diamond got along very well, as shown in the flashbacks right before Drift Away plays (I headcanon she has illusion powers and was literally projecting her trauma, but that's a completely different post).

She and Pink vibed together for who knows how long, until one day, Pink started to not like being around Spinel anymore, finding her annoying and childish. We don't know what really caused the switch, just that it did happen (but of course, I have headcanons for that, too). Spinel never realized until it was FAR too late.

Steven actually describes his younger self as annoying at one point during the Diamond Days arc, when he decides to throw the ball, so I'm legally allowed to make this comparison.

Steven and Spinel were the SAME. They were both young and dumb, and something that at least a few people found annoying. People put up with their BS though, since they cared about them. But, while Steven realized this and matured because of it (or bottled up his emotions, to each their own), Spinel never did. She never matured. She was never given a chance.

In the movie, we saw her as a child, and watched as she played with Pink and never tried to be or do anything else, to the point that Pink Diamond thought to realize she might be struggling (and maybe Spinel didn't, either!).

She lives for the people around him, and not for herself. Almost never for herself.

And when she can't be friends with this one person, her world falls apart.

Sound familiar? It should. I literally pulled from things I said earlier lol.

Spinel and Steven are mirror reflections of each other. Reset!Spinel is 14-year-old Steven, completely devoting her entire self to one idea. Steven's was helping others no matter what, Spinel's was serving Pink no matter what. Spinel is like a combination of 14 and 12-year-old Steven in this sense, honestly. Goofy, without a care in the world, except one thing: the people around her. She would do anything for Pink, just as Steven would do anything for his family.

Now, Pink Diamond left Spinel. We all know this story. She left Spins there in the garden for 6,000 years because she grew more mature and started a rebellion, effectively forgetting about this one gem she kinda stopped caring about standing there.

Personally, I don't think Pink had any malicious or even intentional intent in that, but this ain't about her. This is about how Spinel continued to sacrifice herself for Pink, even when Pink didn't need her to anymore. She wanted to please Pink 24/7, all day every day, to the point she self-sacrificed and stood perfectly still for her for millenia.

Now, back to Steven. The gems don't need him anymore in Future, right? They've all grown up and matured and headed off towards their own futures, effectively stranding him alone in terms of self-identity and self-worth. But he stays there, ready to assist at the drop of a hat, or- in Future's case- the call of a phone.

Episode 6 anyone? The one everyone says shouldn't be in Future? That it should have been cut to allow more focus on Steven himself? The fusion episode? YEAH. THAT. He is running himself RAGGED to try and help others, to give himself a purpose. He is self-sacrificing. (He's a professional, don't worry. /j)

Steven metaphorically planted his feet down and decided that he was going to devote himself to the people around him.

Spinel's feet were literally tied down soon after she made that very same decision.

Okay, enough with the backstory. Time for the salt.

In Future, Steven is at his lowest low. He is running to the Diamonds for help, to see if there is SOMETHING they can do to help him. And we first see Spinel.

Spinel has been through the ringer on a lot of the same mental problems Steven himself is facing. She self-isolated, watched as everyone grew up and left her, and then began to lash out because of it. She understands what he's going through. We even see her concerned as Steven starts to tell her why he's there.

Spinel takes him from Diamond to Diamond, until he's running out of White's room in a blind panic. Spinel is able to catch up with him, and Steven realizes the same. SHE GETS IT. He turns around and says "Hey, you used to have vengeful thoughts!"

Spinel replies "Ohhhhh yeah, but I don't have 'em anymore."

"How did you make them stop?"

She then goes on to sing Change to him, effectively cutting that conversation short.

On paper, that sounds very in-character for her. She's goofy! And that is what worked for her! But the problem is that they had to dumb her down in order to make that character decision work. In the movie, she was shown to be observant and able to put two and two together, even if she often jumps to conclusions (see her being the one to figure out that the gems needed to remember their "pieces," as she remembers the Garden, her re-realizing what Pink did, and her meltdown later when she reactivates the injector).

Spinel is smart. It should have been in character for her to realize that Steven was panicking just as she had been, and needed to be talked to gently. But no. Instead, she starts belting out Change, which given Steven's situation, would not work for him.

At the very least, she would have started doing little tricks or started trying to get him to join a game, which would have taken his mind off of it (to her anyways, that wouldn't have worked either), which then could have prompted further discussion.

Then, once they finally start talking, Spinel could have been able to share some legitimate advise. She was hurt and lashed out. What worked for her was opening up to others and letting them in, learning to trust again (which Steven also has problems with- he can't trust that the Gems won't break down the second he turns his back. Trust does NOT equal love, there is no doubt he loves them to no end), and allowing other people in.

That is what Steven needed, too. He needed to let his guard down and just talk to someone. Sure, Spinel was not going to be a fix-all, but she could have at least offered some insight on what to do.

She UNDERSTANDS him. They are a reflection of each other.

But instead of offering help, Spinel made it worse. She was dumbed down to allow the rest of Future to happen, to make Steven feel even worse. Because- and here's the kicker- because the one person who MIGHT understand him doesn't, that means there's no hope for him.

At least, that's how he sees it. And so, the denial- and "Everything's Fine"- begins.

Here's the thing, though; they DIDN'T NEED to make that decision. If the Crew wanted to have Spinel not understand Steven, then draw the line of her being a Gem from Era 1, used to the Diamonds shattering people.

Steven has killed Jasper and revived her at this point, so maybe Spinel offers that at least he's trying to get better, just like the other Diamonds! See, they're doing so great now! And then that makes him feel worse since he IS trying to do better, but is only failing, while the Diamonds- who were MADE to be nasty dictators- are doing better than him.

The Diamonds shattered a lot of people, and they're doing better than Steven, who has only shattered one person, and not even on purpose. How horrible is that?

Then boom. THERE'S your angst, with a much smarter, more helpful Spinel.

Look, I knew going in that Spinel wasn't going to be able to help. The finale had to happen somehow, and we hadn't seen Wormy Boi yet. I have always been a storng believer of the corrupted Steven theory, so I knew it was bound to happen. But I was hoping that Spinel would at least try. But she really didn't. She just brushed him off, offering really loose advise that didn't even fit his situation and thinking that would be enough.

No. It's not.

I can see where the Crew was coming from. I still love that episode, and I love seeing Spins in it (until that exact moment). This is probably the only thing in SU that genuinely gets me mad. Or, well, maybe not mad, but definitely annoyed and- you guessed it- salty.

I have an unfinished fic where I kinda delve into Spinel's head for that episode called "A New Start". If you really want my thoughts on where Spinel's head was at, there's a bit in there that really explains it. In the fic, Steven decides to rejuvenate himself and brings Spinel along with him, and that's all the context you need for this.

I cannot explain that moment in the climax of the episode, though. Maybe she thought it would make him feel better, or that maybe he really did just need to open his eyes and see the error of his ways (which doesn't make sense, he KNOWS what he did). Maybe she thought that being silly would help somehow.

But you'd think she'd learn from her time with Pink as she grew more annoyed with her, but apparently not. Or maybe she would realize for a second that being loud and annoying was bad. Or maybe she doesn't learn.

Either way, it- and she- was dumb. And they did my baby dirty.

*drops mic and walks away*

[bukojuiice]

rose-colored boy

ೃ pairing: (eren jaeger x fem! reader)

ೃ  tags: college/modern au, fluff, humor, love at first sight cliché, mikasa is your cute little sister, armin, sasha, jean, and connie are your besties, and eren is a himbo who works hard and has terrible friends.

ೃ warnings: strong language and mild suggestive content

ೃ part 1/??? of my (eren x reader) college au!

ೃ word count: 3000 words

ೃ  my nav  →  my mha writing masterlist 

ೃ This is my very first snk x reader fic! so i hope you bear with some errors! qwq 

i’ve been following the anime ever since it was released in 2013, and this is the first time i’m  going to be writing for it.  this month’s manga chapter really took me out so why not channel my sadness thru writing an fluff! eren fic? 🤧 i hope you enjoy either way!

ೃ  please do reblog if you enjoyed!! (feel free to add tags too because i love reading them and my heart swells with happiness when people love my work!)

ೃ  in which (Y/N) (L/N), 20, still in school, and regretfully-unregretfully-her little girl scout sister's assistant, meets eren jaeger in an embarrassing too innocent door-to-door cookie sale whilst a humiliating party was going on.

cookies, suspicious maybe-maybe-not pot brownies, meddling little sisters and friends, “oh my god they were roommates” vine on replay 24/7, homework, tears, and fairy lights bring them together.

“I’m going to enter now.”

“Ahhh yes, please!”

“Shut up, please.” Eren muttered to himself as he tossed and turned around in his bed, but still couldn’t get to sleep. “When will they ever stop doing this?” Why did Eren’s next-door roommate and his girlfriend have to do this five times a day? They had a lot of stamina for 21-year-olds who didn’t have anything better to do.

Eren’s thoughts eventually brought him to his parents.

His parents- did they even exist?

For pretty much 14 years of Eren’s life, they had been out of town or out of the country. His older brother, Zeke, blonde, bespectacled, tall, and sometimes too far up his own ass older brother who Eren is able to confide in from time to time, recently got a girlfriend whom he’s hopelessly in love with (they’re even thinking about getting married which isn’t really a problem since the girl is genuinely nice to his older brother so Eren is good with her.), so… things in the family had been a bit rough and busy to say the least.

Communication with his parents wasn’t always the best.

Eren would study late at night back when he was seven, because no one bothered to help him with homework. Along with the fact that he wasn’t the brightest kid in class, and he knew that very well, but he had ambition and he was determined to make it big in the world. He focused more on sports, particularly Soccer in middle school and high school, and tried to balance that with his studies.  After being granted a Sports Scholarship from Shigashina University, Eren decided to rent and share a flat, living with his batchmates who he met at a mixer party (before Uni started as this whole meet and get to know each other kind of thing) and whom he was so quick to call his ‘friends’, just so that he could get out of the hellhole that was his own house.

But things turned out much worse than expected.

Eren thought that the ‘College Life’ was to focus more on pursuing your future career and make a name for yourself but… it was the other way around.

He thought that after Freshmen year, everyone would take things seriously. Sure, have some drinks, get wasted after finals, or have house parties from time to time. But he was unfortunately, dragged into the wrong crowd. After attending around 5 parties in the first few months of being generalized as one of the infamous and pompous freshman archetypes present in every university, he called it a year and spent the rest of his nights doing homework, projects, playing video games, staying at the school soccer field until 10PM while his roommates were probably smoking crack and not caring about the number of units they needed to take for each of their goddamn subjects.

 He was ~living the life~ and now that he regrets most of the decisions he made in freshman year, the only option that he has left was to wait until his third year and move to a different apartment.  

 Now, here he was, Sophomore year, nearing the end of the semester, and very much eager to get the hell out of here and also study for his upcoming finals on Constitutional Law II, as his professor, Mr. Erwin Smith, was going to throw hands if one of his students score below average on the exam.

 “EREN MICK JAEGER! BROOOO!” Eren winces when he hears the shrieky and annoying voice of his flatmate Thomas Wagner, calling out to him. “Wanna go and party with us?” Eren smiles halfheartedly, shaking his head, “Ah, no thanks. I have a game tomorrow and finals coming up on Thursday.” Thomas smirked and wrapped his arm around Eren, “Oh fuck that, live the college life ya spoon.”

“No, really I have to study.”

Thomas frowned and groaned, “Oh god, you’re such a killjoy. Fine, if that’s what you want. Don’t blame us if we tell you to buy some beer down the block.”

Eren cracked an obviously fake laugh and pushed Thomas away from him, “You’re an ass. That only happened once and that was when we first met. Don’t you even dare try to ask me to buy you shit again.”

“Woah. Woah. Woaaaaaah. That was a joke Eren. Loosen up will you?” Thomas raises an eyebrow, clearly taken aback by the brunette’s sudden aggressiveness. He hums Moves like Jaeger by Maroon 5 as a way to spite Eren whilst passing by him down the staircase.

The brunette shook his head, tying his hair into a bun carelessly and sprinting into his room without uttering another word.

Eren just wanted to study. He really did.

Instead, his roommates, all of them, mind you, were all partying in the lounge and the music was too loud and Eren was too annoyed.

They did manage to bring him out and make him stay in the kitchen where he mindlessly glared at anyone who came in. He sighed and tapped his pen restlessly amongst the insane amount of books on the table.

There was a knock.

His roommate, Floch, came in the kitchen with his girlfriend who Eren couldn’t even name with all the women he has brought into the apartment. She was hanging onto his arm and giggling. Floch’s eyes were red and his speech very slow and lazy. "Eren!" he said with a sly grin.

Eren raised an eyebrow, shooting him an irritated look. "What now Floch? Are you here to tell me to take a shot again?" The ginger-haired’s girlfriend giggled once again and kissed Floch’s cheek. Floch laughed and swatted her away, though he missed by a long shot. "Someone's at the door," a thumb pointing to the den. "wouldchumind ge'in it?" another giggle. The girl nodded sloshily. "Yesss! Erenieee get 'em door, please. Be a dearrrrr."

Eren frowned and stared at them menacingly, earning no reaction from the two as they were mad drunk. "You were just in the den," Floch’s eyes widened. "My lovey wovey-we was in the den?" His girlfriend’s mouth went into an O. "Di'nt notice tha'!"

Eren sighed and stood up. He miraculously got through the throng of bodies and to the front door. "Yes?" he called out exasperated, not knowing who was outside.

"Do you want cookies?"

Eren turned and looked to see a little raven-haired girl, a girl scout no less, a blonde-haired boy pulling on a trolley who looked significantly shorter than him, wearing rimmed glasses, and an overall appearance whom his “friends” would immediately label as a nerd they had to be a few feet away from if they saw him and lastly, a girl who looked very tired and very done with life.

Beautiful (h/c)-colored hair, her eyes looked like the starry night sky, twinkling as he catches her gaze and a smile that looked forced, but warm all the same.  

A girl who was just absolutely fucking gorgeous.

Eren was captivated. His heart was beating like crazy and he could feel his ears turn red. He would make a fool of himself if he looked red as a tomato right now.

"Um," The girl peeked inside and grimaced, squeezing the hand that was her little sister's shoulder and catching Eren’s gaze. "Mikasa, I don't think these kinds of guys would want cookies."

“Unless they're pot cookies,” Eren almost said. Mikasa pouted and widened her eyes at Eren.

The older girl crouched down and frantically covered her little sister’s eyes. "Nopenopenope, Mi, don't pull that on him."

"But (Y/N)!"

(Y/N).

Her name was (Y/N).

Eren smiled sincerely (for the first time today) and leaned back inside to the drawer by the door to grab the extra cash he and his roommates put there for emergency pizza and stuff. "You know what? You're absolutely brilliant at selling cookies. I'll take one."

Mikasa smiled back at him cheekily and tugged her older sister’s hand. "See, (Y/N)?! He wants some! Go get 'em!”

The raven-haired girl then turned to the blonde teen, practically jumping up and down. “Armin look! We sold another one!"

“We did!” The boy who was apparently named Armin, clapped his hands together, then gave the little girl a high five. “You’re a natural at this Mikasa!”

(Y/N) looked at Eren, then Mikasa, and sighed. She grabbed a bag from the trolley Armin was dragging around and pulled out a box of cookies. Eren grabbed them slowly from her, their hands almost touching as he gave (Y/N) a small smile. The (h/c) girl blushed lightly, though not visible enough for the brunette to notice.

"Hope to see you again!" Eren called out when the siblings said their thank you's and bid farewell.

And, this time, even for the slightest moment, Eren’s serotonin levels were going straight through the roof. His heart was still beating loudly, almost in sync with the trash music his roommates were blaring on the speakers. and for a moment, even just for a moment. 

He felt genuine happiness that he hasn’t felt in a very long time.

 The three of you continue to walk animatedly, now that the coast was clear and the guy from earlier wasn’t within earshot, your blonde friend just had to break the silence.

 Armin smiles, pushing his glasses up to the crook of his nose. “(Y/N), you did see how he looked at you right?” The blonde chuckles softly, catching his best friend off guard.

 You blinked. “Him?” You try to stop yourself from smiling, blushing profusely. “Geez Armin, I don’t even know his name yet.”

 “I’ll bet you 100 bucks that he goes to our Uni.”

 “Even if he does, it’s not like we’ll talk to him or anything. Judging from the place he lives in and the people he was hanging out with, we’re in two completely different worlds.” You shook your head in denial, holding Mikasa’s hand, your interlocked arms swinging playfully. Armin gives you a knowing look in response.

 Mikasa continued to wave back at the boy whom they had just sold cookies too. (Y/N) looked over her shoulder and smiled. “Wasn’t he nice (Y/N)?” Mikasa asks her older sister. (Y/N) returned her sister a small smile, “He was.”

 "I hope we see him again!"

"I'm sure we will."

 The day of Eren’s dreaded finals finally arrive.

He has prepared tirelessly for this. Hours upon hours of hard work. But, before he finally gets his well-deserved sleep, he has a few more hours to cram and absorb more knowledge for his exams.

So, what better way to do so than head straight to the library as soon as it opens at 6 AM?

This time, no one was going to bother him. No annoying roommates and no distractions.

Eren heads over to a table near the coffee and snack machines. He puts down his bag on a seat next to him, and begins to study once again. Looking through the course materials and the lessons that he still didn’t quite understand. Eren was so absorbed with studying and relying on his gut feeling that no other student in this university would think of going to the library at 6 AM on the day of finals… then he’s wrong. Very wrong. 

 “Sasha, should you even be eating mashed potato this early in the morning?” Armin asks the brunette worriedly, a huge tone of concern in his voice.

“Armin! Don’t chu worry! I ate heavy breakfast! Bacon, Eggs, and Toast! Did you not see me in the kitchen!?” She reassures her blonde friend, continuing to scoop up the mashed potato on a reusable cup.

“Liar.” Connie hissed, narrowing his eyes. “I was awake since 4 AM. Not once did I see you sneak into the kitchen until (Y/N) woke you up.”

“Atatata. Can we… stop with the negative vibes for a second?” Jean tries to become the mediator by holding his hands up against his two friends who were about to start an argument. “It’s finals week. We have to keep a clear mind, body and soul-“

“Jean, you know that’s BS.” You yawn widely, still practically half-asleep.

“Oh, come on! Can’t you just let me be positive just this once!? If we fail this exam I’m going to blame you!“

The five of you continue to talk mindlessly on the way to the library. Connie pushes the glass door open, very much excited to have this huge library all to yourselves.

Until…

There was someone already there.

Your eyes immediately come into contact with Eren’s. His radiant jade eyes staring into yours, mouth practically agape, his hands holding on to wooden chopsticks as the hot air of instant ramen breezes through his face.

“Oh?” Connie blinks. “Guess we aren’t the first ones here then.” He whistles.

“(Y/N)!” Armin nudges you in the arm in an attempt to tease you. “Guess your wish came true huh? We did see him again! By himself too!”

“W-what am I supposed to do exactly?” You turn to Armin, speaking in a hushed whisper.  

“Say thank you to him! Offer him to go on a boba date or something!”

“You got the Sasha seal of approval (Y/N)! He’s hot!” Sasha motions you a thumbs up and you can’t help but feel yourself already wanting to die of embarrassment.

The four of them slightly push you towards his table. With your friends cornering you like this, there was no way of escaping this.

All you had to do was talk to him and properly thank him for buying cookies from your little sister.

That was it.

No need for any extra ad-libs or poor and bad attempts of flirtation.

Just thank him (Y/N).

You can do this.

You breathe a hefty sigh then approach his table with confidence. The brunette continues to look up at you whilst turning the page of his reviewer that he wasn’t even looking at.

“Hi again! I just wanted to thank you properly for helping my sister and I, out the other day. Mikasa really appreciated the gesture you did for her, and she couldn’t stop talking about you to our parents since we saw you. You see, none of the other girl scouts want to be paired up with my sister because they think she’s an emotionless and monotonous freak. They’re really mean to her but she really wants to continue being a girl scout so my friend and I accompany her whenever she has to sell cookies!”

“It’s N-no problem!” Eren quickly replies, running a hand through his hair. “Why would they say such horrible things to your sister like that? Judging from the way she acted in front of me, she was quite the opposite. In a positive way of course! Those kids are just assholes who are intimidated because another girl their age is seemingly better than them.”

You giggle in response. “Thank you. I’ll tell Mikasa that you said that!” 

There was short silence for a few seconds until you realized that you forgot to say something. 

“Ah! I’m (Y/N) (L/N) by the way!”

“Eren.” He smiles, reaching his hand out to you for you to shake. You grip his strong and calloused hand firmly, and Eren could feel his ears turning red again while you were about to blush as red as a tomato.

You hear your friends snickering in the background and you took this as a sign to go back to your table. “I guess, I’ll see you around campus?” You ask, tilting your head. For, you actually really wanted to see him again after this.

“Yea! I’ll be seeing you!” He grins widely, watching you leave where he was seated. His smile then envelops into a frown as soon as you went away then he goes back to studying.

“(Y/N)! (Y/N)!” Connie whispers loudly, calling you over by waving his hand. Why was this dunce being so painfully obvious? “Ask him if he’s looking for an apartment or if he wants to live with us!”

“Already!?” You ask in disbelief, a bit shocked by what Connie had just said. He scoots to the left, as you take a seat between him and Sasha. “Guys, you’ve known him for like… 3 minutes. Only Armin and I actually interacted with him before this.”

“He has to pass the vibe check first.” Jean shrugs, sipping on an iced expresso. “But, yeah, he does seem alright from a few feet away.”

“Come on (Y/N)! Ask him!” Sasha nods approvingly. “It’s weird that he’s studying alone like this while we’re in another table trying to remain unaware that he looks lonely as hell.”

“UMmMM… maybe he wants to study alone because that’s the only way he can focus? That’s a thing that normal people do, Sasha.” You remark sarcastically, trying to think up of more reasons to not approach him again.

Armin clears his throat, “Look, (Y/N), it won’t hurt to try right? Besides, don’t you feel a tiny bit sorry for him? He does seem lonely and you do have a crush on him so… more ways to interact with him right?”

Your shoulders slump and you breathe a defeated sigh. “Okay okay fine.” You make your way to Eren’s table again but before you do, you turn to your friends. “By the way, I don’t really have a crush on him just yet. I just find him cute okay?”

“Yeah yeah.” They say in unison as you continue to walk back to the brunette’s table.

“Hi again Eren!” You wave and try your best not to fumble or look painfully obvious that you were infatuated by him. He looks up and you try your best not to smile like a weirdo.

“Hm?” He hums.

“Would you like to come over to our table and study with us?”

To be continued.