#but goddamnit i just really Want This One To Work Out y'know

[queenlua]

a fun thing about preordering manga volumes is you can usually place the preorder over a year in advance

so when you finally get the shipping notification it's this delightful surprise present from past-you to future-you

anyway. time to find out if Aki Irie will finally live up to her goddamn potential or if i am going to be Rueful And Disappointed Yet Again

[pretty-little-mind33]

Tom Ryder x fem!actress!reader

Summary: Tom books a role in a musical with the only one goal in mind. He wants to work with an actress he's been crushing on forever—you.

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: arrogant/asshole Tom (duh), swearing

~ thank you for requesting this, anon 🫶💖 ~

TOM RYDER MASTERLIST

Tom Ryder doesn't like singing. He doesn't even like musicals! He's an action star, goddamnit!  This meant that when his agent came up to him one day and said he'd gotten him an audition for a new musical, Tom laughed at him. 

"A musical, Danny, and it's a romance?! What the flying fuck do I even pay you for?" he complains as he lies on the couch of his trailer, his arms flexed behind his head.

"It's good for publicity and it shows you have some range, Ryder!" Danny explains as calmly as he can, already annoyed with Tom's childish behavior.

Tom waves his hand as if to shoo him away.

"I have range. I don't need to prove anything to anyone," he says condescendingly. Danny pinches the bridge of his nose in annoyance. He walks over to Tom and drops a magazine into his lap. 

"Y/n Y/l/n already took the part. She's the lead. They're casting her love interest," he says with a knowing smirk as Tom scrambles into a sitting position. He quickly reads the headlines as his eyes roam around your picture.

Tom's crush on you isn't a secret to anyone who works with/for him. He's madly in love with you to the point it's embarrassing because you've spoken maybe twice at an award show and nothing more.

"When's the audition?" he asks Danny immediately. 

* * *

Tom is grateful for his naturally decent voice and the year of vocal training he'd taken a few years ago because that means while he doesn't usually sing, he doesn't completely suck. 

He's never, in all his years of acting, tried so hard for a role so when Danny tells him he got the part, he makes a very unattractive squeal as he celebrates.

He's over the moon until his first day when he realizes he has to actually work with you now. Color drains from his face and he pushes up his cool-dude pink-tinted sunglasses to hide how anxious he must look.

He sees you sitting in your chair, scrolling your phone. Shit, you're as gorgeous in person as he remembers, he thinks and he internally panics as he feels like he's floating.   

"Sup," he says nonchalantly, taking a seat in his chair next to yours.

Sup? What the fuck. 

You look up, smiling at him, "Oh, hi," you turn to him and outstretch your hand, "I'm Y/n."

Tom blinks as he stares at your hand. 

Do you really think he doesn't know who you are?! Or do you just introduce yourself to everyone you meet? 

With a confused expression, he clears his throat and shakes your hand. 

"Ryder," he says, "Tom Ryder."

You smile at him. "Okay, James Bond," you joke.

Tom flushes pink, "I was just introducing myself—y'know—being humble and all. I don't know why it's needed though," he sniffs arrogantly, "You obviously know who I am, and I obviously know who you are," he says, his douchiness involuntarily slipping out.

You narrow your eyes at him. "Obviously," you echo, your tone curt as you turn to look down at your phone again. 

Tom panics. No girl has ever just ignored him like this. He leans closer, clearing his throat. "Sorry, did I say something wrong?" he asks, pretending your lack of interest in him isn't bruising his enormous ego.

You huff, sending him a look. "No, your lack of self-awareness just rendered me speechless for a moment, Tom Ryder," you say sarcastically and then grin. "But, you'want some friendly advice? Co-star to co-star? Pull your head out of your fucking ass and realize not everyone here worships the ground you walk on because you can learn a few lines." 

Tom's entire face burns crimson as his mouth opens in shock. You stand and clap your hands on your thigh as if you'd forgotten something and then you turn to look at him once more. "Oh, and introduce yourself to people around here. It's common courtesy. Toodles," you wave teasingly and spin on your heels to the makeup department. 

Tom's never felt more like an idiot in his entire life. Somehow, he managed to make a fool of himself and also make you hate him all in one simple interaction. 

Fuck this. He rubs a hand over his jaw and composes himself. At least work will go well—as it usually does. 

* * *

He's so so wrong. 

Turns out, working on a musical and a romance is much harder than action star Tom Ryder ever imagined. By the end of the day, he's completely embarrassed by not only his table reading but how croaky his voice sounded when in the studio, and he's so so close to calling Danny and begging him to bail him out of this. 

He stares at himself in the mirror of his dressing room and he prepares to bang his head on the wall when he hears a knock on his door.

"What?" he mutters, slumping down on his couch as he pops an ibuprofen in his mouth to calm his headache.

When the door opens, you're standing there, holding up two bubble-milk drinks. "I come in peace," you whisper and Tom sits up instantly. 

"Y/n," he whispers, blushing. 

"Tom Rdyer," you smile and hand him one of the drinks. "Rough day, huh?"

Tom coughs. "Wasn't that bad," he shrugs and sips on the drink, looking up at you behind his silly sunglasses. "Thanks for this," he says, a little confused because he'd definitely gotten the impression you hated him.

You nod and sit next to him, "You'll do fine" you reassure him, looking around his dressing room and then back at him, "you're just not used to this type of movie…yet. But I think it's admirable to change your scene so drastically so if you ever need me, I'm here for you. After all, what are co-stars for?" you smile kindly.

Tom feels his heart leap in his chest as his pupils dilate.  

"Thanks," he mumbles again, unsure how to deal with a situation like this. Usually, he'd make a snide comment or even a crude joke to calm his nerves, but he doesn't want to do that with you so he just sits in silence.

He's truly not used to this awkward silence with women. He doesn't have to think very hard to know that by now he'd usually have his tongue shoved down their throats, his hand under their shirts as he whispers meaningless praises in their ears. 

But, you're different. Tom doesn't want that with you—not so soon anyway—and he hates this new feeling he has whenever you're around. It makes him feel weak and mushy.

"I saw your last movie," you say, making conversation. "I was really diggin' the gold cowboy outfit," you laugh and if Tom pretends really hard he hears some flirtation in your voice.

His lips curl up into a smirk which eventually morphs into a smile. 

"Ah-ha," you grin and playfully poke the soft dimples that appear on his cheeks. "I was wondering when you'd drop that douchey smirk and smile at me." 

Tom looks stunned by how easily you read him.

"What douchey smirk? I don't have a douchey smirk," he defends and scrunches his nose in disgust, staring at you like you've gone insane but you just bend your knee on the couch and turn to him. 

"You definitely do," you laugh and pull out your phone as you type something. 

"What're you doing?" Tom moves closer, suddenly anxious.

You pull your hand away as he leans in and when you muffle a laugh and turn your phone screen to him, you giggle and his face falls.

"Douchey smirk," you say and point at the screen; which displays a random picture of him from Google during some red-carpet event he doesn't even remember. 

"Google is absolute shit," Tom exclaims and he debates retaliating with a picture of you, but he knows he wouldn't find one where he would find you ugly. 

You're always gorgeous.

"Now you're just being mean, sweetheart," he says and the pet names slip past his lips unconsciously. Luckily, you don't mention it or seem put off. Tom's shoulders relax. 

"What? You don't like it?" you turn your phone again and swipe the screen, looking at more pictures. "It's not like you could ever look bad."

Tom bites the inside of his cheek. Again, if this was any other girl, he would take that as an invitation to flirt heavily. With you? He's a blushy mess that doesn't seem to have any smooth moves anymore. 

You put your phone away and smile. "No snarky comment, Mister Big-Shot?" 

He chuckles and his real smile returns. "Not tonight." 

You sit up and look into his eyes. You don't seem by any means nervous when you say, "You're an intriguing character, Tom Ryder. I do like that. How about you take me out to dinner tonight—if you can clear your clearly very busy schedule." You gesture to whatever he had been doing in his dressing room (which had only been some self-loathing). 

Tom's never been asked out by a woman. He's usually the one asking them out and he'd assumed he'd hate not being the one to take charge but this feels so natural. "Like a date?"

You laugh and stand up, sipping on your bubble milk. "Like dinner. I'll see if I'll give you an upgrade by the end of the night," you say with a wink and Tom melts right then and there. 

He accepts instantly, also liking the challenge, and he takes you to dinner. He takes you to your favorite restaurant, ignoring that he very much dislikes Thai food, and he plays the perfect gentleman—or rather, he doesn't even have to play a gentleman because you seem to bring it out of him naturally. 

It's almost midnight as he walks you back to your car, his arm almost touching yours as you both walk side-by-side, stuck in a light-hearted debate about book adaptations turned into movies.

Occasionally, he'll check to make sure his security team is walking behind you but his hand with twitch to steady around your waist in case he also needs to keep you safe from some crazy fans or unsuspected paparazzi.

"You don't seem like the type to read much," you say, feeling content as your heels click against the pavement. You feel safe around him and you smile at the feeling of his fingers sometimes skimming your waist. 

"I read," he frowns and then pauses, "I read a lot of scripts."

You laugh, liking his blunt honesty. 

Tom's chest swells at the sound of your laugh. He'd managed to bring it out of you on more than one occasion tonight and he wears each time like a badge of honor—even if he's 95% sure you're laughing at him. 

When you arrive at your car, you turn to him and Tom opens his mouth to ask the question that has been on his mind all night, "So, was this a date?" but instead, your arms wrap around him and you kiss his lips. It's quick, almost fleeting and he wonders if he'd imagined the entire thing. 

"I don't usually kiss anyone on the first date," you say, slightly more nervous now, "so don't make me regret it, Tom Ryder," you whisper and his hand almost clutches at your waist to pull you in for another kiss but instead he holds the door for you to climb into your car. 

He sends you a nervous smile and then watches as your car disappear around the corner. "I promise I won't," he whispers into the air knowing he means every word. 

He's never taken his time with anyone, but he'll stop time entirely just to spend every second he can with you.

[gh0stface-k1sser]

Rae Transcript :3!!!

(Ft him being a faggot for Johnny) (his ability is Mimic. He can mimic voices of victims (current or past) to lure others towards him, or one of the other family members. Although the ability itself does no damage)

Feeding Grandpa

-“Everyone else says it was a hell of a lot easier with you up ‘nd able so..”

-“We don’t got all day, eat up.” -“Eat up so we can catch these assholes.” -(sigh) “we’re gettin it under control”

-“It’d be a whole lot easier if you could actually fuckin help.”

Victim Found (in hiding spot)

-“What’re you hidin’ for?”

-“It’s kinda rude to go around peoples property ‘n hide from em y’know.”

-“Get yer ass out here”

-“Picked a shit hidin’ spot, sugar.”

-“Found ya” (laughs)

-“Y’all should really find better hidin’ spots”

Victim Hit

-“Quit runnin’, you ain’t gon’ make it much further”

-“Awh, that hurt?” (Laughs)

-“Hold still! I’ll get it over quick, promise.”

-“All that screamin’ ain’t gonna save you.”

-“Why don’t you just give up?”

Blood Trail

-“You left a trail, y’know…”

-“Yer makin’ this awfully easy to find you”

-“Les’ got to clean this up.”

-“Aw, don’t bleed out everywhere. It ain’t no fun if you die before I get to ya”

Match Start

-“Y’all’s heads are gonna be rollin’ soon enough..”

-“Didn’t know we had visitors.”

-“Don’t worry, I’ll put y’all to good use.”

Victim seen escaping

-“Shit..they won’t believe em…”

-“Ain’t worth chasin’ em down, probably won’t make it far anyway.”

-(annoyed groan)

-“Goddamnit. The others really gotta start helpin, I can’t stop all of em on my own.”

-“Slick bastards…”

Idle

-"That girl wasn't even pretty, I dunno why the hell Johnny liked her so much...glad he fuckin' killed her"

-"The hells this draggin' on for?"

-"Doin' everything round here I swear.."

-"Awfully rude to keep hidin' from me y'know.."

Victim Seen

-"Come back here, sugar"

-"Where the hell you think yer goin'?"

-"It don't have to be this way y'know..."

-"I'll take it easy on ya."

-"Honestly, all this runnin' around is kinda pathetic."

Ability Denied

-"Ain't none of em nearby.."

-"None of em can hear me from here."

-"Nah, won't work here."

-"I should wait until they get closer..."

Close encounter

-"Oh? This ain't gonna end well for you."

-"Go on, hit me."

-"That's it! Fight back! It ain't no fun if y'all just let us kill you."

Execution

-"This woulda been easier if y'all just quit runnin'"

-"See? There was no damn point in allat."

-"Don't worry, I'll make sure to put ya to good use."

Drayton/The Cook seen

-"Quit hollerin' at me old man."

-"It'd be a hell of a lot easier for you to hear em if you'd shut the fuck up."

-"Watch it, I'll rip yer fuckin' tongue out myself."

-"Put those damn locks to use"

-"I'd rather be dead than actually be related to you, so quit talkin' like it actually matters that I ain't."

Nubbins/Hitchhiker Seen

-"Keep that damn roadkill away from me."

-"Hurry up 'n place them traps, they ain't doin no good if you don't."

-"You sure as hell ain't the best...don't care what that prehistoric ass says."

-"If you gonna talk about me, speak up. Yer mutterin' is annoying."

-"How the hell you make them traps of yers anyway?"

Johnny seen

-"Don't worry Hun, we'll catch em."

-(whistles)

-"You find any of em yet?"

-"I'll help you catch em if you want.."

-"I ain't lookin'.."

-"Yer old lady's gettin' on my nerves y'know."

-"Let me know if you need any help Hun"

-"You should quit bringin' them city girls around."

Sissy seen

-"Keep that poison shit away from me, I'll rip yer fuckin' head off if you get it on me."

-"Awfully convenient for you to show up now."

-"I ain't goin in yer stupid fuckin garden."

-"Quit singin' those stupid hippie songs all the time, it's annoying."

-"Don't you dare bring back one of them weirdos with you."

Nancy Seen

-"We're gonna catch em, quit hollerin' at me."

-"Just don't place them traps in my way.."

-"Where the hell you get all that barbed wire anyway?"

-"That's an awfully nasty scar..." (Chuckles)

-"What? Need help or somethin'?"

-"You can quit lookin' at me like I did somethin' wrong..christ."

Bubba Seen

-"Goddamn big boy, yer puttin' that saw to work."

-"Just watch where yer swingin' that thing..."

-"Don't listen to them, they're a bunch of assholes. They're just jealous."

-"Don't worry, I'll help you catch em'"

-"I'll drag one of em to ya so you can gut em, yeah?"

Cook(seeing Rae)

-"Yer makin a damn fool of yerself!"

-"You ain't even a part of this family, quit yer yapping."

-"This is Johnny's fault y'know."

-"You 'n Johnny better quit bringin' back those damn girls."

Hitchhiker(Seeing Rae)

-"Y-you ain't even actually a part of this family.." (snicker)

-"Lookit what I found!"

-"I'm p-placin' my traps, what're you doin'?"

-"You still can't handle eatin' flesh?"

-"Quit h-hollerin' at me."

-"You better watch out! Bubba might give you another one of them scars."

Johnny (seeing Rae)

-"You know all the good hidin' spots, don't ya?" (Chuckle)

-"Quit starin' now ain't the damn time."

-"You didn't seem too fond of that girl..there somethin' you wanna tell me?"

-"C'mon now, lure them out already!"

-"Put that voice of yers to work, yeah?"

Sissy(Seeing Rae)

-"Stay outta my way and you won't get any poison on you."

-"I'd stick around more if yall weren't such assholes..."

-"You still ain't seen the light yet, that's your problem!"

-"Stay out of my garden."

-"Don't start bringin' back those girls like Johnny.. we're in this mess cause of him."

Nancy(seeing Rae)

-"Quit ooglin' Johnny, you ain't slick."

-"Hurry up 'n lure em out!"

-"Why you always out in Johnny's shack for?"

-"Focus! Don't let em get away."

-"It ain't that hard to not get tangled in my traps.."

[gitcheegitcheegoomeansily]

it'd only be fair if my kwami swap au happened in all the different directions, right?

i kinda want emilie to be the butterfly user instead of gabriel. nathalie would be the one in the coma.

emilie and nathalie are the sort of friends that make you feel nauseated by how they act with each other (but bc they're just that fucking cute). like childhood best friends with such a high dependence on each other that they're each other's emergency contact, most frequently texted person, "oh [insert name] would love this i should get this", blah blah blah (basically they fucking love each other deeply). so when emilie finds out she's infertile, after some discussion and a Lot of thinking, nathalie agrees to be a surrogate. she doesn't want to raise a child, she's known this for years, but emilie has been dreaming of being a mother for years, and gabriel has drunkenly admitted that he'd probably cry (of joy) if he had a child. also she's morbidly curious about pregnancy. and she wants to be an aunt so fucking bad, goddamnit.

childbirth goes like how you'd expect it to, with alive nathalie and alive adrien. for like seven years, emilie, gabe and aunt nathalie raise this beautiful little child, researching the miraculi in between bc of emilie's curiousity and the fact that it tickles gabriel's fashion brain delightfully and fulfills nathalie's childhood dreams of travelling. the four of them travel a lot. anyway, emilie and nathalie (as like a fun side-trip) find the peacock and butterfly by accident but smtg goes very wrong and nathalie is caught in the crossfire. in a last ditch attempt to save nathalie, emilie puts the peacock miraculous on nathalie (maybe the butterfly is locked up or smtg), and nathalie chokes out the words. it works.

nathalie makes it to a hospital, but it turns out the usage of the very broken peacock miraculous makes you weak and she falls into a coma.

blah blah, some more backstory, emilie and gabriel have a fight, they move back to paris, emilie researches ways to fix this, blah blah, and eventually, years later, psyché is borne, hunting élytres and miss fortune for their miraculous.

as for gabriel, he wants nothing to do with magic. magic got nathalie dead. he just sort of turns a blind eye to emilie's butterfly adventures and other assorted crimes and throws himself into his work. he's guilty, he's so guilty, and he finds his release in his art. eventually, he does become the peacock user but that's a little iffy

like canon, adrien ends up falling to the wayside in this lonely ass house. i mean, his parents are around (never together, and when they are, they're fighting/passive-aggressive) and they talk to him occasionally, but y'know when it's not really neglect or abuse but you as a child can't help but feel something is wrong? yeah, it's like that. a lot of parents-who-should-be-divorced vibes. they are also deeply overprotective

on a bigger scale, the miracle box ends up in the butterfly's hands. how? idk, haven't thought that far into this au. probably grieving emilie trying to find any way to save her best friend and committing b&e? or smtg else idk.

as for the lb and cn miraculi, they'd be "lost" bc of master fu (he jsut sort of releases them into the wild just to be safe). also master fu would have the grimoire, and out of worry, he releases guardianship of the miracle box to whoever the wielders of the ladybug/black cat miraculi are (operating on a "whoever finds the box and claims it first" scale).

[riddle-me-ri]

k hear me out we NEED the directors cut for taking care of Jervis through his depression

It has already been a huuuge experiment with his character but maybe theres still smth left to say u know👀👉🏻👈🏻

HNNGGG *vibrating with elated joy* IM SO GLAD YOU ASKED ANON when I saw this ask game I was HOPING someone would ask about Love and Suds! Because I HAVE A LOT TO DISCUSS HNNGGG

Because of that there's a read more tab lmao

I'm so sorry I know its a lot but just please bear with me because I HAVE THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS I need to express lol.

So Jervis is incredibly interesting to me lmao.

I've been in and out of the Batman/Rogue fandom going on about six years. I've always wanted to like Jervis (I loved Alice in Wonderland as a child shush I still do plus mind control?? Hell yeah) but given his controversy and everyone just sweeping him under the rug, aside from BTAS and Arkhamverse, I felt like I was slowly getting a grasp on him but never quite got there.

Now fast forward after a year and a half out of the fandom and thwarting myself back in I am here and I've met a couple genuine Jervis fans for like years, fans, shout out to @march-harrigan and @jervis-tetch-my-beloved and when I read their work and thoughts I was like...Okay so it's not just me that thinks this...it was very affirming to see others got the same read on him.

Because I say this with 0 hesitation, Jervis can be a tricky mad lad to write for. I mean extremely (Jon moreso for me lately, stoicism isn't my strong suit but I'm working on it) difficult.

A lot of people have a bad habit of infantilizing him or making him out to be weaker than he is. Yes he's a wee mad lad with a penchant for rhymes, hats, and tea.

But he's also a murderer, kidnapper, manipulator, and a neuroscientist...he's one of the smartest bastards in the room but because he acts playful, and whimsical people misjudge and underestimate him

Also, Jervis has shown the capability of remorse (again varying iterations but he does seem the usual suspect to feel any sort of guilt whenever he's finally lucid) because of that, I felt a compulsion to do something DC writers are fucking terrified to do....actually give a rogue hope. They tried to reform Eddie but that didn't last (mostly cause of his own compulsions that were never properly addressed...poor baby..)

Now I know for many, a lot of these characters are BEYOND redeemable, Jervis included (y'know kidnapping, murder, mind control...yeah) and they're not inherently good people, but some rogues were once before...

And I truly do think if Jervis had a positive consistent in his life that was able to make reality a Wonderland, he wouldn't need the fantasy, he wouldn't need the delusion.

That's where the idea for Love and Suds came from.

I've written for Jervis a couple times before Love and Suds and when I tell you I had to stop myself from literally doing a character deep dive for a smut prompted request...I had to reel back A BUNCH. I would be almost 1k words in and remember oohhh they're supposed to be fucking goddamnit and have to edit the shit out of it.

So I knew I had to do something just to prevent it from happening again. Slowly but surely the plot came to me, but I was hesitant. Again, I didn't want to infantilize him, but I did want the reader to take care of him. Hence why a lot of the time in the story Jervis is scoffing at himself because he's in reality and he's ultra aware of what's going on but like he's also selfish and isn't going to pass up a chance to finally be clean.

Which is something else I hope I made clear was that Jervis was very much in reality during the entirety of the story whilst in his depression...hence why he wasn't rhyming, he wasn't absolutely appalled by the state of his home (scattered saucers, dirty tea cups everyone some broken after being thrown at the wall, hats with broken seams and holes in them, things I didn't really get a chance to describe). I'm sure you've figured that out but just wanted to confirm it.

It's one of those fics I hold near and dear to my heart.

Because one it was one of those fics I had going around in my head that I finally put onto paper and it was exactly how I envisioned it (its only happened with two other stories)

And two... I didn't realize how much it was wanted/needed? I knew since it wasn't a request from anyone it wasn't going to be everyone's fancy...but like the amount of feedback I got exclaiming that this is exactly what they want to see for Jervis? This is how they see him? Like I didn't realize that was something that people were looking for!

As far as if there's anything more to the story...when I tell you I have thought of sequel ideas for Love and Suds I have thought about it immensely...

I have a couple scenarios were Jervis returns the favor to Reader, one where Jervis comes to properly court the reader but overhears a heated argument with Reader defending Jervis to Batman, like the possibilities are ENDLESS but I also don't want to like...ruin it either you know? Too many may spoil it or make it bad?

But yeah...so sorry this is so long lmao if you guys do want more content regarding the set up of Love and Suds let me know! I may still write a couple connected drabbles here and there for a comfort project for myself but it's also good to know if you guys would be into it too! If tumblr could let us all have polls I'd put it in a poll but nooooo

Thanks for reading all of this lmao and thank you for asking anon I am so glad to get this all off my chest lmao

[khaosophist]

No pain. woke up with a dizziness. Woke up during the night too, and everything was like, fluid? It happens sometimes. No idea what the hell it is, and I don't have a neurologist anymore. It's like sometimes dreaming restores me, and other times it just locks me into a drowsiness. Sleep 2 hours and dreamt? Energy! Slept nine hours and dreamt? LOOOL drowsy piece of shit.

Goddamnit, fuckin lobotomise me at this rate. I remember vaguely seeing videos of people with 'suicide migraines.' a dude with a cpap machine freakin out...I always felt bad that my migraines weren't that bad. Forget that I once vomited from the pain. Who cares? I can function. That's all that matters to people outside family.

Lucky me that the pain is so constant that I can get used to it. It's not like it hurts more when I focus more...not like I have a broken leg, and walking on it is Ill advised. Nope...I can work, think, write all the same with needles in my brain.

Feel like zombie mush...A goddamn burden...every single step forward got pushed back, just like that.

I want to fucking flay my skin and bore into my brain and change my brain, get it out. There's gotta be a pattern of activity in there that's causing this. FUCK! I'm scared of forcing an ego death...As if my wage slave job would let me...I...maybe I still have trust issues...if I can't trust my wife during an ego death...then do I really trust her? Do I trust life to help me once I lift my veil of modernity?

Goddamnit...it was one thing to get an ego death because of my ignorance...y'know, like jumping into the abyss, not knowing what it is and can do...Now I know how to jump, but I feel like I've convinced myself I can swim, because I've been doggy paddling in the shallow end because I know what the deep end can do...but maybe the pressure of the deep will do me some good...I don't know...I want to fly, and land, not fly and crash! Like...come on!

I forgot to bring my guitar...I want to talk with my wife about silly things and warm things...I want her to pet me and look at me with those wonderful eyes of genuine concern no one else in the world has ever given me so freely.

I bunted her again, and she totally leaned into it. It was the best.

Now our youngest kit is sleeping on me. It ain't so bad now. Again, the citizens wonder why they ever felt tears in their eyes, or why they had been screaming...all they know is that now is good, and why should they worry about the pain of their past?

At least I'm not fixating on sex...there's still a modicum of life left in me before I sink into depravity...hopefully I'm wrong...and I'm never going to be that person again.

[scorpiwrites]

𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞 | 𝑆𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑢𝑠 𝐵𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑥 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟

Desc : You just got back from a business trip and got an unpleasant surprise from your fiance.

Tw : cheating, curse words, well- angst.

It was quiet when she came home from her business trip from the Gringgots in Paris.

With a resigned and tired sigh she walk quietly through her and Sirius' apartment of 4 years. She walked pass the kitchen and paused, tilting her head to the side and smiled to herself. 'hm, I remember when Siri and I bought that pan' then as fast as the thought came, the smile vanished from her face and was replaced by a frown. 'Where's he? I thought I told him I'd be home today... must be a long day work, then' she then walk towards their room and planned on preparing a dinner for both her and Sirius.

-----------

Another hour came and gone, and still no words or news came to her. She started to get agitated and nervous, she knew that the war is still building up and Sirius' job as an auror doesn't even helping her anxiety about him getting injured, or worse...

She sighed, deciding to put the food on stasis and warming spell, instead of letting it goes to waste. She thought that perhaps it was a mission, an order mission, and so she left it alone and decided to go to their joined bedroom to sleep it off. 'Perhaps I should wait for tomorrow comes, if there aren't any news still then I can contact one of the marauders'

-----------

She woke up when she heard giggles, woman's giggles. She blearly tries to navigate her eyes through the dark and waiting for her ears to finally works because, that sure as hell wasn't in my dreams. what the fuck?. When she didn't hear anything else she began to get suspicious and crept outside to the living room, only to find her Sirius, her fiance liplocked with another witch.

And there it is again, the fault in their stars, perhaps it wasn't her fault at all, she thought. Maybe, just maybe, this is not working as well as we thought it would be. But Merlin, seeing it with her own eyes really fucking made it all too real.

-----------

"what the fuck is this, then?"

the couple on the coach then jumped off of each other and tried to hastily made themselves presentable, what with their clothes already scattered across the living room's floor. Meanwhile she just stood there, unblinking with unshed tears in her eyes, trying so hard to occlude her mind as to not lashing out at them with the wand that was clutched so hard in her palm.

"I-I'm Sorry.... I should leave, Oh God I'm really sorry, you know. He told me that he's single, I swear I d-didn't know o-oh Merlin" the unnamed girl stammered as she drunkenly stood in front of her, staring shakily at her wand.

The lady in question just scoffed and raised her right eyebrow, causing the shaking woman to jerkily scramble towards the door and snatched her heels off the floor, slamming the door on her way outside and leaving her and Sirius alone in their apartment.

" y' not gonna say anything, then? No hello's no apologises, no nothing. What the fuck is wrong with you Sirius? What is wrong with us? where did we go wrong? GODDAMNIT JUST SAY SOMETHING!" she thundered after few minutes of silence from the man that still sat on the couch, staring blankly at the fire.

She walked shakily towards him, she then knelt on the couch beside him and finally shed the tears that started to blur her vision,

"S-sirius, please just, please just say something. J-Just lie to me. I don't care what you say, just lie to me. Make me feel okay again. Please please I-I can't oh god" she gasped through her sobs and her heaving.

"I'm sorry, you don't deserve this. Don't deserve any of the shits I've done to you. Y'know, y'know huh -" he slurred, " Moony still waiting for you, y'know. I-I dont want this I dont. Maybe yo-" his speech was cut off with a sharp slap that rang through the room.

"How-how dare you? J-just get out, Sirius. Get out. I can't deal with this right now, I cant" she gasped out and shakily walk to her room.

" I'm sorry my love"

☼︎𝒇𝒊𝒏☼︎

[queen-swagzilla]

So Much Worse Than A Phantom Limb, Ch. 2 (BkDk)

"Kacchan?"

Katsuki turned to the voice right behind him, but there was no one there. "Deku?"

"Kacchan, where are you?"

He spun in a circle. "Where the hell are you, nerd?"

"Kacchan!" He sounds so scared. Where the hell is he?

He ran toward the voice, running through the park and into the woods until he came to a log bridge—old and weathered. From the way it creaked, he thought it must have rotted through. Deku stood in the center, but he was so small. "Deku, get away from there."

"Kacchan, I'm scared." He whispered. Katsuki gritted his teeth and slowly—so slowly—crept onto the bridge. As soon as his foot made contact, the world went fuzzy.

Now they were on a roof. Katsuki glanced around—Aldera? Why were they on the roof of Aldera? He looked back at Deku and froze. He was perched on the ledge, facing away from him. "DEKU. Get the fuck away from there." He snapped, panicking.

"Kacchan?" Deku asked, looking over his shoulder. "Why are you crying?" He turned around but didn't step down.

"Deku, please." He reached out. "Get down from there."

"But I'm tired, Kacchan. Isn't this what you wanted?" He asked, before leaning back.

"Deku!" He screamed, blasting forward and reaching out—clutching the nerd's shitty middle school uniform in tight fists. The world blurred again as they fell together.

They were on a battlefield, and Katsuki clutched Deku tightly. His body was riddled with holes and he spluttered as he choked on his blood. "Kacchan?"

"Don't talk, goddamnit." He snarled, pressing hands futilely against his gaping wounds.

"Gotta. No time. Tell mom I'm sorry."

"Tell her yourself, shithead."

"I need you to do something."

"Stop. Talking."

"Take One For All. I need you to take it."

"Fuck you."

"Kacchan, please." He gasped. "No time."

And the asshole was right. He could feel Deku's pulse slowing. His eyes were dimming. "How?"

Deku lifted a ravaged arm to slide his bloodied hand into Katsuki's hair, and pulled him down for a kiss filled with blood and gravel. "Glad I got to do that. Love you, y'know." He went limp in Katsuki's arms.

Katsuki woke up screaming.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next five days were hard. He hadn't counted on how difficult it would be to see his classmates crying over Deku's broken body. The first group to visit, much to his surprise and relief, was not Deku's inner circle. He didn't think he was ready for that. Instead, he brought Aoyama, Tsu, Sato, Shoji, and Sero to see him first. He supposed that was just because they'd been in the common room when the signup sheet had been posted. So had Hagakure, Yaomomo, and Shinso who had put down Mirio's name. Their group went on the second day.

"No matter what happens, I'm proud to have you as a friend, mon ami." Aoyama had sobbed.

"You're so strong, ribbit. It seems ridiculous to say goodbye when it feels like you're around every corner." Tsuyu croaked. "So do us all a favor and hang on."

"You should come back now." Sato cried quietly. "But if you have to go, don't worry. Bakugou's been taking good care of your mom, and we'll take good care of him." His breath hitched. "But you should come back. If you do, I'll make you that matcha and lavender roll cake I was telling you about."

Shoji was quiet and morose. "I'm sorry this happened to you." There wasn't much more for him to say.

"Katsuki hasn't said goodbye yet, so neither will I." Sero admitted softly, brushing Izuku's hair back. "He's scared, but I can tell he hasn't really given up. So as long as he's got hope, I will too. You want to be the symbol of hope, right?" Katsuki didn't look at him the whole walk back to the dorm.

When they arrived, Sato planted himself back in the kitchen, and a small group congregated in the common room to wait for Katsuki so that they could go to the Midoriya's to help tidy. "Bring your homework, Kat." Mina instructed. "We'll clean while you work. You've been losing valuable study time at the hospital."

"I'm supposed to be helping you guys clean up." He argued.

"No." She put her foot down. "We'll tidy. You study. If we have questions about where something is supposed to go, we'll ask." Katsuki looked like he was going to argue, but Mina actually stomped her foot. "I'm not taking no for an answer. Let us help you." He sighed but conceded. When they arrived, he excused himself to Izuku's nerdy All Might shrine of a bedroom, sat at his crowded desk, and tried not to cry as he did the homework for Ectoplasm's class. He didn't succeed, and Mina found him curled in Izuku's bed, sobbing into his pillow.

The next day wasn't any easier, but at least they wouldn't be going to Auntie Inko's that evening. Nonetheless, he listened diligently to his classmates as they spoke to Izuku's prone body.

"We're still looking, Midoriya." He heard Shinso whisper. "If there's something to find, I swear we'll find it. We're not gonna let you go without a fight. Not when you've fought so hard for us."

"We decided not to bring Eri, or that kid you saved at your training camp. We thought this might be too hard for them. Eri especially, since she'd feel bad for not being able to use her quirk to help. She's just not in control enough." Mirio smiled. "You and I both know you wouldn't want her to be upset about something she can't control. But this still sucks. I hope you wake up, buddy. We miss you already."

"You're our lynchpin, Izuku." Hagakure whispered to him. "We'll fall apart without you. We already are." He didn't have to see her to know that she was a wreck. "Please come back. Please."

To his surprise, Momo was angry. It was a quiet sort of anger, but it was anger nonetheless. "I thought you were gonna be number one, Izuku." She hissed, pressing her palms into her eyes. "How are any of us supposed to survive if you can't? You really want Katsuki to be the one we look to for inspiration? We'll all be screaming expletives at victims within a month."

"Hey!" he interrupted, affronted. She gave him a very dry and irritated glance.

"I'm not wrong. He needs to come back. He's the balancing act. The calm to your storm. Iida and I might be the class reps, but when shit hits the fan, it's you two that we look to. We need both of you or else we're all gonna go off the rails." She turned her gaze back to Izuku. "I know I'm supposed to be proper and polite, but this is ridiculous. Get the fuck up. Please get the fuck up."

It was quiet with the first two groups. They huddled around his bed and cried. They offered Auntie Inko their support and hugged Katsuki's parents. They brought flowers and carried the meals that Sato had prepared. Tsu and Momo attended to Katsuki, holding his hand under the guise of needing his support, while knowing that it was the other way around. Katsuki remained strong-jawed and dry-eyed throughout. Only Tsu and Momo knew how his hands shook as he stood at Deku's bedside.

With the first two groups, he had time to check on Auntie Inko as they spoke to her son. "How are you holding up, Auntie?"

She gave him a tearful smile. "Not great. But you're taking such good care of me, so better than I could have hoped." She admitted. "Thank you for dinner, Katsuki."

He shook his head. "Sato made dinner." Her smile turned knowing.

"Because you said that you were going to, right? How else would he have known what to make?" She placed a trembling hand on his cheek. "You've been so strong over the past month. Are you taking care of yourself, too?"

He looked down at his feet. "Trying to. I have some help." She smiled a little wider.

"That's good, sweetheart. We all need help sometimes. I'm sorry I haven't been there for you like you've been here for me. And I'm sorry for asking you to keep it from them. I just—"

"I get it." He interrupted. "He's your son. You need me more. And don't feel bad about not telling them. Focus on him. Don't worry, Auntie—they're taking care of me," he promised. She pulled him in for a hug, and he reminded himself not to cry.

"You're a good boy, Katsuki. You're bad at expressing yourself, but you're so good. Don't forget it, sweetheart."

He pulled away, looking into her teary eyes. He wished he could blame hyperactive Midoriya tear ducts this time. "I actually—tomorrow Izuku's closest friends will be here. We're not super friendly with each other, and I don't want to intrude on their time with him. Do you mind if I wait outside while they're in here?"

"Of course not, Katsuki. You do what feels right. I can keep it together for their visit if you need to excuse yourself." She smiled sadly. "You don't need to do it alone."

He looked back down at the floor. "Thanks, Auntie."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As planned, they went to his parents' house that evening. He studied while his friends tidied up. Before they made their way back to the dorms, Katsuki pulled a shoebox out from under his bed.

"What's in there, Bakubro?" Eijirou asked as they walked.

"Memories." He replied. Eijirou eyed him.

"Wanna share them with us when we get back? Might make you feel better."

"...Sure."

And he did. His friends brought dinner to his room and bundled in blankets for show-and-tell. He showed them the pictures that his parents had taken of them over the years, from their wild adventures as toddlers in All Might onesies to the uncomfortable photo evidence of middle school "family" dinners. Even when things were strained, Izuku had been in his orbit.

He showed them the little gifts Izuku had given him over the years—at least the ones that fit in the box. That included a limited edition All Might keychain, a "World's Spiciest Recipes" cookbook, and a bookmark with a pressed and preserved leaf—the leaf from a tree on one of Katsuki's favorite hiking trails.

Throughout the evening, Katsuki's heart ached with impending loss. Nobody knew him better than Izuku.

"What's that?" Mina asked, pointing at the folded notepaper in the corner of the box. He sniffed, and wiped at his eyes. He didn't even remember when he started crying. Maybe around the time they'd looked at Christmas pictures.

He unfolded the notes carefully. They were worn and old, yellowing around the edges. "His very first analysis of my quirk. 'S where I got the idea for my hero costume. He's the one that came up with the gauntlets," he admitted, flattening the pages gently before handing them over. The handwriting and accompanying sketch were messy—they'd been done by a six-year-old—but they were detailed and precious.

"He would have been a kick-ass quirk analyst if he wasn't a hero," Hanta muttered, reading over his shoulder. "Those notebooks of his are insane. He came up with so many applications for my quirk in our first year, I'm still learning how to make most of his ideas work."

"He's the one that figured out how to increase my voltage without short-circuiting my brain." Denki smiled.

Mina cackled. "He's the one who figured out that I could make LSD if I ate certain grains!" They all laughed at that and oh it felt good to laugh.

"He's helping me design more versatile support gear with Hatsume." Jirou added, before pausing. "Oh. We should invite Hatsume to come with us to the hospital. We only have four people in our group." She said quietly. "He's one of her only real friends. I'm pretty sure he's the one who makes sure she's taking breaks and eating regularly when she gets all scary about her inventions."

They were quiet again. "Anyone have her number?" Katsuki grunted.

"I don't have her number, but I have some time to stop by her lab tomorrow." Jirou offered. "Our group is going the day after, so that gives her some time to shift plans around."

"Okay."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He led the third group—Uraraka, Iida, Todoroki, Tokoyami, and Koda—to Deku's hospital room, but didn't enter with them. "You're not coming in, Bakugou?" Tokoyami asked, voice deep and brows serious.

"Those three need time with him. They're so pissed at me that if I'm in the room, I'll be the only thing they focus on." He muttered. "Auntie already knows I'm not coming in. I'm gonna be in the cafeteria doing some homework. Come find me when you're ready to leave."

Koda frowned, before bringing his hands up to sign at him. 'Are you sure?' the timid boy asked. 'You should spend as much time with him as you can.'

"I've got a month on you guys. And I'll see him tomorrow. Don't worry about it. Thanks, though." He replied before turning to leave. He missed the look that Tokoyami and Koda shared.

The reception staff smiled warmly at him as he passed. "You're not staying with your friends, honey?" One of Izuku's nurses—Yui, if he remembered correctly (he wasn't exactly good with names)—asked as he passed her in the hall.

"Homework. Gonna work in the cafeteria so that his friends can have some privacy and I can play catch up." He muttered.

"Aw honey, that's so thoughtful," she simpered. She dug in her pockets before handing him a little white card. "It's my employee card for the cafe. Get yourself some coffee and a snack. Just leave the card on Midoriya's bedside before you leave."

He frowned. "I can't accept this."

"You can, and you will. Don't think I haven't noticed you running yourself ragged taking care of your family, young man. It's very admirable. Let me do something for you in turn."

"You already are. You're keeping him alive as long as possible."

"And if he wakes up, I bet he'll be pissed if you're all skinny and malnourished." She replied stubbornly. "Just take the meal card."

He sighed. "Fine. Thank you."

"No sweat." She smiled, before sweeping away from him.

He bought himself a coffee and a curry bun before settling into one of the hellishly uncomfortable cafeteria chairs. All of his teachers had given him extensions, but he was loathe to use them. The longer he put off his work, the harder he'd have to slog in order to catch up.

He jolted when Tokoyami and Koda scraped chairs up next to him and took their seats. "You're done already?"

"We asked the other three if we could go first so that they could have alone time with Midoriya. They agreed. In fact, they seemed grateful." Tokoyami replied. "We thought we'd see if you need any help catching up. You're not far behind, but your mind hasn't been on academia of late."

He knew what they were doing. "You know I'm capable of being alone, right? I'm not gonna spontaneously combust or some shit. You should be taking advantage of your time with him."

'We'll do that when he wakes up.' Koda signed, jaw set stubbornly. 'Besides, you're doing a lot. The least we can do is help you stay caught up to the class.'

"After all, Midoriya will need tutoring when he returns."

What if he doesn't return? Katsuki wanted to ask. But they seemed to be stubbornly refusing the very high likelihood that Izuku was going to die, and Katsuki supposed he could let them have that for now. "Fine. Can you look over my outline for Cementoss's class? I haven't read the whole book yet but the test is next week."

"Sure." Tokoyami agreed, taking the notebook from him.

'Anything I can help with?' Koda asked.

"I'm stuck on the math homework." He admitted. Koda gestured for him to show him, and they got to work. They set up a steady rhythm, where Koda helped coach Katsuki through the problems while Tokoyami read through his Lit outlines and made notes. Time passed faster than he expected, and he was grateful for the distraction.

He was not grateful for what happened next.

"Katsuki—" It was Nurse Yui. He got the impression that she would have been running if it weren't against hospital policy. "Your classmates had to be escorted out by security. Mrs. Midoriya and your parents are really upset."

"What happened?" He demanded, jumping up.

"I'm not sure. I wasn't in the room, I just got there after your mom pressed the nurse call and asked me to get security. Mrs. Midoriya was nonverbal." Behind them, Koda and Tokoyami were packing his bag for him. He glanced at his phone and frowned at the time. It had already been two hours?

"I need to go check on our parents and find out what happened." He said, turning to them. Tokoyami handed him his bag.

"I'll go back and find out what happened from those three. Then I'll let Aizawa know that there was an incident. Koda, you stay behind with Bakugou and find out what happened from his parents' perspective. We're relatively neutral parties, so we'll be able to sort out what happened more calmly."

'Will do. Get going.' Koda instructed before turning to follow Katsuki who was already moving, following swiftly after Nurse Yui.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Katsuki was pissed. It almost felt good. He'd been so depressed about the nerd, he'd almost forgotten what it felt like to feel this kind of blinding fury. Beside him, Koda was pissed as well, and that felt good too. At least he knew he was justified.

'Go to the gym and blow something up. It's fine that you're pissed, but at this rate you'll blow up the dorm and you don't need to deal with that right now. I'll tell Aizawa what happened and send Kirishima your way.'

"I'm gonna rip them a fucking new one. You're nuts if you think I'm gonna let them off easy for this shit."

'Good. Don't. I might even yell at them,' he glowered. 'But before you go off you need to let off some steam. You don't need to deal with damage liability on top of everything else.'

He made a good point. "Send Ponytail too. She can make dummies that look like their stupid fucking faces for me to blow up," he snarled. Koda flashed him a thumbs up before splitting off from him to find Aizawa.

Momo and Eijirou found him in record time, and Momo didn't even hesitate before making the dummies he requested. "Wanna tell us what went down? Koda just told us where to find you and dipped to find Aizawa." Eijirou said as he helped set up the dummies around the gym.

"Tokoyami looked angry when he got back," Momo added.

He didn't look at them. His eyes were trained on the dummy-doppelgangers; glare fierce and furious. "They wanted to stay past their welcome. They'd been there for two hours and Auntie told them that she'd like to have time alone with Deku, but they hounded her to let them stay. Eventually, my mom tried to step in to put her foot down and they went off at her." He gritted his teeth, jaw grinding in anger. "Said it was her son's fault that they hadn't gotten to see Deku during the time that he was dying and that it was unfair that they'd kept the people who cared about him from seeing him. Auntie started crying and the hag called the nurse and told them that they were upsetting her, so if they didn't leave she'd call security to escort them out. Apparently, that set Icy Hot off, and he said they said that she was 'as malicious and selfish as her son' and yelled at auntie for not being able to see that we were keeping out people we didn't approve of by making her dependent on them. So when the nurse got there, Ma had her call security to drag them out. The hospital might not let the rest of the class visit after that episode. Auntie might not want the rest of the class to visit."

It was quiet for a long, pregnant moment. Then there was a series of loud thunks. Both boys turned to Momo and found her producing more copies of the training dummies. "That should be enough. Stay here until they're all destroyed." She instructed before turning and stomping out of the gym, ponytail swishing violently behind her.

"Where are you going?" Eijirou called after her.

"I didn't punch Iida hard enough last time!" She called back before disappearing through the doors.

Read the rest on Ao3!

If you liked it, consider buying me a coffee <3

Follow me on Twitter!

[nokas-meme-den]

Shit heard in Ghost Stories meme

"When this bitch kicks, I'm moving to Vegas."

"Have you accepted Jesus as your personal savior?"

"I don't care about your cat, he's probably dead."

"Principals always look like lesbians."

"When a stronger spirit appears, the weaker spirit cowers. But all evil spirits cower before Jesus!"

"Oh my, what a gifted seamstress. I hope you're not a homosexual."

"If you want something to happen, you just need to pray! And not be a Muslim. Or Jewish."

"What the fizzityuck was that?"

"Where's the damn cat?"

"These pajamas are gay."

"Hey, I've got an idea. Why don't you come to the scary, isolated pay phone on the bad side of town, alone?"

"Maybe you have a hidden talent you don't know about! Like Paris Hilton being an actress! Oh, scratch that."

"THINK OF A BIG BLACK MAN CHASING YOU!"

"A car accident... must have been hit by an old Chinamen. I don't mean to be racist, but those people CANNOT drive."

"You'd be surprised just how many transgressions a filthy little sinner like you can rack up in just a day."

"Look, a little Jew boy."

"Come rub my nipples."

"Drop the Krispy Kreme, Serpiko! We need your help here!"

"My BS detector is going DING!"

"I can read. Not well, but I can read. And those letters... are BACKWARDS!"

"The weird part is, I'm not even high. Not a bit. Totally sober!"

"The internet was a blessing from the Lord Jesus to spread the word of God throughout the world, but then Muslims and pedophiles stole it and used it to lure out and seduce children like you."

"Hey, want some candy little boy?"

"You can use it if you promise not to be on the phone too long. I know how you Pagans take advantage of others."

"A bunch of somber, quiet people against a red nuclear sky near a river of blood. Wow, that doesn't look threatening at all."

"Why? Because Jewish people rock!"

"That's so sweet... in a 'you scare the crap out of me in an Emily Rose' kind of way!"

"Here, you can take pooky-poo. He used to be my man, but we broke up."

"The V on my sweater stands for 'Very Big Deal', but that's beside the point."

"Come on, jump... I SAID JUMP!"

"Yes, the animal cemetery. Hear the plot point bells going off?"

"I hope Stephen King never sees this."

"She's looking straight at us, I don't think we hid very well."

"Those 3 to 4 cardboard boxes aren't going to hold them for long!"

"Lord reveal your salvation, for I am your favorite among these heathens."

"Yo sensei Dave, what's haps on the snaps with the craps?"

"You two-timing son of a bitch! Who's gonna take care of these little bastards!?"

"Oh splinter ohhhhh!"

"Shut up. You're here, and you're an idiot."

"Years ago, people went in there but they didn't come out. Not unlike your sister."

"2.2 Celsius... Metric system. Who thought this was a good idea again? I'm just gonna put 100. No one's gonna know."

"Oh perfect, it's in Japanese. Ching chong nong ding tow! Wait, that's Chinese."

"God, can you go bomb an abortion clinic or something?"

"Creepy Japanese men can be cabbies too y'know. But women should never be allowed to drive."

"Obeying horror movie rules, I'm going to go out alone. You stay here while I go look for help."

"I'm not giving you a reach around."

"You're such a bitch."

"First we do a geographic montage to show we traveled a long way from your house. There, that should be enough."

"I'm gonna beat you retarded."

"Jesus saved my ass."

"And what a lovely little ass it is, too."

"¡NO CORRAN EN EL HOSPITAL, CABRONES!"

"Now that is some really nice animation."

"Nice rack. Mind if I make 'em a little bigger? Ahahaehehahhha boobies. Loooove boobies. Nice lips too. I USED TO HAVE LIPS!"

"Lunchtime BJ?"

"Let's see... purple, for your hair. Can't tell this was a goddamn anime."

"Okay. Stop trying to look up my skirt. IT'S A CARTOON!"

"Holy time machine, Batman, it's 1973!"

"Holy pre-Parkinson's Michael J Fox Christopher Lloyd Back To The Future plot ripoff device! Where's my DeLorean?"

"I'll grab her ass!"

"Oh damn anime, look what's happened to my eyes."

"Leo! Leo! Leo! Leo! Goddamnit! Goddamnit! Goddamnit! Goddamnit!"

"It's the chick from The Ring! I mean, The Grudge! What movie are we ripping off again?"

"Oh my god, did that spell work? You know, like the one where you write your name in an eraser? I hear the head cheerleader's having an abortion."

"Such a bitch! Stop being such a friggin' skank and give it back!"

"Sometimes yes means no!"

"Moshi moshi! I mean, hello."

"Tomomi? Ain't no Tomomi girl living here, so what?"

"Get your cracker ass into some rehab, I ain't got time for this bullshit."

"MOTHAFUCKA."

"Run! She's a ghost and a bitch!"

"I'm goin' fuckin' crazy."

"HEY! Maybe if they paid their fuckin' phone bill, you could call again!"

"Nobody's talking to you. Just drive the bus, bus driver. Fuckin' nosy."

"Oh, sorry. All you little yellow people look alike to me. And African Americans, but not the Mexicans. Why do you think that is? I mean, don't you find that just the weirdest thing?"

"Romans 1:26, God gave them over to shameful lusts!"

"A view of the blood-stained lake. AHHHHHHH"

"Oh it may be blue now, but soon it will be redder than Republican Texas."

"No, I'm serious, bitch. I swear to god. Blue."

"Maybe this vase isn't nailed down."

"We go with the snow but not the snow that is yellow!"

"Alright everybody, it's 4:30. School is finally over. Time to go home, load up that bong, and watch Pokemon!"

"Leave me alone, I'm doing my standard anime 'elbows up' pose."

"Oh wow. I can't even comprehend how inappropriate this is."

"GOD YOU'RE MAKING ME SICK."

"God you are four of the ugliest fucking kids I've ever had the misfortune of laying my eyes on. I can't wait for this bitch to kill you."

"NANIIIIIII?"

"Oh my, definitely a 10."

"If you do, I'll suck you all for a Scooby Snack."

"Any closer and there'd be insertion."

"I may be a successful doctor, but first and foremost I'm a Jew."

"You know what I hear? I hear the sound of you shuttin' the fuck up."

"Let's see... 7?"

"What the FUCK are you talking about!?"

[starmxras]

What A Wicked Thing To Do (To Let Me Dream Of You) | A Mandalorian Oneshot

Din is aimless and bored after losing Grogu, yet somehow he lets Cara talk him into going back to Sorgan. A Din/Omera Oneshot. Post S2 Finale (LET MANDOMERA GET A HAPPY ENDING GODDAMNIT).

Story/Taglist under the cut!

"Look, you have to stop that," Cara says, glaring at a pacing, helmetless Din. "Pacing like that makes people uncomfortable. Just relax."

"I can't relax, Cara. I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing with myself." Din replies.

"You can finally take some time off. General Skywalker is a good guy. After all, he was strong enough to kill Vader and Palpatine. I'm sure he'll take good care of the kid. In fact, come over here and eat with me."

"Grogu," Din murmurs. "His name is Grogu."

"Nice name," Cara remarks as she bites into her food."You can eat in the other room if you are still worried about eating near people, y'know. I don't mind."

Din looked at the table, shaking his head. "No, I...I want to eat with you. I need to get used to it; I want to get used to it."

Cara gives Din a small smile and pats the seat next to her. "I got these from a diner across the street. I think you’ll like it."

Din sits down next to Cara, muttering his thanks when Cara hands him a plate. “What is this food, anyway?”

Cara swallowed a bite of food, then shrugged. “I dunno, they just call it the “weekly special”. But to be honest, it just looks like a deluxe bantha burger to me.”

Din raises an eyebrow skeptically, appraising the meal silently. “I haven’t had a burger in...ever. I mostly just eat ration bars and rehydrated meals.”

“Yeah, I get that. You were a bounty hunter, not many options to stop somewhere and get one.”

“Yeah,” Din responds. Slowly, he takes a bite of food. “...I like this.”

Cara nods. “You’re welcome, Mando.”

“I don’t even know what to do with myself anymore. I don’t have bounty hunting or the kid anymore. I don’t even have the right to my armor anymore.” Din says with a sigh.

Cara pauses for a moment, deep in thought. “...Well...you could go to Sorgan.”

“...That’s a horrible idea. One of your worst, in fact.”

“Why’s that? Are you telling me you don’t want to see Omera?” Cara challenges.

Din blushes awkwardly. “...no, I never said that. The thought crossed my mind, but I’m...” Din trails off.

“...You're?” Cara prompts.

“...I don’t know. I mean, I...I just don’t feel like…” Din trails off.

“It's simple, Mando. Do you want to go to Sorgan?”

“I guess so.” Din graces Cara with a weak smile.

“You can borrow my ship,” Cara says.

“Right,” Din says, nodding. “...we need to get going.”

“We?” Cara says. “Now?”

Din pauses. "Well, ah...I guess I could go by myself."

"That's right, buddy. I'm not going anywhere." Cara winks.

"...Fine. Fine. Let me just...first I need to-"

Cara tuts. "None of that. You literally just said you have nothing to do. Quit stalling."

Din groans. "You're not very supportive."

"I'm trying to help here, M- Din," she pauses, remembering to use his actual name instead of just "Mando". "The more you stall, the more you're gonna find excuses to get out of it. My ship's all fuelled up, you literally can just hop in and leave. Not to mention, I have work to do, so it'll be good for the both of us if you're gone. No offense, I like having you around, but I've been shirking my Marshall duties for like, almost two weeks."

"I really hate how persistent you are." Din huffs.

"I know," Cara replies with a laugh.

Din is filled with anxiety as Sorgan grows closer. Why did he let Cara convince him into doing this, again?

This was a bad idea. He shouldn't bother Omera - her life was happy, peaceful, routine; it was nice.

It was everything that Din's life wasn't.

Plus, it felt wrong to come back to Sorgan without Grogu (maybe next time he came back, he'd be back with Grogu, or so he hopes. He supposed it depended if Grogu was allowed to visit with him, although he didn't see why he couldn't).

His musings are interrupted when an incessant beeping reminded Din that he needed to activate the landing procedures.

Inhaling shakily, he prepares to land.

Sorgan is just as peaceful as he remembers.

It's a bit humid, but not in an intolerable way; the weather's partly cloudy, and it smells like it had just rained. The ground, while slightly muddy, is soft and grassy. Birds chirp in the distance.

It's nice. While Din is certainly more familiar with Nevarro, there's something nice about the lack of dryness and smoke in the air that constantly plagued Nevarro due to volcanic activity.

He's nearly vibrating in a mix of excitement and anxiousness. What if Omera didn't like him without the helmet?

Before long, he makes it to a clearing near the village.

Well, it's now or never. He pulls the hood of his cloak up over his head.

There's only a few souls outside at the moment, most were inside eating their lunches or waiting for the last few raindrops to clear.

And then, he sees her. She notices him first and approaches him.

"Are you the one they sent over from the northern village to trade?" Omera asks, a pleasant smile on her face.

Stars, she's beautiful.

"I can go get the crops that your village requested. How many was it again?"

"...I-" Din trails off, struggling to find the words. "I'm not-"

Omera's eyes sparkle with recognition for just a few moments, before she shakes her head, laughing breathlessly. "Sorry. I just thought-"

"...that you knew me?" He lowers his hood.

To Din's surprise, she has a blaster at her side. "...Who are you?"

"I- I'm the Mandalorian. I was here before."

She relents, but she doesn't put down the blaster. "Where's your helmet?"

"...I broke my creed." He says, voice barely more than a whisper. “I can’t wear my helmet anymore.”

She softens. "I'm- I'm sorry, Mandalorian. I wasn't expecting you to come back...none of us were. We'd heard rumors that you were killed."

Din chuckles dryly. "No, I'm alive, last I checked."

"The baby? Is he okay?" She murmurs, stepping closer.

"He went back to the Jedi. But...I'll bring him to visit soon," he says in reply, squeezing her hand. Unthinkingly, he moves closer, closing the space between them.

"Omera...I-" he whispers. "I wanted to come back so many times but I-"

She interrupts him with a brief, but warm kiss. It's over in a couple seconds, but to Din, it feels like a lifetime.

He wishes it was longer.

"Sorry," they both say at the same time.

Omera laughs, and he realizes what a beautiful laugh she has.

"Don't apologize," he replies.

"I'm really happy you're back, Mandalorian."

"It's Din. My name...my name is Din Djarin."

Omera cups his face, and he nearly shudders from the physical contact. "It's nice to have a face and a name to know you by...Din."

Din Djarin had many regrets in life; coming back to Sorgan was not one of them.

---------------

Taglist:

@rivermouse​

@slugbuggie​

@hellothefriend​

@seraphvin​

@youhavebeenmarkled​

@duchessnibenhu-ofpyromania

@mindofbooks

@starwarsorg​

@autumnwoodsdreamer

special note: i hate you, tumblr search feature, i really do. i accidentally exited out of the gif thing and now i can’t find the gif i wanted.

[angst-art-writing]

The Edge-The Island(4)

TW: executions, hanging.

The next day, Talyn and Iris prepped the Inn before dawn, none of their residents awake yet. Diana came down dressed in a corset and a coat with intricate black designs on the trim. She usually wore it when something important was going on.

Talyn looked up from the glass she was cleaning and raised a brow. "What's going on?"

"Well," Diana said, cuffing the sleeves of the coat. "Today is a bit important." Her tone was light, almost excited sounding.

Iris, who was wiping down some tables glanced over and raised a brow, Talyn caught he quizzical look she had shot at her. "Is... Today someone's birthday or...?" Talyn asked, setting the glass down.

"No. We have executions set for today."

"Oh." Her heart hit the floor, traveling down from her chest to her toes. Then that...That meant-

Iris was obviously thinking the same, because she then went on and asked, "Who's it for, exactly?"

Diana glanced up. "No one in particular. But our space is filling up, and we need to... Get rid of people. Before disease starts to spread." She sounded so sure, as if that was a perfectly fine reason and Talyn just felt sick.

"We-Well did they get a trial? Anything?"

"Of course not!" She glanced over and smiled, looking at her as if she was stupid. "Only those whose families can afford a trial were kept in their cells. You know this, Talyn."

Talyn tried to smile back. "Right." She turned away and pretended to busy herself in organizing things that did not need to be.

Of course- Only people who could afford a trial or had family could have a trial. Most times, that didn't even work, and the families went poor as the criminal was almost always found guilty with lies Diana's guards would make up. But because Diana was happy...That meant everyone else should be. Once the blood king was dead, that meant all the issues in their world were too, right?

Talyn felt a hand ruffled the top of her head. She looked over and her eyes met Diana's dark ones. "You're going with me. Both of you! Let's see these criminals get what they deserve, no?"

But Talyn's mind was already working, the gears in her head turning. She shook her head. "I- I won't be able to. I promised I'd tutor Will today." She glanced at Iris, who just stared back at her. Talyn had already decided on something, but also decided to not tell Iris.

Diana frowned. "You can't cancel? It's important and I want you to come to one of these at least once." That just made goosebumps rise.

"Afraid not. Sorry."

"Ah. Just Iris then! C'mon Iris, go get dressed up." Diana hugged her then and Talyn was forced into the embrace. She smelled of flowers. She made Talyn think of roses, thorns hidden under plump petals.

Iris gave Talyn a look. But she turned and headed up. Soon enough, both Diana and Iris had left.

And Talyn would soon, too.

-----

Executions were usually held in The Circle, a round section in the middle of the Capitol in front of the building where important affairs occurred with outside countries. A crowd was already gathering, muttering and talking amongst themselves.

An hour after Iris and Diana had gone, Talyn stood on a roof on one of the buildings that surrounded the circle. She was crouched down and had a dark hood covering her face, as well as hiding the quiver on her back. In the center of The Circle was a wooden platform, and a noose.

Some important people Talyn recognized as Diana's workers stood around, holding their children's hands. Talyn was stunned to see them there. Did they really think it was alright to bring kids here? In their false definition of justice?

Talyn glanced up toward the sky, focusing on the grey clouds that swirled above them. Yet, oddly enough, there was no wind. Perfect. Nothing natural would collide with her plan.

She glanced down and spotted Iris's purple head in the crowd. She was right to the side of the platform, where Diana now stood. Diana was speaking to the crowd with her hands folded neatly behind her back and her head held high, but Talyn couldn't register her words. Blood rushed in her ears, and she could feel her eyes pulsing nervously in her head.

Diana pointed, and Talyn followed her finger. Some people dressed in rags were walking in a line led by her guards, their faces sallow and grim. They stared at the ground, just getting back up as the crowd by them shoved them as they walked onto the platform. The crowd were yelling at them, spitting at them. Talyn felt her shoulders tense, and she carefully slid her bow over her shoulder and gripped it tightly. She felt burning in her neck.

Another man came over, the executioner. Talyn pursed her lips. His name was Jarvis, and she had memories of him coming to visit the Inn when she was a kid, tossing her up in the air and chasing her around tables. The memory tasted sour and rotten in her head. Talyn continued to watch underneath her hood, waiting.

Diana went and picked out a man, yanking him forward by the collar of his shirt. He staggered forward and fell to his knees onto the platform, before Jarvis yanked his head up and slipped the noose over his head, making it snug. Then, Diana announced his crimes. Theft, and whatever lies he guards made up. Talyn couldn’t hear. It was all just noise.

The old man kept his eyes down. Talyn loaded her bow and stood slowly, aiming.  Everyone’s back was towards her. Her blood was like a waterfall in her ears, her veins buzzing- Though her hands remained steady as she positioned her hands.

"Go ahead, Jarvis," Diana boomed. She nodded her head, and the man went and grabbed the other end of the rope. He pulled, and the man swung into the air while the crowd watched.

No one said anything now. It was forbidden not to. All that was heard was the sound of life being slowly stopped, and Talyn tried to push away the satisfied smirk she could see on Diana's face away from her mind.

She had one shot.

Talyn took a deep breath, her eyes focusing on her target. The man squirmed now, and his gasps were louder than anything at that moment. She drew the string tighter and exhaled slowly. She released, releasing a breath as well.

The arrow traveled through swiftly and struck, sailing through the air and slicing the rope cleanly. The man fell to his knees again and Jarvis crashed, rolling backwards off the platform. Everyone swiveled around, peering up at the archer.

Silence.

No one had ever acted out like this. No one had acted out against Diana, so publicly. It was so silent, but Talyn’s frame upon that roof was screaming.

With satisfaction swelling inside her chest now, Talyn turned and hopped off the roof, slipping inside the back of a library. She took down her hood and placed her bow over her shoulder, the buzz louder than ever. She peered out at the curtains, watching them go by.

She began to laugh, unable to push away Diana's shocked look. She laughed to silence the guilt she was beginning to feel. Afterall, Diana was her mother. Not by blood, but by choice.

Usually that was the best kind of mother someone could have.

Usually.

She laughed and pride swelled inside her throat. She wanted to rip her hair out and hug herself at the same time.

------

"What the hell was that, Talyn?"

Iris and Talyn stood in their training base, the only true place for some privacy now. Clint and Will were seated on the ground, and Talyn had just finished recalling the events of her stunt, proudly. She didn't know why Iris seemed so upset, and why Clint and Will were so silent.

"I was proving a point-”

"No, you were making things worse!" Iris snapped at her, her eyes wide. "Don't you see what you've done?"

"I-"

Iris cut her off, and Talyn's neck grew hot as she was interrupted. Iris pressed on.

"Of course, you don't! Because you always act on impulse! You don't- think! You never do!"

Her words echoed against the walls and slammed back into Talyn as she processed them. She could feel hot tears form behind her eyes, but she fought to keep them contained. Suck it up, she told herself. Suck it up.

"Talyn, if anything- You made it all worse! You think just because you made some shitty metaphorical statement that they're going to stop the executions? No! They'll just be done privately instead of public! They still die and all you did was piss off Diana and making things more difficult!"

The words pushed against her, except these felt as if she had been stabbed with ice.

She hadn't... "Iris, I didn't-"

"When are you going to realize that you can't protect everyone? You can't be some sort of hero all on your own, goddamnit! Are you proud of yourself? They're still going to-"

"Iris. I think that's enough." It was Will who spoke, clearing his throat. His voice was soft still, as it always was. Never had anyone heard his voice rise, even when he was clearly angry. "Theres no point in yelling."

Talyn clenched her fists and looked down at the floor. Iris huffed angrily. "You need to learn to not be so-"

"Enough. No more yelling." Will's voice was sharper there, and his next words were addressed to Talyn. "Talyn, you can't act on your own. What you did has consequences..." His voice became soft again, softer, and he sighed. "You need strategy, you need more opinions. We could have thought of something else."

"I didn't have time-"

"You could have spoken to Iris. She was there. She could have helped, in a way that wasn't so destructive." There was a pause. "We don't work separately, Talyn. You can't pull stuff like that. Other than those people just...y'know.. Diana's group is going to be more powerful in trying to catch the culprit, and then that'll permit them to arrest more innocent people already and blame people for nothing. This was huge.”

"I..I didn't think of that.." She would have preferred Iris yelling at her than Will right now. He sounded so disappointed. It hurt a lot worse than Iris being angry at her. Clint hadn't said anything, but she imagined he was disappointed and angry too. She was glad he remained silent.

"Well, you need to start. This is what happens, Talyn."

Talyn looked up and frowned.

"No training today, I think." He said after a moments silence. "Let's just go home, we won't get anything productive done if we're all upset. Iris, I'll walk with you."

Talyn watched them leave, pushing past the curtain of vines, with iris pinching the bridge of her nose. Clint got up slowly, picking up his coat and shrugging it on. "C'mon. You can stay at our place tonight." He said gruffly before he got up and turned to walk.

"Thanks.." She swallowed back tears, turning and walking beside him. She was grateful he had offered; She didn't feel like sharing a room with Iris.

The walk to Will and Clint's house was a silent one. She wished he would speak, wished he'd say something. But Clint didn't and she was left to wonder at how angry he really was. He must've been angry. Usually he'd explode before, but now he didn't.

By the time they went in, it was dark and quiet. Will's family was asleep, so Talyn just followed him up the stairs. He let her sleep in the bed, and he took the floor.

No matter how much she wished for sleep, it didn't come.

She wasn't laughing now. Her hands went up to her hair, short and fluffy on the top her head, and she pulled at it.

------

Iris went down into the Inn, pulling up a chair at a table. The place was mostly empty, even though it was open- Signaled by the lit lantern outside. Carina had just finished cleaning some of the glasses, when she looked up and smiled.

"Hey, Iris!”

Iris lifted her head and saw the girl with white hair, heading over to her table with two steaming mugs. She smiled at her softly and pulled up a chair, sitting across from her.

"Hey, Carina." Iris smiled a little at her. She took the mug from Carina and wrapped her hands around it. They had their meetings like this, at least once a week. "How are you liking this job?"

Carina shook her head slightly, speaking after she had taken a sip. "Oh, it's wonderful. Cozy, lots of people. I'm learning so much." It felt almost like a home, or what she imagined home would feel like.

Carina was not from the Capital, instead from one of the other kingdoms, Nerin. Nerin was the underwater kingdom, usually of sirens and mermaid. Carina was a mermaid, able to get rid of her tail and shift into legs when she moved onto The Island. She hadn’t shifted back since Iris knew.

Nerin was very secretive, mysterious- Strict. She had been banned from it a few months back, and while swimming in the other unfamiliar parts of the ocean, had been caught by some fishermen. In which Iris and her friends had rescued her. Now, she lived on land, and she was learning their ways here.

"That's good, then! I'm glad you're enjoying the new job. Better than the library?"

"Ah, that's hard to say. I like both." She smiled again. "But how are you? I heard about what happened yesterday. That's just... wow."

Iris glanced up at her, looking down and frowning slightly. Carina knew of what they did, Stealing, helping innocents escape. She hadn't said a word.  She would never do that, she owed a lot to them anyways. "It... was insane. It was also Talyn," she murmured quietly, speaking into her mug.

Carina stared at her for a moment, her eyes widening. "Seriously? Taly- Actually, not that surprised." She frowned, recounting the times she had gotten up in large men's faces, ready to start a fight while they had hung out. "They're looking everywhere for her, though. Not her, really- But..."

"Yeah, yeah. My mom's been going crazy. She's furious."

"Oh, dear..." Carina sighed softly, before the door rang with the chime of a bell, and a familiar red-haired boy came in.

"Icarus!" Iris said, and she smiled. He beamed back at her and headed over.

"Hey!" He said, planting a small kiss on her cheek, and Carina glanced away for a second and downed the rest of her tea. He waved politely to Carina, and she nodded her head and mumbled a hello.

"I wanted to see if you wanted to take a walk?" He said to Iris. Carina waited for a moment, and Iris nodded eagerly. "That's okay, right?"

"Yeah! I mean- Carina?" She tilted her head, asking as if she was merely a second thought. And she was.

Carina bit her lip slightly. "I uh... Well, Iris you just got here-"

"I'm sorry, but you know... Don't get to see Icarus that much. I'll come back in a couple hours, okay? Have our tea ready then?" Iris asked her.

"No, no, go ahead. I should get back anyways. You two have fun. We can talk later, okay?" She picked up the mugs, nodded a goodbye to them and turned as the couple headed out.

She sighed as she went behind the counter, setting the mugs down. She dumped them out.

----

“.... And then she just goes and does whatever she wants, and she doesn't even pick up after herself!" Iris huffed, glad to release some of the tension as she and Icarus walked down the shore of a nearby stream. "She doesn't even ask us, especially with something so important- Doesn't even realize how destructive it is!" She tossed a rock into the water and watched it splash.

Cool it. She could feel the intricate lightning patterns begin to prickle on the backs of her hands. She needed to keep her emotions in check.

"I can see how frustrating that would be," Icarus replied, his tone gentle. His voice calmed Iris down, and he slipped an arm around her shoulder, as always. And as always, she leaned into him. It was like magic- A good magic. Different from her own.

"It's very frustrating. She never listens, never thinks. God, sometimes she's so- stupid." She regretted it immediately as she said it, but it just came out. She frowned. "I... Shouldn't "have said that. I don't mean it."

"I think you do."

She turned to look up at him, surprised. "What? No, that's awful of me to even say-"

"C'mon now. It's okay." He smiled a little again. "I mean, all of that is pretty...dumb. When you think about it. Which she didn't."

"Hey-"

"It is stupid, Iris. You just said so. We're merely stating the obvious, dear. Your sister can't rely on just impulsiveness." He steered them around a rock as they walked. "One day, it might get her hurt. Might get you all hurt."

He was right. Really, he was. Talyn’s impulsiveness would be her downfall.  She just shook her head and sighed. "Yeah... I just feel apart from her, I hope it goes away. I don't like being angry at her."

Icarus rubbed her arm with his thumb. "You two will be fine, I'm sure. It'll pass." Her hands still prickled, and she looked down at them. She sighed softly and glared down at them. "Man... I hate these things."

Icarus looked down at them. "You should wear gloves for them. I can get you some."

"Really? Thank you." Iris sighed softly, sticking her hands in her pockets then.

---------

It was dinnertime for Clint and Will. Him and his family sat around the table, three younger siblings and his ‘mother’. Clint and Will sat side by side, eating their soup quietly. Clint glanced up at Will's mother, Aliane, pausing for a moment. Aliane looked tired. She went to work at the library early in the morning and left Will to take care of the kids, then after her shift at the library she would go to work at some bar and work late into the night.

Still, it wasn't enough to cover the costs. The youngest was barely a few months old, and the father had left. He was Will's half-brother. Their fathers had left a long time ago and left Aliane. Will didn’t remember his own father too well. But at the face Aliane made whenever he was brought up, something told him he didn’t want to.

Diseases were such a dangerous thing They traveled fats, especially with houses and people so close together. The kids would get sick almost every two weeks it seemed, and the medicines only grew in expense. Especially when the baby got sick, panic and stress would cover the house like a suffocating blanket.

Clint and Will would bring home what they could. Talyn and Iris would send them home with baskets of food and herbs that may help, but it wasn't enough. Clint felt like a burden here. They had been so kind to take him in, all those years ago when he ran away from home... But still... Would it be easier if he wasn't around? That was less people to feed, less people for Aliane to worry about, to support, to house. Aliane wouldn’t let him stay at the Inn though. Aliane hated Diana as much as the rest of them. She barely accepted Talyn and Iris.

He would find that out soon enough.

"How was your days today?" Aliane asked, her voice soft as always. She looked up at the two boys in front of her, swirling her spoon in her fork.

"It was fine," they both said at the same time.

Today had just been hanging out outside while the kids played, after taking them to their teachers. As well as helping Talyn feed some of the poorer communities in the area, covering her while she stuffed her bag with treats and bread.

"Oh, come on! Tell me more, I feel like we haven't talked in ages!" She exclaimed in an exasperated tone, and she leaned forward in interest. "I want to know what you're both up to. I know I'm not home often but... Y'know.  You are still teenagers. I still have to try and keep an eye on you two."

"Alright, alright. We've been stealing, making our with girls, throwing tra- I'm kidding!" He said as he noticed the wide eyes from Aliane.

"You better be!" She grinned at him. "I know I've raised you well. You wouldn’t pull any shit like that.”

"That's right. But I did take your piece of the bread." He held it up.

"Give it to me-" Aliane huffed and snatched the piece out of his hand, rolling her eyes. "Anything else?"

Clint hesitated for a moment. If I don’t do it now, it would never happen. "Actually, there was something I had to tell the both of you. " Out of the corner of his eye he saw Will's eyebrows go up. He faced Aliane, tapping one finger on the table. In sync, his leg bounced up and down rapidly.

"Oh?" She spoke. Clint didn't talk much- So he knew this must've been a surprise.

"I signed up for the Front. Training starts in a few days." Right as he finished uttering the words his tongue felt as if he had swallowed something sour and bitter. Involuntarily, his gaze shifted down to his bowl of soup.

There was a silence that followed his words. Aliane stared at him for a second before she spoke, her voice much softer, much quieter. "Oh..." No one knew much about them, the Front. There were no opinions really- Just honor them. That's why Clint had been so surprised to hear Will's opinion on them. Clint closed his eyes for a moment and saw the word Puppet.

He opened them again and met Aliane’s gaze, feeling Will staring at him too- But he didn't look over. She didn't look mad, only surprised. "I'd just like to ask... Why?"

Clint inhaled for a moment. "Because I want to do something. I want to do something that is going to help people. I want to be someone these kids can look up to." He gestured briefly towards the younger ones, oblivious to the talk. One of them was holding their spoon the wrong way.

"But they already look up to you. Well, they must see but- You already help people, Clint. You help us out. There's no wars, anyways-" Will spoke up this time. His voice was less soft, stricter and more linear.  Almost whiny.

"There is," Clint interrupted. "There will be. Not a war we're really concerned in, but Lilura and Eira are getting more and more... tense every day. They'll probably call on us to aid them."

"Oh, no.." said Aliane. "Do you know why?"

"One wants to abolish the other. I'm not sure, but I'm sure I'll figure it out soon." Clint sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I just wanted to let you know. I'll be living and training on the base, though. I'm already signed up.”

"You did this without letting us know first?" Will exclaimed, his eyes narrowing a tad. He looked upset, almost hurt.

"I didn't want to change my mind. It's been on my mind for forever. I decided to get it over with and just do it."

"Will, please." Aliane leaned forward some. "Will there be visits? We still want to see you, Clint."

"I- I'm sure there will be." God, he hated stuttering. He cleared his throat and talked more clearly, forcing his voice to be steady. " I'm not sure when but... I still want to see you all too. It's not like I'm going to drop off the face of the earth."

"You better not. You know I'll kick your ass," Aliane joked. She looked more comforted by that fact. Clint wasn't sure why. He was only another mouth to feed. Will, on the other hand, was hard to read. Part of what Clint read of him- looked almost hurt. He couldn't get why, though.

Will looked up at Clint, but not directly in the eyes as he had always done before and sighed. "I'm glad you're...Making your own way. I'm happy for you. No matter what you choose you’ll always have us for support."

Clint could feel his throat tighten slightly. All he managed then was a quick nod.

"We’re proud of you," added Aliane. She smiled at him gently when he looked up.

"Thank you. It... means a lot." Clint swallowed down whatever was crawling up his throat.

Aliane reached over the table, placing her hands over his and Will's. She didn't say anything else; she didn't need to.

[daybreak-tkler]

Ateez ler headcannons 😌

So while I'm going through writer's block, it's gonna take a little while to finish my final two requests! Then I've got a few other works in mind (the second episode of Punishments, a new series of stories and stuff like that!) so for now, take some ler ateez headcannons because I did lee ones so it's only fair that I do ler ones now!

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

۵

Hongjoong;

•as a ler, Joongie tends to be quite the teaser.

•he'll usually have an accomplice or two with him when he tickles someone (usually it's seonghwa)

•likes to keep his lees nice and restrained

•sweet baby voice teases

•loves to watch the lee squirm

•when he's with Seonghwa though-

•Jesus Christ the lee must have really been in for a punishment

•has the longest nails in the group, they aren't super long but they do make for a good tickle tool

•loves to hear a lee beg

•loves tickle games

•will push the lee right to their limits if it's a punishment

•will only stop if he hears a clear safeword or the use of the traffic light system

•anything other then that means nothing

•No safeword? You're fucked.

Seonghwa;

•ohhhh boy

•a devil.

•he is sweet and merciful when it's being playful

•but don't wind him up too much

•because he will attack with no remorse

•will make a lee ask for tickles

•"You want what?"

•wants to hear the sentence "I want you to tickle me" clearly

•loves playing tickle games with the lee

•enjoys seeing the lee crying with laughter

•teasy biatch

•Once again, when he's with joong they are the most unstoppable force ever.

•prefers fingers and baby oil to tickle tools

•especially if he's with Joong and with the smol leader's nails 😳

•believes that he will get a much better reaction out of the lee if he uses his fingers

•most likely will start off nicely but will slowly get worse

•ticklish kisses™️

Yunho;

•sweetest ler

•even when he's with Mingi, he's the sweetest puppy prince

•Big smiles when he sees the lee laugh

•isn't as rough but Mingi kinda makes him wanna hear the lee scream

•alone he's the sweetest goddamn thing

•like, he'll be ever so gentle

•unless the lee wants him to wreck them

•he can do that

•enjoys giving his lees little nicknames to fluster them

•"hey, gigglebug!"

•"so cute! Like a little squirmy wormy~"

•can just make people blush without trying

•I dunno how but he just can

•Just really wants to see his bbys smile tbh

Yeosang;

•now you may think that Yeosang is a hardcore lee and can't ler

•and you'd be right

•to some extent anyway

•he is a very shy ler

•will ask permission to tickle someone

•he'll just sit in their lap while he lightly spiders his fingers on the lee's bare tummy 🥺

•very quiet the whole time

•teases a little bit but mainly gets flustered by his own teasing

•No matter what, he will always be trying to put himself in the lee's situation

•that makes him so flustered

•Y-Yeheheeosangie why are you bluhuhushing?"

•because he was thinking about being tickled, Sannie

•not very confident in his ler skills

•is actually a pretty good ler

San;

•a very even switch

•just like his duality amiright?

•You know he's part of the demon line for when he's up on stage and whatnot?

•yeah, that also applies to tickling too

•evil ler

•will count those damn ribs until the lee "stops giggling so loudly"

•c'mon San, have some mercy

•wants to hear those screams

•yeah, there's definitely no mercy

•is all up for having a tickle fight

•is super competitive in them so he usually wins

•(who wants to see a fic with ateez tickle fights?)

•loves, and I mean loves, to use feathers

•his favorite tool to use

•a fluffy one preferably

•prefers to pin the lee down

•feels more powerful when he's doing that and tickling the lee

•loves giving raspberries goddamnit

Mingi;

•deep voiced demon...

•jk he's actually really sweet

•sweet but like, also evil?

•sweetly evil.

•lives for those patronizing teases

•"aw.. That tickles? Such a shame.."

•"aww.. I didn't think you were that sensitive.."

•it hits differently when he has a deep voice

•loves to use them tickle tools, y'know

•one electric toothbrush... Or twelve?

•probably twelve.

•depends how he's feeling

•likes to wreck the lee and then gently tickle them when they're getting tired-

•makes them look so adorable

•especially if it's Wooyoung bc Wooyoung pout

•cooes a lot

•tickle cuddles

•will be the big spoon ^

•has very flexible toes... And uses them as tickle tools too-

•damn, this guy

•he's going for all of the lees.

Wooyoung;

•fast fingers™️

•very. excited. ler.

•wants to get every spot

•what are tickle tools again?

•only uses his fingers

•he can be a tease and tickle the lee ant agonizingly slow...

•but then will go back to tickling literally everywhere at the speed of light

•giggling with the lee

•yup

•he likes to make people happy

•not really much to say about him since he's a hardcore lee but y'know

Jongho;

•strong boi

•prefers being an accomplice rather then being a lone ler

•will put people in their place by tickling them

•punishments for aegyo = tickling

•but he wants the lee to squeal as cute as possible for him

•don't question it, it makes perfect sense

•despite hating being kissed, he gives ticklish kisses like they're nothing

•Jongho, are you living a lie?

•loves hearing the squeals and giggles

•"is this little rib ticklish? Or was it this one? Damn... I forget.. Guess I'll have to try both!"

•ends up playing the goddamn rib piano.

•"screaming lees are happy lees"

•direct quote from Choi Jongho ^

•likes holding lees down because he likes making them feel like they're too weak to even fend the tickles off

•v mean.

[ace-attorney-x-reader]

welcome, welcome!

hello! my name is peach, you guys can call me peachy, and i've just decided to start a random x reader blog for one of my current favorite fandoms, ace attorney!

i'm a cis girl, pansexual and single! i like joking around, but i can be pretty apologetic at times.

here's some rules-

- i will nOt, under any circumstance, do smut. i'm a minor, and i'm pretty sure it's not legal for me to do so.

- i will do any characters from the first two games (PW:AA and AA:JFA) up to the third chapter of the second game, mostly because of spoilers.

- i was gonna exclude rise from the ashes, but y'know what?? i will do rise from the ashes characters, i'll just look them up-

- keep it platonic for pearl and other characters that are under 18, pleas e-

- i won't do ships, only x readers. i'll probably only do headcanons until i can get some more motivation.

- there currently isn’t a limit on the amount of characters i’ll do per headcanon, but expect them to take longer and for the headcanons per character to be shorter.

- i will not do anything for manfred von karma, because he's stinky 😤 franziska is cool tho- i'll do her

- this isn't really a rule, but goddamnit less popular characters deserve love too- please suggest them more, there's a lot of my favorite characters that i have seen zEro work for- i don't really want a flood of popular characters-

- in fact, speaking of less popular characters, on wednesdays and fridays, i’ll do short stories for more underrated characters! i’ll probably post more about it tomorrow, since tomorrow is wednesday.

- one headcanon per ask!! this is probably obvious, but please send separate asks for separate requests! however, if your choosing multiple characters for one headcanon, please send them in the same ask.

- more will be added as i think of them, so check back often.

edit: alright, it’s wednesday! the rules about the unpopular character stories are under the read more thing, since i know that only some people are interested in that kind of thing!! check them out if you’d like,,

- it’s pretty simple: on wednesdays and fridays, you can request ONE underrated character for me to write a short story for.

- this is mostly so i can figure out my writing style when it comes to writing actual stories, while relishing in my love for underrated characters.

- it’s just like a headcanon request, but you gotta specify that it’s a story request, or i’ll do it in headcanon format.

- if you send a character that is popular, i won’t do it! this is for unpopular characters only!

- you can tell if a character is popular if the internet gushes over them, like any of the lawyers (minus winston). 

- so basically, if you’re unsure if your character is unpopular, look them up. if there's a lot of content for them, they’re not eligible.

- there's a lot of factors that i do go through when i chose the asks, like if i feel like i can write that character, to if i even really feel like writing them- and no, it’s not first come first serve.

- i will take three max per wednesday/friday, and though it’s not first come first serve, your ask WILL eventually be done! it’s going into my inbox, and it’s not going anywhere until it’s done!

- again, more will be added, maybe a list of characters that i won’t do for this/really wanna do for this.

[fydream]

can you do #30 from prompt list 5 w jisung? 😳🥺

☌ genre: barista!jisung x reader, ft. barista!jaemin, just a buncha fluff :D

☌ prompt #30: “I can’t talk to cute people, okay? I don’t know how to flirt!” | prompt list + inbox

☌ song: coffee - bts

☌ word count: 1k

The sound of a small bell chiming indicates that someone has walked into Star1117, the local coffee shop you live by. It’s not that popular but it’s a well known due to how cozy it is inside and how high quality their treats are. Though it being well know, it’s one of those cafes you wouldn’t find elsewhere because everything there was one of a kind.

Inside there’s a small bookshelf wall that also displays mugs for sale, similar to the ones used to serve warm drinks. The books range from clean, new paperback novels to worn down pages in classic stories you’ve probably seen before. The edge of the countertops, as well as the windowsills were decorated with string lights that the employees would turn on whenever there was a storm or once it became dark outside.

These were just a few things that you noticed when you decided to stop by Star1117 for the first time, these were also the few things that kept you as a regular.

The major reason why you kept coming back was because of how nice their customer service was. Sure, it was probably because they wanted to keep their business going because you know how hard it can be dealing with annoying customers is, but everyone who worked there were probably some of the nicest people you’ve ever met.

So when you walked in today you were very much happy to see one of your favorite baristas, Na Jaemin, behind the counter ready to take your order.

But this time was different, Jaemin was with another boy who you haven’t seen before. So when he heard the bell chime after you walked in, he was more than delighted to see you.

“Y/n!” Jaemin yells from behind the countertop. You had no idea why he was yelling with practically no one in the shop. It was only you and the two other boys with the faint sound of music playing. To anyone else it would’ve been awkward, but to you it just felt normal.

“Nice to see you right on time.” He jokes. “I’ll be there in a sec- Wait.. Actually.. Jisung?” He calls for the other boy, who was currently attempting and failing to make a strawberry smoothie. “Can you take her order? If you need help just yell.

"Oh, Uh- Sure!” Jisung says before tossing the cup in the sink and washing his hands. In about a minute or two you see a tall, pink-brownish haired boy walking towards the cash register.

“I- Uhm.. Hi.” He starts. “Can I uh,, I mean- What you like to order?” He asks, and you can see his cheeks tint a light pink. In the background you can hear Jaemin snicker at the poor boy’s stuttering, if it wasn’t for the light music playing you would’ve probably heard him say “Oh Jisung.. You’re too easy to read..”

“Can I just have an small iced caramel macchiato?” You ask, taking out your wallet.

“I- Yeah! Sure!” Jisung replies as he pokes a few buttons. “That’ll be $3.75!”

You smile before handing him a $5 bill, putting the rest of the change in the tip jar for both him and Jaemin.

Soon enough you see Jaemin walk out from the back room. “Oh! You’ve got your backpack and your headed to your usual spot.” Jaemin exclaims once he spots you. “Are you gonna be here a while?” He asks.

One of your favorite things about this place was the two person table in the far left corner of the shop. It was the best spot for dates as you friends would say but to you, it was the perfect spot for a study session. It was right next to the window meaning that if you needed to take a break from your computer screen, you could just look outside. Not to mention the secret outlet you found when you dropped your highlighter that practically saved you from failing a test because your laptop was about to die. Also, it was practically reserved as “your spot.” From what Jeno, another barista who worked here, alongside as your english classmate has told you is that they make sure to keep that corner open and clean, just for you.

“Yeah.” You sigh. “I’ve got an essay for my history class due in like two days and I haven’t started yet so I’m going to be here a while..” You groggily say.

“What school did you go to again?” Jaemin asks.

“Uh, NCT U?” You reply, a confused look on your face. “I’m literally wearing the hoodie right now? Haha.”

“Oh yeah.. Sorry..” Jaemin chuckles.

“Why?” You ask.

“It’s because our dear Jisung, also known as the new boy I’m training is also a student there!” He exclaims.

“Oh thats cool!” You reply. “Do you know what he’s majoring in?”

“Ahh no.. Sorry!” He apologizes. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind you asking though, I can send him over once he starts his break if you want!”

“Oh that’d be cool! Thanks Jaemin!” You say as you head over to your table.

Before you know it you hear or you thought you heard your name being called out which cued you to head over towards the countertop to pick up your drink. But to your surprise there was nothing there.

Both Jisung and Jaemin were in the “back” of the shop looking for more caramel after the many failed drinks that Jisung had made before you came. Needless to say, the half empty bottle from earlier was now empty.

“Who was that?” You hear a muffled voice ask, which you assumed to be Jisung.

“Oh that’s y/n.” Jaemin replies. “She goes to NCT U as well.”

“Is she a regular?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Oh no reason” Jisung whispers, and once again his cheeks tint a light pink.

“You’re so easy to read Jisung.” Jaemin snorts. “What was that earlier? ‘Can I uh- May I- I mean’..”

“Hey! I did not sound like that!”

“Yes you did.”

“What was your problem anyways?”

“It’s- It was nothing..”

“Oh c’mon.. You’re always Mr. Confident! You’re put behind a cash register and suddenly you falter once you see our first customer of the day.” Jaemin Jokes. “So, What’s wrong?”

“I already said it was nothing.”

Out of guilt, you feel like should leave the countertop because it feels like this isn’t a conversation you should be over hearing, but once Jaemin practically starts begging for Jisung to tell him why, you can’t help but stay and listen.

“Jisung!!!” Jaemin whines. “C’mon!!! You can tell me!!! We’ve known each other for ages! Why is now so different??”

“Ugh fine!” Jisung exclaims. “It’s because I can’t talk to cute people, okay? I don’t know how to flirt!”

All of a sudden it’s quiet again, and you realize this definitely was a conversation you weren’t supposed to hear. Awkwardly, you try to make your way back to your table as quiet as possible just in case they found what they were looking for and decided to come out.

“Really?” Jaemin snorts at Jisung. “That’s it?”

“Yeah. That’s it.”

“You’re so cute.” He chuckles. “You’re a barista goddamnit, why don’t you just write you’re number on her cup?”

“No!” Jisung retorts back. “Do you know how cliche that is?!”

“Eh, it was worth a shot.” Jaemin snorts again, “Oh yeah, she wanted me to ask you what your major was.”

Before Jisung could even get the words out of his mouth Jaemin cut him off. “I told her to ask you. Meaning you can go talk to her on your break.”

“Jaemin!!” He whines.

“What? I didn’t say you have to flirt. You just have to talk to her.” He smiles before walking back out into the kitchen, Jisung following. “Look, she’s just doing her homework, plus look at her hoodie. I wasn’t lying when I said NCT U y'know.”

Jisung sighs, “Fine. You win this round, Na Jaemin.”

“Great! I’ll send you over once we finish your first half of training, alright?” Jaemin exclaims. “But for now, I’ll make the drink while you clean up a bit around here, okay? I didn’t know training you would make such a big mess..”

As the day goes on you watch as the cafe slowly become busier with a few customers coming in now and then, you even spot Jeno coming in for his shift after his only class period today.

Many drinks and treats later you notice the same pink-brownish haired boy walk up to you. “Is this seat taken?” He asks pointing at the chair which your backpack was on.

“Oh no, haha.” You laugh as you take your bag off the chair. “You must be Jisung, right?”

Jisung nods before taking the seat. “Yeah! Jaemin told me you go to NCT U and wanted to know what my major was.”

“Oh yeah!” You say as you smile. “But can I ask you one thing before you tell me?” You ask.

“Sure.”

“So, you think I’m cute?”

[wishfullyeternal]

Dean x Reader- One Left Shoe

Anon requested-  Hey. I really like your work and I know yo havent been to active but I was hoping you could write a Dean/Reader where they have a crush on each other and they go on a hunt alone together. Sorry if it's too vague.😋❤

A/N- Thanks for the request! Definitely not too vague but gave me enough so I could work my magic, kinda long, but I had a blast writing it! Keep sending requests my lovelies!

Dean x Reader- One Left Shoe

Words- 1,472

Warnings- Descriptions of violence, kissing, language

"Dean," You started, he huffed.

"You're not going on the hunt with me, I can go alone." Dean was packing up clothes from the bunker as you sat on his bed.

"Please?" Dean stopping shoving things into his duffel bag and stared at you, then rubbed his eyes and sighed,

"Why do you even want to go with me?" His green eyes narrowed, assuming you were up to something. You looked down, a little embarrassed but spoke quietly.

"I dunno," You paused to play with the drawstrings of your hoodie,

"I just like spending time with you I guess." Dean smiled that oh-so-cute grin he wore whenever you complimented him. I mean was it that obvious you had a crush on him? He was perfect, those light green eyes that crinkled when he laughed at a stupid joke you made, and the warm arms that embraced you when you were down. Who could ever want more? Dean snapped you out of your thoughts,

"You doin' all right there?" You stammered,

"Y-yeah, I just zoned out..." Dean chuckled,

"Doesn't surprise me." You play punched him and walked out, you yelled back through the hallway,

"I'm going with you, no exceptions!" You heard a laugh and then the shuffling of more clothes. As you packed a couple of days worth of clothes Dean walked into your room, scoffing at the girly decor.

"Sam can't come, he said he needs his 'research time', what a nerd," You laughed softly.

"So ya ready?' He asked, you zipped up your backpack and looked at him.

"Always,"

 Finding a dingy motel in the city of Greenville Illinois was easy, the town was lesser known and a little more than 7,000 people lived there. (You did your research) Unpacking was easy and soon it was back to the hunt. Dean had educated you in the lengthy ride, simple hunt, just an aggravated spirit. He suspected a child, which was always one that tugged on the heartstrings for you. But knowing you were doing the right thing was always good.

"So, let's go," Dean said, almost running out the door, you hurried to catch up.

"Why in such a hurry?" He shrugged his shoulders,

"Better to hunt sooner than later, don't want anything happenin' to other people who might hang around there." You shrugged your shoulders and decided not to question it. A short drive later, listening to the hum of the Impala you ended up at the house. It was a ways in the woods, but a path made it easy to access. It was at the edge of a national reserve, so you could see how potential path goers could get confused and go into the house. It was dark and damp. The only light was the headlights of the Impala which illuminated the slight mist that had formed in the cool air. Dean got out of the car and popped the trunk.

"So, whaddya thinkin'...Salt filled shotgun caps, iron crowbar..." You refused the shotgun, you did not trust yourself with it at all. So instead you went with the crowbar. Dean smiled at you and grabbed his shotgun.

"So, what are we looking for?" You asked Dean answered quickly,

"A shoe." You questioned him,

"A shoe?" He nodded. You motioned for him to further explain,

"I'm pretty sure the ghost is Thomas Brown, he died as a kid from drowning in the bathtub, he's been dead for a while, so his spirit is pretty powerful, when I first saw the victims, they all had lost one of their shoes, the left one." You looked at him quietly,

"This kid killed people?" Dean nodded,

"Don't worry, it isn't that bad." He started to walk up into the house and you followed close behind. Dean opened the door and quickly scanned the room with his shotgun, silence. It was a small three-room house, a bedroom, a bathroom, and a living room. A log cabin that seemed slightly worn, if you were to guess you would've guessed the early 1900s. So this ghost was pretty old if he was the first tenant. Dean motioned quietly for you to take the bathroom, while he took the bedroom. You went to your right and put your crowbar to the door, silently keeping yourself somewhat safe. The temperature suddenly dropped and goosebumps formed on your arms, you put your hand to the cold doorknob and turned, you opened it and the first thing you were met with was a bathtub. A full bathtub. You heard an echoed voice.

"Go Away" It was a small bathroom, where could the ghost be hiding? You went to turn on the light but when your hand touched it, it shocked you, you recoiled and suddenly the ghost flickered and appeared. It was a little boy with brown hair, he looked surprisingly like Sam. He looked innocent, much like a young child when looking up at their parents. He spoke to you,

"I never wanted to die...Mommy left me alone for too long...The water was so cold...I fell..." His face quickly turned angry and at the sight of you pushed you away, you sprawled out onto the wooden floor about 10 feet away. Dean quickly ran out of the bedroom and yelled for you,

"Y/N what the hell was that!" He looked down to you and quickly to the ghost that stood in the doorway, he cocked his gun and shot, the ghost flickered away. The room was still cold, however, and you began to shiver on the ground. You got up though and wiped the blood from your lip and head. Nothing too bad. Dean helped you up and said to you.

"You okay?" You nodded,

"Find the shoe?" You asked, he pulled a small shoe out of his pocket.

"Yup." You paused,

"Dean..." he looked at you and raised a brow,

"That's a right shoe." Dean looked at it and shook his head.

"Damnit!" Dean pulled you into the bedroom to help look, you looked under the rusted bed frame, under sheets that were stained with god knows what and in the closet that had far too many cobwebs, Thomas's voice echoed through the house.

"Ring around the rosie, pockets full of shoesies, water, water, we all drown now..." You heard all of the faucets, rusted beyond recognition turn on, he was planning to flood the house.

"Dean!" You yelled to him,

"What now?!" You went for a window, locked, you ran to the door, also locked. Dean tried to hide his look of panic.

"We gotta find that shoe." Thomas appeared in front of Dean, with the shoe in his hand. Dean went to grab it but the ghost hovered it away. Dean argued with the ghost,

"Goddamnit, give me the shoe!" Thomas answered him,

"But I don't want to die again." You took the chance to roundhouse the head of Thomas with the crowbar, he dropped the shoe. Dean snatched it up and emptied the shell of one of his shotgun shells, pouring the salt on it, he grabbed his flask and poured the whiskey on it and lit it, the show started to burn but at the same time, the water began to flow inside the bedroom, effectively putting out the flame. Dean cursed some more and put it on top of the bed, he lit it again and it burned slowly. Thomas appeared once more and attempted to put out the flame. Dean shot it again and I stood at Dean's back, protecting him while he watched it burn. I heard a yell and suddenly Thomas burst into flame. He floundered around for a couple of seconds and eventually, his soul was burned out. To be put to hell or heaven, we'll never know. Dean sighed,

"Finally, let's get outta here." You nodded at him and went to the Impala. He put away the crowbar and shotgun and looked at you.

"Hey, you okay?" he motioned to your head wound, you nodded.

"I'm fine," Dean shot you one of those I-know-you're-lying looks and said to you.

"At least let me clean it," Knowing he wasn't going to take no for an answer you obliged, Dean quickly grabbed gauze and the rest of his whiskey to disinfect it, he didn't warn you when he dabbed at the cut.

"Fuck, that hurts." You went away from his hand and he shushed you.

"Just let me clean it, then you'll be fine" You rolled your eyes and let him clean it. he put a large bandage on it said you were good to go.

"Dean." You paused,

"Yeah?" You stammered,

"I love you y'know..." Dean pressed a soft kiss to your forehead,

"You think I couldn't tell?" You blushed, Dean lifted your chin and smiled at you. He kissed you lightly,

"I love you too"

[kiraawrites]

2MSS #23: Quality of Life (?)

From @writingprompts post.

Day 23 of the 2 Month Short Stories Challenge w/ @flyingfalconflower12

Word count: 1978

Constructive criticism welcome!

I want money, a mansion and a pretty girl. That day was Life-Switching day. The day our souls would switch in a manner so unpredictable that it was nicknamed The Great Casino. We would enter new bodies, with different genders, ages and wealth levels. This system was supposed to address inequality. But I was not sure how, as it seemed to boil down to how well-off one was. 365 days to make it big, or bust.

It was my first time in America. Over the past few years, I had a streak of Eastern European lives, followed by four years of being in China. I was a James Luther, living in a small apartment in a city full of people adjusting to their new lives. There were many smiles but twice as many sad faces. Guess I'm really not alone in this struggle. The apartment was outfitted with furniture that seemed older than the apartment itself. In the cracked bedroom mirror, I studied my new self. Last year's Luther definitely didn't make it.

Judging by the poor furniture, unemptied wastebasket and an emerging beer belly, I had a lot of things to do. To my luck, there was a gym next door. With the few dollar bills in my wallet, I got a membership card and started on the machines. Did I really deserve this life? I've never liked anything I got — except when I was an attractive Chinese guy. Well, I suppose I did flunk my college final exams last year... Sweat was dripping off me as if I had walked through a thunderstorm. My arms were shaking. Flexing my biceps turned into a fit of agonising pain. I gave up and returned home.

"I hate this new life," muttered the man behind the counter.

"I hate my new life too."

Slumped behind my wooden desk, I thought of what to do next. Eventually, I logged onto the Citizen Database to check my occupation and credentials. It took a while, scrolling through hundreds of Jameses. Most of them were my level (judging wealth-wise) and that made me smile, albeit somewhat bitterly. When clicking my name, I held my breath and wished for the best.

I worked at a MacDonald's and skimmed through high school.

God forbid. I failed one test and now they're giving me someone who has failed a hundred. I groaned and pummelled the table with my fists. Y'know what? I'll give this guy one good year. No matter how far down I am on the social ladder, at least I can have an office job next year.

---------------------

The switch is all about your quality of life. What is that? I was manning the counter, taking orders in the high-speed lunch hour.  The faces before me were dulled down with drowsiness, their lips forming a flat line. Monotone voices said orders. Echoes of their souls. No one was living in the moment. Our thoughts were occupied by the next year; its blessings and damnations tantalising as always.

I'm stuck in this trap. Just like everyone else. Well, time to break out of it. I attempted a smile on the next customer. Her face remained grim, preoccupied with something else.

Another one at the counter. The same unchanged expression. Stiff hands enclosing credit cards. As the crowds thinned, my heart sank. People were taking their last bites of their Big Macs. The restaurant was silent except for the footsteps in the kitchen. We were all unhappy. Dissatisfied. It's a hopeless vicious cycle, ain't it?

An old woman pulled the door open. Eyes landed on her as she hobbled over to the counter, her walking stick dragging across the floor. Her eyes were downturned and watery. Every step she took looked as if it hurt.

"Good afternoon, madam. What can I get you?" I asked in my most cheerful tone. It was the best I could do for a stranger having a bad day.

"Dear lord, you are the first person I've seen with a smile today!" she croaked. "People like you give me hope for this world."

In her eyes was the warmth of genuine fondness. The corners of her lips crept upwards as she looked over me. Something in my head prompted me to grin, and she did too. It was a fragment of joy in the often-upsetting world. From then on, I greeted every customer with the same geniality.

---------------------

Stacked books glinted under my desk lamp. My hand tightened and loosened around a ballpoint pen as my eyes scanned over the question a few more times. It was nearing midnight and I was only on the second problem sum. Everything was tedious, much slower than it had been in any other year. The gears would not click.

The business course was carried out every weekday evening, just thirty minutes after my shift at a nearby community college. It was a small class with a subpar teacher that was barely warming up to his new profession. As I stumbled through lesson material, I kept a goal in my mind. I wanted a better job, something that would elevate me to a much higher position. An office job. Yes, that's what I want.

Ten minutes had passed. I threw down the pen, heaved a sigh of pent-up frustration and flung myself onto the creaking bed.

---------------------

Back at the gym. My arms felt like falling off. But I'm not as weak as before. I held my breath and pushed for the fifteenth rep on the machine. My chin reached the top of the bar and I dropped down; a dead stone.

"Good to see you, James. How long have you been coming here?" asked another man. "I remember when you couldn't even do five reps on that thing."

"Ten and a half months. Ever since the switch. Every other day, I'm here."

I clenched my fists and looked from one arm to another. I definitely had more muscle — they bulged as my arms tensed up. But that's not the main thing. Not at all. I felt so much better. It was the small things; being able to walk from A to B without exhausting myself or lifting a box without ever wanting to collapse.

With my towel, I wiped sweat from my forehead and waved the man goodbye. My thoughts flickered back to home. When are those interview results coming back? I need that job for next year, goddamnit.

---------------------

I flicked the lights on and surveyed the living room. The furniture was still the same: a second-hand sofa, a tiny table barely fitting two. An absolutely ugly home. But I love it, I thought as I sunk onto the sofa.

Most years were filled with a sense of impermanence. Time passing by, nothing mattering in the end. This year was different. I had changed my life; I had gripped it like a steering wheel and turned it around. I felt reborn. But it won’t matter in the end. This world is all about the money, and I need that job for it.

Rows upon rows of emails illuminated my face in the dark. They were all titled “Job Application for [Position Name]”. They didn’t even tell me whether I got in. Is that a bad sign? I shivered —  felt like puking. Rumbling deep in my stomach reminded me of the dinner I had yet to eat. I should get on with opening all five of them.

Number one. Rejected. Alright, not my favourite of them all anyway. Kinda underpaid too. I forced a smile. I’ll be alright.

Number two. Not my favourite, but the pay is good. That’s what matters. I opened it with trembling hands. Rejected. Biting my lips, I groaned. Guess I was a tiny bit unqualified.

Number three. If all these attempts have failed, is there even any time to settle into a new job? Rejected. I suck. My eyes were watering as breathing became difficult. The back of my throat was salty with suppressed tears.

Number four. Rejected. As expected. How stupid was I to think they would accept me? I rank so low compared to everyone else. I’ll never, never be able to escape this trap. The underside of my jaw was wet and cold. I gasped for air as I choked on my tears.

Number five. I was shaking head to toe. All my effort... Doesn’t it mean something? Rejected. My voice sounded throughout the whole house as I cried out in my confusion and pain, a knot forming in my chest.

Clenching my fists, I punched the wall. The plaster gave way beneath my fist, falling to the floor. I staggered back in shock. My foot caught on the legs of the nearby mirror. As it fell, I stretched my arms out. It slipped from my grasp and crashed on the floor. Small shards of glass were scattered across the floor like crystalline tears.

As I vacuumed the floor, I steadied my breathing and calmed down. There is a chance still. But I’m happier now than I was before, no matter what. No matter what.

---------------------

It was the night before Life-Switching day. I was rolling around in my bed, counting the seconds till midnight. The city was lively. Conversations droned on in bars and restaurants as people paid their last goodbyes to friends and fantasised about the future. Billboards were ready to switch to their “New Year, New Me” displays, attracting the few people fortunate enough to enter a life of wealth.

I still had no new job. At the back of my mind, it worried me. Yet, I had this sense that it was alright. A sense of contentedness passed over me for the first time in a while. Maybe it’s the finality of it all.

23:50. Ten minutes remaining. I found myself wishing to stay in this run-down apartment; remain as a man with a job at MacDonald’s. It was the newness of the drive to improve that made me want to stay, I knew. There was a potential to grow as James Luther, as I had witnessed.

23:59. One minute left. I gripped the edges of my bed and shut my eyes for the switch. It was coming, whether I liked it or not. I counted the seconds in my head. The last minute passed too fast. I snapped my eyes open, ready for the worst. However, I was there in that bed, staring at the plain white ceiling.

00:01, the bedside clock displayed. My phone showed the same as well. I peeked out of the window to see that the billboards had begun their campaigns. Something’s probably wrong. I’m so tired — might as well sleep.

09:00. Rubbing my eyes open, I looked around and expected a brand new apartment. But there it was: the mirror without glass and the desk beside it. The roof was pale white, as always. I must be dreaming. I pinched myself too hard and yowled.

At the front door, I grabbed the morning’s papers and scanned them for any anomalies. No. None! People were walking about as usual in the city. I pressed a palm against my forehead and thought hard. In the editor’s column was the yearly cheer up/congratulations nonsense. Having nothing else to calm my mind, I read it.

A few sentences caught my eye. “It’s all about the quality of life, they say. Nowhere does it mention material wealth or possessions. Does that mean a common man can break the trend?”

Nowhere. I spun around and gaped in realisation. I’ve been searching for the wrong thing this whole time! I found the key out of the trap! Someone was knocking my door. I opened it with a smile to find two black men in suits, their shoulders broad and imposing.

“We’d like your presence for an important government study.”

Taglist

@galaxy-charm @rhyseoshaughnessy @icedcoffeewriting @jiynix