#everythings immediately drowned out by tumblr lives and shit

[knife-red]

wow!!! tumblr mobile sucks more ass than ever

[columboscreens]

i was asked recently about my top three and top ten columbo murderers who i think most deserved their fate. after wrangling with the tumblr post editor undoing my text changes and fucking up my photo placement, i finally finished the post. everything looked good in the drafts, in the queue, and in the blog preview.

then for some ungodly reason tumblr published the rough draft version of the post i'd written weeks ago anyway. i got so frustrated i yelled expletives and nuked it. so i'm starting anew. without further ado,

here are the top ten piece of shit columbo murderers who absolutely deserved it:

justin rowe & cooper redman, columbo goes to college: truly, i hate these two scum-sucking motherfuckers the most. they're brats, yes, but look at the absolute dogshit stakes at hand. all the other murderers in this show are killing for true love, power, multimillion dollar fortunes, careers of great prestige--usually for that upon which they've staked their entire lives. these two tar pits blow their professor's brains out because they Got Bad Grades, which was their fault to begin with! they bully columbo mercilessly. i can't even look at them without wanting to throttle them

dr. barry mayfield, a stitch in crime: though his reasoning for murder starts out with at least some comprehensible amount of dignity, he quickly devolves into one of the most evil murderers of the series, not only by trying to off his research lead, but for causing so much collateral damage. he kills his nurse for knowing too much, sure, but killing her poor vietnam vet ex who's trying to shake his perc addiction while working at the petting zoo is…almost comically evil. it's no wonder columbo gets visibly fed up with his shit.

commissioner mark halperin, a friend in deed: god this guy is such a huge piece of shit. he's a spectacularly corrupt cop, covering for his friend's manslaughter and then using it as an excuse to drown his own wife for her money--to make it worse, his wife is somehow an absolute sweetheart angel darling who spends all her time working with underpriviliged children and people of color. then he's dumb enough to let columbo, the star detective with a 200% solve rate, work on the case, while also openly disparaging and discouraging him. utterly contemptible.

nelson hayward, candidate for crime: in typical politician style, so plastic and two-faced that he's not even a real human being. cheats on his adorable wife with a 20-year-old floozy and then gets mad at his clearly fantastic campaign advisor for wanting him to get a grip and fix his fucking marriage. then he shoots him about it. then he tries to make everyone think he's in danger--and he's such a rutting, lying pig that his own wife clearly believes columbo more than she believes him.

sean brantley, columbo cries wolf: i'm not sure if there exists a more smug columbo villain than sean brantley. uniquely repugnant in that he uses and abuses columbo to generate a media frenzy, then mocks and embarrasses him on international television. uniquely moronic in that when he actually DOES do a murder he hides his partner's body in…his own wall? with her smart watch still attached to her wrist. actual dirt man

dale kingston, suitable for framing: total piece of shit who always thinks he's the cleverest person in the room. says the absolute dumbest shit about art all the time; as in, literally everything that comes out of his mouth makes you want to curbstomp him. the girl who loves him gets kind of scared about being an accessory to murder, so instead of being reassuring in any capacity, he brains her with a big rock. this man deserved impalement

paul galesko, negative reaction: starts off the episode SO sympathetic when we see how bitchy and abusive his wife is, then immediately vanquishes all sympathy by being the most annoying, insufferable fuckhead at all times. fucked around with yet another 20-year-old floozy, killed an ex-con who was trying to rebuild his life, and planned everything poorly. is terribly mean to columbo…

milo janus, exercise in fatality: a complete fucking slimeball with vanishingly few redeeming qualities. kills a guy with his bare hands for even suggesting cooked books and then taunts his estranged widow about it by...asking her to fuck? (in all fairness--he has to maintain Quality. when he grows? you grow). it's no wonder that columbo loses his shit and yells at him

emmett clayton, the most dangerous match: seldom talked about in these conversations but he is so smug and killed one of the least deserving columbo victims because…he's a massive fucking coward who is incapable of losing. pathetic! get over yourself! plus this guy was like Ooo i am so Extremeley Jeanius but when columbo diverted his attention for like five seconds he lost to a fucking fool's mate. literally the quickest way you can lose a game of chess. real bobby fischer swag you big goofy ass bitch. grow up moron

harold van wick, playback: just the most abrasive fucking asshole the entire episode. insufferable proto-tech bro who is mean to beautiful radiant sweetheart gena rowlands and not even in the smug columbo murderer way, just an old school ableist/misogynist who openly says shit like why should i allow my dumb disabled wife to Make Decisions. doesn't even pretend to be nice to columbo at any point and not in the charming robert culp way. loathsome garbage heap of a man.

honorable mentchies go to jack cassidy nazi magician, evil french chef, pedophile johnny cash, weird italian polycule artist, and both william shatners. fuck you

[kulemiwrites]

What's Done in the Dark | Goro Majima & Taiga Saejima

Genre: Comfort, SMUT

Rating: 18+

Word count: 3.5k

Character(s): Goro Majima, Taiga Saejima, fem!Reader

Warning: To clarify, there is no Majima/Saejima in this fic. I'd hate for someone to feel misled.

Too long for Tumblr? Read on AO3!

The power goes out while you're working on a report. So, your boys partner up to help you unwind.

It was a rather unassuming evening, just like any other. Goro and Taiga stretched out on opposite ends of the sectional as they watched the robotic news reporter explain the forecast for the evening. High winds, scattered thunderstorms, and flash floods. Nothing unexpected. After all, it was nearing typhoon season. It could have been a hell of a lot worse. 

The woman pointed at a location on the doppler radar as she zoomed in to isolate their city. “Here in particular will see heavy rain storms and wind speeds of up to–” 

The mounted flat screen cut to black, the lamps went out and the living room was bathed in darkness. They could hear the trees rustling outside and feel thunderclaps that shook the entire house. It was nothing but black outside of the window– not even a street light peeking in.

“Aw, what the fuck?” Goro groaned, lifting himself upright. 

The other man sighed, “Think the winds’re high enough to knock out the power? Or ya think it was the lightnin’?��

“Hell if I know!”

A loud, anguished scream came from above then was drowned out by another thunderclap causing both men to shoot off the couch and stumble to their feet.

“Shit!” Goro hissed, making his way over toward the stairs as best as he could in the dark room. 

Taiga was right there behind him until he heard the clatter of something being knocked onto the floor.

“Be careful, kyodai. Y’ain’t gettin’ no younger, ya know.” he said, digging through his pocket for his cell phone. “At this age, ya just might fall and break a hip or somethin’.”

“Shut the hell up, alright?” he said, helping himself off the floor. He turned to find Saejima’s face partially illuminated by the cellphone screen. “You forget I’m operatin’ with one eye here.”

He fished his own cell out of his leather pants but instead, turned on the flashlight grateful that he’d had you to teach him how not long ago. Using that light, he navigated his way through the room until he could reach the stairs.

“I’m gonna go check on the lady.” he said.

“I’m comin’ with.”

Goro turned to the man trailing behind him on the stairs and frowned, “Ya know, she don’t need both of us.”

“When has that ever been true?”

He snickered as the previous night flashed through his mind. You had a greed in you that at some point in the evening, he wondered if two of them was even enough before immediately dismissing the thought when he felt himself becoming jealous. 

It certainly wasn’t true last night.

“Touché.”

They turned the corner once they reached the landing, then headed down the hall until they approached the door to your office. Right as Goro lifted his fist to knock, the door swung open, revealing your face illuminated by your phone and theirs. They could see clear as day how red your eyes were. 

“Hey…” Goro said, stroking your cheek only to find that it was wet. “Ya alright?”

“I’m fine. Just really fucking pissed right now.” you spat, turning around to head back into the room.

Goro leaned on the wall as he kept his light on your back. “So… You’re not fine.”

Taiga brushed past him to guide you to the sofa near the wall then caressed your warm, wet face. “You’ve been cryin’. Lemme guess, you were still workin’ on that report?”

“Yes,” you nearly yelled, smacking your knees. “And I fucking lost everything! All of that progress!”

“Shit.” Goro said, joining you two on the sofa.

You let out a deep sigh as Taiga’s heavy hand landed on your shoulder, massaging it. You were tense- so tense. He couldn’t imagine how stressed you’d become over this. A lightbulb went off in his head. 

Ironic. 

“Goro,” he called. “You ‘member that emergency bag?”

The other man’s hand stroked at your leg, “Yeah.”

“Where is it?”

“Downstairs in the hallway closet.”

He didn’t say anything after that. You simply watched his contribution to the room’s light drift away. 

Goro took this time alone to pull you into him, stroking at your hair and squeezing you against him. He’d practically opened up the flood gates. You buried your face into his chest and let out a loud wail. Sobs and frustrated groans stained his shirt with tears and a bit of drool.

“That’s alright. Let it out.”

He hated this.

He knew that it wasn’t his fault, that there wasn’t really much he could have done to prevent this from happening but still… He never felt like a winner when the love of his life was in tears. He kissed and kissed at the crown of your head, then pulled you back from his chest to see your tear stained face before pressing his lips to your forehead. He had an idea but he wasn’t sure if it would bear any fruit. 

If it meant stopping the waterworks, he’d at least give it a shot.

“Gimme a sec, ____. I’m gonna run downstairs and see if I can get the power back up for ya.” 

“What are you going to do?”

“Check the generator and the fuse box.” 

“Yeah, alright.” you said, the sparse light shined on your pouting face and made his heart ache all the more.

The electricity would pay for making his girl cry… Somehow.

He gave your knee a light squeeze before leaving you in the room alone. “Be right back,” was the last thing he said.

You sat there on the sofa, staring in the direction of your PC as your thoughts ran rampant. Taunting you. Why didn’t you see this coming? You’d heard the thunder. You’d seen the lighting. Why didn’t you just make a save? Now, it was too late. You wanted to scream, cry some more or even break something but what was done was done… All you could do now was wallow in your misery and sulk.

Yeah, sulking was good. 

You threw yourself out on the sofa and stared up at the ring of light on the ceiling. It was taking a while for either of them to return. You wondered what they could possibly be doing for so long in that dark ass house but then gave up wondering. You were growing bored and your boredom gave way to anxious thoughts. 

You wanted no more of it. 

Grabbing your phone, you unlocked it and swiped and tapped your way to your usual messaging app until you landed in the group chat with some friends. You took a deep breath then groaned as you tapped out a rant about what had just transpired. You hoped that venting about it some more would help put you at ease. You felt yourself growing angrier with every word, then after the anger dissipated, it settled into something sad. 

You’d have to start almost entirely over… Right after you’d started to get the hang of things. What a pity.

Just as you hit send, Taiga startled you by knocking at the door. You hadn’t even heard anyone walking up the stairs– you usually did, him especially. He wasn’t the lightest on his feet.

“_____, can ya come with me a sec?” he asked.

You sighed, wiping the slow drying tears from your face then lazily peeled yourself from the couch to follow the much larger man down the stairs, his thick fingers woven with yours. He carefully guided you through the dark with the help of your phones until you reached the spare bedroom. 

“What are we doing here?”

He rubbed at what skin was available on your arms with both hands. “Go on in.”

At his insistence, you reached for the doorknob and slowly turned to open the door. You almost couldn’t believe your eyes. Dozens of votive candles were scattered around the room, vessel candles here and there too. 

Warm candlelight. So beautiful. So many, too– it might have even been a fire hazard but at least it was pretty!

You were slowly drawn into the room, “Wow.”

From where you stood, you could even spot candles all the way through to the grand bathroom. 

“This is so nice, Taiga.” you said, turning to face the large man smiling softly at you.

“Dontcha go givin’ him all the credit!” Goro called from the bathroom. 

It was Taiga’s idea but sure, he must have helped light them or something. 

“Come on in, ____! The water’s fiiiine.”

“The water?” you said, following your other lover's voice. You found him sitting on the rim of the bubble-filled bathtub and shook your head. “No way.”

“Yes, way.” he said, walking behind you. “Let’s go ahead and getcha outta these, hm?”

He glided his hand over your hair then skated his fingertips down the nape of your neck until he reached your shoulders. Then, he ran his hands down your arms and back up to cross over to the center of your chest where he’d begun unbuttoning your lounge shirt. 

Slow. Deliberate. 

His movements were all intentional as he plucked each button away. One by one. He kept that pace as he stripped you out of each article of clothing until there wasn’t a thing left. 

When he was done, he spun you around to face him. You could see the hungry twinkle in his eye as he visually devoured you. He licked his lips and silently started to work toward doing the same to himself. 

That same turtle pace.

Not once did he break eye contact. He didn’t say a word and yet he was saying it all. Unconsciously your leg squeezed itself over the other and he smirked. 

He fucking smirked. 

He knew precisely what this little strip tease of his was capable of. 

When there was nothing left between you, nothing but his semi-hard cock, he closed the gap. You could feel it poking against you as he slipped his tongue down your throat.

“Goro,” Taiga interrupted. “You were just supposed to bathe with her. The hell are ya doin’?”

He fought the urge to allow himself some friction by grinding against you as he held you closer. He’d been cupping your ass in his hands by the time he pulled away from your lips.

“Mm, sorry, kyodai. Can’t help myself.” he muttered against your neck.

“Well, help it. Otherwise you’re not gonna be able to help with the next part.”

His shoulders slumped as he buried his face against your skin. “Fine.” he groaned.

“The next part?”

“Mhmm.” he hummed, taking your hand and leading you back to the bath. “We’ve got another surprise for ya after yer bath.”

You weren't sure how much more you needed. A relaxing candle lit bath with one of your boys was more than plenty. He helped you into the tub, then when you seemed to be comfortable enough, he stepped in behind you. You’d gotten lucky with this house, finding a tub that could not only accommodate their height but even comfortably seat two at a time.

“S’it feel good?” he asked, wet hands making scoops beneath your breasts to fondle. “The water nice enough for ya?”

You nodded, sinking down further into the water and reclining back into his chest. If it was ever possible to be swaddled in love, it couldn’t have felt too different from this– body submerged in warm water and an even warmer body pressed up against you from behind. You could have completely forgotten about the power outage…. 

Almost.

Taiga kneeled at the side of the tub, handing you a glass of wine. You rotated the glass beneath your nose. That aroma was unmistakable. He’d broken out your favorite bottle. 

Absolutely, this was love.

“Thank you, Taiga.”

He’d leaned over the rim of the tub to capture your lips before you could kiss the rim of the glass. He always kissed you as if he was savoring it, much like you would soon be savoring this wine.

“You’re welcome, sweetheart.” he whispered, then pecked at your cheek before standing back up with a grunt.

“Ah, kyodai, did ya find the stuff?” 

You could feel Goro’s voice vibrating through his chest against your back.

“Hm? What stuff?”

Not answering your question, the other man nodded. “I did. So, call it in about 30 minutes and then dry her off and bring’r to bed so we can get started.”

“30 minutes?” Goro whined. “That’s hardly enough time to finish her wine. Give her an hour.”

“Fine, but I don’t wanna hear no funny business. If I do, it’s just me an’ her.”

Goro waved his dripping hand at the man dismissively, flicking water at him and in your face. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Now, get out. Yer wastin’ her time.”

Taiga said nothing else, not for Goro’s sake but for yours. You watched him leave the room, pulling the door up behind him. When it was just the two of you, you tried to sink even further into his chest but this was as close as you could possibly be. 

“Sorry I couldn’t get the power back on for ya.” he muttered against your cheek as he absentmindedly fondled your chest.

“Don’t be. It’s not like it’s your fault the power went out.”

“I know. I just can’t stand seein’ ya upset and stressed out like that.”

“I couldn’t help it. I lost so much progress, Goro.” you sighed, then took a big gulp of wine. 

So much for savoring.

“Well, now’s the time to let it out. I’m listenin’.”

“I don’t really have much else to say about it. I think it’s best for me to calm down and relax now.”

“Mm.”

You soaked in silence for a while, watching the candlelight flicker along the walls and in the water as you sipped your wine. Each minute that passed by, you felt the tenseness in your body melt away. You weren't sure if it was the warm water, the calming lighting, just being there in his arms or perhaps even the way he played with your breasts– bouncing your tits, teasing the nipples with his fingertips and pinching them after they’d hardened under his featherlight touch. The semi from before was now a full blown erection pressed against your back, twitching and begging for the neglect to end.

“Yer likin’ this shit, arentcha?” he snickered, dipping his head to nibble at your neck. “Feelin’ real good, huh?”

You sucked your bottom lip into your mouth to suppress the moan threatening to spill out. Good was much too weak of a word to describe how this felt.

“Yes.” 

“How good?” he asked, rolling your nipples between his fingers as he sucked at your neck. You couldn’t answer him– not with your words anyway but the way you had begun to gyrate into the tub told him so much more than you ever could. “Ahhh, baby~. Ya need a hand?”

You bit back a groan.

“Spread your legs,” he whispered against your damp skin and the hair on the back of your neck had begun to rise.

“But Taiga said–”

“_____, do I sound like I give a shit about what Taiga said?” he said then licked a stripe along the goosebumps rising on your neck. “Be a good girl and spread ‘em.”

There was a fluttering inside you– Down low. You loved when he was assertive like this. You tended to take turns passing the baton. Now it was your turn to be the obedient one. You tried to spread your legs but the tub only gave you so much room to meet his liking. The bath was generous in length but not so much in width. 

Clicking his tongue it was apparent that he wasn’t satisfied. He needed you spreaded out much more than this. He reached down to grab one leg and hiked it over the rim of the tub and lifted the other until your foot touched the cool wall.

That was more like it.

His large hand dipped beneath the bed of diminishing bubbles and snaked its way down your body until he was cupping your mound. 

“Oh,” you gasped at his touch. “Goro, we–”

“Want me to stop?” his voice deep against your ear and you could have shuddered.

You knew that you should have petitioned for Taiga but both of you knew from the way you’d begun to grind into his hand that you would have only been lying to yourself. 

You needed this.

And Goro was nothing if not a problem solver.

You shook your head and he smirked to himself at how well he knew you. He’d known you like the back of his hand. He pressed his middle finger between your slot and found you’d been dirtying up the water with your mess. 

So slippery, despite the bath, just like he suspected you would be. 

He knew you.

He slid his fingers along your slit then slowly reacquainted himself with your swollen bud. You flinched beneath his touch. Your lips fell open as you rested your head back on his shoulder. He could practically see the moan tumbling out of your mouth before the sound even graced the world. Goro brought his hand up to cover your mouth in an attempt to silence you. Water droplets rolled down under your jaw and along your neck until they hit the bathwater again. 

“Ya gotta keep quiet, _____. If he hears, he’s gonna get real pissy.”

You winded your hips in the same pattern as his hand, panting and sighing as you accepted all the pleasure his deft fingers had to offer. You tried your best to keep your voice down. You tried your best not to thrash about. You tried your best to keep your legs propped wide open but Goro’s efforts were wearing you down and you were only moments away from combusting. 

“Oh?” he whispered, hastening his pace. “Ya like this sneakin’ around shit, do ya? That why you’re about to cum so soon? Hold it, baby. We’ve got plenty of time.”

That was just the thing though. You couldn’t hold it– You were just feet away from reaching the mountain’s peak and there was no turning back. Your toes curled as you attempted to fight against the trembling in your thighs that urged you to slam them shut. Any sudden movements and you’d make a splash for sure. You couldn’t have Taiga coming to investigate– you were too close to stop now. 

You ground your head into his shoulder, eyes stapled shut as he pressed his palm to your mouth tighter. He was rubbing faster. He knew you couldn’t hold back. Your hands splashed through the water until you found purchase in his thigh muscles, crescent moons sinking into white skin. 

He pushed you over the edge and all you could do now was ride it out, panting hard into his hand– trying and failing not to let out so much as a squeak. 

“Thaaat’s it, _____. Let it out.” he whispered, kissing your ear. “Thaaat’s my girl. Keep cummin’ for me.”

The current rippling through you shot from head to toe, leaving behind a dizziness in its wake. With a shudder, you melted into him, fighting to catch your breath. At last, he removed his hand from your mouth, subtly noting the bite mark left behind. He hadn’t even noticed you biting him.  He was so engrossed in what he’d been doing. Goro kissed at the wet nape of your neck, tasting a mixture of bathwater and sweat then dropped his bitten hand beneath the water to stroke the skin of your belly.

“Taiga’s going to get so pissed at us…” you said in an airy tone.

“Only if he finds out.” 

“Oh, I think he found out.” a gruff voice said near the door.

The two flinched, gazes following the voice to find the other man leaning against the doorframe with folded arms. 

“What the hell, kyodai? How long ya been standin’ there?”

“Long enough.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” you asked.

Something mischievous played on his features beneath the flickering light. “I’ve got my reasons. Besides, ya looked like ya needed it so bad, I couldn’t bring myself to interrupt.”

“I told you we should’ve waited, Goro.”

“You ain’t say shit!”

“I tried.”

“Not very hard mi–”

“Enough,” Taiga said, unfolding a large bath towel as he approached the bath. “C’mon, let’s get you dry.”

“It ain’t been an hour yet.”

“Maybe it ain’t but you can’t follow instructions. So, I’m gonna go on and take this one off yer hands.”

He allowed you a moment to clean yourself up then he helped you out of the tub, dried you with the towel then wrapped it around your body before lifting you into his arms bridal style.

“Yer takin’ her for the massage already?”

“Ya know,” he began. “I’m a little fired up now. Maybe I’ll take a page from your book and lose sight o’ my task.” 

“That ain’t fair!” Goro nearly shouted, propping himself up over the edge of the tub. “How’s that fair?”

Taiga looked from you to him, a barely there smirk playing upon his lips and Goro couldn’t see it but you certainly could from your seat, there was something devilish there. 

Wicked.

“Do I look like I give a shit ‘bout bein’ fair?”

Please do not reupload/repost/rewrite but likes and a reblog go a long way! Thank you for reading!

If you enjoyed this, you're welcome to check out more of my work! I have a masterlist to save you browse time!

[hamtigers]

I’ve been here around 12yrs, and when the first attempt at an algorithm was tried, I was among the majority that immediately turned that shit off Tumblr is a blogging site masquerading as a social media site. Not an actual social media site. Control over your feed is essential to keeping what it actually is. It is one of the last bastions of “old internet” where the user actually feels in control of their experience, rather than being fodder to generate clicks and ad revenue through and algorithm.  We like that we curate our feeds, that we get to actually SEE what the people we CHOSE TO FOLLOW are posting without it getting shuffled or drowned out by an algorithm-driven feed!! It’s not hard to figure out how to fill your dash - just search for things you like, browse someone’s blog, and if you like what you see give them a follow. But y’know, with making it increasingly difficult to view peoples actual blogs instead of the neutered mobile-friendly version lately, a lot of the individual user personality is being lost. I hate that I can’t use the little corner tab to direct link to a post on the desktop version of someone’s blog anymore, I have to use the share button that takes you to the mobile version unless I wanna dig thru the blog itself to find the post manually. If you’re so worried about new users not knowing how to use the site bc they’ve been raised on computers doing the thinking for them, then give new users a built in tour that explains the functions. Don’t change the #1 thing that has kept old users like me around, even during the great exodus of the NSFW ban. (Nowhere was better, bc it was all algorithmic fueled bullshit making it impossible to see what I wanted)  Hell, fix the search function if you want creators to be able to be found!! Searching and using followed tags (an old feature that got nuked btw) was how people USED to build communities on this site! People would even make up the most inane bullshit tags to use as a community because they’d all follow it and thus get notified when a friend posted something! (My old skype group used to use “responsible adult problems” since we all met thru this site) I don’t mind the idea of threads in the reply function tho. That’s honestly fine. I hate when someone @s me in a reply but it doesn’t fit in the notification, so I have to take a wild guess at what post it was on, find it, and then scroll thru the replies to see what they were trying to tell me. Which is hell on a viral post. So yes, communication via replies is legitimately clunky as it is if you’re not the OP.

Being able to mute notifications on a post so that you aren’t drowned when it gets popular is also good. And should’ve been made a feature a long time ago tbh. But man, I hate that tumblr live was brought up as an example of the path moving forward. Fuck tumblr live - let me disable it permanently instead of having to go un-toggle and re-toggle the snooze once a week. The reason people have so much vitriol towards it (myself included) is because it’s the first time a new feature has been introduced that felt invasive and forced. Normally whenever something new got rolled out, unless it changed a core aspect of the website like the formatting of the dashboard, users had to the option to switch it off. But tumblr live for some reason has this ‘temporary’ disable that if this is really the route this place is taking, I’m expecting to eventually not even have that option anymore. Fuck an algorithm trying to show me what “25″ posts it thinks I need to see instead of my actual dashboard. When twitter started going more aggressive w/ their algorithm because they wanted their ‘best stuff’ to be viewed first, all it did was hide art and personal posts from friends of mine that weren’t popular, and shunt everything that was already viral to the top of my feed. And then they started putting peoples likes on my feed, completely removing the point of having the difference between likes and retweets. And then it started putting shit that wasn’t even interacted with in my feed, because apparently twitter thinks that I want to see stuff from people I don’t follow just because someone I follow follows them. If I wanted to see it, I’d be following them too! It drives me insane! Literally the only reason I haven’t quit twitter entirely with the fall of tweetdeck (the only way for me to view that dumpster fire in chrono reliably) is because I follow a lot of artists and friends on there that aren’t here on tumblr and I have 0 interest in any other ‘alternatives’.

Hiding duplicate reblogs isn’t the worst thing at surface level, except when you remember that a huge part of the culture here is “talking in the tags”. I personally find an appeal in seeing me and my mutuals all getting excited over the same post, but I can see where that would be redundant to others. So personally, I would want that to be a feature that could be enabled if you choose, not something forced on me. TL;DR if you really are so worried about the new user experience you better make goddamn sure that any changes can be PERMANENTLY opted out of by your existing users. Otherwise you’re going to drive away long-time users, especially those in fandom spaces, in favor of gambling on new ones.

Tumblr’s Core Product Strategy

Here at Tumblr, we’ve been working hard on reorganizing how we work in a bid to gain more users. A larger user base means a more sustainable company, and means we get to stick around and do this thing with you all a bit longer. What follows is the strategy we're using to accomplish the goal of user growth. The @labs group has published a bit already, but this is bigger. We’re publishing it publicly for the first time, in an effort to work more transparently with all of you in the Tumblr community. This strategy provides guidance amid limited resources, allowing our teams to focus on specific key areas to ensure Tumblr’s future.

The Diagnosis

In order for Tumblr to grow, we need to fix the core experience that makes Tumblr a useful place for users. The underlying problem is that Tumblr is not easy to use. Historically, we have expected users to curate their feeds and lean into curating their experience. But this expectation introduces friction to the user experience and only serves a small portion of our audience. 

Tumblr’s competitive advantage lies in its unique content and vibrant communities. As the forerunner of internet culture, Tumblr encompasses a wide range of interests, such as entertainment, art, gaming, fandom, fashion, and music. People come to Tumblr to immerse themselves in this culture, making it essential for us to ensure a seamless connection between people and content. 

To guarantee Tumblr’s continued success, we’ve got to prioritize fostering that seamless connection between people and content. This involves attracting and retaining new users and creators, nurturing their growth, and encouraging frequent engagement with the platform.

Our Guiding Principles

To enhance Tumblr’s usability, we must address these core guiding principles.

Expand the ways new users can discover and sign up for Tumblr.

Provide high-quality content with every app launch.

Facilitate easier user participation in conversations.

Retain and grow our creator base.

Create patterns that encourage users to keep returning to Tumblr.

Improve the platform’s performance, stability, and quality.

Below is a deep dive into each of these principles.

Principle 1: Expand the ways new users can discover and sign up for Tumblr.

Tumblr has a “top of the funnel” issue in converting non-users into engaged logged-in users. We also have not invested in industry standard SEO practices to ensure a robust top of the funnel. The referral traffic that we do get from external sources is dispersed across different pages with inconsistent user experiences, which results in a missed opportunity to convert these users into regular Tumblr users. For example, users from search engines often land on pages within the blog network and blog view—where there isn’t much of a reason to sign up. 

We need to experiment with logged-out tumblr.com to ensure we are capturing the highest potential conversion rate for visitors into sign-ups and log-ins. We might want to explore showing the potential future user the full breadth of content that Tumblr has to offer on our logged-out pages. We want people to be able to easily understand the potential behind Tumblr without having to navigate multiple tabs and pages to figure it out. Our current logged-out explore page does very little to help users understand “what is Tumblr.” which is a missed opportunity to get people excited about joining the site.

Actions & Next Steps

Improving Tumblr’s search engine optimization (SEO) practices to be in line with industry standards.

Experiment with logged out tumblr.com to achieve the highest conversion rate for sign-ups and log-ins, explore ways for visitors to “get” Tumblr and entice them to sign up.

Principle 2: Provide high-quality content with every app launch.

We need to ensure the highest quality user experience by presenting fresh and relevant content tailored to the user’s diverse interests during each session. If the user has a bad content experience, the fault lies with the product.

The default position should always be that the user does not know how to navigate the application. Additionally, we need to ensure that when people search for content related to their interests, it is easily accessible without any confusing limitations or unexpected roadblocks in their journey.

Being a 15-year-old brand is tough because the brand carries the baggage of a person’s preconceived impressions of Tumblr. On average, a user only sees 25 posts per session, so the first 25 posts have to convey the value of Tumblr: it is a vibrant community with lots of untapped potential. We never want to leave the user believing that Tumblr is a place that is stale and not relevant. 

Actions & Next Steps

Deliver great content each time the app is opened.

Make it easier for users to understand where the vibrant communities on Tumblr are. 

Improve our algorithmic ranking capabilities across all feeds. 

Principle 3: Facilitate easier user participation in conversations.

Part of Tumblr’s charm lies in its capacity to showcase the evolution of conversations and the clever remarks found within reblog chains and replies. Engaging in these discussions should be enjoyable and effortless.

Unfortunately, the current way that conversations work on Tumblr across replies and reblogs is confusing for new users. The limitations around engaging with individual reblogs, replies only applying to the original post, and the inability to easily follow threaded conversations make it difficult for users to join the conversation.

Actions & Next Steps

Address the confusion within replies and reblogs.

Improve the conversational posting features around replies and reblogs. 

Allow engagements on individual replies and reblogs.

Make it easier for users to follow the various conversation paths within a reblog thread. 

Remove clutter in the conversation by collapsing reblog threads. 

Explore the feasibility of removing duplicate reblogs within a user’s Following feed. 

Principle 4: Retain and grow our creator base.

Creators are essential to the Tumblr community. However, we haven’t always had a consistent and coordinated effort around retaining, nurturing, and growing our creator base.  

Being a new creator on Tumblr can be intimidating, with a high likelihood of leaving or disappointment upon sharing creations without receiving engagement or feedback. We need to ensure that we have the expected creator tools and foster the rewarding feedback loops that keep creators around and enable them to thrive.

The lack of feedback stems from the outdated decision to only show content from followed blogs on the main dashboard feed (“Following”), perpetuating a cycle where popular blogs continue to gain more visibility at the expense of helping new creators. To address this, we need to prioritize supporting and nurturing the growth of new creators on the platform.

It is also imperative that creators, like everyone on Tumblr, feel safe and in control of their experience. Whether it be an ask from the community or engagement on a post, being successful on Tumblr should never feel like a punishing experience.

Actions & Next Steps

Get creators’ new content in front of people who are interested in it. 

Improve the feedback loop for creators, incentivizing them to continue posting.

Build mechanisms to protect creators from being spammed by notifications when they go viral.

Expand ways to co-create content, such as by adding the capability to embed Tumblr links in posts.

Principle 5: Create patterns that encourage users to keep returning to Tumblr.

Push notifications and emails are essential tools to increase user engagement, improve user retention, and facilitate content discovery. Our strategy of reaching out to you, the user, should be well-coordinated across product, commercial, and marketing teams.

Our messaging strategy needs to be personalized and adapt to a user’s shifting interests. Our messages should keep users in the know on the latest activity in their community, as well as keeping Tumblr top of mind as the place to go for witty takes and remixes of the latest shows and real-life events.  

Most importantly, our messages should be thoughtful and should never come across as spammy.  

Actions & Next Steps

Conduct an audit of our messaging strategy.

Address the issue of notifications getting too noisy; throttle, collapse or mute notifications where necessary.  

Identify opportunities for personalization within our email messages. 

Test what the right daily push notification limit is. 

Send emails when a user has push notifications switched off.

Principle 6: Performance, stability and quality.

The stability and performance of our mobile apps have declined. There is a large backlog of production issues, with more bugs created than resolved over the last 300 days. If this continues, roughly one new unresolved production issue will be created every two days. Apps and backend systems that work well and don't crash are the foundation of a great Tumblr experience. Improving performance, stability, and quality will help us achieve sustainable operations for Tumblr.

Improve performance and stability: deliver crash-free, responsive, and fast-loading apps on Android, iOS, and web.

Improve quality: deliver the highest quality Tumblr experience to our users. 

Move faster: provide APIs and services to unblock core product initiatives and launch new features coming out of Labs.

Conclusion

Our mission has always been to empower the world’s creators. We are wholly committed to ensuring Tumblr evolves in a way that supports our current users while improving areas that attract new creators, artists, and users. You deserve a digital home that works for you. You deserve the best tools and features to connect with your communities on a platform that prioritizes the easy discoverability of high-quality content. This is an invigorating time for Tumblr, and we couldn’t be more excited about our current strategy.

[pikihachu]

THIS PARTY SUCKS. — steve harrington x reader

— pairing: steve x gn!reader

— genre: fluff!!

— summary: in which you ranted about how lame this party was directly to the host.

— warnings: mentions of underage drinking, and cursing!

a/n: i found this idea on tumblr a while back and immediately thought of steve 🫣

not my gif!

Music blasted throughout the large mansion as you tried to drown it all out with a sip of whatever concoction was in the bowl you were drinking from. It was disgusting, causing you to spit it back in your cup before you discarded of it all together. You silently sat back and watched as mindless teenagers seemed to enjoy the party. They were as rowdy as they could get, after all, what more could you expect with the combination of reckless teenagers and alcohol?

While this could be considered as the part of the “highschool experience”— being at the most popping party on a Friday night, you were dreading every second of it. You never considered yourself a party person, even back in your hometown, and Hawkins was no different. Instead, you were pretty much forced here and by your own mother at the very most! As a means of “making some new friends.” Your newest friend Robin was also partially to blame, as she practically begged you to come with her. Now, you were stuck as her designated driver.

You continued to people watch, though there was never anything special— until you spotted Robin, smiling and dancing with who you assumed to be her little girl crush, Vicky, whom she’s been raving about since you’ve gotten to know her. You smiled, at least one of us is having a good time.

“Hows the party?” a voice suddenly spoke from your side. You looked over, to who it was, only to find one of the guys who you knew was part of the popular crowd talking to you. What was his name again? Stephen? No…

“It sucks,” you blankly stated. The boy was a little taken aback by your straight forwardness. Plus it was the first time he heard that all night! Everyone seemed to be having a great time here except you, and he was quick to notice as you were just laying back on a wall, watching everything happen around you.

“Really? I didn’t think it was that bad….” He mumbled, his voice small as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Maybe it’s just because I don’t really like parties but, for starters, that drink tastes like ass.” You signaled toward the bowl with the mysterious liquid in it.

“Second, it smells like a dumpster fire in here. Holy shit, do people not know what deodorant is.” You ranted, making a face as you stared the pack of dancing and sweaty teenagers in the living room. You earned a hearty chuckle from the boy next to you as he continued to listen to your bitching. The two of you would converse in whatever, and for once you found yourself sort of enjoying the party.

He then paused, a little spaced out as he thought about something. “Wanna get some air?” The stranger grinned, a hand running through his hair. “And be alone outside with you? I don’t even know you,” you giggled, watching as he discarded his cup on the counter before dramatically extending an arm out towards you, “Steve Harrington, and you, gorgeous are…?”

You felt a tinge of heat rush up to your cheeks at the sudden nickname, and you mentally thanked the fact that the room was dark. “Y/N L/N.” You said, taking his hand in yours and shaking it. Though, once you finished, he didn’t let go of your hand, rather, readjusting it so that he was holding it in his.

“You ready to get out of here Y/N?” he asked, and you simply returned a small nod. However, you paused when you noticed Robin staggering towards you with the most dazed expression on her face. She clearly had a little too much to drink. “Y/N! Have you met the host, yet? Aka, the rich little bastard who lent his “humble” abode for our own pleasure.”

You shrugged, not really interested in anything else but leaving this party. “No, not quite yet.” You said, before Steve peeked his head out towards your conversation. “What? Yes you have, he’s right here!” Robin pointed, and your eyes followed to where she was pointing, only to see Steve, smiling down at you.

You took your hand away from Steve to cover your mouth in shock and embarrassment. “YOU WERE THE HOST? I’m so sorry.” You exclaimed, feeling bad that you unknowingly just shit talked this party to the very person who organized it. Steve could only laugh at the situation, finding it cute at how embarrassed you quickly became.

Robin on the other hand, noticed what was going on between the two of you and grinned. “Well uh, Vicky’s calling me over again, so you two can be on your merry way.” She winked before wandering off once again.

You stood there awkwardly now that Robin was gone, soaking in your humility. However, as you looked down at the ground to avoid all eye contact with Steve, he grabbed your attention as he took your hand in his once more. “You still wanna get some air? I think it’s about time we leave this lame party.” He teased.

Regardless, you shook your head yes as he pulled you through the crowd and out the door.

[nemeseos-noctua]

Hi! Could i request hcs for Diluc and Xiao with a reader who is shy? Thank you!

𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍����: xiao, diluc (separate) x gn!reader

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: a few swears in diluc’s! (it’s like one or two)

𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒: this is actually my first tumblr post.... ive been super busy with school, sports, and other stuff. sorry! ill try to write more in the future! (constellations has been doing everything so far since i still dont know how tumblr works lol)

also, these are stupid long... and for what.

adventuring was a lot for you to process

okay, so maybe having your own Benny’s Adventure Team was not great while traveling through Dragonspine and Liyue

too many of everything

you ended up getting really beat up.

after passing through Mingyun Village, you could see Wangshu Inn and decided to stay there until you were healed up

you always found comfort in the night sky, so you went out there every day

It was your fifth night staying at the inn before you saw a short male standing on the balcony where you would usually be. Strange. You’d never seen anyone like that before.

You seemed to have caught him off guard when you started to approach him since he jumped a little. 

Taking a closer look at his face, you studied it a bit. He had golden eyes and dark teal hair that seemed to frame his face perfectly, accompanied by lighter streaks of the same colour.

Pretty... you thought, completely entranced by this strange man (boy?). 

“Ah, sorry. I’m probably disturbing you... I’ll go now...” 

He blinked. 

god he’s in love

not even romantic love but he loved you like the past adepti

xiao would see so many couples over the years that he’s been at the inn and absolutely hated them, but this?? 

okay it’s a different type of love but damn it felt nice

You started to turn and walk back to your room before hearing his voice.

“Stay.” 

STAY??? WE MOVING KINDA FAST BUT ALRIGHT PRETTY BOY !! 

On the outside, you were cooler than a cucumber. The inside? Chaos. Millions of thoughts raced throughout that little head of yours. 

“Only if you’re fine with it...”

Turning back around, you took a few steps forward before noticing that he wore a lot of accessories on him. One of them being a mask that resembled one of the Vigilant Yaksha’s in that one book you read as a kid. Probably just a fan or something.

You reached the balcony, taking a spot next to him while also keeping some space between the two of you. Leaning on the balustrade (the railing of a balcony), you rested your head on top of your arms.

A comfortable silence was placed in the middle of the two. A silent breeze blew, adding to the mellow mood. 

“What brings you here?” the pretty stranger suddenly inquired, gaining a small jolt from your serene state. “Did I scare you? My apologies.”

“Oh, uh, it’s nothing...” You lifted your head to look out at the lands of Dihua Marsh. Seeing Dragonspine in the distance gave you a chill. Those were not the greatest memories. The small movement didn’t go unnoticed by the boy.

“You’re an adventurer?”

“Oh... yeah, I am... I’m not that experienced yet, though...” 

for SOME REASON... this man felt even more inclined to protect you

you still had a fair amount of bandages wrapped around your limbs, so it was clear that you were injured

GOD IF HE COULD JUST HUG YOU RIGHT THERE AND THEN

but he did not.

he has restraint.

he is a good boy.

“I met a traveler that wasn’t very experienced either.” This fact shocked you. So he has been here for a while... but why hadn’t you seen him before? Does he just... disappear into thin air..?

the answer is yes

he does indeed do that

but that’s besides the point.

“Oh... that’s nice...” 

It was getting late. The moon was starting to lower back down and the lids of your eyes were getting heavier and heavier by the minute. You let out a yawn, but it was muffled by your head being buried in your arms once again.

“You should go get some rest.” You hummed. 

Then, a thought popped into your head.

“If you don’t mind me asking... what’s your name?” 

Even though you weren’t facing him, you could feel his piercing gaze on you. It wasn’t uncomfortable at all, but gave you a feeling of protection.

“Xiao.” You mouthed his name to yourself silently. It was nice.

“Goodnight, Xiao. I hope that we can do this again soon.”

“Goodnight to you...”

“(Y/N).”

“...(Y/N).”

you were a cryo catalyst that tried to fight against some cryo slimes alone

hint: that was a bad idea

my favourite elemental reaction was immune!

literally... you couldn’t even do anything to them

and you were getting beat up. 

badly.

for plot convenience you were at the lake next to Dawn Winery

“Shit...” 

At this point, you’d been fending these slimes off for around a quarter of an hour now and you were getting tired now.

Your dumbass tried to drown them in the lake but forgot that they immediately froze any moisture underneath them. You tried attacking them but everything you could do was inflict the freeze effect (against CRYO slimes). 

You literally could not do anything. Time to get frozen to death!

“Burn!”

WHAT???

Suddenly, a big fire bird swept up the slimes that had been occupying you for the last 20 minutes or so, effectively taking them out. 

At this point, the only thing that kept you standing was your adrenaline, which quickly ran out as you dropped to the ground in exhaustion. You let out a sigh, finally free from those damned slimes. You will have your revenge one day... just not today.

While you were resting on the ground, your saviour had been standing there, watching you calm down. And so you looked up to be greeted by probing crimson orbs, which definitely startled you.

Your saviour was.... Master Diluc. Master Diluc Ragnvindr, wealthiest man in Mondstadt. Him. In front of you. 

“OH! I, um, Master Diluc! What brings you here?” 

‘WHAT BRINGS YOU HERE??’ HE LIVES HERE THOUGH?? 

“I was taking a stroll around the winery and happened to see you in your own predicament.”

You attempted to stand up, though your legs failed you as you only flopped back onto the dirt. 

diluc doesn’t wanna admit it but that was unbelievably stupid, cute, and endearing

okay and what if this emo boy doesn’t like people

he still has feelings too >:(

“I’ll stay here with you so you won’t get attacked again. So relax.”

Mans was telling you to “relax” while you were in the presence of a literal typhoon here. He was so brooding and scary-looking all the time that you couldn’t even try to relax.

A few minutes pass and the sound of water rushing was the only thing keeping you two company. 

It was nice to enjoy nature, but the tension between the two of you was still higher than ever.

To break this silence, you had tried to stir up some small talk.

“The weather is nice today, huh...”

He grunted, which seemed to be a regular response of his. You started to notice this after a few questions like “how’s your day been” or “have any plans today?”

Not that you were genuinely interested. You bet that he could tell that you were trying to make it less awkward by responding at all, but it just didn’t help at all.

You were probably sitting for a good 10 minutes before deciding to stand up again, in which you were successful. But could you walk back to the city?

That was debatable.

You definitely felt and looked unstable, so being the gentleman he was raised to be, Diluc reluctantly bent down and slung your shoulder over his.

The height difference between the two of you was pretty big, so he ended up just carrying you to his place. As goofy as it looked, it got the job done.

― riri ✨

[thedamageofherdays]

This week's (16-08-2021 - 22-08-2021) reading log is here. This week's reading log is super duper long and filled with lots of good things (my apologies for the long post, I really could not find a good spot to do a read more). I discovered some new favourites and re-read some old favourites and while I had an intense week personally at least the fics I read were absolutely phenomenal. I do recommend checking out the warnings as some fics are a bit heavier/angstier and you might wanna be prepared. Most of these fics are Stucky but there are a couple of other ships in between.

If you are looking for more fun and/or good things make sure to check out the @marveldisabilitycelebration as well to see all the awesome art, fics, meta, etcetera people created! And while I am mentioning events I am a mod for let me also just quickly mention that sign-ups for the @stuckygiftexchange are still open until the end of the month <3

Favourites are marked with a 🌻 Fics that are only available to AO3 users are marked with a 🔒 and Tumblr fics are marked with a 🍀

🌻 The Bends by dreamsinthewitchouse @dreamsinthewitchouse [Danbeau, side Stucky, 2k words, Teen]

Memory is not a house you can just walk back into after finding the key you thought you’d lost. It’s a thing you wade into and out of, rewriting it as it rewrites you.

It’s not without its rewards, either - recovering a memory about Maria and Monica, about her life, feels better than socking a thousand bad guys in the face, better than all the photon blasts in the world.

Then again, realising there’s still memories she can’t access, even after all this time, feels like drowning in space.

Not the one out there - the one inside her.

🌻 Sweet & Salty by musette22 @musette22 [Stucky, 3k words, Teen]

Idiots in love. That's it. That's the fic.

When life gives you lemons by moonythejedi394 @moonythejedi394 [Stucky, 34k words, Explicit] (11/15 chapters)

Or 13 Terrible Things to Do With Lemons Other Than Making Lemonade

Steve Rogers is a home health nurse. He works for an agency, which assigned him to the aging Winifred Barnes, the one and only Silent Era Hollywood darling. As her needs increased, she requested the agency assign Steve to her full-time. She could pay for it, so she got it. Steve then moved in with her, becoming her caregiver; he cooked, he cleaned, he managed her medications, he made sure she was comfortable.

Winifred's children treated him less than ideally. He was the help, after all. And then Steve had the audacity to go and turn out to be eldest son James Barnes's soulmate. No one saw that coming.

🍀 SamRhodey Tumblr Fic by ipoiledi [SamRhodey, ? words, Teen?]

“Wilson, this is Rhodey; Rhodey, Wilson,” Tony Stark says, and suddenly some six foot tall sexy guy is shoved right in front of Sam, and they both stumble a little, bumping into each other. This is a crowded party. “You guys have things in common, right?” Stark asks. “Uh, Army stuff. Talk about that. I hate wallflowers; stop wallflowering and talk to each other.”

Shorteralls by moonythejedi394 [Stucky, 6k words, Explicit]

The first time Bucky ever saw Steve Rogers, he was struck by how Neanderthal-like his response was. It was immediately followed by a bout of mental scolding. The second time was just about the same. The third time, it was actually appropriate for Bucky to start a conversation with him, at which point he was determined to be the gentleman.

No such luck. Steve Rogers is, always has been and always will be, a relentless flirt. These days, Bucky's Neanderthal-ist feelings about Steve are consensual and highly appreciated. More so now that they're having a baby.

what the fuck are perfect places anyway by tigerlilycorinne [Stucky, 6k words, Teen]

Steve clears his throat and stands. “Well, I should head in. I might want to begin packing.”

Bucky stills. “You won’t,” he says, trying to sound commanding. It only comes out uncertain. “Don’t.”

Steve shakes his head. “Maybe not tonight,” he says, and Bucky knows they’ll be discussing this again soon.

“Then stay. Play… play cards with me or something.”

Steve’s eyebrows jump up, his mouth tugging up in another of his bemused smiles that do things to Bucky’s insides, but he drops his hand from the doorway and steps back into Bucky’s room. Somehow, Bucky feels as if he’s won—not the war, just the battle.

Steve won’t stay forever. But he’ll stay for cards.

Steve and Bucky, on the run after Civil War (with a few alterations to canon), are laying low in Wakanda. But they can’t stay there forever.

🌻 honestly thought i’d be dead by now, but what you can trust is that i need your touch by moonythejedi394 [Stucky, 105k words, Explicit]

Bucky is 37 years old; he’s unmarried, hasn’t had a Sub of his own, is definitely not ripped, comfortable at his job as an Advanced Practice RN at Brooklyn General ER, and just got his Five Years coin from AA.

Steve is 26 years old; he’s unmarried, his last and only Dom has Alzheimer's, he's worryingly muscular, uncomfortable in his job as the government’s poster Alpha for masculinity and strength, and worries more than he should about his BMI.

Unfortunately, Steve and Bucky meet initially in a not-cute moment. Bucky’s tired as shit thanks to the sudden alien invasion that shook New York and Steve is tired as shit because he hasn’t slept more than 20 minutes at a time in – well, since 1936, probably. Bucky’s Alpha instincts get irritated at the sudden presence of another "Alpha" into his territory and Steve’s suppressed submissive tendencies latch onto this grumpy bachelor Alpha and he only suppresses it further.

Bucky’s grumpiness and Steve’s duckling impressionism aside, both of them are a mess. But since both of them are a mess? Their messes seem to fit pretty well together.

Deep Sea Diving by Aida Ronan [Stucky, 5k words, Explicit]

Steve's wallowing in heat-related misery under a shade tree in Central Park when a man walks by in bright red booty shorts and a crop top. RIP Steve Rogers. It was nice knowing you.

honey, make this easy by steebadore [Stucky, 8k words, Explicit]

Bucky likes the way he looks. His silk button up with the tiny gold polka dots feels soft on his skin and is tailored perfectly; no pulling at his chest or belly. His hair falls in shiny dark waves and his skin is smooth and dewy. He looks expensive. He looks taken care of. He looks like Steve’s.

🌻 let's take it back to the start by howdoyousleep @howdoyousleep3 [Stucky, 6k words, Teen]

How it all began.

This sleepwalking through my life. by barthelme [Stucky, 1k words, Explicit]

The internet is an interesting place and when Bucky came home (or, when he came to live with Steve), Steve did a lot of research. Apparently, it’s not safe to wake a sleepwalker. He assumes that waking a sleepwalker with traumatic dreams and PTSD is beyond just being frowned upon.

And he tells himself--has told himself--that this is safer for Bucky. That if he were to stop him and wake him up, that Bucky would be mortified to be slurping on his best friend’s cock. That all of the improvements he’s made would be lost, would be repressed, would be just--

They’d be back at square one.

So he lets Bucky do it.

🌻 the way i've been craving by howdoyousleep [Stucky, 3k words, Explicit]

"Lunch break at 12:30. My office. Hope you’re hungry…"

It’s the ellipsis that sends Bucky’s insides swimming warmly, his heart beating twice as fast against his ribs where he sits in class. Senator Rogers is concise, direct, to the point. Without an ellipsis this is lunch, this is a meeting. With it though?

This is a booty call.

nasty but classy by howdoyousleep [Stucky, 4k words, Explicit]

“No, you don’t have to know the purpose, that doesn’t matter. Nat showed me this challenge where couples drink a lot of wine and get drunk together but they can’t touch each other. And whoever touches the other first has to...has to give the other head.”

🌻 Put It on Repeat, It Stays the Same by giselleslash [Stucky, 20k words, Explicit]

Steve and Bucky have a one night stand that turns into a friends with benefits situation. A weekend snowed in at Bucky’s apartment brings to light how much that really doesn’t suit either one of them.

Greetings to the New Brunette by victoria_p (musesfool) [Stucky, 10k words, General]

"You said he should have a hobby. That it would help."

"I meant, like, knitting or coin collecting. Motocross, if he was feeling antsy. A baby's not a hobby. It's lifetime commitment."

🌻 Rogers & Barnes: Partners by triedunture [Stucky, 10k words, Teen]

Steve and Bucky have to pose as a couple for a mission. Nat insists it really is the only option. She's checked.

The complication: unbeknownst to even Natasha, Steve and Bucky's friendship has been rocky ever since Bucky confessed his tender feelings and Steve left him out in the cold. Can asexual, completely-in-love-with-his-angry-best-friend Steve complete the mission and win Bucky's heart?

(The answer is yes. Yay!)

this will be our year (took a long time to come) by biblionerd07 [Stucky, 4k words, General]

Bucky's therapist is worried he's using Steve as a crutch and wants him to try going on outings without Steve. It wouldn't be terrible, honestly, if Bucky could just manage to open his mouth and say something to Steve.

I'll hold my breath by Little_Lottie (tfwatson) [Stucky, 8k words, Mature]

Sometimes Bucky’s hands flex in Steve's direction. Neither of them knows exactly why, but at least one of them has a hunch.

Bucky touches everything but Steve, even though Steve is all he really wants to touch.

Start from the Beginning by Mumble_Bee [Stucky, 13k words, Explicit]

What about a sex pollen fic where the pollen-ed one doesn’t remember getting hit in the face with a sex flower, and wakes up midway through the depollenating?

Or: the one where Steve wakes up on his back with a stranger buried balls-deep in his ass.

Match by emphasisonem [Stucky, 4k words, Mature]

The situation’s actually kind of funny from the right perspective, Bucky thinks as he reads the message for what feels like the hundredth time. He’s finally matched with a hot, funny guy. Tall and broad and clean cut. An absolutely breathtaking smile. Bucky’s walking wet dream. And he’s good. They haven’t messaged on the app, but Bucky already knows him.

He knows him because Steve Rogers is an art history professor at his university. His art history professor.

Best friends and married since childhood by StuckySituation [Stucky, 1k words, General]

Inspired by @/peterssquill's post in tumblr: "bucky and steve got married on the playground when they were like eight and though neither of them would ever admit it to anyone, even each other, they still consider it official"

~♥~ ♥~ ♥~

“Natasha, stop trying to set me up with every woman you meet, I’m-”

“Too shy? Too scared?”

“No, I’m-”

“Too busy? You’re mostly retired these days, not a good excuse anymore.” Natasha smirks and then drawls: “Or just too gay?”

Steve flushes at that, even if isn’t true -- he’s bisexual, not gay. “Let it go, Nat, I’m not looking for anything. I’m already married, for fuck’s sake.”

Clearly not what she expected. “What.”

Steve grimaces. He didn’t mean to tell anyone that, ever.

“Sorry, can’t talk about it right now!” he says and jumps out of the plane.

Nobody Should Be Alone on a Holiday by emphasisonem [Stucky, 2k words, Teen]

“So, um-” Bucky begins speaking again, pulling Steve from his less-than-work-appropriate thoughts. The brunet has shoved his hands into the pockets of his dark slacks, and he’s shifting from one foot to the other as he smiles shyly. “I have a question for you.”

“Shoot,” Steve grins, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his broad chest. Bucky swallows deeply as one of his hands comes up to pull at the collar of his button-up, and Steve can’t help following the motion of his Adam’s apple.

“I was, uh-” Bucky continues- “That is, I heard you don’t have Thanksgiving plans?”

In which Bucky finds out that Steve's going to be alone on Thanksgiving and invites his coworker to spend the holiday with him.

🌻 It's Been A Long Season Through by thiccbuckybarnes @thiccbuckybarnesfic [Stucky, 49k words, Explicit]

Bucky Barnes is in desperate need of a change in scenery, which is why he makes the foolhardy decision to quit his job, leave his asshole of a fiance, pack up his life, and move to his grandfather’s old farm all within a single day.

He expects confusion, hardship, and maybe even failure. But love? He wasn’t expecting that.

--

Or, a Stucky Stardew Valley AU that nobody but me wanted and that’s ok.

oh, peach pit, where'd the hours go? by thiccbuckybarnes [Stucky, 10k words, Explicit]

Can't see the forest for the trees.

--

Or, Steve learns that just because he and Bucky got their happily ever after, it doesn’t mean the past won’t come back to bite them.

I'll find my way by rainbow_nerds [Stucky, 725 words, Teen]

Steve had watched Bucky fall, and nothing had been the same since.

AU-gust day 19: Daemons

special delivery by glim @glim [Stucky, 6k words, Teen]

It's not that Steve's bad at taking care of himself when he gets sick; he just wishes he didn't have to all the time.

At least he can order most of what he needs online. That's some small comfort, that he can have soup and ice cream and everything else brought to his door.

at first chance i'd take the bed warmed by the body by spacebuck @spacebuck [Stucky, 8k words, Explicit]

This close, Steve can see exactly how beautiful his hands are. He’s never really noticed before, or at least he’s never really had a reason to notice, but the man’s hands are large, tanned like he works outside all day. There’s an endearing callus on the heel of one of his palms, and Steve can’t quite work out when calluses became endearing.

Steve pauses the video. Swallows hard. Casts his eyes around for anything that’ll keep his mind off the hands on his screen, off the words inked into those hands, the delicate shape of a bird’s wing, the curling edge of a vine.

He looks down. The name of the channel is right there, blaring the man’s name right into Steve’s brain until it feels like he’s known it all along.

Bucky Barnes.

OR: the one where Bucky's a youtuber who solves puzzles on camera, and steve's smitten and horny

🌻 Rock On! by millesable @marvelousescapism [Clintasha, 700 words, General]

“Hey, Romanoff!”

He lifted his hand, index finger and pinky finger raised, thumb out, all other fingers tucked. Their secret sign; their confession for the world to see, safe in the knowledge that the world wasn’t listening.

“Rock on!”

🌻 You Like the Way I Look by dontcallmebree @iamthe-wo-manwhocan [Stucky, 2k words, Explicit]

Bucky sidles up to him, hand boldly coming to rest on his chest. “What about you, big guy? Care for a dance?” Steve watches Bucky’s eyes twinkle with satisfaction, somehow already knowing he’s got Steve on the hook.

A decade out of the ice, Steve Rogers returns to New York. Reeling from a battle against the Chitauri, a night with the troublesome Bucky Barnes might be just what he needs.

Join the Rebellion by rainbow_nerds [Stucky, 765 words, Teen]

Bucky knew he shouldn't be out after curfew, but he couldn't resist the urge. He didn’t know where he was going, but he knew it was where he wanted to be.

AU-gust day 20: Dystopia

🔒 Five Days in December by mywingsareonwheels @mywingsareonwheels [Evanstan, 4k words, Teen]

“Shit shit shit shit...” muttered Chris to himself, glad that the sound of piped Christmas carols was drowning out his swearing amid the picture books. Most of the store was heaving even though it was Sunday, he’d been recognised at least three times, finding presents for all of his nieces and nephews was proving far more of a headache than expected, and he’d just sent a pile of copies of "Strictly No Elephants" tumbling off the bookshelf.

He scrambled about trying to pick them all up, and then dropped them again as someone bumped right into his backside. He lost his balance, caught himself against a bookcase, and a landslide of "Carter Is a Painter’s Cat" joined "Strictly No Elephants" on the floor. He yelped.

“Ah fuck, I’m so sorry… Chris!”

* * * * * * * * * *

London, December 2021. Amid cats, books, and the cold English drizzle, Chris finds everything he was hoping for and thought he would never have.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Reaching for Fire by dixons_mama @dixons-mama [Stucky, 7k words, Explicit]

Bucky has always felt a fire in his heart (and other body parts) when it came to his boss, Steve Rogers, but he's made sure to never feed those flames. When he finds out about Steve's second job, though, he's tempted to let that fire out.

i've been dreaming of a face like yours by thiccbuckybarnes [Stucky, 3k words, Explicit]

Bucky is about to busy himself with making a small dinner for himself when he stops in his tracks at the figure drinking a cup of coffee in the kitchen, leaning against the counter and smirking at him.

It’s Steve.

“Surprise, sweet boy,” he says before setting his cup down.

--

Or, PWP reunion sex

🌻 Somewhere, Under Your Skin by thiccbuckybarnes [Stucky, 16k words, Explicit]

Bucky Barnes treats himself to a one-night stand after having a very bad no good day.

The sex is good--great, even. Might be the best sex of his life.

But Bucky wouldn’t have slept with the guy if he had known that he was going to continuously run into him every day for the next fucking month.

--

Or, a Big Grump Bucky has a hot one night stand with a college kid who is popping up everywhere in his everyday life and he doesn’t know how to deal with it.

(Written for HYBB Bingo Square: Grumpy Bucky)

i've played heartstrings before but not in your key by thiccbuckybarnes [Stucky, 11k words, Explicit]

He glances down, seeing a folded couple of papers, before peering up at Bucky. The older man is biting his bottom lip, making it pretty and red. Steve wants to run his tongue across where his teeth are digging into his flesh.

"What's this?" Steve asks, setting his phone down, emails forgotten. Bucky shrugs and looks away.

"I dunno. You tell me, genius," he says, sounding bratty enough that it makes Steve's dick twitch in his pants. Jesus, there has to be something wrong with him.

Steve glances once more at Bucky, who now has his arms crossed against his chest and is pointedly not looking at Steve, before picking up the stack of folded papers. He opens them, seeing a collection of maybe five or six sheets of paper. His eyes immediately land on the list of familiar words with negative next to each one. -- Or, Steve Rogers is a jealous, possessive little shit that wants nothing more than to mark up his boyfriend and stake his claim. And Bucky knows it. (And he likes it.)

🌻 I'm Home (With You) by BonkyBornes @padfoot-and-the-marauders [Stucky, 2k words, General]

In any other circumstance, the apartment would've been perfect. But it was today, and the fact that he was here meant he wasn’t out searching. He knew they hadn’t had any leads for weeks and he knew Natasha was right; all three of them were exhausted and a break would do them good. It just felt wrong to Steve that he was comfortable while Bucky was still out there—somewhere. Probably cold. Probably hungry.

The knock came again. Sighing, Steve unwrapped his hand from the dog tags and remembered how to move. Cold wind and snow greeted him when he opened the door. The solitary figure was walking down the steps, collar popped against the chill.

“Did you need something?” he called.

The person stopped. They were still. And then they turned. *

Or, the Christmas Steve deserved after Winter Soldier.

The portrait by rainbow_nerds [Stucky, 915 words, General]

Steve Rogers has a Gift. He can help people find their soulmates, all he needs is some art supplies, a quiet place, and eye contact.

AU-gust day 21: soulmates

Maybe A Muse by buckybarnesdeservestobehappy [Stucky, 2k words, Mature]

When Bucky Barnes needs extra money, he’s appalled that his best friends think he should become a model for the art department on campus. Shy, nerdy, and socially awkward, he’s not sure that’s something he feels comfortable doing. Still, he needs money, and he likes the idea of becoming someone’s muse. The problem is he had no idea two things would happen. First, one of the students in the class is exactly his type; second, he has to model nude.

[mysterylover123]

BNHA Chapter 285: I’m Not Ready to Say Goodbye

mysterylover123

Yesterday: “I’ll go on Tumblr for just a minute. Surely no spoilers have leaked yet”. Instantly learns: “HEADLINE: INTERNET HAS GONE CRAZY DUE TO BAKUGOU PRETTY MUCH DYING”. 

never go on tumblr on thursdays

Honey I was wondering about this. So unless Deku manifests a healing/regeneration quirk right the Ff now we’re gonna have to start looking into some robot arms.

Don’t you dare get my hopes up Shiggy. I saw those leaks I know how this ends.

sobs

You’re making your boyfriend worry so much Deku.

Quick, time for some TD/BK to distract me from my emminent feels!!

YAS I KNEW YOU WOULDN’T LEAVE TDDK OUT OF THIS! THE OT3 IS COMPLETE. (and apparently about to become an OT2 sobbbbbbssssss)

HE SAID THAT CAUSE HE WAS WORRIED ABOUT DEKU OH. MY. GOD. Litereally everything Bakugou has ever done is now legitimately interpretable through a “cares about Deku” lens.

MORE BB BKDK SOB HORI WHAT’RE YOU DOING TO ME

Guess who just rewatched season 1 guess who’s drowning in BKDK feels you got it me

I’m sure this’ll work. Hey Endeav remember the last time you used this attack on a regenerating League of Villains baddie? Remember what he did to you IMMEDIATELY AFTER that looks remarkably similar to those leak images?!

is Tomura actually getting possessed by the Ghost of AFO or something?

Shoto’s gon lose his dad and his boyfriends in one day dammit our 1/2 and 1/2 boy doesn’t deserve this mus protecc shoto he deserves the world

IKR? That’s what we’re all thinking!

shit shit crap here it comes

SAD BKDK MONTAGE TO MAKE THE MOMENT HURT AS MUCH AS FUCKING POSSIBLE BECAUSE OF COURSE KACCHAN’S LAST THOUGHTS WILL BE OF DEKU AND MY OTP NEEDS THEIR SWANSONG DAMMIT IS THIS THE LAST RIDE?!

I think this image has burrowed its way into my psyche and will never leave until I either reach the series’ final chapter and see Katsuki getting a happy ending or know for sure if this is the last time we’ll ever see him next week. please oh please oh please oh please don’t be dead

I know a lot of people are being like “chill, he’s not dead, he’s a shonen character”. But I also know that this series is known for subverting shonen tropes. Hori doesn’t do things by the books and doesn’t like to be predictable. If he wants to kill Kacchan then Kacchan’s dead, that’s all there is to it. I don’t want this to be the end. But until next week...well, even beyond that, there’s no way to know for sure. If this is where Bakugou (And BK/DK)’s story ends...well, I can’t say it isn’t poetic and moving. To have Bakugou decide to sacrifice his life for Izuku, it’s pretty much the ultimate expression of both love and character development.  It would hurt like hell but if it is, I’ll just have to deal with it. If it is, Deku is about to lose his shit so badly there won’t be enough of Shigaraki left to scoop up with a teaspoon. 

 If it’s not, then this moment marks an unbelievable growth for our hero. I haven’t failed to notice that the title is “Rising”, which is likely an allusion to both Movie #2 and Yaoyorozu Rising, volume 8. The latter is really interesting to me, since that was Momo’s biggest moment of character journey in the early part of the series, and Baku is channelling her a bit here, taking over as the commander (makes those TDMM/BKDK parallells even stronger too). If Baku does live, with his quirk gone maybe, this will change things for the Wonder duo. Baku has decided to do saving, and saving Deku. I worry that him losing his quirk would drive Deku pretty far over the edge as well. And maybe have him offer to share OFA with him like in HR. And I’m not sure how this new dynamic would play going forward, though it would also be pretty poetic.

Either way I’m drowning in feels and I can’t write anymore and I need to go pretend my heart’s not broken into pieces and wait in agony for next friday. Never go on tumblr on thursdays, people. Just don’t do it.

[classysassy9791]

Fandom: Inuyasha Genre: Romance/Humor/Fluff Pairing: InuKag Rating: T

Originally written for @inukag-week on tumblr circa 2016, now officially being updated. Its been a hot minute, hasn't it?

For InuKag Week - Day 2: Warmth

Part 1 l

Part 2 Word Count: 2,600

Can also be found on FFN and AO3.

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.

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Kagome couldn't remember the last time she had laughed so hard.

Sometime between the moment she met the arrogant, rude man known as Inuyasha and the three shots she had consumed, they had fallen into a flirtatious banter that she rather enjoyed. Gone was the pompous jerk who had so rudely called her audacious names, replaced by a man who proved to actually be decent company.

No, she hadn't forgotten about their initial meeting, but as she downed another shot of whiskey, she realized she didn't much care. For the first time in months - maybe longer - Kagome found herself enjoying her evening. With her shackles removed and her inhibitions lowered, she relished in the sweet taste of freedom that had been sorely lacking from her life.

"You did not!" she squealed with absurdity in her tone, clamping a hand over her mouth.

Inuyasha chuckled, tilting his glass and giving a half-shrug. "I did," he confessed sheepishly, but not at all ashamed of his actions. "Miroku ran down the dorm hall, completely naked, screaming after me."

Kagome shook her head. "I can honestly say I have never stolen my roommates clothes while they were in the shower. Or pulled any pranks on them, really."

"To be fair," he continued, signaling the bartender for another round. "He actually met his girlfriend that way."

"By running naked down the hallway?"

He nodded. "Knocked her down and stopped to apologize."

"Still want to leave the tab open?" Kouga interrupted.

"Yeah, that's fine." Inuyasha finished off his beer. "Another round of whiskey shots while you're at it."

Flashing Kagome a smile, Kouga took their empty glasses. "You're going to dry me out."

"It's still early," Kagome barbed playfully. "Your bar will last until midnight at the very least."

He chuckled, filling up their shot glasses and handing them another drink. "Oh, thanks. I was afraid I'd have to close up soon."

Leaving with a, "flag me down if you need me," Kouga wandered to the other end of the bar where a busty blonde waved at him.

Typical, Kagome thought sourly. On the one hand, she didn't like the way her thoughts were turning, considering she didn't really know Kouga, and hated grouping him in with the rest of the spineless male population she had become accustomed to - especially since he was a bartender and it was literally his job to tend to the needs of his customers. But on the other hand, she couldn't help but feel bitter about his attention leaving her. Maybe it was because she had so blatantly been deprived of it for so long, that her longing for companionship had been exacerbated ten-fold.

Taking a sip of beer - which she had switched to once they started doing shots - Kagome heard her phone buzz in her purse again; it had already gone off several times during her conversation with Inuyasha. She finally pulled it out and unlocked it, frowning at the array of messages popping up on her screen.

Inuyasha raised a brow at the irritable look that overcame her expression before Kagome sighed and locked her phone. She quickly downed her shot of whiskey, not even bothering to 'cheers' him.

"Everything okay?" Inuyasha questioned, against his better judgement. There was a reason people showed up by themselves at a bar on Friday nights - either to drown their sorrows in whiskey or to find company for a few fleeting, midnight hours.

Kagome pressed her lips together. She didn't come to the bar to talk about her problems. She wasn't some sad case that needed a therapist to pour her drinks. If anything, she wanted to forget about the emotional damage that had been inflicted earlier that day. Her heart had been broken, her ego bruised, and no matter how many times her friends had told her he wasn't worth it, their sympathies didn't make her feel any better.

But, alcohol had a funny habit of turning into truth serum, and she found herself spilling her guts before she could stop herself. "Just my ex-boyfriend - er, fiance - blowing up my phone."

Inuyasha chuckled. "Can't take a hint, huh?"

Kagome shrugged with a bitter smile. "I mean, he broke off the engagement. Not sure why he can't follow through with his decision."

She had expected sympathy, perhaps even empathy. That's what most people offered in a situation like this, when they didn't know what to say or how to react. But Kagome was caught off-guard by Inuyasha's next question.

"How long were you together?"

Kagome eyed him curiously, his honey gaze hiding a wealth of understanding. "Five years," she answered him, twirling a strand of her dark hair around her finger. "Planned our life together, put a ring on it, and even booked the venue. But… I suppose he got cold feet a long time ago."

"His loss. What kind of bastard would put someone through that?"

She hummed thoughtfully, but didn't answer. It wasn't in her best interest to start talking about the past now, and she would rather take the spotlight off of herself all together. "What about you?" she asked her barstool companion as she took another sip of beer. "Any lucky ladies in your life?"

Inuyasha chuckled mirthlessly. "Nah, not anymore."

Kagome arched a brow. "Dare I ask?"

"Not much to tell. Her career and ambitions drove a wedge between us, and she decided they were more important than me. Simple as that."

"Sounds high maintenance."

He grinned. "Something like that. I mean, she knew what she wanted and didn't care what stood in her way. Even me."

Kagome felt an ache beneath her breast for the man beside her. She knew the pain of rejection very well. "Put out in the rain just like a dog. Doesn't that bother you?" she asked, tilting her head.

He frowned at her choice of words, and Kagome knew she may have touched a nerve then, but the alcohol had stripped her of her filter apparently.

"Well, I guess we're all damaged somehow," he replied with a shrug.

She scrunched her nose. "That's a bit thoughtless."

"What can I say? Shit happens. Get over it."

And then Kagome suddenly remembered the arrogant, rude, condescending jerk she had met when she had sat down at the bar earlier in the night. She narrowed her eyes. "Why are you such an ass?"

Inuyasha smirked while bringing his beer to his lips. "You are what you eat?"

Kagome let loose a growl of frustration. She had only known him for a short time, but she had quickly learned that Inuyasha was the most infuriating human being on the planet! "Your immaturity is revolting," she stated matter-of-factly, waving down Kouga for another shot of whiskey. She was definitely not drunk enough to deal with the way the conversation had turned.

"I'm not known for my friendly disposition."

Kagome glared at the man sitting next to her. "Is it fun being a jerk to me? Does it satisfy you?"

Inuyasha chuckled. "Actually, it is pretty entertaining."

She rolled her eyes. "You know, Inuyasha. You can hide behind that fake bravado all you want, but I know you're just a big softie underneath."

"Keh," he grumbled, finishing off his beer.

Kagome threw him a glare. "What? No witty repartee?"

He set down his empty glass with a little more force than usual, grabbing Kagome's attention. "I know your type, wench," he snapped, his amber eyes boring into hers. "I know exactly the kind of person you are; all high and mighty, acting as if you're better than everyone else. You think you can show someone how great life can be and how fantastic it is if I would just try. Well, sorry to break it to you, sweetheart, but not everyone is worth saving, all right?"

His words left Kagome stunned into silence for a brief moment. How did their witty banter only a few minutes ago turn into this? This… This denied anger and unadulterated cynicism had Kagome reeling, her thoughts turning to what exactly had penetrated Inuyasha's life so completely that he had such a negative outlook on such.

She pursed her lips. "How much do you think you're worth?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "Like twenty bucks. Or two twinkies." He grinned at his own comment, but Kagome didn't find it very funny.

If anything, Kagome felt pity for him. No matter how bleak her life became, she always managed to find the good in it. If a person couldn't do that… Well, that was a pretty sad way to live. "As much as I would love to hear you divulge all of your secrets, this is a great song and I feel like dancing."

"Look, wench," Inuyasha barked out, his anger palpable. "I'm not looking for your validation. I'm pretty fucking happy with my life of dirty pennies and whiskey bottles. We don't all need to be Barbie."

She looked over at him, the low dim of the bar lights shining off his silver hair, and found she could only nurse one wounded heart at a time. "I just wanted you to leave tonight and think the world is a little less horrible than you thought."

"Hey, pretty lady," Kouga greeted as he appeared at the perfect time with another shot of whiskey for her and a full beer, stealing her full attention away from Inuyasha.

Kagome immediately downed the shot and chased it with her beer, ready to forget half of the night and lose herself in the music pounding through the speakers. As the evening wore on, the bar became busier, and the DJ had started up a round of tunes that had half the customers on the dance floor.

Kouga watched her curiously, arching a brow. "You alright there?"

"Dance with me?" she called over the bass pounding through the speakers. Oh yes, it was now the time of the night in which she had no qualms for asking for what she wanted.

He chuckled and glanced over at the other bartenders who appeared to have things under control. "You can steal me for a few minutes."

Kagome grinned and giggled like a school girl, leaving Inuyasha behind without delay. Kouga met her at the end of the bar and took her hand in his as she pulled him out onto the dance floor.

Some upbeat dance music blasted through the speakers. Kagome moved and swayed through the bodies crowding near the DJ, the vibrations of the music becoming part of her energy, raising her up several levels at once. Gone were her heartbroken wallows and the biting arrogance of her barstool companion. Her mind buzzed with pure joy. She moved in her dress like her hips were made to sway, the black sequins catching the disco ball that twirled above, causing her to glitter on the dance floor.

Kouga pulled her close, his strong hand pressed against the small of her back, his chiseled chest pressed against hers. She ran her fingers through her messy hair and pulled it to the side, feeling the beat of the music pound with each beat of her heart. Bodies pressed in tighter all around them. Kagome felt the part of her that was really her come out to play, to feel the vibe of the music and let her body go free.

"You're beautiful," Kouga's voice whispered in her ear, sending shivers down her spine.

His lips looked soft and very kissable, and Kagome knew her decision-making skills were indeed hindered by the alcohol that buzzed through her veins. And then his attention was caught by something else, his royal blue eyes pulling from hers to the outskirts of the dance floor. He said something to her, attempting to shout above the music, but his words were swallowed up by the electric beat that kept her entranced.

Kagome felt his hands slip from around her waist and he disappeared into the crowd. She didn't bother to follow, her hands playing with her hair, her hips moving to the music as she lost herself within it. This was what her heartbroken soul had fiercely needed; a night to forget all the troubles of the day.

Large, meaty hands found her waist, but they were unfamiliar and too warm to the touch. Kagome felt a warm flush find her cheeks as she gazed up to meet a stranger's hazy stare. He pulled her in close - too close - and even in her alcohol-ridden mind, she felt mild panic begin like sparks in her abdomen.

She tried to push him away, first gently and then forcefully, pretending to laugh at his behavior. "Thanks for the dance, but I need some fresh air."

"C'me on, baby," he slurred, pulling her tighter to his sweaty frame, his hot breath rolling over her skin. "We just met. Let's dance s'me more."

Kagome frowned. "I said no." Before she could stomp on his foot and fight her way out of the throng of dancers, the man was forcefully pulled away from her. They became separated by another man, one with very familiar silver hair who had his back to her. She didn't hear the words exchanged, but whatever was said was enough to send the man scampering off to the other side of the bar.

Inuyasha turned around, his piercing honey eyes studying her expression, before his hand gently wrapped around her waist. His grip on her wasn't strong like Kouga's, or possessive like the stranger. Inuyasha's hand was warm against the small of her back, and the anxiety she felt moments ago melted away.

"You okay?" he asked, swaying his hips in tune with hers as they continued to dance to the beat of the music.

She grinned up at him. "Were you worried about me, jerk?"

"Keh," he grumbled, his lips pulling into a smirk. "I despise you more than any other human I've ever had the displeasure of meeting. You're loud and wild and apparently have no sense of self-preservation. You also act like you have the mental capacity of a five year old."

"Are you flirting with me?" she barbed in return.

"Maybe."

His hand found the back of her neck, his fingers finding purchase in her hair, his hips grinding against hers. Warmth pooled into the pit of her stomach, his breath caressing her skin, and she moved her lips to find his.

Kagome barely had a moment to react before he pressed his tongue to the seam of her lips and delved inside her mouth. It was a very sloppy kiss with the strong scent of beer being exchanged between their billowing breaths. Her arm reached up and tangled around his strong neck. She pulled away and arched up into his broad chest, letting a moan escape in the contact of body heat against her own, before she drew back into his lips.

She could nearly taste the slight bitterness of the beer as it rolled off her tongue and seeped down her throat with every push of his tongue against hers. The kiss coupled with the beer and whiskey humming through her system obliterated every thought. For the first time that day, her mind was locked into the present. Her usual concerns for her life were suspended, and she had no wish for the kiss to end.

But as the music changed, they pulled apart. Inuyasha's skin shimmered with sweat and his amber eyes flecked with gold held her gaze. The beat of the music consumed them under the crazy neon lights, and Kagome felt alive during a night that was still so young.

[let-it-raines]

I Hope We Never See October (6/?)

When his personal life and football career go up in flames, Killian Jones escapes England for America, finding seclusion in Martha’s Vineyard in order to hide from his demons. It’s a fresh start, or at the very least a paused moment in his life, and all he needs is a few months alone to allow his heart to heal. He doesn’t count on meeting Emma Swan.

Emma’s life depends on tourists who come to the island every summer. It’s how she makes her money working in restaurants and clubs across the vineyard, but every year, she cannot wait until autumn comes and her life returns to normal. She especially cannot wait for Killian Jones to leave.

Rating: Mature

ao3: Beginning | Current

Tumblr: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |

August

“I come bearing food.”

No one responds, and Emma knows there has to be at least five people in this house. And while David and Mary Margaret live in a really nice place thanks to Mary Margaret’s dad, it’s not so big that no one can hear her when she walks in the front door.

“Hello?” she repeats, shifting the bags of food in her arms. She’s got approximately eight hundred pounds of appetizers in her car, and she needs help carrying them in. “Hello, it’s me, the lowly caterer. Should I have used a separate entrance than the front, or is someone as lowly as me allowed to use that one? What if the neighbors see?”

Still, no answer, and Emma walks down the hallway until she’s in the kitchen. Every inch of the countertop is covered with food, drinks, cutlery, and the works. It’s an organized mess, much like Mary Margaret herself, and Emma puts the bags she’s carrying on the kitchen table before looking out the window to the pool.

“Oh my God,” she whispers to herself. “Like, oh my God.”

Killian Jones is standing on the pool house roof with what looks like garland or bubble lights or some kind of string object, and David is standing below him to...catch him. It looks like David is there to catch Killian.

Emma pushes open the French double doors and steps outside. “What the hell is happening here?”

Killian drops one of the strings he’s holding, causing David to move to catch it, and Emma swears she sees Killian’s life flash before her eyes before he catches himself on the flattest part of the roof.

“Bloody hell, Swan,” he gasps, out of breath, “warn a man.”

“Consider yourself warned.” She closes the door behind her and crosses her arms over her chest. It’s ridiculously hot out today, and she can already feel the sweat gathering down her back and underneath her bikini top. “What are you doing here so early?”

“Ah, well,” Killian starts as he picks up the dropped string of lights and starts adjusting them again, “I ran into Dave here at the market, we got to talking, and since I had nothing else to do, I’ve agreed to risk my life to hang his lights.”

“He’s more nimble than I am,” David says, like that explains all of this.

“Trust me, mate, Emma knows that.”

“Oh my God,” Emma whispers to herself as Killian and David keep talking, not paying her any attention.

Emma opens the door back and steps inside, away from the madness. She doesn’t know what’s happening out there, and she doesn’t want to know. Some things are better left not talked about or questioned, and this is definitely one of those things. She knows her friends all know Killian. The night at the bar where he met Mary Margaret and Ruby really snowballed things, and it’s fine. It is. She swears it’s fine. Except.

Except, well, they usually never meet the people she’s sleeping with. They’ve met her boyfriends, if only because it was nearly impossible to keep them away after so long, and they liked...Graham. They really liked Graham, not so much the others, and Emma feels the exact same way. But her casual flings, like with Killian, her friends don’t meet them. They don’t meet them, and they really don’t invite them to their big almost end of summer parties. They don’t ask them to help hang they string lights and get ice. She bets they asked him to get ice.

What is happening?

This is…this is a lot, and Emma doesn’t know how to feel about it.

She doesn’t know how to feel about a lot of things, mostly Killian Jones, but there are other things included in there. Those things just aren’t quite so in her face.

Shit.

When Mary Margaret invited him to the party a few weeks ago, Emma was fine with it. It’s just a party. There are going to be a lot of people here, and what was the harm in inviting one more? Besides, it’s not like she could have said no when Mary Margaret asked. That would have been rude, and despite what a few select people say, Emma is not rude.

Emma picks at a grape on the counter, popping it in her mouth, and then gets another one as she watches David and Killian outside. Killian takes another string of lights from David and hooks them over a nail on the roof.

He’s different from her past few flings. They’re usually as big of a mess as she is, and while she assumes Killian is as well, she doesn’t know enough about him to truly know. They’ve got a pretty good deal with their one personal question of the day thing. She knows it’s usually more than that, little things coming out in bed or when he stops by the Blue Dog, but she has comfort in being able to veto any question that gets a little too personal.

If Emma could have a veto in most things in life, it’d be a hell of a lot easier.

Emma grabs another grape and then starts unpacking the food she brought. Mary Margaret must have run to the store to get something else, but Emma knows how she’ll want to arrange things. She’s been to enough Nolan parties to know what happens. If she focuses on this, she’ll be able to ignore the man outside and all the pesky little thoughts in her head.

“Swan,” Killian says from behind her, and Emma lets out a little curse. “What are you doing, love?”

“Helping out in the air conditioning instead of outside.”

He hums and steps up behind her, his arms wrapping around her waist as his scruff scratches her neck. It’s a contrast to the softness of his lips that are running down the side of her throat. Arousal rises in her veins, quick like lightning, and it continues when one of his hands glides down her body and cups her ass as he presses against her.

“Killian,” she whispers, biting her bottom lip, “this is not the place for this.”

“What? Your friends’ kitchen isn’t the place for us to have a little fun?”

“No,” she laughs as she tilts her neck to give him more space, “it’s not. They may know we’re sleeping together, but I don’t think they want to witness it.”

He laughs and twists her around. His fingers skim her collarbone, lifting up the strap of her bikini. “I like this.”

“You’re such a man.” She pushes against his chest and moves away, going back to arranging the charcuterie boards. Multiple. “I’m sorry David roped you into helping. You could have said no.”

“It’s fine. Can I help you in here?”

She wants to say no, to send him back outside, but it might be nice to have company that’s okay sitting in silence with her. The rest of the day is going to be filled with people celebrating the near end of summer, even if it tends to linger for another month midway into September, and Emma could use a little quiet time before the chaos.

“If you could slice those apples for me, that would be great.”

“Aye, love, no problem.”

They work in silence setting up the boards. Killian catches on quickly, copying her arrangements, and eventually Mary Margaret comes home with more fruit and cheese and a car full of hamburger buns. She takes one look at the mess in her kitchen, has a bit of a meltdown, but then Ruby shows up with Mulan and it all starts coming together enough for everything to calm down.

For about five minutes before the neighbors start showing up with their own food and alcohol, and suddenly all the quiet, familiar voices are drowned out by loud new ones. Emma pours herself a glass of lemonade and sinks into a corner of the kitchen before moving outside. It’s miserably hot, the sun warming her skin immediately, but she knows it’ll cool soon. Until then, she finds her spot in a rattan chair in the shade, curling her legs up with her, and she watches as more and more people begin to filter in.

Emma doesn’t know how any two people have this many friends. She keeps a small circle, and they’ve been around for years. She’s slow to trust after spending her entire childhood in foster care, and while she likes to think her past doesn’t define her, she knows sometimes it does. Right now, when she’s cornering herself off while everyone else is having fun, she knows it’s a time where some old demons are knocking at the unlocked door waiting to get in.

She twists the lock and tells them to go away. She doesn’t need this today.

Ruby jumps into the pool, splashing everyone around her, and Emma laughs to herself. Ruby is one of the people that’s allowed in her head, and sometimes when Emma thinks her life is falling apart, she remembers being eighteen years old, desperate for food and a place to stay, and Ruby and Granny taking her in. they gave her a job and a place to stay because Ruby told Granny she would throw a fit if she didn’t take Emma in. So, it was a threat, sure, but it worked.

It’s good. Emma’s life is good. It’s messy and confusing, but it’s good.

Mostly.

Killian walks toward her, tilting his head in question, and she nods, scooting over on the cushion to give him room. Killian takes it, his thigh warm against hers, and then offers her a beer.

“No thanks. Not quite late enough in the day for me to want something to drink. I’ve got to save it all for when David starts telling the bad jokes once he’s finished cooking and can get plastered.” Killian chuckles then puts the bottle down on the grass. “What? You don’t want it either?”

“No.” He wraps his arm around her, letting it lightly fall on her shoulder. His fingertips pull on the ends of her hair, and a shiver runs down her spine. She’s always loved when people play with her hair. “It’s too early for me to be drinking as well. I try to stay away from the stuff when I can.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“Have you now?”

Emma nods and leans a little further into him. She shouldn’t. This all feels a little too couple-like, but she does anyway. “You tend not to drink and when you do, you’re very calculated. You don’t just drink a bunch of wine like I will. It’s almost like you measure it out, literally.”

Killian clicks his tongue and yanks on her hair a little more before he draws his nail over the bare skin of her arm. He doesn’t answer, though. He stays silent, so Emma pulls her legs up and curls into herself while staying next to Killian. Ruby is jumping in the pool again, and Mary Margaret is walking around the pool with a platter of appetizers Emma brought from the Blue Dog.

When Killian still doesn’t answer, Emma decides to change the subject.

“So, tell me, how did you end up being some kind of soccer superstar?”

Killian chuckles and scratches at his chin. “Ah, that’s a long story.”

“I’ve got time. I don’t plan on giving up this chair any time soon. And it’s my one legitimate personal question of the day, so answer or veto.”

His brow raises, like it’s tempting her to take back her statement. She doesn’t. She must be really good at asking the worst questions possible today. They never really talk about what he used to do for a living, mostly because she doesn’t care, but she never thought it would be a sensitive subject. Then again, she should know better. She’s got enough sensitive subjects herself.

She waits for the veto, but it never comes.

“My mum got me into it as something to do after school to keep me active, and I loved it, mostly because Liam, my brother, did it too.” Killian smiles, one of his more genuine ones, and Emma leans back to get a better look at him. She likes the little lines around his eyes much better than the ones around hers. “Long story short, I was bloody good, my father learned there was a way to bet on children’s matches, and he kept me in it to make money. I nearly quit when I found out about it, but then I was too invested in the camps and in training. I loved it, and by some miracle, I ended up being able to do it for a living. I got the dream.”

“So why’d you stop?”

He laughs, but she can tell he finds nothing about this funny, especially when his fingers tighten around her arm. “Well, my brother died, I fell apart, and by professional standards, I was too old to have any kind of time to redeem myself. I nearly drank myself to death, which answers your earlier question, so I’m careful about how much I consume now. That’s actually why I came here...to get away from it all.”

That was...that was much more than Emma was expecting, and she doesn’t know what to say. That’s a common theme in her life. She knows what she feels, but she doesn’t have a damn clue how to express it. So she leans over and wraps her arm around Killian, matching him, and presses up until she can slowly glide her lips over his. It’s soft and sweet, just a taste of how they usually kiss, and she knows it goes against every rule she has for herself.

He’s leaving soon.

This is okay because he’s leaving soon, and when they leave, Emma rarely has to worry about the consequences.

“I wanted to be a ballerina when I was a kid,” she says against his lips, foreheads pressed together. “I never took a class or owned a tutu, but all I wanted was to be able to do the Nutcracker dance because that’s what they did at the community theater. I didn’t have any money as a kid, and I just thought it was the most luxurious thing in the world.”

Emma pulls back. She can’t believe she said any of that, but she did. It’s out there, one tiny piece of the gigantic, five-thousand-piece puzzle that is her life.

“You would have made a hell of a ballerina with those legs of yours, Swan. What an apt last name as well. It could have been a match made in heaven.”

“Ha,” she scoffs, getting up from the chair. “You haven’t seen me dance. Unless it’s, like, in a club where all I really have to do is grind my body on a man, I can’t do it.”

“It’s easy. All you need is a partner who knows what he's doing.”

“And what if I want to be a soloist?”

His brows go up at that. “Well, then you need a teacher because apparently you make a poor excuse for a dancer.”

Killian stands from the chair, and in two quick steps, he’s next to her with his hands on her ass lifting her up. She doesn’t register what’s happening quickly enough for her legs to go dead, and by the time she’s in the air over his shoulder, she doesn’t care enough to fight what’s coming.

It’s a party, she reminds herself, might as well have a good time.

“Get my phone out of my back pocket before you throw me in, would ya?” she asks, and Killian slips his hand in and gets her phone. “Thank you. I’m totally getting back at you for this later.”

Killian stops as Ruby wolf whistles, Mary Margaret gasps, David chuckles, and everyone else starts whispering about whether or not Killian is actually going to throw her in.

He does.

The water is cold at first, like a shock to the system, but by the time she rises to the surface, it’s just the burst of energy that she needed. Killian is sitting at the edge of the water smirking, and yeah, she’s definitely got to get him back for this later.

-/-

-/-

@qualitycoffeethings @marrtinski @klynn-stormz @scarletslippers @elizabeethan @jrob64 @therealstartraveller776 @thejollyroger-writer @galadriel26 @galaxyzxstark @idristardis @karenfrommisthaven @teamhook @searchingwardrobes @jamif @shireness-says @ultimiflos @onepunintendid @bluewildcatfanatic @superchocovian @killianswannn @carpedzem @captainkillianswanjones @mayquita @mariakov81 @jennjenn615 @onceuponaprincessworld @a-faekindagirl @scientificapricot @xellewoods @ultraluckycatnd @stahlop @kmomof4 @tiganasummertree @singersdd @tornadoamy @cluttermind @andiirivera @itsfabianadocarmo @captain-emmajones @ilovemesomekillianjones @taylrsversion @dramioneswan @jonesfandomfanatic @wefoundloveunderthelight @gloriousfemaleworrier @spartanguard @snowbellewells

[candychronicles]

A little bit of love

hello dear friends! it’s been quite a stressful day for me and a lot of other people in the tumblr community for various reasons, so i felt it was imperative to write a little bit of comfort from some of our favorite characters. i got this lovely idea from the amazing @adoringwords​ pls follow if you don’t already hehe so thank you to evy!! hope you can all find a bit of solace in these words and feel a little more comfortable tonight.

TAGS: @katsukisprincess​ @togasknifes​ @redbeanteax​ @jojosmilktea​ @bratwritings​

a soft huff left your lips as you wearily dropped your bag on the floor, kicking off your shoes and half-hazardly flinging your coat on the rack. life had been kicking your ass and you weren’t quite sure what to do about it. stress, anxiety and sadness weighed heavily on your shoulders and you were drowning in your feelings. 

---

Sero Hanta

“babe?” a soft voice called out from the living room.

“hey,” you wearily replied, walking over and dramatically flopping yourself on Sero’s lap.

his hands immediately came up to your hair, running his long, slender fingers through it. he wasn’t sure what was going on and wasn’t really sure what to say either, but he could feel the tension slowly leave your body as you leaned yourself into his touch, eyes fluttering in relief. he continued his motions with one hand while another came to rub at your shoulder, your arms, your sides, simply trying to help and ease you even more.

“thank you,” you replied softly, humming in approval. despite the stresses of the day, you knew that your boyfriend would always find a way to make you feel better.

“anytime,” he whispered back, smiling down at your frame, heart bursting out of his chest. he wasn’t the best with words at times like this but he wanted to always make sure you knew you were loved and would have someone there to make you feel better.

Shinsou Hitoshi

Shinsou appeared in front of you, a frown on his face, lilac eyes attempting to peer into your own but your head was hung in pure exhaustion. a soft tsk left his lips as he crouched down, finally catching your eyes with his own. there was nothing but concern laced on his face, a small tilt to his head as he silently questioned what was wrong.

“‘Toshi,” you whimpered, chin wobbling as you tried not to cry in front of your love.

he immediately stood up, wrapping your shaking frame with his own, holding you close, chin on the top of your head, encouraging you to let it all out. it started with small hiccups but soon turned into great big heaves as you sobbed into his chest. he softly stroked your hair, kissed your head, held you close, anything he could do to give you some bit of comfort.

“i’m not sure what happened love, but i’m here for you. please know that i won’t ever let you be alone in these trying times. always come to me when you’re feeling down. you’re never a burden and i want to help you,” he murmured in your ear, reassuring you more than anything that he was there for you and not ever going to leave you alone.

Mirio Togata

“y/n?” Togata questioned with an unusual frown on his face, hands placed on his hips, assessing the situation.

“it’s nothing Mirio, just, not feeling good today,” you admitted half-handedly, not wanting to bother your boyfriend, especially knowing he dealt with a lot more stress than you on a daily bases.

“well you’re not feeling well, so that is something!” he exclaimed, not taking your nonchalance to heart and instead scooping you up with his arms, body cradled to his warm chest.

you squeaked as he effortlessly picked you up and placed you gently on the couch in the living room, bundling you in a blanket and promising a quick return with a small peck on your forehead.

moments had passed as you stared blankly ahead, but suddenly, your lover had returned, a smile on his face and a pile of drinks and snacks in his hand. he turned on the tv to your favorite Disney movie, snuggled in the blanket with you and, throughout the night, fed you your favorite snacks and drinks.

“thanks Mirio, i really needed this,” you admitted, smiling as you snuggled into his side more.

“of course love! i am always here to help!”

Tamaki Amajiki

you heard no one in the apartment, so you made your way towards the bedroom, being stopped as Tamaki walked out and bumped into you, surprise written on both of your faces.

“welcome home bunny,” he greeted, reaching forward to caress your cheek, frowning when he noticed the blank look on your eyes.

“a-are you okay?” he asked, internally slapping himself for even asking knowing full well that something was wrong.

“everything sucks,” you admitted bluntly, attempting to sneak past him into the bedroom. 

you honestly just wanted to sleep your problems away and certainly didn’t want to bring Tamaki into the situation but you also knew you couldn’t lie to him. you were almost to the bed when a gentle grab of your arm stopped you.

“(y/n),” Tamaki started, turning you around and gently pulling you to his chest, kissing the top of your forehead, his body shakier than yours, clearly upset that you were sad. “let’s take a nap, yeah? and then we can maybe get some takeout s-snuggle some more, please?”

you responded wordlessly, slipping out of his grasp and moving back towards the bed. Tamaki beat you to it, pulling back the covers, helping you out of your daily clothes and into some pjs, tucking you into the bed before practically sprinting to the other side, slipping under the covers himself and drawing you to his side, wrapping his gangly frame around your body, essentially acting like a second blanket. 

his warm body and slow, even breaths lulled you into a comfortable sleep and Tamaki verbally sighed, happy that you were, even if it was only for the moment, at peace.

Eijiro Kirishima

“hi babe! i made some cookies for today! would you like…” he trailed off, noticing your jutting lip and clenched jaw.

“aw babe, no i’m sorry! if you don’t want one you don’t have to have one!” he exclaimed, frantically waving his hands, attempting to hide the food from your sight.

you continued to watch the scene unfold, your hold on your emotions weakening before you dropped to your knees. well, you almost dropped, but strong arms wrapped around your body before you got a chance to fall, gently pulling you to the floor, rocking you back and forth.

“that isn’t about the cookies, huh?” Kirishima joked, sniffling with you, attempting to hold back his own tears. 

seeing you in so much pain took a real toll on him, too, but he would never tell you, wanting to simply comfort you. he just loved you so damn much that he felt your pain. 

for what seemed like hours but was really just a few minutes, the two of you rocked on the floor, Kirishima cradling your body with his own, his soft words of love and encouragement bringing you down to a sniffle. 

“do you want to talk about it?” he asked, pulling his head away from your own and looking at you with a toothy grin.

“no, i think i’m okay, but i would like a cookie now, please.”

Kirishima, without warning, scooped you off the ground, setting you on the counter and pulled the cookies out, placing the whole plate in front of you. if cookies were what you needed, he would feed you the whole damn pile and more. anything to make you happy.

Denki Kaminari

you heard the sounds of video games being played in the living room, soft cheers and curses from Kaminari as he played. you attempted to sneak behind him into the bedroom but tripped over his shoes that were strewn about, falling to the floor with a thud, blinking owlishly as you tried to understand what was going on.

all the frustrations of the day caught up with you and, without even realizing it, you began to cry, throwing the shoes at what you thought was the wall but really was your boyfriend who came out to see what was going on.

“whoa, babe, i’m sorry, did my shoes make you trip? oh shit, oh shit, oh shit…” he rambled, seeing you on the floor, crying, hands and knees red from catching your fall. 

he ran over to you, almost tripping himself, scooping you in his arms, apologizing over and over again about the shoes, not understanding what was going on but not wanting to leave you to cry alone.

“it’s not about your stupid shoes Denki,” you cried, pushing him away, frustration evident in your voice. he moved away, sitting crossed legged away from you, panic evident on his face. “it’s just, everything. i’m so tired, i don’t know what to do, but i’m not happy right now.”

“oh baby, fuck, and i just made it worse. i’m so sorry. here, c’mon, come lay with me,” he cooed, helping you up off the floor and to the couch.

your head laid gently on his legs, blanket wrapped tightly around his body, as he began playing video games, explaining the situation to you, making funny commentary and even helping you learn, cheering you on every time you did something good and encouraging you when you were struggling. 

after a few hours, you two were sitting side by side, elbows bumping, competitively playing, lost in your own world, laughing and crying and screaming, letting your emotions out in a healthy way.

“i’m so proud of you babe!” Kaminari exclaimed after you finally managed to beat him, reaching up to give you a high five. “and not just because of the game. you’re so amazing and smart and i’m so happy to be with you. i’m sorry i’m not the best with words but i hope i helped you at least a little bit today.”

“you did Denki, you really did, so thank you so much. now stop changing the subject. i wanna play again, and i’ll beat you yet again!”

Bakugou Katsuki

“oi, quit making a racket out there, i’m trying to focus!” Bakugou called from the kitchen, presumably working on something important.

when he didn’t hear you yell something back to him, he cocked his head, confused, and scooted his chair out, walking out to investigate what was going on. he didn’t see you by the front door and that only confused him more. soft shuffling could be heard from the bedroom so he made his way towards the door, busting it open and seeing nothing.

“where the hell are you?” he asked, turning on the light and seeing a lump under the comfort, the bed softly shaking as you attempted to stop crying.

Bakugou sighed, heart breaking at the sight, feeling mad at himself for yelling at you earlier. he moved towards the bed, flinching as he saw you curl into yourself, pulling the blankets tighter around your body.

“shitty woman, let me in. i’m cuddling you,” he stated matter-of-fact, pulling the blanket out from under your body, wrapping his arms around you and dragging you close to him, a sigh once again leaving his lips.

“why didn’t you come and talk to me?”

“you sounded busy. i didn’t want to bother you,” you admitted, hiccuping as you attempted to catch your breath from crying.

“i know i act like an ass sometimes, but i want, no i need, you to know that you are more important than some stupid paperwork and i absolutely want you to bother me over that. do you understand? don’t come hide in here, i’m here to make you feel better, okay?”

“o-okay,” you cried, turning around and nuzzling your face into his neck, inhaling his caramel scent and instantly calming down.

“i love you, you dumbass, i really love you,” Bakugou admitted, kissing the top of your head and squeezing you tighter, signaling that he was not going to let you leave this bed anytime soon.

Izuku Midoriya

you grabbed the side of the wall, steadying yourself and breathing deeply, preparing to enter the house and face the ever cheery Midoriya. you knew even one ounce of sadness and he would pounce on you like a mother hen and, while that was probably what you needed, that was not what your boyfriend deserved, knowing he has his own stressful days often. you always kissed his scars, ran your fingers through his hair, did everything you could to make him feel good, and you needed to be able to do that today, no matter how you were feeling.

that plan went out the window, however, as you walked into the house, Midoriya instantly walking over to grab your face in his hands and reaching forward to plant a kiss to your lips.

“what’s wrong, my love?” he asked, eyes wide with concern, glassy from trying to hold back his own tears. 

“Izuku, it’s nothing, really. how was your day?” you asked, putting on a fake smile, hoping that you would be able to trick him.

“my day was just fine, so don’t worry about me, okay? let me take care of you today.”

you sighed, shoulders sagging as you let go of the brave face, tears pricking the corners of your eyes. Izuku led you into the kitchen and helped you sit down, bringing you a cup of water and some food, watching to make sure you ate and drank something. once you were done and dishes were in the sink, he brought you into the bathroom, setting up a warm bath for you and leaving you to relax. 

when you padded into the bedroom, adorned in a fluffy robe and silky pjs, Midoriya had soft music playing, sweet smelling candles and thick blankets all set up. he sat at the side of the bed, eyes hopeful and pleading, arms outstretched as he silently asked you to join him. you melted into his arms, limbs meshing together as you found a comfy cuddling position, a huff leaving your lips as you finally relaxed.

“thank you ‘Zuku,” you whispered into his chest, squeezing him tightly in a hug.

“you do so much for me (y/n), i wish i could repay you for everything you have ever done. i will go to the ends of the earth just to make you happy. i love you so much.”

Shouto Todoroki

you sighed, tension gripping your body, stiffly moving to the couch and sitting down next to Todoroki in the living room with a huff.

“what’s wrong?” he asked simply, turning so he sat cross legged on the couch, motioning for you to move and join him.

when you were resituated, you sighed once more, going into detail about everything you were feeling. you didn’t hold back on any detail, tears coming and going, a wide range of emotions flitting between your face, from sadness, to anger, to confusion, to defeat. through it all, Todoroki sat and listened, eyes never leaving yours, hands gripping your own, soothing circles being rubbed into them with his thumbs.

when you were done, he removed one of his hands from your lap and wiped your tears away, finally cupping your face and leaning in for a long and soft kiss, bringing your breathing down to a normal pace, your heart racing from love, not anxiety. 

“what can i do to help you?” he asked once he pulled away, his hand staying on your cheek, other squeezing your hand in encouragement.

you blinked once, twice, three times. your brain simply couldn’t process the fact that you had such a wonderfully loving person in your life who just wanted to take care of you and help you.

“you’ve done so much just by listening. can we just eat and relax tonight? i know you’re really busy and if…” you began rambling, being cut off once again by a pair of lips on your own.

he pulled away, eyes twinkling in mischief. “i’ll order your favorite food and we’ll stay in tonight and eat on the couch. you can keep talking to me about your feelings all night if you want. i’m here for you and i’m going to make sure you feel better. don’t worry about my schedule. nothing is more important than making you feel better right now.”

[wickedgamesoyaoya]

hello self - tumblr continues to hate us so let's just post this way #yolo

Can the past truly be rewritten? Can one simply erase the thunder and rain, leaving behind only the rainbows and sunshine? Can the imperfections be ushered away with the eraser shavings? Or will they remain engrained into the page – its presence serving as a reminder that no one can escape their past.

The answer of course, is that the past cannot be rewritten.

Recently, there were three people, connected by destiny, who struggled to accept this fact. Unfortunately, you were included in said group. But instead of surrendering, you chose to wield your stubbornness as a sword, refusing to accept reality, and refusing to accept defeat. The truth of the matter was… you could not afford to concede. As if you did, you would never be able to return to the love that bathed your world in colour. And the world has stolen far too much from you – could you really survive if it stole him?

You needed to rewrite these last few months, if you didn’t, every moment you shared with him would be tainted in a blinding crimson. The warnings issued by your best friend and sister were true – you knew that what your relationship needed was time. But you were absolutely terrified that time would not be enough to mend the damage. And so, your mind remained clouded with thoughts of fantasy and seized by fear.

“I’m leaving now, Tooru. Have fun at practice later.” A faint smile was presented in the setter’s direction, as you shoved your right hand into your jacket pocket.

“Have fun, y/n-y/n! But not too much fun.” The mocha haired male ripped his gaze away from the cellphone screen, before tossing a playful wink.

Rolling your eyes, a gentle laugh was pushed past your teeth. You were thankful that he remained oblivious to the surge of emotions thrashing against the thin mask you prepared for him. It was better this way – fake it until you make it, right?

As you began down the hallway, the clicking of your boots with the surface soon syncretized with your breathing, forcing it to a slower pace. Once in the elevator, you removed your hand from your pocket, analyzing it for any defects. The caffeine consumed earlier prompted tremors to claim your fingers. It was a miracle you were able to complete your texts without any mistakes. But it appeared that after steadying your breathing pattern, your limbs returned to regular functioning.

Maybe it would be okay. Everything would be okay.

The mantra was repeated internally until you reached the lobby, providing a boost of confidence to your step. Within a few seconds you were able to locate the one responsible for your frazzled mental state. The familiar black-haired male was stood outside the glass barriers with his eyes glued to the cement below. Dressed in blue jeans and a thin corduroy jacket, he sincerely outshined any models you were fortune enough to collaborate with. The sight flooded your senses with adoration, drowning out the remaining anxiety that inhibited your veins. When he caught onto your presence, a smile warmed his features and you found yourself unable to maintain a frown.

At the end of the day, he was still the same man you fell in love with. The same one who filled your days with love and happiness.

Perhaps that would be enough to override the scarlet rain that loomed over you.

“Hi there.” When you joined your fiancé outside, a teasing smirk tugged at the ends of your lips. “Look at you, lookin’ like a whole ass snack.”

“Well, hello to you too. I’m glad you approve of my outfit.” Joy glimmered in his grey irises while a low chuckle was expelled. He was skeptical in asking his brother for fashion guidance earlier, but it seemed that his twin’s advice was useful once again.

“Are you sure you’re not the model, and I’m the cook in the relationship? I mean, I do make some mean onigiri.” Proceeding a step closer to him, you trailed the tips of your fingers along the sleeve of his coat, permitting your fingers to linger when you reached his wrist.

His eyes flickered to your wandering hand, and without missing a beat, he caught your fingers with his, weaving them together naturally. Truthfully, he wanted to embrace you or obtain some form of physical contact the second he laid eyes on you, what he was searching for was permission. He was unsure what boundaries were required under the circumstances, but he was thankful that he was still allowed to hold your hand.

“You do. I have a lot to learn from you, chef.” With his gaze returning to yours, you were quick to notice how the physical contact eased him.  

“You’re so cheesy.” Clicking your tongue, you shook your head, feigning disappointment. The theatrical response served as a distraction from the heat flowing from his skin and the little tingles spreading along your arm. But when Osamu squinted at you with an adorable pout fixing onto his lips, your resolve to continue the performance was completely obliterated. He was only playing along with your charade, and yet his response had led you to shift tactics. “Good thing I like cheese!”

Amazing save, right?

“Yeah, good thing.” The forced retort granted the cook a surge of confidence, and in a surprising movement, he leaned forward, pressing a small kiss to the tip of your nose. The exchange forced an imaginary clog to immediately form inside your throat. Needless to say, you did not see that coming.

In an attempt to dismiss the swirl of emotions his action instigated, you pushed away from him, before beginning down the pathway. Issuing a cough to clear your passageways, your attention was forced onto a random building. “Okay, come on. We’ve got a fifteen-minute walk to go. Follow me.”

Exhaling a laugh mixed with a sigh, he nodded, trailing close behind you.

“I’ll follow you anywhere, y/n.”

The journey to the botanical garden was mostly filled with playful banter, and half-hearted laughter. Somehow you had successfully managed to fool yourself into thinking that everything was fine – that your relationship was not littered in punctures. It was peaceful; the fantasy you had created. It was safe.

The botanical garden that Osamu had selected for your first stop was laid out in the style of a French garden, with a green house that resembled a crystal palace. Breathtaking was surely an understatement, and for the first time since you joined him, Osamu found himself entranced by something other than your presence. Tightening his grip around your hand, he gently brushed his thumb against your skin in a soothing manner.

“This is incredible.” The proclamation was accompanied by a wide-eyed expression. He was never into gardens; but even he was in awe at the sight ahead.

Humming in agreement, you shifted your attention to the centre fountain. It was your favourite spot on the land, and consequently where you took a picture of teddiursa for your Instagram page.

“It feels like a fairy-tale garden, huh?”

The suggestion forced him to return his gaze to you, prompting you to raise an eyebrow quizzically.  

“With you here, it sure does.” He was evidently pleased with the corny statement, a fact that could be ascertained by the little twitch of his mouth. He was clearly attempting to suppress his laughter.

“You better not be saying I am a princess, because you and I both know that is not true.” Contorting your features in artificial irritation, a little huff was discharged. But the theatrics were dismantled when he voiced his explanation, replacing irritation with surprise.

“Oh, of course not. But even demons need a place to live.”

“Demon?!” Halting abruptly on the path, your mouth opened and shut twice as you struggled to find a suitable response.

“Not just a demon, the prettiest demon.” Finally releasing the laughter, he stored inside his chest, he tugged you into his embrace, before pressing his cheek against your head. A growl erupted inside of your throat as you begrudgingly rested your forehead against his chest.

“Yeah yeah. Nice save.”

A comfortable silence blanketed over you two as you began along the pathway, observing and admiring the flower-filled beds and impeccably manicured geometric lawns. However, comfort slowly morphed into distress as you wandered deeper into the vined arches that connected the greenhouse and the “garden of senses”. Without the distraction of conversation, it was straining to drown out the whispers issued by the little voice inside your head. The whispers gradually increased in volume until you could no longer differentiate your own voice from the creatures fuelling your anxiety.

It won’t last – this isn’t real. It is solely a fantasy you have forced upon yourself to cope. He doesn’t love you like he did – no matter what you do now… your love will always be infected with a fatal disease.

The featured attraction hosted only two other visitors; a couple.  The happiness emanating from the couple stole the tiniest bit of sanity you were clinging to.  And when the stranger knelt down on one knee, reaching for an item in his jacket, nausea bubbled inside your stomach. The sight should have not twisted your guts, tangling your organs – but it did. And it hurt. God, it hurt.

“Hey, come here.”

Despite the waves of agony that came packaged with the sight ahead; you could not stop watching. Not until your fiancé’s voice broke you from your trance. As you rubbed away at the tears hanging onto your lashes, Osamu guided you along the path until you reached an isolated portion of the garden. Once you were alone, and no longer in earshot of any others, he released your hand, then brushed through his hair in frustration.

“I know what you’re doing. You don’t have to act okay, y/n. You don’t have to force yourself to be happy.” The frustration was aimed at himself, for inadvertently pushing for some sense of normalcy. It was selfish for him to have wanted it – to have hoped for it.  

“Well shit, guess I blew my cover.” The comment was coated in sarcasm, though you intended for it to sound lighter than it did. The tears resting upon the pads of your fingers did not also help the tense atmosphere.

“I need you to know that you have every right to be angry. You’re allowed to hate me!” The latter of the sentence was vocalized in a lower octave, a detail that only brought you to feel defeated. Because you don’t hate him, and you can’t hate him. “I deserve it all. But if we really want to move on, it can’t be like this.” Unsure what to do with himself, he shifted on the spot uncomfortably, tugging at his roots.

“You idiot. I don’t hate you. I hate this situation. I hate that it got to this.” Dragging a palm down your visage, a groan was muffled. “It’s fine. Can we just enjoy this, please?”

Just keep pretending that it’s okay. Keep pretending. Please. Let me keep pretending.

“No. I can’t enjoy it when you’re hurting.” Shaking his head, sorrow crossed his face, molding his features. “Talk to me. Tell me what I can do to lessen the pain.” A small step was advanced closer, he was seconds from capturing you in his arms once more, desperate to fix the pieces he damaged.

But his ambitions were momentarily abandoned when rageful sentiments ripped from your throat. “I want to start over. I want to erase what happened! Can you do that, ‘Samu?! Do you have a damn magic pencil and a magic storybook that can fix everything?!” Clenching your teeth, your eyelids narrowed into daggers. Of course, your question was unreasonable, you knew that. But you were exhausted, so damn exhausted and you didn’t care.

You genuinely expected him to point out the flaws in your request, yet instead you were met with laughter. Pressing a palm against his stomach, the cook laughed loudly, even stumbling a step back in the process. At this point it was impossible to tell who was the insane one – him or you.

“Are you laughing at my pain, you sadistic gremlin?” Your mascara heavy eyelids fluttered open and shut as you strived to comprehend what was occurring.

Osamu raised a finger, silently requesting that you abandon your accusations as he composed himself.

“No. I’m laughing at the fact you’re screaming at me and referencing a tv show at the same time. It’s the most you thing you’ve done in a while.” Resuming his mission to eliminate the space between you, he caught your face with both of his palms, before aligning his forehead with yours. His reasons for breaking into laughter held some logic, but a pout still registered onto your mouth. And even with your foreheads connected, you averted your stare, unable to maintain eye contact. “Listen to me, y/n. I don’t have a magic pencil, or a magic storybook. And don’t even think of asking if I have a hot tub time machine. But I will do whatever I can to make this right. Just tell me… something reasonable.”

For a moment, you chewed on the inside of your cheek, contemplating what answer to bestow upon him. In the end, your heart took reign of your vocal cords, leaving your brain face palming in shame. “I wanna redo these last three months.”

Woops, you said it.

Osamu blinked down at you, mulling over your strange request. If he could snap his fingers and go back in time, he would. But maybe there was another way to accomplish this goal. Inhaling a breath, he nudged his nose against yours in effort to gain your wandering attention. “Okay. Let’s do that. I’ll reset our phones, and calendars. We can do it right. You can do more gigs and I’ll follow you around the world. I won’t miss a single thing.” The proposal did not contain a single hint of humour, he needed you to know that he was serious.

“Really?” His words impelled a fluttering sensation to bloom inside your chest. The fact he was even entertaining your bizarre request was astounding. It was enough to nourish the seed of hope that was planted with his arrival.

“Yeah. Really.” Lowering his face, he guided his mouth to yours. The tenderest kiss was applied to your lips, lasting barely a minute. You loved how you could taste the sweetness of the tea he had earlier in the day. How his lips fit against yours perfectly. And mostly, you loved that this time, the action did not fill you with fear for the future.

You were simply… hopeful, and maybe a little bit excited.

“So what do you say, y/n? Let’s do it again, shall we?” 

Let’s do it again, shall we - let’s do it again 

Masterlist - Previous - Next

A/N: after battling with tumblr for days, I AM OVER THIS. :( BUT THANK YOU GUYS FOR YOUR PATIENCE AND STAYING BY ME EVEN THO I POST SO SLOWLY ;-;-; YOU GUYS ARE WONDERFUL. 

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[scribbles-spills-the-ink]

Alright, so Tumblr is the safest place I can put this and ask for advice, so here we go!

How to you deal with being so many minorities at once? Because sometimes I feel like I'm drowning in all the hate and expectations of the world that I don't fit in! I'm gay, I'm female presenting, I'm disabled, I'm nurodivergent, and mentally ill, and I'm biracial.

It literally feels like I can never do anything right, or no matter what I can never truly be myself.

It always feels like I'm "too much" of something for someone. I'm either "too black," or "too gay," or "too weird." I'm never just enough. I'm never enough.

My grandma invalidated my sexuality for years, and when she came to live with us, she did it more then ever. She constantly told me that, "you're not gay, you're just confused." "You're a girl, stop trying to act like a boy." Or, "You're too young to know that, you'll grow out of it soon."

Then, one day she got pissy at my mom and I for not immediately doing something she wanted, (because my grandma likes to act like a toddler!) and she told me, "You'll never be able to drive, you're just being delusional," and when I tried to explain that I would try and get accomodations for my truck my dad gave me before he passed away, she scoffed and said, "Yeah, keep dreaming."

But that wasn't even the worst part, I started getting angry and said, "Nobody gets to tell me what I can and can't do but me!"

Then she said, "You shouldn't even have that -n-word-'s truck."

My dad was black, she's an old white women, and my dad is gone.

I had never wanted to punch someone so bad in my life, I had never wanted to swear and call someone a bitch so much, I had never wanted to tell someone to go fuck themselves so much, but instead I said. "I hate you," and went in my room and cried.

It was like everything was falling on me, like she attacked everything she could. I could barley breath that day. My mom stood up for me, and I could hear them yelling in the living room, but I could also here my grandma calling my dad the n-word, and calling my mom a n-word lover. Then she stomped out of the living room and comes into mine.

At the time, her dog was hiding under my bed because it was too loud out there. (I didn't blame her, if I was small enough, I would've hid with her.) She started yelling about how I "stole" her dog, and that she wants her back right now, and how her dog is never allowed in my room again.

Now I'm still upset, but it's clear her dog is scared because she's still yelling and being a bitch so I say, "All right fine, I'll get your dog for you, but please get out of my room."

Then she does the whole, "You're 16! You're just a child! You need to respect me! I can do whatever I want!"

I think I told her, "I don't care how old you are, you don't get to treat me like garbage, and you don't get to say the things you did, so get out of my room, and I'll bring Lola (her dog) to you."

Then she said, "You know what, I wish you were never born," and slammed my bedroom door.

I'm disabled, my mom and I almost died when she gave birth to me. I have anxiety, and PTSD, and autism, and in 7th grade, I wanted to kill myself.

While I was okay at first, heck I even laughed before she left and said "I know you do, unfortunately for both of us, I'm still here." I'm almost 17 now, I was like 11 when I was suicidal, but I stayed because I wanted to see what happened next.

Not long after, my mom came in my room to check on me, and I told her what my grandma said with a smile. My mom did not smile. She was furious and went into my grandma's guest room and said, "Did you tell my daughter you wished she was never born?"

My grandma proudly said, "Yes! Because she told me to get out of her room! So I told her I wished she wasn't born."

Then my mom basically said, "Pack your shit, you're leaving tomorrow, you don't get to say that about my daughter."

I'm very lucky to have her as my mom.

But I think she and I both knew, my grandma wasn't leaving the next day, because as angry as we were, we wouldn't just throw her out on the street, so she stayed.

My mom went to work, and I spent most of the day ignoring my grandma, even though she tried to act like the other day didn't happen. Until she got angry with me not talking to her and said, "You're such a spoiled brat, I'm trying to talk to you, and you're being rude!"

I took the bait and said, "After all the shit you said about me? After you being racist and calling my dead father the n-word? After you being homophobic toward me, I think I have a right to be a little upset."

But as she continued to yell at me, I started to get overwhelmed. I wasn't in the safety of my room, it was super bright in the kitchen, and not only was she screaming at the top of her lungs, but I could also here the dishwasher running, the toaster burning, and everything else. I told her to stop because it was too much, and I was going to have a meltdown, and she laughed and said, "Well, you brought that on yourself."

She was such a monster the whole time she was here. I was happy when she finally left, not because she was finally better (thanks to my mom), but because I wouldn't have to deal with her racist, homophobic, ableist, sexist ass anymore.

That was...until yesterday, when she came to pick up all of her jewelry from our house, and I kid you not, this women wasn't even in the house for 3 minutes before she started an argument, "over what?" You ask. A fricking dog brush!

She got our dog a dog brush, and asked me if I had brushed the dogs yet. I told her no, because I'd been busy. She scoffed and asked my mom (who was taking care of our fish at the time and had her hands in the water) to go get the dog brush. My mom said, "wait, I'm doing something."

And I kid you not! This grown ass women, threw her cane down on the floor, and started yelling at my mom. "Why do you have to be such a bitch? I wish you weren't my daughter! Don't call me or talk to me anymore!" And left our house, with our aunt still here which she drove here with, and drove down the block so we would think she left! When she came back my mom brought her jewelry out to her, and she said sarcastically, "Since you seem to love that your daughter is gay so much, why don't you paint your nails gay for her again!? Since you don't care that your daughter is a lesbian!" Because during pride month my mom got rainbows painted on her nails to show her support for me and my cousins who were queer.

Then because my mom was like, "Maybe I will, thanks." My grandma said, "While you're at it you should get that -n-word-'s truck out of your driveway."

And mom slammed the door on her and I just- why??

Why?

Does she not realize that my father is gone? Does she not realize that whenever she calls him the n-word, she's basically calling me it, and being openly racist? Does she not realize her being openly homophobic toward me and invalidating my feelings hurts? Does she not realize that I've gone my whole life having people tell me that, "you can't do this," "you'll never do that!" And I'm tired?

And her words keep ringing in my head, "I wish you were never born," who says that to a child? And it's worse because, for me at least, I've thought that a million times, but there's a safety net when you know that it's just your anxiety and depression talking. But when someone else says it to you? When someone else validates all those hurtful things you say to yourself, you can't help but wonder, "What if they're right?"

I can handle racist people, I can handle homophobic people, I can even handle ableist people, but when it's all in one person; it's just too much. It feels like being attacked on all angles, like you're completely surrounded and all you can do is curl up and cry.

Add on top of it that it's a family member, someone who's supposed to love and cherish you, and it makes you feel like you're in the wrong. Like you're the one who messed up, you're the one who's unloveable. I'm just tired, man. Im still a kid, I don't know how to do this. I need help, but I dont know where to get it.

[capriciouslyterminal]

Wolves Don’t Do True Love’s Kiss

(Aka I wrote an Ishimondo Wolf Among Us oneshot thing instead of editing a paper and I’ve never posted my writing on tumblr before).

~Full idea credit goes to @andy-deer​ and his amazing art if you like Danganronpa or just cool art you really should follow him~

~Mondo’s the big bad wolf, Ishimaru’s the blind prince from Rapunzel. I know in the original fairytale I think the prince is blinded by thorns but listen a version of him being blinded by snakes lives in my brain from somewhere and I couldn’t not write it.~

~P.S. I don’t know that much about Wolf Among Us and I am sorry about that~

Mondo Oowada had been having the same dream a lot lately, ever since that night he shoved the guy who used to be The Minotaur through the display case of a yarn shop.

Normally he and the other fables didn’t have such violent altercations now that he split off from the pack, but then the detective called in a fucking favor from the big bad wolf himself.

And what else was he supposed to do? When the guy wouldn’t own up to the blood of all those teenagers stuck in his teeth and he wanted to put his horns through the dancing princess turned detective and her naive sidekick?

If he’d known the whole thing was going to lead to a blind prince from another story storming up to his apartment from the DA’s office to yell at him about property damage and chances of exposing the whole fable community at two in the morning while he was trying to sleep of the few times he got gored, he wouldn’t have bothered. 

It really wasn’t his fault The Minotaur couldn’t afford enough glamor to withstand a single punch. And he’d told the annoying little shit as much, but the whole thing inevitably meant that he was seeing a lot of Kiyotaka Ishimaru whenever he was roped into being the muscle behind Kirigiri’s investigations. Which was fine. And normal.

But then the dreams started after that night at the bar, and everything changed.

~*~

He doesn’t know when it changed, when he went from running in the forest of his mind on four feet to two as he slept.

He never lost the sights or the smells of the old forest that had no name. But now he ran it as a man. No matter the wolf he would always be deep in his heart.

It was something like when his brother died. He’d been too young, hadn’t even finished cutting his teeth, when he was shunted from the dreams of hurtling through the night at the front of the pack to hurtling alone through the end of days.

There the isolation was a nightmare, a punishment, but this is not the same. This is a simple shifting of reality.

Sometimes he wonders, looking at the webs of veins stretched under the skin on the backs of his hands in the gray light of morning, when the glamor started to feel more real than his body. 

When he grew so used to the delicate tapping of hands, to standing tall and far from the ground, that the memory of the nights spent slinking through the shadows on his belly faded. He would never truly know when that was lost.

All that meant was that now, whenever he had to shift back, it was no longer the shrugging off of a costume like in the early days in this new town. 

It was shouldering back into an old coat, ill-fitting and smelling of pine, that stretched at the seams to hold him.

He was freezing now, dreaming, skin unprotected from the winter that could steal the breath from your lungs. He was running towards the tower with a panting in his heart and a frenzied howl in his mind. 

~*~

He mentioned it only once, over drinks.

Or, well, more specifically, only Mondo had the real drinks. Something old and amber that burned as it went down. Something served in a glass of gently melting ice that was always refilled whenever he shot a slip of teeth to the bartender and flexed his bloody knuckles while eyeing the shelves of glassware behind him.

The bartender in another life, another place, not that it mattered much anymore, had been a pig. Mondo could tell not just from the swell of his pale throat and the slight tilt of his nose, but the fear that sprang in the air as soon as Mondo had entered that first night in town. The man froze like he was still the prey.

As soon as he’d entered the establishment for the first time, and seen the bartender shakily reach to stroke the brick wall for comfort, he knew the little pig remembered him. Mondo hadn’t paid for drinks in four years, and he hadn’t even needed to threaten to blow down the joint.

Not that he would do that anymore. Now, with cigarettes and cash in the pockets of his long coat, he would have had some complaints for the structure of the building and nothing more to add. Now, he could have figured out how to bring it down with his fist in moments instead of having to empty his lungs.  

Getting Kiyotaka within the brickwork bar’s confines had been an accomplishment of its own, a sign of respect for their still growing friendship that made Mondo swell with pride and grin to himself at the sight of an old world prince crammed into a booth at his favorite dingy bar.

The first time he asked for drinks after a successful arrest, and had seen Kiyotaka nod against the neon backdrop of the city with an uncertain smile, he’d practically howled with glee. If he still had his tail it would have wagged.

 But getting him to sip anything harder than soda water was a losing man’s game.

~*~

The pines are so familiar he could think of them as his own brothers, feeding the deer whose innards he lived on before he found new villages to savage. Even as he left the skin of the wolf, he would never be free of this forest that still shuddered with his howls if he stopped to listen.

But the tower, crooked and dark against the snowy sky, is new. Rising from the thorny ground as if it had been summoned from Hell itself.

A break in the tree-line, a monument of dark stone frozen in a twisting shudder as it reached for the clouds. The single shining yellow window gleams like an eye watching him approach. 

If he saw eyes like than in an animal he’d think it was rotting from the inside out. He wouldn’t eat it, and instead leave it to bleed sluggishly into the soft earth.

The tower is sick.

A man is climbing it.

~*~

He’d been five drinks deep, warm in the belly and ready to curl up by the golden hearth that kept the bar warm, when it finally happened. He hadn’t actually curled up by a hearth in years, and would only consider it after five more drinks.

But needless to say, he was drowning in golden comfort when he’d asked about the tower. 

When he felt the air that had been so warm a moment ago freeze as the words left his mouth. A question that had been scratching at the backdoor of his mind since Kiyotaka had pounded on his door and demanded Mondo put on a proper glamor when he accidentally grabbed a hunk of his hair.

“It just doesn’t seem like you,” Mondo said. The words slurred, flowing between his teeth and tongue like a river. “A blind prince of all fuckin’ people. Breaking and entering.”

There was that twitch of an eyebrow, displeasure kept on a tight leash, that made Mondo’s heart clench with fondness. 

It was a feeling like he swallowed the sun, his gut full of light, only for it try to kick its way back up out of his throat.

“I wasn’t always–I did not break anything! And I entered with permission.” 

Kiyotaka had discovered the napkin dispenser on the table earlier in the night, sopping up a ring of condensation that Mondo had been happy to leave to sink into the table. He made use of it now, and quickly shredded a napkin between his pale fingers.

“Come off it, man.” Mondo chuckled, raised the glass to his lips, and took another swig. “What would permission to break into a tower in the middle of the fuckin’ woods even sound like?”

“I didn’t break into her tower.” Even blind, Kiyotaka knew how to glare with the best of them. Another napkin was plucked from the table, but he worried at it for a bit longer this time.

“She was screaming,” Kiyotaka said. “I was nearby, hunting, and at first I thought it was the wind. But then I really listened. And she was screaming.”

~*~

The man is up higher than the treetops, clutching the stones of the tower with his bare hands. The wind is whispering, the clouds humming in anticipation.

Mondo breaks into the space, and a name rings out like a bell in his throat. He howls with it, staring up at the figure as he runs. He is too far away to catch him should anything happen.

When the man turns to look down, all Mondo can see is the red pinprick of his eyes burning against the grey eternity of the sky. And his hands.

His fingers are bloody at the tips, streaks of crimson left on the stones. He broke his nails against the brick of the tower, flecks of scratched into his pale skin. He surely has been climbing for days and is nowhere closer to the top.

Even as he runs, Mondo knows that though he has hands, he cannot climb fast enough to reach him.

“Stop!” He hears himself roar. “You’ll fall.”

The man looks down, and Mondo feels his smile on the wind. He is weeping, tears freezing before they reach the ground to shatter into icy shards.

~*~

“What did you hunt?” Mondo was not sure where the words came from inside of him.

Kiyotaka’s sightless eyes were pale flecks of ice under his furrowed brow. He crumpled the napkin in his hands, and immediately tried to smooth it out with a regretful twist to his mouth.

“I don’t know for sure anymore…it was so long ago. But there was talk of a wolf, I think.”

He let the space hang between them, gave Mondo a chance to haul him up by his collar with a growl. But the rage never came. Mondo knew him now.

He continued on.

“I wasn’t much of a hunter. But I knew that my grandfather should have–,” his voice melted as it always did when the old king came into the conversation. “It is the royal family’s duty to protect their people.”

The freezing slush of the past seeped down Mondo’s spine. For a second he almost could see his breath, as if the old forest had risen back up around him.

For a second he could almost imagine it. Them meeting there. 

He could imagine himself standing on all fours heaving, staring into burning red eyes against a dark and ancient sky. A figure fit to stop his rampaging ways. Not a woodsman, crude and homely, but a prince. 

Would he have used a bow? A sword? What would have come first? A slice through Mondo’s belly or Mondo’s teeth in his neck?

But those times were long gone, and the quiet murmur of bar patrons tethered the two of them in the present.

“She screamed, and I followed the sound…and I found the tower. I called up to her.”

Mondo could imagine that with ease. Kiyotaka thundering out of the forest like a madman, yelling up at a witch’s tower to try and ascertain if a screaming woman needed his help. 

Kiyotaka trying to figure out the best way to help her as the sun went down and the temperature fell. 

Kiyotaka shedding a finely embroidered coat to climb a random ass tower despite any good sense he might have been taught.

His princely fingers, tapered and gentle.

“I thought she had lowered a rope. I didn’t know until I held it in my hands that it was her hair. Sometimes I can still feel the slick weight it.” 

His hands clenched, old scars scraped into the pads of his fingertips drawing across the table.

~*~

The man leans back, and with the gentle gasp of the wind, he falls.

Mondo is sure his heart falls with him

~*~

“She was so young. And so frightened, Mondo. I don’t think I’ll ever forget her face,” Kiyotaka said, stricken. “Her hair falling to the floor.”

Mondo was only aware of the thundering breaths he drew in and had to focus to release with care. The howling of the wind was still inside of him, screaming to be let out.

“I promised her I’d help her, find a way to get her out of that place. I had to.  It was a single room and it was freezing. In the middle of winter! Imagine it, Mondo, a single stone room is all you know for eighteen years. I think I was the first man she’d ever seen. She stared at me like she couldn’t understand what I was. She held my hands and…and she wept.”

His hands were shaking bad. Mondo focused on his breath and felt claws scrape somewhere down deep with his bones, hiding under the skin of a man.

“I promised her I’d help her because that was my duty to my people. Because she deserved more than to be a witch’s prisoner. I promised her that I’d keep her safe. I just needed a ladder, something so she could climb down. I had to go back for one, and she didn’t want to let go of my hand. I had to pry her fingers off my wrist. She cried after me.” He admitted it like some shame, like something heavy on his chest that Mondo understood.

“It took a full day’s ride to return. I hadn’t realized how far I’d travelled. And as soon as I found a ladder long enough I turned and went straight back. I think I almost killed my horse, but I couldn’t stop to think.” 

The words were falling out of him faster and faster. Mondo didn’t know how to stop him.

“When I got back, when I called up to her, there was no sound. She tossed nothing down for me. So I climbed on my own.” His fingertips twitched, a sardonic grin followed them and looked wrong on his face. “But I was too late. I wasn’t fast enough. She was not there to greet me upon my return. But the witch was.”

~*~

The man is caught in thorns. His fine clothes in the style of their homeland torn and dirtied. He is bleeding from his crown and moaning, but he does not scream. His bones are broken, his skin is bloody, his eyes are screwed tightly shut.

Mondo feels something terrible will happen once he opens them.

The snakes are looming, dry static across the ground.

Mondo flings himself into the thorns on instinct bred by his old skin and bellows at the pain of it.

~*~

Mondo suddenly reached out, on instinct bred by his old skin, and felt himself take Kiyotaka’s hand.

The prince of the old world was startled. Mondo heard the stutter of his heart. The gasp of his breath.

Mondo knew a want like a chasm, stretching and straining from his chest through his whole body. It drove him to hunt, to shatter, to shrink his pupils to slits, and to take all the world had with a guttural howl. This want shuddered through his body at the sight of Kiyotaka, golden in the light, parting his lips to speak.

He wants–he wants–he wants–

In a way he had not wanted since the old days.

~*~

He rips into the throats and bellies of snake after snake. He tears scale and muscle with his teeth and flings the corpses away with his hands until the ground is littered with them.

Only when they are all dead, when the root-like curve of their bodies are all he can see, does he turn back to the man. He whimpers and the tears leak from under his closed eyes. He is beautiful.

Mondo takes his face in his hands, feels the sharp press of his cheekbone against the palm of his hand, and moves close enough to feel the warmth of his shuddering breath on his face. Holding him close, their foreheads almost touching.

Mondo feels the venom drip from his lips now, venom from the throats of the snakes that would fall to the man’s eyes and have force him cry out while his body recoiled. Venom that would steal his sight and cast his eyes in icy nothingness.

But it is all he can do to press even closer, feel the man’s heart beat in one with his own, and ghost his lips over the chilled ones.

The man screams into the kiss, and Mondo howls with him.

He always wakes in a cold sweat, and the moon is full and staring down at him from the sky.

~*~

Kiyotaka had continued the story, Mondo had not listened, too entranced by the simple impossibility of holding Kiyotaka’s hand.

“I think she kept her there the whole time, Mondo. And I don’t know what I wanted to do but that woman…she told me I had failed to protect the girl and she–she grabbed me and…” 

Mondo could hear Kiyotaka’s heart thundering in his chest. Sweat was pouring down his forehead, tears welling up the creases of his eyes. It was like he could feel Mondo looking at him even as he kept his eyes downcast.

“And I fell.” His voice was hardly a rasp, utterly hollow. 

Again, Mondo moved on instinct.

Pulling Kiyotaka to him felt like coming home, squeezing his arms around his back as tight as he dared felt like obeying a rule of the new world. Like casting a glamor.

“Hey man, it’s alright now,” Mondo murmured. Something warm blossomed through the want in his chest, and it coated his voice.

“Mondo.” Kiyotaka’s voice was strangled, his arms hovered above Mondo’s back, as if he were unsure how to put them down.

“None of that shit matters anymore, yeah? You’re here now. With me. And I wouldn’t let anything like that happen to you again, swear on my fuckin’ life.”

Kiyotaka took in a shaking breath that hitched in his chest.

“We’re out of the woods, Taka. You and me.”

Kiyotaka let out the slightest sob, equal parts relieved and haunted, and finally wrapped his arms around Mondo. He surrendered himself into the embrace, and Mondo felt everything inside of him shift as Kiyotaka Ishimaru took up residence within the beating of his heart.

And everything changed, simple as that.

~Thank you for reading this, if you did! And thank you again to @andy-deer for their amazing art which has made me smile any day when I was feeling particularly down~

[rainbowbutterfrosting]

The Revived - Chapter 3: First Experiences

This is chapter 3 of the dream smp fic @dramaticsnakes and I are writing. Thank you to @r0w3n-1n-d0ugh for beta-reading this chapter!

AO3

Read in order (on Tumblr)

Characters in this chapter: Wilbur, Ghostbur, Tubbo, and Ranboo

Word count: 3,137

Cw:  yelling, stress, near-death experience, recklessness, pain, burns, begging, crying, cursing, tension between characters

Fic summary: Wilbur was alive, and it was such a magnificent feeling, that made his mind spark with anticipation. It didn’t take long, however, for Wilbur to realize that this new breath of life, was not just his own. An echo-y voice hides in the back of his mind, and before he knows it, the transparent version of him he saw at the endless train station, is a lot more ingrained than he’d expected him to be.

And Wilbur really shouldn’t care. Because he’d be damned, if he spent the life he’d awaited for so long, babysitting a lost cause of a ghost, stuck in the very same limbo Wilbur spent so long in. It was an even exchange, and one Wilbur wasn’t going to mess with. Why exactly he ends up setting out to get the ghost out of his mind, in order to save the both of them, however, is beyond him. And perhaps Wilbur’s past isn’t as easy to leave behind, as he’d hoped it would be.

The netherrack was a harsh change of scenery compared to the white snow from before. The heat felt unbearable immediately, the fire nearby not helping the problem. He took off his fingerless gloves, sticking them inside his pocket, rolling up his sleeves, despite it giving little relief. The portal seemed to screech at him, but the moment that he covered his ears from it, Ghostbur was screaming at him instead.

“Wilbur… I forgot your middle and last name, but I’m being super serious when I ask, what have you done?! Techno was supposed to be our friend! I mean he was already mine, but- oh no no no,” Ghostbur’s voice grew more worried, “I don’t think you’ve understood what you’ve done.”

Wilbur was glad for the lack of company, so he could respond without the embarrassment of talking to himself, “Ghostbur, he doesn’t understand what he’s done! He insulted everything, everything I’ve put my life towards, as if he’s so much better than me for the lack of purpose he has.” Wilbur walked towards the cobblestone path in front of him. He’d probably taken this path before, but he couldn’t care about the possible nostalgia of it at the moment. “Maybe he is better, because he’s nice! Nice people are good and he was good. He was just trying to be your friend, and you should be nice in return because that’s what friends do.” Ghostbur’s voice quivered, sounding like he was on the verge of crying.

Wilbur laughed, “Some friend he is. He just thinks I’m a reckless idiot that lives to blow shit up!” As the cobblestone path thinned into one block instead of three, he walked slower, putting his arms out for extra support.

“You are acting like a reckless- a- well you know the word! And please stop cursing. It makes you sound upset.”

“Oh. My. Fucking. Prime . If I sound happy, Ghostbur, it’s because I am happy. If I, oh my, for some reason sound upset- why fuck me with a chainsaw! It’s because I’m a little upset!” Wilbur’s words bled into Ghostbur’s mind with their playful tone yet threatening meaning.

“But- why would you be upset? Techie was trying to help! He even said he wanted to build a house with you. That’s what friends do together.”

“Ghostbur, I don’t know how much you misunderstood, but Technoblade is not my friend. And he will never be my friend. His only friend is whatever gives him the upper hand!” The cobblestone path turned at a ninety-degree angle and Wilbur turned with it.

“Wilby, that’s-”

Anything Ghostbur would have said was cut off by a ghast crying, which took both of them by surprise.

“Was that a cat?”

Wilbur whispered, “No.”

“Well, it sounded like a cat.”

Wilbur was about to groan but only managed a strained noise, as a shiver was sent down his spine. He watched the ghast in the distance, and despite everything, he felt just a little exposed, standing there in the fiery heat.

“Well, as I was saying-”

“Please for the love of Prime, be quiet .” Wilbur hissed, trying to keep his voice as low as possible. Not low enough it seemed, because before he knew it, something shot towards him at an impressive pace, and it was time to do something, that Wilbur was no stranger to.

He bolted ahead on the cobblestone path, hearing the ghast scream among the sound of burning flames.

His heart was beating rapidly, and while panic set in, there was a small part of him, that felt so irresistibly alive . His heart served as a reminder, that nothing was going to stand in his way now.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Are you scared of cats?” Ghostbur said, his voice tinted with a certain frustration, though there was a hint of concern as well, “Listen, Wilbur, it’s okay to be scared of some things, but cats don’t hurt you, unless you hurt them first. So as long as you just walk past peacefully, or go pet it-”

“For the last time, it’s not a fucking-” Wilbur was cut off, by ghast shooting at him once more, just barely missing him as he jumped, falling on the cobblestone path. Scraping his hands and arms slightly, he managed to push himself up from the ground. Wilbur made the observation, that pain somehow felt different in the world of the living. It sent a rush of adrenaline through him, and prime he hadn’t felt adrenaline in so long. With a slight confident smile, he knew probably shouldn’t be present, he kept running straight ahead.

“What’s going on?” Ghostbur demanded, “Where are you right now? Oh my, you might not be going in the right direction. What do you see right now?”

Wilbur looked around frantically, unable to see any recognizable landmarks among the red and the ghast screams, echoing in his ears. He ran a bit further. “Okay okay, there’s a fork in the road right here.” he said, looking at the paths ahead of him, catching his breath, “What do I do?”

“Who would leave a fork in the road?” Ghostbur exclaimed, outraged, “That’s so dangerous!”

Wilbur’s eyes widened with frustration, as he heard the screams behind him. He looked around, breathing faster. “What do I do!?” he shouted.

“Pick the fork up, obviously!” Ghostbur shouted back, “And why are we shouting now? We were whispering before! What’s going on?”

“Oh for crying out loud! Left or right Ghostbur?” Wilbur said quickly.

“Uh, again, it depends on where you are, but Tubbo and Ranboo’s place is to the left, I think,” Ghostbur tried.

“Right,” Wilbur whispered, rushing to the left, the ghast following his every step.

“I said left!”

Wilbur would have thought of a comeback, but he was running too fast to think of anything other than the heavy pounding of his boots against the floor. Adrenaline and blood pumped through his body, and he was going to make it! He was always going to make it because Wilbur was alive, and nothing was going to stand in his way! There were no longer walls to claw at, or trains with closed doors, and tracks as far as the eye could see. He’d like to see the world try to stop him. It hadn’t stopped him before, because he was back, and he was alive, alive, alive and-

He watched as he was being shot at once more, and he stumbled as he tried to duck it, he landed on the hot ground, his chin bashing into the fire, looming dangerously. It burned into his skin, like what he’d imagined hell to be before he saw it. Wilbur pushed himself up, feeling his cauterized skin, mocking each movement. He hissed, but the sound was immediately drowned out by familiar cries, that didn’t make any sense.

Ghostbur was screaming, no longer in anger, but in undeniable pain. “What’s happening to me?” he cried.

“Ghost- fuck,” Wilbur grimaced through the pain. He had tears in his eyes that mimicked the sound of Ghostbur’s sobs.

“Please, please-” Ghostbur’s cries were louder than the Ghast’s shrieks, “I’m sorry, I don’t know what I did wrong, I’m sorry Wilbur.”

“Doesn’t,” Wilbur kept on sprinting, breathing out words through steps, “Matter. Now.”

The ghast shrieked again as Wilbur saw a portal. The purple wisps of smoke that loom outside those obsidian creations had never looked so welcoming, along with the faint whirring that accompanied it. Wilbur ran faster, each step hurting more and more, but getting him closer and closer to safety. A fireball landed just a few feet behind him.

“Wilbur, I’m sorry about t-telling you that you n-need to be friends with T- t- techy! I- I didn’t mean it, please, make it stop!”

Wilbur couldn’t tell Ghostbur all the comfort he knew the ghost deserved, he had to stay alive, for the both of them. Just ten more seconds away, just nine more seconds of unbearable pain. Just-

“Wilbur, please!”

Wilbur sprinted straight into the portal, slamming into the wall behind it. The ghast shrieked and spat out a fireball. Wilbur’s legs almost went out under him from pure fear that the ghast would take out the portal, but the purple swirls grew louder and louder as he was only inches away from a fireball killing him.

The second he made it out of the heat, and into the ice-cold landscape of Snowchester, he collapsed. While he could hear his breathing, in a little less hectic way out here, though he could still feel the burn, and Ghostbur… Ghostbur was still sobbing. Wilbur was crawling near the ground, and with a deep breath, he placed his chin in the snow. It sent a shiver through his body at first, though the coldness slowly numbed the worst parts of the pain, replacing it with the feeling of a wet wound. It wasn’t comfortable in the slightest, but the pain lessened, and Ghostbur’s cries became quieter.

“T-thank you.” Ghostbur whispered, his voice strained, “I’m s-sorry I-”

“It wasn’t your fault.” Wilbur said, hissing through the pain, “You have nothing to apologize for.”

Ghostbur was silent for a breath. “W-what… What was that? It hurt. It hurt s-so bad, I…”

Wilbur swallowed, finding himself considering the statement deeply because in truth he wasn’t completely sure. Or well, he got the gist of it, he wasn’t completely dense, but he didn’t quite understand the extent of it. “In the nether… There was a ghast.” Wilbur said, trying to sound as calming as possible, which was ridiculous, because why was Wilbur put in a situation where he had to calm someone? To calm a ghost that sounded like himself, yet didn’t resemble him at all? What was Wilbur supposed to say, and why was he stuck being the one to say it? Yet, he didn’t have the time to think much of it now. “It attacked, and I stumbled and I got a burn…” Wilbur said, trying to grasp it all himself, “It must’ve… It must’ve hurt you too.”

“What? But that doesn’t make sense at all. We’re far away from each other, you said. I shouldn’t be able to feel that,” Ghostbur said, disbelief shining through the leftover sobs.

“I don’t… I don’t know exactly how.” Wilbur admitted, “But I guess you can somehow… Feel the pain I feel… At least when it’s that intense, it didn’t happen before.”

“Oh.” Ghostbur said, “Oh, I’m so sorry Wilbur. That really hurt but, I had no idea you were going through it too.” Ghostbur’s voice grew quiet with guilt.

“Please,” Wilbur said, catching himself laughing humorlessly. “Please, there is no reason to apologize to me I…” he took a deep breath, “I’m fine Ghostbur! I’m always fine, but now we somehow need to fix the pain.”

“So we can… So we can feel better.” Ghostbur stated determinedly, “Okay. I’ll stay strong like you Wilbur!”

Perhaps Wilbur was about to dispute Ghostbur’s words, but before he even knew himself, he heard footsteps to his right.

“W-Wilbur?” Wilbur looked over at the sound, seeing a boy- was that even right? The person to the right of him had half-black and half-white skin, green and red eyes worriedly staring near the snow. The kid’s hair was also half-black and half-white, but it was distinct from the skin with how soft it seemed from appearance. On top of his hair was a crown that shined with green and red gems, one that reminded Wilbur of Techno. He even had dark purple armor like him.

“Oh my goodness, Ranboo! Is he alright? I didn’t hear him in the nether with you.” Wilbur was glad that Ghostbur’s mind was focused on something that wasn’t pain.

“Yep, the one and only Wilbur Soot! Fun fact, fire really hurts.”

Ranboo ran a hand through his hair with an exasperated expression on his face, “Of course it would! Did your armor break or something, I- I think we have a spare set you could borrow.”

Wilbur pursed his lips. L’Manburg had a rule against armor. Yet, L’Manburg was a giant crater in the ground. He wasn’t even the president of the nation anymore, it was Tubbo now, he didn’t even know if he was still a L’Manburg citizen either. “That-” Wilbur thought carefully about his next words, “isn’t necessary.”

“Wilbur,” Ghostbur said in an authoritative tone.

“But thank you for the offer anyway… Ranboo?”

Ranboo shuffled where he was, rocking back and forth, “I- Is there anything I can do? I know we don’t know each other but,” Ranboo cleared his throat, “We wouldn’t mind helping you for a bit.”

Wilbur nodded into the snow, “That sounds nice.”

Moments of silence stretched between the two. “So… you said something about fire? I- I’m not an expert of first aid or anything, but we can probably at least give you some bandages or get someone here who’s more experienced? Actually, yeah- I’ll go get Tubbo and you- uh. You just sort of sit here, cool?”

Wilbur chuckled, “Cool as snow.”

Ranboo’s voice faded away as he walked back towards wherever he came from, “Cool, yeah, snow.”

Wilbur sighed and slightly shifted into the snow, getting a colder part onto his face.

Ghostbur’s relaxed tone came into his mind, “Ranboo’s nice. He’s fun to talk to. Sometimes he gets a little uncomfortable, especially around new people, but he’s a super neat guy! I hope you guys become friends.”

Wilbur heard some running that was slightly muted by the snow, he tilted his head slightly upwards and his eyes met Tubbo’s.

Wilbur gasped, “Tubbo! It’s so great to see you!”

Tubbo stopped walking upon Wilbur’s welcome. Something in his eyes showed a hesitance that Wilbur hated. It was the one that made Tubbo agree to anything instead of voicing legitimate concerns. It made Tubbo lose one of his lives to Schlatt’s presidency. It made him powerless in the end.

Tubbo’s voice cracked, “Wilbur, I-” Tubbo exhaled, “I didn’t expect to see you so soon.” Wilbur felt he could hear distaste in the boy’s voice, but he didn’t bother to point it out.

“I figured I’d give one of my favorite people a visit,” Wilbur couldn’t help but grin. Tubbo was a little taller than he’d last seen him, or maybe he carried himself a little higher.

“Awww. I think Tubbo’s got a fond memory of you.” Ghostbur gasped, “You can be his friend too!”

Tubbo was caught off-guard by Wilbur’s remark. A small smile found a way onto his face, “You- there’s no way.”

Wilbur let out a small laugh, “Oh absolutely! You were always one of my favorites, so brilliant and strong.”

Tubbo almost laughed along with Wilbur, but his eyes clouded with an active worry that Wilbur had seen many times. “Is there something you need?”

"Well, my face is burning for one," Wilbur stated, raising an eyebrow.

“For two, actually!” Ghostbur remarked, and Wilbur almost had the urge to laugh, though he honestly doubted that Ghostbur was trying to be funny.

“Oh! Right right, Ranboo said, and-” Tubbo looked at Wilbur’s face a little closer, just enough for Wilbur to get a good look at the boy’s eyes.

Or, perhaps he wasn’t a boy anymore. It had been thirteen and a half years after all, and time did indeed show in those eyes. Like a glimmer, igniting the spark of recognition, that made Wilbur feel as if he was intruding. Though that was just something Tubbo had to get used to, of course. Tubbo cringed slightly at the sight of the wound, “Sheesh man, the nether really did a number on you.” he said, almost as if he was trying to lighten the mood, “What were you doing in there without armour anyway?”

“Fuck off.” Wilbur said with a laugh, though when Ghostbur made a noise of uncomfortableness, he added a quick, “Sorry, sorry... But if you have anything that could help-”

“Oh. Of course,” Tubbo said with a series of very quick nods. He took a deep breath, and looked at Ranboo. “We should… We should bring you to the mansion.” he looked at Wilbur and added nervously, “And uh, snow isn’t good for burns in the long run.”

“You try falling into fire , and thinking ahead afterwards.” Wilbur said, as if he was joking, though a quick hiss of pain as he lifted his head, made him feel pathetic. If there was one thing Wilbur despised, it was feeling pathetic.

Tubbo laughed, though the clear worry was still showing, as he placed his hand on Wilbur’s arm to steady him. Once Wilbur stood on both his legs again, he shook Tubbo’s arm off, because he was not going to make a habit out of being steadied all the way to the nearest residence.

If it was a residence of course. “Excuse me, did you say mansion?”

“Oh! Yeah, Foolish built it for us. We were just moving some of our things there when Ranboo saw you.”

Now that was most peculiar, because the our was said so naturally, as if Tubbo and Ranboo were combined by default, and once again Ranboo was reminded of Ghostbur’s words.

I just know they make each other very happy.

“You two live together?” Wilbur inquired curiously, trying to ignore how Ghostbur’s breathing became more unsteady because of the pain from the burn once again.

At that, Tubbo’s eyes widened just slightly, and Wilbur caught a faint blush on his face. “Oh… Oh yeah, you missed a beat, uhm…” Out of the corner of his eye, Wilbur noticed Ranboo shifting uncomfortably. “We’re sort of, maybe uh…” Tubbo tried, phrasing the next part like a question rather than with the certainty it probably deserved, “Married?”

At first, Wilbur looked from Tubbo to Ranboo with disbelief paving his expression. “Married?” he repeated. Then, he laughed, “Of course! Of course, that all makes sense now, so much time has passed! Congratulations Tubbo, my man!” he looked at Ranboo, who smiled awkwardly, “I’ll have to get to know your husband better. And you live in a mansion , you’re doing well for yourself here!”

Tubbo chuckled, a bit of relief showing through it, though it was still hesitant. “Y-yeah! We haven’t quite moved in yet, but it’s very, very big. You’ll see it, ah look!” he pointed in the direction they were walking, the roof already towering above everything.

Wilbur wasn’t certain what he had been expecting, but the sheer size of the place, casting a grand shadow, was not something Wilbur would’ve assumed came from a private mansion. A castle perhaps, god forbid, but certainly not the type of place Tubbo would live in. As they approached, Wilbur’s mouth gaped, looking at the several floors going up, stone and light from the windows, adding a homely glow.

[rosyluv]

—Chapter one: Avenge club.

Summary: Nick Fury joins a group of misfits in S.H.I.E.L.D academy together, to help him stop chaos and injustice happening with-in students in school, thinking that the students he chose are the most adequate. However his choosing only backfires.

Warning: none. Just rlly bad attempts at comedy.

✩ Steven “Steve” G. Rogers.

‎✪ James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes.

‎⧗ Natalia “Nat/Natasha” Romanoff.

➸ Clinton “Clint” Barton.

𓅃 Samuel “Sam” Thomas Wilson.

‎⎊ Anthony “Tony” Edward Stark.

✲ James “Rhodey” Rhodes.

✧ Virginia “Pepper” Potts.

——

✰ There’s obviously a whole lot other characters in the story with boards too but ofc tumblr bitch won’t let me put more than ten so … ✰ enjoy!

——

“There was an idea, Stark knows this- called the avengers club. The idea is to bring together a group of remarkable people to see if they would become something more, when needed them to fight the battles that we never cou— ”

“Is he doing it again?’’ Sam leaned over Steve and whispered drowning out what Nick is saying. Steve ignored him to listen better to Fury.

“Is he quoting that comic book again?’’ Steve knew what Sam was talking about. In more than one occasion they would enter his office and he would hurriedly put a comic book away –something about earth’s mightiest heroes or something - clear his throat and adjust his shoulders. Nick in all dark clothes, a series almost terrifying face on and a series, unreadable attitude, was a first-class nerd. Who would’ve known? Only them probably.

“So, what you want us to do; is start an anti-bullying club and help people getting bullied in school?’’ Steve recapped what Nick said a minute ago.

Well when Nick Fury: Director and head of the Academy summoned Steve, Natasha, Bucky, Sam, Tony, Pepper, Rhodey, Wanda, Pietro, Clint, Thor, Val and Bruce. He didn’t exactly explain what’s the reason, And since they all frequented his office if not every week then every day, they thought it they had again done something bad. Like maybe it had to do with Clint getting beaten up at 6am behind the school today. So obviously they would be confused that this is why Nick summoned them. Nick was getting tired of their shenanigans, especially with the council putting pressure on the academy, it being the beginning of a new school year, this idea was made in favor of making them useful and at the same time putting a leash on them. Well. It has more depth than that but he’ll get into that eventually.

‘’Tony you didn’t tell us about this. Why?’’ Pepper frowned at Tony.

‘’I honestly didn’t know he was serious.’’ Tony drawled out, narrowing his eyes, studying Nick.

‘’So, no one is going to comment on that passionate speech?’’ Sam joked.

‘’Yes, that is the idea.’’ Nick nods, ignoring the others. “I have been discussing it with The council for a while.’’

“Nick,’’ Nat begins, earning a light frown from him at the usage of his first name, “what do you want us to do exactly? Put up signs that say: ‘Don’t bully, be friends.’ Because those things are embarrassing and a waste of time.’’ She says calmly, pressing an ice pack on Clint’s bruised eye.

‘’Yeah and the council doesn’t know shit,’’ Clint says, ushering Natasha’s hand aside. His bruise shading purple now. “We don’t need an anti-bullying club.’’ He stated confidently.

Nick tilted his head and narrowed his eye; Clint could almost hear him saying ‘bullshit’, almost.

—5 minutes ago

So, Clint wasn’t the smartest one in the group, or better; the safest. In translation: “reckless, thoughtless, and insanely, good at ruining your life.’’ As Nat and Steve would say.

And if ruining his life is getting his back thrashed over the wall outside the main school building in some weird ally, he -somehow- always ended up in every two weeks or so, in the same situation then he was doing pretty good at that.

‘’You know, bullying is so last year dude- ‘’ he began.

‘’Where the fuck is my jacket?’’

‘’What jacket?’’ That prompted a punch to Clint’s face. His eye throbbed.

‘’My jersey jacket, the one you stole from my party last Saturday.’’

‘’Dude, I didn’t steal your jacket.’’ Well to be fair Clint did go to the party last Saturday, and he did drink, a lot. So, he himself wasn’t sure of anything that happened that night, but what he is sure of, is that he would never steal anything, especially a jersey that belongs to the school’s top basketball athlet, Nat would kill him.

“Loki said you’d lie.’’

‘’Lok- what?’’ Clint blinked, then hissed when his eye ached. ‘’Loki Odinson? What does he have to do with this.’’ He recognizes the voice of the guy in front of him he just can’t exactly be sure, and the pain in his eyes are making it hard to concentrate, being sleep deprived and accused of stealing doesn’t help his fuzzy mind either.

“He saw you taking my jacket and leave,’’ He gritted, Looming over Clint.

“And you believed him? Loki? You believed Loki?” he asked amused, almost laughing.

“Why would he lie?’’ he threw his arms up.

“Why would he- ‘’ Clint half whispered like he was so shocked at this guy’s stupidity, he actually had to repeat what he said to understand that he really doesn’t know anything about Loki odinson.

“Have you meet Loki?!’’ he asked genuinely, voice getting higher.

‘’I don’t give a shit about who’s lying and who’s not, my jacket is still missing and if you don’t get it by tomorrows basketball practice, I’ll fucking report you.’’ He spat.

Present time.

‘’Aww, c’mon Nick, that guy’s wack, he wasn’t bullying me, he can’t even punch- owie.” Nat pressed at the bruise a little harder. Intentionally probably, Steve thought.

‘’You won’t just be an anti-bullying club.’’ Nick argued. “You’ll also arrange and be in charge of the dances, the festivals, the field trips.’’

‘’So, like a student council club.’’ Steve drawled, like he was explaining the words to himself and Nick.

“Almost, Not exactly,’’ Nick said, one corner of his lips quirked up and one eye narrowed, creasing under. He looked like he was arranging his words.

“You’ll be official representatives of the school, that’s why you’ll host and arrange the events. You’ll welcome the new kids and supervise on important things, like debate and take student suggestions and at times even football games. And, most importantly, show awareness to not only bullying but the things people normally turn a blind eye to. Students mental health and necessities, you’ll support all communities and stand by kids in school who are given a hard time and excluded, make this a place for no discrimination on all grounds such as sexuality, race, disability, creed, color and wealth. In a way you’ll be the center of everything; the face of the academy.’’

Silence.

Then a little more silence.

Then Tony scoffs. “You make it sound as if it’s a nation not a school.”

Rhodey lets out a breath agreeing with Tony. “Yeah, and Do you really think we can live up to your expectations?’’ he scowls.

Nick shows a buzzled face, Rhodey elaborates: “I mean, this sounds like a big responsibility, and we’re not exactly that responsible, we’re still learning things and Clint practically gets bullied every day,’’ he frowns at Clint who has one eye closed, and the other half open, holding up peace signs.

“What Rhodey wants to say is: Why did you choose us out of a whole other lot better options?’’ Sam explains.

“Yeah and it’s 2020, bullying is irrelevant, instead people just hate on themselves, we all do it!’’ Clint explains, and immediately gets hit in the head by Nat who keeps a monotone expression on. Sam puts another ice pack on Clint’s head.

Ignoring Clint, they go back to the conversation. “Nick, you said it yourself a hundred times; you don’t really trust us.’’ Steve says. “So why are you handling us this?’’

“Yeah it’s making me anxious.’’ Bruce fidgets.

“Bruce everything makes you anxious.’’ Valkyrie corrects.

Fury groans lowly and mumbles something under his breath about difficult kids. “As much as it pains me to say it. You’re the best choices I have.’’

All of their eyes widened, for two reasons. 1st Nicks Fury is never nice, especially to: “What’ll be the death of him.’’ And 2nd, they didn’t exactly believe in themselves being the best at this? Nick must provide some reasonable points or they would just consider this a last-minute decision or that they’re his last option or something.

Nick must’ve noticed the second reason (and ignored the first reason) because with a long sigh, he began. “Steve, remember last year, Will Hanks, that kid who didn’t get accepted in the golf team, because the leader was a homophobe?’’ Steve nodded. “You reported him to me and I kicked him out of the team, and Will is now 1st class champion of the school team with two silver medals.’’

Steve looks like he’s going to say something. “Val,’’ Nick begins. “Remember Last year? Maya Perez that girl that was excluded of the student lock-in night, because she didn’t know how to speak English well. And you locked those girls out of school and welcomed her in?’’ Val made a face.

“Pepper, Tony and Thor, you three have become sort of role models- ‘’

“Icons.’’ Tony corrected.

Nick ignores him. “The three of you have great influence on the kids who go here. They would do anything that you do in a heartbeat. Say the things you say, believe the things you believe in- ‘’

“Your point?’’

“My point is:” he adds the same amount of sarcasm Tony added. “They’re affected by your status, imagine you three beginning to fix the bad things happening in school, putting a stop to them. Using this reputation you have on making good things in school. They would eventually start doing the same too.’’ They didn’t argue, except Tony, who looks like he has a ton of things to say.

“Rhodey and Bruce, you two are smart and fair and you know what to do in inconvenient and hard situations, you have a sense of … adultery, you would be considered the most responsible and reasonable.’’

“And I’ve also noticed some blunt physical bullying.’’ Nick continues, slowly turning to face Clint. Clint blinked pressing his lips together.

“So, I also have a plan for that.’’

‘’Which is?’’ Nat asks.

“Val, Nat, Bucky, Steve and Thor. You guys have the ability to stand up for these bullies that beat up and take advantage of weaker kids, the things that go unnoticed to teachers I’m sure you see them. You have guts and are -weirdly- super strong.’’

“Clint, Pietro, you two are excelled sports champions, Pietro, I have never seen anyone run a track as fast as you, you’re the school’s top athletes.’’ Nick says. “Clint, I know you can be responsible and i know you can quit being a dumbass and start going back to practice.’’

“Sam, Wanda, the two of you are brilliant at consoling. Remember, that girl Anna, who had a serious leg injury and couldn’t heal because of emotional distress, she felt that she failed her gymnastic team because she couldn’t win. You two talked to her and reassured and eased her into healing mentally before physically.’’ Wanda scratched her head. Sam bit the inside of his cheek.

“And finally,” he began, tiredly. “Steve, you have a strong moral code, you know what’s right and what’s wrong, being the football team captain and on top of all school activities, people look up to you. You make good decisions and can guide and lead people.’’ The room was dead silent by the time he finished; you could hear a pin drop.

“Okay that’s a great motivational speech I’ll give you that,’’ Tony began. “But, that’s sadly 20 percent of what’s good, the other 80 percent are bad things. This is easily a stupid idea. We can’t force people to change, schools will always have bad kids.’’ Tony argues.

“And why exactly are you here, you only care about yourself and your own appearance.’’ Steve points out. “Take that leather jacker off what are?’’

“Sorry I don’t wear my church pants to school.” Tony shoots back looking at Steve’s khaki pants, flannel shirt, the academy symbol imprinted on the left side, (because god forbid they didn’t have the logo on their clothes) then a red and blue football jersey jacket. And Tony is looking at his outfit with so much disbelief, Pepper rolls her eyes at him.

Val shakes her head, frowning. “What the fuck are they talking about? That was so random.”

“You people are so petty,’’ Thor chuckles, his accent deepening. “ … and tiny.’’ He frowns.

“What do you mean you people?” Clint exclaims.

“Sorry to stay this is very stupid, like Stark said.’’ Thor says, leaving the office.

He opens the door and stops dead in his tracks. Nick must’ve added some intense sound proof doors because they were immune to the commotion happening outside. Every kid in school was fighting, the hallways were a mess, the old posters they had up made a new place on the floor and torn, pepper gasped when she saw (she worked two days on those) and in the middle of it all was-

“Loki!’’ Thor shouts, already angry at his brother, literally standing in the middle of the chaos. “What. Did. You. Do?’’

“Nothing.’’ He says, offended.

Nat runs after Thor and stops a girl– Beth who’s standing away looking nervous and anxious (obviously), Nat begins to ask her what is happening. She explains shakily: ‘‘All the exam report cards got mixed up and some are torn in the garbage, people who passed now have Fs, and it’s all a mess! they’re fighting because they think one of the them did it.’’ The girl said, nervously.

Nat and Tony and all the others hurriedly look in their bags for their own report cards, which they just received this morning, only forgot to look at when Nick had summoned them.

‘’I got a D- on history?! No way that’s true. I studied so hard for that test.’’ Steve says, then he checks the rest of the subjects. “Well at least I got an A+ in math.’’

Tony scrunches his card. “Yeah there’s definitely something wrong with these report cards.’’ He hurries to say.

“I got an F in biology?!’’ Bruce gasps.

“Okay … ” Tony drawls out. “This is just so stupid. All of the information in the report cards are saved in the student school data base so it’s not that big of a deal.’’ He says, confused.

“I don’t think they know that; some misunderstanding must’ve happened.’’ Beth tells them.

“Did you do this?’’ Thor asks Loki, or more of yells.

“Maybe I did. Maybe I didn’t.” He coons.

“So you did. Why?!”

“‘Cause, I was bored.’’ He says, like it’s the most reasonable argument.

“This is why mom is always disappointed in you!” Sam burst out laughing in the back. Thor didn’t understand, well Thor never liked vine anyway, so Sam wouldn’t expect him to get it.

“You hurt my feelings.’’ He puts a hand on his heart, dramatically, like the theatre nerd he is.

“I don’t care.” Thor says. “Stop this madness right now.’’ He demands.

Loki makes a face like he’s thinking it over.

“No.’’ He simply says and leaves.

“Tony you said the report cards are saved in the … Uh- data base, right?’’ Steve asks.

“I did, yeah, does your frozen brain not get it, should I explain- ‘’

“No!’’ Steve stops him. “Look, they obviously don’t know that for some reason; someone should tell them so they stop fighting.’’ Steve says.

“Yeah probably.’’ Tony nods sighing and Steve realizes he isn’t going to volunteer to do it, so he huffs and heads to Nicks office and grabs a horn mic from his office desk. He hesitates for a second, when he finds Nick not moving in his chair. Normally he’s supposed to be out there, putting a stop to the chaos. Yet he’s not bothering. Nick gestures for him to go ahead with his hand. Was this some sort of test? Because Nick was weirdly calm for an academy director in a situation like this.

Steve saw Mr. Coulson enter Nicks office while he was stepping out, he heard him say: “What should we do?! I can’t find any of the teachers they’re gone!’’ in a panic. To which Fury answeres with: “Nothing, just stand by. They can handle this on their own.’’ And Steve thinks he could differ on that.

He stood in front of the others who were outside now, the mic in his sweaty, big, nervous palm, straightening his back to seem capable like he always does, “Okay I don’t think Fury is going to help stop this,’’

“Why?’’

Nat made a face, “Because he wants us to take care of it.’’ She states.

“And we’ll calmly ignore that,’’ Tony draggs the words out.

“No. We need to fix this, not because we have anything to prove; but because we should.’’ Steve protests.

Tony makes a disgusted face. “Okay, captain righteous.’’ He jokes.

Rhodey sighs with a nod, “What should we do?’’ He questions Steve.

Steve blinks, and he’s making the same face that he made when he and Bucky were eight, that time they ate all the cake Sarah — his mom— bought from the bakery for their arriving guests, and there was no way they could make it to the bakery five blocks away in time, before his mom comes back and yells at them, then he clenched his little hands unintentionally, his eyes widening comically and told Bucky that if they take a shortcut they could go to the bakery and get another freshly baked one before his mom comes back from work and she wouldn’t notice. She didn’t.

“Okay … there’re two storage rooms, Tony, Bruce, Pepper and Rhodey, separate and go to each, make sure the data isn’t erased and that it’s all there. Sam, Wanda, take Beth away and try to calm her down. Val, Thor, Pietro and Buck.’’ he looked at the stairs and saw a kid almost fall. “Make sure no one gets hurt. And if someone is, take them to the infirmary, please.’’ He looks at Nat and Clint, “Look for the teachers, see where you can find them, and bring them back so they can help sort this out.’’ They all groan at the thought of getting the teachers back, but all of them headed to do the things he ordered nonetheless.

Finally after they’re all gone he looks at the long main hall stairs and decides it’s the best place for everyone to see and hear him well

He climbs the stairs and when he reach the top, He holds the horn mic to his lips and shouts for them to listen; it doesn’t work, they don’t stop. Then the second time also doesn’t work. Then he goes to shout again but the Bucky is next to him on the stairs and snatching the mic from his hand.

‘’Hey! Everybody SHUT UP, Listen!’’ And this time it works somehow and Steve looks at him confusedly because everyone stopped shouting and fighting and looked expectedly at Steve. Bucky gave him the mic back and Steve breathed out a thanks.

He takes a breath in. “You can’t fight about unreasonable things that you didn’t think through. This is just a misunderstanding.’’ Steve reasoned slowly.

“But the report cards- ‘’

‘’The report cards are filed in the school’s data base so our real gradings aren’t lost,’’ Steve explains. “How did you guys not think of this?!’’

A guy Speaks up. “Loki said the teachers didn’t save them in the data base, he told us he saw someone in the teachers’ office switch them up too!’’ he explains.

Steve puts the mic down. “And you believed him??’’ he asks amused, making a very confused face.

“Anyway, the point is, we all can have our real report cards back, it’ll take a few days but I’m sure Nic- ” Nick, who was standing outside his office now, glares at Steve. “Mr. fury, will arrange them in their right order in no time.’’ Steve says. “So, you have nothing to worry about, everything will be alri …’’ He trails.

He sees Pepper, Bruce, Tony and Rhodey return to the main hallway, they look at Steve at the top of the stairs. Bruce waves his hand over his throat in a ‘stop’ motion and Rhodey keeps making hand gestures for Steve to stop talking, Steve and Bucky’s eyes narrow trying to understand what they’re trying to say. Tony rolls his eyes and uncrosses his arms, “For fucks sake,’’ he sighs. “There’s nothing in the storage rooms, it’s all a mess.’’ He shouts.

“Tony!’’ Pepper snaps at him, Rhodey scoffs like he was expecting that, and Steve’s eyes widened in panic.

“What?! They’re going to be madder when they know he’s lying anyway.’’ Tony defends and Pepper shakes her head.

“So that was a fucking lie!’’ Someone shouts from the back. “Loki was right!’’ and then they’re fighting again, and it’s more of a mess than it was before if that’s even possible. Val, Thor, Rhodey, Pepper, Tony, Bruce, Sam, Nat and Clint had come back and stood at the top of the stairs with Steve and Bucky, away from the chaos.

“What do we do now?’’ Sam asks, Steve shakes his head, like he can’t give an answer.

Bruce fidgets. “All in for not being up to this.’’ They all raise their hands.

Clint leans his head to Steve’s, still looking at the mess in front of them, “We couldn’t find the teach-’’ Steve makes a frustrated sound in the back of his throat, his head falling down. Like he was expecting that but he didn’t want to hear it.

“Does anybody know where Loki is?’’ Thor asks, they all turn slowly and glare at him.

“Okay fine, no one cares.’’ Thor huffs and looks at the trashed hallway. “Understandable.’’ He nods.

Pepper sighs. “This is a mess.’’

“Yeah, such a mess.’’ Someone next to her says, someone she can’t recognize the voice of. She frowns and looks beside her. A girl, 5’5ft or maybe taller, shoulder length almost golden hair, fair clear skin, blue eyes and long lashes and a charming dimple smile, broad lean shoulders, wearing their school uniform, the original one, well they all designed their uniforms the way they wanted them to look, “as long as the logo is there.’’ Nick would sigh out. So, they recognized it was different than their own and other kids designed ones.

“Who are you?’’ Rhodey asks, pointing a finger at her.

“I’m Carol,’’ she smiles. “The new girl.’’

——

I promise next chapter will be better i prOMISE—