#but on the other hand. washing machine so cool so awesome

[bytedykes]

[ID: simple sketch of Luo Binghe kneeling by a washing machine, hugging it with a tear in his eye. He's wearing a dark sweater and jeans. /end ID]

bingge reverse transmigration washing machine love-hate relationship. and post

[resident-gay-bitch]

This is inspired by this post :))

“Padfoot?” Harry asked, scrambling up to the table beside Sirius. He slapped his grubby little hands up on the table that was taller than he, and peaked over it to get a look at what Sirius was doing, “What’s that?”

“These are taxes.” Sirius said calmly, reaching down to grab Harry by the waist and hoist him up onto his own lap, “It’s things adults have to do with money. It’s very boring.”

“Do you have to do writing?” He asked, poking the page with a… green finger.

“Yes, a little bit.” Sirius said, grabbing Harry’s hand to get a good look at it, “Why are all of your fingers different colours, Bambi?”

“I wanted to be a rainbow!” He exclaimed, poking Sirius in the face, “Just like you!”

Beside them, Remus snickered, covering his mouth with his hand.

“Just like me, huh?” Sirius asked.

“Yeah.” Harry giggled, “Like you and uncle Moony.”

Sirius laughed and nudged Remus in the ribs, “Hear that Moons? It’s not just me.”

Remus rolled his eyes and shook his head, “You’re trouble, Harry.”

Harry giggled and smiled up at Sirius, “Do you get to do colouring on taxis?”

“Taxes, Sprout, they’re called taxes.” Sirius corrected, running a hand over Harry’s unruly hair, “And no, it’s so boring. No colours allowed.”

Harry poked out his tongue and blew a raspberry, “Can I help you? Maybe I can make it fun.”

“You can absolutely help me if you like, Remus has to help me too because I’m not much good at this stuff. I reckon you’ll be pretty good at it though, don’t you think?”

“Yeah! I’m good at everything.” Harry nodded, “Mummy says I’m the best ever.”

“Well, your mummy is right. Isn’t she, Moons?”

“She’d probably hex me if I said she was ever wrong.” Remus agreed, “So yes, your mother is always right, Harry. You are the best ever.”

Proudly, Harry grinned and stuck his hands up in the air. Sirius tugged him into a big hug and kissed the top of his head before they settled comfortably in their shared chair.

Harry listened carefully as Remus explained each step to Sirius, and together they figured out how to do Sirius’ taxes.

Once that task was done, Remus left for work and Harry followed Sirius through their little house towards the laundry.

“Can I help, please, Padfoot. Mummy says I’m so helpful.”

“Absolutely you can help me, Harry.” Sirius grinned, opening up the washing machine and pulling out all the wet laundry. “I’ll carry this basket outside because it’s very heavy, but maybe you can help me hang everything out, how does that sound?”

“Okay!” Harry shouted running off in the other direction, “I’ll go get your sunglasses!”

“They’re beside my bed!” Sirius called back, chuckling to himself as he loaded up the basket.

He met Harry by the back door, and the little boy was huffing and puffing from his run throughout the house, looking for Sirius’ sunglasses and his own pair that had gotten lost in the mess of his own little room for sleepovers.

They both put their shades on, looking super cool and awesome in them together, and went outside into the summer sun to hang the laundry.

Harry was very helpful, as he said he would be, and handed Sirius each individual item from the basket so he could hang them out. Harry wanted to help hang things up too, because he said it looked fun, but he was too short to reach the clothes line. Sirius did put the boy on his shoulders at one point to hang a few of his own little socks and undies out.

Harry was very satisfied to be helping. Sirius finds it’s adorable how Harry just wants to hang around him all the time, even when he’s doing perfectly mundane things like laundry and taxes. But he supposed he used to be the same with James.

When they were younger, Sirius would follow James everywhere, and he’d watch when James wanted to do extra homework, he’d watch when James polished his broom, and he’d hang around when James wanted to read his magazines. They were best friends, of course Sirius wanted to spend every waking minute with James.

It fills him with so much pride to be that best friend to little Harry. It makes him so happy to know that Harry likes to plod around behind Sirius, doing the most boring of things, simply because he enjoys Sirius’ presence.

Sirius and James may be the best of friends, but they’re nothing compared to the friendship Harry and Sirius have created. They’re together as much as they possibly can be. When Harry was really little, he’d often get confused and call Sirius “dad”, which only made James extremely happy of course.

After the laundry was hung out, they popped back inside for a spot of tea and muffins before getting ready to head out for the day. Harry put his favorite t-rex shirt on, and the boots Sirius bought him for his last birthday. Sirius also wore his boots, and his T.Rex shirt so they’d sort of match.

They both took their leather jackets and wore their matching “cool guy” sunglasses.

Sirius isn’t allowed to take Harry on his motorcycle without adult supervision (James does not count as adult supervision), so they walked down the street, hand in hand, to the bus stop to head into town.

Harry had a wonderful time on the bus, as he always does. He likes to press his face up against the window and watch the world zoom by. It fascinates him how they can move so fast without feeling the wind in his hair or anything, unlike flying on a broom. He thinks it’s brilliant.

He also had a lovely chat with an older lady on the bus. Harry likes to talk to strangers, which became a bit of an issue a few months ago when he’d just wonder off with them. Luckily none had been of the evil sort and helped him find his family again, but it was certainly a problem. He’s better now though, only talking with strangers when someone he knows is also there.

So when an older lady sat across from them on the bus, Harry got chatting away. She told Sirius he was such a lovely boy, and that he should be a very proud dad. Harry and Sirius both had a bit of a giggle about that, and Harry corrected her by calling Sirius his “bestest friend in the entire world and also my uncle”.

When they finally reached their stop, Sirius had to pick Harry up and carry him away because all he wanted to do was chat with the lady. He was very upset to get off the bus, but Sirius bribed him with a lollipop later, so Harry calmed down.

“What’s this place?” Harry asked as they walked through the double doors of the optometrist.

“It’s where you go to get glasses.”

“Oh…” He furrowed his brow, “Did daddy have to go here?”

“Yep.” Sirius nodded, “He has to come back every so often, too.”

“Why are we here?” Harry asked, skipping along beside Sirius as they walked up to the counter, their hands intertwined.

“Because Moony thinks I need glasses, even though I think he’s wrong. But also… you might need glasses too.”

“Like daddy?”

“Yeah, like daddy.” Sirius smiled, “We have to get a little test done, but don’t worry, it’s not scary, just a bit weird. And I’m gonna be there the whole time.”

“Okay.” Harry shrugged, “Can I get glasses like daddy?”

“You can get whatever glasses you want, if the eye doctors say you need them.”

“Okay!” Harry grinned, jumping on the spot.

When the pair were finally called in for their assessment, Sirius went first to help calm some of Harry’s rising nerves. He sat in the chair and confidently named all the letters the optometrist pointed out to him. Once all his tests were done, and Harry was squirming in his lap, excited and ready to take his own tests, the optometrist delivered some shocking news.

“Yeah, you really need some glasses.”

“Shit.”

“Bad word!” Harry gasped, “You’re not allowed to say that.”

“Bullocks, then.” Sirius corrected, “Bloody Remus, why is he always right?”

Harry was very brave through the bulk of his tests, it was only when the optometrist had to get up close to his eyes did he grab onto Sirius and squeeze his wrist so hard that he has little half moons indented in his skin from Harry’s nails.

Nevertheless, Sirius was proud of him, and he told Harry so much. Together, they wondered through the store, hand in hand, and picked out their glasses.

Harry picked a pair similar to his dads, round, black wire frames that were almost bigger than he was. He loved them though, and thought he looked amazing in them, and Sirius thought he was too adorable to not let Harry get them.

Sirius picked out some semi rimless tortoiseshell glasses that suited his face well, and didn’t draw too much attention whilst still accentuating his eyes. When he asked for Harry’s opinion, Harry just said, “You look really smart!”

Sirius looked back at his own reflection and realised he did look pretty smart, and decided he should buy them because Remus would probably find him really attractive.

Once the glasses were bought and they both stepped out wearing them, they headed down to the store to buy some groceries. Tonight, Harry wanted to help cook dinner with Sirius because they were having a big family tea. Lily and James were coming over, as well as Uncle Wormy, Aunt Mary, and Lele (or, Marlene, who refused to be called an aunt because she did not feel responsible enough for that title. Harry calls her Lele, and is the only one allowed to do so, because when he was smaller he couldn’t pronounce Marlene, or Marls, or Marlie, so he automatically shortened Marlie to Lele).

Harry got to sit in the trolley as they wandered around the store, and he was very helpful when grabbing the food they needed and putting it all in the bottom of the trolley in a very organised manner. All the cold things were on one side, all the not cold things on the other, all the big things at the back, and all the little things at the front. Sirius was very impressed with his organisation.

“What do you think, Bambi?” Sirius asked, stopping by the meats, “Would you prefer roast chicken, or roast lamb for tea?”

“Uhm…” Harry thought, tapping his chin as he inspected the meat isle, “Lamb because it’s bigger and I’m so hungry.”

Sirius giggled and grabbed the lamb, handing it to Harry to organise in the trolly, “Careful, muscle man, it’s heavy.”

“Woah!” Harry wobbled as he took it in two hands, carefully crouching down to put it where he wanted it to go, “It’s okay, I’m getting really strong.”

“Yes you are.” Sirius grinned, beginning to push the trolley again, “You’re almost stronger than I am.”

Harry giggled, very giddy on the compliment. Sirius adores how easy it is to get Harry in a giddy state, he gets so adorably flustered anytime anyone gives him a compliment, Sirius can’t help but compliment him all the time.

Honestly, it’s probably a little selfish of him, but he supposed it’s a good thing anyway, that he wants to dote on Harry all the time. He never grew up understanding what it felt like to be loved, he never had the adults in his life compliment him, or encourage him, or help him when he got things wrong, so he does all these things double for Harry.

It makes him so incredibly happy to know that the little rascal is growing up with such a loving environment around him, and with so many people who care about him so viscerally. So who gives a fuck if it’s selfish, at least Harry gets to feel pure happiness every single day, and gets tucked into bed at night with forehead kisses and story times, and at least he knows what it feels like to be loved.

He can’t help himself when he leans over and scruffs up Harry’s hair, and honestly, darn Remus because now he can see the twinkle of admiration in Harry’s eyes even better. Sirius flicks him on the end of the nose, which makes Harry giggle, and they spin around the corner to continue with their shop.

“We need to remember to get some mint when we go back past the vegetables, so we can make some mint sauce. Do you think you can remember that, smarty pants?”

“I will try my best.” Harry smiles, standing up and facing the front of the trolly to point Sirius in the right directions, because he’s in charge here, that’s the rules, according to Harry. “Can we please get some pudding?”

“I think that’s a great idea.” Sirius smiled, “What are you thinking? Maybe some icecream? Or something warm?”

“Icecream with lots of toppings!” Harry shouted, turning back to look at Sirius, “Can we have strawberries and grapes?”

“Ooh, that sounds super yummy.” Sirius grinned, “And chocolate sauce and sprinkles too?”

Harry giggled, “Yes please.”

“Lead the way, captain!” Sirius bellowed out, and Harry turned to point him in the wrong direction, and they spent the next ten mineuts getting lost in the store.

By the time they got to the register, Sirius realised he’d forgotten the mint.

When Sirius raced back to the front of the store, to find Harry standing there anxiously with fully packed bags and an impatient cashier, he panted out a quick apology, scanned through the mint, and rushed Harry out of the store with their shopping.

“Sorry, Harry.” Sirius grumbled, switching the bags around in his hand to get a comfortable grip on them, “I know you hate being left up there by yourself.”

“She didn’t even want to talk to me!” Harry pouted, carrying a whole bag of shopping by himself. He looked like he was struggling with it, but when Sirius asked if he needed a hand, he promised he was strong enough to carry it himself.

“Well, she must have sucked. Some people are so boring, aren’t they?”

“Yeah.” Harry moped.

“But, if it’s any consolation, I bought you a giant sized lollipop like I promised.”

“Giant?” Harry asked, bewildered as he looked up at Sirius.

“Giant.” Sirius whispered back, like it was a wonderful secret, “It might even be bigger than you.”

Harry laughed so brightly, almost tripping over his own feet he was so distracted by it, “You’re so silly, Paddy.”

“I know, I know, I’m just the silliest.” Sirius laughed along with him, “You can eat it on the bus, if you want. But you won’t be allowed to eat it when your mum and dad come over, or they’ll get me in trouble for letting you have so much sugar.”

“Okay, I’ll keep a secret.” Harry whispered, absolutely delighted by the thought of keeping secrets from his parents.

“Good boy.” Sirius grinned down at him, “Come on, we’re almost at the bus stop.”

On the ride home, Sirius started up a game of I-Spy, which Harry roped a couple of teenagers on their way home from school into playing. They were two girls, each with hair bigger than their backpacks, who giggled whenever Harry said something adorable.

Sirius only stopped giggling with them when one of the girls made a comment about how Harry had a really cute dad too. Which of course, Harry didn’t pick up on and only corrected them the same way he had that old lady earlier today, but Sirius very pointedly didn’t continue any conversation with them out of pure discomfort.

On the short walk back from the bus stop to Sirius’ house, Harry started to struggle even more with his shopping bag. The big day had started to catch up with him, and the little boy started to get tired, tripping over his own feet and going unnaturally quiet. Not only that, but carrying an entire shopping bag whilst also trying to eat a jumbo lollipop seemed to be a very hard task.

“Oh, Harry, would you be able to grab my keys out of my pocket? I’ve got my hands full.”

“Me too!” Harry groaned. He had a tendency to get grumpy when he’s tired.

“Yes, yes, just put that bag down for a second- here, hand it to me, there you go.” Sirius nodded, taking the bag from Harry, “And hand me your lollipop- good boy.”

Harry reached into Sirius’ pocket and pulled out the house keys, finding the right one to stick in the door, “Got them.”

“Great job.” Sirius smiled, handing the lollipop back to Harry, but keeping the bag, “And there’s all your things back, good job. How about some I-Spy?”

“Okay.” Harry shrugged, too distracted to notice that Sirius had kept the shopping bag. It wasn’t very heavy, it just had a loaf of bread, the mint, some crisps, and a punnet of strawberries in it, but that was a lot for such a little boy. Sirius knew he wouldn’t give the bag up willingly, not wanting to look weak in front of his cool Uncle Padfoot, so Sirius has to get smart about these things.

Luckily, Sirius knows his nephew well enough to do these things smoothly.

They played a lazy game of I-Spy the rest of the short walk home, and Harry cheered up a little without the extra weight in his hands. He was pretty happy to be the one who unlocked the door when they got there, and ran inside to greet Libby the lizard.

Libby was a bearded dragon Sirius had purchased on a whim one afternoon about two years ago. He and Harry had been out on a walk and popped into the pet shop so Harry could look at all the puppies and kittens, and when he saw the lizard he thought it was so hilarious and cool that Sirius brought it for him.

When Lily found out, she was furious. James was laughing his arse off, just thankful it wasn’t a cow, because Harry had previously been asking for a pet cow and he knows how easily Sirius bends to Harry’s will, especially when he pulls out the puppy dog eyes.

Lily said Harry could keep the lizard if he wanted, but it had to live at Sirius’ house, so of course Sirius agreed. At age three, Harry had a pet lizard he named Libby because there wasn’t much else he knew how to say, and Sirius took care of it for him.

The pair quickly unpacked all the bags, gave Libby her dinner, and then had a little break after their big day of walking around. Sirius made them both some tea and biscuits, and Harry did some colouring whilst they chatted.

Sirius got started on the dinner preparations whilst Harry continued to do some colouring, still too tired to help out just yet.

In the lounge, they had Led Zeppelin playing on the record player, because they were one of Harry’s favorites. Immigrant Song is Harry’s favorite, he likes to sing along to the “Ah ah aahhhhh ah” part.

Mindlessly, Sirius chopped up the vegetables for roasting, singing and dancing along to the tunes vibrating through the house.

After flipping the record, very carefully, as he had been taught by his uncles, Harry pondered into the kitchen and stepped up on his little helping-out-stool, and layed all the veggies out on the tray and covered them in oil and seasonings.

“Very good job, Harry.” Sirius smiled, taking the lamb out of the packet, “Go wash your hands again and you can help me season the meat, yeah?”

“Okay.” Harry grinned and skipped off to clean up.

Whilst waiting, Sirius turned the oven on to preheat and washed his own hands at the kitchen sink. When Harry returned, they got to smothering the meat in seasonings together and plopping it on the rack over the vegetables.

“Now, whilst that’s cooking we’ll make up the mint sauce, and then that’s all done.” Sirius smiled, “Should we prepare dessert now as well?”

“I think so.” Harry nodded, “Then we can be more fancy, like a restaurant, when everyone gets here.”

“Right you are, Sprout.” Sirius winked at him, grabbing the mint out of the fridge and instructing Harry on how to help.

They pottered around each other, and Harry did a very good job of stirring the sauce as Sirius quickly diced up the strawberries for dessert. And once everything was done, they got started on setting the table.

Remus came home about midway through their process, smiling at the inviting smell of a roast dinner. The full moon was approaching, Remus was even more appreciative of a good lamb roast than ever.

“Hi, love.” Sirius smiled, wandering over to kiss his partner hello.

“Hi.” Remus melted, kissing Sirius’ cheek back, “I see I was right?”

Sirius groaned, “Shut up- don’t Harry and I just look so flash in our new glasses?”

“Oh, look at you!” Remus smiled as Harry started to show off a bit, “Two very handsome men, you are.”

Harry giggled, hugging Remus’ leg, “Thanks, Uncle Moony!”

“Now, go shower and change.” Sirius said, shoving Remus towards their room, “We’ve got dinner to cook and guests to greet. Go, go.”

“Cute apron.” Remus smiled, backing away, “Pinks certainly your colour.”

Sirius flipped him off, one hand subconsciously smoothing over the frilly apron James had jokingly gifted him one Christmas.

Harry dragged Sirius back into the kitchen just in time to pull the roast out of the oven, and it smelt delicious. So delicious in fact, that Harry actually started drooling as he stared at it.

Sirius laughed his arse off, quickly wiping the boys chin before it dribbled down his shirt.

Once they had both calmed down a little, and Harry’s embarrassment had subsided, they got to cutting up the meat and plating. Harry was very helpful in this process, using the little tongs in the shape of dog paws to dish out all the vegetables into serving bowls, as well as transferring the cut off slices onto a platter for easy serving.

Once the table was all set and ready, and Harry was satisfied with how everything looked, he rushed over to put on some good “eating dinner” music as their family started to arrive.

Together they all sat around the dinner table, Harry at the head with Sirius right beside him at his request, and shared a lovely meal together.

James was almost rendered to tears when Harry told him he picked the glasses that looked most like his dads. Sirius had to hold his hand whilst he sobbed over his carrots.

Once the meal was done, Harry begged for another sleep over at his Uncle Pads because they had the best time ever doing big people things tomorrow. Sirius, of course, agreed, and the both of them begged James and Lily for another sleepover. Besides, Sirius had more mundane things to do tomorrow, and Harry always finds a way to make those things fun.

☆ ★ ☆

Anyway, I love Sirius and Harry’s friendship and I also love the marauders just doing normal people things so I thought why not?

This was great because I haven’t been able to write in ages cause some personal shit happened and my mind has been mush ever since and I’ve had all these writing ideas but no motivation or energy to write so this was really really fun. I didn’t put too much energy or effort into it, you know, it’s a pretty basic fic but I still think it’s fun.

Thanks for taking the time to read! I’d really appreciate reblogs and comments, they always make my day <3

[multicolour-ink]

(Anon's other request I mentioned in this post)

⚡ Scared of thunderstorms

writing prompts

(takes place pre-Mario Movie verse)

Something cute with the young Mario Bros :)

- - -

"Luigi?", Mario whispered in the dark.

Little Luigi shivered under his bedsheets. He was huddled up so small that he was barely a recognisable lump.

Another crash of thunder sounded, followed by a flash of lightning.

Luigi shrieked again and sobbed even louder.

Mario frowned. And then the five year old quickly got up and walked over to his brother's bedside. He placed a hand gently over the shivering lump.

"Hey, it's ok", he smiled warmly. "Want to come into my bed?"

Luigi peeked out at him with watery eyes, nodding shakily.

With utmost effort, the child cautiously pushed aside his bedsheets, and took Mario's hand in his. He gripped his big brother's hand the short distance across the room, as Mario led them back to his bed.

The two of them cuddled up as close as possible.

"Are you ok now, Luigi?", Mario asked.

Luigi nodded. And then another crash of thunder sounded, and an even bigger flash of lightning lit up the room. Luigi shrieked and clung to Mario tight, burying his face into the crook of Mario's neck.

Mario patted his brother on the head.

"It's ok, Luigi", Mario smiled gently. "There's nothing to be scared of."

"Yes there is!", Luigi insisted.

He hugged Mario tighter as the thunderstorm raged more fiercely.

"Thunderstorms are so scary!", Luigi wept. "They're big, and noisy. And they can hurt us!"

"It won't hurt us, Weegie", Mario insisted. "I won't let it."

Luigi looked at him astonished.

"Are you sure?"

"Yep!", Mario smiled and nodded.

Luigi frowned.

"But the thunderstorm is so big. How are you going to beat it when you're really small?"

"I'm not small!", exclaimed Mario. "And besides, nothing or no one is big enough if it means I get to protect them from you."

Luigi sniffled.

"I wish I was as brave as you..."

"You are brave, Luigi!", Mario said. "You're brave in your own way!"

Mario shifted a little so he and Luigi were positioned more comfortably, their heads close together and their hands clasped.

"What would you do if you had lightning powers?", Mario asked.

Luigi blinked.

"Lightning powers?"

"Yeah!", said Mario. "What would you do if you had them?"

"Well...", Luigi furrowed his brow. "I don't know...m-maybe....power Mama's washing machine?"

Mario laughed.

"That's pretty cool! Ok, what else would you do with them? What if you were a super-hero?!"

Luigi laughed this time.

"A super-hero? Those only exist in stories!"

"No they don't!", Mario exclaimed. "What about the guy who came to fix the TV?"

"Well...he did call himself 'Mr Electric'...."

"Exactly! So...what else would you do if you had lightning powers."

Luigi turned himself over so he was facing the ceiling.

"Well...I would want to shoot lightning! It would help keep the bad guys away."

"That's cool", smiled Mario. "What else?"

"I would want...to be able to create a lightning shield."

"Lightning shield?"

"Yeah!", replied Luigi. He turned to face his brother. "It's so I can keep you safe too."

Mario smiled and patted his brother's shoulder.

"You don't need to worry about keeping me safe, Luigi. I can do that for both of us. But having a lighting shield would be so cool! Would it come out of your mouth or eyes?"

"Nope. My hands", said Luigi, holding them up. "It would be so awesome! I could charge up my power and hurt anyone who tries to grab me. Or blast anyone from far away!"

"So cool!", Mario gasped.

"What would your power be, Mario?", Luigi asked curiously.

"My power...?"

Mario frowned.

"I think I would like to have fire!"

"Fire?"

"Yeah!", said Mario. "Fire is awesome! And strong!"

"Would it be like my lightning?"

"Oh yeah! But it would be even more strong, to protect you."

"Would they have names?"

"Hmmm...not sure...Maybe Firebrand for me! It sounds cool!"

"Then mine will be...Thunderhand!"

The two brothers were so engrossed in talking that they hadn't even noticed that the storm had subsided. Eventually they both got tired again, and cuddled up close to each other.

"Goodnight, Luigi", Mario smiled.

"I'll keep you safe, always."

- - -

author's notes under the cut

Hooray another drabble! Sorry this one took a while. I wanted to do something cute from Mario and Luigi's childhood, and I hope it sufficed.

Take care everyone <3

[acertainmoshke]

Bonus Snippet: Wild Child

I don't feel as good about this one as the first two, but I really wanted to showcase how feral Cassie can be.

cw for ingested blood, but not like in a graphic or cannibalistic way.

­­­­­­­­­Cassie’s favorite place in camp was the overturned vending machine. She used to sleep behind it, eons ago, where no one could find her. But now she liked to sit on top and lean against Orev and eat her bag of jojos. The other kids had taken to sitting with her because she told the wildest stories. She wasn’t sure if they believed her or not, so she tried to add extra details because they all definitely happened (more or less).

Ella and Drake weren’t here tonight, still off crying somewhere about almost being killed. Cassie didn’t really blame them—if she thought about it, she got it. She’d been scared the first few times. But it got so boring to deal with each new friend’s fear at first. She’d never been killed yet. She’d never even really been hurt. It was fine.

Every other kid gathered around, though, desperate to know what she’d faced and survived now, only ten minutes from their home. Uncle Kris was busy today, but whoever went out remembered her love of potatoes and brought her back a steaming bag when the other kids got candy and chips.

Orev’s body was warm and solid muscle behind her, holding her up, reminding her she was safe and home and protected. She wiggled herself deeper into his curled form and snatched out the first potato, stuffing it into her mouth as she began. “We were just walking along—”

“What is wrong with you?” Yelped one of the other girls. Emily? Susanna? Something dull. Cassie remembered her, though, because she was always yelping judgments at something.

“What, you want like a list, or?” She was proud of the joke. She’d seen it online, but it usually made people smile.

Not this time.

“You didn’t wash the blood off?” Looking around, Cassie saw the other kids with similar horrified looks. She glanced down at her hands, which were smeared, very slightly, with wildling blood. Orev had taken a full bite out of one of their legs. It had been awesome.

“What? It’s not blood like ours.” All the really young kids here were human. “It just tastes a little salty.”

Their looks got worse. Was this the part where they decided she was Too Much instead of Cool and Edgy? Because she usually hit that part eventually.

tag list: @stesierra @amielbjacobs @ettawritesnstudies

[omegafan101]

You know what? It’s been a while since I shared my thoughts on the IDW comics, and I wanna get back into that. Let’s talk about Issue 55!

Right away this cover art is fucking GREAT! Might be some of the best in the series. I’m a big fan.

First off, the Egg Walkers back! Cool! The Egg Mobile is nice and all back Eggman tromping around in a big legged version of the thing has always been fun.

Secondly, love that Metal just rushed in to attack Sonic immediately without Eggman’s orders. Weather it’s just Metal’s prime programming to kill Sonic, or his own free will beginning to creep through is up in the air. And I like that.

Really faked me out here, thought for sure we’d have the classic horror trope with Surge jumping down right before Eggman fully realizes where she is. But Eggman being quick witted enough to realize where she is and shooting that close to her is way better!

Also Eggman having a gun will never not be funny to me. Sure it just shoots lasers but god the image of Eggman holding a pistol is metal and hilarious at the same time.

I’m so god damn happy with what Ian and Evan have been doing with Eggman this arc. The fact that this is the second time in 6 issues that he has grabbed and attacked a character with his bare hands is amazing and really paints him as the threat he’s meant to be. Eggman being physically stronger than he looks, while still needing to rely more on his machines, is just a fantasic bit of characterization.

God I love the way the ENTIRE panel is washed in color whenever Surge uses the wisp powers. It’s absolutely stunning and is a FANTASTIC showcase of her power.

HOT DAMN CHAOS DRIVES ARE BEING ACKNOWLEDGED!

You know after two mini-series of “Starline manipulates people for his plan, they find out, he almost dies, Starline manipulates people for his plan, they found out, he DOES die,” it’s great to be reminded, post-mortem, Starline is an absolute genius and could have been a genuine terrible threat to the world had he not been so focused on one upping Eggman.

I love how Sonic and Eggman aren’t working together yet here, but are smart enough to know that both of them are enemies to Surge and coming at her from both sides like this before confronting each other is a good play. Also Metal looks AWESOME!

I continue to feel so bad for Surge it hurts. The crippling paranoia and anxiety over both her own safety and Kit’s is heart breaking and really makes me want to see her come out okay in the end, which unfortunately I don’t think will happen at this point.

I have nothing of value to say here i just like the image of Eggman drinking water like a professional athlete.

I gotta say it’s a little jarring to see Eggman so quickly accept Sonic’s help after he was so stubbornly against it in Sonic Frontiers, but I guess he just knows that he’s in a completely modified base that he’s unfamiliar with, has no form of transport anymore, and his only form of defense is Metal Sonic who would probably struggle against Sonic and Tails at the same time.

Plus I really can’t blame the writing team for it since they were almost certainly writing this before Frontiers came out and only Ian knew what was going on in that story and he didn’t work on this issue.

And there it is folks, that sweet, horrid realization that Surge isn’t just some brute who Starline hired, but a horrific creation of Starline who doesn’t know anything else than to hate Sonic. God this arc is creepy.

And once again a reminder that Starline is an evil genius on the same level as Eggman, just blinded by his own ego. Eggman admitting himself that Starline was brilliant but only AFTER he’s dead is great to see. I adore a villain who respects their enemies abilities and Eggman is prime for that.

Kit continues to look creepy and Sure is doing the Vegeta pose.

But enough about that I wanna talk about how calm Surge looks in those first couple panels. Or at the very least not angry like she usually is. Surge has been fighting running around and fighting non stop since Issue 50 and she’s clearly scared of the fact that Sonic and Eggman are working together. She’s tired, she’s scared, and she doesn’t know what else to do but to fight Sonic.

And oh BOY this last page is pretty!!! I cannot stress enough how amazing the art of this series is, it’s astounding!

Conclusion

Surge and Kit continue to be really fun and compelling villains and I’m so glad they’ve been added. Feels like we’re getting close to the end of this first major arc involving them, but whatever happens next issue I hope that the two of them can continue to appear in later comics down the line. Giving Sonic more of a rogues gallery is always neat to me, even if Eggman deserves more of the spotlight.

8/10

[drill-teeth]

Love when you post about gender and machinery bc i do be feeling that way too when it comes to gender.

Thank you for telling me this omg! For me, I tend to post about it because it brings me some comfort. Just saying my thoughts and experiences with my own, mechanical gender because it brings me joy to put some words to it. And it makes me extra happy when others connect to it, so this is really awesome to hear.

I feel like my gender always has been and always will be linked with machinery. Soft, warm, flesh hand in soothingly cool to the touch mechanical hand. Both my hands! I even like to refer to eating, drinking, washing, etc. as “routine maintenance”. Just feels nice. My body is a machine that works best when it’s tenderly and lovingly cared for. And it’s home to my beating, processing, breathing, self-assembled heart. Feels good to have such personal joys and view of the self. It’s good to hear others find comfort in it too!

[randomvarious]

Today’s compilation:

Manchester: So Much to Answer For 1991 Post-Punk / Madchester / Alternative Rock / New Wave / Indie Rock / Punk Rock / Funk / Hip Hop / Alternative Dance

England's third-most populous city, Manchester, may not have the same constantly churning music industry or resources that a place like London has, but goddamn, have they produced some excellent first-rate bands over the years. And a lot of their successes—from The Buzzcocks, to The Chameleons, to The Smiths, to A Certain Ratio, and to others—are owed to BBC Radio's legendarily eclectic tastemaker, John Peel (who, full disclosure, was also later revealed to have been a raging underage sex pest throughout much of his life  😞).

Peel's show was, in part, effectively, a nationally broadcasted demo tape for countless bands; one that labels would eagerly tune in to rather than having to cynically wade through a time-consuming, mailbox-stuffed deluge of mediocrity in order to find a sonic needle in a haystack. The program was simply a highly efficient, irreplaceable cog in the British music machine that helped unsigned talent gain massive and much-deserved exposure.

So here's an excellent collection of recordings that aired on Peel's broadcasts throughout the late 70s and 80s, by Mancunian bands that, for the most part, probably wouldn't have achieved the levels of notoriety that they did without Peel's initial invitation to appear on his program. This thing, like Peel's show, is varied: it leads with the sounds that helped make Manchester into an idyllic British haven of unique creativity, with punk, post-punk, new wave, Madchester, and indie rock, but it also leaves room for a little bit of acid house and a couple hip hop cuts as well.

And what's especially nifty about this particular slate of tunes is that most of these tracks happen to be recordings for songs that would go on to be officially released months, or in some cases, years, later, after these bands ended up signing somewhere and were then able to issue the songs either as a single or on debut albums. So with this release, what you're getting are somewhat rare recordings of songs from classic Manchester bands that had yet to break through to the mainstream on a significant level: The Buzzcocks' power-pop-punky "What Do I Get," before it ended up marking their UK chart debut; The Chameleons' astounding post-punk-goth rock epic, "Second Skin," a full two years before it appeared on their 1980 debut album, Script of the Bridge; The Smiths' "Handsome Devil," recorded just a few days after their May '83 debut single, Hand in Glove; a fantastic new wave-funk groove from A Certain Ratio that ended up kicking off their 1980 debut album, The Graveyard and the Ballroom; and a terrifically speedy and hypnotic, Krautrocky instrumental Madchester jam from the New Fast Automatic Daffodils that would later be released as the lead single from their 1990 debut album, Pigeonhole. It seems the only band that appears on this album that had been established before their Peel Session is The Happy Mondays, whose recording of "Mad Cyril" occurred after the release of their second album, Bummed, in 1989.

Plus, there's some great lesser-known acts on here too, like The Frantic Elevators, a punk band that featured Mick Hucknall before he'd go on to front pop-soul band Simply Red, and Dub Sex, a group that offers up a really cool slice of late 80s indie rock that has both a nice extended instrumental intro and splashes of noisy guitar jangling. And then there's some bands whose tunes sound just a bit too discordant and sloppy as well, but the greatness of the aforementioned then-largely undiscovered acts that appear throughout this release are more than enough to wash away those sour tastes.

An awesome document of some of the greatest bands to ever hail from one of the world's most musically inventive and diversely enmeshed cities, Manchester, before their respective contributions would come to define their own home in such a way.

Highlights:

Buzzcocks - "What Do I Get?" Frantic Elevators - "Hunchback of Notre Dame" The Chameleons - "Second Skin" The Smiths - "Handsome Devil" Happy Mondays - "Mad Cyril" Dub Sex - "Swerve" A Certain Ratio - "Do the Du" New Fast Automatic Daffodils - "Big"

[gspbooth]

How Does A Photo Booth Compare To Other Party Entertainment Options For Birthdays?

The Rise Of The Photo Booth Craze

Remember the days when a party meant just music, food, and maybe a few games? Times have changed. Nowadays, folks are always looking for something extra to make their events unforgettable. Enter the photo booth. It’s become a popular choice for birthday parties, and it's easy to see why. Let’s dive into what makes the best photo booth for birthday parties in Dallas so special compared to other entertainment options.

Instant Fun With Photo Booths

First off, photo booths offer instant gratification. Guests can step in, strike a pose, and, within seconds, have a photo strip in hand. It's immediate, fun, and a great icebreaker. Compare this to hiring a DJ or a live band. Sure, music sets the vibe, but it doesn't offer a tangible takeaway. With a photo booth, you get memories you can hold, stick on your fridge, or share on social media.

A Personal Touch

Another big win for photo booths is the personal touch they bring. Most booths come with props, backdrops, and even custom print options. You can theme it up to match your party’s vibe. Whether it’s a superhero party for kids or a retro bash for adults, photo booths can be customized to fit right in. Other options, like magicians or caricature artists, are cool but don’t offer the same level of personalization.

Keepsakes For Guests

Think about the last party favor you received. Was it memorable? Probably not. Photo booth pics, though, are a different story. They serve as awesome keepsakes. Guests walk away with a memento of the fun they had, and it’s something they’ll likely keep. Compare this to hiring a clown or face painter. Fun in the moment, but what do guests take home? Maybe a painted face that'll wash off by bedtime.

Social Media Buzz

We live in a world where if it’s not on Instagram, did it even happen? Photo booths feed right into this. The best photo booths for birthday parties in Dallas offer digital copies and even instant sharing options. Guests can upload their goofy pics right to their socials. This not only amplifies the fun but also gives your party a wider reach. Other entertainment options, like a bouncy castle or a puppet show, just don't have the same shareable appeal.

Interactive Entertainment

One of the biggest challenges at any party is keeping guests entertained. Photo booths are inherently interactive. They get people moving, laughing, and engaging with each other. Compare this to a karaoke machine. While some love belting out tunes, others might shy away. A photo booth, on the other hand, appeals to almost everyone. It’s low-pressure, high-fun.

Cost-Effective Fun

Let’s talk dollars and cents. Party budgets can spiral out of control quickly. Photo booths offer a lot of bang for your buck. They’re generally more affordable than hiring multiple entertainers and provide continuous fun throughout the event. When you weigh it against the cost of hiring a live band, a magician, and a balloon artist, the savings are clear.

Easy To Set Up And Use

Setting up a photo booth is a breeze. Most companies handle everything, from delivery to setup to takedown. They often provide an attendant to make sure everything runs smoothly. Compare this to setting up a DIY game station or coordinating with multiple entertainers. It’s hassle-free and lets you focus on enjoying the party.

Versatility Across Age Groups

Whether you’re throwing a bash for a five-year-old or a fifty-year-old, the best photo booth for birthday parties fits the bill. They're a hit with all age groups. Kids love the props and instant photos, while adults appreciate the nostalgia and fun factor. Other entertainment options can be hit or miss, depending on the crowd. A puppet show might bore the teens, and a DJ might be too loud for the little ones. Photo booths, though, are universally loved.

The Bottom Line

So, when it comes to choosing entertainment for a birthday party, photo booths come out on top. They're fun and interactive and offer personalized keepsakes that guests will treasure. Plus, they're cost-effective and easy to set up. While other options have their merits, nothing quite matches the charm and appeal of a photo booth. Next time you're planning a birthday bash, consider adding a photo booth to the mix. Your guests will thank you!

[wetladss]

Day 14 - Porto

Woke up and headed around the corner for Breaky. For 5 euros I got toast with butter, croissant with ham and cheese, OJ, coffee and a custard tart. We went for a walk around and explored the city. Walk across the bridge to the other side of the river and then checked out some shops on the way back. We had a delicious steak sandwich which was delicious and they had Heiland served with creaming soda so I gave that a try. I drank it but never again will I order one. We had booked our first accommodation which we thought was going to have a bath and a washing machine so we could relax the muscles after averaging 20k steps a day and not having any clean clothes left. Unfortunately the room we got was not the one in the piccies but it was still a nice room in an old palace on the top floor. Thalia headed off for a Pole Dancing class and I stayed and tried to hand wash all our stuff in a small sink which took way longer than I thought it would. But it works in the end. They had heaps of fans that I could move around and turn the study into a sauna / drying room. When Thalia came back I went and got a cut throat which was really nice. Then brought some sick Jackets for the fam before then check out some of the weed shops which couldn’t sell THC but could sell a variety that was HHC. A bit pricey so I didn't bother but it was cool to see a shop. We went out for Mexican for dinner. Then we went and saw some jazz which was really good but we arrived late as it ended earlier then we thought. We went to McDonalds which is the most prestigious Macy’s I’ve ever been in and Thalia got some fries and soft serve to eat together. Weird combo but I still love her. We had planned to go to a club and watch Jitwam but the club's power went out so we walked the streets before heading to bed. Really nice sleep being in a bed and having a shower / bathroom

Day 15

We had a slow morning and enjoyed the facilities. There was a sunroom with sun chairs. We went to the cafe and had an awesome breakfast. Steak sandwich again and an açai bowl. We went back to the accommodation and signed into Netflix and watched Clarkson Farms which was really good. We went for a walk and saw the sunset on the hill that overlooked Porto. There was a rock band doing original songs and some red hot chili peppers. Then we walked back home and went to sleep.

Day 16

Went and got the back of my phone fixed as the glass had cracked ages ago and it was a lot cheaper here to get it repaired. He said 2hrs. Got stitch up and it took him 5 hrs to finish it but in that time we had a look at the sardine shop, cheese shop and the wineries. After the phone was done we left and headed back toward Spain. Lots of vines and windy roads. There were some of the thickest vine trunks I had ever seen there. It was a nice drive but a longer one. We got over the border and camp in one of the towns closest to the border. Nice place called Zamora next to a river and a castle. The next day we were off to Madrid and it was a big day of driving again.

Day 17 - Madrid

We had a nice morning making the standard eggs and chorizo sangas for Breaky. We got on the road early so we could spend more time in Madrid. Bit of a boring road to get there as it is mostly desert like and farm land. We made it into Madrid and the roads got a lot more hectic. Spaniard love to speed and also the roundabouts can be a bit crazy. We had a car park selected to head too but when we arrived it was closed due to some construction happening. So we ducked into the next closest one. We got to the gate and someone pulled in behind us so we had to go in. This was the shortest car park ever. The corners were so tight going down that both sides nearly hit as you were turning. We had to go to the bottom as all the others were full and on the second last one there was some padding on the corner. As I was turning, unfortunately I hit the padding and put a dent in the car which was a bummer. But I got down to the bottom. We were a bit frazzled by it all but went for a walk and explored the city which was nice. Pretty cool building and heaps of food options around. We had a look around and we had Moroccan for lunch near a park which was really tasty. Tagine lamb and some mint tea. Afterwards we explored the city a bit more before heading to the Spanish museum. It was free in the last 2 hrs. Walked past a historical building and popped in for a bit and it had an art display on one floor which had some interesting works. On the way we saw a huge protest for teachers walking the street. Maybe like 5000 or more people marching. Then made it to the museum where we had to wait in line a little bit but got in for free which was good. The museum was amazing. From the outside it was a bit bland but inside it had incredible pieces of artwork. The most impressive was the garden of earthly delights. There were floors that separate different art areas and there was some Greek, some old Jesus ones and Spanish history. Really cool and impressive especially when comparing it some of the modern art these days which is pretty bland when this stuff took 100s of hours or more to paint these paintings. An atlas went off which signaled the closing of the museum and we headed back out to get dinner. We thought about going to a Michelin star restaurant but then decided to get the cheapest most delicious food we could find. Had a hot dog with pickles mustard and an incredibly good tasting chili sauce and one of the best chicken kebabs I had ever had. Very delicious and satisfying. We went and had sangria at a flamenco bar which looked like it was going to be really expensive but was only 3 euro. We then headed back to the car to sleep but hated the car park so much we decided to leave while it was empty and the streets were more quiet. Made it to the huge park and slept there the night.

Day 18

We woke up and moved the car closer to the city but still stayed in the park which is huge. There was a car park next to a lake where workers would then walk 30 minutes into the city. Really nice area as it had restaurants around it and food searing and walking tracks. We headed into the city for breakfast and found a really nice cafe and had scrambled eggs on croissants and some Turkish eggs which were all really tasty. Really relaxing place. Thalia then headed off to another pole studio and I went to see the Spanish palace which is way better than Buckingham Palace. Really amazing design and detail into the rooms. From silk tapestry, porcelain detailing, painted curved roofing and all the other art decor made it look incredible. After looking around for a couple of hours I then head back to meet Thalia in the palace gardens. We got lunch at an Argentina restaurant which was in the cheap delicious category. We got arepa with plantain with chicken and cheese which was delicious. Afterwards we headed back to the city for some sangria. Tried going to the museum again for free but the line was huge so we were lucky the day before to get in. We then got some chicken kebabs again which were delicious. We then walked back to the car. Seeing some tango dancing on the way back. Nice rivers and peaceful lake that was surrounded by festoons from the restaurants around it. Chilled around the lake and watch the sky go dark then headed to bed

[raineydays411]

The best of friends pt3

Peter Parker x Stark!reader

Summary: So it turns out that you do have other friends. Who would’ve guessed? 

A/n: Hello! So.. because i don’t feel like writing the whole fight scene, the events of homecoming already happened before the actual dance and Liz is moving after the school year ends.

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

“Am I dreaming or is that you Jason Todd?”

“Yeah its me, don’t cream your pants.”

You laugh, running to embrace your friend, and he catches you spinning you around then putting you down. 

“What are you doing here?” You ask breathlessly, “Doesn’t your dad hate leaving Gotham?”

“Well he had a meeting with your dad today, so we made him bring us.” 

“Ohh, so that’s the meeting dad didn’t want to go to” You think.

“You’re brothers are here?” You look around for the boys, but not seeing any.

Jason laughs, “Just Tim and Damian, I kind of ditched them at the Tower, I think I would’ve gone crazy if I stayed another second.”

“Aw, were you expecting me to be there?” You tease, grinning wide as the boy turned a light shade of red.

“Oh please, if you were there I think I’d die of boredom” He teases back, a matching grin growing on his face. But before you can answer back you hear Mj shout at you. 

“Y/n! Are you gonna keep flirting or can we go on some rides?”

“Yeah Iron baby, are you gonna keep flirting?” 

You roll your eyes at the nickname, despite your protests you know he’s not going to stop calling you that. 

“Hey you’re not here with anyone are you?” “Um no why?” 

You grab his hand and pull him towards Mj and Ned, who were looking at the both of you in shock.

“You’re Jason Todd..” Ned says, surprised to see him here.

“Uh..hi” Jason responds, not knowing what to say.

“Jay and I are friends” You say, “ We hang out at the galas and judge people.”

Jason laughs, “That is not what we do.” 

“Oh? So then why do you mean mug people from the corner of the room?” 

Mj and Ned make eye contact, having a silent conversation as you and Jason banter. 

“So, you’re one of Y/n’s ‘friends that don’t live in the city’?” Mj asks, eyeing Jason and you. 

He slings and arm on your shoulders, “ Is that what you call us Y/n?” He turns to Mj to respond but before he can answer Peter and Liz finally make an appearance. 

“Oh so you two finally decided to grace us with your presence?” Mj drawls 

“Sorry guys, I really wanted this Spiderman plush and Peter was trying to win it for me” Liz says with a giggle. Peter blushes, not taking his eyes off Liz. 

You frown at the sight. Frustration growing in your head, this was supposed to be your day with Peter. And now it was ruined. 

“You spent over an hour trying to win a little doll?” You said bitterly, making everyone stare at you. 

“Ah come on iron baby, we all know those games are rigged.” Jason says from beside you. You tear your eyes away from Peter and Liz, “Rigged or not, I bet I can win a prize before you, Jay-Bird”

“Oh is that a bet?” “Um yeah, I literally just said that.” “Okay fine!”

Then you and Jason are off, running towards the nearest booth that gives out prizes. 

“Umm, who was that?” Peter asking, looking in the direction you ran off. 

“That was Jason Todd” Liz responds, “ You know, Bruce Wayne's son.”

“What was he doing with his arm around Y/n?” he asks with a frown.

“Well apparently they’re friends, he just showed up. We didn’t even notice him until we saw him spinning Y/n around like a washing machine.” Ned says with a laugh.

“What, so they’re like...close?” Peter asks. Mj and Ned look at each other. 

“Um I guess...” Ned says hesitantly.

“Well, I for one, haven’t heard Y/n talk as much as she has been now.” Mj says, a knowing look on her face. Peter made a face, not understanding what Mj was talking about. 

“That's true” Liz adds in, “She’s pretty quiet, it’s kinda weird.”

“Well to be fair you two haven’t been exactly talking to her.” Ned defending you, “ She opened up quite a bit after she got comfortable.”

“Yeah, besides, Peter is the one who she knows the best, I wouldn’t be comfortable hanging out with people I just met.” Mj says, glancing at Peter. 

Peter didn’t know how to feel. At first he was psyched to be spending time alone with Liz. He didn’t even think about how you would feel when he invited her and his friends on your shopping day. This whole day he was trying to get closer to Liz, he forgot that you hardly knew Ned and Mj.  But it was okay, you gained two new friends, and now Peter has a chance with Liz. 

He looked at Liz, 

“She looks so pretty” He thinks, but deep in his mind, a voice kept bringing up an image of your face.

“Oh shoot” Liz says, “ Hey guys, my mom is here to pick me up.”

“I’ll walk you to the car!” Peter shouts, startling Mj and Ned. 

‘Okay thanks Pete!” Liz says, wrapping an arm around his. Peter turns back to Ned and Mj with a grin. 

Ned winks back and Mj just rolls her eyes, going to find you and Jason. 

As Peter and Liz walk, he starts to get nervous. This whole day he has been alone with her, but now...now he has to leave an impression. 

“I had a lot-” “It was really coo-” 

The two laugh

“You go first” Peter says.

“It was really cool of you to invite me, I had a great time.” Liz says with a smile. Peter grins, happy that she had a good time with him. and his friends.

“Yeah? I’m glad, I had fun too.” 

They finally make it to the parking lot where Liz’s mother is waiting.  Liz’s face suddenly looks nervous.

“Hey Peter,” Liz turns to Peter, “ Do you have a date to homecoming?”

Peters breath hitches, “Um..no-no why?” 

“Well, I was wondering if you wanted to come with me?”

He...he isn’t as excited as he thought he’d be. In fact, this was kind of anti-climatic. 

“Y-yeah, of course!” Peter says forcing enthusiasm.  Liz’s face brightens and she smiles, pulling Peter into a hug.

“Awesome! I’ll text you with the details later?” She asks, pulling away to get into the car.

“That sounds great” Then without warning, Liz grabs Peters face and gives him a quick peck. 

“I’ll see you later Peter Parker.” and with that, she hopped into her mom's car and drove away. Peter stood there, hand on his mouth looking at the spot Liz stood. 

For some reason..he didn’t feel as happy as he should’ve. 

“What is wrong with me?” He asked himself. He shakes his head and turns around. Ready to walk back to where he last saw his friends. 

Turns out, they were all at a booth near the parking lot. And saw the whole thing.

“Dude!” Ned said running up to Peter, “Liz Allen just kissed you! You’re going to HOMECOMING with Liz Allen!” 

“Yeah..I am” Peter says, forcing excitement for his friend,” I can’t believe it.”

“Dude! You’ve been pining over her for YEARS! “ Ned shouts, “ You did it!” 

Meanwhile, Mj is rubbing your arm in comfort as you hold back tears. You saw everything. Peter really didn’t like you the way you thought. You felt defeated, betrayed even. All those moments...they meant nothing to him.  Every moment you held close to your heart. 

“Hey, are you alright Y/n?” Jason whispers, sensing your sadness. 

“um..no not really...” you whisper back, feeling a tear run down your face. Jason wipes it away before you could. 

“Hey, come on lets get you something to drink.” He pulls you away from Mj with a nod. But before he could get far, Peter called out

“Y/n..are you okay?” 

You don’t say anything, your back turned to him so he doesn’t see your face.

“She’s not feeling too hot, I’m gonna get some water and food in her, see if she perks up” Jason responded for you, wrapping an arm around your shoulder.

Peter looks at the arm, “I can do that” He steps closer to you but before he can touch you, you speak up.

“Don’t touch me, I want Jay to take me.”

And with that, Jason adjusts his grip on you and walks you to a food truck. Leaving behind a disheartened Peter. 

You sit on a bench as Jason orders you some food. Alone, you’re able to gather your thoughts and think about what just happened.  

“Did Peter really not like me? If he didn’t why did he act so flirty with me?” 

It made you mad. It wasn’t fair that he made you feel special then dropped you as soon as someone else came along. He ignores you all day for her, then acts innocent? Screw that.

“Here you go, one greasy ass burger and a bottle of water. We dine like true kings.” 

Jason plops down next to you, “So are you gonna tell me whats wrong or what?”

You scoff, “ Wow, you sure have a way with the ladies.” 

“Whatever.” the raven haired boy rolls his eyes, “ So what’s up? Is it that Peter kid?”

You sigh and explain everything. From when you first met Peter to now. After you were done, Jason stayed quiet. Digesting what you just told him and trying to find the right words to say.

“Fuck him.” He says simply. 

“What?” You say surprised at his comment. 

“Fuck. Him” He repeats looking you in the eye, “ Why are you going to waste your time on someone who doesn’t want you? It’s his lose anyway.”

You stay quiet, not exactly knowing how to respond. 

Two of you eat in silence, watching parents run after their children, and take in the atmosphere. 

“Hey.. we never did finish our bet.” Jason says, standing up. 

You look up at him, a small smile forming on your face. “No, I guess we didn’t.”

“Well come on, I don’t have all day.” He holds out his hand, refusing to look at you. You take it, interlocking your fingers.

You walk in silence, faces red but its comforting. It was nice to see this side of Jason. When the two of you see each other, you both have a this fake persona for the media. You couldn’t truly show who you really were. You only caught glimpses of each others true self when you’d sneak away from the crowds. You both hated those stupid galas Bruce threw. Your dad would force you to go so he wouldn’t be alone, and Jason had to go as Bruce Waynes son. 

A match made in heaven.

“Here we are.” Jason says, releasing your hand. “Ready to get your ass handed to you?”

“Oh you wish Todd.”You scoff, walking up to the man running the booth. 

“Hello little lady, three bucks for a three chances.” 

You hand him the money and get the balls. It seemed simple enough, toss the balls, knock down the clowns, win the prize. 

You wind your arm back, and throw the ball with all your might. You end up knocking down two out of the five clowns down. You go again, getting the other three.v

“You got a good aim little miss. What can I get for ya?” 

“The Iron man please.” You hear Jason scoff from his place behind you, “ Oh, is someone a little salty he lost the bet?”

“Whatever princess, it was pure luck.”

“Luck? or years of training with an expert marksman?” You say referring to the times you trained with Clint.

“Whatever.” He says rolling his eyes.

“Aw come on Jay bird, don’t be so salty.” You coo, “ Here, something to remember me by.” You hand him the Iron man with a smirk.  He takes it with a sigh, trying to hide the smile forming on his face. 

“Yeah yeah, come on let's go play that booth with the balloons.” He takes your hand, dragging you to the booth. 

It turns out to be a game with water guns. You both race to make the balloon pop. Jason wins at this game 

“Ha” He says turning to you with a smirk. “ Aw, come on Princess, don’t be so salty.” He turns to attendant “ yeah can i have the Red Hood, thanks” 

He hands you the Red Hood doll, “ Here, something to remember me by” 

You roll your eyes, “ Don’t you use my words against me.” You take the doll, looking it over, “ Hey, why the Red Hood?”

Jason freezes, as you caught him in a lie or something. “Uhh, cause...he’s from Gotham, and so am I...” 

You squint at him, finding his response weird, “Um, okay?” 

He looks relieved with your acceptance. Weird. 

He takes your hand again and you both walk around, catching up on stuff you’ve missed in the months you haven't seen each other. While you were talking, you could’ve sworn you saw a flash of light from the corner of your eye. 

Oh well.

“Hey guys, over here.” 

You both turn to see Ned and Peter. 

“Hey, where’s Mj?” You ask as the two boys walk up to you and Jason.

“She had to leave, her dad picked her up a few minutes ago.” Ned replied, “We were coming to look for you guys.”

“Oh, are you ready to go?” You asked, “ Is anyone picking you up Ned?” 

“Nah I’m spending the night at Peters, we’re gonna watch Star Wars.” He says excitedly. 

Jason snorts, and you elbow him in the stomach, “ I happen to like Star Wars very much. And even if I didn’t, don’t be a dick to my friends.” 

“Sorry man, you just reminded me of my...brother, Tim. Sounds like something he’d like.” Jason says apologetically. 

“I’m friends with Y/n Stark..” Ned whispered.

Peter was quiet, he hasn’t said a word since he saw you and Jason laughing together. His mood worsened when he saw your intertwined hands. 

“So, you’re feeling better.” Peter states, avoiding your eyes. 

“Um, yeah...guess I just needed some food in me.” You mutter. An awkward silence coming over the group. 

“Hey are we going to ride the subway? It sucks going on there at night.” Ned says breaking the silence. 

“Is it? I know I hated walking around at night back home.” Jason says with a frown.

“Yeah man, my mom had to work late one night and she said she saw two homeless people getting it on.”

The four of you cringe at the thought.

“I’ll call Happy” You say pulling out your phone. You walk away, letting go of Jason's hand.

The three boys are left alone, not exactly knowing what to say to each other.

“So...how do you know Y/n?” Ned asks

“Oh uh” Jason goes to say how he knows you when he stops, he noticed how Peter’s mood seemed to worsen when he saw him with you. 

“Me and Y/n ditch galas together.” He says, “ We sneak into my room and...play games.” 

Peters face darkens, “Play games?” 

“Yeah, you know”

“No. I don’t.” 

“Interesting..” Jason thinks to himself 

“Like poker and shit”He replies, “ She’s shit at it, but i like seeing her get all happy when she wins so I let her.”

Peter smiles, knowing how happy you get when you win at games. Then frowns, knowing that Jason has seen you the same way he has. 

“Hey, whos that?” Ned asks, “ He’s been looking at Y/N for a while now.” 

Peter and Jason whip their head towards where Ned was pointing. Low and behold, there was a guy staring at you. You, too busy on your call with Happy, weren’t paying attention to your surroundings. 

The guy looked like a creep. His eyes roaming your body as if you were a piece of meat. It was disgusting.  But before Peter could do anything, Jason was already striding towards you. 

Now, Peter was strong, but he wasn’t too intimidating out of his suit. But jason? Jason was massive, even for an eighteen year old. He was tall, very well built, and just had this dark aura around him. 

Peter didn’t like him. 

Meanwhile, you were chatting to Happy about the where you were, apologizing for calling him so last minutes. 

“Thanks so much Happy, I’ll see you right now.” 

“Yeah yeah.” He hangs up. You chuckle putting your phone back into your purse. Looking up you see Jason striding towards you. 

“Hey i just-” He cuts you off, harshly slamming his arm above your head and leaning in close. 

“Theres a man staring at you.” He whispers, “ Right over there.” 

You follow his gaze, seeing the man who has a frightened expression. Jason was sending a death glare his way that could have frightened Batman himself. The man scurries off without a second glance.

Jason gently thumps you on the back of your head, “See what happens when you stand there like a space cadet.”

‘Oh..I was?”

Peter and Ned walk up to the two of you

“Y/n, you have to be more aware when you’re by yourself.” Peter scolds. 

“He’s right, or its going to be your own damn fault when someone kidnaps you.”

“Oh right.” You say standing up straight and alert. Jason rolls his eyes.

“We said when you’re alone.” “Right.” you say still alert.

“You don’t have to worry about it when you’re with me, you can space out whenever you want.”

“Oh? You gonna protect me Jay-bird?” 

Jason just smiles, not responding as he looks away from your face. 

“So, is Happy coming or what?” Peter asks rudely, taking you by surprise. He’s never talked to you like that before. 

“Um..yeah he’s on his way.” You respond, “ He should be here in a few minutes.”

Peter nods. Yet another uncomfortable silence falls on the group. 

You start walking to the entrance, and without a word the boys follow you. 

You don’t get it, first Peter ignores you all day and now he’s mad at you? What the hell is he playing at? 

“So I’m assuming you’re staying at the Tower?” You ask Jason, “ Your dad would be blowing up your phone if you weren’t.”

“I turned it off” Jason says with a smirk, “ I’m sure they’ll be alright.”

You laugh at his antics, knowing that he’s gonna get an earful when he gets back. Then. from the corner of your eye, you see Peter roll his eyes and glare at Jason.  Ugh, what a weird day.

Finally Happy, shows up. You pile into the car, a tight fit with all four of you, but you make it work. 

The tension in the car is so thick you can cut it with a knife. Happy doesn’t even make any comments, he just drives to Peter’s house to drop him and Ned off. As soon as he gets there, he jumps off the car as if something bit him. Going into the building without a goodbye. Ned just awkwardly smiles and says bye, then follows Peter into the apartment. 

“Okay...That was weird.” Happy says, “What happened? Usually the kid won’t shut up.”

“I have no idea. He’s just being a dick I guess.” You respond sourly. Looking out the window, signaling that you were done with the conversation. 

You finally get home, exhausted physically and emotionally. As you ride the elevator, you think about today's events. So much has happened today it makes your head spin. You were,’t even paying attention when you got to your floor, Jason having to nudge you to get you to move.

“Jason.”, you hear a deep voice rumble. You look up at the sound and giggle

“Looks like you’re in trouble Jay-bird.” “Shut up, please.” 

You laugh again, “It’s lovely to see you again Mr. Wayne, are you staying at the Tower tonight?”

“Hello Y/n” Bruce says, “ It seems so, seeing as my son has been missing all day and we’ve missed our check in time.” He glares at Jason. 

“Aw come on Bruce, we’ll all have a sleepover, bread each other’s hair and tell secrets” You dad says coming out of nowhere. He pecks the top of your head. 

“Hey kid, how was it?” 

“Ugh, don’t even get me started” You say rolling your eyes, “ How was the meeting?” 

“Ugh don’t even get me started.” Then he turned to Jason, “ Hey, didn’t know you were a fan.” 

You laugh, knowing he’s referring to the plush you won for him. “Where’s the rest of the boys?” 

“Damian fell asleep and Tim is in your fathers lab tinkering.” Bruce responds, “ I was about to head to bed.” 

“Oh me too, I’ve had quite the day.” You hug your dad, “ Night pops.” 

Then you turn to Jason, “ I had fun today Jay, thanks. Good night Mr. Wayne.” 

And with that, you walk off to your room, desperate to shower and sleep this day away. 

“So, care to explain why your phone was shut off?” 

Yikes, poor Jason.

[chatonne-rousse]

Orange You Glad I'm Not Seeing Green (Nope, Totally Not Jealous At All)

A continuation of my Gifts from the Heart series, the whole of which is written as a gift for my dear friend @sketchy-panda.

Read it on Ao3 here.

Follows Great Minds (and Kind Hearts) Think Alike, which can be found here.

*********

The first forty-two minutes had gone so well.

Marinette was acting weird, but a normal, endearing weird - the kind of weird that warms his chest with affection and makes him smile. There is no one quite like her, and Adrien knows her friendship is a sweet blessing indeed. Even if it takes a moment or two to decipher her jumbled sentences sometimes. Even if she's a teeny tiny bit of a disaster.

When Ms. Bustier had paired them up for a literature project, he was thrilled. Adrien would never scoff at the chance to spend time with his dear friend, much less to enjoy a window of escape, however short, from the echoing silence of his own home. He'd turned to her with unabashed excitement to find her cheeks and ears pink and a strange mix of joy and terror in her eyes.

"Yay!" she'd squeaked, the word accompanied by awkward jazz hands. This had prompted a nudge under the table from Alya that didn't escape his notice. With that, she'd taken a deep breath, set her shoulders, and asked if he'd like to come over after school to work on it together.

Would he ever! The wave of happiness that had risen in his chest must have shown on his face, but when Marinette's smile had softened to match, he realized he didn't care if he grinned like a fool in front of the class. An afternoon with a friend - a friend! - was such a rare treat. And he's already read The Three Musketeers, so he'd been sure this would be a breeze.

And it was. Until six minutes ago, when they realized that the plate of cookies they'd been snacking on had dwindled to one. This discovery came by way of both of them reaching for it without looking, hands meeting over the plate amidst blushing cheeks and murmured apologies. With an awkward laugh, he'd taken the final cookie, carefully broken it roughly in half, and offered the slightly larger piece to his wide-eyed project partner.

Their fingers brushed in the handoff. She breathed a thank you. He smiled graciously.

It all happened so quickly after that.

Before he could take a bite of his cookie, her elbow had knocked into her glass, sending orange juice across her desk, her lap, his stocking feet.

"Disaster!" Marinette had shrieked, prompting Mrs. Cheng to peek through the open trap door a few moments later, looking first at her daughter dancing frantically around her now-toppled desk chair and then to a bewildered Adrien, still holding half a cookie in one hand and Marinette's keyboard, rescued from the rogue wave of orange juice, in the other.

She'd just smiled. "I'll bring up some towels, dears."

Adrien could only nod.

Now, Marinette stands in front of her sink, wiping the front of her pants with a damp towel and sighing every thirty seconds. He's barefoot, his socks whisked off to parts unknown, ostensibly to be laundered, though he'd protested that wasn't necessary. Their cookie and juice supply has been refilled, and calm has settled over the room again. Sort of.

"I'm so sorry, Adrien," she says quietly, a tinge of misery at the edge of her voice. "I'm so clumsy."

He tries to make her smile the best way he knows how. "It's okay, Marinette. Orange you glad it didn't get on your drawings for the project?"

She stops trying to clean off her jeans and raises her eyes to his. "Did you just...?"

His eyes gleam. "You know, workers in the orange juice factory will lose their jobs if they can't concentrate."

Her surprised giggle is incredibly gratifying. He takes it as a green light to continue. "Do you know what language oranges use to talk to each other?" When she shakes her head, he gleefully answers, "Mandarin!"

"You'd fit right in, then!" Marinette laughs heartily, the sound making his grin widen until it hurts. (It's worth it.)

"Well, I am very a-peeling. I have a real zest for life."

She groans, though she's still laughing, and facepalms with the hand holding the towel. Adrien watches as she realizes how sticky it is against her face, throws it on the counter, and blushes when she makes eye contact with him once more. His own smile never dims. Making a friend laugh like this is one of life's great joys. Laughing with a friend like this is one of the greatest.

Finally, she washes her hands at the sink and he takes a moment to right her desk chair, gazing around the room to the sound of her drying her hands. Magazine photos of him still remain, though they mix on corkboards and wall collages with pictures of friends and family. His own face smiles - truly smiles - back at him from several of them. He remembers each of these days, shining memories with beloved friends that he treasures. He's glad Marinette treasures them, too.

His gaze slides to the corner of her desk, near her sewing machine and a large box he assumes is full of sewing notions, and his breath catches. There, on twin display stands to keep them upright, are two figurines he doesn't know how he missed earlier. Ladybug holds her yo-yo in her right hand, Chat Noir's baton is held in his left. Their tiny plastic hands clasp in the middle, just as they were molded to do for the 1st Anniversary Special Partners Edition figures he would know anywhere.

Marinette sits back down in her desk chair, looks at him, then follows his gaze to the figurines. Adrien turns his eyes to her.

"I didn't know you were a superhero fan, Marinette!"

She laughs a nervous laugh as a blush rises to her cheeks. "Me? A fan of Chat Noir? Psssh." She waves a hand as if to dismiss the idea.

He isn't sure if he should be offended or gratified. He'd certainly prefer the latter.

"Why wouldn't you be a fan? I am. I think the heroes are awesome."

"You do?" she breathes, eyes wide.

"Of course! Paris is lucky," he elbows her arm gently and winks, "to have them."

Her giggle makes him smile again. He always feels so light and so carefree here, in her warm home, with her friendly parents and a plate of cookies and the sweetness she seems to radiate in his presence. Paris is lucky to have superhero protectors, but he's lucky in his own way to have found this kind of gentle contentment in a world denied to him for so long.

"I guess we should get back to the project--"

"Where did you get them?"

They each speak at the same time, twin blushes and stammered apologies following just as with the cookie incident.

Marinette breaks the ensuing awkward silence first. "One of my best friends gave them to me."

"I'm not surprised," Adrien responds with a grin. "Alya might be the biggest fan in Paris!"

The blush on her cheeks spreads to the tips of her ears and her eyes widen before she blinks. "Oh, um...it wasn't Alya." Marinette looks at her hands in her lap and then back up to him. "But she does have this set. She's kind of obsessed."

Strange, he'd never heard about any other best friends from Nino or Alya, though that didn't mean Marinette didn't have a very close online friend or someone in the design community she just hadn't talked much about before. He hopes this person knows what a good friend she has in Marinette, that she treasures her like Marinette deserves to be treasured. Though of course she'd gifted her with the set of figurines, so this friend at least knows quality merch when she sees it. Adrien's heart warms at the thought of Marinette having such good friends. She deserves nothing less.

"Adrien? Are you okay?"

He blinks twice, shaking himself from his reverie. "Oh. Yeah. I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You were far away for a minute there."

He smiles warmly. Marinette is so thoughtful. "I promise. I was just thinking what a great best friend she must be to have given you such a cool gift."

"Oh," she says quietly, looking at the figures again, though Adrien is still focused on his friend. He watches as her eyes soften and her smile turns gentle before she speaks again. "He definitely is. There's no one better."

Her gaze snaps to his again. "I mean! I'll bet you're better! At being hot. I mean cool! I mean..." She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "So! The Three Musketeers, eh?" She pulls her notebook back in front of her and opens it to a random page that contains nothing having to do with Alexandre Dumas. She laughs nervously, resolutely staring at the page and not the boy beside her.

The boy who hasn't breathed since her quiet "oh." The boy whose brain is still stuck on one word.

He.

Adrien can feel his smile turn brittle at the edges and forces his face to remain neutral, but it's difficult all of a sudden.

It shouldn't bother him. It shouldn't affect him at all. Marinette is friends with Nino, Kim, and Max, and he doesn't think twice about it. Why should he? This is different, though, somehow. An unknown entity. A boy friend he's never heard of who makes her expression soften like that, with memories of private jokes and gift exchanges and laughter. Probably. That's probably what it's like with Marinette and her other best friend, who isn't Alya and whose name he doesn't know.

An odd feeling twists his stomach. Adrien doesn't like it.

"Well," he starts, sliding his own notebook over and opening to the last page they'd been working on before the orange juice spill, "he has very good taste in Ladybug and Chat Noir merchandise. I have that same set myself."

"You do?" she squeaks, and their eyes meet again.

"I do. But I didn't take mine out of the packaging." He chances a cheeky half-smile at her, the knot in his stomach loosening just a fraction at the smile she returns. "Mine will be pristine when the set is worth millions someday."

When she laughs, the tension in his chest dissipates like springtime dandelion seeds, floating away on a sudden breeze of fresh, sweet joy.

Maybe Marinette's mysterious best friend can make her laugh like this, but right now, Adrien is the one sitting beside her - something rare and precious and not to be taken for granted - and it makes no sense to do anything other than enjoy the moment.

[haloshornsinkstains]

Carrying This Imagination, I'll Go

The aftermath of the Inarizaki vs Karasuno game and how it affected y/n, their manager, and her relationship with the team.

Kita x F!Reader (but its pretty mild)

cw: female reader, attempts at writing Kansai dialect

a/n: i’m debating turning this one into a series, I have ideas and I've written some of it past this chapter but still it may be a while between chapters if I do. At least until work eases up and I’m not pulling overtime so much.

As the ball hit the floor you felt your heart lodge itself in your throat, grip white knuckled against the edge of the bench as your muscles screamed at you to move. There would be time for that later, you told yourself, blinking back tears as you watched your boys congratulate the other team before turning to line up and bow. The few simple words of thanks lingering in the air like the bittersweet sting of a wound. They filed out of the hall, a line of bowed heads and black jerseys, and still you couldn't let yourself move. Not until the coach rested a gentle hand on your back did you unfurl your fingers and slowly push yourself to your feet.

"C'mon l/n. They'll need ya around."

You nodded, exhaling a long sigh as you glanced towards the bottles on the side. "I'll get water."

You didn't see his small frown as you collected the empty bottles and headed for the taps, smiling at the other teams manager as you passed. 

"Hope to see ya around. Good luck."

She smiled softly in return and you could almost feel the burning jealousy of her team on your back. Not that you could blame them, she was gorgeous. 

"For once he's right." You chuckle. "Next year Shin, ya better be watchin' us 'cause we're gonna win Nationals."

Later you carried the newly filled bottles through the corridor, listening for the loud shouts of your idiots. You find them not long after by the stairs, just in time to hear the Captain's soft spoken admission and Atsumu's impassioned reply. You smile up at them, holding the bottles aloft.

"Yeah! An' when I'm a famous volleyball player yer better tell all ya friends that ya taught me!"

You shake your head and behind him Suna laughs, clapping one hand on the blonde setter’s shoulder. “Oh don’t worry Tsumu, I’ll tell everyone plenty of stories about you.”

You dissolve into full blown giggles, memories of the plentiful escapades of the Miya twins flashing behind your eyes and the bottles of water forgotten at your feet. You don’t see the way Kita’s face softens into a smile as he watches you, the pain of the loss softened a little by the antics of his team. Suna though, his analytical gaze doesn’t miss the affection in the captain's eyes, and he nods his head just a little at the older man. Eventually your breathing evens out and you wipe a few stray tears from the corners of your eyes, nodding towards the water bottles.

“Well I didn’t lug all this water here for ya to not drink it! It was a long game, grab a drink everyone.” You hand out the bottles with a smile, turning to glance over your shoulder once they’re all drinking. “When yer all done we’re heading back to the hotel, and you stinky boys are going straight to the bath.”

“Oi! We don’t stink!” Atsumu’s outburst sent water and spit flying all over Osamu and Aran, and you burst into giggles all over again as both men smacked him in retaliation, Osamu yelling at his twin for being a disgusting scrub.

Before another fight could break out between the Miya’s you heard Kita clearing his throat, levelling them both with a stern look. “A hot bath will do all of our muscles good.”

You offered him a soft smile in return and nodded. “See, Captain knows. C’mon stinky boys.”

Amidst the grumbles the team headed back towards the bus, you falling into step besides Suna with a chuckle. Gently you bumped your shoulder against his arm.

“You did real good out there Rin. Glasses really got on yer nerves huh?” You hummed, glancing at him sideways. 

“Hmm. Surprised you aren’t crying yet.” He chuckled, gently ruffling your hair. “You were sobbing when we lost to Itachiyama.”

“Later. Lookin’ after you boys comes first.”

“We had the same idea.”

The tears didn’t fall until you were washing the jerseys, as much as they didn’t really need them the next day it gave you some time to be alone. A place to cry, hidden from the boys you wanted to be strong for, the sound of your sniffles drowned out by the hum of the machine. Under the dull hum you didn’t hear the sound of the door opening, startling when the familiar warmth of a body filled the space beside you.

You relax, feeling lips press against the crown of your head as you nod.

“It needed to be done.”

Kita chuckles quietly and you can picture the small nod of agreement.

“Routine is important.” He agrees, lifting the washbasket ready to collect the wet jerseys. “Routine is the foundation that made me who I am.”

“And it makes ya happy.” You laughed.

“And it makes me happy.”

“I just… it felt like something I could do to help. I feel like I let ya all down, like-” you hiccuped, holding back a sob “I wish we had won.”

Strong arms encircled you, Kita pulling you into the warmth of his chest. One hand gently petted your hair, letting you tremble against him as you cried.

“I know. But, at the same time, I’d like to see how far those crows go.” His grip tightened, just a little. “The boys were talkin’ about watchin’ the rest of the matches, I think ya should come too.”

You nodded. “I’d like that.”

Watching games without the pressure of winning was a surprisingly good way to relax, and you were able to focus on the abilities of the other teams. Picking up plays that you could suggest to the boys, and making note of players who would be worth keeping an eye on for next year's competition. Inarizaki might be a powerhouse school but it was always worthwhile to keep an eye on the others. Kita and Aran had disappeared to watch Itachiyama with Omimi, while you, Rin and the Miya twins wanted to see Karasuno’s next match. The others had their phones, so wherever they’d wandered off to you weren’t too worried.

“Those two are scary even from here.”

You tipped your head back to smile at Osamu. “You two were pretty scary yourselves yesterday. But Nekoma are pretty terrifyin’ too.”

Rin nodded. “They’re a great defensive team.”

“Yeah. That middle blocker Captain of their is- holy shit! That Libero is so cool!”

“Yaku.”

You whipped your head around to stare at the two men who had appeared next to you, noting their white jackets.

“Um, bless you? Hey, yer from Fukurodani right? I was plannin’ to come watch ya play later, you guys are awesome.” You grinned, leaning across Rin to wave at the two men.

“Hear that Akaashi! She thinks we’re awesome!”

“I did Bokuto-san. Nekoma’s libero, his name is Yaku-san, and he is indeed very talented.” The dark haired setter, Akaashi, sat himself next to Suna and gestured for Bokuto to join him. “You’re from Inarizaki High yes?”

“We are, I’m l/n, this is Suna and those two behind us are Atsumu and Osamu Miya. It’s nice to meet ya Akaashi-san. And thank you for the information.” You nodded turning back to the match.

“Kuroo is cool too.” The grey-haired Ace sounded almost pouty.

“He is Bokuto-san. I’m sorry to hear about your loss to Karasuno, from what I hear it was a close game.”

Suna nodded, eyes focused on the middle blockers while you sighed and offered the two men an apologetic smile. You didn’t miss the way Bokuto muttered something about Akaashi wanting Karasuno to win but were polite enough to ignore it.

“Get back here ya scrub! Yer not having my onigiri!”

“Learn to share ya pig!”

With an irritated growl you shook your head. “Sorry, those are my idiots. Rin, if you even think about pullin’ out yer phone I’ll be after you next.” 

You vaulted over the chairs, stalking towards the arguing twins just in time to see Osamu preparing to kick his brother. With a grimace you put yourself between the twins, gripping each by the front of their shirts and glaring at them in turn.

“Oi, idiots! Yer gonna sit down and behave yerselves or so help me god…”

“But y/n!” 

“Don’t but me! Sit yer asses down and behave.” You narrowed your eyes. “And if yer not gonna listen to me, I’m sure I can get Kita to come here.”

Suna chuckled, slipping his phone back into his hoodie and nodding towards Bokuto and Akaashi. “And that’s why our manager is the best.”

“Agashee! Did you see that?!”

“I did Bokuto-san.”

“She’s so cool!”

You laughed, jumping back over into your seat and shaking your head. “Glad ya think so, dealing with those idiots had to have some upsides.” 

Akaashi made a small noise that sounded suspiciously like a chuckle before it was interrupted by a quiet beeping from his pocket. Sighing he stood and gently pulled on Bokuto's arm.

"Bokuto-San, we need to go prepare for our match. It was good to meet you all." He gave a polite bow and a soft smile, his reserved nature all the more striking compared to the chaos surrounding you.

"Come cheer for us l/n!"

"Likewise. I'll be sure t' come find ya when they finish." You grinned, waving the pair off. "Ya done makin' heart eyes Samu?"

"Shurrup, yer always droolin' over players." 

You shook your head. "I only 'drool' over one player, I just admire the rest." You huffed, ignoring the heat in your cheeks.

Focusing back on the match your heart felt lighter than it had done in a long time, here, surrounded by people you loved and the sound of volleyball, you came to a realisation. This was something you always wanted in your life. Volleyball was something you never wanted to leave behind no matter what.

The rest of nationals went by in a blur, Kita joining you for more matches than not once the pain of losing so early had dulled. You cheered for Fukurodani as promised, and joined the Miya twins watching the duo of terrifying first years from Karasuno. Every moment just cemented the idea that you wanted Volleyball in your life forever further and further into your mind.

Time continued moving forwards. You cried when the third years graduated, Suna took so many pictures of your teary face you almost threw the phone at his head. But the third years graduation meant the end of so many things, their patience and calming influence, the routines you had built up since joining the club, and your first relationship. Still time seemed to fly, the Miya twins made for surprisingly good leaders (officially Atsumu was captain, but you were grateful for Osamu being there to keep him in check no matter how many fights you broke up) and all too soon you found yourself at Nationals once more, earning your revenge against Karasuno for the previous year. Your unlikely friendship with the new Fukurodani captain cemented when the pair of you exchanged numbers on the first day. (Osamu had pouted over it for hours, and none of your insistence you were just friends helped).

University only fuelled your focus, managing the boys team there and watching them rise through the ranks. Joining in on practice to help them out and feeling the old familiar rush in your veins. You kept in touch with the other second years, thankful for their support when your family were disappointed in you. They were the ones there when you graduated, and the ones to throw a celebratory party when you landed a job with the JVA. And they were the ones there to keep your spirits up when a few years into your dream job it seemed like you were about to lose everything, even when they didn’t all know the details.

[moonshine-dan]

what would kissing your close friend, kuroo or bokuto, for the first time be like? i imagined that you've been with him since high school and you only realized your feelings for him in college gahhh please indulge this hopeless romantic >.<

I would love to! This is for all the hopeless romantics out there who love Bokuto.

@janellion ... I hear you like stuff like this?

Downtown

Is it really this fun when you're on my mind? Is it really this cool to be in your life?

Bokuto x Reader, fluff. 2.2 K

Warnings: Nothing major. Suicide mentioned as part of a drink title. A little suggestive at the end.

The automatic doors hiss open as you walk into the humid Osaka night, wincing. The AC inside the 7/11 had made it easy to forget how hot it was. The slurpee you just bought is sweet and takes the edge off, but beyond that, you couldn’t say what the flavor was exactly. You let Bokuto take both of your cups to the machine and make suicides out of every option - “So none of ’em feel left out!” - like you always did. 

He was following you out, eyes gleaming in the fluorescent lights of the signs above you.

"It's good to just hang out like this again. We haven't done this in forever!" He was waving animatedly in your general direction, the drink in his flailing hand getting dangerously close to spilling on your shirt.

"Woah! My bad! Nothing got on you, right?"

You nod. He responds with a thousand watt smile that pushes his eyes closed and makes you want to grab his stupid hair spikes and drag him into a kiss.

You’ve got it so bad for your best friend that it’s almost funny, if it wasn’t also completely pathetic. It's only recently that you realized you liked him as more than a friend- but now that you’re reminiscing with him, the signs were very, very obvious. To you, at least. 

The pair of you are moving from the eye-piercing light of the storefront and over to the far side of the parking lot. The plan? To loiter, just like you did in high school when volleyball practice got out. Usually, you'd have 3 or 4 of his teammates with you, eating garbage snack food and joking around on the curb until the manager would chase you away. 

You can see in your mind how you would gravitate towards Bokuto on those nights, sitting next to him in the parking lot, bumping your foot or your knee into his while you talked. How you laughed at his jokes and would ask for his jacket when it got cold. His presence was magnetic, and you got pulled in deep. It wasn’t until after you both had graduated and started down separate paths that you were able to really see what you had. What you missed so deeply. 

It's just the two of you tonight, Bokuto fresh out of practice and talking excitedly about his teammates' antics, just like he used to. The only things that are different now are the names of the players. He’s telling you a story about his germophobic friend, Sasuke? You think? Bokuto talks so fast sometimes he doesn’t really annunciate well - and you sigh at the familiarity of it all. Maybe this would turn out alright; maybe you had been avoiding meeting up with Bokuto for no reason? 

You had thought that seeing him in person again, not just on a grainy phone screen, would be disastrous. It was hard enough to try and keep your feelings inside over video calls and text messages, but having him in front of you? You knew you’d do something to tip him off on how you felt toward him, and even though you knew he would never stop being your friend, the fear of your love being unrequited held you back. 

He'd been asking for weeks to meet up, and you had been successfully blaming college on your schedules not working - until he offered you to meet him late night on Friday, just like you used to. With no excuse and an irrationally heavy heart, you agreed to meet up.

Perhaps it was just a crush? Maybe you sought him out between classes and waited for hours after school just so see him because you just…. Liked him. And you had halfway convinced yourself that's all it was, until he had smiled at you brightly and reminded you just how dull things were without him in your life. 

He’s sitting now on a parking block with his back against a bollard, slapping the spot next to him invitingly. Bokuto whoops when you drop down next to him, slush flying from his cup as he whips it excitedly. "You gotta see this!"

He scoots closer to you, phone in hand. There's a paused youtube video onscreen: a highlight reel someone had made of his spikes. He hits play as soon as you lean in a little, grinning wildly and giving a play by play commentary as you watch. The outside of his thigh presses into yours warmly.

Here's hoping he can’t somehow feel the heat creeping up your neck.

He beams at you from over the phone, looking at you expectantly as the video ends. “Wasn’t I great?” 

You feel like you’ve run a mile and all he did was press his leg to yours. He’s too great. “Yes, Bokuto, you were amazing.”

He’s really grinning now, eyes crinkling shut. “You’ve gotta come to one of my games and see me in action! I promise, it’s waaaay better in person! You could even,” he pauses for a moment, thinking, “bring one of the guys you’ve been seeing? Watching me win would be an awesome date.”

Oh god, your dates. You had tried going on a few recently, another attempt to distance yourself from your best friend. Nothing serious - just coffee shop conversations, but they easily lost a competition they weren't even aware they were in. None of them could even begin to make you feel the way Bokuto did. And the thought of taking one of them to see your best friend and unrequited crush in his element? There’s no way that wouldn't find a way to blow up in your face.

“That’s a great idea, man,” you lie. “I’m not seeing anyone right now though.” Bokuto’s giving you a spectacular double eyebrow raise above his cup. “Oh ho?”

You flick his arm gently. “Don’t be mean, Bo. I’ll just come to a game and hang out in the stands with your date instead.”

Why did you say that. Why did you say that. Why did you say that. 

The eyebrows come down. He’s smiling, but it’s not quite reaching his eyes, which aren’t meeting your own. “Nah, you can’t do that. We broke up.”

You feel terrible for the little thrill that sends through you.

“Oh, Bokuto, I’m sorry.” You are. He’s your best friend. The cruel joy you feel does not go away. 

His eyes flicker to you momentarily. “Nah, it’s fine. They weren’t the one, you know?”

Who is? You want to ask. What comes out instead is, “How did you know?”

Bokuto hums inquisitively. “Know what?”

“That they weren’t the one. How did you know?”

He’s still not looking at you when he replies, “I just know.”

Silence falls. You use the quiet moment as an excuse to turn away as well. This is really unlike him. Had he changed that much in the time since you last saw him? Nothing else about Bokuto seems different - maybe the issue was just you?

Stop it. Don’t think things like that. 

The silence drags on. You pull the straw of your drink into your mouth and chew, trying to think of something not romance-related to talk about. Nothing is coming to mind - Bokuto has been all you can think about for a solid week, and being next to him is NOT helping. It’s just the two of you, alone together in silence. It’s late enough that there aren’t any pedestrians on walks to distract you, the night quiet and dark outside of the strangely illuminated parking lot. Desperate to think of anything else, you look up at the hazy summer sky.

It’s hard to see stars through the light pollution, but you can make out Vega, you think. Some stars were bright enough to see even in the middle of the city. The straw pops out of your mouth as you point it out loudly, getting Bokuto’s attention.

“Check it out Bo, you can see part of Lyra. That star’s got to be Vega. You remember?”

Bokuto jerks slightly before he turns to face you, looking startled. His gaze follows your finger up, mouth still pursed around the straw in his mouth. His smile returns as he tilts his head to peer up at the sky with you. “You told me about that one once! It’s a summer constellation, right?”

You drop your hand as Bokuto starts pointing out the faint other stars of the summer triangle. It may be hard to see stars in the city, but with Bokuto shining next to you, it’s hard to see anything else at all. The weird fluorescence of the parking lot light should have washed him out, but somehow he was aglow, soft shadows instead of harsh lines shading him lightly. He really was a star, and he burned the brightest out of any that you could see tonight.

You were staring at him again. 

It’s no surprise when he catches you this time, golden eyes meeting yours and matching your gaze. The delight is still present on his face but it’s sobering, turning serious. Your heart is racing as Bokuto continues to stare you down in silence. His eyebrows draw together as he raises his hand slowly, reaching for your face.

A finger grazes your cheek. You might have stopped breathing. He opens his mouth.

“You had some slush on your face.” His finger remains there, rubbing at the stuck on sugar.

...

Okay. Something has to change. There’s only so much your heart can take.

You reach up and cup your hand over his, holding it in place. Bokuto stills at the sudden contact, bewildered. You aren’t sure what you are doing, much less how to say what you want, but you hope that somehow he understands. No sound escapes your mouth as you maintain eye contact and slot your fingers together. Bokuto stares, still uncharacteristically silent - but he’s not just looking anymore. His eyes are searching, gaze sharp and analytical. You couldn’t look away from them if you wanted to.

Bokuto blinks first, eyes flitting over to your joined hands as you press your cheek into the heat of his palm. His thumb drags lightly over to your skin, meeting your bottom lip and tracing along the curve of it. He watches, entranced, as they part slightly from the touch. 

Even if this doesn’t work out. Even then. Just having this moment would be enough. Your eyes close as you huff out the breath you had been holding. The hot coil of anxiety snaking through your stomach makes you hesitant to open them again. When Bokuto’s thumb moves from your mouth to pad at your cheek, you steel yourself and open them again. 

You shouldn't have worried. There’s nothing in his golden eyes but understanding when you finally dare to open them again. Bokuto’s remaining hand is impossibly gentle as he places it on your shoulder, leaning into your space. His shoulders shake minutely with barely contained excitement from the breakthrough he’s just had - you like him, just as much as he likes you. There’s no way he can’t feel the heat in your skin rising now as your pulse skyrockets. 

“Kou…”, you whisper into the shrinking space between you.

Bokuto doesn’t bother with a response. His lips are a little chapped when they capture yours, but they're warm and eager and pressing in with the weight of half a decade of unconfessed feelings.

You know immediately what he meant earlier about knowing ‘the one’. No kiss from any of your dates was ever this electric. None of them made you feel like time was stopping when their lips met yours, or made your heart beat like it was about to fly from your chest. None of them made you feel like you were finally home, held in strong arms and with a familiar hand gently running along your cheek. 

There really was no one like Bokuto, and you were so glad there was no one else for him but you right now. 

You push forward until you chests are touching, desperate for closer contact now that you know you’re allowed to get it. The back of his head is cradled in your free hand, fingers tangling in the short spikes at the nape of his neck. Bokuto hums against your mouth, tongue slipping out to trace where his thumb had been earlier. He starts backward slightly as you meet it with the tip of yours, breaking away with a gasp.

“Woah! Not on the first date!”

“You used tongue first.” Your deadpan expression doesn't faze him. He wraps a heavy arm around your shoulders and pulls you close to his side, laughing. 

Wait a minute.

“Did you say date? Is this a date?”

Bokuto freezes. He glances at you side-eyed and inquires quietly, “Do you... want it to be one?”

It’s much easier to be truthful when you’ve had his tongue in your mouth. “I’d love it to be one.”

Bokuto whoops loudly, the exclamation echoing in the empty lot.

First dates usually sucked. This one, however, was going to stick with you for a long time. You run your tongue over your lips as you bump your head to his shoulder. Who knew slurpees tasted even better on someone else's mouth?

“Y'know, If we don’t leave soon,” you tease, “the manager might chase us away again.”

He hums dismissively and bends to press a kiss to your temple.

“Let’em.”

[dayseternal-blog]

Hi Days! I'm a huge fan of your work and your tumblr blog bc you give so many naruhina fanfic recs and talk about your stories, etc.

To sum it up, you're my favorite person lol, I'm a bit shy so I'm asking this as an anon, but I wanted to tell you something random just because I've always just thought about it and maybe you would agree or comment on it.

Have you ever listened to mitski? If you haven't I recomend you do bc she's amazing, but anyways I was listening to a song of hers called "washing machine heart" and it reminded me of naruhina, like the fic "together you and I" but different you know, like naruto only married hinata because he couldn't have sakura, she was his second option and every time he looked at her he wished and pretended it was Sakura, so Hina tries her hardest to look pretty and try to be the person he wants, always getting saddend by the idea that she isn't the one he wants, she knows his heart will only belong to Sakura. She let's him trample all over her heart and use her because she loves him unconditionally, maybe cry to her on some nights because he longs for Sakura's love that will never come.

I've read so many fanfics and I've never encountered one using this concept, I'd write it myself, but I'm not good at writing, maybe I'm reaching but it could inspire an angst story made by you or just a prompt or idea/concept for anyone to use. The hurt in this could be inmaculate and I bet a good writer could bring everyone to tears if they read a story like this. You don't have to do anything ofc I'll love you either way, I'm not meaning to push you to write a whole story with this concept by any means or to even post this ask, it's just something I made up/ related to this certain song, so I wanted you to see it, perhaps share your opinion or thoughts on it or just think about it. I love pain a lot hahaha bc I'm not a narusaku shipper in any way, I actually dislike the ship a lot.

Thank you for reading this and pls keep up the awesome work!! I'll always be a fan and support you and your spectacular writing❤️❤️

GAH What an awful fic idea you have 💔

“The Ring that Binds” by softwind - Rated M, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Incomplete.  Naruto and Hinata are married.  So why is Naruto calling “Sakura” in his sleep?

“Girl No 10″ by meeiwen - Rated M, Modern AU, Multi-chapter, Complete. Naruto makes a mistake with a dancer one drunk night.  Years later when he meets her again, he begins realizing his perfect life is a lie, but he’s too late to fix it.

And

“Territorial” by @bunny-hoodlum - Rated M, High school AU, Multi-chapter, Complete.  When Hinata takes advantage of Naruto’s desperation for love, they’re both a little too much for the other to handle.

Are similar to what you have there.

HERE’S MY VERY QUICK AND INCOMPLETE STAB AT YOUR PROMPT IT’S UNEDITED UNREVISED CANON-DIVERGENT AU RATED T FOR LANGUAGE BUT I HOPE YOU LIKE WHAT I COULD COME UP WITH 😘  THEY ARE NOT MARRIED BECAUSE I WOULD BE TOO SAD

...

Naruto finally makes it to the Hokage’s office, having had trouble shaking off fangirls on his way.  He can immediately tell he’s the last one there, even though it’s the eve of the Rinnegan Festival.  Tense expressions greet him, the atmosphere somber.

Sakura whips her attention back to the desk before them.  “Rokudaime, with all due respect, I don’t think Naruto belongs on this mission.”

Her behavior has confused him all night.  First moving away from him so that Hinata would sit between them at Ichiraku when Hinata could have just sat on the other side of him.  Then pushing him to follow Hinata back home.  He said aloud that he’d be seeing her later, and that he wanted to catch up with everyone first, but Sakura just glared at him...

She’s been pushing him away, more and more every day, breaking his heart to smaller and smaller pieces...whether knowingly or not, he’s not sure about that, but she’s never rejected him from being her teammate on a mission.

Worried, he meets Kakashi’s gaze.

“I understand your concern, Sakura.”  His tone is heavy.  His usual careless attitude nowhere in sight.  “Call it just my gut-feeling...you’re going to need Naruto’s strength for this mission.”

-

Hanabi was kidnapped.

Hiashi and Hinata are nowhere to be found.

“What do you mean...?” Naruto finds himself asking.  “I just saw her.  We just saw her.  Not even an hour ago.”

“When Sai reported Hanabi’s kidnapping, believe me, Naruto, we moved to notify her family immediately.  Anbu can’t find them.”

“What?”  The last memory he has of Hinata abruptly leaving dinner and running off without hardly a word nags at him, inexplicably tightening his chest.  “She’s fine.  Hinata’s strong.  She can take on anybody.  No one would dare-”

“Naruto,” Sakura interrupts, her gaze cutting sharp.  “She’s nowhere to be found.  And as much as you believe that, no one is invincible.  Not even Hinata.  We need to form a plan, otherwise we’re losing precious time.”

“No one is invincible.  Not even Hinata.”

An emptying numbness invades his insides, discomforting slickness muting him.

This isn’t his fault, is it?

-

What if she needed to tell him something?

She was acting strange at Ichiraku.

Quiet, unusual for her as of recent...

But how was he supposed to notice?  Should he have followed after her, like Sakura said?  But they were supposed to meet at his apartment later on anyway, so why did she have to come out early like that and ruin the good time he was having?  She knows how he hasn’t given up on Sakura.

She knows everything about him.  She’s been his rock after Sakura tried to shut him down for good.  So how can it be that she’d just disappear?  There’s no way.

There’s just no way that she disappeared right after she left...

-

Hours.

Hours of wandering around in abandoned, desolate, war-stricken villages in god-knows-where, and nothing.  No one.

He’s asking for the hundredth time, but he doesn’t care, he’s past the point of desperation, and anxiety-laced tension fills the air.  “Taku, you really don’t see anything?!”  The Hyuuga they have on their team led them into this godforsaken wasteland.

Taku turns on him aggressively, getting in his face in reaction, and yells, “What about you??  You think I’m not trying my best?!  This is my family!  Just because you’re Hinata’s boyfriend doesn’t mean you’re any more worried than the rest of us!  You don’t sense her??”

No.  He doesn’t.

His Sage Mode has never been so useless.  In fact, he senses no one besides them in this place, and it’s with terrible unease that he begins to entertain the thought that she’s gone for good.

“There’s no one even here besides us!  Nothing!  Why’d you take us down here?  Where are we even?!  How do we get out of here in the first place?!” he argues back.

“Sakura-san was right!  You don’t belong on this mission!  I don’t know what Hinata-sama could ever see in you, I haven’t seen her smile in months!”

“What do you mean by that?!  She smiles all the time!  I’ve never seen her act so cheerful in my life!”

“So you fucking know it, too!”  Taku glares at him with an incredulous expression.  “That she’s just acting!”

“What the hell do you mean by that-”

And he doesn’t know what happened next, but Sai’s grabbing onto Taku and he himself is locked in Shikamaru’s shadow manipulation.  Chakra’s sparking off his own hands, while blue embers warp along Taku’s.

“Calm down,” Shikamaru orders both of them.  “We’re not getting anywhere if the two of you keep fighting.”  He waits for Taku to loosen his stance.

Sai lets go of him.

Taku throws an insulting glare around before sauntering off.

Shikamaru sighs.  Hard.  “Go cool your head, Naruto.”  He retracts his shadow, and Naruto wastes no time walking off in the opposite direction, far from wherever Taku is heading.

Yet Taku’s ridiculous words ring in his head.  “That she’s just acting.”

But she said that she’s happy to be with him.  That she doesn’t mind that he’s still in love with Sakura.  She said that she’s just happy to be with him.

She said that.  She did.  And she wouldn’t lie to him, right?

She was just acting?

“You’re not going to finish your ramen?” he asked her on their date last month.

“No...”  Suddenly, she smiled brightly, something she’s been doing more often ever since he mentioned that he’s always liked how genki Sakura is.  “Do you want the rest of mine?  I’m dieting.”

He scrunched his eyebrows at her.  “Dieting?  Why?”

“Well...”  She looked thoughtful for a moment before seeming to come to a decision.  “Naruto-kun, you like thin girls, right?”

He knew she was talking about Sakura.  “...I guess...”

“I want to make you happy,...” she started.  She bit her lips for a hesitating moment before continuing, “so I’ve been trying to lose a little weight.”

“Oh.”  He didn’t know what to make of that.  Unbidden, he looked her over. 

“Can you tell?” she asked, her characteristic shyness lowered her lashes, yet she didn’t fidget under his examination, and he could tell how she was trying her best to have that confident persona he admires in his former teammate.

Despite her recent changes in attitude, Hinata’s still been so physically small compared to himself and everyone else.  Under her jacket, he couldn’t tell if she looked skinnier or not, and even if she was, he doesn’t think she really needed to be skinnier.

But then she looked up at him with that heavy, hopeful weight in her gaze, and he couldn’t let her down.  Not when she’s trying so hard for his approval.

He fibbed easily.  “Yeah.  You look really good.”

She shined another smile at him that made him feel good.  Even if their relationship wasn’t traditional, he could at least still make her happy.  He could at least tell her some sweet words and see her sweet smile and-

She was lying.

She wasn’t happy?

He never made her happy?

Then what was the point of any of it?

No, she must have been happy, right?!  She said so!  She told him so!  Many, many times!

After all, he asked her.  All of those times he thought she was faking her smile, he asked just to make sure, and she vehemently told him that she was really happy to be with him.

She said he could talk to her about all of it.  That she could take on his heartbreak because her feelings were so much bigger than...

“Uzumaki Naruto.”

The unfamiliar voice has him leaping to his feet.

A man as pale as a ghost with piercingly icy eyes is floating down to him on some strange platform.  “You’re really as pitiful as I expected.”

“Who the hell are you?!”  He readies his stance.  He’s not in any mood for games, and he’s ready to let loose some of his stress on this very suspicious character.

“Hinata’s fiance.”

“Hinata?!”  Fire races through his veins, heating his feet, and he’s ready to leap at this guy.  “Where is she?!”

“With me.”

His heart rate exponentially explodes, beating into his ears, his skin practically bristling.  “Let her go,” he demands, and the threat of his words leaks from every pore of his being.  “Now.”

The man almost snorts.  “What makes you think she wants to see you?  You only ever used her, broke her...”  His collected expression hardens, and Naruto can sense that he has no intention of releasing her.  “I’ll make her happier than you ever could.”

Several thoughts fly too quickly through his mind to properly process any of it, leaving only residual uncertainty and that deepening sense of his culpability in her sudden disappearance.  But he doesn’t linger on the unpleasant sensations.  “What the fuck do you know?!”  And he’s charging at him, a Rasengan heavy in his hand.

The enemy is far more powerful than he appeared, immediately blowing him back with some kind of focused chakra.  “Weak, pathetic.”

“GIVE HER BACK!”  He replicates himself a dozen times, each of them throwing Rasenshurikens at the man.

Yet more of that strange yellow chakra protects him.  He’s unscathed even under his shadow clone onslaught.  “No.  I gave her a choice, and she came with me.  I’m just here to get rid of you, take revenge against you for her sake.”

He hardly comprehends the nonsense spewing out of the enemy’s mouth, and he rallies his clones into close combat, but the man manages to avoid many of the attacks while landing hits of his own.

Clones poofing away only to be replaced by more, frustration and fury starting to blind him into sloppier and sloppier moves.

“I love Hinata.  That’s why I deserve her.”

He chokes on his own breath, and in his momentary loss of concentration,...

He’s falling.

------------------------*

aaannnnd that’s as far as I want to go with that.  Imagine the rest of the team arriving in time to notice Toneri making his escape toward the sky, and I guess the rest of the story would sort of follow the rest of The Last...Naruto self-reflects a lot in a bundle of depression for a long time and yeah.

...ahhh...  I encourage you to write the fic you want to see in the world ❤️

[flufflepuffle296]

“Chloe xxx”

I really want Chloé to get another redemption arc, but not because she wants to be Queen Bee again or prove herself to anyone-but because she wants to prove to herself that she can be as awesome as she wants. Also sorry but I rambled here.

I don’t even want it to start because of something big like being rejected or glares from classmates, it could just be she’s chilling in her room and she notices her butler flinching when she calls his name, or she’s watching a show and she wants to be just as cool as the main character, or even just looking around the class and just thinking “why not?”

She then starts calling her butler’s name a little sweeter, takes Sabrina out for coffee at her favourite café this time, pushes Alya’s bag towards her when it falls off the bench. She anonymously donates money to varying charities and doesn’t tell anyone about it. She feels warm when she does it-she doesn’t know why but it almost feels kind of nice. She begins working a shift or two here and there at the hotel. She smiles at Mylene when she walks in (even if she considers that outfit a crime against fashion), and returns pens when she borrows them. Nino loses a USB and Chloé helps in the search party for it (though does it secretly at break and lunch).

Becoming nice to Marinette is harder though. She decides however, that if she wants to be an ok person, she has to give everyone a chance, so buys a yard or two of a nice fabric the girl’s been eyeing for weeks, and posts it with a note signed “-C xxx”. It kind of feels a little nice when Marinette walks in in a pale pink beaded dress that isn’t totally horrible Chloé supposes.

She later realises that saying sorry is another thing she can do to become a better person, and she always kind of wanted to but was too prideful to do so-but no more! She apologises to butler Jean, saying that she’s sorry for screaming at him, firing him, everything.

She then apologises to Sabrina, for treating her as a slave and asking if she wanted to go to that film she’s been rambling about, since they always go for her choice. She also takes all of her homework back that Sabrina was doing for her, and starts working really hard on it.

She goes to the bakery later that week, and orders a large slice of cake, reasoning that she can’t be nice to others if she’s not being nice to herself, therefore she needs this chocolate cake. She then asks Sabine if she can go up to talk to Marinette, who is rather skeptical of her and only allows her in the dining room. She apologises for bullying her all those years, and hands her an envelope signed “-C xxx”. Marinette opens it, to find it full of cash that’s tied in small bundles with labels on.

“Homework soaked-age 7” €3

“Sketchbook ruined-age 10”. €18

“Teacher’s present destroyed-age 14”. €16

Everything she’s physically destroyed or ruined is accounted for and compensated. She then apologises for all the verbal abuse and mean comments, before asking for a truce. Marinette accepts, and points out that since they have a truce, she is obliged to inform Chloé that she has buttercream on her face.

A week later she gets all her homework back: B+, B, A-, B-, A+.

Not her usual report of full marks, but she’ll take it.

She starts working every night at the hotel, from 6pm till 10pm. She refuses to look it though-she is Chloé Bourgeois after all. Her uniform is spotless, her makeup is now impeccable (blue eyeshadow with pale lips? What was she thinking?), and she never has a hair out of place. She begins living on coffee-these grades aren’t going to raise themselves after all -and constantly has an energy drink in her bottle (not that the class is allowed to know that).

Grades: B+, A-, A, B, A+

Getting better...

Once in class, Rose slammed her head on the table (delicately? She somehow slammed her head DELICATELY?), and weeped that she didn’t understand the material. Chloé scribbled an explanation on a sheet of paper, and after class slipped it in Rose’s bag.

The next day, an akuma strikes near the school. They can’t leave because some kids live far away, and Bustier isn’t taking initiative and the class rep is no where to be found. Chloé bites her lip, before standing on the desk and clapping her hands. Once she has the class’ attention, she gives out instructions.

“KIM, IVAN! Grab heavy objects and block the doors. JULEKA, NINO, NATHANAEL! You can lock the windows since you’re the tallest. EVERYONE ELSE! Clear books away and any other things that could cause bruising if knocked over, put bags away, and hide under the desks and benches!”

Everyone stares at her.

“NOW!”

Everyone scrambled to their duties, before hiding under the desks, holding their heads like Chloé instructed.

Grades: A, A-, A+, B+, A+

Nearly there...

She informs her father that she’ll be leaving for a week next month, and tells Bustier and Damocles. She books a plane ticket to New York with her money from working, as well as a hotel room. She packs her bags and leaves, giving her dad a kiss and a hug beforehand and promising that she’ll be safe. She boards her plane and then hauls her bags up to her room, before making a call.

“Who is this?”

“Your daughter, Chloé.”

“I DON’T-oh you. Why have you called me I’m in the middle of working-shouldn’t you be at pre-K?”

“I’m 15 and French ma-but anyway, is it possible if you could promote Marinette’s website-MDC-in return I’ll work for you for free.”

“Oh yes Marinette-the exceptional one. How long will you work?”

“I’m only here a week-I’ll become your assistant even! I know you hate Stephanie.”

“...Fine. I’ll drop her into conversation at an interview if you’re only here a week. Now do not call me unless it’s an emergency. You start tomorrow-8am, sharp, in a fashionable outfit-or you’re fired.”

Chloé smiles as the line goes dead. Her mother may be a dragon, but Chloé can respect that she helps those she cares about.

Even if it isn’t her...

The next day she arrives at the office at 7:45, in a white suit with gold jewellery. Audrey nods, before sending her out with rapid instructions for coffee. Chloé takes her order to the café she requested, and starts reading it out to the barister, only for him to pale and interrupt her halfway through.

“Oh God-you’re ordering for Audrey aren’t you? Oh Lord-HEY AARON! STYLE QUEEN ORDER NO. 37! QUICK!”

The other worker, Aaron, goes white, before flipping every machine on and opening every can he can find in preparation.

“You must be her new assistant-good luck with her, the last one would come in to order her coffee and then sit in the corner and cry so much we set up her own space-look!” The first one says, pointing out to a comfy area of bean bags and pillows.

Chloé cringed. “Nah, worse. I’m her daughter, if you can even call me that, that’s interning for her in exchange for a favour.”

The barister pitied her. “Yikes.”

Chloé takes the coffee being thrusted at her and nods at the two, before sprinting back to the office.

After that week of hell, she still refuses to wear anything other than heels and designer clothes, and her hotel room is immaculate. She packs the night before, and sets off back to Paris in the morning.

MDC takes off after the Style Queen reccommended it briefly in an interview, and Chloé starts helping Marinette manage and organise commission dates and social media, eventually becoming her PR person/caffeination.

She starts working not only her 6pm-10pm shifts, but also a few shifts from 4am-7am a few times a week. She does her homework at lunch and as soon as she gets back from school, even doing it during akuma attacks. She gets through a concealer a week for her bags, and sleeps all weekend.

Grades: A+, A+, A+, A+, A+.

Perfect.

...Or not...

She realises that she can’t maintain this. She can’t survive on 3 hours sleep and an unholy amount of caffeine. She cuts back on her shifts, doing 4 a week at most, and only does homework for a maximum of 2 hours a day. She starts, meditation and yoga, trying to keep her mind peaceful. She still donates to charities, and goes out with Sabrina and shops.

Grades: A, A, A, A, A.

Still pretty good, and she’s happy this time!

She begins doing things more for herself. She’s always wanted to learn Spanish after all. She hires a tutor, and starts working extremely hard to become as fluent as possible by the end of her education.

She learns conversational Spanish in about 6 months of semi-intensive learning, and decides to do something else as well. She starts learning Mandarin with Marinette, and struggles slightly more than she did with Spanish, but she’s still progressing.

She realises that she has a knack for learning languages, and picks more up more easily after she starts learning Spanish, Mandarin and later Portuguese.

One day when she’s out she comes across a homeless man, and offers him some money and brings him a hot meal. She sees others around him in the same situation, and does the same for them.

She then volunteers at the local soup kitchen, feeding hundreds of people on weekends and washing up afterwards. She connects with the homeless and a few refugees, and starts learning Arabic from one of the regulars, in return slipping her a few Euros (basically she gives her €250 every week).

She takes a shift at the bakery, manning the counter and becoming fast friends with Marinette as they practise their Mandarin on one another.

Grades: A+, A+, A+, A+, A+

AND SHE’S HAPPY!!!

She eventually starts applying for universities, listing her abilities and experiences.

• A+ Student

• Volunteer

• Interned for Audrey Bourgeois

• Works at Boulangerie Patisserie

• Works at Le Grand Paris

• Fluent in Spanish, English and Mandarin, knows conversational Arabic and Portuguese, learning Polish.

The more she writes and thinks about the past 4 years, the more she comes to the realisation of

“Holy shit, I’m awesome. I’m an ok person. I’m a good person in fact. I’ve done good things. I’ve made a good impact on society. I did it. I DID IT!!! And I’m going to keep doing it-after all, I’m awesome and people rely on me, plus it makes me feel good. I’m no longer a spoilt 14 year old. I can be good. I am good. I am a good person.”

[kidhawks]

WAHHGUHFH.. FANTASY HAWKS.. I LOVE UR DESIGN FOR HIM AGHH!! and do u have stuff to say abt him bcos i would LOVE to hear it

YAY i’m glad u like him :’) fantasy au time hehe 😈 it’s still a work in progress but yes.. a few thoughts. i’m just spitballing here so if anyone has ideas of their own i’d love to hear them <3

hawks “”works”” for the commission (aka is owned by them) who still get to be a shady organisation whose goal is to maintain peace and order across kingdoms, which r probably ruled by important characters like endeavor, all might, all for one etc. no one likes the commission because they’re always sticking their nose in other people’s business lmao. they’ve controlled things from the shadows for a loooong time, assassinating leaders who get too power hungry, quashing rebellions before they can begin etc. they want things to stay exactly as they are, always, and so far they’ve mostly succeeded

quirks still exist but mutant discrimination is more pronounced—they only recently got equal rights in all kingdoms. it’s what allowed hawks to be basically enslaved the way he is. now the freedom laws are passed he could technically leave the commission but for a multitude of Reasons he stays. eg, his priority is also maintaining peace not because he thinks society is perfect how it is—far from it—but because upset peace means civilian death. he wants to see change but if innocents die for it then it’s not worth it. his goals align with the commission’s enough that he’ll continue to help them. however, other people, especially other mutants, can’t understand why he’d stay and he’s viewed with a mixture of “dirty commission dog too loyal for his own good” and “poor thing was raised to love the hand that hit it and can’t fathom the idea of freedom, so sad”

similarly to canon, hawks was sold to the commission when he was young and trained into a spy/assassin hehe (what’s the point of an au if it isn’t self indulgent?). the tattoos are added to with achievements. the diamond on his chest was immediately inked on him when he arrived, while the lines are added for things like significant kills, successful missions. i’m toying with the idea of them being a way of controlling him, like they cause pain if he disobeys, but i’m also fond of them just being a symbolic representation of ownership... hmm. oh!! maybe they give him power while also hurting him if he disobeys? i’ll have to think more abt how that works lol, i want him to be able to disobey at times, but knowing hawks he’ll find ways to sneakily work around orders while still technically obeying

his job consists of flying around the kingdoms and knowing everything that’s going on at any given time. there isn’t a rumour he hasn’t heard, whether from frequenting underground fighting rings or influential nobles’ bedrooms if he has to. for discretion’s purpose the tattoos can be made invisible for periods of time but never truly removed—everyone knows him now anyway, the commission’s pet with the bright red wings, so the tattoos are rarely concealed anymore. everyone thinks they can avoid letting slip any information to him but jokes on them because his wings don’t miss a whisper and he’s a charmer to the point that you don’t know what you’ve said until he’s saying “thanks, that was really helpful! great chat! bye!”

he’s also basically a messenger pigeon between kingdoms since he can travel so quickly. the commission “kindly” offered his services but everyone knows it’s a method of planting him in every castle to hear them juicy deets, and you don’t refuse the commission because you want to keep your head, thanks. so hawks is familiar with each ruler and their castle staff for good measure, and probably a fair few commoners too... he was one of them once after all. he’s originally from endeavor’s kingdom but the guy doesn’t need to know that

all might thinks he’s a charming young man but hawks is weirdly creeped out by the constant smile and actually prefers the grump endeavor who shoos him like a pigeon. all for one is terrifying and hawks knows he’s after war but he can’t prove it. if it comes down to it he might have to resort to assassination, but if done wrong that could cause more problems than it solves (plus, killing, bleaugh). he hates afo’s castle and leaves as soon as he’s delivered a message, though he enjoys bothering afo’s heir shigaraki first (hawks was eighteen when he first spotted shigaraki, fifteen, sulking around the castle like he didn’t have a friend in the world. well, maybe hawks could change that and get some info while he was at it... unfortunately shigs is surprisingly tight lipped but he’s good for board games)

i’m thinking of making other top-ten heroes into rulers of their own kingdoms? queen miruko would be awesome, imagine!! the first animal mutant queen who’s loved for not being a passive leader but a fighter with a passionate love for her people. hawks doesn’t like how unpredictable she is, it makes his job harder, while she thinks he lets himself be walked all over and it pisses her off, but i think they could be great pals if they got to know each other. edgeshot the ninja king. jeanist is a peaceful, pragmatic leader who hawks actually gets along with. sorry, pb, i have no idea how to fit wash in. washing machines don’t exist in my self indulgent fantasy AU.

if i wrote this i’d probably have afo wage war after all and hawks kicking himself for not doing better in preventing it. shigaraki is at the head of the war, but after afo is killed/arrested like in canon, shigaraki labels it as more of a rebellion with his new generals by his side, one of whom is a powerful man called dabi who hawks has never heard of, and he’s meant to hear everything. it’s not a good time for hawks knowing he wasn’t enough to stop this. if he had tried harder to sway shigaraki away from afo’s ideals... it hurts seeing the lonely kid he once knew declare his desire for complete destruction. hawks doesn’t have “friends” but he cares for people—the commission didn’t take his heart, just chained it

anyway it’s basically canon but fantasy because fantasy is sexy and cool (it would deviate a lot from canon though i don’t want it to be a carbon copy lmao)