#but yeah like i never meet anyone i want to befriend and it takes up so much of my time and i am constantly

[rodrickheffley]

tbh the reason i even still go to uni is cuz the government pays me a lot of grant money and the disability pay is not enough to live on

[perlelune]

Training Wheels | Coriolanus Snow | iii.

Your mother's macabre work never appealed to you as you always preferred the comfort of your books, but when her apprentice takes a special interest in you, your safe, quiet world is flipped upside down.

Warnings: DUB-CON, NON-CON, Gaul!Reader, Shy Reader, Manipulation, Parental Neglect, Drinking, Peer Pressure, Hazing, University set, Loss of Virginity, Dumbification, Insecurities, Abusive Relationship, Degradation, Suicide Attempt

This is a dark story. Heed warnings before reading under the cut.

𝖘𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖘 𝖒𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙

“So what’s your deal?” Festus Creed asks out of the blue. 

Your mouth opens in shock, a nervous laugh slipping out. “My deal?”

A mocking sneer twists his features. “Yeah, Coriolanus kept trying to get you to eat with us but you were being weird about it. If you hate us, just say so.”

While some snigger at the table, Coriolanus stares daggers at him. The mirth instantly vanishes from Festus’ face.

Clemensia bumps her elbow into his rib, chiding him, “Festus, come on,”

“I don’t…hate anyone,” you defend, your voice hardly above a whisper.

Clemensia flashes you a reassuring smile.

“Of course, you don’t. Coriolanus said you’re very sweet.”

Livia rolls her eyes.

“Ugh, whatever. Can we get back to discussing the Yuletide Ball?”

Surprise flutters through you. The name bears vague familiarity. It can be found in the archives detailing the history of the Capitol University. But it’d since long become a frivolity amidst concerns such as quelling the uprisings in the Districts. What’s a students’ dance in the face of war and famine?

“The Yuletide Ball? I thought this was an abolished tradition…I mean since the war.”

Excitement illuminates Livia’s face.

“We’re bringing back the tradition this year, thanks to Coriolanus here. He convinced the new dean.”

Coriolanus lowers his head in apparent humbleness.

“I just made a few good points and he couldn’t refuse me,” he shares. He turns to you, blue eyes sparkling.  “I’m pretty persuasive when I need to be.” A chill dances through you at his low, suggestive tone. 

To your relief, his attention switches to the rest of the table.

“It’s important to not let District scum ruin our way of life. Traditions must return.”

Livia smirks. “Spoken like a student body president.”

Coriolanus waves a dismissive hand but a hint of smugness lingers in his tone as he says, “Please, elections are only in a month.”

“And it’s obvious you’ll win,” Clemensia states.

He gives a light shrug.

“We shall see.”

Clemensia pivots to you.

“Ivy, Liv and I are on the Ball committee,” she preens, her face brightening. “You could join us if you want.”

You lick your lips. “I don’t know if I’d find the time with midterms coming up soon…”

Coriolanus’ fingertips graze your arm as he offers, “You should do it, angel. It’d be a good way to expand your social circle.”

“You mean her nonexistent circle,” Festus gibes.

The blond’s jaw clenches.

“Talk to her like that again and see what happens, Creed.”

Festus cowers, nervousness flickering on his face. He clears his throat.

“Sorry,” he says to you.

“It’s fine.”

Coriolanus’ fingers latch around your wrist as his steely gaze cuts into Festus.

“No, it’s not fine,” he articulates. 

Undisturbed by the altercation between the boys, Clemensia prattles on about the ball.

“We meet up every Saturday morning. We’re working on winter-themed decorations right now. It’ll be so fun. It takes forever to do though.” She looks at you with emphasis. “An extra set of hands would be really welcome.”

“Clemensia…”

“Call me Clemmie,” she interrupts. “All my friends do.”

Friends? You study her hand clasped around yours. The concept is a little foreign to you. You also ponder why someone like Clemensia, with her perfect silky mane and smooth, blemish-free face would want to befriend you. She is the girl everyone gravitates towards. Charismatic, smart and nice to boot. And you might as well be a fly on a wall, ignored on the best days.

You are so stunned that it takes a shamefully long time for the words to fall back on your tongue.

“Clemmie, I’m usually busy on Saturday.”

“Oh.” She deflates, her hold on your hand loosening. “I get it. Sorry I asked.”

The excitement on her face plummets. Immediately, you feel terrible. You’ve never missed a single Saturday of studying, using that time to break down your more complicated courses of the week. But Clemmie looks crestfallen.

Perhaps, this one time, you can adjust your plans a little. One Saturday won’t make a difference in the entire year.

“But…I can try to free up some time,” you offer.

She perks up with your response.

“Great. We’ll be expecting you then.”

Lunch then proceeds, the table resuming the lively debate they were having before you showed up. Festus maintains facts about his family’s role in the reconstruction after the war while Clemensia rolls her eyes. They go back and forth and you observe them, slightly fascinated by the exchange. It’s such a rare occurrence for you to be around others that you soak every bit of their interaction. You get the inkling this happens a lot between them, them ruffling each other’s feathers. Ivy and Livia get wrapped in their own secret conversation you don’t catch a single word of. Meanwhile, Coriolanus watches all of them, taking a bite of the food on his plate every once in a while. The way he eats is slow, nonchalant, almost like he couldn’t care less what’s on his plate. Even if he doesn’t interject at any point, he looks right at home at this table. Unlike you. You recline into silence, letting every minute fly by as you wait for lunch to be over. When it finally is, relief surges inside you. 

You mumble a quick goodbye and gather your things. Clemensia beams and waves at you while the others barely acknowledge your departure. 

You head for the hallways, trying not to allow your mind to linger on the strange, uncomfortable lunch. Still, your mind swirls. You curse yourself for every blunder and awkward moment. You told him you don’t belong, that you’re an outsider, and always will be. It’s painfully obvious. From the way you dress, talk, carry yourself, you have nothing in common with girls like Clemensia or Livia. There’s a vast chasm between you and them. He should have listened. It astounds you that you even let yourself get roped into joining Clemensia’s committee thing. Though perhaps that won’t be too much of a hassle. You’ll show up to keep your word, then sink back into your rigid study routine.

Coriolanus’ deep voice, a sound you’re now oddly familiar with, erupts behind you.

“Let me carry those for you,” he says, swiping the books in your arms before you can protest. He falls in pace with you, a gentle expression decorating his  handsome face.

You frown, the uncanny emptiness of your arms swelling your discomfort.

“You don’t have to-”

“I insist,” he interrupts, chuckling lightly when you try to reach for your books and he dodges you with ease. Your shoulders sag. Your strides hasten, an urgency limning your steps now. 

Coriolanus meets no issue with your escalating cadence. He easily keeps up with you, a subtle hint of mirth lurking in his cobalt gaze. 

“It wasn’t too much, was it?” he inquires. “I know they can be a lot but they’re all good people. I promise.”

A myriad of words weigh heavy on your tongue but you diplomatically swallow each, settling for a safe, innocuous remark.

“Clemmie was nice.”

The corners of the blond’s lips quirk skyward. 

“I told you she was.”

The statement hovers between the two of you for a while. Clemensia seems nice indeed. The rest of his friend group…perhaps a little less so. Possibly a bit more cutthroat and self-absorbed. Though you surmise it is a requirement to be a member of Panem’s elite.

No other word is traded between you and him as you make your way to the lecture hall. 

“This is me,” you announce.

You turn to Coriolanus, hands stretching towards your books. He makes no move to give them back. Your forehead creases.

He gives you a sluggish once-over before offering, “What if I drove you back home after your classes?”

You nibble your bottom lip, dismayed by his proposition. You’ve caught glimpses of his fancy new car, as you’re sure most have at the University. As heir apparent to the Plinth fortune, he gets to spend money as he likes. 

“I usually walk. It’s okay.” 

He gets a little closer. “Come on, angel. Just let me do something nice for you.”

You shrink until your back hits the wall, stunned when Coriolanus follows each of your steps.

“My last lecture is…Professor Bellweather tends to ramble,” you mumble, his proximity unnerving you. “I don’t…I don’t know when he’ll be done.”

He licks his lips.

“I’ll just wait for you, angel.”

He utters the words like it’s obvious. You gawk at him. It takes you a few minutes to retrieve your speech.

You scratch your arm, your frown accentuating.

“You really don’t have to. Like I said, walking home is fine.”

The gaze trained on your form sharpens.

“And I’m offering to take you home so you don’t have to exert yourself.” He bends over you, invading the already insufficient space between the two of you. “Has a friend never done something like that for you?”

“N-No,” you admit. 

His tone’s heavy with suggestion as he rasps, “So let me be your first then, angel.”

Your heart stumbles inside your chest. 

“I’m gonna be late for class,” you blurt out, attempting to brush past him. 

Coriolanus’ hand darts out, swiftly cinching around your wrist to stop you from leaving.

“I still don’t have an answer,” Coriolanus says.

You glance from his hand, tight around your wrist, to his determined gaze. Your throat goes dry.

“Okay, you can d-drive me back home.”

He releases your wrist and returns your books, a smile ghosting over his lips.

“Wonderful. I’ll come get you later, angel.”

Clutching your books against your chest, you watch him glide away.

As promised, Coriolanus is waiting for you when you exit from your last class. You don’t even think to hide your shock as you find the blond leaning against the wall. A smirk unfans on his lips, your reaction seeming to amuse him.

He doesn’t say much to you as you walk side by side and head to his car. When you’re outside, he surprises you by opening the passenger door for you before you can even lift a hand. 

“T-Thanks,” you stammer. You plop down on the plush seat. The leather smells new and expensive.

Your nerves thrum as he takes the driver’s seat and starts the car. You’ve never been alone in a car with a boy before. Uneasy, you let your eyes roam outside the window. The Capitol’s high buildings blur past you rapidly. 

You’re lost in your thoughts when you notice the prickling sensation over your flesh, The burning, unwavering weight of Coriolanus Snow’s scrutiny. 

Your head whirls.

Bashful words quake through your lips.

“Do I have something on my face?” Your hands reach to touch it, just in case.

He chuckles.

“No,” he replies, shrugging. “It’s a nice face that’s all.”

The casual compliment sends a wave of heat through your body. 

“Can you drive?” he asks, curiosity lighting his features.

You shake your head. Getting your license has never been a priority. Besides, it’s only a thirty minute walk to get to the University. You don’t mind it, often using that time to sneak in some reading.

“No.”

“I could drive you if you like,” he offers, his gaze holding yours. “Anywhere you want to go.”

Your cheeks warm. “I’m okay.”

Coriolanus nods, his focus shifting back to the road.

“You always say that…” He hums low in his throat. “I’m just not sure I believe it, angel.”

You’re so nervous the entire drive that you don’t even notice when he arrives at your house. You stare at him, mouth agape. You haven’t given him a single instruction on how to get there.

“You know where I live?”

As he opens the door for you, Coriolanus simply replies, “You told me earlier.”

Your brows furrow. You don’t remember telling him but his tone harbors no doubt. You rummage through your brain, seeking the moment. Nothing comes up and you grow confused. 

You blink up at him.

“I-I did?”

“Yes, you did, angel.” He snorts as if your line of questioning is beyond ludicrous. “How else would I know?” He slams the door of the car as you rise. “Besides…Dr. Gaul is my mentor. Of course, I know where she lives.”

You nod. That makes sense and it didn’t even occur to you.

“I…”

He cocks his head. “What?”

You fidget beneath his stare, discomfort flaring in the pit of your stomach. 

“Nothing. Thanks for driving me home.”

He flashes you a wide smile.

“My pleasure. See you soon, angel.”

He starts the car and drives away. You don’t feel quite at ease until his car’s gone from view, heading towards the Corso.

Walter zooms across the room as soon as you enter the large apartment. Your eyes wander about. As usual, the place is empty besides you and Walter. Mother rarely spends any time here nowadays, her work occupying all of her time. 

Walter rubs his furry head against your ankle, twirling around you as he meows. He then stands on his hind legs and starts gently raking his claws across your leg. A way for him to demand that you pet him. A small smile tugging your lips, you pick him up. The orange ball of fur purrs, curling against your chest as you carry him in your arms. You make your way to the kitchen and pour a mix of leftover meat and fish in his bowl. 

You set him down on the floor. His tail wiggles as he hops to his food.

You crouch next to him.

“You wouldn’t believe what happened today, Walter,” you say while giving gentle pets to his back. “I was invited to their table.” The orange cat pauses his eating to stare up at you blankly. “Yes. Theirs,” you repeat as if he could understand you. He gives a long meow before focusing on his bowl again. You sigh. “I know. I thought the same thing.”

Once Walter’s emptied his bowl, you pick him up again and make your way to the living room. 

You collapse on the couch.

“And then…Coriolanus Snow drove me home. Yes, the Coriolanus Snow. I didn’t even think he knew I existed.”

For a while, you remain on the couch, stroking Walter’s fur as he sits on your lap. His tail whips the air, his eyes closing as you pet him. His soft rumble of content reverberates against your belly, amplifying when your fingers drag behind his pointed white ears. You lean back, a blanket of peace settling over you. 

Walter’s not just a strange-looking cat, he’s also a rescue…from your mother’s experiments. A kitten mutt with mismatched eyes, one blue and one yellow, his mushed, wrinkled face gives him a passing resemblance to a rodent. Pets like him are a rarity in today’s world as most creatures such as him were eaten during the First Rebellion. 

Your mother finds him appalling. In her eyes, he is a failed experiment. Like you. Perhaps it’s why you have such kinship with the creature. You still recall her unsettling glance in your direction the day she asked the entire class of nine-year-olds at the Academy if they had pets they were sick of. She then proceeded to burn the flesh off a lab rat to demonstrate her pulsed energy laser.

This moment is burned into your mind forever, your mother’s clinical tone chilling your blood.

You stole Walter from the Citadel and took him home that same day.

You were careful to hide him, though you suspect your mother figured out what you did. She likely added it to her long list of disappointments when it comes to you.

Sometimes, you envy Walter. The simplicity his days hinge upon. His obliviousness to the woes of the world. His uncanny ability to sleep through the chaos of it, ignore the disarray. Walter’s world consists of food, play and cuddles. 

What a blissful existence. You bet Walter never had a vexing thought in his short life.

The train of your thoughts is interrupted by the shrill ringing of the phone.

You carefully remove Walter from your lap. He meows in protest and jumps off the couch. You pick up the phone, chest clenching as a familiar face fills the flickering screen.

“Mother,” you greet. “How are you?”

She ignores your question, curtly stating, “You’re falling behind in Molecular Cell Biology.”

You know that tone all too well, the warning laced within it so achingly familiar.

Your fingers twist around the phone cord, your voice becoming small.

“I’ll get my grades up, I promise.”

Silence hovers between you and your mother for a while. Faint hope sparks within you. Perking up, you decide to tell her about your day.

“Oh, mother, today-”

“I must go,” she interrupts. “It’s time for my milk and cookies.”

Your spirits plummet. You nudge a hollow smile onto your face.

“Right. I didn’t realize,” you say, checking the clock hanging on the wall. “I’m sorry.”

She heaves out a deep sigh, her lone blue eye narrowing.

“Focus on your studies. And try not to be even more of an embarrassment to me than you already are.”

“Y-Yes, mother,” you reply, your heart shriveling inside your chest.

As she hangs up, you feel silly and horrible. Silly for trying to strike up a normal conversation with your mother. And horrible for letting her down once more.

“You came!” Clemensia exclaims as she rushes to you. You try not to tense as she gives you a tight hug. Ivy and Livia linger in the background, their eyes lifting from the crafts’ table. 

You wave at them and are surprised when Ivy wiggles her fingers at you. Livia is more withdrawn, nodding to acknowledge your presence but quickly returning to her task.

You step out of Clemensia’s embrace and flash a quick smile.

“Well I promised you that I would,” you reply nonchalantly. You take a look around the room. Various decorations and posters are propped against the walls, while snowflakes cut-outs and what looks like moon dust are scattered on the table. It seems the girls have been busy.

You turn to Clemensia. “What’s the theme again?” 

Ivy surprises you by answering cheerfully, “Well, it’ll be like a Winter daydream and we were thinking of making it a masquerade.”

Excitement sways in Clemensia’s bright eyes. “What do you think?”

“Sounds nice.” Your trite answer draws every gaze in the room to you. Awkwardly bouncing on your feet, you correct yourself, beaming at Clemensia. “I meant amazing.”

“I think so too,” she chimes.

She shows you the empty chair next to hers. The both of you sit down and she starts rambling about the theme and all the ideas she has to decorate the ballroom. You grow dizzy with all the information, trying to follow along her instructions at the same time. 

“We’ll need to find you a date,” Clemensia says. 

You shake the can of blue paint before spraying over the tree cut-out.

“It’s okay. I probably won’t be going anyway,” you respond absently. 

The pencil in Livia’s hand snaps. Your head rises. The blonde’s gaping at you. You then realize…the same look of disbelief is etched on all the girls’ features. A frown mars your brow. Did you say something wrong? You didn’t realize this was such an important event. 

A nervous laugh peals off Clemensia’s red-painted lips.

“No, but you have to,” she says, “It’s the first Yuletide Ball in over a decade. Everyone will be there.”

You shrug. “It’s four months away, Clemmie.”

Her onyx gaze shimmers.

“Well, a lot can happen in four months,” she sings, a mysterious smile spreading onto her lips.

[sneakyparsnipslicer]

The Cosplayer

For a few years now Glen had been going to an unofficial event for a game he loved. It all began around 2021, he'd seen his friend Kieran talking about it on Twitter; a gathering of fans of the game in a town he'd be able to get to. The first time he'd gone to the event, he was able to meet many other fans of the game, recognising some content creators he'd interacted with before online. In the midst of them all, there was one guy that stuck out to him; a cosplayer dressed up as one of the main protagonists.

Glen had seen a fair few cosplayers at places like Comic Con, but this guy was good. Very handsome. From what Glen could gather from others was he was a professional cosplayer that went to many official events hosted by the company that made the games they all enjoyed. Glen knew then and there that he'd have no chance getting to know the guy, but all the same he could admire him from afar.

The next two years were the same, Glen went to the event, so did Mr. 'Geno-Morphus' as his username online had him called. It was clear Geno had a band of friends he'd always hang out with at the events, some of which were shared with the people Glen had come to befriend over the years, though Glen never got the chance to meet Geno, they could never seem to be in the same place at the same time. Each year Glen would see him co-hosting a cosplay panel with another professional cosplayer. Glen had thought they were together until Kieran told him that Geno was actually gay, but also married. Glen had never felt his hopes rise and fall so fast, but he accepted the fact.

In late 2023 a small group of the event goers organised a little meetup in a town a little further away, and Glen was asked by Kieran if he'd like to go. Hanging out with the people at the events had fast become a highlight of each year and so he jumped at the chance. They'd all be meeting up early 2024, granted it wouldn't be as big as the main event, but it would be nice to see the friends all the same.

The journey took a while and Glen had just journeyed up following a night shift, so after a little nap at the hotel he'd booked a room at, he went down to the bar to meet up with Kieran, who waved to him. "Kieran! So good to see you!" cried Glen sweeping his friend into a hug. "Hey mate, good to see you too! Did you get a good rest?" Kieran asked, reclaiming his seat. Glen grabbed a seat next to him. "Oh yeah, NEVER travelling 3 hours after an 8 hour night shift again! Had to stop at Costa and get a shot of Espresso" Glen shuddered. Kieran chuckled, taking a sip of his whiskey. "Ah right, be right back, just gonna get a drink!" said Glen quickly, he headed to the bar and soon returned to the table with a pint of whiskey also. They both said "Cheers!" and clinked their glasses.

"So, is anyone else here yet?" Glen asked. "Well Caitlin says she'll be along in a few hours, Jack's here but he's taking a rest, he has come up from London of course" started Kieran. "Of course, I don't blame him" said Glen, Kieran nodded in agreement. "Fred and Kim are on their way with little Sammy, but their train's been held up" said Kieran. "Oh no, that sucks. Really hope Sammy won't kick up a fuss. Remember that time in 2022 when he had to be taken out the room?" asked Glen laughing. Kieran smiled, chuckling. "Yeah I think they want to forget about that, so don't bring it up!" said Kieran. Glen took a sip of his whiskey and gave him a thumb up. They both sat and talked a while, updating eachother and how life's been since the previous event, Kieran was surprised to learn that Glen had been invited to a Halloween party by Jack that had been hosted by another couple they knew based in London. As the night went on more people did arrive, drinks were had and to Glen's surprise, who should show up but Geno-Morphus. It seems he didn't live too far away and had actually decided to come along earlier in the week. Glen didn't quite know what to say. It wasn't like he didn't know who Geno was, but he wasn't exactly acquainted with him. Geno went to get a drink and came back, sitting next to Glen.

"How're you doing mate?" Geno asked Glen, smiling at him. "Oh you know, just happy to be here, happy to see everyone" Glen smiled. "We haven't spoken before have we? I know I've seen you at the events but I think I've been a bit to busy with the event organisers" said Geno, looking Glen up and down. "Yeah, I totally get that. Must be tough to get a moment to yourself at times like that" Glen replied. "Oh mate, you know it! So what's your name?" Geno asked. "Oh, I'm Glen, love your work!" Glen chuckled. "Cheers man, I really appreciate it. My name's Wesley in case you didn't know" said Wesley, offering his hand to shake, at which Glen accepted it. Glen and Wesley chatted a lot about their jobs, Glen joking about the actual shit he has to clean up at the cinema, Wesley talking about his cosplaying schedule. Eventually the group carried chatting til past midnight when the last call bell was rung. Some of the people took their drinks back to their rooms, Glen found himself walking with Wesley to Caitlin's room, she'd had way too much to drink and so they made sure she got back to her room and into bed safe. Glen left a glass of water on the side table for her and they both left. "Guess it's just us now Glen, fancy hanging at mine for a bit?" Wesley asked. "Sure, sounds good!" said Glen. They both headed to Wesley's room which was a floor above Caitlin's. Getting in, Glen saw that Wesley had brought his laptop, which was still on.

"Ah, thought I'd closed it. Oh well, wanna hear the playlist I'm putting together for my birthday party?" Wesley asked. Glen nodded. He pressed play and 'A Little Piece of Heaven' by Avenged Sevenfold started playing, Glen started laughing. "Oh man, no way! I haven't heard this song since 2012!" cried Glen, they both had fun singing the main chorus. "God you are so down to Earth Glen! How have we not spoken sooner?" asked Wesley, laying down on his bed looking at him. Glen shrugged. "I guess I always thought you were on another level. I mean we have guys that stream the games, podcasters, people making custom levels and I come along like 'Hey, I clean toilets at a cinema!'" said Glen. Wesley laughed. "I like you Glen, you're a good laugh" smiled Wesley. Just then, 'The Best' by Tina Turner came on. "Oh Tina Turner, you have great taste Wes!" said Glen, closing his eyes and swaying to the music. "Yeah, love Tina. Got to see her and Bryan Adams perform 'It's Only Love' back in 1985, God that was a good night" said Wesley looking at the ceiling. "1985?! Fuck man I wasn't even born!" Glen laughed. Wesley nodded sadly. "Yeah, this birthday coming up I'll be 47" said Wesley. Glen's jaw dropped. "No way are you 46!" said Glen in disbelief. Wesley shrugged. "It is what it is" he said. "But you're fine as fuck!" said Glen, clapping a hand over his mouth, realising what he'd just said. Wesley looked at him and laughed. "You really think so?" he asked, smiling. "Well if we're being honest, yeah. Your husband's a lucky guy, whoever he is" said Glen. Glen fell silent for a moment. "Maybe I should be getting back to my room now, sorry Wesley" said Glen, standing up and moving to the door. Wesley stood up and put a hand on Glen's shoulder. "It's ok, it's sweet of you to be honest, you've been so open tonight and I really appreciate that" said Wesley, standing before him, smiling.

Glen's mind was racing, he'd long had a crush on Wesley, he just never imagined he'd ever be in a room alone with him. Wesley moved in and kissed Glen gently on the lips. Glen didn't resist at first, but he pulled away and shook his head. "Sorry Wes, this isn't right, you're married" Glen began, Wesley put a hand gently on Glen's cheek. "Hey it's alright! We have a bit of an open relationship. Polyamorous, you know. He'll always come first of course" Wesley explained. "Well, unless you cum first, right?" Glen chuckled, then hid his face in his palm. Wesley cackled at the joke, pulling Glen's hand away and kissing him again. Glen could feel his dick harden, he'd wanted Wesley for such a long time now and this was it. This was where he got to know Wesley intimately. Wesley pulled back and smiled, taking his jacket off. Glen began to unbutton his shirt and Wesley pulled his t-shirt off. They both looked at eachother shirtless, next moment they were in eachother's arms, making out, hands on eachother's backs, Glen running a hand through Wesley's hair and Wesley slipping a hand below Glen's jeans to feel his ass. They both pulled away, panting. "You've been wanting this a while, haven't you?" asked Wesley, grinning. "Oh if you could only know!" said Glen breathily, rubbing his hands over Wesley's well-defined pecs. Wesley wrapped his arms around Glen and thrust him onto the bed, sitting atop him, beginning to unbuckle his own belt. Glen watched in anticipation as Wesley threw his belt away and began to pull down his trousers and boxers, revealing his girthy dick. "Am I living up to the dream?" asked Wesley. "I'll say! Fucking hell!" said Glen, reaching out to grab the shaft, beginning to pump it. Wesley threw his head back and began to moan, Glen sat up and began to suck his dick. Wesley looked back at Glen and smiled, pushing him back down on the bed. He stood up and kicked off his trousers and boxers. "Here" he said, laying back down on Glen, grinding his crotch into him whilst kissing him on the neck.

Glen cried out in orgasmic ecstasy as he wrapped his arms around Wesley's back. "I want you inside me!" Glen said, and Wesley stopped, they both stared eye to eye for a moment. "Well now I have your permission…" Wesley said sinisterly and proceeded to force Glen down stronger than before, grinding his crotch into Glen furiously, the sound of squeaking, squelching rubber filling the room and Glen moaned out. To his surprise, Wesley was beginning to sink into his own body, Glen put his hands on Wesley's ass, helping force him in. Glen had never felt more aroused and his sense of feeling was beginning to diminish, this absolute stud of a man was fucking his way in and it was amazing. He didn't know this was even possible, but somehow, he felt he'd needed it.

Under Glen's skin, Wesley was shifting himself, moving his arms and legs to fit correctly, lining up his face with Glen's. He unbuckled Glen's belt and pulled down his jeans and briefs, grabbing Glen's expanding dick and choking it, ensuring his own dick was stretching nicely into Glen's, using both hands he jacked off working up a sweat until finally he let out two, thick squirts of cum, laying back on the bed, panting. Glen's body was now in Wesley's control. He leaped off the bed and ran his hands down his slippery body. He walked over to the mirror and looked at himself. There was no trace of his old face at all, he was effectively Glen with a bit more musculature than before. "Well I've had fursuits and morphsuits, but you Glen, you've got to be my first bodysuit!" Wesley said out loud in Glen's voice. Hearing Glen's voice escape his mouth only made him smile, this was perfect. Wesley had grown bored of continual convention cosplay, it paid good, but required him to be available, never really leaving time for himself. Glen was to be Wesley's final cosplay, he'd announce Geno-Morphus's retirement on the socials later, and who knows, maybe his husband will enjoy Glen too!

[schrijverr]

Stiles as a Roommate

Classic outsiders POV of Stiles in college, where his roommate, Mike, and their other friends try to figure out who all these people are that keep calling Stiles.

On AO3.

Ships: Sterek

Warnings: they think Stiles is wrapped up in some bad shit (which valid tbh)

~~~~

Mike’s roommate is profoundly disturbing and highly hilarious to have around. On the first day he comes crashing into the room, tripping over himself like an old school physical comedy, before assuring Mike that he’s fine and it doesn’t even come close to being beaten to a pulp by a grandfather.

It’s quite the introduction and for a while Mike was worries that his roommate is going to suck. Stiles isn’t the typical college student, you see.

He has amassed an entire herb garden in the windowsill, skips out on most parties, keeps a metal baseball bat by his bed and calls home every single day. On top of that, he doesn’t know how to shut up and his rants devolve into the strangest bullshit about the most random topics that make Mike wonder why the hell criminology major had looked into them.

So, Mike thought he is stuck with a weird paranoid kid, who doesn’t know how to have fun. He worries about Stiles getting mad about him getting back in late or judgmental about not studying as much. However, his worries had soon been put to rest.

Because Stiles is fun and Stiles is easy. He can become anyone’s friend in minutes and is up later than healthy most of the time, doing weird bullshit on his laptop that he calls research, though Mike never knows what for.

He might not be a party-goer himself, but he absolutely doesn’t care about what Mike does, just jeering at him to use protection when he goes out and waking him up with a smug smirk and coffee when Mike wants to disappear into his mattress with a hangover, kicking his ass to classes.

Stiles is probably what is keeping him from failing right now and Mike will go to great lengths to keep him as his friend, because, yeah, they’re friends now.

It’s impossible not to befriend Stiles, he grows on you like a very persistent mold.

His friendship with Stiles starts six weeks into rooming together. Classes are in full swing alongside parties and Mike has just started to get worried about his roommate being a stick in the mud, when he comes home at 4:00 AM piss drunk.

Naturally he tries (and fails) to quietly enter the room, trying not the be the dickbag that wakes people up every night to find the lights still on. He blinks a few times at Stiles, who is sitting on his bed with a laptop and smartly says: “Huh.”

“God, you’re so fucking drunk it’s not even funny, dude. I can smell it from here and I don’t even have a freaky nose,” Stiles comments, before he gets up from the bed.

Mike sways slightly in the doorway, mentally trying to decide if he can do a stumble and drop to his bed or if he’ll sleep on the floor when Stiles is suddenly in front of him. He startles and nearly falls over, saved from faceplanting by Stiles, who is usually the one meeting the floor.

“Oh, hey, there, hey, buddy,” Stiles says, righting him. He slips an arm around Mike and masterfully stumble-drags him to the bed, depositing him on it. He points at Mike, who is still reeling from the movement and sternly says: “Don’t move,” as if Mike had any big plans.

Moments later he returns with a glass of water and gets Mike upright, telling him to sip and not allowing him to stop until the glass is empty.

Mike isn’t sure what happens next, but the next morning he wakes up with a groan to find two painkillers, a glass of water and a glass of orange juice on his bedside table along with a note reading: go to your classes! And you’re not a very eloquent drunk

In that moment, it feels like the nicest thing anyone has ever done for him, swiftly forgetting all his parents have done under the pounding headache. He takes his painkillers, drinks his drinks and actually manages to drag himself to his lecture, deciding that Stiles might not be so bad.

When he comes back from his class, Stiles is there, typing away on his laptop again. He greets Mike when he enters and Mike returns it: “Hey, dude. Thanks for the painkillers and stuff.”

“Yeah, man, no problem,” Stiles smiles back. “It’s just instinct at this point, I’ve had to drag worse people off to bed.”

It’s a bit of an odd reply, but something Mike can work with. “You friends with many party-goers?”

A strange look flits over Stiles’ face, but it goes as fast as it comes and Stiles says: “Something like that. I was the one with a car, who wasn’t a prick about it getting dirty on the inside when in crisis. I have passed up on many party experiences except the clean up. All my friends are idiots.”

Mike chuckles at that and plops down on his own bed, as he comments: “Do you have a big friend group back home?” See, he can have conversations, mom.

“Oh, yeah,” Stiles tells him with a grin. “We’re like a family. A very weird family.” A brief pause. “But how about you?”

“Nah,” Mike shrugs. “I’m making up for it now.”

“Yeah, I can see,” Stiles grins. “Alcohol is a poison, my man. Besides, I’m not sure you’re remembering the friends you made.”

The bluntness is something Mike has encountered before and turned him away, but it doesn’t sound mean. He remembers that he is going to try with Stiles, so instead of ending the conversation there, he shrugs: “Probably, but it’s fun while it lasts.”

“Come on, man, that’s not fun,” Stiles says. “I have some friends from introduction. We get fries on Thursdays and study on Sunday. You can come sometime, it’s fun.”

Okay, so the bluntness was genuine concern and Mike honestly could use some actual friends. He likes parties, they’re fun, but the loneliness is starting to get to him. So he replies: “Sure, sounds fun.”

“Hell yeah,” Stiles does a genuine fist pump and Mike snorts. Yeah, alright, maybe Stiles isn’t so bad at all.

“Why were you awake so late anyway?” Mike asks, suddenly remembering that Stiles was just sitting there when he stumbled in.

“Oh, Jackson called me,” Stiles says. “He’s in studying in at Cambridge, because his parents are pretentious fuckers. He needed to check in about… something and I was still awake. I had to look something up, I was just emailing him the details when you came in.”

“All the way in England?” Mike whistles, a bit impressed.

“Tsk, don’t let hear him that. Dick has a big enough ego as it is,” Stiles rolls his eyes.

“I thought you were his friend?” Mike says, a bit confused, because Stiles had literally picked up the phone at 4:00 AM for this guy, couldn’t be that much bad blood, could there?

“Surprisingly enough. He had a restraining order against me in high school for a while,” Stiles informs him casually, before realizing how that sounds and quickly amending: “Obviously, he revoked it, because it was completely unnecessary and a big misunderstanding. We’re cool now, promise.”

And that’s Mike’s cue to drop the conversation, giving Stiles a tight nod, before turning to his own work. He’s giving the other a chance, not inviting crazy. Though he does allow himself to be invited for fries on Thursday with Stiles’ friends.

There is Maya a shy, but enthusiastic biology major; Aalif, a kind but serious looking pre-law student; Nikki, a hilariously insane art major; and Kai a bit of a dorky English major. How Stiles had found this ragtag group Mike doesn’t know

“Mike,” he introduces himself. “I do history. I’m Stiles’ roommate,” before he’s pulled into a discussion about whether or not fries can be classified as a salad. (Potato salad exists, Mike, and it’s a side dish).

It’s honestly a lot more fun than expected and it’s nice to see that Stiles does know how to have fun, he just has fun arguing about nothing with someone studying to argue professionally instead of getting wasted.

While Mike doesn’t think he’ll keep away from parties entirely, he might cut back to make place for this. The genuine connection is way nicer than not remembering who you talked to, or if you even did.

They’re about to start opening the famous is cereal-soup debate when Stiles’ phone starts to ring. He nearly hits his head on the table as he dives to get it out of his bag, calling out a quick: “Sorry, guys, gotta take this real quick.”

But since he is stuck in a booth, all he can do is turn away from them as he greets: “Isaac, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

It’s not the most standard greeting and Mike raises his brow at the others, who all shrug. Apparently this has happened before. Mike watches as Stiles gets a reply, fascinated by how Stiles seems to melt, worries leaving him as he grins fondly, before practically cooing: “You missing me already? I am flattered, pup.”

He grins some more at what Isaac is saying, before raising a brow, voice turning into a tease: “I feel used here. Like a cheap replacement. You knew Scott was going to be busy with Allison, I even warned you. Not my fault no one in this p- family ever listens to me.”

Another reply to which Stiles says: “Yes, you heard correctly, I’m with friends, you can make those at college. I encourage you to try.”

An eyeroll at Isaac’s answer, then a sigh: “Yes, Isaac, having your own friends will get their attention again. But try also for yourself, meeting new people is fun. Maybe you even meet someone you like.”

“Bye, Isaac,” Stiles says pointedly, it sounds faintly like Isaac is protesting his departure, but he hangs up on him.

“Sorry about that, you know how they can get,” Stiles grins, trying to play it off, while Mike tries to ignore how much it sounds like the conversation he had with his mom last week, before deciding to join the others in not commenting.

And after that it their friendship takes off until they’re at the ‘waking him up with a smug smirk and coffee when Mike wants to disappear into his mattress with a hangover, kicking his ass to classes’- stage.

Turns out that if you’re closer to Stiles, he’s even weirder. He goes home pretty often, now that he has settled in alright, nearly every other weekend, at least once a month, though he complains about his dad forcing him to stay at college to get the full experience, air quotes obvious in his voice.

Mike doesn’t say anything, since he kind of agrees with Stiles’ dad. It’s a bit unhealthy how much Stiles’ calls home. Or at least, Mike thinks he does, though it always sounds like it’s someone else on the phone, because Stiles will tell the same story a bunch of times or tell the person that another person told him to tell them etc, like they couldn't call themselves.

The conversations are also just weird. Stiles cuts himself off sometimes, sending Mike looks, or he’ll fuss over whoever is on the other side of the line like he’s their therapist, or their fucking mother. Not to mention the fact that he always – always – picks up.

Mike has tried to call Stiles a few times, a lot of the time his roommate won’t pick up, or call back apologetically, yet he’ll leave a lecture if someone from home calls.

It’s just odd.

So, brave soldier as he is (as well as the head investigator of their little friend group, who are all more curious about Stiles than Mike expected when he first met them), he asks: “Hey, man, who are you always calling?”

Stiles look up from where has just hung up with a: “You be careful okay? I love you,” looking a bit confused, before smiling and shrugging: “That depends, honestly. It’s a bit much.”

That sounds like a deflection, but Mike is curious and got better at talking to people and standing up for himself. So, he goes: “I have time. I’m smart. I think I can take it.”

“Alright,” Stiles shoots him another uncertain look, before starting, “Well, my dad and Derek are holding down the fort, so I call them just to see how life is going. Boyd and Erica are there too, so I call them too, but Boyd doesn’t talk much, so I mostly call with Erica. She is my Catwoman, you know, we chat, she spills about Boyd. He has his own carpentry shop, it’s been going well. I’m glad for him, you know. And Erica is taking a gap year, but to be honest, I think she likes being a park ranger too much to ever go back to school.”

Mike nods along to Stiles’ rambles. His dad is explainable and the fact that he added Derek in there must mean they’re a unit in his mind, maybe a brother? Or even his father’s boyfriend. Erica is someone he’s close with and knows well, called her his Catwoman, so maybe girlfriend? But he connected her to Boyd, who sounds like a far friend of sorts, so maybe not.

“Of course there is Jackson in England,” Stiles continues on happily. “I told you about him. He is a bit of a dick, but we’ve forgiven him. Well, Lydia did and we all trusted her and it worked out okay.”

And yeah, Mike remembers Jackson with the apparent restraining order and wonders who Lydia is. Luckily he doesn’t have to wait long.

“Lydia,” Stiles sighs, making Mike think he loves her, which he naturally immediately disproves by going, “I used to be in love with her, but turns out, no. She’s being an absolute genius doing mathematics at CalTech. She terrifies me in the best ways.”

That’s not concerning at all.

“And then you have Scott, my best friend,” Stiles rambles on and Mike knows that the other probably won’t even notice if he leaves. He gets like that. “Now my man Scott is at Colorado State

to become a vet alongside Allison and Isaac.”

Those two names are also familiar and Mike feels awkward staying silent, so he says: “They’re all become vets?”

“No, just Scott, but they’re all at Colorado State, because Scott will probably perish without Allison and Isaac hates being lonely and didn’t get into Stanford with me,” Stiles says, like that’s the most obvious reason to pick a school.

Mike is distracted by Stiles hitting his arm enthusiastically: “Allison is also doing history, man, I hadn’t even thought of that! I don’t know how it would be relevant either, but you know, fun fact! I love fun facts, like did you know that human teeth are the only part of the body that can’t heal themselves, because enamel is dead tissue. That was fun to find out.”

He senses that there is a story there, but Stiles is already moving on: “And Isaac, my beautiful boy, is doing social studies, which I think will really help him. He’s come so far and he’s really happy with his courses.”

Isaac was the one that called during that first Thursday fries run Mike was a part of. He recalls the nicknames and the fact that Isaac was missing Stiles, not to mention how fond Stiles sounded and the fact that Isaac wanted to go to college with him. Maybe Isaac was the boyfriend?

“Anyways,” Stiles ends his rant. “I told you it’s a bit much, but I like knowing they’re okay and getting by and if I only call one, the others will get jealous. There’s only so much Stiles to go around and everyone wants a piece,” he grins.

Mike thinks Stiles has a weird relationship with his friends from back home, but also that he doesn’t want to create any friction with his roommate and best friend on campus, so he just nods and smiles a bit.

“But how about you?” Stiles returns the question. “You never call home, at least, not that I’ve witnessed.”

Since Stiles decided to share, something he rarely does, Mike knows he should return the favor, so he shrugs. “Not really much to call.”

“Is no one there?” Stiles asks, all concern.

“My mom and dad are, but you know,” Mike shrugs. “Dad just cares about my grades and mom is always prying, like she thinks I can’t manage by myself or something. It’s fucking annoying. I’m an adult now, she doesn’t need to hover.”

Stiles frowns at his reply, then bites his lip as if he isn’t sure he should say something, before he breaks and blurts: “But isn’t that nice? To have someone who worries?”

“What?” Mike hadn’t thought Stiles would pick his mom’s side, though maybe he should have seen it coming.

“I mean, I don’t know your situation of course, but I get it,” Stiles shrugs, backing off a bit. “You’ve always been her baby, who she saw every single day and knew when you had a bad day, when you got a good grade, etc, now she has nothing and you don’t tell her, so her mind makes up all the horrible things that could have happened to you between calls, resulting in what is practically an interrogation until she is satisfied that you’re truly as okay as you claim you are… Wow, that was one hell of s sentence,” Stiles ends his keen observation with a joke to lighten it up a bit, since he got way too into that.

Mike attempts to wade through the sea of words just slung to his head, before he realizes Stiles kind of has a point. He breathes: “How do you even know that?”

Stiles scratches his nose and shrugs: “I might be a bit of the mom-friend.” And Mike is reminded of the fact that Stiles is really weird with his friends and that he probably knows that because he does the exact same thing his mother does.

Next Sunday, he reports all this to the study group, which Stiles has had to skip out on, because someone called at midnight, which obviously meant Stiles immediately packed is bags and left, something that is more common than Mike would like.

“That’s a lot of friends,” Maya comments once he is done. “But it’s sweet he cares so much about them.”

“He cares mom-levels about them,” Mike points out. “I’m telling you, he got so intense while defending my mom, like it was personal.”

“So, he’s a bit intense about is friends,” Nikki shrugs. “One girl in my class is making a shrine to her boyfriend as a final project. We’re not at that level yet, so I think we’re good.”

“He took off in the middle of the night on a three hour drive, because someone called,” Mike replies.

“I don’t think it’s really any of our concern,” Aalif interrupts, before it can get out of hand.

“But what if they’re like a creepy cult or something?” Nikki asks.

Aalif levels her a look as he says: “I don’t think Stiles would get drawn into a cult.”

“You don’t know that,” she raises a brow. “It happens, even to smart people like Stiles.”

“He has a metal baseball bat by his bed,” Mike offers, not sure why he is backing Nikki in this debate.

“He does?” Maya asks, a bit concerned.

They all now look at Mike and he suddenly realizes that they’ve never been into their room, which is why he has become Stiles source number 1. He shrugs: “Yeah, he took it with him when he left for home tonight. It’s all damaged and shit, though I think some carvings are intentional. They look a bit like runes.”

Nikki raises a brow as she looks at Aalif and says: “But you don’t think Stiles could have joined a cult.”

“I don’t think a cult would have allowed him to leave for college, not to mention do criminology,” Maya offers. “I think he’s following a seminar about cults right now actually.”

“Okay, but even without a cult, still suspicious and weird,” Nikki huffs. “And it’s still a possibility, right, Mike?”

Mike startles a bit unsure how he got on the pro-cult side and not sure he isn’t agreeing. “I mean, he does have all these herbs and some weird books, but those could be from the library.”

And now they’re giving him more looks. Great. He puts his hands up defensively: “It’s not like I know, alright. Stiles never exactly cooks, maybe he just likes the smell of the herbs. And the books could be an aesthetic thing, though he keeps him under his bed in a box if they’re his.”

“What sort of books?” Kai asks after a beat.

“They’re leather bound. Old,” Mike shrugs. “I haven’t seen him with them much. He shoves them out of sight when I get in and the only times he hasn’t was when he thought I was asleep or very drunk.”

“Creepy,” Maya shivers.

“Come on, this is Stiles,” Aalif says. “He is not in some creepy cult. Do you all even hear yourselves? Seriously. Now, the midterms are coming up and I would like to get some passing grades.”

That gets a few boos and boring’s thrown at him, but Aalif doesn’t falter and they do all giggle a bit at the ridiculousness of Stiles in a cult. Before they can truly get anything done, Nikke snorts: “Maybe he tripped into it,” sending them all into giggles again.

It isn’t a joke anymore when Stiles reappears again on their Thursday fry run his face more bruise than skin and his hands both wrapped in bandages.

“Stiles!” Kai exclaims, already out of his seat. “What happened to you?”

“Hey there, guys,” Stiles attempts a grin, wincing at the action. “I’m good, I’m good.” He eases himself into their booth, wrapped fingers taking some fries and popping them into his mouth as the rest watches him with careful eyes. Of course he notices as he chews slowly, whispering to himself: “Knew Derek was right about the liquid diet. Fucker.”

“What happened?” Aalif asks when Stiles seems like he is going to ignore the whole situation that is his face and hands. “Stiles, if someone did this to do, you have to go to the police, file a report. You can sue.”

“Of course you’d say that, lawyer-man,” Stiles grins again, falling flat once more when his already split lip, re-splits and starts to bleed. “Ah, fuck,” he hisses, grabbing a napkin to press against it as he makes a disgruntled face.

“Stiles,” Nikki snaps.

“What?” he replies as if it’s not incredibly obvious.

Mike surprises himself by jumping in: “What the hell happened to you, man?”

It dawns on Stiles that they’re not letting it go and he sags a bit in his seat. Then says: “Nothing, I promise. It was just an accident, really.”

That’s just a thousand red flags there and Maya takes the lead for them, putting a hand on Stiles shoulder and saying in a soft voice: “We’re not going to judge you, promise. But right now, not knowing is so much worse.”

“Derek told me not to come,” Stiles sighs after a moment. “I knew it was stupid, but I wanted to come. I mean, he only had Boyd and Erica with him, because all the others were too far away. That wasn’t enough.”

“What were they doing?” Nikki asks, unable to keep her mouth shut and be patient.

Luckily, Stiles isn’t silenced by it. “Derek lives on the preserve, it’s in the middle of the forest and something was killing the animals. It was a mountain lion, we have a lot of animal attacks. They wanted to take it out before it moved into the town.”

Mike remembers Stiles telling him Erica was a park ranger, but Boyd was a carpenter and he knew nothing about Derek, which is weird on its own. Stiles loved bragging about his friends, or would casually comment about them or pick up the phone with their name on his lips, but Mike had before now heard the name Derek only once.

“Of course I tripped over a few branches in the dark,” Stiles laughs self-deprecatingly. “I should have known better. I’m a klutz, you know. Though I did get a hit in, before I went down in a not so glorious blaze of branches and a curse.”

“You hit a mountain lion?” Kai whisper yells.

“Yeah, with my bat,” Stiles shrugs, like it’s a normal thing.

“Dude, are you insane?” Mike asks.

“Oh, okay, I see what’s happening here,” Stiles backs up, like they didn’t make sense before now. “I didn’t want to admit I fell, because it’s embarrassing as fuck. And like, I know I’m clumsy, but after all the running away from shit trying to kill me, one would think I’d have gotten better at it, but noooo. I am surrounded by people who can do crazy shit, while I hit my head on a fucking branch, because why not.”

“Stiles!” Nikke cuts him off. “Running away from things trying to kill you? What the hell.”

“I was getting there,” Stiles says, though it’s obvious to all of them that he was getting further and further away from the point. “When I was in high school there were all these murders in town. My friend was targeted at one point, I got caught up in it. Nothing makes a friendship like getting locked into a school and running from a crazed murderer or holding someone up in a pool for two hours. It was a whole thing. Plus my father is the sheriff.”

“What the fuck,” Nikki voices the shared sentiment after a moment to process.

“Wait, here I have proof,” Stiles taps away on his phone, before showing a news article with the tagline reading: Five teens trapped in high school with murderer still on the loose

After letting them read it, he puts his phone in his pocket and proudly says: “We’re having a project about crimes in our hometown right now and I have an advantage over the rest.”

“That’s- That’s not-” Maya stutters. “…Stiles…”

“What?” he says confused, as if what he just bragged about isn’t heartbreaking. God, no wonder he’s a bit fucked from it all. Mike would want to know if all his friends are okay if he nearly saw them all killed alongside him.

“Are you, like, okay?” Mike asks.

“Probably not, like in general,” Stiles tells him honestly, “but I am really fine. As fine as I get anyway. Derek says I have to work on that, but he’s not the boss of me and I actually am doing better. I don’t know why I’m telling you all this, sorry.”

“No, it’s fine,” Maya smiles kindly. “We just want to know you’re okay. Thanks for trusting us with that. Did you get those wounds checked out?”

“I did,” he returns her smile. “Got a clean bill of health and everything. Dad wouldn’t let me drive back before that.”

“Good,” Aalif says.

They’re all quiet for a moment, before the thing that has been niggling on his mind comes out. He asks: “Who is this Derek person anyway?”

Stiles regards them all for a moment, before saying: “I don’t think we reached that level of friendship yet. Sorry. Like, you’re all my friends and stuff and I like bragging about my other friends to you, but I don’t know.”

“What?” Mike exclaims as Nikki points out: “You just told us you nearly got murdered, but telling us about a friend is a step too far?”

“You know, that is actually a good point,” Stiles says. “I must still be a bit lightheaded from everything, I normally don’t tell people that.”

“Should we take you to a hospital? Kai asks worriedly.

“No, no, I’m kidding, I think,” Stiles jokes, before quickly adding, “I am truly kidding, please don’t take me to a hospital. God, no one appreciates my humor.”

“Stiles,” Aalif sighs tiredly when Stiles deftly gets them on a different topic than Derek.

“Derek is my husband,” Stiles finally tells them, shutting them all up as they stare at them with their jaws on the floor. That explains Stiles trips home and lack of partying or otherwise getting laid, he had a whole fucking husband waiting for him at home.

None of them could know that Stiles’ reluctance to talk about Derek and his relation is that as a prominent alpha, broadcasting that they were ‘mated’ (and yes, Derek, that term is still weird to a human) isn’t really smart. Especially after everything that had already come to Beacon Hills.

“Y- Your husband?!?” Kai squeaks.

“This is exactly why I didn’t want to tell you all,” Stiles groans. “You can’t imagine the rumor mill at home when it happened, like seriously, people were acting like I was signing my life away to the devil or something.”

“Why?” Maya asks and Mike has to agree. Marriage so early isn’t exactly uncommon, it just took them by surprise this time. What would make this different.

“I-” Stiles looks genuinely sheepish, “I might have gotten him arrested for a murder he didn’t commit and stuff. But that was like, what? Two, three years ago.”

Immediately their table exploded, voices overlapping, because – again – what the fuck.

“He didn’t do it!” Stiles exclaims, shutting them all up. “He was framed. Set up. Look, I know he wasn’t the killer. Derek saved my life, like a bazillion times at this point. I love him.”

Despite the bruises, the look on his face is quite clear with love oozing off of it. Like full on, ‘Disney princess, soulmate, found the one’-love. It’s a bit disgusting in Mike’s terribly single opinion.

“Well, then I want to see him,” Nikki demands. “You can’t tell us you got swept off your feet by a mysterious would be murderer and not expect us to want to see him.”

Stiles shoots them all a suspicious look, which is pretty rude all things considering, but Mike lets it slide in favor of satiating his curiosity. Then Stiles pulls out his phone, showing them a sequence of pictures that said more than words could.

It’s obviously their wedding day. They’re both in full suits, standing in a forest with the sunset hitting them, putting them in a glow of light. Derek is apparently a handsome, muscled man, who screams not bad boy as much as serial killer.

The first picture is pretty standard. They’re looking at each other, Derek’s bad boy vibe killed by the fact that he is smiling softly at Stiles, who is smiling back. Derek’s smile is toothachingly fond in a way that Mike feels in his chest.

In the second picture, the murder vibes are back in full force, with Derek glaring at Stiles, who looks like he’s saying something, his face smug like it’s an inside joke, his hands up to gesture like he always does.

Then, in the last picture, Stiles has Derek’s cheeks between his hand, face contorted in something Mike would call a coo, if Derek didn’t look like the kind of guy who would allow anything resembling a coo being directed at him. Though, Mike might have to rethink that assumption, because while Derek is raising one murderous eyebrow, the smile has returned again.

“I am his favourite annoyance,” Stiles announces proudly. “It’s wonderful how much bugging someone can do.”

And all of them would have guessed Derek was the one, who had pursued Stiles, but here Stiles is, telling them all about how he is a master at befriending people and Derek honestly needed someone to tell him how horrible he was at decorating or socializing, before fixing it for him.

Beside him, Nikki mutters: “Dear god, he has an ‘I can fix him’-mentality. We’re doomed.”

“I heard that!” Stiles exclaims indignantly, though he doesn’t deny it per se. But when Nikki’s soda arrives, it explodes in her face and Mike would almost suspect Stiles had something to do with it if he had to go off the smug look.

They drop the topic of Stiles injuries and apparent husband, for the evening, which Stiles seems grateful for at least, before catching him up on campus gossip. Still, they keep their eye on him and it’s hard to forget with his face all fucked up.

When they leave, Maya leans in and whispers to Mike: “Keep an eye on him for us, okay?”

He nods quickly, before hurrying after Stiles, who is yelling at him to hurry or he’ll drive back without him.

Mike also keeps his word, so when Stiles’ phone starts to ring, he pretends to be engrossed in his book, while secretly keeping an ear on Stiles’ conversation. He usually doesn’t listen in, unless something is so weird it breaks through his mental barriers, but he feels like this can be an exception.

“Hey there, big guy,” Stiles greets, voice much gentler than Mike ever remembered it being.

“Yeah, worrywolf, I’m fine,” Stiles tells whoever is on the other side. “Dad wouldn’t have let me drive otherwise and neither would you for that matter. You checked me yourself before letting me go, quite thoroughly I might add.”

And that last part is definitely an innuendo, dear god, Mike did not want to know that. However, it is confirmation that it’s Derek on the line, so he listens even harder.

“I know I overdid it, but no one got hurt except a few bruises on me,” Stiles argues. “And I get hurt even when I’m not in danger, you know how doors and the air are my biggest enemies. Come on, Derek. If it was bad, I would have told you. We promised remember? You made it part of our vows, because you are a complete softie.”

Okay, Mike isn’t going to lie, that’s actually pretty cute and he slightly hates that he’s becoming team Derek when all he knows is that he was (falsely) arrested for murder and married to Stiles, who comes running home when called on.

“I promise not to run into danger again,” Stiles tells Derek. “Well, I promise not to run needlessly into danger again and honestly one could argue that this time wasn’t needlessly, because you are my damsel in distress as much as you want to cast me in that roll.” A beat. “Yes, I will never let you forget the pool, we discussed this.”

“Yes, Derek, I always take care of my wounds,” Stiles rolls his eyes. “I’ll even send you picture updates and call you every day. How does that sound?”

Oh god, Derek is actually a concerned boyfriend – excuse me, husband – who needs updates and called the day Stiles left because he was worried. Mike is never going to be able to tell the others that without it turning into a riot.

“Great, because I am going to bed,” Stiles says. “Midterms are coming up and while spending time with you is a hundred times better, I actually need to pass these if I ever want to get a degree. So, goodbye, I love you.”

A bit of silence, then a very love-filled chuckle: “Of course I’m going to think of you. I always sleep better with you, you know that. Now bye. Love you, again and always.”

Fucking hell, Mike is going to die of a toothache, caused by his happily married roommate, which is honestly where his life is at right now.

Though, Mike can honestly live with a weird roommate. It’s a source of entertainment and he now can rest knowing Stiles has someone watching out for him, preventing him from going off the deep end, which was an honest concern.

Stiles is weird, but with what Mike knows, he’s allowed to be a bit strange and he honestly doesn’t want to know more than he does.

~~

A/N:

Disclaimer: I am not shitting on parties, if you like them, go nuts. I just don’t drink and hate social interaction, so I wouldn't know how to write a good party scene even if I wanted to, lmao.

Idk how well it came through, but Stiles is magic and burned his hands while overdoing it in the fight he got injured in. He also totally exploded Nikki’s drink as petty revenge, his herbs are also related to magic.

[slocumjoe]

I've said before that the synth thing would work better with a McCarthyism allegory, but for Danse specifically, its so similar to autism that it has to be intentional??

Like. The thing that really solidified that Danse in particular is just straight up about autism is Piper's line in Blind Betrayal. Paraphrased, it goes something like, "I mean...yeah, of course he's a synth. It was kind of obvious, wasn't it? I mean, have you heard him talk?"

The autism accent is a concept that seems to be popping up more recently, but its a real thing, and in my own experience, everyone in my life has been able to clock that there was something different about me from my speech. People thought it was weird that I used "adult" words as a kid, and was very technical and exact when speaking. I was often mistaken as being from places like Brooklyn because I had a weird affectation to my voice.

And there's just. This fucking line. "Have you heard him talk?". Piper is also the person who clicked McDonough as a synth. It's worth noting that McDonough and Danse both use words like "rabble".

But seriously.

Danse goes through his life being respected for his work ethic, intelligence, and strong sense of duty and morals, but he never really bonds with anyone, he doesn't make friends. He's respected, not liked. People want to work with him, but the best they have to say about him is about his work. He makes one single friend in his entire life, and never tries again after that guy dies. And no one tries to befriend him. He's their brother. He's not their friend. And he takes his job too seriously as a commanding officer to attempt emotional connection. He apologizes for overstepping on the few occasions he does.

He talks like a thesaurus, and no one is sure if its to sound smarter, or if that's just genuinely how he thinks. It's strongly implied to be the latter. He's incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about various topics. He sounds like a kid on Christmas when you risk life and limb cracking open a vault that's supposed to have riches, but instead, just has some historical items. He throws his Brotherhood prejudice away the moment he finds a farm run by ghouls that uses pre-war structures in a creative way, and scolds you if you do the Brotherhood thing and insult them. He also seemingly forgets that he's in the Brotherhood when meeting a child ghoul, that kid's parents, a shy, insecure ghoul who clings to children's media (despite Danse finding children's entertainment stupid and a waste of time), and Daisy.

And then there's the synth thing.

Danse has always been Danse, but one little word gets attached to him and his life turns upside down. His work ethic is no longer a work ethic, it's viewed as a perversion. His intelligence and manner of speech are no longer of his own merit and education he had to have given himself, they become inevitable, things he had no say in. His existence is both erased and explained by one word, and anything else is irrelevant or in question. People who once respected him want nothing to do with him, because this one word puts him in a context they find unnatural, corrupted, inhuman. There's even something there with the Institute. Autism is (incorrectly) associated with vaccines, the government, science gone wrong. It's a man-made horror.

And then you have the people he gets lumped in with, after being thrown out for this one word. They take schadenfreude in it. This is comeuppance, this is deserved. This one word, something they take pride in or have sympathy for and want to protect, suddenly becomes weaponized. It's a source of pride for others, but for this one person, we're going to use it as punishment. You weren't with us from the start, so now you really are on your own. It's not that there isn't a right way to be this one word, it's just that there's a wrong way, and even if you change accordingly, you will never belong with the rest of us.

Its. Autism is about exclusion, from everyone and everything. Always being an outsider, often too polite or nervous or jaded to even bother looking in. And at every point in Danse's life he didn't belong. He was a rogue synth, so he didn't belong in the Institute. He naturally thrives as a soldier, so he didn't belong as a junk seller in Rivet City. He was a synth and considerably more kind and compassionate than the rest of the BOS, so he didn't belong there. And because he was a BOS soldier and is still working out some bad traits after his exile, he isn't welcomed by the people who he was thrown to. Everywhere he goes, there's a big neon sign over his head that changes to whatever word will ward off everyone around him and he's so used to it, the thing that makes him angriest about being a synth is that he doesn't even have parents. He doesn't even have that connection to the world, of being born into it. There is nothing he can connect himself to beyond the Institute (which he hates) and the Brotherhood (which, if he continues to connect himself to, will drive him to suicide out of sense of duty, and he already agreed to not do that)

Its just. His entire story is one of absolute isolation and the final dickpunch of "You've always hated yourself, right? Good news, here's a reason to kill yourself that's professional and won't illicit pity from your peers, so no one will judge you for doing it or grieve you."

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

May I request Kieran with an older cousin Reader who also goes to blueberry? Like post TealMask and pre Indigo disk reader is just like “Alright buddy, why don’t you just take a breath and calm down, I’ve poured some chocolate milk, tell me what’s wrong.”

Yesss bc TealMask Kieran definitely needed somebody to talk to after all that shit went down-

And choccy milk, of course

.........

"I hate you...you should've chosen ME. Was I not good enough? If I'm that weak, then I'll just get stronger. And I'll get even stronger until you wish I was your trainer-"

The knock on the door snapped Kieran out of his tirade for a moment. But he refused to move from his bed, glaring back down at the Ogre mask in his hands as the knocking persisted.

He wasn't in the mood to see anyone right now.

"Go away, sis." He snarled. "I'm busy-"

"Too busy to see your cousin, Kiki?"

Oh.

Although he was still brooding, he couldn't ignore the fact that his favorite cousin was here, wanting to see him after he's been away from the academy for a while. So he forced himself to get up and leave the mask on his desk.

He opened the door to see you and your Shiny Furret at your side, smiling at him in greeting. Attached to her collar was a shimmering normal gem; he recalled you explaining how it powered-up one of her normal type attacks in battle, albeit only once.

Yet seeing her reminded him of his own Furret and the losses they both suffered....and he couldn't help but look away, unable to meet her gaze. "Hi, [y/n]..it's been a while.."

"I know, right?" You chuckled. "How was your trip? Carmine told me you guys had to come back a little early-"

"It was awful."

"...awful?" In that moment, you could feel your stomach sink, and hearing your Furret's concerned trill made you realize something was very, very wrong.

Kieran looked as though he hated the world, anger clouding his eyes.

"Yeah.." Clenching his fists, he could feel his jaw tightening up. Tears were already blurring his vision as he wondered why everything had to turn out the way it did...

He thought he made an actual friend who was a strong trainer....only for them to befriend his sister, meet Ogerpon, lie to him on multiple occasions, and steal the Pokémon he idolized--all while kicking him and his team into the dirt like they were nothing.

Like he was nothing.

He felt cheated, wronged, humiliated-

"Hey, it's alright..take a few deep breaths." You gently patted him on the shoulder, noticing how he was seething in anger over something you didn't quite understand yet. But you hoped to get to the bottom of it soon enough. "We can talk about it over some drinks."

He took a few breaths, his body now slightly less tense than before as he tried to remain calm. "You got me something?"

"Of course." Nodding, you took some glass bottles out of your satchel--moomoo milk to be exact. "They finally restocked your favorite. Chocolate." You handed one to him, confused when he just stared at it, not taking it right away.

Normally, he'd be unable to resist something sweet, especially chocolate (it runs in the family, anyways), but now he looked almost offended that you dared to buy him something he liked.

"I'm not a little kid anymore, y'know."

"Kiki, I'm almost 20 and I still drink this stuff. You're never too old to enjoy it."

".....fine, thanks." He grumbled, finally accepting the bottle before returning to his bed, taking a few sips.

Although he felt a little better knowing you still thought about him, he kept stewing over the other people who didn't care about him anymore.

Or at least in his eyes...they didn't care.

You sat beside him, with your Furret climbing on the bed and curling around him. He sighed and rested a gloved hand on her tail, fingers stroking the fur.

"Now..what happened?"

".....where do I even start?"

Yikes. He wasn't cracking right away and instead was being extremely vague, so you knew something was seriously wrong.

Growing up, he used to always run to you to hide from his sister or bullies, never keeping secrets. You were the only cousin (or family member for that matter) who didn't judge him for liking Ogerpon or being reluctant to do Pokémon battles.

Now he was acting more withdrawn than ever, even with you here.

"Maybe from the beginning..when you first got to Kitakami." You suggested, yet he still seemed hesitant.

"Do you have time? You don't have better things to do?" He muttered.

"My class in the canyon biome got out early, so I have all the time in the world."

Although it took some more convincing, Kieran ended up going into detail about everything that happened on his trip: Florian/Juliana, Carmine, his grandparents, the festival, Ogerpon, the Loyal Three...nothing was left unsaid.

He rambled for a long time, having finished his drink long ago while you were still savoring yours. But you just calmly listened, feeling absolutely awful for him as he talked about all the times his team got beaten down by this exchange student.

Not only that..but they apparently lied to him as well about meeting the Pokémon he admired. He kept wishing he was good enough to be its trainer--yet he kept failing at every chance to prove himself worthy.

Least to say, this kid sounded like a real jerk.

"...and now all I wanna do is be stronger than them. They got everything I've ever wanted, [y/n]: friends, strong pokemon, Ogerpon's love...the whole village was amazed by what they did, but what about what I did?!" He gripped the glass bottle tightly. "I told them all the Ogre's story was false! But it's like..nothing even changed!"

"You had to leave early, though.." You pointed out. "Things might've changed. They could've left the Three's monument in ruins-"

"They won't. They'll find a way to restore it. All they want is money...and any tourist gullible enough to visit without caring about the truth."

"..jeez, now you're sounding more like Carmine-"

You only meant that as a light joke, yet it only plunged the atmosphere into even deeper tension as your cousin gave you such a cold stare--like he was using Mean Look.

It honestly startled you a bit.

"I-I'm sorry, Kieran.." You apologized quickly. "You're right. Kitakami's banked their entire economy on tourism for generations. They're not gonna let go of that story easily, even if it's all fabricated."

His gaze softened, although now he was looking down at the floor, now absentmindedly petting your shiny Pokémon's fur. "[Y/n]...could I ask you something?"

"Of course. Anything."

"Would you be able to look after my old team?"

In an instant, your heart sank. "What..?"

"Yanmega, Furret, Poliwrath..and all the others..I wanna transfer them into your care permanently. But I'm keeping Dipplin."

"You..wanna surrender your entire team?" Your eyebrows furrowed with confusion. "That's....look, there's ways you can improve upon it. Maybe they just need-"

"NO! You're not listening!" Kieran snapped angrily, clinking the glass harshly onto his desk. "I couldn't win at least ONE battle!! I did everything right! I formed bonds with them, taught them the best moves possible...and for what?! Just so they could hold me back?! Just so I could keep failing?!! I need to change my team, so I don't want any of them anymore."

"Not even Furret?"

"Not even Furret." He repeated with a scowl, gritting his teeth. "It's no good to me if it keeps going down in one hit..."

"Ret!"

Blinking, he looked down at your own Furret, almost forgetting that she was still curled around him. She seemed rather upset, ears folded flat against her head...and he made the mistake of staring at her beady-black eyes for too long, as guilt quickly settled in.

What was he doing?

''m sorry, I didn't mean any offense. I've seen you fight...and you're so much stronger. [Y/n]'s lucky to have you...o-of course, you're a shiny after all...h-haha..." He began to sniffle, his hands trembling as he pet her fur; unlike before, it was failing to calm him down. "It's okay. Y-You'll get to hang out with my Furret from now on...just like the old times. Wouldn't that be fun? You and him..d-don't have to worry about me anymore.."

"Ret-ret?" She felt a drop of water splatter onto her ear, which she flicked off, now looking worried.

You frowned slightly, finally understanding how much your little cousin was in pain...and to learn all of this happened within such a short timespan.

It made you wonder if you could've somehow prevented this.

"Kieran.."

"I-I don't wanna surrender anyone, I don't wanna feel like this. But..what else can I do?" His voice cracked, bowing his head. "I just..w-wanna be like Florian/Juliana..but nobody takes me seriously. They all think I'm going through some "phase". They all treated me like the Ogre..laughing behind my back, calling me weak...getting mad when I try to fight back...and I hate it, [y/n]!! They hurt me and NOBODY CARES!! Not even my own family!!"

"That's not true at all. I care, Kiki..I care so much about you. That hasn't changed." You wrapped your arms around him, letting him clutch your uniform jacket as he hiccupped, burying his face into the fabric. The poor kid was shaking, and you weren't sure if it was in anger or sorrow, or perhaps both.

When you were his age, you remembered dealing with all sorts of difficult feelings, too, and just like him..nobody else seemed to get you. You were mostly alone in coping, yet you had incredible Pokémon who helped you realize there's more to life than battling and winning.

Hopefully, you could help him realize this, too.

"..wh-why couldn't my own sister be this nice to me..?"

"I don't know. You want me to beat her up?"

He was quick to shake his head.

"Okay, okay.." You sighed softly, patting his hair in comfort. "Then...if you wanna become a stronger trainer, I'll do my best to help. I'll take care of your old team, lend you some research articles...whatever you need, just say the word."

"...I-I wanna take on the Elite Four and become champion.." He mumbled. "Maybe then..no one will mock me. Will you still support me then?"

That caught you by surprise, considering it was such an unrealistic goal for him right now. He barely has any double battle experience, yet he was willing to learn it if it meant becoming the best trainer in this academy.

Who were you to say no to him when the rest of the family seemed to turn his back on him? You didn't want him to shut you out, too, so you finally relented after giving it some thought.

"Of course."

"You're not lying, are you?"

"No, I promise."

Those words seemed to get Kieran to settle down, as he pulled out of the hug. His cheeks were a scarlet hue, stained with tears that he hastily wiped away before you could fully see them.

And he immediately insisted on going to the library to begin his research, and you both simply packed up your things and headed out, sending your Furret back into her pokeball.

You hope you made the right choice.

[thewiz9062]

Smiling Critters: Together, We Resonate (No.7) - Dogday

NOTE: THIS IS NOT RELATED TO CANON IN THE SLIGHTEST. An accurate description of this au is that I took every playtime.co poster art and promotional material from the game and lit up the rest of canon in a bonfire. This means that EVERY character is part of one big cartoon. That's it. No bigger bodies project, no child souls, no experiments, just a depiction of a cartoon. PLEASE do not ask me to do anything suggestive with anyone.

Here's our final main character, THE main character's introduction, dogday!!

OK, so I'm my general ideas post I specified that dogday is the new kid, but the reason for that is he was tutored for the time being....at an orphanage.

Yeah, no parents in sight here either. Difference being that dodgay has never had parents, he was abandoned week one. Ever since then, he's lived in an orphanage.

Dogday was 'raised' there, but just barely. The workers tried their best but there were like 50~ children to take care of, giving them all equal attention was nigh impossible. Dogday raised himself via media, books or the TV. In this media, there was a common trend: Happiness. Everything was positive, and seeing how everything in th orphanage was dull and sad, he decided that he was going to be happy, and bring happiness to those around him.

This led him into a one-track mind, where he can only really comprehend happiness, and his brain filters out any other emotions, seeing them as 'bad'.

After years of being home-schooled he wanted to go to school to make friends. Eventually, he managed to convince his caretakers to let him go to an actual school.

OK, here's an oversimplified of how he befriended the other critters:

Craftycorn: gave her the much needed push into her talent of art, planting the first seed of rebellion from her shitty ass parents, set up the after-school meetings

Bubba and kickin: managed to pass their friend filter test, invited them to the after-school meeting

Hoppy: really just appeared after school and said, "yall chill" so she joined

Bobby: Also appeared after school and liked the group, offered to bring snacks and it became routine

Picky: invited via bobby

OK, now we pick up where we left off yesterday: Catnap.

And so, the next time bobby met up with catnap, she brought dogday with. She had to go to take care of her siblings this time around, leaving the two of them. So, dogday tried to start up a conversation, which ended up more like a one-sided ramble. Everybody in the group was very animated, so someone to just sit and talk to and they would just listen was very refreshing. A few meetings later, dogday assured bobby that if she had to do other things, he would be more than happy to accompany catnap. Catnap also seemed to be a little bit more lively. By that I mean instead of the blank stare he'd give Bobby, he listens to dogday with a slightly amused or interested glisten in his eyes. When interacting with Dogday, he never had to be unsubtle with his response. Bobby was very awkward when trying to talk to him, usually waiting for a response, but with dogday, just a simple eyebrow twitch or grunt would be enough to prompt him to continue. Even though catnap had never spoke to him directly, it still felt like a conversation.

One day, during one of their exchanges, dogday accidentally brought up the fact that he lives in an orphanage. Dogday clammed up as he saw Catnap's face widen in mild suprise, and then was confused and surprised when he saw his mouth turn upwards slightly. He got up and gestured for dogday to follow him. They went deeper into the forest and reached catnaps shack house thingy. Dogday asked if this is where he goes to hang out sometimes. Catnap shook his head. He then asked if this was where he lived. A nod. Catnap moved over to a corner of the room and showed dogday a picture of his parents. Dogday asked if they were still around, and catnap shook his head. Catnap then sat down on the floor and used one if his gestures to signicate that he was listening, essentially asking if he wanted to talk about his own. Dogday went on about how the only thing he knows about his parents are that they left him. It turns into a vent once he starts asking himself if he did something wrong, or were they just terrible people, or maybe he just wasn't worth their time. He was already on the verge of crying and was about to say something along the lines of "but it's ok" to try and 'cheer himself up, but was suddenly tackled in a hug from catnap. And for the first time since he met him, he spoke to say that it wasn't OK. That's when the dam broke, and they both sat there hugging while dogday cried.

-

Tears? Wdym I'm a waterbender I'm just displaying my superior abilities to your mortal soul

that one was a doozy

Additional notes:

- before you ask yourself, "Are they shipping them" I genuinely don't know if I want to or not. Sun and moon characters are just kinda like that sometimes and I certainly didn't help it ngl. If you want to see this as a ship post, go ahead, but it's not canon here

- I love the trope where polar opposite characters make each other see the other side of things in a similar situation so yk I had to rid them both of familial love :D

- I never specified, but catnap did not go to school. Like at all. He does, however, know how to read, write, speak, and do basic math. You ask him what 12 x 94, and he'd give you the answer, but if you ask what's the powerhouse of the cell is, he'd give you a "wtaf r u talking abt" look. (Poor soul doesn't even know people added the alphabet to math......actually he's lucky ngl)

Anyways I'm gonna give an aftermath post that includes the end of the school year, then introduce side characters, THEN I can finally get into actual content. Sorry my schedule and motivation varies alot so I apologize for inconsistencies. Byeeee

Edit: New Art!

here is the old one for classics sake :]

[ckret2]

I'd love to know more about Bartholomew, and how they befriended him! although it is very funny that something that wild happened entirely offscreen XD

I thought this would be short, but apparently I had more to say about Barty than I thought! So here:

Bartholomew was acquired from a crane game filled with haunted dolls that was set up at Gravity Falls' mall. I do not know why that crane game was there. It's just the kind of thing that happens in Gravity Falls. Each haunted doll is possessed by the evil ghost of a creepy Victorian child. Dipper & Mabel didn't discover this until the next night.

In life, Bartholomew was a 14-year-old necromancer who bound his spirit to a doll so he could live forever—which is why he happens to know so much about poppets and can teach the twins how they work. He's hoping they'll bind Bill to a poppet, he'll die, and he'll remain attached to the poppet, so Bartholomew will have a new haunted doll pal.

(He was not friends with the other dolls in the crane game machine. You know how it turns out wild wolves in normal packs are really friendly and cooperative with each other, and vicious alpha wolf dominance fights only happen when wolves are forced together in captivity and are stressed and defensive? Yeah. That crane game was cramped. Nobody made friends in there.)

He's spent over a century as your typical feared creepy haunted doll, shuffling between locked trunks and antique malls and dusty attics and paranormal investigators' houses that mysteriously burn down and thrift shops. His prior crimes could fuel a horror movie series fit to rival any Chucky or Annabelle you could think of.

His original ambition—as it always is when he's in a house with a boy age 12 to 17—is to murder the kid (and anyone who tries to stop him) and take over his life. We are unclear on how an immobile porcelain doll intends to pose as a living human child. I'm not sure he's ever thought through that part of the plan. He thought killing Dipper would've made a particularly sweet deal since he would've gotten a free sister out of it.

It turns out he does all this because he's desperately lonely and unloved after over a century as a creepy haunted doll, and he just wants a family and friends his own age again. Mabel quelled his murderous urges by saying he can have a bed and live in their room and be their friend as long as he doesn't kill anyone. Usually when kids find out he's alive, they run crying to the adults about the scary living doll begging to get rid of it, and the adults either don't believe them or join in trying to get rid of him. Running into a couple of kids that are totally chill with a haunted doll as long as he doesn't commit murder is a new experience for him. This is the most positive socialization he's had since he died. He's turned around real fast.

So far, Mabel and Dipper haven't told anyone else about Bartholomew. Not on purpose, they just kind of dealt with it on their own at like 3 a.m. and then never thought to bring him up to the adults. Even Bill hasn't noticed him yet. Probably in late August the kids'll end up in a conversation with the grunkles like "wait, did we really forget to mention the haunted doll we've been living with all summer??" Typically he only speaks in front of children. There's a chance Candy and Grenda have been told about him, but due to the Bill situation they haven't been over to meet Barty yet.

He was not in Gravity Falls last year and doesn't really get who Bill Cipher is. What he knows is that Bill is a cute girl who's allegedly a guy who's allegedly some kind of demon from space who can single-handedly destroy Earth. He's read War of the Worlds, he knows all about destroyers from space; but he didn't realize Martians have demons too. He just kind of accepts this all as true, but doesn't really fear Bill (except when he thinks Bill might be in a mood to smash delicate porcelain dolls).

Dipper and Mabel often catch him posed like he was doing something right before other people came in. Sometimes they come home and Barty is posed like he's been petting Waddles. They don't know if this means he's actually let Waddles see him move.

Have you ever watched The Boy? He looks and moves kind of like The Boy, although he's closer to the size of a baby doll and a bit less realistic. Creepy formally-dressed porcelain doll, only moves when nobody's in the room and/or looking at it.

His haunted doll powers include creepily turning off all the lights, writing messages on foggy windows/mirrors, causing disembodied knocking/rattling, slowly dragging the bedsheet off a sleeping child in the middle of the night, teleporting when no one's looking, slipping strange whispers into TV/radio/cassette audio, causing furniture to rearrange in strange ways during the night, and—if he gets really mad or distressed—he can briefly act as a poltergeist and make things levitate and fly around.

As a ghost possessing a doll, he's able to see other ghosts. This makes him—along with Bill, disembodied-Dipper, [redacted], [redacted], and sometimes [redacted]—one of the few members of the cast that can see the mindscape.

He secretly doesn't mind that Mabel calls him Barty Mew-Mew and is increasingly beginning to think he'd kind of like being a catboy. Mabel will be ecstatic when she finds out.

[pain-is-too-tired]

Crush Culture

Pairing:

Valgrace(Leo Valdez/Jason Grace)

CW:

Mentions of neglect

Synopsis:

Jason is the crown prince to Olympus and son of one,and the highest,of the many great Lords of the lands of Hellas

Leo is the son of another great Lord, a dragon who has hidden himself away from most of Olympus.

What happens when feelings start to form?

Confusion and emotional crisis of course!

Aka. My excuse to explore customs and courting in my own au fdgdf

Also aka. Jason's autism rizz gets a whole dragon guy falling in love with him

Ao3 Link:

Jason was a mess.

He been laying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. His thoughts seemed to be rushing around his head.

He been laying there for hours at this point,partly hiding from his father and stepmother,partly having a crisis.

“You're kidding, right?” Nico,Jason's younger cousin, was leaning against the door with his arms crossed. “A dragon? Seriously?”

“I know!” Jason groaned,covering his face with his wings.

“Wow.” Percy,Jason's older cousin, whistled. “How did no one notice you sneaking out for, what, 3 months?”

Jason sighed, “I didn't have any lessons or important events…” He said. “So,I don't think anyone really cared to notice.”

“You say that like people just not keeping tract of the literal crown prince just cause they don't need him is the most normal thing in the world.” Percy grumbled.

“It's…not?”

“...Jason, buddy-”

“Not getting into your obvious situation of neglect- Jason,again,a dragon? How you even meet him? Was that the one they wanted you to take care of?” Nico asked,raising a brow.

“Well no- their his son..?” Jason laughed nervously.

“His- Your telling me you were sent on a mission to push out a dragon from an nearby cave, but instead you befriended and now have fallen in love with his son?”

“I…Maybe?”

“Damn.” Percy said, “Talk about a wild way to enter teen rebellion.”

Nico groaned, “I'm no longer letting you guys make fun of me for Will.”

“Your crush turned out to be a fae prince,Neeks.”

“Not important right now.” Nico said quickly before looking back at Jason. “What are you gonna do about this now?”

“Ignore it and hopes it goes away…?” Jason laughed nervously.

“The Nico route of having a crush I see.”

“Jackson I swear,I will throw you out that window.”

Jason sighed, burrowing his face in his pillows

“Thanks for the help guys. So encouraging.” He groaned, muffled by his pillow.

“Look, just tell him man.” Percy said. “Can't be that hard.”

Jason sat up, “I'm still not even sure if it's a crush! What if it's not? I might just be getting closer to him and just- I don't know.” Jason sighed. “I've never really had a friend like this before, how am I supposed to know what feelings are platonic or not?”

Percy and Nico looked at each other before back at Jason.

“You're seriously not sure?”

“Seriously! I don't- I've never- I don't know. It's confusing!” Jason sighed, flopping back and curling up in his wings. “I don't want to ruin our friendship. He's just- he's so nice and funny. He doesn't look at me like I'm something else. It doesn't feel like he's pretending to enjoy my company. I feel like I can be myself around him.”Jason said softly, he felt like his mind was flying fifty miles a minute.

“Yeah. That sounds like a crush dude.”

“Does it..?” Jason frowned. He wasn't sure, he never was good knowing exactly what having a crush was supposed to be like. Even though he heard it time and time again from his cousins,it never sounded too far off from platonic feelings to him. Really, the idea of dating always just sounded like a premium version of being close friends. He never quite knew the difference.

Which made what he was going through right now even more confusing. He really didn't know what he was feeling, and it scared him.

“I mean, you've been having a freak out all day thinking about him. So yeah, I say so.” Nico snorted.

“Just tell him, man.” Percy said. “Just say how you're feeling. Better than letting it build up, right?”

“But I don't know how I'm feeling!” Jason complained.

“Just try,explain what you do know. Can't end that badly if he's how you describe!” Percy grinned.

“I guess…” Jason sighed. He still wasn't sure. “I'm still not sure.”

Jason really didn't want to ruin what they did have. Leo was so kind to him. He made things so much easier to deal with. Jason was one of the only fae in his family. Something he got from their grandmother. For some reason, his father didn't want others to know. Really, his father cared too much for his image. He liked to still seem in control of his kingdom and situation,so any sentient being other than human or sorcerer was banned from Olympus.

To find someone else not at all human or sorcerer,who he felt like he could talk to without feeling like he was pushing weight off his problems onto, felt great. To be with someone who'd see his wings and tail and not either scorn or pity him for it? It was a relief.

What if having and admitting to a crush changed that?

“Okay, but there's another problem.” Nico said, pulling Jason from his thoughts. “What if you get caught seeing him? Surely they'd get suspicious at some point.”

Jason stiffened up,anxiety hit him like a boulder.

“I-I don't know. I hope they won't..maybe it'll just be them catching me sneaking out and I can make enough of an excuse that won't expose Leo.”

“You’ll still get in trouble dude. And you know we’re not here enough to bail you out.” Percy said.

“I know. They'll probably just have me on quarters arrest or something, maybe clip my feathers. I'll be fine.” Jason said softly. “I'll just make sure that I can't be followed. That's what's important.”

“Your safety is important too, Grace.” Nico said, frowning.

“I know. I'll be fine. I just…yeah, maybe I should at least try to bring this up to him. I'm just not sure how…”

“Do what feels right, you'll know it.” Percy grinned.

The next time Jason went to see Leo, he was a nervous wreck.

Managing to sneak out of the castle grounds, wearing nothing but a simple blouse under shirt and slacks that allowed him to have his tail and wings out. Something that still felt odd to do when not on his own in his room.

He flew off in his small form, able to move without easily being spotted on the sky.

His flying was atrocious, even after three months of doing this regularly, but he managed to get to their usual spot without much issue. Turning back to his common form once he was there, landing messily on his feet.

“Okay.” He breathed, talking to himself. “Alright. Good. You got this.”

Jason had a few days to think about what he really wanted to say to Leo about what's been going through his head.

Despite that, the only thing he really could clearly think about was bringing a gift of some sort. A warm orange-brownish gem he found that reminded Jason of Leo's eyes. He wasn't sure why it called to him to bring it, it felt almost instinctive when he saw it, but he thought he wouldn't hurt.

He perked up when he heard movement in the trees. Looking up at the branches, before seeing a pair of familiar ember brown eyes. He felt a flutter in his chest, like he was still flying.

“And the feathered prince arrives! Sup, sparky!” Leo laughed as he jumped down from the tree he was hiding in, landing right in front of Jason. “Thought you might not been able to come tonight!”

Jason smiled, “I managed. Had to make sure I wasn't caught and all. Oh- and I-uh- got you this?”

Jason nervously handed him the gem,anxiety pricked at him. Scared Leo would find it weird.

Leo looked confused at first, the dragon tilting his head a bit.

“A gift-? Oh, man thanks- but I didn't get you anythi-”

“No. No need.” Jason said. “Just saw it and thought of you I guess.” He blurted out without thinking. “Well, I'm mean-’

Leo's blinked at him, seeming shocked, before chuckling.

“Aww~ You think of me!” Leo said playfully, his smirk was almost enough to make Jason melt.

“Oh- Yeah- I mean- you've been very kind to me, so- thought I get something.” Jason rubbed the back of his neck.

Leo smiled.

“Well thank you very much,Sparks.” He chuckled,pocketing the gem.”Sooo,how's castle life going?”

Jason smiled back, “Nothing new, really.” He shrugged. “Cousins’ been over, that's usually chaotic in itself…what about you?” He said quickly, not wanting to get into his home life too much.

“Eeh,same ole same ole. Dad and Aglaea are away finding scrap for another of dad's projects,so Jake's in charge.” He shrugged. “He can be pretty serious about it, we have to remind him not to push himself all the time.” Leo rolled his eyes.

Jason managed a soft chuckle, he always liked hearing about Leo's family. Leo had such a close bond with his siblings.

They sat and talked like they did every time, Jason mostly listening as he really wasn't use to actually telling others about himself to begin with. Leo seemed genuinely interested in learning about him though, which was new to Jason.

He was used to nobles who liked to up themselves up to him. Leo wasn't that.

“So, like, no offense dude- but how often you preen your wings?” Leo was now hanging off a branch, his tail curled around it to keep him from falling on his head.

“I'm sorry?” Jason frowned.

“Like, you know, clean out molts and such- that's what preening is right? Only a couple of my siblings have feathers.” Leo shrugged as he swung on the branch he hung from.

“I-uh-i don't know. Why?”

Leo stopped, “You don't know?” He frowned.

“I mean- I try to get it when I'm cleaning I guess? It ain't have my wings out during the day, so-”

“Dude, no wonder you always look in pain. You're just asking for cramps!”

Jason blinked, he did have cramps on his wings but he learned to ignore it. It wasn't like he had much of a choice.

“I guess. I just…kinda do what I can to keep them healthy,I don't really know for sure how often I should be doing so.”

“Wait,really?” Leo tilting his head. “No one taught you?”

Jason shook his head, “Not really…my family's mostly sorcerers.”

“Dam.” Leo got down from the branch. “Even dad taught us how to deal with the shedding season.” He shrugged, before plopping down next to Jason.

“Yeah, well, just never really was taught. Even my governess only was allowed to teach me the basics. I think she wanted to teach me more about fae but…well, father forbade it.” Jason sighed. Lupa really was the only one who actively taught him anything he felt was important.

“What a jerk- or uh, no offense- I know he's your father and all, but good lords.” Leo snorted. “I can help with preening at some point, if you want.” He said before suddenly stuttering. “I-Well-I mean if you need the help- just get you getting better at it and such and- uh-”

Jason felt his face flush, he didn't know why the offer made him so flustered.

“I- sure, yeah- that would be nice.” He breathed. “Thank you.”

“Right. Yeah. Cool.” Leo nodded. “Of course.”

— — — — — — —

By the time that reached the end of the night, and Jason was off again, Leo's head was racing.

Well, it was always racing, but even more than usual now.

He slipped back into the cave, flopping down into his part of the nest and groaning.

“Damn. That bad?” Leo's older brother, Jake, said as he sat down beside Leo.

Leo looked up at his brother and pouted.

“I offered to help with preening-”

“You what?”

“-And he said yes.” Leo groaned. “What was I thinking?”

“He said yes??” Jake scoffed. “Oh he definitely likes you.”

Leo sat up, “He might not know allopreening and such is usually seen for family and partners! Poor guy isn't even allowed to stretch his wings out most of the time! Lords,you should see him flying!” Leo sighed. “The offer just slipped out,I didn't even think about it, I definitely didn't think he'd agree to it!”

“Okay. Even without social views of allopreening,I think he'd at least have a personal feeling about it being for people you're comfortable with.” Jake said.

Leo sighed, “I guess- and, lords- he gave me a gem-”

“A gem??” Jake's mouth went agape.

Leo nodded, taking it out of his pocket and showing him. “He said he saw it and thought of me- what am I supposed to do with that??”

Gifting gems and such was often part of dragon flirting customs,surely Jason hadn't known though. Right?

“Oh he has it bad.” Jake said.

“He probably didn't think anything of it-”

“Leo, he picked up a gem because it reminded him of you and accepted an offer to allopreening.” Jake sighed. “He's like one step away from nesting at this point. I can't believe you managed to get a crown prince to fall for you, a storm fae at that, and yet your self esteem is still at rock bottom.” He shook his head. “Just ask him out.”

Leo fell back into the nest, “What if he says no? Then I've made it awkward. I'm still processing I find him hot!”

Leo covered his face with his hands. Jason was definitely out of his league anyway.

Jake rubbed his eyes, “You are more of a demisexual disaster then my own boyfriend,dear lords, is this how Lee and Charles felt?” He grumbled to himself.

“Hey-!”

“He obviously cares about you.” Jake went on, “Even if he really turns out to not like you back, I doubt he'd hate you for it. If anything he's more likely to think you hate him if you start avoiding the topic or thinking about it.”

Leo sighed, flopping his arms out beside him.

“Yeah, yeah guess you're right.”

“Of course I am, I'm your big brother.” Jake chuckled ruffling his hair.

“Come on!” He complained,”not the hair! It's already a mess to fix with nest head!”

Both chuckle, before Jake got up,offering a hand to Leo to help.

“Come on. Let's go hunting for everyone. Past dinner anyway, Harley might start chewing on Christopher if he's not fed soon.”

“Oh Lords, I could hear the fussing already!” Leo laughed, he was thankful for Jake tugging him out and on his feet. Why he wasn't great at hunting, he often did the cooking of everything. It helped him to do something active.

As much as he hated to admit, Jake was probably right. He just needed to yank the dagger out. Even if the thought scared him,at least it would be better than having a crisis everytime Jason Grace even smiled at him.

Lords, Leo really was a mess.

[sincerely-sofie]

I saw your tag about meeting your boyfriend because of posting on Tumblr and I'm very curious as to how that happened. Like, did you find each other's blogs, saw you had stuff in common and met up IRL? What happened? Please give us details (if you're willing to talk about it, no worries if not!)

Also, for a boyfriend tag, may I suggest... Calcium. Cuz you're a skeleton and calcium makes bones stronger... I'll see myself out

(Referencing the tags of this post)

Oh my gosh. Buddy you have just opened up Pandora’s box. Brace yourself for the most adorable couple origin story ever.

He followed me fairly early on into the process of me posting my work on Tumblr. I don’t remember exactly, but I think my TPiaG mini comic “Heart-to-Heartbreak” was the first post he ever reblogged from me. After that, he was super enthusiastic and involved with my blog and engaged with basically every post I ever made. This guy was one of THE followers of my work— if I posted something, he was always there to like it and share super thoughtful commentary or hilarious jokes.

I absolutely adored him even back then, and we had barely exchanged a handful of messages on Tumblr where he thanked me for inspiring him to get back into art and writing, and I blubbered about how meaningful that was to me. We eventually followed each other on Spotify and I think that’s about the point when I really should have realized I had it bad for him. I was CONSTANTLY rambling to my mom about how much I wanted to be this internet stranger’s best friend, but I was super hesitant because our family has been huge on online stranger danger and never really talking to anyone unless you know exactly who they are in real life. I’m an adult and all, yeah, but I was still super anxious about internet strangers at large— though he never once made me uncomfortable or wary :>

Eventually, he made a goofy post about it being his birthday, and I bolted to tell my mom about that and how I didn’t have enough time that day to polish up any content of his favorite characters I’ve written and post it as a gift for him. I was utterly distraught and pretty much full-on monologuing to my ever-so patient mother about how much I wanted to befriend this man and how amazing he was and how shy I felt about the matter, and she looked me dead in the eyes and told me to ask him if he wanted to message each other more and get to know each other better.

I sent him a message over Tumblr, we exchanged Discord usernames, and I’m pretty sure it was just over a week of messaging and getting to know each other more and more every day later when he told me he thought he was in love with me— to which I very eloquently rattled off a bunch of nonsense that ended in “I don’t know how to communicate this other than by saying ‘dude, same’.”

After that, we’ve only gotten more and more mutually obsessed. Thankfully he’s in the same country as me, and we’re even timezone neighbors, so he’s not on the opposite side of the world— and when I realized some of my household were going on a trip to the same state where he lived for a family wedding, I SCRAMBLED to insert myself into that trip last-minute. We had originally thought that we’d meet up when he could drive to my state (a process that would take a long time because of some complicating factors), but when I realized my family were flying down there, I was practically foaming at the mouth with the thought of seeing him so much sooner. We met up not that long ago and were even able to meet some of each other’s family members (my family absolutely adores him, and I think his likes me a fair bit too, hehe). But listen: when I tell you I adored him before, I was absolutely head-over-heels for him when we met in person. I got to hug him and I had this thought come to mind of “Oh. This is the person I want to marry.” And I’ve never once doubted it :>

During the times we met up we mostly sat around and basked in each other’s presence and stared at each other. I ended up breaking eye contact a lot because I kept getting flustered and also because this man is TALL and I had to periodically rest my neck 😂 I was able to give him some pins I had made of our PMD team that represents us, and my boyfriend. My boyfriend, you guys. He had the gall to send me a screenshot of an eBay listing of the world’s most adorable Snorlax plush weeks before while we were on a call together, bought it immediately after I had said I loved the plush’s face as we hung up, and then GAVE ME IT WHEN WE MET UP.

Look at him. That’s my son now. I was trying to think of what to name the little guy when my toddler niece dubbed him Tummy. My boyfriend approves of the monicker— as he should, because it’s the bestest name for the bestest boy.

TL;DR— He followed me on tumblr, I desperately wanted to be friends with him and sent him my Discord username on his birthday, we exchanged “I love you”s a week later, and I was almost sick on a plane because I was so excited to see him during a trip to his state for a family member’s wedding. We are absolutely obsessed with each other and kind of instantly Knew from the get-go that we’re going to be each other’s Person™️.

As for the tag, I'm not sure I’ll go with it but I’m starting to consider “The Boyfriend Bird Feeder”, because it works out to the acronym BFBF which I find funny, I mainly want to make the tag as a way for him to easily find posts where I’m talking about how amazing he is whenever he needs a pick-me-up (and so people can block the tag if they find me raving about my man so much annoying lol), and his persona that we spent all day yesterday cooking up looks like this:

[offbrandkyoya]

92 Fight Club

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Diluc ran and ran to the train station.

When he arrives, the train leaves and Thoma was no where to be found. “Fuck..” He mutters, clearly defeated. He wasted so much time and now, he’ll never see him again.

Diluc turns back around but freezes when Thoma stands right in front of him. He notices he’s holding a brown lunch bag. “Thoma, y-you’re still here. I thought you left already?” The blonde blushes, “Uh, no, I got hungry and the line was kind of long…so…” “Oh okay.”

There was silence. Diluc gulps before speaking, “I wanted to talk to you.” “About?” “A…About us…” Thomas eyes widen, “Us?” The redhead nods. “Y-Yeah. I…I want to say I’m sorry. For literally everything…” He sighs, “Thoma, it was wrong for me to break up with you. I did that because I thought it’d be better for you. I should’ve talked to you about it but instead I just let you go. I really don’t deserve you at all. You never once complained about our relationship and it was all me. I thought I was doing the right thing but instead I let us down. I’m sorry.”

Thoma clutches his bag, thinking of a response. Dilucs face turned red as he’s a bit nervous about his reaction. Thoma looks the side, “I appreciate your apology but I don’t want us to get back together again.” Dilucs shocked by this. Surely, he thought Thoma would give him a chance because it’s Thoma. The kindest guy you’d ever meet.

“Why?” “Because…I don’t think..” Thoma closes his eyes tightly. “I don’t think I’m ready to be with you again. I’m sorry.” Thoma looks at him in pity. “I still like you but I’m not ready. Not yet.” “Then I’ll wait.” Diluc replies immediately, shocking Thoma a little. “Y-You will?” “Uh huh. I’ll wait as long as it takes but please, don’t fall for anyone else. I won’t fall for anyone either because you’re the one for me.”

Thoma blinks then bursts out laughing. Diluc jumps a little. “What a selfish thing to say. That’s so not you!” He calms down a little then smiles at him. “Okay, I won’t. Promise.” Diluc smiles too. “Can we at least be friends?” Thoma nods. “I’d like that.” Diluc smiles more. “Cool. Nothing like befriending your crush.” “Very cliche.”

The train arrives and Thoma begins to walk to it. “Well, see ya-“ “Uh, wait!” Diluc grabs his sleeve. He blushes a bit. “Let me walk you home?” Thoma giggles, “Okay but we’re going on the train first.” “Y-You know what I mean!” So the two men climb aboard. Another love story solved.

“I suddenly feel happy.” You say after you’ve put away your painting. “Freak.” Scaramouche comments and you punch his stomach. He groans as you puff up your cheeks. “Yn.” You straighten yourself up upon hearing that voice. Standing right in front of you are your parents. “Mom, dad, you’re here…” “We heard that you won.” “Oh right.” ‘Of course that’s all they care about.’

Your mother scans the room. “Where is it?” “Where’s what?” “Your painting.” Your father answers. “Oh, I put it away because I’m heading home. I had a tiring day.” You say sincerely. Scaramouche stands behind you, watching you converse with your parents. “I see.” Your mother shrugs, “Fine, I guess. We’ve seen it roam around the internet anyways.”

“To think you actually got somewhere with that.” Your dad chuckles and you look down a little. “Now that that’s out of your hair, you can go back to focusing on your studies.” “But-“ “No buts Yn.” Your mother lifts a finger. “You’ve disappointed us enough. Don’t try to continue to rebel.” You feel tears well up but you see Scaramouche’s arm wrap around your body.

“Yn can do whatever they want.” He says and your parents eye him. “Who’s this?” “Their boyfriend.” He states matter a factly. “Oh, I know him.” Your dad nods. “Yes, he’s the one who was abandoned by his mother a child.” “Oh that’s right! He’s the same one who had that crazy meltdown in public.” Your mom shakes her head. “Music doesn’t get you anymore.” Scaramouche growls but your hand rests on top of his.

“Don’t talk about him like that.” You say with an angry expression. “I don’t like that you’re talking crap about my boyfriend right in front of me! Also, I don’t give a shit if you’re disappointed by the fact I’m still doing art! I won because I’m good at what I do! You don’t support me at all and honestly, I don’t care.” You clench your fists. “Fuck you. My friends and Scaramouche are all I need.”

Your parents look at you wide eyed. You grab Scaramouche’s hand and stomp off to the front door. “Woah Yn, slow down.” He says once you’ve made it far enough. You guys stop and you frown. “Sorry…” “Hey,” He kisses your cheek and his hand rests on your cheek. “That was pretty cool that you stood up to them.” You smile weakly. “Thanks. I’m really sorry about what they said about you.” “It’s fine.”

He kisses you again. “Guess they won’t be seeing their grandkids.” You blush heavily. “S-Scara! Please stop mentioning that!” He laughs and kisses you again while you whine. “Before we leave, I’m going to use the bathroom real quick, okay?” “Okay.” You share a kiss before he turns back to use the restroom.

You place your arms behind your back with a hum. A few minutes passed, people leaving and entering. You decided to lean against the wall so you wouldn’t be in peoples way. As you wait, you noticed something odd. This girl keeps coming back and leaving. At first you thought she might’ve forgot something but she did it quite often.

She’s leaving again and you decide to confront her. “Excuse me, do you need anything?” She smirks a little, stopping in her tracks. “Why yes! Are you Yn?” “Um, yes?” Her smirk reminds you of the Cheshire Cat and because of this, you’re a bit skeptical at what she wants.

“Is something the matter?” “Oh nothing, nothing!” She giggled weirdly. “Then why are you coming back all the time? Are you looking for something?” “I was looking for you.” She says and you feel grossed out.

“How come?” She shrugs with a hum. “To congratulate you on your win. I really didn’t think you’d pull it off.” You tilt your head. This girl wasn’t competing so you wondered. “I like Scaramouche.” She says and it clicks. “Oh you’re a fan.” You say boringly. “Yes, I am! I’m also a HUGE Diluc fan!” “That’s cool.” You sigh and look the other way to see if your boyfriend is finished.

“Yn,” You didn’t even bother to look at her. “You don’t give up.” “No, I don’t.” “Even after having your painting ruined. Such a shame.” Slowly, you turn your head towards her, your mind buzzing. “How do you know that?” She stares at you with a sinister smile. “Because I did that.” Rage boils up inside you.

“You know what else? I even sent you about Thoma.” You let out a gasp. That was so long ago that you completely forgot that the only reason you knew about the drama was because someone sent it to you. That someone was the same girl who ruined your picture. “Why-“ “Because we don’t like you.” “We?” “Everyone. You’re a bug, Yn. Getting in the way of your friends. Were they really being abused? Or were you just trying to blame on someone innocent. Your existence caused the boys to suffer. You should be ashamed.”

You grit your teeth and grab her shoulder. She screams and slaps your face. “They’re attacking me!” She shouts. Instantly, you slap her back. Not only that, you grab her hair as well and tug it hard. She yelps in pain and grabs hold of your arms.

Everyone circles around you two, watching instead of helping. You didn’t care at all. You kick her stomach, making her fall in the floor. You get on top of her and punch her. “How could you?! I worked long and hard on that painting but because of your hatred for me, you RUIN it?!” “It’s what you deserve! You’re a complete, utter, WHORE!” You punch her again and she punches you back.

The fight didn’t last as you were pulled away by force. “What’re you doing?!” Scaramouche looks at you crazy, grabbing your arms back to prevent you from escaping. Seeing him made you come to your senses. “Scara, she ruined my painting!” The girl stands up with a huff.

“You deserved it! Someone like you doesn’t deserve this win!” You growl but Scaramouche moves you behind him. He lets go and walks to the girl. “Scara-“ He slaps the girls face. “Leave them alone or I’ll kill you.” Scaramouche glares. She scoffs, “Is this how you treat your fans?!” “You’re no fan of mine. You’re a virgin loser who’s insecure about their love life. Me and my friends will never give you the satisfaction of dumping Yn for the likes of you.”

She stares at him wide eyed and looks at the people staring and whispering. Scaramouche shoved her, tripping on her own feet, she falls. “Get the hell away from me or I’ll chase you away if I have to.” He takes a step forward and she struggles to get up and when she does, she runs off.

Scaramouche lets out a sigh and turns to you. “You need to learn how to defend yourself. You’re all bruised up.” He walks to you and observes your features. “Use your arms to block your face or have fast reflexes to block.” You blink then begin to laugh. “You’re so weird, Scara.” “Wha-“ You grab his face and kiss him, startling him a little.

You pull away and hug him. “I love you.” Scaramouche couldn’t help but feel confused but he smiles and hugs you back. “I love you too.”

- did you guys see that the boy and the heron won an OSCAR?????????

- unfortunately i never watched the movie but i love ghibli and am super happy for Miyazaki! :3

🏷️ @sakiimeo @coquettemaiden @rmiyuki @kur44pika @theblueblub @jxxji0309 @dreamsofminnie @ohmyfinggod @redactedhimbo @kunisbeloved @akagism2 @sketcheeee @thefandomcrow @beriiov @thenightsflower @yukiipc @scaraapologist @scarletttcroww @samyayaya @crucnhice @monaypo1 @feiherp @myaaones @warcelia @hangecanweholdhands @yuminako @valiryyz @screechingxiaolover @tiddieshakeshownu @ilovechuuyaa @d4y-dr3am3r @dazaisfavgf @swivy123 @ganyusbrideee @sagegreenthinks @the-left-glove @wonderland-fan @kylexzz @kaoyamamegami @whycantscarabereal @rvoulte @eunchaeluvr @lxkeeeee @silvermah @baby-bread-in @yelleloww @magica-ren @itzblazekun @im-inlovewithy0u @featuredtofu @anastaxiah @ask-aph-tanzania @drmyday @what-just-happened-huh @xtobefreex @v4lerixxq @duckyyyx @hannoahs-third-eyelash @brain-r0tt @iota1111 @accio-fandom @kaitfae @tikitsune @salmonieea

[hopeymchope]

So someone i follow said that the way hajime and Chiaki met undercuts his character (don’t worry this one actually is reasonable)

According to the person in question said that meeting a cute girl who not only likes the same game as you but is an ultimate in front of a fountain is so cliche is something that shouldn’t happen to hajime but should happen to makoto because luck

What their basically arguing is that meeting Chiaki like this undercuts that hajime is meant to be plain and ordinary and things like this shouldn’t happen to him because of that

And that doing this makes hajime look special which according to them goes against the ordinary thing

What do you make of this

Just want to hear your opinion since this is a critique that actually feels reasonable to me

Is it a coincidence? Oh, for sure. But is it an unreasonable one, really? I don't personally think so... probably because I've had a couple similar meetings with people who share my interests and who I befriended despite never expecting to meet anyone like them, especially given where I was at those times. But I suppose individual mileage may vary. If you've never experienced a similar coincidence, perhaps this feels a lot more left-field.

Does Chiaki (and in some continuities, the other members of 77-B) befriending Hajime make him less plain/ordinary/unremarkable? Well, YEAH. He's a VERY noticable outlier because we never see anyone else from the classes we closely observe (77-B or 78) ever befriend any members of the Reserve Course... at least not any members they didn't already know beforehand. And it's not necessarily because they're being snobby, either, because we know how Reserve students are forcibly kept away from the main-course Ultimates. Because of that, a Reserve student could only ever befriend an Ultimate student if one happened to wander into the Reserve course's less-secured territories... even though all the amenities and resources they need for life are already available within the Main Course buildings. (And for the record, I do think that Chiaki wandering all over the campus without even caring where she is while she's gaming is believable/in-character for her. Or at least it's believable/in-character for the Chiaki we previously knew in DR2; she can be pretty absent-minded about anything that doesn't interest her or affect her directly. This is a girl who doesn't take her eyes off her portable's screen even as she's being hauled away over Yukizome's shoulders, after all.)

To me, though, undercutting Hajime's "ordinary-ness" is the point. It's kind of the point of all the Danganronpa protagonists, in fact: No matter how unremarkable they may feel or how low an opinion they have of themselves, they all show some spark within that makes them capable of achieving things that others can't. They all possess their own special, unique traits. It's a statement about how you don't to be identified/labeled as "special" or "important" by others in order to BE special and important. Hajime grew up feeling inferior to those with talent, those who are treated as special... but who is it that always gets it done during the class trials when the more eccentric Ultimates can't close the deal? Who is it that has to free himself and his supposed-Ultimate classmates from the Neo World Program in the end? And I could give similar speeches about Naegi, Shuichi, Komaru — even Kaede, albeit to a lesser extent than the rest. They all have this feeling that they're somehow Iess worthy than the people who surround/accompany them, but they all possess unique traits that ultimately (Ultimate-ly? Eh? Geddit? EHHHH??) endear them to their companions and make them integral in their eventual survival/escape.

This is all a long-winded way of me saying: Yeah, Hajime getting singled out by one or more Ultimates to become pals with the main course makes him seem less "ordinary." But I think that's in keeping with the larger point that he (and by extension we the players/viewers) possesses unique traits that make him special and important in his own way. Y'know?

[petitelepus]

OKAY SO

You technically know me 😼

But imma give you smth to work with :3

So i want a normal, human matchup??

I'm female, (can i say i'm bi i dunno??) 170 in height, kinda chunky but a lil muscly??

I have a permanent resting b face, short fuse, death stare EVERYBODY 😈

I'm nice to people that deserve it?? Like, if a stranger comes up to me and asks something or i ask someone for something i'm an angel but if somebody i know and don't like talks to me, i'm a bitch

I'm overall a bitch, but also a lil shy??

I like drawing, singing from time to time, i ADORE KITTIES AND WILL DO EVERYTHING FOR THEM.

With people i befriend i unlock my NAUGHTY ASS HUMOUR and overall cracked sense of humour.

(Just in case, we both know how i simp for Sanemi but you don't have to match me with him if that doesn't match me - yeah me big ass brain)

IF THIS REQUEST IS TOO CRACKED THEN TELL ME I WILL REWRITE IT???

or give up in shame

LOVE YAH BABE 😻🤯🥳

I match you with Sanemi Shinazugawa!

You and Sanemi both have resting bitch faces and may look unapproachable. In your case, it can be a defensive mechanism but in the Wind Hashira's case, he is a bastard who has no respect for anyone.

In the beginning, the two of you probably butt heads every single moment you two meet, infuriating and annoying each other so freaking much...! But you both secretly love how you can get under each other's skins. Not that either one of you will say it out loud!

Sanemi certainly does not deserve your kindness and he doesn't expect any from you.

It takes time and tons of hard work from you to earn his respect and even when you have it, he doesn't show it. He is as stubborn as a mule.

You aren't afraid of hard work and he admires that trait in you. He does not rely on luck and firmly believes that actions speak louder than words.

He secretly thinks you are cute, but you will never hear him say it out loud on purpose.

Instead, this bastard tells you how you have no place amongst the Demon Slayers and just like with his younger brother Genya, he tries to get you to quit also, but only because he is certain that is the only way he can keep you safe.

He has seen you acting all happy and buddy-buddy with other Hashiras and he knows it's none of his business who you spend time with, but it annoys him to see you smile so sweetly to someone you don't even know that well.

It takes time, so much time and work until he doesn't call you a bitch and instead uses your real name. When he does this, you can immediately tell something is different, and that he has changed his view of you.

You may be tempted to be an ass and tease him, but you know that Sanemi wouldn't say or do something if he didn't mean it. Maybe the two of you could get along? You are both willing to try, even if a little reluctant.

Old habits die hard so he may call you bitch now and then, but it's more affectionative than insulting. In the same way, you may call him a bastard, but there isn't the usual aggressive bite in your words. No, it's much sweeter now.

Sanemi starts to hang around you, but not necessarily in the same room as you. He might be secretly listening to you sing but if you catch him listening, he gets defensive and may unintentionally say something like, "I just came to check who was killing the cat here!"

It doesn't help that you usually have a stray cat or two following you around. You're like a damn cat magnet and they like you almost as much as you adore them.

Sanemi doesn't mind cats, but they seem to love him also for some reason. It's like he chases humans away but attracts cats?

It might take a close situation where you are almost killed before Sanemi comes clear and tells you that he likes you out loud. The fear of losing you would shed away all his protective walls and show the tender love he has inside.

After that, he would start dreaming of a peaceful life with you in a world where Demons don't exist anymore. Maybe have a kid or two if you want any or travel a little? Whatever it is, he wants to do it with you by his side until the day you both enter the next life.

I know you, my dear friend and I know how you love Sanemi, so I kept it a secret, but I totally think Sanemi is your match!

[helloalycia]

green-eyed monster [one] // alicia clark

summary: you're living at the stadium and have befriended Alicia, but that friendship gets rocky when a new girl joins and Alicia doesn't trust her.

warning/s: mentions of loss

author's note: it's been so long since i last shared anything i wrote and for that i apologise! happy new year firstly, legit cannot believe it's 2023. I've been working on a bunch of different stuff and never seem to finish any of it, hence why this is the first thing i'm sharing for a few months – i just happened to finally finish it!

for anybody who cares, i'm working on a several part lexa imagine (or short story depending on how long it ends up lol what can i say, i miss her), and i've almost finished writing my first lesbian fiction story which is exciting! i cannot wait to share more details on that with you closer to the time, but for now, thanks for being patient with me and i hope you enjoy part 1 of 2 to this alicia imagine because i miss her :))

part two / masterlist / wattpad

"You know how to ruin a girl's self esteem, you know that?"

"Oh, shut up. Stop being dramatic." Alicia rolled her eyes, trying not to laugh.

"What? Maybe I wanted to–"

"Start walking around the stadium with a safari hat on your head? Yeah, I'm sure you did."

I gave her a knowing look, doing all I could not to let my smile take over. "You know it looks good."

She held my stare, as if to make me see sense, but all it did was finally make her laugh. It was a good feeling, I won't lie, hearing her laughter and watching the twinkle in her eyes when she did.

"Don't worry, I won't embarrass you by wearing it," I assured her with an amused smile, removing the hat from my head. "But I know you secretly love it."

She grinned. "You're so annoying, d'you know that?"

I shrugged carelessly, smiling nonetheless. Hanging out with Alicia was always my favourite thing, even if it meant frustrating her to no end (AKA my favourite hobby). Ever since her and her family invited me to stay with them at their settlement – an old baseball stadium – I felt like me again. I'd been convinced I would spend the rest of my life struggling to find food and running from infected forever, but they changed that.

It was easy to befriend Alicia since she was around my age, one of the only ones here who was. But that was a few months ago, back when they were starting this place up. Now, it was different, but the 'damage' had been done and Alicia was stuck with me whether she liked it or not.

"We really need to sort these clothes out, so stop fooling around," she warned me with a stifled smile.

"Yeah, yeah..."

We were sorting through some clothes that had been picked up on recent supply runs, separating the unusable ones from the ones we could definitely wash and share out between everyone. But as always with Alicia, it was easy to get distracted.

As we continued to go through everything, neatening the piles of clothes up on the table, we were interrupted by Madison, Alicia's mum.

"...and this is my daughter, Alicia, who I was telling you about," she was saying, and I noticed she was showing somebody new around. "This is her friend, Y/N."

Alicia and I exchanged glances before stopping what we were doing. Madison and the stranger looked to us with smiles.

"Girls, this is Jade," Madison introduced the newbie. "She's going to be joining us here from today. We bumped into her on the latest supply run."

"I don't know if I'll be staying yet," Jade said with a friendly smile, giving Madison a knowing look as if referencing a prior conversation, "but Madison was kind enough to bring me along. It's great to meet you both."

"Trust me, you'll wanna stay," I said jokingly, knowing that exact mentality because it was the same one I had when I first arrived. "It's nice to meet you, Jade."

"Yeah, it's nice having you here," Alicia added with her signature smile, enough to make anyone weak in the knees, or maybe just me. "The more the merrier."

"I'm just showing her around the place to let her have a feel for how things are," Madison explained, before noticing what we were doing and looking to Jade. "The girls are just sorting through our findings, clothes-wise. Kind of like shopping but without the money."

"Without the money but with the mean comments," I corrected, giving Alicia a knowing glance, and she rolled her eyes with amusement.

"It was a stupid hat, Y/N, you know it was."

"Whatever."

Alicia's smile widened before she looked to her mum. "I don't mind finishing up the tour if you want. I know you have a lot to do."

"You sure, hon?"

"Y/N an' I will both do it," she said, nudging me in the side when she mentioned my name.

"I guess we will," I said when Madison and Jade looked to me expectantly.

"Great," Madison said with a relieved smile. To Jade, she added, "I leave you in their capable hands."

"Fine by me," Jade said with a chuckle.

And so that was how I found myself giving a tour to the new girl with Alicia. It wasn't too bad since it was a nice change of pace from the usual daily chores, and it was also fun to get to know somebody who was similar in age and wasn't Alicia (not that I didn't love hanging out with her). Jade was chill, funny and laidback. Very confident with herself, which could be a little intimidating sometimes, and a little flirtier than I expected, but she seemed lovely.

Alicia and I showed her around the place – the cattle we had, the irrigation system that was rigged up, the rooms we were building – with hopes of subtly convincing her to stay. As Alicia said, the more that joined us, the merrier it was.

From what little Jade revealed, she didn't have any family or a group to rely on, she was just alone, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to have her start over here.

"You don't need to make any decisions now, or even today," Alicia said to her at the end of our tour. "Stay the night, catch up on your sleep, and then decide. But it could be a fresh start is all."

Jade nodded gratefully.

"It doesn't seem real, but it is," I added with a small smile. "It was the fresh start I was looking for. Could be yours, too."

"Thanks, both of you," Jade said, looking between us. "You've been amazing tour guides. Certainly gave me a lot to consider."

"Don't forget to leave us a five star review on Yelp," I joked, barely getting to add more before Alicia slapped me on the back of the head.

"Ignore her, she's just an idiot," she said to Jade when I frowned.

Jade laughed as I shot Alicia a sideways glare.

"Come on, we finished just in time to grab some dinner," Alicia said, ignoring me.

Even when she was annoyed at me, she still had my attention, I wouldn't lie.

So, Jade decided to stay.

It didn't take much convincing, and the next day, she'd already made up her mind. Naturally, she began to hang around with Alicia and I since we were the only people she knew and the only ones similar to her age. That's when I discovered that her overly-friendly and flirty nature wasn't a one-off, but rather something she kept up the longer we got to know each other.

It was always little compliments she'd throw my way, or certain times I'd catch her staring at me and she'd completely own it rather than looking away. At first I was flustered considering I hadn't been on the receiving end of someone's interest in a long time, but then I began to enjoy it for the same reason. I hadn't been involved with anybody romantically for a while, so it was – dare I say it – fun to have the attention. Besides, it wasn't anything serious, so why not enjoy it?

Funnily enough, as I began to like having Jade around, Alicia was the opposite. Whereas I appreciated her friendliness, Alicia began to become suspicious of it. It wasn't entirely obvious, but I'd come to know the green-eyed girl very well. Enough to read her curious expressions whenever Jade was within her vicinity. She even approached me about it once, shortly after Jade lent me one of her books because she knew I wanted something new to check out.

"Don't you think Jade is a bit too nice sometimes?" she asked me with a raised brow, eyes following the girl in question as she walked away.

I tried not to laugh. "What do you mean? How can someone be too nice?"

"You know... she's just always listening and being thoughtful and hasn't started any arguments since being here." Her eyes were still on Jade's retreating figure, leaving me suspicious.

"I mean, do you want her to start an argument? Isn't it a good thing that she's settling in?" When she didn't answer, I tilted my head forward so she would look at me. "Alicia?"

Finally looking my way, Alicia straightened up. "I don't know. I just think it's worth keeping an eye on her. Something feels off about her."

I couldn't understand what Alicia saw – Jade was getting on with everybody perfectly. She'd settled in this past week splendidly, falling into place like she'd always belonged. The only explanation I could think of was jealousy, which made me smile teasingly.

"It sounds like somebody's jealous that I've got a new friend," I joked, putting my arm around her shoulder, making her cross her arms and scoff in response. "Alicia, you know there's nothing wrong with Jade. It's okay to be jealous."

"You're being so stupid," she defended weakly. "I'm not jealous. I'm serious."

"Look, you'll always be my favourite," I continued to tease her, finding so much amusement in it. "Alicia Clark is irreplaceable. Even if she is a green-eyed monster right now."

If it was jealousy that was changing her opinion on Jade, it was unnecessary. If she knew that I'd already fallen head over heels for her, she definitely wouldn't doubt a thing.

"Forget it," Alicia mumbled, nudging my arm off her shoulder and walking the other way.

"Always my favourite!" I called after her with a laugh. "Don't forget it!"

She flipped me off without turning around before storming off.

I'd like to say it ended at that point and Alicia got over it the longer Jade stayed around, but she didn't. It was as if whenever Jade happened to be about, Alicia would get irrationally annoyed.

There was one time when I was eating dinner with Alicia and everything was going fine, as usual, in the sense that she wasn't previously annoyed for any reason. That was until Jade approached the table with a smile on her face. She looked between us before settling on me.

"Are you ready?"

It took me a minute to realise what she was on about before I straightened up. "Oh, yeah! One second."

As I finished my last bite quickly, Alicia quirked a brow. "Ready for what?"

Realising I hadn't told her, I said, "Jade is pretty good at building stuff, so she said she'd help me with the broken bookshelf in my room. Cool, right?"

Alicia didn't reply, instead clenching her jaw slightly as she glanced up at Jade.

"Well, I wasn't going to leave it how I saw it last time," Jade said with amusement. "Pretty girls need pretty things, right?"

I breathed out slowly through my nose, looking down at my plate and feeling my face heat up.

"I'm happy to help you, too, Alicia," Jade said, thankfully directing the remainder of the conversation to Alicia instead of me. "If you need anything fixing or anything."

I glanced up, watching Alicia roll her eyes rudely. She found mine, so I gave her a disapproving look because it wasn't necessary and all she'd done is make Jade uncomfortable.

"I'll, er, wait over there for you, Y/N," Jade finished, pointing over her shoulder.

I nodded and watched her leave, making sure she was out of earshot, before staring at Alicia with disbelief. "Seriously?"

"Fixing stuff?" she said, pulling a disgusted face. "Really? It's amazing how she seems to be good at everything, don't you think?"

"That's not fair, Alicia," I scolded her. "She's just being friendly."

"That's a little more than friendly...," Alicia mumbled under her breath, making me frown.

"So what?" I retorted, more frustrated than I realised. "Is that a bad thing?"

Alicia met my eyes, gaze softening apologetically. "Just be careful, Y/N. There's something strange about her."

Embarrassed, I said, "If the strange thing is that she might actually like me, then yeah, very strange."

She reached out her hand, but I pulled mine away. She frowned, saying, "I didn't mean it like that."

I avoided her eyes, stupidly flustered. "It doesn't matter. Just stop being rude to Jade. It's not fair on her."

She didn't respond straight away and I didn't stay to hear her opinion. I only hoped she would listen to me.

I'd love to say that after that awkward conversation with Alicia, she finally dropped her random grudge and got over herself, but she didn't. Instead, she decided to keep it up and take it one step further.

We were eating dinner together another night, though this time it was Alicia, Madison, Nick – Alicia's brother – and his girlfriend, Luciana, along with myself and Jade. Everything was going fine and it was supposed to be a normal dinner, until Alicia decided to ruin it.

"I would like to say something," Alicia announced suddenly, making everyone cease their conversation.

"What is it, sweetie?" Madison asked with concern.

I furrowed my eyebrows slightly, wondering what she wanted to say, until I realised her eyes were dead set on Jade sat beside me.

"You've been acting very weird lately, Jade," she came outright with it, making me squeeze my fork with annoyance.

"Alicia," I warned, but she ignored me.

"I followed you," she continued.

"What?" Jade asked with surprise.

"What?" I also said, raising my eyebrows with disbelief.

Alicia licked her lips, glancing at me with apologetic eyes, before staring at Jade with accusation. "Yeah, because I noticed you keep sneaking away into the stands every afternoon with a radio."

"Alicia, what's happening right now?" Madison asked with confusion, glancing between her and Jade. "What are you doing?"

"No, the question is what is she doing?" Alicia asked, glaring at Jade. "What are you hiding, Jade?"

Nick began to chuckle quietly, finding the whole thing amusing, whilst Luciana tried to tell him to be quiet and not interrupt. Meanwhile Madison scolded Alicia for overstepping and invading Jade's privacy. Alicia ignored her mother and kept her gaze focused on a nervous looking Jade.

"Why couldn't you just listen to me?" I said to Alicia, trying to earn her attention, but she wasn't listening. "Alicia!"

"Well?" she pressed Jade further, acting as if I wasn't there.

Jade swallowed hard before nodding slowly. "Fine." Everybody fell silent, and I looked to my right to hear her out. She continued, "Alicia is right. Sometimes I go to the stands to be alone."

"And the radio?" Alicia prodded, quirking a brow. "Who are you talking to, Jade?"

Jade paused, frowning slightly, before reaching into her satchel that she always wore and pulling out a radio, one I'd never seen before in my life. I didn't even know she had a radio. Nobody really carried them around the stadium unless it was on a supply run. And newbies especially weren't allowed them in case they tried to contact the wrong sorts of people. Why did Jade have one?

"It's old," Jade said, practically reading my mind. She looked around at everyone, eyes lingering on mine, before she opened the back of the radio. "It doesn't work. No batteries. See?"

She showed us the empty back, absent of batteries and therefore rendering it useless. With each word she uttered, Alicia's face drained.

"It's the last thing I have from my sister," Jade continued reluctantly. "We used to talk all the time with it. It's– it's just a keepsake, that's all... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be suspicious. I just wasn't ready to share that history with everyone."

Nobody was smiling now, the air filled with an uncomfortable tension. I frowned, watching Jade clumsily put the back cover back on her radio and into her bag.

"Jade, I... I'm so sorry for my daughter's behaviour," Madison began guiltily, when Alicia said and did nothing except stare with surprise.

"It's okay," Jade said with a forced smile. "She was just looking out for you all, for this place you've built. But I... if you'll excuse me..."

Before anybody could stop her, she slid off the bench and left in a hurry, upset and hurt and everything else that came with talking about your dead sister. I couldn't just watch her leave and be by herself in that state, so I got up, too, but not before glaring at Alicia.

"You happy now?" I asked her rhetorically, before running after Jade.

I caught up to her as she was crossing the stadium, probably making her way back to her room.

"Jade, wait up," I called, finally stopping before her before she could get further. "I'm so sorry Alicia did that and you had to say all of that. It wasn't fair."

She smiled dryly, avoiding my eyes. "I had my suspicions that Alicia didn't like me, but that was..."

I frowned, trying to find her eyes. "She's not usually like this. I think she's just adjusting to having someone else around. It was always just the two of us and... I'm sorry."

It felt stupid to defend Alicia after pulling something like this, but I had to. This wasn't her, she was better than this. Jade had to know that.

"It's okay," Jade assured me with a nod, before tilting her head and staring at me. "It's sweet that you're defending her. You're too sweet for your own good, Y/N."

I swallowed thickly, unsure what else to say. She raised her hand, touching my cheek tenderly and making me freeze at the contact.

"Thanks for coming to check on me," she said, dropping her hand, "but I just want to be alone if that's okay."

I cleared my throat, nodding. "Of course."

She smiled weakly before walking away. I exhaled deeply before turning around to head back to the others. I expected to find Alicia there, but I was told she'd gone back to her room, so I stormed over there myself, anger building up once more. As soon as I knocked on her door, she opened it guiltily, about to speak, but I didn't let her get a breath in before I unloaded.

"What the hell was that, Alicia?!" I shouted, looking between her eyes, searching for an answer. "You did the complete opposite of what I asked! I told you to drop it and now – what? You've dredged up Jade's past? You satisfied, Alicia?"

When I was finished, she pressed her lips together and breathed out through her nose. With a calm voice, she said, "I'm sorry, Y/N. I didn't know that– I had to be sure it wasn't anything strange. It looked weird, her sneaking away to radio someone. Can't you agree?"

"No, because I didn't have any doubts!" I fired back with disapproval.

"I don't trust her," she said, shaking her head.

"You only had to trust me."

Her gaze flickered between my eyes, an apology hiding behind hers. I hated that with a simple look she already had me loosening up, willing to get over it.

"I'm sorry," she repeated earnestly. "I'll apologise to Jade, too."

I looked down at my shoes, frowning. Never had Alicia and I argued like this before, especially over something so silly.

"Are we good?" she asked softly, shoe kicking the tip of mine reluctantly, making me look at them.

I rubbed my hands over my face, sighing, before nodding and looking at her. "Yeah, we are. I'm just... a bit annoyed at you right now."

She chewed on her bottom lip, guilt forcing her to look away.

"I'm gonna go," I said awkwardly. "I just hope this pettiness stops now, Alicia."

She nodded in agreement and I left it at that.

Following the incident at dinner, Alicia kept to her promise and dialled her attitude back whenever it came to Jade. She wasn't best friends with her, but the death glares and confrontations were kept to a minimum which was all I could have asked for. There was the occasional eye roll of course, but if I pretended it wasn't there then it didn't bother me.

"Just take off the dead leaves," I told Alicia with a stifled smile. "Why does everything have to be so difficult?"

"Because I wasn't supposed to be on gardening duty today," she retorted, scowling at the plants.

"Don't act like you don't love spending time with me," I teased, and she merely nudged me in the side, making me catch myself with my arm before I fell sideways from my sat down position.

We were both sat on the soil, cleaning up the vegetable patches as part of our chores, but Alicia's chore was changed from guard duty to this for today, so she wasn't particularly loving it.

"With guard duty, I only have to sit and keep watch," she muttered as she picked off the dead leaves.

"That's boring," I said with a shake of my head.

"Well, it wouldn't be if you traded jobs and did it with me," she said, glancing at me with a hopeful smile.

I mirrored her stance, making fun of her. "Or you could trade jobs and do this with me."

She lost her smile, straightening up, and I laughed at the sudden change of expression.

"It's not even that bad," I told her, before scooting over slightly to move onto the next plant.

She muttered in disagreement, making my smile widen, before a quiet fell upon us.

"Y/N, Alicia, hey!"

I looked up at the sound of my name, as did Alicia, only to see Jade approaching us with a friendly smile. Alicia's eye roll didn't go unnoticed when Jade kneeled before us. Just like that, the air around us changed.

"Hey, Jade," I greeted for the both of us, offering her a smile. "How are you?"

"Doing good, yeah," she said, returning my smile. "Just finished washing the breakfast dishes. Thought I'd stop by and see if you ladies needed a hand."

I glanced at Alicia, expecting a sarky comment of some sort, but she surprisingly stayed quiet and had her eyes glued to the plants.

"You don't have to," I said politely, looking back to Jade. "I think Alicia and I got it. Besides, it's our chores, not yours."

"Oh, I don't mind," she insisted. "I have nothing else to do anyway."

Not having any other reason to decline, I shrugged. "Okay, sure. We're just cleaning up the vegetable patch. So removing any dead leaves and giving everything a water after. Knock yourself out."

She hummed in agreement before sitting cross-legged opposite us and beginning to pluck the dead leaves from the plants. It was quiet once again, as the three of us worked silently, but I felt Jade's eyes on me and glanced up at her.

"What?" I asked, suddenly nervous because I hated attention like that.

She smiled, eyes looking me up and down. "Nothing, sorry."

I quirked a brow. "Seriously?"

Chuckling, she shook her head. "I just– you look good today, that's all."

I opened my mouth to respond, but all that came out was an awkward breath before I looked away. My face started to heat up when she began to laugh.

"You're cute when you're nervous," she added, only making me want the Earth to swallow me up there and then.

"I just realised I have to go help mom with something," Alicia suddenly said, before I could say anything.

I looked over to her, recovering from my embarrassment. "What? What about this?"

She tensed her jaw slightly, avoiding my eyes. "Jade's helping, right? I gotta go."

"Alicia," I said, furrowing my brows because something was clearly up.

She ignored me and stood up, not even bothering to dust the soil from her jeans before walking away. I watched after her, confused, before looking back to Jade when she spoke up.

"You and Alicia," she started curiously, "has that ever been a thing?"

Still thinking about the green-eyed girl in question, I only half listened. "A thing?"

"You know," she said like it was obvious, "a couple. The two of you."

I almost choked on my own spit when I realised what she was asking, and I was certain my face was permanently on fire at this point.

"What? I– no. Nothing like–" I cleared my throat uncomfortably, just the thought of Alicia and I being a couple sounding insane. Not because I didn't want that, but because she'd never feel the same way. "Nothing like that. We're just friends."

She laughed at my expression. "Okay, relax! I was just checking if I had any competition is all."

I looked away, wondering if I'd heard her correctly, but I was too afraid to follow up and check so I merely stayed quiet and kept on working. The flirting was certainly taking its toll.

"You ready to go?" Alicia asked me as she was looking in her backpack, probably double checking she had everything she needed.

"Uh-huh." I patted my waist, feeling for my pistol, knife and radio. "You got the map?"

She paused, hands rooting around her bag before pulling it out and giving me a nod. I waited for her to finish up and threw my own backpack into the back of the pickup truck. We were going on a supply run together, specifically hoping to pick up some extra gardening supplies.

"Y/N, Alicia, wait up!"

The two of us turned around when we saw Jade jogging over to us.

"I'm so glad I caught you," she said breathlessly when she stopped before us. "Madison told me you were going on a supply run."

"We are," Alicia confirmed, although it was defensively as she crossed her arms and glanced over her.

"I wanted to ask if I could come with you," she said hopefully, looking to me, before adding to Alicia, "And you could have a break, Alicia."

"Maybe next time," Alicia answered before I could even acknowledge her words. Her eyes fell to me, darkening. "Come on, Y/N. We should go."

"I just want to help," Jade said with a frown. "I know things are still weird between us, Alicia, and I just want to make things right. Do something nice for everyone, even if it's just getting more gardening supplies. And giving you a break, too. You work so hard... you could relax and consider this a thank you from me."

Jade was lovely, but she was still relatively new to the stadium, having been here barely a month. We didn't really let newbies go out on supply runs for security reasons, and also because they never preferred to anyway. Despite this, I didn't see a huge reason why she couldn't go instead of Alicia. It was nice of her to offer since not many people did.

"I also thought it would be an added bonus that we could spend some more time together, Y/N," Jade added, eyes falling to me.

"Like I said, maybe next time," Alicia repeated firmly, before giving me an impatient look that screamed for me to get a move on. But I wasn't so sure.

"She's saving you a task," I tried to reason with Alicia. "Come on. You're always saying you need a break. Why not?"

She quirked a brow, questioning me without speaking. But I gave her a pleading look in return, hoping she'd reciprocate the effort that Jade was making. After what felt like a year-long staring match, Alicia gave in reluctantly.

"Fine," she said with a clenched jaw, making Jade smile.

"Thank you, Alicia," Jade said to her gratefully. "I won't let you down."

Alicia said nothing as she squeezed her hands into fists by her side.

"You can wait in the front," I told Jade, nodding to the truck. "I'll be right with you."

Jade nodded and went to the passenger's seat of the truck. Meanwhile, I gave Alicia a grateful smile, stepping closer to her.

"Thank you for trying," I said appreciatively, meeting her eyes. "It means a lot."

"Just be careful," she said seriously, bright eyes flickering between mine and momentarily leaving me breathless.

All I could manage was a nod before hugging her quickly. She squeezed me tight, leaving me smiling to myself, before letting go. After giving me her knife and backpack, I got in the truck.

"Here you go," I said to Jade, passing her Alicia's knife. "There's one gun and I've got it. We should try to avoid contact with infected if we can. You okay with that?"

Jade smiled. "You got it."

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

May I request a crossover of sorts? Arven and Nemona meeting a strange new student!Reader. The reader is quiet, always has their head down, and is never seen with any pokemon, despite having pokeballs on their belt. One day they're either provoked into a battle or just seen with their pokemon, which turn out to be the most horrifying pokemon pretty much anyone has ever seen. Their team consists of Freakachu, Missingno, Purin, and Disabled, which are loyal and friendly toward the Reader.

I LOVE this idea to the moon and back-

.............

"I'm telling you...[y/n] has some super cool Pokémon!! Maybe they're just shy about showing them off!"

"Or maybe they're not in the mood for battling, unlike you."

"Still, I really wanna see what their team looks like!"

"...so you can beat them up?" Arven just stared at Nemona with a deadpanned expression, unable to understand why she wanted to fight you so badly.

Recently the pair, alongside Penny, befriended you--a new student who transferred from Kanto and into the Naranja/Uva Academy.

But all three of them noticed some rather peculiar things about you..

For one, you're always so quiet--even moreso than Penny--and you had your head down during the lectures, never speaking unless called on. Some professors were led to believe you were dozing off. Yet you always got good marks on your tests, so it's clear you've been paying close attention.

Outside of school, you declined Nemona's invitations to battle whenever you saw her...which was pretty much every single day. And it wasn't just her. You didn't engage in Pokémon battles with anyone. Not even during battle studies class.

Some younger students have called you "chicken" when you refused to fight their Teddiursa or Chewtile, while older folks would say that you have "the potential" to be a great trainer...but you were never bothered by their remarks. You just carried on with your day.

But the strangest thing is that nobody in Paldea has seen your Pokémon team, despite your friends noticing the four pokeballs attached to your belt at all times. Not even during picnics did you bring them out to play or chat.

Arven didn't let it bother him too much, believing you shouldn't be pressured into revealing them if you weren't prepared to; although he was curious about what was holding you back. He wasn't an expert trainer, but he let his team out to get fresh air every once in a while.

Penny can understand you wanting to hide in your shell for a little while longer. You are a recent transfer student, after all. It took her ages to even admit that she has an Eeveelution team, so she sympathizes with you in that regard.

As for Nemona? She was gonna goad you into a battle even if it killed her. You just needed a little confidence boost!

When she tried calling you, Arven suddenly snatched her rotom phone, being extremely annoyed that she was trying to nose her way into your life without permission, and the pair began arguing.

Yet neither of them have realized they've stumbled upon the secluded spot where you did let your team roam free.

But when they noticed you approaching, Arven fell silent and ducked down behind some bushes, taking Nemona along with him despite her protests. "What are you doing?!" She whisper-yelled, seeing you setting up a picnic table. "It's [y/n]!"

"I-I know, just be quiet!" He whisper-yelled right back. "All we're gonna do is scare them."

"..why are you acting like they're some timid Starly?? That's our friend!"

"Yeah? Well maybe they won't be anymore if we jump out at them! Let's just...see what they're up to before we do anything. Maybe they're gonna bring out their Pokémon." He pointed as he saw you unclip the pokeballs from your belt.

Although irritated she couldn't greet you, Nemona kept quiet and stayed hidden with Arven, excited at that prospect. Both of them watched as you tossed the pokeballs high into the air, opening one by one to reveal....

Creatures that look like they crawled out of a horror movie or broken video game.

Neither of them could believe what they were seeing:

There was a white-furred Pikachu with bandages plastered all over its body, yet it still looked very much wounded as it was missing an arm and ear. One of its legs was stripped of any fur or muscle, exposing its bones. But that didn't seem to limit its mobility as it ran happily around the table.

Then their eyes gazed upon a Jigglypuff and Wigglytuff, both with greyed fur and red stains underneath their eyes. The Wigglytuff had a bandage wrapped around her mouth, along with a stitched ear, but she seemed content sitting in the grass, sharing berries with the Jigglypuff--who seemed to sport a thousand-yard stare.

The final Pokémon was something...quite incomprehensible. Arven and Nemona didn't know if they were hallucinating at first.

But it was just...a blob of glitches shaped like a backwards L. And it seemed to be spawning Pokémon eggs all around the picnic table. Though you somehow were able to talk to it, and they disappeared before it took the shape of an Aerodactyl's skeleton. It sat patiently as you used the Mareep sponge to scrub soap onto their skull, before washing it off with the handheld sprinkler.

After shaking the water off, it let out a distorted cry that rattled the nerves of the duo.

They tried taking a scan of that Pokémon to learn more about it, but their pokedexes showed a bugged entry. Though they were able to make out several things: its name was Missingno, its number was 000, and its type was apparently "Bird/Normal".

"Wha...bird?? Isn't that just the flying type?" Arven furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, staring at his phone. "That thing is no freaking bird, I can tell you that. What kind of name is "Missingno" anyway??"

"Dunno, but we can always ask [y/n]!" Nemona suggested with a hopeful smile.

"How do you suppose we show our faces without looking like stalkers-?"

"Pikaaaa..."

Tensing, they both looked down to suddenly see the zombified Pikachu staring up at them, tilting its head. Then it grinned from ear to ear, revealing rows of sharp teeth and red fleshy gums--a far cry from the cute little smiles they're used to seeing on normal Pikachus.

One of them would've freaked out for sure....had you not whistled.

"Hey Freakachu. Come back, please...sorry, guys." You muttered apologetically, looking up at your friends. "I promise he doesn't bite."

Although you were a tad bit irritated that you caught them spying on you, you knew you couldn't keep this a secret from them forever. This could revelation could either make or break your friendship with them...but you had to take that chance eventually.

Hearing your voice, Nemona jumped up and waved excitedly. "Hola, [y/n]!! We were just doing some field studies so it's fancy seeing you here!" She stepped out of the bushes as Arven stumbled after her. "How are your Pokémon? They..seem to be in rough shape."

"I know they don't look it, but...they're happy." You noticed the grey Jigglypuff waddling beside you, tugging on your pant leg. "Oh hey, Purin..need something?"

Shaking her head, she simply hugged your leg, and you smiled as you reached down to pet her ears. She genuinely felt safe with you, as her eyes closed and a smile formed on her own face.

"Oooooo, so that Jigglypuff's name is Purin? That's cute!" Nemona cooed, whereas Arven remained immensely concerned with their conditions.

"That's cool..I guess. But why are you calling him "Freakachu"?" He gestured to the white Pikachu. "That's not really a nice name, if you ask me.."

"It's the only one he responds to, so..he doesn't mind it at all." You shrugged.

"..you sure they're all okay, [y/n]? 'cause they look like-"

"Death?"

"Wha--n-no!! I wasn't gonna say that-!"

"It's okay. I get that a lot. The thing is..they weren't always like this." You explained calmly. "They were all hurt. Disabled and Purin were abandoned by their trainers and lost their Sing...and Freakachu was dying of frostbite on Mt. Silver. I tried healing their wounds the best I could..or at least the physical ones. But they trusted me to help them, and...they've become my best friends.."

"Awh, that's muy bueno!!" Nemona beamed, clapping her hands together. "Now I kinda feel bad I was begging you to battle me..." She chuckled awkwardly. "They probably don't wanna fight."

"They know some good moves, but I was worried about how you guys would rea-"

"AH!! I-Is that a real ghost?!!"

Blinking in confusion, you looked over your shoulder to see Missingno right there, having assumed its Ghost form. You just smiled and shook your head. "No, it's just Missingno being able to turn into several forms. I don't know much about this one's history, but...old Kantonian tales claim it's a collection of lost souls that can grant you infinite items if you pay your respects to it."

"..o-oh, so it's like..a Spiritomb-" Arven concluded, only to get a light elbow in the gut by Nemona, which made him grunt in pain.

"Y'know you're being quite rude, chico." She huffed. "Screaming at our friend's Pokémon is no muy bueno."

".....sorry."

"It's fine. I know looks can be deceiving but..these Pokémon follow my every command and are very loyal. They don't hurt people anymore, so there's no need to worry."

"Anymore? That's comforting.." Arven grumbled under his breath, only to tense as Nemona glared at him. "..b-but it's great that you've trained them!" His voice went up an octave. "Do they like sandwiches?? I brought some herba mystica! A pinch of it should help with their injuries no problem!!!"

Both of you watched in amusement as he rushed over to the table to help set up the condiments, before you sighed and followed him there. Nemona joined you, a skip in her step as she was eager to learn more about your Pokémon.

Purin, Disabled, Freakachu, and Missingno all gathered there as well, lying in wait.

This was sure to be an interesting picnic.

[fluffypotatey]

You know what I wish we'd seen?

More positive actively involved magic users.

Like, we know the Druids support Emrys, though they seem more like a pacifist, non-combatant party (aside from some outliers like Kara, Mordred, Alvarr), and other magic users/beings like Anhora, Grettir, Mab, they all seem to be neutral. They acknowledge Emrys as a superior power, but they don't seem to actively participate for better or worse. And all other sorcerers are usually antagonistic. But why can't we have the other side? I'm sure there has to be some who decide to take Merlin's side. Maybe they don't entirely trust Arthur, maybe they aren't too certain of a Pendragon, but dude, it's fucking Emrys. If Emrys is supporting him, there's gotta be something to him, right?

Let Merlin have people helping him, other sorcerers who slip him spells that are too powerful for them, maybe he can do something with it, passing him information about plots they've heard through the sorcerers' grapevine, even helping him thwart some of the ambushes and traps. Maybe they aren't brave enough to live in Camelot 24/7 like Merlin, but they take turns bringing him messages and supplies, and to get their "marching orders," such as they are.

Also, imagine the look on Arthur's face when he finds out he has a magic Praetorian Guard that answers to his manservant.

yeah see, that's one of the big issues that's always bothered me. like we (the audience) are told that magic is not evil but rather is something as integral as nature. but more often than not, a lot of the antagonist we meet are magic users and most of the time they are power hungry people. i mean, i totally understand the sorcerers who seek out revenge for Uther and by proxy Camelot, but we only either get these types of sorcerers or the sorcerers whom the show portrays as only evil.

it is, frankly, impossible for the magic community to be full of only evil and vengeful sorcerers. there's got to be more diversity than that, bbc 🙄 you're telling me that there are no somewhat powerful magic users living in Albion helping others anyway they can and don't seek to help aid Merlin in anyway. and i mean aid him since s1. by s5 it looked like he was actually getting some help, but they were still sorcerers who fell a little bit in the gray area or just never interacted with anyone other than Merlin.

maybe have Lancelot befriend another sorcerer while he was away from Camelot and sort of sneak him in to help save the kingdom from Morgana and Morgause in s3. maybe Elyan, who had left Camelot pre-s1, have some magic friends that we meet in s4.

tbh, my big issue is that with how much the show tells us, the audience, that magic does have positive impacts and isn't evil, none of the characters besides Gaius, Merlin, and Lancelot actually know that (as far as i'm aware). literally any time Arthur considers that maybe magic isn't what his father claimed it to be, he ends up going back to those prejudices and ideas Uther propagated because "magic killed my father," "magic killed my mother" (still super salty), "magic corrupted morgana," "magic wants me dead." when in reality, that's far from the truth, and Merlin then has to continue to hide a part of himself from people he cares for and loves dearly because all they've ever known and seen is "evil magic people."

just....bbc, explain to me how Arthur was supposed to bring the so-called "Golden Age" to Albion where there's peace between magic users and non-magic users alike if he, himself, believed magic was inherently evil???? how is Arthur the Once and Future King if he never repealed the ban on magic or began working with sorcerers? and i'm saying this as someone who loves the character, but why did we, the audience, not get a chance to really see Arthur break away from his father's prejudices on magic until the series finale?

it just bugs me. there are so many moments where it looks like maybe Merlin has an ally that's pro-magic and pro-unity and wants to help fulfill the prophecy, but then they either become one-time side characters or fucking die. never seen or heard from again. maybe i just want a character or two to stick and maybe give Merlin the support group he needs?

por favor, bbc