#don't mind the horrendous editing

[sugwinni]

Excuse me? 🤨

[yan-randomfandom]

Hiii baby! Can I request Jinx, Cait and if you do Maddie (all separately) w/ a gf who is dose very crafty/homemade makeovers?

Hear me out- why spend money on a cut & color, new piercing, nails ect when your hg can do it for you herself?? (I just grew up poor and had to learn😭😭)

Jinx, Caitlyn, & Maddie with a crafty girlfriend headcanons!!

a/n: omg its so nice that you rose up & learned em😭 such a fun request! this one is written before act 3

I didn't proofread or edit so please feel free to point out anything that's bothering you 😭

also this might be ooc.... im so sorry if it is😔

Let's go and start with ...

🌀

Jinx

Jinx has an established style with her neon painted nails, twin braids, inventions, and everything in her possession. An endearing fashion sense, even if some think it looks ridiculous lmaooo

With Jinx being an artisan and artist herself, you both find being creative a common ground in your relationship!

Makeovers anytime, anywhere. No need to find professionals when you have your girlfriend right here! It's a give and take relationship for sure. I imagine it'd be so fun and full of laughs 😩

Also I think you guys will inspire each other back and forth lolol

Having an art block and you don't like it? Ask the other for help!

And if you're both having art blocks? Well, Jinx will take you out on vastly different spots until you find what you're looking for. It's a great way to bond, and sightseeing is nice (⁠´⁠ε⁠｀⁠ ⁠)

When you're exploring new styles, and you aren't doing it on Jinx, she would love to simply watch you work. It has some sort of calming effect on her, especially if you're rambling while doing it.

If she sees something of your art that she likes, she might just copy you in her style! Kind of like how Jinx did that makeup when she was in Vi's apartment or something

Although don't be surprised if you wake up and see your face horrendously painted in the morning 😔

You can't even revenge because she sleeps with one eye open, I fear

��️

Caitlyn

MAN. I feel like you'd have to beg Caitlyn for even the simplest makeovers. She looks so plain rn (in the style way) or am I just blind 😭

You suppose it makes sense. She looks so perfect and you keep giving compliments. Like, why is she so pretty?? There's just so many possibilities you can do with her appearance!!

But, sadly, she doesn't let you give her makeovers much. Not that she doesn't like your work, she respects it and adores it, but arts isn't exactly her thing.

I think make-up of any kind would probably feel uncomfortable for her. Plus it would be a hassle to remove it, she would say.

What you can do is give her hair a trim. A perfect line, as much as possible. She comes to you when her hair feels longer, or more damaged, than usual. Granted, it can be boring, but you're just glad you're doing something for her.

Another thing is that you can choose outfits for her. You can doll her up anytime as long as you don't take too long picking combinations!

If she has time, she'll probably let you paint her nails. Make sure she doesn't regret it, or else she might never let you again.

She'd buy anything you want, by the way. Money isn't a problem for her. So you technically have unlimited supplies, thank goodness, 'cause sometimes they can be so expensive.

You jokingly tell her that even if you break up, if she ever changes her mind about getting something, she'll come to you. Absolute dibs on Caitlyn!!

🍯

Maddie

I feel like Maddie has never really delved into bodily artworks, since she spent most of her time studying about laws and stuff.

Like,, do we agree on the motion that she cut her hair so she doesn't have to deal with it 😭 Less weight during missions too

So when her amazing girlfriend happens to be passionate about creatives? Oh, boy, she's going to be filled with curiosity.

She'll allow you to do anything you want to her, as long as it isn't permanent. In fact, she's super enthusiastic about it, always trusting the process and seeing the result.

You're so creative that it's impressive!! Even if it isn't your best work, she always finds a way to praise you 😭

She'd love to watch you work as well, but she's not exactly the quiet type 🥲

Expect a whole bunch of questions. "What's that for?" "Why are you putting that?" "Ooh, that technique looks complicated. How—"

One of your quality time is definitely you trying to teach her new things. Let her paint your nails, do your hair, and anything that can make you both happy.

If you make clips or whatnot, you definitely try to overload her fluffy hair with decoration. You try different hairstyles possible with that length of hers.

Sometimes, you catch her playing around with your make-up alone. It almost always ends with you fixing it up for her 😭

you, showing your new haircut (it looks horrible): yoooo isn't this so rizzing

jinx: hell yeah

caitlyn: you are not going out like that. go get your unnecessary amount of hair extensions and choose from there

maddie: hell yeah

[hyperactively-me]

black tie affair

He slowly comes up behind you, hands stretched out in front of him, wordless. He grasps your waist firmly, holding you in place as his other hand brushes up against your lower back. You shiver under his touch, body still, unmoving. He was so close. So close.

"oh nooooo the zipper on my dress is stuck, what ever will i do? who would ever help meee?"

zipper is stuck trope. with ghost. lol bye.

also, don’t mind me making stuff up for this fic. don't think too hard about it. let's just pretend!

(asks are open)

happy reading

EDIT: PART 2 OUT NOW

warnings: none

Tonight was the Special Forces Military Ball. It was a once-a-year event that everyone on the task force looked forward to as an opportunity to unwind from work. A night of speeches, dancing, and drinking was highly awaited. 

You were in a hotel room, finishing applying your makeup in the small bathroom adjacent to the bedroom. The lighting was horrendous, but you persevered. You gently brush on the last touches of your eyeshadow, blinking a few times at your reflection in the mirror. You tilt your face side to side, inspecting every inch of your makeup before pulling back, smiling contentedly at your work. It’s been a while since you last wore this much makeup. A quick sigh escapes your lips as you turn out of the bathroom and into the main room. 

A long, black dress lays across the hotel bed. The dress swishes gently across the floor as you pick it up from the bed and hold it up in front of you in front of the floor length mirror. The sweetheart neckline swoops gracefully, the thick straps of the dress adorned with small silver gems. The skirt of the dress hugs all of your curves in the right places, accentuating your features. 

You start to slip on the dress, pulling it up and around your body, then pulling the sleeves over to rest on your shoulders. Reaching around your back, your hands come up as you fumble around with the zipper, only pulling it up an inch before it stops.

You try pulling it as hard as you can to no avail. Messing with the zipper a few more times does absolutely nothing, the continuous motion of pulling it up and down useless in aiding you. The zipper rests, stuck, on your lower back. 

“Fuck” you groan, annoyed with the stubborn zipper.

You angle your back towards the mirror and stare at it, mostly bare, with a frown. Someone was going to have to help you with this. 

Everyone, with the exception of one person, was busy preparing for the event as you racked your brain about who you could call. 

Simon “Ghost” Riley.

The big guy. 

You grab your phone and scroll through your contacts before your finger lands on his name. You hesitate for a moment, almost already regretting this. Next thing you know, you bring the phone up to your ear, biting your lip as it rings. The phone rings once, twice, then you hear the line pick up. 

“Hello?” the low timbre of his voice echoes from the phone. 

You inhale dramatically, and turn to look at yourself in the mirror. 

“Hi,” you sigh. 

The silence from the other end is overbearing. You grimace a little. 

You speak quickly, “So uh, I need some help.” You hold your breath as you wait for a response, any response from him. 

You hear some shuffling around, and a small cough. You roll your eyes once more. 

“Please,” you strain. 

He hesitates for a moment. “What’s wrong?” 

“This is awkward, but uh, the zipper on my dress is stuck, and you’re the only person I could think of to call and I totally get it if you can’t help me–”

“Which room is yours?” he cuts you off briskly. The shuffling in the background abruptly stopped. 

Your mouth opens and closes for a moment, shaking your head as you try to answer.

“Oh, yeah, it’s room 456, fourth floor…” you trail off. 

He hangs up without a word. You bring the phone away from your ear slowly and stare at yourself in the mirror once more. 

He really is a man of few words. 

You pace the room a few times, waiting for him when a single, brief knock raps your door. You stop in your tracks and turn to the door, then run to the mirror to make sure you look presentable enough. You look through the peekhole just to make sure its Ghost before you pull open the door swiftly. 

You’re met with his chest in your face, and you drag your eyes upward to his face. His covered face. In that skull mask he always wears. He’s wearing a black tuxedo along with a crooked black tie. 

“Hi” he says simply, raking his eyes down your form. 

You immediately grab his bicep and pull him into the room and shut the door behind you, pressing your exposed back to the door. He chuckles quietly at you, raising his eyebrows in amusement under his mask. 

“Thank you so much for coming” you breathe out, wringing your hands together. 

He just stares at you for a moment longer, taking in your appearance unabashedly. He shoves his hands in his pocket and clears his throat. 

“Wow. You look amazing” he whistles. 

Your cheeks heat up, your mouth slightly agape as the air leaves your lungs.

“Thank you.”

Your dress swishes around your feet as you push yourself off the door, brushing past him. “I could say the same for you, Simon.” 

Turning around, you brush a piece of stray hair behind your ear, taking a deep breath. He takes a few heavy steps towards you, his silence overbearing. 

“If you could zip me up, that would be great” you smile gently at him, biting your bottom lip awkwardly. You turn around, your exposed back facing Ghost, and you pull your hair over your shoulder. His breath wavers, eyes roaming the expanse of your back, then finally coming to rest on the small of your back. He slowly comes up behind you, hands stretched out in front of him, wordless. He grasps your waist firmly, holding you in place as his other hand brushes up against your lower back. You shiver under his touch, body still, unmoving. He was so close. So close. His free hand closes around the zipper, hesitant to free it. 

“Ghost–”

“It’s Simon. Simon, when we’re not on job,” he corrects. You stand up straight. 

“Simon. Are you going to zip me up?” 

He grunts quietly, then pulls at the zipper once, twice, before it's finally freed. You can feel heat radiating from his fingers as he pulls the zipper up agonizingly slow. As he pulls it up your back, his fingers brush against your skin, the small touches making your knees weak. Your cheeks feel hot from his languid movements. You let go of the breath you didn’t realize you were holding when he zipped it up to the top.  

The trance you were in abruptly stops as you hear the small click of the zipper hitting the top. You swiftly turn around, the skirt of your dress bustling around as you take a step back, his hand falling from your hip. 

“Well, thank you Gh– Simon” you say, pushing your hair back to its original place. You rock back on your heels as you inspect his covered face.

His eyes look blown wide, his hands now pulling at the bottom of his tux jacket.

“‘s not a problem” he murmurs, eyes still not looking away from you. His hands wander up to his loosened tie, fidgeting with it.

You notice his tie isn’t properly tied, and you take a few steps close to him, your eyes staring straight at his chest.

“Let me help you with that” you point to his tie. You take his hands in yours and gently pull them to his sides. His hands dwarf your own, and you drop them. His breath hitches. 

You wrestle with the tie, your hands brushing up against his chest and collarbone as you twist it into perfection. You keep your eyes trained on the tie, biting your lip as you concentrate. Simon’s eyes remain locked on you, following your every movement. 

The silence permeates the air, save for the rustling of fabric against fabric. 

You finish tying the knot, and pull it up tight to rest against the base of his throat. He stretches his neck upwards as your hands come to fasten the tie in place. You smooth your hands on the edge of his jacket, straightening out any remaining wrinkles. Your head tilts upwards, smiling softly at him. 

“There” you sigh contentedly, patting his cheek gently before pulling away. 

Before you could fully remove yourself, his hand snakes down to your waist, pulling you up against his body. A small squeak slips out of you as his hands rigidly hold your waist.

“Simon–”

“Stop talking.” 

Before you could even process his movements, he yanks his mask over his nose. Your breath catches in your lungs as your eyes trail the features of his lower face. His breath is hot on your face as he leans down, closer and closer. “Can I kiss you?” he murmurs, eyelashes fluttering as he stares at your lips, noses bumping into each other. He’s only an inch or two away from your face, and you can see every lineament of his skin, his cheekbones, the tip of his pointed nose, his lips. He smells like sandalwood and vetiver, the scent peppery and strong. 

You nod your head fervently, heart racing in your chest. 

“Please.”

That’s all he had to hear you say. 

Simon leans in, closing the miniscule gap between you two. He leans down to press a firm kiss on your lips, inhaling sharply at the contact, eliciting a soft sound from you. Your hands wrap around his neck, tugging him down to your height as his hands roam up and down your back. Simon draws your body against his, pulling you flush against him. He begins to nip your bottom lip, tongue swiping over your lip as if to ask permission. You let him take charge, his hand gliding up your body, your breath growing ragged. 

He bites your lip, slowly pulling away as he breaks contact. You gulp in the cool air of the room, studying his face as he slowly pulls his mask down in place. Your ears are red, face flushed. 

“You’re beautiful,” his voice comes out hoarse as he takes your hand in his. He rubs his thumb in circles around your palm, outlining your face. 

“Thank you” you whisper, taking his hand into your own. 

You gingerly pull him out of your room, and don’t let go of his hand for the rest of the night. 

PART 2

[cherryredstars]

First off, I love you.

Second off, I love you A LOT.

Okay so I’m losing my mind over a brain vomit where younger reader’s been harboring and hiding feelings for Miguel for the sake of being appropriate and it’s starting to make her frustrated like “fuck I’m gonna get actually fucking sick and vomit” because how much she’s crushing on him is CRAZY, so reader basically goes up to Miguel like “I can’t take this anymore.” Like reject me so I can move on type of thing. “ Do me a favor, and break my nose or something. Tell me to fucking go away” or something like that. My brain is burning.

Pairing(s): Miguel O'Hara x fem!reader, John Price x civil!reader

Warnings: Fluff

A/N: For my baby, I LOVE YOUUUUUUU!!!

Edited (just for you boo)

| Miguel O'Hara

If you look at him, you will actually throw up.

Like projectile 'make yourself a laughing stock' throw up. It's just the way your body- your stomach- reacts when you see him. It gets twisted, fluttery with a fix of butterflies and disgust. It's down right disgusting, inappropriate at the least. He's almost a decade older than you, yet here you are pining after him as if you're some teenage girl. You feel physically sick when you think about it for too long: throat contracting and your stomach hurting. You aren't sure which of your delusions are the cause of such a horrendous crush, but you promise you'll strangle it when you find out. There is simply no way this could have ever worked out in your favor. It's simply impossible.

Miguel O'Hara would never go for someone like you. Young and naive, haven't even reached the appropriate age to have a mid-life crisis (but you're sure this is the closest fucking thing to it). You know this, hammer it into your thick skull every day before you have to face him. Yet, it all comes crumbling down when you lay eyes on him. It takes less than a second for you to skip after him, a stupid, lovesick look flickering across your face as you help him with whatever he needs. You simply can't stay away, even if you tried. You always fall back into his orbit, gravity pushing you towards him until you're practically glued to him.

You're sure he must find it annoying. Probably relates it to something like babysitting. It's well known Miguel doesn't like to be bothered when he's working. But there you are without fail, sitting around on his platform entertaining yourself by playing with LYLA when you aren't out saving universes. You don't miss the way his eyes flick to you every now and then with some emotion you can't quite place. But if you had to guess, it's probably something close to exasperation.

In all honesty, you're tired of it.

Tired of the false hope you delude yourself into believing after every minor interaction. Tired of trying to justify your affection for the older man. Tired of feeling a bit of resentment towards yourself. You're just... tired. He must sense it when you walk onto the platform, judging by the look he shoots you.

LYLA is muted mid-sentence as he angles his body slightly away from his monitors and towards you, watching as you plop yourself in your usual spot. He waits expectantly for your usual greeting, brows furrowing with confusion when you do nothing but play with the elastic quality of your suit. You haven't even looked at him since you got in.

"Everything alright?" His all so familiar voice asks, making your stomach ache and the urge to punch yourself stronger.

"Yeah," you respond simply, silence lapping over the two of you.

Miguel waits patiently, expecting something more. But, you don't continue. Miguel hesitates for a moment before turning back around. His eyes study the screens once more, his finger hovering over the button to unmute LYLA before you speak up again.

"Can you like... degrade me or something?"

Miguel almost chokes on his spit when he turns around, not expecting you to say...that. You're still playing with your suit and staring at the floor, face painted with frustration. You look up when he doesn't answer, brows furrowed when your eyes meet his shocked face. You quickly divert your attention to his muscular shoulder, not really having the courage to face him head-on.

"Not like the... sexy kind. More like the heart wrenching kind." You clarify, not that it's any better for Miguel.

He turns to full face you this time, arms crossed over his chest as he studies you. The request doesn't really make sense to him. Why would you want him to do that? Is it some universe-exclusive culture he isn't aware of?

"Why?" Miguel asks, trying to recall your past interactions to see if they have something to do with your strange request.

"I dunno, just thought it might make it easier?" You shrug, your eyes flicking to his again and then looking towards the ceiling.

"Make what easier, exactly?"

Miguel isn't a fan of cryptic answers, but he tries to be patient with you. He watches as your face twists, unsure how to word what you're feeling. You let out a heavy sigh eventually, actually meeting his eyes and holding his gaze for once.

"To get over you."

The words cause Miguel to freeze, his body going rigid. You groan, hiding your embarrassed face in your hands and scrubbing ferociously. This is absolutely embarrassing. You wished a random portal would just appear under you, throwing you into another universe and far away from this particular moment in time.

You're so caught up in your embarrassment that you don't realize Miguel is walking over to you until he's crouched down in front of you. He pries your hands gently from your face, giving you the softest smile you have ever seen on him. His thumbs caress your wrists absentmindedly, doing nothing to calm your raging heart. It practically explodes when he leans closer, pressing a soft kiss to the top of your head. Your eyes are wide and dazed as you look up at him, trying to commit the curve of his mouth to memory.

"Now, why would I want you to do that?"

_____________

| John Price

You aren't exactly sure when it started.

But the moment you realized you liked John, you've started hating yourself. It feels wrong. Almost disrespectful in a way. You aren't particularly sure why, it just does. John Price is a nice man, a good man. A man that could be easily mistaken as your father if someone didn't look close enough. The man you had happened to meet and befriended one day after he had been so kind and gentle with you.

Not the man you should be liking and forcing your feelings on.

You're someone John goes to for comfort, someone he seeks out after coming home from a battlefield. Someone that's supposed to help him distress. The idea of taking advantage of that gently placed trust, of expecting something from John just because he goes to you for help, makes you want to throw up until you're nothing but a useless husk. It's shameful, eating you up on the inside until you feel like your organs are on the verge of failure.

So your solution: Avoid Johnathan Price like the plague.

Does it hurt seeing his texts flash across your phone screen, asking you if you're free throughout the week so he can spend time with you before he deploys again? Hell fucking yes. It makes you feel guilty as hell. But you try to justify it to yourself, reassuring that it's only temporary. That everything will go back to normal once these stupid feelings leave you alone and John Price goes back to being the sweet man you grab lunch with every now and then when he's home so you can catch up.

But of course, your plans never go accordingly.

You startle on your couch when there is a firm knocking on your door, your hands rushing to pause the telly to see if it was just a hallucination. But sure enough, that same steady knocking sounds again. You get up hesitantly, brows furrowed as you try to remember if you ordered take away or something. You peak through the peep-hole, hand planted on the cool wood of the door as you squint.

The alertness in your body dies away when the familiar frame of John greets you, only to tense up again. John Price is at your door. The same John price you've been avoiding for a week. The same exact John fucking Price you're practically in love with. Your hand slides down to the knob, gulping nervously as you unlock it and yank your door open.

John is standing there with his hand raised again to knock, decked out in his military gear. His hands drop to grip the strap of his vest, his mutton chops quivering as his face lifts into his soft smile. You blink up at him, feeling the knob warm under your hand and your heart slamming against your chest. Why did he have to be so handsome, goddamnit?

You step out of the doorway, silently inviting him inside. He accepts it, stepping in and examining the area out of habit. You close the door quietly after him, turning to face him as he turns to face you.

"Missed ya, love? Been busy lately?" He asks in that comfortingly rough voice of his.

You don't trust yourself to not choke on your words, scared he'll see through your lies. Instead you nod, letting out a weak hum that he returns in a more confident note. Your eyes drop down to his military gear, a frown slipping onto your face. Is he being deployed again?

As if sensing the underlying question, John's hands let go of his military vest and he stuffs them into the pockets of his tactical pants.

"Heading out tonight, just wanted to say goodbye before I go since I didn't get to see you this time around."

You feel a stab to your chest at his words, resisting the urge to lift your hand and smooth the pain.

"John..." You start hesitantly, your mouth going dry when he hums again. "Can you tell me you hate me? Or... or that you think I'm stupid or something?"

John tilts his head in confusion, brows furrowing as his lips thin. There is a silent question in your eyes, an aura of demand wafting from him that orders you to explain further. Your hand comes to rub your arm, socked heel digging into your ankle as you debate how much to tell him.

"It's just... I like you and I don't..." You sigh in frustration, turning your head away to glare at the wall. "I don't want you to think I'm trying to take advantage of how nice you've been to me or that I expect you to reciprocate how I feel."

It's quiet for a moment before John's chuckling fills the room. Your head turns away from the wall, meeting the sparkling amusement in John's eyes as he looks at you. There is a fondness there that makes your knees feel weak, your breath getting trapped in your lungs. John takes steady, reassured steps towards you, stopping when he's centimeters away. Your heart is practically lurching in your chest as you look up at him, watching as he slowly takes off his boonie hat.

Your eyes are wide as he places it over your head, chuckling when it slips down over your face before he readjusts it. He admires the sight for a second before he leans down, his facial hair tickling your cheeks as his lips press against the corner of your mouth. Your heart officially stops, your body dangerously close to swaying as he pulls away. You're in a daze as he pinches your cheek lightly, trying to call your attention away from the sparks lingering across your skin.

"We'll take about this when I get back, silly girl." He rumbles, his heavy paw landing on the top of his hat before he slips past you, closing and locking the door behind him as he disappears out of your flat. You're left in a daze as your shaky hands reach up and grasp the rim of his hat, the smell of him instantly invading your senses.

And when John reaches base and the lads pester him about where his usual hat is, he just shakes his head and replies that he left it at home for safe keeping.

[thebearer]

hi e! back again with more carmy shit because i love the way you did my little blurb justice 🥰. i literally just envisioned sydney minding her own business and just recklessly placing carmy in the hot seat cause she knew his ass was gon get it 😂. i’m all in for more dom!carmy so i’d love to keep the idea going that his s/o works for/with/alongside him at the bear with a touch of her giving him her two cents? a little bit of sass to just remind who he’s dealing with 😩. maybe this time around he slipped up on something major (a birthday, anniversary, or something that overall was important to the reader and he put it off because in his mind the bear comes first). she’s been slowly driving him crazy with that silent treatment she’s been doing for the last few days and her less than a few syllabled words when he doesn’t remind her how irked he made her 😂; she’s not mad anymore just disappointed. and anyway basically in a prep for preordered to go’s on lunch rush he’s reading back orders to her and she completely writes him off. i can see him being like exactly how he when he’s not getting when he needs from his staff during a frenzy and flipping tf out. like you know when he repeats himself a second time as if you didn’t hear him the first he means it 😂. tysm in advance! please feel free to do whatever you’d like. i’m writing this at 6 in the morning so many ideas are coming into the fold. i hope you have a great day - 🥣.

ok i did sorta a different-ish take. same idea but i don't write the reader as a chef bc quite honestly i can't relate lmao i'm a horrendous cook lol. but silent treatment yes!! reader works at the bear but not a chef.

"Does anyone know where the extra napkins are? Mindy needs to be settin' tables." Carmen huffed, slamming the empty crate back in the back stock.

"That would be your missus' domain." Richie snickers, elbowing Fak lightly. "Guess you better go ask her, Cousin."

"Yeah? Fuck off. Thought it was your fuckin' job." Carmen grumbled, running a hand through his hair.

"Me? Fuck no, Cousin. You know who's job it is, c'mon." Richie grinned. "It's your wife, Carm. What? Scared to talk to your wife?"

Carmen sneered, huffing in annoyance, but the truth was... yes, he was a little scared. Especially with how furious you were at him. Carmen was a chronic over worker, barely taking time for himself. It was a constant fight between the two of you, one he'd gotten better at, but still struggled finding that balance. Which normally, you'd be more forgiving about.

Except it was your anniversary.

Carmen left you waiting at home, dressed up with a new lingerie set that he painfully didn't get to enjoy. By the time he got off, taking his time to clean the kitchen, prep for tomorrow's crowd, he looked at his phone and saw your texts and calls, his heart dropping.

You'd been giving him the cold shoulder since then, furious and hurt- or so he assumed, you wouldn't say anything.

Richie found the entire thing hilarious when Carmen told him. "You forgot your fuckin' anniversary? You jagoff, holy shit."

Carmen found it less than amusing. The tension in the restaurant was thick because of the two of you. Everyone teetering around you, but especially Carmen, he was more on edge now.

Pushing the door open to the office, Carmen ducked his head in, seeing you at his desk- your desk, technically, you used it more. "Hey, honey," Carmen's voice was soft, a sweet hum that had your spine straightening. He flinched lightly, stepping towards you. "D'you know where the extra napkins are?"

You didn't reply, simply typing on your laptop, editing a video for the social media page about the upcoming summer specials.

Carmen blinked, barking out your name in a much harsher than he meant to, but it seemed to work. Kinda. Your head whipped around, eyes in a burning glare when they met his, but your lips were still pressed together.

Carmen through his hands out in exasperation. "Are you bein' fuckin' serious with me?"

Richie made his way towards the table where Tina was doing prep, craning his neck to watch. Your lips twisted, glaring harshly at Carmen. Carmen huffed, a hand running over his forehead. "What do you want from me, huh? What? You're just never gonna speak to me again? I forgot, ok? I didn't mean to, I just fuckin' forgot! I was at work!"

You glared at him, feeling Richie's amused gaze from over Carmen's shoulder, the rest of the staff pretending to be busy to hear. "Shut the door." You snapped.

Carmen flinched, shocked. "What-"

"Shut the fuckin' door, now." You snapped, slamming your laptop, turning to face him. Carmen pressed the door shut, ignoring Richie's whines of "c'mon, Cousin, it was just gettin' good!".

The two of you stared, neither being the first to talk, not wanting to break. You huffed, rolling your eyes in annoyance. "You wanted to talk, talk, Carmen. I've got shit to do."

"Hey," Carmen's eyes flashed at you, his tone hard with an edge of warning. "You better watch your-"

"-No, you better watch your mouth with me. Watch what you say to me, Berzatto." You snapped, pointing a finger at him. "This isn't a fuckin' game, alright? I'm mad at you. Actually fuckin' mad at you."

Carmen's stomach turned, swallowing the guilt rising with the bile in his throat. "I... I'm sorry-"

"-Sorry isn't going to work this time, Carmen. It's always sorry. Always I didn't fuckin' mean to, I got busy." You snapped, arms wrapping over your torso. "You always do this, but our anniversary? You forgot our anniversary?"

"No, I didn't forget." Carmen ran a hand down his face. "I got you flowers and-and the bracelet-"

"-And that was very nice, Carmen, but you weren't there." You snapped, the finality in his tone making his rebuttal dissolve in his mouth. The hurt in your eyes, rounding and pitiful, soft and pleading with him. You were angry, but you were hurt, too.

His shoulders deflated, breath leaving his lungs. "You're right," Carmen nodded slowly. "No, you're-you're right, and-and-and I'm... Fuck, I'm so sorry, baby." Carmen said sincerely, eyes shining with sincerity. "I... I got caught up and I-I shouldn't have even been working that day, I just..."

"I know." You muttered, looking down at the desk, a framed picture of the two of you in Copenhagen at your wedding ceremony. Carmen in his suit, you in your dress, happy and smiling with the breathtaking scenery behind you.

Carmen could feel the guilt growing in his chest, palms sweating and heart racing, the panic to fix it- to do something. "How much longer do you have?" Carmen asked, nodding towards your laptop.

"Just a few more things to edit." You looked at your paused work. "Why?"

"Let me... Let me make it right." Carmen sighed, shaking hands fumbling towards his apron.

"Carmen, you can't leave-"

"-Yeah, yeah, I can." Carmen nodded, pulling the door out and calling for Sydney. "Can you cover tonight, Chef?"

"Uh, yeah, yeah, I can." Sydney nodded.

"I got it too, Cousin-" Carmen shut the door before he could hear Richie's full comment, sure something smart ass would be included.

"Let's go out." Carmen looked at you. "A make up. Please?"

You folded your arms, pouting lightly. "'m not dressed for going out."

"What're you talkin' about? You look beautiful, c'mon." Carmen shook his head lightly at you, shoving his clothes into his bag, pulling out his spare.

You tried not to drool at the sight of his chest. You'd missed him, you really had. It was a shame the lingerie went to waste.

Carmen pulled you out of the restaurant, hand on your waist, holding you close to his side. It wasn't the fancy reservations you'd planned, no Michelin star restaurants with expensive wine. No, instead, he took you to some a rooftop restaurant, one with the vibey aesthetic you always cooed at on Instagram. Sitting and sharing pretzels and greasy food, snuggled into Carmen's side while he ordered dessert. Giggling when he fed you the brownie sundae, tilting your head back with his fingers cradling your jaw lightly. It was simple, romantic, and fun. Made your heart swell, clinging to him the whole way home.

And when you got home? Carmen was in heaven. Letting you show him what he missed a few days earlier.

[piratecaptainscaptainpirates]

Prompt idea: Holiday celebration get horrendously fucked (birthday, Christmas, Halloween, Passover, doesn’t matter really, dealers choice) and one of them has to comfort the other and help them through a meltdown over their favorite day getting fucked up

Happy birthday and hopefully your day isn’t as bad as you would make Ed and Stede’s!

I wasn't able to get this one edited and posted on my birthday, but it's still a precious prompt and I loved writing for it!! Here's the story of The Time That Stede Fucked Up Passover.

--

"The eleventh plague," Stede said glumly as he watched Ed open a kitchen window to air out some of the smoke, "easily misread cooking directions."

"Well, babe," Ed said over his shoulder, "I'm not sure why you thought that the oven needed to be set to 450 for brisket -"

"I misread the package, Ed," Stede snapped, trying to hide the wobble in his voice.

"Aww, no, that came out wrong." Ed, who had been poking at the smoking, thoroughly blackened brisket sitting on the stovetop to salvage for any edible parts, held out a hand for Stede to take.

Stede pretended he didn't see, looking down at his lap.

It was Stede's first Passover with Ed, and he knew it was a big deal. Ed's mama was coming over for the seder, and Stede had been trying so fucking hard to get it all right. Passover was Ed's favorite holiday! He couldn't fuck it up!

So he did all his research. He practiced reading the haggadah, the text read at the seder - even though Ed would be doing most of the reading, he wanted to be able to pronounce the prayers without asking for help and mark spots where he could raise interesting discussion or questions and (hopefully) impress Ed's mom. He'd figured out voices to use for all of Ed's plague-themed finger puppets to add a bit of levity, triple-checked what they needed for the seder plate, and he'd stressed over making sure dinner was perfect.

When the local synagogue had released sign-ups for pre-made brisket packs, of course he'd signed them up. He wasn't the greatest cook, and neither was Ed, so he figured that having the main course squared away would take a load off his mind and allow him to focus on getting the table set and ready while Ed prepared the roasted sweet potatoes, matzo ball soup, and an extra-big helping of charoset.

And now he'd fucked up his one contribution to dinner, and he hadn't even gotten the table ready, and he'd forgotten to put the wine in the fridge to chill, all because he couldn't even read the package -

"Stede, babe, you need to breathe."

Stede jerked his eyes open. He didn't even remember closing them, but now Ed was kneeling in front of him at the table. He put a gentle, calming hand on Stede's thigh, looking up at him with a small smile.

"I'm so, so sorry, Ed," Stede sighed, scrubbing at his eyes before his tears could fall. "I've ruined everything - I'm the worst boyfriend ever."

"Hey, don't talk about my boyfriend that way," Ed pretended to grumble. "You just misread the instructions. Could've happened to anyone, and you've never made brisket before, have you?"

"No," Stede admitted.

"There ya go," Ed said easily. "You do need to wear your reading glasses more often, though. Not even just saying that because I think they're hot."

"Ed," Stede snorted. "Was any of it edible?"

"Stede," Ed said solemnly, "that thing is burnt to a sizzle. It's basically a rock. It's an ex-brisket."

"Great," Stede sighed. "Your mom's going to hate me."

"She's gonna love you," Ed promised. "Wanna know how I know?"

Stede just pursed his lips.

"Because you tried," Ed said. "You tried so fucking hard."

"That doesn't change the fact that our main course is burnt beyond recognition, Ed."

"C'mon, man, get it straight." Ed rubbed a soothing little circle over Stede's kneecap. "If you think my mama is showing up here without more food than any of us can eat, you're in for a surprise."

Well. That made it a bit better.

"I'm just sorry," Stede said, his shoulders hunching inward with his guilt. "I wanted this to be the best Passover you've ever had -"

"It will be," Ed said, immediately. "Because you're here. And I love you."

"I love you, too." Stede cupped Ed's cheek in his hand, his heart swelling at the way Ed tilted his face into the contact. "Promise you're not mad?"

"Not a bit," Ed said.

Stede leaned in to kiss him, but they pulled apart when they heard a car pull into the driveway.

"The eleventh plague," Ed said cheekily, giving Stede a quick kiss on his way up. "Meeting your boyfriend's mom."

Stede shivered.

"C'mon, babe, she'll love you!" One last kiss, and Ed darted out to meet his mama before she had a chance to start trying to carry things in herself.

Stede took a deep breath, made sure no one could see him for just long enough to flip off the stupid brisket on the stove, and then he ran out to join them.

[snowblack-charcoalwhite]

It seems that Vhagar is the only living, breathing creature that still cares about Aemond. His sister is apathetic at the prospect of his death, his mother sold him and his brother to Rhae Rhae knowing that it's was death sentence, he probably will never interact with Daeron, and I'm pretty sure that Alys will work against him. As far as I'm concerned, he should just take the granny and give her the best time of her life, inflict as much damage to the blacks as possible and then die, but not before forcing the morally grey™ Rogue prince to do the same.

And it's crazy, but they managed to get me, once a staunch Alicent supporter, to scroll through anti Alicent Hightower tag and just agree with almost everything. Her character assassination was appalling, not only the book Alicent would never, but ep 1-8 Alicent would never. I wish I could erase this horrendous season from my memory. Idk if you've read what Hess said, but according to her, Alicent in the scene at Dragonstone with Rhaenyra realised that she never really sacrificed anything and that's why she agrees to sacrifice her son(s) for "peace". Also, she claims that the writers' intention was to make the audience believe how everything is finally going to be alright because these two women are friends and will work it though, but then *gasp* we see Aegon leaving in the cart and we realize that the war is still going to happen because Rhaenyra will think that Alicent deceived her!!. She must be proud of herself. I can't believe how vile and deranged these writers and showrunners sound (and maybe even are).

Hello!

I lost count how many times I read these words (or even wrote them myself) in the span of the last week but this show is an absolute mess. And it's not just about the stupidest bias, the quality of the script or the lack of subtlety with which the writers are shoving their views on the characters' relationships down our throats. It's also the fact that every person involved in the creative process has theit own view on what's going on - and sometimes these views are diametrically opposed. Take Olivia saying that in her mind Alicent wanted to spit in Rhaenyra's face when she asked her to give Aegon up but mentioning she doesn't know how the material was edited yet - and the writers going all "Oh, she is liberated now! She is atoning for her sins!" (which sins exactly, by the way?). In what world is this situation okay? The actors are barely hiding their dissatisfaction about the plot - and the writers just keep doing their thing which is talking absolute nonsense. Stellar project, well done, HBO.

I am still in the "don't hate the characters, hate the writers" mindset (and have no plans to change it) - but did the writers do Alicent dirty. They dehumanized Aemond the most - but Alicent drew maximum humiliation card. Self flagellation in front of the woman who is an active threat to her children's (and to her own life)? Selling said children (at least her sons) to said woman? Amazing character development.

And as for Aemond, I have the feeling that Vhagar will be his only friend and ally as well (unless the writers turn their own story on its head and have Alys fall head over hills in love with him or something like that). At least, hopefully, he will have nothing to do with Helaena's death (I am pretty sure they will make it the fault of someone from TG - B&C wasn't made into a joke for nothing after all).

This show has become so draining recently, istg.

[xtraordinaryfangrl]

Yeah... turns out the streets were right about how the 6 measly episodes of TUA S4 was made in somebody's butt crack. I don't even have to watch it now (although I might after cleansing my mind with seasons 1 and 2 - aka PEAK TELEVISION) and I haven't even finished S3 because of how badly they butchered Alison's character/her relationship with Viktor. I do, however, have some very confused thoughts from the bits I've seen so far of the final season:

—

|‼️SPOILER ALERT‼️|

—

- Diego and Lila had 3 kids - two daughters and an unnamed son, according to the wiki-page? So what, is their son supposed to be a pee-wee version of Stanley (or as I know him, a softer version of Ashtray from Euphoria)?? That'd be cool if it was, y'know, confirmed. Guess I'll never know, and that in itself should be a criminal offense.

- SPEAKING OF ILLEGAL ACTIVITY - whoever pitched Five and Lila as a romantic pairing needs a psyche evaluation. You mean to tell me that not only she cheats on my man Diego, but she cheats on him with somebody who looks like a sophomore in college? She couldn’t have an affair with Sparrow!Ben? Or Luther - who apparently dabbles in male-stripping now? OR Viktor the Critically Acclaimed Ladies Man? Literally any other Hargreeves sibling would have been a better spring fling than a middle-aged man in a child’s body.

- Allison doesn’t say “I heard a rumor…” at all from the edits I’ve seen of her… Suspicious. Also, Ray just ditched her and Claire? For what- genuinely- WHY WOULD YOU GIVE MY SISTA A VILLAIN ARC FOR NO REASON LIKE-

- Weirdly enough, I’m sort of OK with the ending. Something will never sit right with me about the Hargreeves Siblings only finding peace in death after everything they’ve been through, sure. But their sacrifice makes sense, if not one huge inconsistency.

They didn’t just die, apparently. They were erased from existence, and their children still exist because of the Grandfather Paradox (which I still don’t get, by the way)? Fine. And yet, by some not-so-subtle foreshadowing, there’s an end-credits scene with a row of flowers - 8 marigolds. That’s not a coincidence, or maybe it is, but then that would also equate to more horrendous writing.

All in all, my love for the found-family trope is slightly tarnished now because of St*ve Bl*ckman and the only cure seems to be AO3.

—

Hell, I don’t write for this fandom, but if this isn’t a reason to start then what is?

[sgiandubh]

He's been in Los Angeles since Tuesday. Work friend saw him in Malubu Tuesday night. She said he was with a couple people no mention of Caitriona.

Dear Tuesday Anon,

I am sorry to pop your balloon here, but I'd be reserved on this. It could fit, but barely.

You all know I am terrible with timelines, but here is my take on things:

Sunday 28th, red carpet in Ostende, Belgium. Afterparty, etc. Perhaps not the best idea to pop in a car all'alba/at daybreak for an almost 5 hour ride to Paris.

Monday 29th, not much. We can speculate, but I would need an Advil. Most probably on this way to Paris. I doubt the Eurostar (the train formerly known as Thalys) was worth a Brussels detour and, while they used to have an Ostende-Paris direct link, it was dropped off around 2015. Why take a 90 minutes' detour (119 km!) to get to the Bruxelles Midi Train Station and hop on the Paris direct Eurostar link for the 90 minute ride, when you could only add (roughly) an hour by car and leave directly from Ostende?

I am immediately having visions of the horrendously impractical hullaballoo at Bruxelles Midi and to me, it's a firm no. @margareth-lv 's guess of a direct car trip is the most logical one and I am sticking with it. Paris pic was posted on Wednesday morning and he was staying at the Hôtel Lutétia, as I heavily hinted in my post (it used to be the Nazi Abwehr/Military Intelligence HQ during World War II). Probably one of the corner suites (angle of rue de Sèvres and Boulevard Raspail), hotel has a very good seafood restaurant, too.

Everything fits: the outside view, the reel/story angle. On my screenshot, x marks the spot on the map and the arrow, the outside view of the corner suites. I should know, it was my playground, many moons ago:

It is possible the reel was taken Monday evening upon arrival, but for being intimately familiar with Parisian nights, my best bet is on Tuesday morning, very early (jogging? leaving?). Just an intuition, and I could be wrong and I am ready to correct and edit, as we go.

We then assume a direct CDG-LAX flight. Since it's not possible to check past flight schedules, we work with a random February Tuesday. First and Business class yield different results (Shipper Mum, a former airline executive, helped me with those over the phone: hi, mum!).

Traveling First Class (very possible, damn expensive, but money is no object and Frequent Flyer mileage - always redeemable):

Traveling Business Class (reasonably possible and two more options):

Factoring in arrival/border/luggage procedures and city/airport, then airport/city transfers, it's not impossible, but to any normal human being who was Batman only on stage (even very fit)... a bit of a stretch.

This is my take on your info. Please don't take it personally (or at least try). I simply think he might have arrived in LA yesterday, Thursday, when the Los Feliz pic was taken, with his luggage in tow.

But you know what, Tuesday Anon? One thing I am sure of, is that this is exactly what he wants us to do, right now. Cue in the Yellow Ski Outfitgate, for fun. Schuss on top - that was a blatant von Trapp latergram and my mind immediately pictured a sidesmile.

At any rate, don't be a stranger. I answered you with all the care and caution in the world. And thank you, whoever you are. It was a fun phone call to Bucharest and Mom, who is laughing like a drain and told me I was probably bonkers.

[timeregistry]

omg dude i love ur sebastian!!!

and if u want, i’ll tag u when i post my painter design

i’d also like to hear more of ur ramblings about pressure or anything of the sort :3

have a good day!!!

TYSM!!! I'm glad people like him 🥹He's been my everything since I got into Pressure, let's just say that the AU of my fic had lived in my brain since forever before I started writing LOL

OH and also I would ADORE to see your Painter design PLEASE 🙏🙏🙏 I LOVE PAINTER SM I LOVE ALL PAINTER DESIGNS

ALSO sorry for answering this so late I got injured (again...) and it was hard to write but also I’m INSANE like IM CRAZY you literally put on a silver platter that I can talk about ANYTHING like DUDE. IM CRAZY. I jump around fandoms a lot so to say that I have a lot on my mind apart from work is an understatement (let's just say earlier I went crazy about regretevator...... it's bad)

SO to organize my thoughts, I've been really wanting to actually talk about like... some thought process stuff of my fic (A Human's Touch) and things that happen before the fic... since SO MUCH happened but I don't mention it because we are put at a specific moment in the story... VERY VERY Sebastian and reader focused so TW: Sebastian Solace 😔

Under cut because its LONG. LIKE. REALLY LONG. I HAVE TOO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT LMAOOOO

SO pressure's lore is a MESS don't get me started on how I feel about the current lore so I decided that since no one really saw the timeline or pretends it doesn't exist as they should, I feel it's a bit unlikely Sebastian would be able to convince Painter to start killing people after meeting it TWENTY MINUTES PRIOR T_T (and hacking all of Urbanshade network in that time?!) so that's why I actually made (in chapter 7 that is not on tumblr rn LOL) them meet. I mentioned in a comment on AO3 since someone had asked smth about Sebastian and just to give an idea, the start of A Human's Touch happens a couple of months before the events of Pressure. SO at that point, Sebastian and Painter have known each other for months. I would LOVE to go into detail how I see their relationship is when the lockdown happens + what happens with reader but I DONT WANT TO SPOIL ANYTHING T_T so maybe when I finish the fic I'll go into detail as I'm not actually really planning on writing the actual like.... events of pressure w/ reader instead I guess, idk how to put it, just to let you in a little secret, Painter does know part of Sebastian's plan when the lockdown happens in this universe.

So enough about Pressure lore and what I changed from that, I wanted to talk a bit about before the events of the fic... I didn't write it since I felt it would be very Sebastian and reader centric and since it was most likely going to be in a platonic sense I wasn't sure if people would be interested! To admit something since I don't imagine many people will read this but originally I had written a fic that was with Sebastian (it was more romance with him tho as I was down HORRENDOUS I wrote so much Sebastian y’all have no idea I got jumpscared trying to find some of my old things to reference and seeing the sheer amount of Sebastian) which was actually where the original summary of A Human's Touch came from HELPPPP LIKE ORIGINALLY IT WAS A PARAGRAPH OF MY FIC I JUST EDITED IT T_T I never post what I write I'm surprised that I even posted A Human's Touch but I digress. Anyways I had originally considered writing a platonic version of that fic (not like that one was finished) but in the end I never did since again, I didn't think anyone would read it--

Either way, here is a TLDR of how reader and Sebastian met. Basically reader came in as an intern to Urbanshade right? How I imagined it was that they actually had seen Sebastian when he was still in his big ol heavy containment aquarium. While I think he still needs to go there when Urbanshade wants to contain him, I imagine reader met him when he was MOSTLY in there... While he could leave as his status as an MR-P made it so that now he could leave and free-roam, I imagined that he never really saw a reason to do so... I think atp Urbanshade hadn't really found a good reason for him either, as he was soo unpredictable because of how aggressive he was with them. SO they just leave him in his cell basically, its good to see if there were any longer terms effects of his… condition. He would normally just look into the window and look at any of the scientists.

Now how I imagined his heavy containment cell was that like, an aquarium. Like there is this big window where you can see him but I imagine that he had this like area at the surface of his cell that there is like a walking area but it was specifically because not only is he an MR-P so its like a little better than his old cell but also because he was exactly for an experiment that was to make humans be able to breathe over and underwater so I like to think they want him to take in oxygen naturally anyways–

MS Paint jumpscare but something like this

ANYWAYS I imagine reader had seen him from the window that you can peak in from just him swimming around and being completely fascinated by him. Stuff happens, and they decide to try to see him without their superiors knowing so... I decided I would pull directly from one of my old fics:

You first met Sebastian fully at night, when most scientists were already resting in their own quarters. You were already shown where you would stay, yet you couldn’t get the image of Sebastian out of your mind. You wanted to meet him directly. He was the first of the subjects that you met, against all safety protocols and you remember he himself mentioning it. He was rude and in all ways, a certified asshole, immediately tricking you by making you walk a bit too close and effectively making you fall in his tank. He didn’t keep you there however, you knew he didn’t like your presence but you couldn’t resist wanting to learn more about him.

How I imagine reader's and Sebastian's relationship was just, a really rocky start because we have reader who wanted to know more about him and then we have Sebastian who didn't want to know anything about reader because they are just another scientist. He never left his containment either because I imagine that the other prisoners would give him funny looks and dislike his presence because of how he was. I think... he was very bitter. It took a lot for him to warm up as he did… Especially with someone who was one of the scientists! 

“You really don’t know do you?” Sebastian snarled slightly, his casual facade crumbling briefly as his expression went more of pity. “Of course you don’t, you keep coming in here as if I can’t kill you right here and now.” You frowned at him. “I’m here to learn-” “You are trapped. They have you right where they want you. The moment that you have served your purpose they will kill you.” He put a claw near you, his other hand flaunting his sharp nails. You took a step back, sensing danger unconsciously. He noticed, his trained eyes on you like a predator. “Word of advice, start making yourself useful and leave me alone.”

I always saw that reader was treading on treacherous waters... always seeing Sebastian secretly at night and after talking with him, he would eventually warm up because whether he liked it or not, I think he was lonely. Because he would live without speaking with anyone and talking to someone who's a lot more genuine... I don't think the reader is like the other scientists at all, I don't think that it would even be known what Urbanshade was doing! I think Urbanshade just flaunts a lot and doesn't hide anything, but makes any new interns or hires go through the longest paperwork part of their work EVER to see if they are dedicated before kinda forcing the unethical experiments... basically like roping in with mundanity and beauty, the curiousity on how these beautiful sea creatures are made only to find out that it was all done with torture--

SO my point is that reader didn't know what happened to Sebastian, nor knew why he was so standoffish, they were forced to do ONLY paperwork and their free time went into seeing the subject that they can see very very easily. It was like... just the curiousity of what Sebastian was, what he was capable of, etc etc. I don't think reader even knew that he was... human. And he doesn't mention it either... I think he only mentions it soooo much later... As for Sebastian’s side of things, I imagine he decided to entertain the reader only because atp he’s thinking he can probably use their naivety for his escape!

ANYWAYS to skip ahead because I have JUST SEEN THE SHEER LENGTH OF THIS IM SOOOO SORRY I LOVE LOVE TALKING ABOUT MY CREATIONS IDK lore dump moment

So at one point, Urbanshade notices that reader is interacting with Sebastian, however, instead of like, stopping them, I imagine that Urbanshade instead saw an opportunity. Sebastian doesn’t talk to ANYONE so suddenly finding out that he’s talking to someone??? 

It was only much later that he actually warmed up to your presence, choosing to follow you around when you were stuck doing your boring paperwork. You were starting to regret applying here as they wanted to wait a really long time until you could actually do any hands-on work. However, Sebastian’s presence made the situation a lot more bearable, as he would sometimes read over your shoulder and mention things that you would outright forget to write down. Because of his seeming attachment to you, your higher-ups completely changed your temporary job of reading and copying down paperwork into instead… still do the same thing but also look over Sebastian’s behaviour. They would say how you were the only person that he got along with, which meant it was the opportune moment to find out more about him and fill his file even more as it was severely lacking apparently. And so started your Behavioural Scientist job with no hiccups whatsoever. Especially not after begging Urbanshade not to let you go after the internship ended, convincing them that you were the only person who managed to get even remotely close to Sebastian’s good graces. No issues at all... 

OH and at some point reader is given their own office and it’s because they had a normal desk like other people before but because Sebastian is.. big… he would push the desks all the time and he would apologize to the scientists but you can tell he wasn’t being genuine as the malice was obvious on him SCREAMING but after having TOO MANY complaints about Sebastian following reader around and reader insisting that they need him to follow because it’s their job, Urbanshade just gave them a temporal office (that became their permanent office for years to come)--

I think it’s there where Sebastian starts seeing reader as a “friend”, they never hurt him and quickly realise that reader was genuinely not evil like the scientists that experimented on him. While Urbanshade made reader the behavioural scientist, they started working with other subjects as well (as you guys know) and Sebastian started seeing reader in a much more positive light. 

Reader goes on vacation sometimes, brings a lot of trinkets and pictures of the outside world to Sebastian. I think he tries to keep a strong face when he gets some of those things, he misses the outside world. I like to think reader asked him once what was his favorite snack and he would mention something from Chile and reader would get it for him and that’s probably the first time that he does cry in front of them because of the whole emotion of having something that’s basically a comfort food after so long. It was like a taste of freedom. Something to look forward to and not give up to Urbanshade. And seeing as how reader didn’t look disappointed or in any negative emotion I think that’s when Sebastian just completely changed his perspective. The idea where now in his grand plan of escaping the Blacksite that he had been making the moment that Urbanshade stopped doing the extreme experiments and let him walk (slitter?) freely now would include reader. 

While he knows reader is there for the other subjects too, he also knows that they are mostly there for him counting as I imagine there is a lot of subjects that reader can’t understand (like the angler… or pandemonium…) and while Sebastian knows a lot of them thanks to working with reader so closely (him reading all these classified documents) that he weights if he would escape the Blacksite he would want to take reader with him. I think at first when they met he was like they might die but its a sacrifice for his escape (they are but another scientist), but now he’s like if they die I die (“I have failed.”).

BASICALLY I imagine their friendship that is very slowburn but in the end they become extremely loyal to each other, reader doesn’t know that they are part of his plan now. I mention it in A Human’s Touch but Sebastian has this hidden room where he keeps all these things and he probably has written (in a coded language) a whole plan of his escape + what he would do once he gets out of the Blacksite. At first it only included him but the longer he spent with reader the more he kept in mine their safety as they are the only friend he’s had for years and they are ATTACHED. 

Oh and a final note, Sebastian’s bracelets were given by reader, but i wanted to talk briefly on the obsidian one because I went with spirituality and symbolism as to why I took that material… obsidian bracelets mean protection, grounding and emotional healing… a lot of mental clearance and transforms negative energy to positive ones. I like to think that reader got it for him after learning more about him, because just as he wants them to be safe, they want him to be safe too. Their biggest fear is that Urbanshade would want to experiment harder again with him again and/or kill him. Sebastian shares the same fear.

OK I think I am... done... I'm so sorry AGAIN if something doesn't make sense... feel free to send an ask.... That goes for anyone ofc but yes... I'm crazy but if you got this far here's a quick doodle I did for your troubles dear reader

[twopoppies]

hi gina, i hope you don't mind me sending this to you but i need to talk to someone about this😅 I'm a pandemic larrie and i always tried to stay as far away from bbg as possible because my brain simply couldn't comprehend something this heinous and evil. however, i did read lotties book because i have dealt with a lot of loss in my life and I thought it might be helpful (i thought it was) and i'm sure she didn't mean to, but the way she dealt with f in the book in comparison to the other children of the family made bbg so glaringly obvious it was almost ridiculous. she mentioned him TWICE in the book, nothing about when he was born or about her mum getting to be a grandma before she passed, just twice mentioned that louis spends a lot of time in LA bc "he has a little boy there". two sentences that can easily get deleted in future editions should the need arise (read:when/if bbg ends). it was so glaringly obvious, especially because she mentioned every other event in their family in great detail... i hope they will end it at some point, if only for that boys sake because he's not getting younger and this must mess with his head at some point, if it's not done so yet

Hi, sweetheart. Yeah. Absolutely everything about Babygate is horrendous. I don’t know what they’re telling that little boy, but I really hope it’s not that Louis is his dad.

[talking-snot]

Intro

Hi I'm like an evil spirit or something idk. Send me asks I'm bored

This is me vvv

Ooc: hi I'm Jupiter I'm 16 and I never fucking learned how to read in case you couldn't tell I'm BORED. this is a RP account, no rules really, anyone can interact. Basic DNI criteria like no pedos or racists or homophobes yk. Ask anything you want. If anything you say makes me uncomfortable I am under no obligation to reply or speak to you but tbh I don't really have any triggers. Just don't be a terrible horrendous disgusting reprehensible person

Also I use any pronouns (in character it's he/him) and both ic and ooc I am aro/ace. Thank you 😼

Edit: here are my tags. I made them unnecessarily complicated in an attempt to be aesthetic

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[confusedbuddyboi]

This is my first fic agere stuff, so I wanted to try espresso and Madeline, cause I can see them in my mind easily. :] btw this isnt edited so spelling errors possible and likely. This is inspired by the winter snow! It's made me excited! Also lmk if anyone's got ideas or such for other stuff! My ask box is always open even memes.

Fic under cut!

/I'll start this with saying I'm horrendous at guessing ages in general not even regressing. So most of my regression ideas here aren't based on specifics of ages and how they grow, but how a charather generally might act. Espresso seems like someone who even when regressed likes to try and be “a big kid” the main thing is regressed hes more open to offerings of help and general silliness. He also relaxes and is a lot less stressed\

Espresso was staring out the window, distracted from there work for a long moment. It was a gentle flurry, but the snow has been layering like powdered sugar on everything. Espresso realized they hadn't even realized the snow starting, he didn't mind the cold however. Being made with espresso kept him warm so he could really soak in the sight.

He never admit it but the winter weather made him a bit giddy. He always thought of when he would go out and play in the snow with his siblings. Latte would help build a snowman while cappuccino would be found making snow angels. Espresso had been much younger than his siblings but minus snow ball fights he never felt left behind in snowy fun.

“Ohhh espresso!” A joyful voice sang turning the corner seeing espresso turn from their window watching. Normally when Madeline came in espresso would jump, like a bundle of nerves, or scold him for being so sneaky when coming in. However right now espresso simply hummed, tilting his head a bit tired as always however.

Madeline gave a gentle “ah” as he realized espresso was likely regressing. Sometimes it was hard to tell, as espresso tended to fight it off wanting to work. Thankfully for Madeline the snow made espresso more willing to slip to a younger mindset without fighting it. “well, would you like to bundle up for a bit of time outside?” “you just got back from patrol though, your probably freezing” Madeline shook his hand in a ‘dont worry’ gesture. “I'll change into better layers and warm up while we but you in some winter ware,” he smiled “besides the hot chocolate taste better after a winter walk”

Eventually Madeline got his layers on first and quickly. He came back to espresso trying his best to put on the layers himself. He got the shirt and pants on fine, but was struggling with the zipper on coat. He was starting to get huffy as it didn't connect properly at the bottom. Madeline came over espresso likes to try and do big things on his own. “Can I help you buddy?” Espresso pouted wanting to get it done himself, trying once again not answering.

“Hey, you got your layers on. I'm proud of you but even big boys need help. Like I might need you to hold my hand to help me down the stairs, theyre a bit slippery!” it a moment but espresso let go of the zipper “ok”. Madeline knew it was better to tell espresso he was a big boy, or else he might get fussy. Even as a little he was always trying to be self-sufficient.

Eventually they made it out the door “hold my hand till we down the stairs ok? I don't want us to fall!” espresso beamed happy to help. “Here be careful ok! I'll be watching you!” Espresso decided to flop down and start making a string of snow angels, he looked over and urged Madeline over. “Make some too!” Madeline was cold, but with how espresso beamed excited trying to make a big circle of them, he couldn't resist.

Eventually they finished them and espresso giggled. Giddy with the masterpiece they made. Madeline brushed off the snow stuck to him and espresso before letting him explore a bit more. The snow wasn't wet enough for snowmen which made him a bit sad but settled on drawing in the snow with a stick.

Eventually espresso had enough outside, and headed inside. Madeline kept his promise of hot chocolate, letting it cool down before he put it in a sippy cup. Espresso was beaming bringing his coat to Madeline having taken off his layers. “Look! I got it off on my own!” He said excited. Madeline ruffled espresso hair a bit. “Great job! I got some hot chocolate to warm you up.” He was surprised when espresso held out the coat. “Could you put it on the rack?” Madeline smiled a bit and took it, “sure bud. Here yah go” espresso took it and darted to the couch and it's covers. “Thank you!”

[kokorosfanfics]

What The Hope Were You Doing? Mondo x Fem!S/O

Plot: You and Mondo are dating and in the same class. Your best friend is Nagito, and you are regularly roped into his bizarre schemes and plans. This time, the great plan to get everyone more time before an exam backfires horrendously and Mondo has to come to the rescue. Inspired by the anime where Nagito blows up the gym, but of course edited and changed up for the plot. (I do NOT condone bombing. This is purely fictional and meant to be harmless. Don't f*cking bomb a place just because you read about it in fanfiction.) -Mod Kokoro

Here you are, sitting in the middle of class and bored out of your mind. The teacher was going off about some subject you really didn't care about, and your boyfriend was asleep next to you. The subject was tiring and hardly anyone besides Taka and Kyoko could follow along. Come to think of it, you could skip and not miss anything crucial. That's when you got a text from your best friend, Nagito.

You pull out your phone to view the notification.

Nagito: Hey, I know I have no business disturbing an Ultimate like this, but I wanted to ask if you were available.

S/O: You're literally my best friend. Also, I am available. I wanted to sneak out class anyways. I can't pay attention to something so boring.

Nagito: Well you see, that's perfect. Do you want to meet me by the school gate?

S/O: Sure thing. On my way now. See you bestie.

You raised your hand.

"Yes S/O?" Your teacher called on you.

"May I use the restroom?"

"Of course."

With that, you excused yourself from the room to make your way downstairs and to the school gate, where your best friend waved you over.

"Hey S/O. Glad you could be here. I'll explain while we walk."

"Ah, I got it. You need my help in a plan for the sake of hope?"

"Exactly! I knew you'd figure that out. As expected of such a hopeful Ultimate!" He praised you.

"Aww you're too sweet. So, what're we doing this time?"

"Well, in my class, everyone is anxious about the next exam. I don't know how it is in yours, but everyone feels like they're not ready. Like they need more time."

You nodded. "Actually, my class is feeling anxious about it as well. They announced it so suddenly, we hardly have any time to prepare! I take it you have a solution?"

"Yes." He stopped to look at you with a dark look in his eyes.

"We're going to blow up the gym."

"W-WHAT?" You gasped, taken completely aback. You knew your best friend could be a little crazy sometimes, but this was something new.

"Yeah. I have a plan to blow up the gym. They'll be so focused on repairs, they'll have no choice but to suspend the exams."

"We are going to cause grievous property damage.... For an EXAM?"

"I want my classmates to succeed. That includes you. I don't want to see the symbols of hope succumb to despair. This has to be done."

He had a point. This was weighing down on everyone, and here you're presented a way to fix it. Most people would say "That's fucking stupid." And probably report it, but you knew Nagito. His luck helped him excel and succeed in nearly everything he set out to do, or got into. You could understand him, and empathize with him. You knew him like no one else did. So, after a deep breath, you answered.

"Alright. As long as we don't kill anyone, and nobody is harmed, then, I'm in."

His smile grew wide and he let out a laugh. "Oh it's beautiful! To see an Ultimate such as yourself agree to take on such a plan so hope may prevail! I'm truly honored to have the privilege of working with you."

"It's your idea, and I'm really agreeing because your my best friend and I trust you. I have 100% faith in you. I know how much hope means to you, and it's become important to me too."

"Mondo should consider himself lucky to be with such an outstandingly hopeful Ultimate! I bet he'd be so proud right now!"

Actually, if Mondo knew of this discussion, Nagito's face would have a fist in it and you'd be getting a LONG talk on how dangerous bombs are and all the trouble you could get into. Taka would even help him. But you don't tell him that.

"Ah, yeah let's actually keep this a secret between us. Don't wanna get arrested or sued for this."

"Haha, good point. But in case we do, I'm sure Fuyuhiko has connections to bail us out."

"True, but let's not chance it. If we can help it, of course. Hehe." You giggled. This actually sounds like an exciting project.

"Right. I don't want to get arrested either. Plus, your boyfriend might kill me if I got you into legal trouble. I wouldn't blame him either."

"Sooo, how are we gonna blow it up?" You asked with enthusiasm, finally getting pumped up for this insane plan of yours.

"Well, my pharmacist friend let's me roam around the cabinets with all her stuff. I already have everything we need to build the bombs. There's an abandoned warehouse not too far from here. It'll give us the space and privacy we need. I also got us some gloves, goggles, and other safety equipment."

"Awesome! Let's go! For hope!" You cheered.

"Yes! For hope!"

With that, you and Nagito made your way to the abandoned building and got to work. You put on your gloves and goggle and got to it. During which, you two talked about anything that came to mind, school, video games, anything really. But then you realized something. There was more that needed to be thought of.

"Wait so, how are we going to make sure it doesn't get traced back to us? I mean, they're going to investigate, and they'll see we don't have alibis. Also, how are we going to plant them and then set them off without getting caught in the blast?"

"Ah that, I'm actually going to just rely on my luck." Nagito laughed it off. Had this been anyone else, you'd be absolutely terrified. But, it was Nagito, and you've seen his luck be legitimate. You knew you could count on him, and trust his luck would protect you both.

So you shrugged. "Alright, that works for me."

"Wow, really? Most people don't like hearing when I say that."

"I'm not like most people. Plus, I know you well enough to believe in your luck. And you're my best friend. So, I trust you. If you say your luck will cover us and keep us safe, then I believe you wholeheartedly. I have no reason not to."

You could've sworn a tear rolled down his eye.

"Such hopeful, inspiring words of friendship! You fill me with so much hope!"

"Aww, I'm glad." You smiled at him.

Then, your phone started to buzz. At first you ignored it, but in a few minutes it started buzzing even more. Repeatedly.

"Hey I think you should check that. You should probably turn off notifications so you don't get distracted." Your friend suggested.

"Yeah you're right. Alright gimme a moment."

You opened your phone to find notifications from Mondo, Chihiro, Leon, and Taka.

Mondo: Hey babe. I heard you went to the bathroom a while ago and haven't come back. Teach sent Sayaka to check on you. She says you weren't there. What's going on?

Mondo: Babe? You there?

Mondo: I'm getting nervous. Please answer me.

Mondo: Chihiro just told me he saw you out the window a while ago to meet a friend and walk off. At least warn me before you skip. But where are you guys going?

Mondo: HELLO?????? I'M GETTING NERVOUS HERE?????

"Uh, hey S/O you alright?" Nagito noticed the guilty look on your face.

"It's my boyfriend. He's getting anxious and wants to know where I am."

"Just tell him you went to catch up with your bestie. You're technically not lying. If you feel bad omitting what we're doing, you can just tell him after the fact. I doubt he'd rat out his girlfriend."

"You're right. Alright hold up."

S/O: Hey love! I'm so sorry, I didn't see you texted me. Yeah, I'm with my best friend right now. I would've told you, but you were asleep and I didn't wanna wake you.

Mondo: I'm glad you're okay and you care about my sleep, but where are you two? You know I worry about your safety.

"He's asking where we are."

"Tell him you're helping me on an important project. Again, not a lie."

S/O: We just went to go help him on a really important science project. That's all.

Mondo: Okay. You want me to tell the teacher you threw up and decided to just head home?

S/O: Yeah that would be great actually. Thanks love.

Mondo: Np Sweetheart.

You decided to see what your other notifications are.

Leon: Don't tell him I sent this.

There was an attachment. A video of Mondo being anxious about where you were and asking if you were okay. He becomes progressively more anxious when there's no response from him texting you. It was cute, and it made you chuckle, but you still felt bad. Hopefully he won't find out about what this "science project" actually was.

Chihiro: Hey, S/O. Mondo is really worried about you. You don't really ever skip class and Yasuhiro is saying he's predicted you're in a dangerous situation. Can you please tell him you're fine?

S/O: Don't worry I just did.

Finally, Taka's texts.

Taka: S/O, skipping class is not welcome in a school environment. Sayaka has reported you aren't in the restroom like you said you'd be. After school I would like an explanation.

S/O: Well last time I checked getting people sick wasn't welcome in a school environment so I don't know what you want me to do here.

Taka: Yes, Mondo just told us you threw up. I am so sorry, please forgive what I said.

S/O: Don't worry I forgive you. Later!

You turned off your notifications after that to prevent further distraction.

"Alright, Mondo told them I wasn't feeling well and threw up. So I guess I'm covered."

"I knew we'd turn out fine." Your friend smiled.

You resumed building the explosives together.

"Finally! We're done. I'm thinking tomorrow morning, we'll get there early and plant them before school starts. We'll come back at normal time, blend in with everyone else, and they'll be set off just in time so no one enters." Nagito explained.

"Let's go a step further. I wanna place a DO NOT ENTER sign in front of the gym, just to make sure nobody goes inside." You suggested.

"Good idea. As expected of an Ultimate."

You and Nagito went home, him carrying the bags. You went to sleep anticipating the big day tomorrow.

The Next Morning.

Nagito came over at 5:30 A.M. You were both dressed in darker clothing to blend in with darkness in the closed school.

"Alright! Let's do this. For hope." Your friend grinned in wild anticipation.

"Yeah! Let's have a blast." You winked.

"Haha, that's a good one."

And so, you scaled the fence and made your way onto campus grounds. You snuck quietly over to where the gym was.

"You start planting them. I'll locate the DO NOT ENTER sign." You whispered.

"Good call. Come join me as soon you do that." Nagito whispered back.

You located the sign easily, and gently picked it up. You carried it outside the doors, and placed it. This will ensure nobody would blasted to smithereens. Afterwards, you rejoined Nagito.

"Here. Take these- gently. Place them over on the other side, make sure they're covered just enough to not be immediately noticeable, but enough exposure to completely tear this place apart."

"Got it captain." You saluted before you tiptoed your way over.

The bombs were finally placed, and it was time to go home.

"Okay, we got the hardest parts done. I've set them to go off at 7:35. That way, it'll be over before school can actually start, and we get to enjoy the beautiful display of hope we built." Nagito explained.

"Yeah, I like it. Plus, the gym doesn't officially open until 8:00. That plus the sign will guarantee nobody gets hurt or killed."

"And we have to act natural. We need to be as horrified as everyone else to avoid suspicion." He said.

"What? You mean we can't start dancing and cheering about it in the name of hope? Aw man, I was gonna get a boombox and everything!"

Nagito chuckled. "Perhaps we can have an after party at your place afterwards. Or mine. Maybe we'll get a baker to make your favorite cake and spell HOPE with the icing."

"Yup! I love it."

"We'll invite your boyfriend to join us. He might be weirded out, but that's okay."

"Let's invite all our classmates!"

"We're going to need a really big cake."

Before you knew it, you were home already.

"Hey, when does Mondo usually pick you up to take you both to school?" He asked.

"Typically at 7:15. So we'll be on time. It's a rather short drive."

"Ah, that works. Goodnight S/O. See you in a few hours."

"See you, bestie." You hugged him tightly before he left to go to his house.

At 7:15

You had already changed into your usual attire. You brought your bag, even though you wouldn't need it, simply to keep up appearances. Can't have anyone thinking you were involved with the soon to be big explosion.

Right on cue, your boyfriend had pulled into your driveway. You were so excited, you ran out the door before he could knock.

"Mondooooo!" You jumped into his arms.

"Woah! Hey babe, glad to see ya too." He caught you and held you close.

"You seem oddly happy to see me." He pressed a kiss to your forehead.

"I missed you! Helping Nagito with his science project took forever. We had to stay up to get it done."

"Man, for someone who's supposed to have ultimate luck, he's pretty unlucky to have to pull an all nighter."

"That's true, but it happens. Maybe he'll get an A+ so it cancels out." You felt guilty lying, but you'd fess up when the whole ordeal was done with. Just to him though.

"By the way, why didn't you tell someone sooner you were sick? Taka and I had to convince teach not to write ya up."

"Well, I hadn't thought of that excuse. I guess I was just too eager to get out of class."

"It's fine. You don't normally skip, so it's fine if you hadn't thought of a cover beforehand. Just ah, some warning would be nice. You know I tend to get nervous, especially when it comes to you."

"Awww!!" You reached up to kiss him.

"You're so sweet, love."

"Hey, I'm your boyfriend. It's my job to worry about ya and be all sweet and shit." Mondo blushed.

"Hey, is it true Yasuhiro predicted I was in danger?" Mondo tensed up. He took a sharp breath in.

"Yeah, he scared the fucking shit out of me. I know he's supposed to be 100% right 30% of the time, and regardless of the odds, something like that scares me. So I panicked a bit."

You knew Yasuhiro's predictions weren't far off, you had been handling bombs. But you weren't about to tell him that. At least not yet.

"Well, let's get to school." Mondo picked you up to place you on his bike. The two of you rode off on your way to school.

You were finally here. Mondo parked his bike, Taka, Leon, and Chihiro caught up with you. The five of you began your walk to school.

"Feeling better S/O?"

"Yeah! Much better. Thanks Chihiro."

"S/O, I printed a copy of my notes for you so you won't have to fall behind. Here!" Taka handed you them.

"Aww, thanks!" You placed them in your bag. Turns out it did have an actual use after all.

"You sure you're better?" Leon placed an arm on your forehead.

"She's fine Leon." Mondo responded.

"Good point. She seems more energetic now. Almost like.... She knows she has a super strong boyfriend to worry about her." You knew he was referencing the video he sent you of Mondo panicking. You giggled at that.

"Damn right she does." Mondo placed an arm around you.

You checked your watch. It was 7:29. 6 minutes until the gym was sent to be completely obliterated.

As your group kept walking, you saw Nagito up ahead. He seemed to be walking by himself.

"Hey Nagito!" Chihiro called out to him.

"Oh! You must be S/O's friends. And her boyfriend!" He greeted back.

"So this is your best friend S/O?" Leon asked.

"Yup! We've been besties since middle school." You answered back.

"Ah, I can remember the first time we met! It was just after we were kidnapped, we-"

"WHAAAAAAT?" Everyone except you and Nagito exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, KIDNAPPED? Oh my God, are you two okay?" Taka asked in bewilderment.

"What the FUCK?! Did I hear you right? KIDNAPPED?! Babe, why didn't you tell me this? I woulda beat the shit out of whoever the fuck kidnapped you!" Your boyfriend looked like he could kill a man right now.

"Ah, sorry Mondo. It wasn't some big secret, it just never sorta came up?" You laughed nervously.

"I kind of want to know what happened next." Chihiro muttered.

"Don't worry I'll tell you. So basically, we were trapped, and we formed a plan to escape. It was beautiful! Such hope, it shone so brightly it brought a tear to my eye! We knocked him out and took his phone to call the police. After that we were set free. We realized how much of a great team we could be when we set our hearts together, and we've been the best of friends since then!" Nagito told Chihiro the story.

"You know what, I'm just glad you're both alright. I mean, wow. That's a wild way to make a best friend." Leon spoke.

"I think we're all a little shocked." Chihiro replied.

"Babe, if this guy comes back, lemme know so I can bash his fuckin' skull in."

"I doubt we'll see him again, but if we do you'll be the first to know." You reassured him.

After answering some questions they had on that bombshell of a revelation, you guys made it in. Nagito had to go his own separate way to his class. It wasn't until you sat down, that it dawned on you.

The bombs hadn't gone off.

You checked your phone, 7:37. They should've blasted by now.

You quickly pulled out your phone.

S/O: Hey, Nagito? How's the science project?

You decided to speak in code. Just in case the plan was discovered and completely foiled.

Nagito: It's just my luck, I lost a key component. I think something fell when we walked by the gym. I'm on my way to get it now.

S/O: Need me to come help rebuild it?

Nagito: Yes.

S/O: Coming.

You wanted to bolt out and run to the gym, but not without someone noticing. You raised your hand.

"Yes S/O?"

"M-May I use the restroom?"

"Oh dear, are you still sick?"

"I-I don't know, but I need to go."

"Very well. But if you have to leave campus, please inform me this time."

"I will." You got up and ran, not caring what anyone thought.

You had to get to the gym. Something was wrong with the bombs.

But as you were running there to meet Nagito, you missed an interaction in class.

Toko raised her hand.

"Yes Toko?"

"S-S/O w-was texting class."

"What do you mean?"

"I-I saw on her p-phone. She's actually going to the gym. Her friend wants to meet her there."

Taka spoke up. "But the gym has a DO NOT ENTER sign in front of it! Students aren't allowed in until 8:00!"

Toko shrugged. "Who knows. That Nagito guy is a freak. I heard from his other classmates he goes off on rants about hope and despair all the time, and he's always up to no good. Maybe this time he's involved S/O. Those t-two are probably meeting a-at the gym to blow it up." Yet, she didn't know how accurate that last sentence was.

"HEY! S/O isn't violent. She's my girlfriend, for crying out loud I know her good enough to say she wouldn't ever get involved in any of that crazy shit! If she says she's not feeling well, then she isn't feeling well!" Mondo defended you.

"But... When I checked on her, she wasn't there." Sayaka responded.

Mondo knew you had skipped before, and he doesn't know why you're skipping again already, or even if you are skipping.

"Well how about this." The teacher spoke up.

"Mondo, Taka, Leon and Chihiro. You four are who S/O regularly hangs out with. I want you four to do a thorough search of the gym's perimeter. Sayaka and Toko, search the girl's bathroom. She should be in either of those locations. I don't have an actual assignment planned besides review for the exam, so it isn't an issue to send out that many people."

Everyone agreed, and so the search begins.

Back to you. You found Nagito at the gym entrance.

"*huff* Okay. *huff* What's the plan now?" You panted out.

"We're going to sneak back inside and carefully inspect the bombs to see what went wrong." You followed him as he began to open the door.

"S/O? HEY, WHAT'S GOING ON?" Oh no. That voice. Taka.

You turned around, in the distance was Taka, Mondo, Leon, and Chihiro running towards you.

"SHIT!" Nagito exclaimed. He grabbed you by the wrist and pulled you inside immediately.

"FUCK FUCK FUCK!" He shouted, trying to get under control.

"Nagito, we can't let them in!" You whispered.

He grabbed some boxes and began pushing them in front of the door. You quickly joined him in barricading the door.

"Okay, I think that's heavy enough to keep them out. Let's check on the bombs. And quick." Nagito was beginning to sweat.

"Hey, we still have your luck to fall back on, don't we?"

"You're right. We do."

The two of you went to where the bombs were. You started inspecting.

"Hey, how did you time them?"

"I set it on the bomb itself. I- Oh. That's the problem." He looked down.

"What is it?" You looked down to see. 7:55. Nagito accidentally set it to 7:55 instead of 7:35.

"Whew! Alright, good news. These things are still going off." Nagito cheered.

You both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wait." You realized.

"Hm?" Nagito looked at you.

"It's going to explode with us inside." You told him.

"Um... Shit. I don't suppose we can leave through the doors now."

"What about the window?"

"They're too high up. We can't reach. We'd need to move the boxes to make a staircase." Nagito explained grimly.

"And if we do that, those four will come in the gym! Wait, what time is it?" You checked your watch. 7:50.

"WE'RE GOING TO BLAST WITH THIS PLACE IN FIVE MINUTES IF WE DON'T DO SOMETHING!" You screamed.

"S/O! NAGITO! You heard shouting from the doors. Taka's voice

"Aaaand they're here." Nagito said, calmly.

"HEY? WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON? S/O ARE YOU OKAY? WHAT THE FUCK IS NAGITO UP TO?"

"M-Mondo! Um, hey we just have stuff to take care of." You replied, trying not to sound anxious.

"OY THEN WHY BARRICADE SO WE CAN'T GET IN?" Leon shouted. You heard what sounded like fists banging on the doors.

Nagito put a hand on your shoulder and whispered into your ear. "My luck hasn't failed me yet. We'll make it. Just trust me."

"I know. I trust you with my life. But we need to still think of something. Only a few moments before this place is going to blast." Unfortunately, you did not whisper, and the four panicked men on the other side heard that.

"BLAST? WHAT DO YOU MEAN BLAST? DON'T TELL ME TOKO GUESSED CORRECTLY?" Leon exclaimed.

"Y-Yesterday, Yasuhiro specifically predicted S/O was in a dangerous situation." Chihiro finally spoke up.

"NAGITO, EITHER YOU LET S/O OUT THIS INSATNT, OR I BEAT YOUR FUCKING FACE IN AND KILL YOU! DON'T WORRY S/O I'M GONNA GET YA OUT OF THERE!" Mondo shouted.

"NAGITO KOMAEDA! BOMBING IS UNWELCOME IN A SCHOOL ENVIRONEMT, AND IF S/O IS HARMED OR KILLED BECAUSE OF YOU, I WILL MAKE SURE YOU ARE EXPELLED! I'LL GO AGAINST YOU IN COURT!" Taka shouted.

"GUYS! You're all forgetting something important!" You yelled.

"WHAT?" They all asked in unison.

"My ultimate talent! I'm my classes ultimate lucky student. My luck has never failed me, so rest assured S/O and I are going to make it just fine!" Nagito calmly explained.

"OHHHHH YOU'RE ASKING FOR A BEATING NOW! YOU RISK MY GIRLFRIENDS LIFE FOR YOUR DUMB WHIMS, AND YOU JUST RELY ON SOME STUPID "LUCK" IN CASE THINGS GO SOUTH!"

"GUYS IT'S FINE! Nagito told me everything yesterday, we agreed to do this together! We did it for everyone! Nagito just wanted to help!"

"HELP? HOW IS BLOWING UP A GYM GOING TO HELP ANYONE?" Taka asked.

"S/O HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?" Leon couldn't believe his ears.

"I want to see my classmates succeed, I know how stressed both classes are about the exams. No one is prepared. Doing this will force them to suspend exams, giving everyone more time!" Nagito told them.

"SO LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT. YOU'RE CONCERNED ABOUT AN EXAM, AND YOUR NATURAL SOLUTION IS TO CONVINCE YOUR INNOCENT BEST FRIEND TO HELP YOU BLOW SOMETHING UP?" Taka screamed. This wasn't getting better.

"Guys, please! Cut Nagito some slack. Remember, I agreed to it, so I'm just as bad. But it's gonna be alright. Everyone just needs to go back to class, Nagito and I will just get out the gym, it'll explode and we can all go home and laugh this off."

"BOMBING IS NO LAUGHING MATTER!" Taka yelled back.

"S/O, I DON'T KNOW WHAT NAGITO HAS DONE TO YOUR HEAD, BUT HOLY SHIT YOU COULD DIE!" Your boyfriend screamed. You could hear it in his voice, he was tearing up. He thought he was actually going to lose you.

"Oh, love. I know how scary this looks. But don't worry. I'll be on the other side in a moment. We've got this covered." You told him.

Nagito took you by the hand and lead you to the center of the gym. The others kept shouting, but you weren't paying attention.

"I got this trampoline set up. It's going to blast in 30 seconds. I have my watch set. We'll jump together. If we're lucky, the roof will be blown off so we'll jump out smoothly."

"Perfect! I knew we'd be alright." You smiled warmly.

Nagito took your hand in his. You both nodded in unison at each other.

And then it came.

The bombs blew, the place exploding, you both jump as hard as you could. Some of the bombs had been tied to the ceiling. The impact of the blast sent you two even higher, and away from the gyms location. You were so high up you could hardly believe it.

"WOOOOOOAAAAAA!" You both were shot up instantly into the air, before gravity began it's forceful pull. Pulling you both downward. You shut your eyes, gripping each other's hands as hard as you could. You were falling, falling so fast.

But then you landed. You landed, and it felt.... soft? There was the impact, yes, but surprisingly you hardly felt a thing.

"Ah, seems my luck provided us with a cushion." Nagito mused.

You looked around. You were in the back of a truck that happened to be conveniently packed with pillows, and it was conveniently parked walking distance from the school.

"Nagito, look!" You pointed. There it was, the blast that obliterated the gym.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA! OHHH YES! SUCH A BEAUTIFUL DISPLAY OF HOPE! WE'VE DONE IT S/O!" He cheered.

"Oh Nagito this is wonderful! I can feel the hope pulsing within me!" A tear of happiness fell from your eye.

You both exited the truck, and shared a tight embrace.

"Oh, S/O. I knew we could do it! We'll have inspired so much hope!" Nagito cried tears of joy.

"Come on, let's go let them know we're okay!" Before you could take him by the hand, a motorcycle came driving furiously towards you.

"Oh, I think they figured out we're okay." He chuckled.

"Yeeeaaaah.... Do you wanna run so you don't get beat up?"

"Nah, I'm on a good lucky streak."

"Alright."

Finally, the motorcycle with four people on it came to a stop. They all came running to you.

"Hey guys! What's up?" Your bestie asks. You burst out laughing.

"OHHHH YOU KNOW WHAT'S UP YOU GODDAMN SON OF A BITCH!" Your boyfriend was about ready to kill him. You looked at Leon, he looked ready to kill him too.

You quickly moved yourself in front of Nagito with your arms wide out to protect him.

"HOW CAN YOU STILL DEFEND THIS BASTARD?" Leon yelled out.

"He told the truth! We're fine. Everyone is fine."

"S/O. Babe." Mondo hugged you tight.

"I could've lost you! I thought you were going to die. All because, what, some people are scared of a measly fuckin exam?"

"Oh, love." You hugged back. "Shhh. It's okay." You rubbed his back to soothe him.

Mondo sobbed uncontrollably into your arms.

"Nagito..... There WILL be consequences!" Taka exclaimed.

"Oh? But haven't you seen? S/O is completely fine. Happy even! So there's nothing to be concerned about.

"You still could've got the both of you killed! Don't you understand? You can still be arrested for this! They have cameras!" After Taka said this, Mondo's embrace tightened.

"Oh no, I'm actually already hacking into the camera system right now. I'm deleting the footage!" Chihiro chirped happily.

"WH- YOU CAN DO THAT?" Taka questioned.

"Yeah. I'm the ultimate programmer. I'm also seeing how exactly they went and did this." Chihiro showed everyone his laptop.

"So here we see them climbing the fence. They're entering, S/O comes out to place the sign. Then in the gym, here they are getting set up. Now they're climbing out." Chihiro deleted their footage, ensuring no one would be caught.

"Fuck. S/O, please. Don't scare me like that again." Mondo cried out through sobs.

"Hey, it's alright. I promise I won't blow up any more gyms, mkay?" You kissed his forehead.

"So uh, when they start investigating, I don't care what happens to Nagito, but we don't want S/O going to jail. They'll notice her odd behavior days before the blast, plus what Toko told us." Leon explained.

"Don't worry Leon. We have more than just my luck, one of the ultimates in my class is a Yakuza leader! He'll make sure we aren't arrested." Nagito tried to reassure Leon.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?" They all shouted.

"But it might not come to that. Nagito's luck hasn't failed us at all!" You chirped happily.

Eventually, the police were unable to find evidence as to what happened to the gym. The case was dismissed, and the exam was canceled entirely. People were still shook from the whole ordeal, but there was still a happy ending. Just exactly as planned. How hopeful! You had to give your boyfriend lots of assurance that you won't do something like that again. Yeah, he was really shaken, poor guy. At least everyone is fine now.

[saiilorstars]

Ch. 40: Continuous Battles

Fandom: Harry Potter (Hogwarts years 1-7) Pairing: Draco x OFC

taglist:@ocappreciationtag @arrthurpendragon  @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @foxesandmagic @kmc1989 @caplanbuckybarnes 

​​​​Story Masterlist // Romina’s Masterlist

Fanfic • Ao3 • Wattpad

If you’d like to be a part of this OC’s work/edits, let me know

Romina was half asleep when she pulled herself together enough to head out for breakfast. She was not expecting Angel to be so chippy and loud greeting her in the morning.

"Ready for breakfast?"

"Mhm," Romina nodded. "You want to take me there? I might fall asleep on the way."

Angel chuckled. "It would be my pleasure." He interlocked arms with her and headed out of the common room with her.

"Something like that," Romina mumbled. "I had these weird dreams...just so bombarding. I kept waking up like every hour."

"That sucks," Angel said, leading her up the stairs. "You're not the kind to have bad dreams."

"No, I left all the stuff from last year behind me," Romina said with a sour smile. "Because trust me, I have plenty of material to dream about that could re-traumatize me all over again."

"Maybe it's just the stress getting to you."

"The school year just started, Angel. I'm not that behind on work yet."

"I wasn't talking about academic stress, Romina," Angel said and gave her a sharp side-eye. She knew what he meant and sighed. He had been present last night when she and Pansy had a row about the dumbest thing. "You really should try to just, I don't know, ignore her or something," Angel said.

"It's not as easy as you think. She's everywhere. I literally changed dorms to get away from her!"

"Yeah, Carol was really happy about the switch too. She'd never say it but she's kind of scared of Pansy, always has been growing up."

Romina snorted. "Nobody should ever be afraid of Pansy. I'm not scared of her, she just aggravates me."

They entered the Great Hall and went straight to the Slytherin table where their friends were sitting.

"I need some dark roast coffee stat," Romina said as they sat down together.

"You drink dark roast coffee for breakfast?" Angel chuckled.

"Sometimes," Romina shrugged. She had to pause to cover her yawn.

"Oooh, did somebody not get enough sleep last night?" Pansy's voice stopped the pair. She had come along with Millicent, the two going straight for the open seats near Draco, Crabb and Goyle.

Romina lamented that her bad morning was even worse now. "I'm not—Parkinson, keep it to yourself. I'm too tired to deal with you today." She should have at least a few hours to really wake up before she had to insult someone.

"I know," Pansy said, far too sure of what she was saying. "You know, I figured that since you keep ruining Draco's day, somebody should ruin your nights."

"What…? What did you do to me?" Romina left her breakfast as it was. Her eyes flickered between Pansy and Draco, expecting one of them to give her an explanation. Had she been less focused on the shock, she would've realized the flash of confusion on Draco's face.

"Simple nightmare potion," Pansy explained. The malicious glint in her eyes was strong and proud. "Even an idiot could make it."

"And an idiot did," Angel said, earning a brief glare from Pansy in return. "That is very low of you, Pansy. What were you thinking?"

Romina was flabbergasted. Her mind spun to think of when Pansy had slipped that potion to her. It was infuriating not knowing. "So this was some revenge ploy? A sleepless night?" She scoffed. "And really, Draco? Getting Parkinson to do it on your behalf? Beyond lazy!"

Draco glared and pointed his fork at her. "Would you stop calling me 'lazy'? I didn't ask anybody to—"

Romina rolled her eyes, not wanting to hear a word from him. "You're just pathetic. Instead of just apologizing for such a horrendous act, you make it even bigger!" She glared over at Pansy; the latter couldn't be any happier with the results.

"Better luck next time, I suppose," Pansy shrugged, her tone ever so calm.

Romina barely resisted the urge to throw her goblet upside Pansy's head. She pushed herself up from her seat and stormed away. It's too early, it's too early...

"Oswell!" She heard Draco's call not too far behind her.

Oh, God no. She picked up her pace in the hallway, deciding to head back to the common room instead. "Leave me alone!" She yelled back. "Go back and sit with your dear partner in crime!"

"I didn't ask Parkinson to do anything for me!" Draco expected the hard scoff Romina sent his way. It was the only place he could start. "It wasn't my idea!"

"Oh please!" Romina whirled around, finding he was closer to her than she thought. "You expect me to believe that?"

"Yes!"

"Why?"

Draco's face expression was nothing if not incredulous. "Because I didn't do anything?" He was sure that was the best reason he could offer. "I'm guilty of many things, Oswell, but of this? No."

Romina still seemed mighty unconvinced. She folded her arms. "Yeah right! I just want to know when Pansy slipped it in. Was it while we were arguing last night?"

"Ask her! I didn't do it!"

Romina started backtracking from him. "Forget it, I don't believe you! Just know that I will get you back for this."

"Oswell, if you would just—"

"No! Don't say another word to me!"

Draco rolled his eyes at her. She had no idea. "But listen—"

"Not another word!"

"You don't want me to say anything else?"

"Exactly!"

"Even if it's actually important?"

"Yes!"

"Okay. I won't say anything else then," Draco promptly said. His small smile was confusing but Romina didn't want to give him any more of her time.

She turned around to continue on her way but the moment her foot stepped forwards, she found the ground wasn't there. She was at the staircase. She flailed and fell forwards—she never made it down. A strong tug on her arm yanked her back before she slid off.

Next thing Romina knew, she was looking at a smug-faced Draco right in front of her. "Didn't know you'd be falling for me, Oswell," he said. He really couldn't help it. It was too big of an opportunity to let pass.

Romina's scowl was imminent. "I...hate you! You saw me about to fall!"

"You told me not to say another word," Draco reminded her. He laughed when Romina tried to smack him, or at the very least "tap him" as she'd claimed she'd done the last time. She was locked between his arms no matter how much she attempted to free herself.

"You're an absolute jerk!" And perhaps a strong one at that. Romina groaned at her failed attempts. "Let me go before I punch you!"

"What? Not comfy?" Draco was clearly enjoying the moment. He could smell her rosy scent perfectly. Now he wondered if it was her hair or her perfume. Did she wear perfume?

"I am very prepared to throw both of us down these stairs," Romina declared.

Draco laughed earnestly for the first time in a long time. "You are very competitive, Oswell. Gotta say, I like it. You're making my days fun."

Romina scoffed, head turning away. "Please. Couple days ago you said I was being ridiculous."

"And I stand by it but you're funny when you're plotting. And kinda cute."

Romina's head snapped back in his direction, tilting up to meet his gaze. His silver-blue eyes were already on her, filled with nothing but confidence.

"That a bother?" he asked her.

Before Romina knew it, she was shaking her head slowly. Speak! She blinked at her own stupidity. Warmth flourished up her neck and face within seconds. SPEAK! "You…" This wasn't working—holy shit this wasn't working! She shoved Draco far away from her. "Stay away from me!"

Draco laughed and by God it was a graceful laugh too. Romina wanted to shove him down the stairs.

"C'mon Oswell, can't we call it a truce?" He asked, sending her a smug smile. "I think it would be better if we plotted together."

"In your dreams," Romina spat and went down the steps.

Draco would take it as a win that she hadn't yelled this time. Piece by piece. He just had to put those pieces together. He turned to head back for the Great Hall.

"Where'd Romina go?" Angel bumped into him under the threshold. "Did you say something to her?"

"Sod off, Angel," Draco snapped. "This is none of your business."

"It is when you're continuously messing with Romina. I just went over this with Pansy back there and I'll tell you the same thing: back off."

"Yeah, you're not as threatening as you think you are," Draco said. "But I suppose I can give you points for effort."

Angel glared at him. "I mean it. Romina's taken enough crap these past years. You're supposed to be her friend—Pansy was supposed to be her friend — but you keep trying to make her life miserable."

"I am, but she's being a little difficult right now. Just a bump in the road, certainly nothing you need to stick your nose into. I mean seriously, are you trying to be overly blatant with that crush? It's been almost four years, Angel. Remember what I told you during our second year?"

Angel rolled his eyes. "No."

When Draco smirked, Angel knew that whatever was about to come out of his mouth was going to be infuriating.

Draco was happy to repeat himself. "The sad part is, she's never going to notice you." He clapped Angel on the shoulder. "And I was right. Four years." He wiggled four of his fingers and laughed on his way into the Great Hall.

Angel drew in a deep breath, a very deep breath, and balled his hands into tight fists. He had to calm himself before he did something he would regret, and worst of all do something that could hurt Romina along the way.

~ 0 ~

Romina had found small ways to appease her desire for revenge. Pansy Parkinson would not be making a move against her for a good while, not when she had undiluted bubotousse pus to deal with. Romina thanked Madame Pomfrey for the second lesson and the glorious opportunity she unknowingly provided. Pansy couldn't prove that the accidental squirt of pus wasn't accidental at all. She could complain all she wanted up in the hospital wing. That Thursday, Romina would focus solely on the double session of DADA, their first session of the term. It had been pushed back for some reason, though allowing for the extra Herbology lesson.

Romina sat down beside Hermione and was surprised to see that the girl wasn't there yet. She looked back at Harry and Ron who sat in the desk behind them. "I'll bite, where's Granger? She's never late and much less for the first class of the year."

Both Harry and Ron shrugged their shoulders, equally confused.

"She's been zooming through meals," Ron said. "Dunno where she gets into lately."

"Yeah, I've noticed," Romina remarked. "She seems kinda upset, though. Did you two do something?"

"That's offensive," Ron said sourly, glancing at Harry for some help.

Harry was frowning. "Of course not, Rom. Whatever Hermione's up to, we'll end up learning about it soon enough. Like the Time Turner."

Romina had to give him the point. Just as she was turning to face forwards again, she caught sight of the bushy haired Hermione zipping into the classroom.

"Made it!" Hermione said in utter relief when she plonked down beside Romina.

Romina eyed her friend curiously and slightly concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Course! Yeah! Why do you ask?" Hermione eagerly started pulling out her book and quill and parchment and everything else they would probably need for the class.

Romina still watched her strangely. "Just...curious…"

Shortly afterwards, Moody finally entered the classroom. He made his way up to the front, commanding silence with his bare walk. "You can put those away—those books," he started, his gruff tone startling the class, "You won't need them."

Hermione was deeply disappointed unlike Ron who couldn't put his book away quick enough.

"I'm here because Dumbledore asked me, end of story, goodbye, the end. Any questions?" Moody didn't exactly wait for any hands to raise. "When it comes to the dark arts, I believe in a practical approach. But first, which of you can tell me how many unforgivable curses there are?"

Unsurprisingly, Hermione's hand was the first one in the air. Moody gave her the nod to answer. "Three sir."

"And they are so named?"

"Because they are unforgivable. Use of any one of them will…"

"Will earn you a one way ticket to Azkaban. Correct. Now the ministry says you're too young to see what these curses do. I say different!" Moody said with a particular snap in his tone. "You need to know what you're up against, you need to be prepared, you need to find somewhere else to put your chewing gum other than the underside of your desk Mr Finnigan!"

Finnigan jumped at the sudden call of his name, all heads turning his way while Moody went up to the chalkboard.

"Aw no way, the old codger can see out the back of his head," Finnigan murmured to his partner.

Moody threw a piece of chalk in his direction but went on with the class as if nothing happened. "So, which curse shall we see first? WEASLEY!"

Ron jumped. "Y-yes?"

"Give us a curse!"

"Well, my dad did tell me about one...the imperious curse."

"Ahhh yes, your father would know all about that. Gave the ministry quite a bit of grief a few years ago. Perhaps this will show you why." Moody opened a drawer of his desk and pulled out a jar with a spider inside it. As soon as Ron saw it, he leaned away as if the spider was about to come his way. "Hello. What a little beauty. Imperio!" Moody raised the spider into the air with his wand. "Don't worry. Completely harmless."

The class watched as the spider went side to side, up and down, in circles. Snickers started erupting when the spider was sent over the tops of several students and soon enough most of them were laughing. Ron certainly didn't laugh when the spider danced over his head.

"Get it off! Get it off!" He slapped his own head in an attempt to rid himself of the spider. The class roared with laughter.

"What are you laughing at?" Moody chose Draco to silence amongst the class by sending the spider to his nose.

Much like Ron, Draco swatted his hands over his face to throw the spider off. There may have been some extra laughing with the sight.

Mad-Eye sends the spider onto Draco's face.

"Scores of witches and wizards have claimed that they only do did you-know-whose bidding under the influence of the imperious curse," Moody explained, "But here's the rub, how do we sort out the liars? Another.. Another…" His gaze swept over the class for another volunteering hand and to everyone's surprise, Neville did it. "Longbottom is it?" Neville nodded silently. "What is it?"

"There's the um...the Cruciatus Curse," Neville responded, gaze slightly downfallen.

"Correct! Correct! Particularly nasty. The torture curse. Crucio!" Moody said, and suddenly the spider was writhing. Its legs were twisting and turning in angles that it shouldn't be.

Romina's face twisted with fright. She really wished she wasn't sitting upfront. What was more odd, at least to her, was that it seemed Moody was lost in the spell, focused solely on the pained spider. "Professor?" she decided to call, though not sufficiently loud enough.

"STOP IT! Can't you see it's bothering him, stop it!" Hermione yelled suddenly, Everyone near her looked at her but realized she was looking not at Moody but at Neville who couldn't be more positively disturbed.

Moody gave the spider a break and looked at Hermione. "Perhaps you could give us the last unforgivable curse Miss Granger."

Hermione shook her head defiantly, a very surprising move for the other students.

Romina then raised her hand, expression emotionless. For a fourteen year old girl, it should be rare to know it but she wasn't exactly raised like the rest of her companions.

"Oswell," Moody gave her the nod. Romina swore that he knew, and why wouldn't he?

"The murder curse," Romina said, hands balling into fists over the desk.

"The killing curse," Moody corrected for technicalities.

"Is it not the same thing?" Romina challenged and earned a small smirk from the man. "Avada Kedavra," she said slowly and clearly.

"Avada Kedavra!" Moody's wand emanated a green flash of light that instantly stilled the spider in the air, Romina and Hermione flinching when it landed on their desk. "There is no countercourse for this, no blocking either. Only one known person has ever survived it and he's sitting in this room."

It was fairly quick how Harry's excitement for the class vanished in a matter of seconds. He couldn't wait to see the end of the session so he could hide under a rock from all the looks.

"I can't believe he actually used those curses," Hermioe muttered when they were finally free. Moody took a head start out of the class, ironically, as if he had somewhere else to be.

Romina slid out of her seat and cast a wary look at the chalkboard that was full of notes on said curses. She had to admit that Moody's teachings were very different from their previous professors' styles. "We can only hope this was the worst lesson to learn."

"Fat chance," Ron said, nearly exclaiming. He was the only student who remained excited about the lessons.

"Harry, you alright?" Romina asked, noticing how quiet their friend was as he put away his roll of parchment. She had a pretty good idea what he was thinking about. The last unforgivable curse was the reason he was an orphan.

"Yeah, course," Harry said quickly, even throwing on a fake smile for show.

"Neville's not," Hermione said, watching as Neville walked out of the classroom in a sort of haze. Hermione was quick to follow, prompting the others to then follow her.

"Oswell," Draco called, standing up from his seat when Romina was to walk by. "I heard what you did to Parkinson…"

Romina had long ago mastered her innocent expressions, even in the face of accusers (Draco) and the suspicious (Hermione). The latter had figured it out a while ago and wasn't backing down despite Romina's assurances that she didn't do anything.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Romina said, shrugging her shoulders.

Draco tilted his head at her, eyes narrowing on her with a small smile. "Yeah, sure." Romina shrugged, truly committed to her role of innocence.

"Rom!" Harry called by the doorway. Thinking it wasn't enough, he marched over to grab Romina's arm. "Whatever he's saying, don't even bother responding!"

"Even if she did, she knows she's lying," Draco said, eyes still glued on Romina. "Isn't that right?"

Romina opened her mouth to shoot down such accusations but Harry never gave her the chance. He yanked her away.

"Rom, I've told you not to provoke him!" He began to say once they were out in the hallways.

"I didn't!" Romina exclaimed in a mix of laughter and incredulity. "Why does everyone think I'm doing it?

Hermione heard the last question and had the answer up and ready. "Because you are doing things. Did he accuse you of hurting Parkinson? Because if he did, I hate that I agree with him."

"Hermione!" Ron was horrified. "How could you ever agree with Malfoy of all people?"

Hermione gestured towards Romina. "Because she is doing that stuff and one of these days, you're going to push too hard, Romina, and you'll get really hurt."

Romina scoffed, entirely unconvinced. "C'mon, Neville looks terrible right now." She walked towards the boy who had become like a statue in the hallway, staring endlessly out the window. "Neville?" Romina approached him slowly and cautiously.

"Oh, hello," he cleared his throat to say. He turned away from the window, looking as if he was trying to wake up from a dream, probably a bad dream. " interesting lesson, wasn't it? I wonder what's for dinner, I'm-I'm starving, aren't you?"

"Neville, are you alright?" Hermione asked him despite the answer being clear as day.

"Oh yes, I'm fine," Neville said, his tone just a pitch too high, "Very interesting dinner—I mean lesson. What's for eating?"

Neville didn't always make sense but this was too strange even for him. Concern filled each of the other students as Neville continued his efforts to make a coherent conversation.

"Um, Neville…" Harry had started when Moody of all people was returning.

"It's alright, sonny," the professor put a hand over Neville's shoulder, "Why don't you come up to my office? I have some books that might interest you." Neville didn't exactly look eager to go with Moody but since no one said anything, he had no choice but to walk.

"What was that about?" Ron asked as soon as they were alone.

"Something we don't know, clearly," Romina said, watching after Neville and Moody. "The way Neville acted...there's something on his mind."

"Some lesson, though, eh?" Ron cracked a smile. "Fred and George were right! Moody really knows his stuff, huh?"

"I'm pretty sure what he taught us wasn't supposed to be on the syllabus," Romina shook her head. Hermione agreed.

~ 0 ~

Romina was acutely aware of Pansy's dirty looks in the days after her unfortunate puss mess had been cleared. There was nothing Pansy could do to prove that anything malicious had been done to her and it was just infuriating, Romina knew it and she was proud of herself.

Now as the drawing of the Goblet of Fire was nearing, many students of all ages had taken a liking to hanging in the very room where it was being kept to watch those potential candidates drop their names inside the goblet. Romina came in that afternoon and immediately spotted Hermione sitting at the bleachers with a book in her hands. She was a little wary to greet Hermione due to the matter with the SPEW stuff.

Romina, much like everyone else that she knew of in Gryffindor, were all a little tired of hearing Hermione's badgering to join her elf welfare club. Romina admired Hermione for taking such an initiative but she really doubted that it would go anywhere. She saw Harry and Ron milling around the Goblet, as much as they could anyways. There was a circle barring anybody from getting too close to it.

"Whatcha doing?" Romina startled the pair of boys behind them. She smirked when they jumped and turned her way.

"You know, just looking," Ron said, shrugging casually even though his eyes were sparkling with yearning for the Goblet.

"Mhm," Romina nodded sarcastically, "And I suppose neither of you have attempted to put your name in there?"

"We can't, Rom," Harry said, "Not of age."

"Has anybody come to put their name in?" Romina curiously asked. She gave the room another look and saw that Carolinha had come in and had made the mistake of starting up a conversation with Hermione. No doubt the Gryffindor would be pulling out one of her SPEW badges.

"Angelina from our Quidditch team did half an hour ago," Ron said, giving a big thumbs up. "Oh, and I heard Cedric Diggory did too."

"Really?" Romina raised an eyebrow, absolutely dazzled with the idea.

"Not you too, Rom," Harry rolled his eyes.

Romina giggled. "He's just cute. And mysterious. And polite." Ron made a yapping motion with his hand, making Harry snicker and Romina frown. She smacked Ron's hand down. She was about to scold him for that bit when she heard familiar voices entering the room. Looking back, she saw Draco, Crabb and Goyle laughing about something.

"Oh great," Harry muttered and soon Ron was donning the same face.

"You know I heard that Warrington from the Slytherin's Quidditch team put his name in," Ron remarked, shaking his head. "Can you imagine if we had a Slytherin champion?"

"Well," Romina's tone was sharp enough to have both him and Harry wincing. She folded her arms over her chest. "You guys are sure making me feel welcomed."

"You know we don't mean that about you, Rom," Harry was cautious when he patted her arm.

"So, everyone else, then?" Romina tilted her head. "My friend over there, Carolinha," she pointed over to the brunette speaking with Hermione, "She's pretty great. I'm sure Hermione is talking her ears off right now but my girl Carol is too sweet to cut anybody off. And her brother? He's the same. Harry, you know Arden since we were dumb kids. Are we calling her bad too?"

"No, of course not," Harry shook his head. "Sorry." He did have the decency to look a little sorry which was why Romina elected to move on from there.

"Were there any Ravenclaws who put their names in?"

"We're not—"

"We've done it!" They heard the voices of Fred and George announcing. They hopped up to the first bleacher, looking mighty happy about something. They commanded the attention of the whole room with it.

"Thank you, thank you, well lads we've done it!" George exclaimed.

"Done what?" called Romina, fairly curious of what they were cooking up now.

"The Aging Potion my dear Ali—"

Romina caught the first part of her nickname and immediately glowered until they fixed it.

"My dear Romina," Fred began anew, "It is the Aging Potion! One drop each. We only need to be a few months older."

"You can't possibly think that'll work," Hermione said, shaking her head. The twins rapidly came up to her seat, forcing Carolinha to scoot away a bit so they could lean on both Hermione's sides. "Dumbledore drew the age line himself." She made a nod towards the circle around the flaming Goblet.

"So?" challenged George.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "So, a genius like Dumbledore couldn't possibly be fooled by something pathetically dimwitted such as an age potion."

"That's why it's so brilliant!" Fred exclaimed, straightening up along with George.

"I mean...they could be onto something," Romina whispered to Harry and Ron who both chuckled with her. Sometimes, you don't need to think so much. The solution was simple and straightforward.

"Ready George?"

"Ready, Fred!"

Both twins interlocked their arms with each other and drank their potions. They then hopped off the last bleacher and walked up to the Age Line. They paused for a moment before taking synced steps forwards. And they made it through.

Everybody cheered for them—mostly everybody—as they walked confidently up to the Goblet of Fire and dumped their names inside. They high-fived each other as the flames ignited behind them. But, just like that, the flames exploded and threw the pair out. Smoke covered them and most of the room for a few seconds.

When it cleared up and the twins sat upright, they were sporting heavily long beards that matched their new set of grey hair.

"You said.." George pointed at his brother.

"You said," accused Fred.

They lunged at each other. Most of the room cheered as they rolled and fought each other, including Ron himself.

"I stand corrected," Romina shrugged to Harry. "Point to Hermione."

"Yeah," Harry said, unable to hold his laughter in.

Romina had to move carefully around the groups of students lest she wanted to be caught up. Some people were really into the growing fight. Among those were even Crabb and Goyle, something Draco wasn't too pleased with.

"That's what you get for hanging out with idiots," she told him. "Blaise, Theodore, and Angel busy or something?"

"Zabini and Nott have zero interest in this until names are actually drawn," he retorted. "And as if you don't know that Angel has newfound animosity towards me."

Romina paused and looked at him. "What? What did you do?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Like you don't know."

"I don't. Usually, you do something."

A loud bang startled the pair. Karkaraoff was leading the Durmstrang boys into the room, forcing the crowd to separate. Even the twins had finally given up trying to kill each other. Romina was sure that most of the attention was going towards Victor Krum, the star of that school. She was absolutely dumbfounded when he and Draco exchanged nods.

"Since when do you know Krum?" she had to ask. It was a force beyond her, honestly.

Draco smiled smugly. "I do know how to expand my networks, Oswell. One of the many talents instilled in me."

"The others being…?" Romina made a gesture for him to list them specifically. She doubted the list would be long.

The Durmstrang boys were on their way out of the room, each of them having slipped their names inside the Goblet.

"Show off," Romina huffed at Draco after he'd waved at Krum.

"Me? Never," he smirked.

Romina shook her head at him. "I'm surprised you haven't bragged about this. I would've expected the whole school to know about it, actually."

"Stories about me get told anyways, Oswell. You wouldn't believe the ones I've heard." The way he smiled ever-so-widely warned Romina those stories had to be ego-inflating.

"Yeah, not interested."

"Oh, c'mon, you'd…" Draco trailed off when Madame Maxime led her Beauxbaton students in.

Romina rolled her eyes heavily enough to make her feel twinges of pain. "Are you going to finish that sentence?"

"Mhm," Draco nodded, but no actual words came out afterwards.

"Seriously!?" Romina huffed and looked away, soon noticing that the same thing was happening to every other male student in the room. "For the love of God!"

The Beauxbatons each dropped their names inside the Goblet and turned, in a neat line, after Madame Maxime who promptly led them back out. By the time Draco came to, Romina was long gone.

~ 0 ~

Arden was nose deep into her Unfogging the Future book before class when she heard the noise of someone dropping into the seat beside her. She looked up and frowned. "You're not Parkinson. I can't decide if that's better or worse."

"I've got a problem, King," Draco said, frowning when she snorted in return.

"No, you've got many problems but there's not enough time in the world for me to list them."

He decided to ignore Arden's little jab. "It's Oswell."

"Shocker."

"She's continuously pissing me off and I would rather fix it before this becomes permanent."

Arden put her book down on the table, now deeply interested in where the conversation was going. "You actually want to fix things?"

Draco nodded. "It's got to be better than having to look twice when she's around. Her apt for retaliation is commendable but also a growing pain in the ass."

"Fair," Arden agreed. "But you do know what you have to do, right?"

"If I knew that, I would not be here, would I?" Draco gestured to his current seat. He had managed to shake off being Arden's partner this year and he would like to keep it that way. She got stuck with Pansy which was a win for him. The never ending jabs at each other were hilarious to watch and hear.

"I know what happened in the forest," Arden said, keeping her voice low, "And you were out of line. That's what Romina's upset about. And instead of apologizing, you made it worse by turning it into a game of tricks."

"She started it," Draco drowned. "Have you met her?"

"Yes," Arden said slowly, "Since I was seven. And you're right to be wary of her when she's in this mood. Back in our muggle school, this girl basically did the same thing to Romina and it did not end until Romina was suspended from school for a whole week."

"What she do?" Draco curiously asked. Being a troublemaker wasn't really part of Romina's personality. Mischievous was, but a full on troublemaker wasn't.

"She grabbed a pair of scissors and cut the girl's hair in one snip." Arden could still vividly remember the screaming she and the rest of her family had heard coming from the Oswell residence next door that same night. She didn't see Romina for a full month after that.

Draco was frankly bemused and stunned with what he heard. "She did not," he said, barely holding his laugh in.

Arden nodded earnestly. "She did. I love my best friend but she has a nasty temper when things get too much. If you don't want to end up like Gale Perry, apologize now."

"I will do no such thing," Draco said, shaking his head. "I want to see how far Oswell will go with this."

"That wasn't the point of my story!"

"Yeah, and it was better. Thanks King, you actually can help sometimes." Draco promptly got up from his seat and moved on up the steps towards his actual spot.

Arden made a face, her teeth gritting together as she realized the conversation did not go the way it probably should have. She had the feeling Romina would kill her if she found out that she'd basically spurred the games on.

~0~

A few days later would have Angel finding an empty spot with Draco, Theodore and Blaise at their table in the Great Hall. It was a study session, the first one of the year.

"Didn't expect you to sit anywhere near here," Draco spoked quietly as Snape was making his rounds.

Angel shook his head. "I've been thinking. What you said a couple days back?"

"I say a lot of things, you'll have to be more specific."

"Stop acting dumb!"

"It's not an act, mate," Blaise remarked, snickering with Theodore when both Draco and Angel sent them the same glares.

"I'm being serious," Angel said.

"So was I," Blaise said.

"Eyes on the essay, Zabini," warned Draco. Blaise shrugged and continued to scribble over his parchment. "And as for you—" Draco glanced at Angel beside him, "—what the hell are you talking about?"

"In your own fantastically mean way, you've pushed me to act with Romina," Angel said, shrugging her shoulders. "I guess tough love really does work."

"No," Draco said sharply, "I did not do 'tough love'. I don't do 'tough love'. I didn't do anything."

"More like he never does anything anyways," mumbled Theodore which, once again, sent him and Blaise into another fit of snickers.

"This time you did," Angel insisted. "I mean, it's been almost 4 years and I should, logically, be able to do something. So, I thought I'd maybe ask Romina if she wanted to go together on the first Hogsmeade trip that's scheduled."

"It's funny…" Draco said slowly, eyes flickering to the side, "I don't remember…"

Angel made a face at him. "What?"

"I don't remember...asking to hear this conversation."

Blaise and Theodore laughed and eventually had to duck their heads to keep it covered before Snape heard. Angel deadpanned the two; they could never take anything serious.

"You can't stop being sarcastic for a minute, can you?"

"Oh, I wasn't being sarcastic. I was being honest," Draco clarified, "Because I'm pretty sure nowhere in my previous conversation with you did I give you the idea that I would want to talk about this."

"I was just letting you know—"

"Why?"

"Because you and Romina have entered this little war with each other and since you're both my friends I would rather you put an end to it already."

"Yeah, I spoke to King about that and it's not happening. Did you know that Oswell had a record? I'm talking about a serious record." Days after talking with Arden, Draco was still impressed with the story. He would've given anything to see Romina cut that muggle girl's hair.

"Draco, c'mon," Angel said, "It's been—what?—two weeks since this started? It's getting tiring. She did not appreciate the exploding ink bottle you left for her, by the way."

Draco's smirk didn't express disappointment. "I sure enjoyed it."

"I'm just telling you to back off already. It's not funny anymore."

"On the contrary, I think it's quite fun," Draco shrugged. "You're just boring, Angel. That's going to have to change if you're actually going to do something for the future."

Angel would've liked to strangle him at that point. "You just can't take things seriously!"

They heard the heavy footsteps of Snape nearing them, cutting the conversation short.

~0~

Romina had just finished dotting her last 'i' on her letter she was sending to her grandmother when she heard somebody coming into the common room. She looked up briefly to catch sight of Blaise walking in, shaking his head about something that seemed funny.

"Never thought I'd see the day when Blaise Zabini laughed," she called from her spot. She'd recused herself to one of the individual tables by the wall to complete her homework.

Blaise stopped in the middle of the room to scoff. "You're not funny, but I will admit that what you're doing is rather amusing."

Romina made a face as her eyes landed on her letter still in her hands. "Writing a letter to my grandmother is funny to you? That's a sad sense of humor you got there, Blaise…"

"I meant with Malfoy and Paes! You know they're arguing over you, right?"

Now Romina was the one laughing. "What? Last time I heard, they weren't exactly on speaking terms."

"Yeah, because of you," Blaise pointed. "It's funny as hell but I'm also a little concerned they're going to end up hurting each other."

Romina stopped to seemingly ponder. "Well...are they still arguing right now? Think I can catch them?"

Blaise shook his head at her. "Great, you can't take things seriously either!"

"I can too!" Romina said, but her lips were already curving into a smile that would no doubt turn into a laugh if she pushed it. "I just...like fun stuff. What exactly are they arguing about anyways?"

"Well…" Blaise swayed his head, "Angel is demanding that Draco apologize to you for whatever he did to piss you off."

"I like Angel," Romina nodded, "Everybody should listen to Angel when he says that I'm right."

"He didn't say that—"

"That's what I heard, Blaise."

Blaise rolled his eyes. "Can you just fix it, please? It's bad enough that I have to hear Draco complain about your incessant retaliations. I don't want to hear him bickering with Angel too over you. You are not that special."

Romina raised a hand to her chest, feigning offence. "How rude. But I commend your bluntness. I'll talk to Angel."

"Wouldn't it just be easier to fix things with Draco already?"

"Yeah, if you want me to take the loser's path." Romina snorted and went back to folding her letter nice and perfectly. "Losing's not my style, Blaise. I'm talking to Angel. She smiled to herself when Blaise groaned and headed for the hallway.

Later on, Romina gathered her things to bring them into her dorm. There was still enough time to get her letter to the owlery before dinner. She was coming out of the common room altogether when she saw Angel coming down the stairs.

"Hey!" He greeted her with his typical cheery smile. "Not getting dinner already, are you?"

"No, I've got a letter to send to my grandma," Romina waved her envelope in front of her. "Wanna come with me?"

"Yeah!" Angel nodded, turning on his heels to walk with her. "Everything good in that letter? I mean—your grandmother's okay?"

Romina chuckled. "Yeah, I'm just letting her know that I haven't really gotten a chance to talk with Madam Maxime yet."

Angel snorted into a laugh. "Why would you want to talk to her?"

"Apparently, she was the headmistress of Beauxbatons Academy when my grandmother went there. They're close, I guess."

"Oh boy. What would you even talk about?"

Romina laughed and shook her head. "I have no bloody idea! As far as I can tell, my grandmother was this pristine young woman back in her day and I—" she put a hand on her chest, "—don't have a lick of pristineness in me. I've heard rumors that I have a big mouth, actually. And by 'rumors', I mean Arden."

"You're just fine," Angel patted her arm. "Perfect, actually."

Romina smiled shyly. "You're too sweet." She led the way up the stairs in silence until they reached the last one. "So, Blaise and I were talking earlier…"

"Really?" Angel's heavy disbelief was simply too amusing not to laugh at.

"We can talk civilly sometimes," Romina said, sobering from her laugh. "And he was saying that you and Draco have been arguing. Angel, you don't have to fight anyone on my behalf. I think I can handle it on my own."

"I can't help it, Romina," Angel shrugged. "I don't like seeing you get hurt and I definitely don't like it if someone's doing it for fun."

"Draco's not hurting me, first of all," Romina said, shaking her head. "It's harmless jokes that I willingly participate in. In fact, I'm pretty sure I started it."

"Yeah, but only because you're upset. I know it, I see it." Angel stopped walking in the middle of the hallway, forcing Romina to do the same. He turned to face her and looked directly into her dark eyes. "You're laughing and smirking but I know that Draco did something really bad to hurt you."

Romina absolutely didn't like the way he read her with ease. She wanted to avoid Angel's gaze. "He didn't hurt me."

"Not physically, that much I know for sure," Angel said. "But he did something to...to deeply upset you."

"He disappointed me and when he didn't apologize, he pissed me off." Romina shook her head. She started walking quicker than before. She was not going to show any tears, no sir.

"And that's why I'm demanding that he apologizes," Angel was quick to follow after her.

"You're wasting your time, Angel, he's not going to do it anytime soon!" Perhaps that was what hurt Romina the most. "And I don't want him to do it because somebody demands him to. It wouldn't change anything."

"Hey," Angel grabbed Romina's arm to stop her altogether, "See this is what I mean."

"It's not your fault," Romina said, gently taking his hand off her. "Ironically, I suppose it's not completely Draco's fault either."

"What? You just said—"

"Sometimes I can't help wondering who I would have turned out to be if my parents had raised me," Romina said quietly. "If I had lived with everybody who thought as twisted as they did." She genuinely shuddered at the idea each time she thought of it. "I got lucky. My parents are murderers. Under their influence...I don't know who I would've become."

"Your situation is not the same though," Angel gently pointed out.

"I know, but our parents...Angel, they ingrain stuff. Their past can very well be our future."

"Romina…"

"I understand myself, Angel," Romina cut him off before he said anything else, "And I may be daft but last year was terrible for me and, as surprising as it may sound, Draco actually helped me. People thought the worst of me but he didn't. He never did. Somewhere inside him there has to be a shred of genuine guilt and if I have to annoy him until we graduate for him to finally own up to it, I will."

Angel couldn't take the fact Romina was both smirking and overly determined. It was kind of scary how determined she was. There was no way in hell anybody would be talking her down.

[the-owl-tree]

I really wish that Bramblestar was supposed to be an asshole, because at least then his bad behavior would be compelling. But that would require the Erins to actually give him consequences for his behavior (like Squilf leaving him for good after he gets Leafpool killed, the three disowning him after he disowned them, etc). Then again, even though it's infuriating that it isn't the case and he's ~so~ honorable and niceys as the leader/deputy of ThunderClan as he throws his weight around to punish Ashfur and Squirrelflight for having * gasp * fun collecting bedding in TNP.. It does make it kinda funny how Ashfur was able to seamlessly steal his identity in TBC and nobody noticed besides Squirrelflight it was Ashfur. Like, I don't think they realize the implications of ThunderClan seeing Ashfur be needlessly cruel and going 'yeah. that's normal i think' huh lol

I think I would really like Bramblestar if they played into what an insecure and pathetic person he is. How concerned he is with how others perceive him and how he doubles down on shitty decisions and shitty treatment of others because of it. But nope! He's a good noble leader :) don't mind how controlling and awful he is to his mate :)

(got real rambly after this lol)

Squirrelflight's Hope does a really good albeit unintentional job of setting up why ThunderClan doesn't notice...because he really exhibits a lot of shitty and horrendous behaviors in this. These behaviors aren't limited to just this super edition, as people like to claim, they've been present throughout his entire character but they're so egregious now because there's nothing stopping the framing from revealing how awful he is.

Ashfur is controlling and obsessive and so is Bramblestar; he uses his authority to demand she stop disagreeing with him in public, demands she runs every little decision past him to the point where he throws a hissy fit because Squirrelflight didn't check with him before bringing a very wounded cat to the camp to be treated, with the book emphasizing that she needs swift medical attention.

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Ashfur plays on "us vs. them" code mentality and faith in StarClan, Bramblestar is willing to abide by his Clan's xenophobic sentiments and risk allowing a cat to die because he insists on getting the word of StarClan on what to do. (Side note: this is soooo frustrating to read. I miss when cats did shit without having to consult StarClan, now they wonder if they have to ask whether or not to wipe their asses). He risks this cat's life because he sees her as a rogue, and whether or not the Erin's intended this, they wrote it so the subtext is that she is lesser and undeserving of their help.

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Ashfur will physically harm Squirrelflight, well guess what! Bramblestar was just about willing to physically stop Leafpool from treating a dying cat. Squirrelflight outright thinks he's going to fight her. There's no reason the rest of the Clan wouldn't assume he's not capable of getting physical with Squirrelflight. Full scene just so you can see how fucking pathetic he is here and how badly the authors want you to pity him:

I've not read any further but Bramblestar's behavior is abysmal and every single action and word he says is just adding onto the pile of red flags. I wish so badly that this super edition ended with Squirrelflight recognizing this and leaving him....but of course not -_- It really would be a great set up for TBC if it was intentional.