#feels the same as being the one kid in middle school who got actively and intentionally left out of gossip circles

[betty-bourgeoisie]

I have tried so so hard at multiple points through out my life to understand just like... the basic facts of the Israel Palestine conflict, but every time I feel like I'm getting close someone will bring up some religious belief that's influencing it, that I, as someone who was raised very much outside of any Abrahamic religion, have absolutely no understanding or context for and I feel like I have to start all over again.

Like I can not be the only one who feels this way. Isn't there a 101 primer out there for those of us who simply didn't grow up in these communities?

[sserajeans]

bff premium?

kang haerin x fem! reader

synopsis: after distancing yourself from a friend you've unfortunately fallen for, the rest of the group catches onto her sour mood, and all fingers point to you

genre + others: fluff, mutual pining, friends to lovers, non-idol au, high school setting, friend group is rly just nwjns + yn

notes: i swear yail update will come i just had this in my drafts and felt bad for not posting for a while!!, requested, IM SO SORRY IT TOOK THIS LONG I REALLY WANTED TO BE IN TBE MOOD WHEN I WROTE THIS 😭😭😭😭 luckily haerin posted some pics that ive gotten completely insane over.. so!

you and haerin always had something special between the both of you.

you two met in middle school, when your homeroom teacher was assigning seats. she was a quiet kid, and so were you, but one of you had to get over it. so when the class was given a paired activity to "get-to-know each other", you were forced to come out of your shell, and haerin welcomed you (surprisingly) warmly.

it started off as a strictly-seatmate type of friendship, where you two would only interact whenever it was needed. but as you spent more and more time working on assigned activities together, you were beginning to realize that maybe you enjoyed her company more than you thought, and so did she.

eventually, you two began spending time together outside of class; during recess, lunchtime, sometimes after class in the library. it didn't take long until the both of you became really close, a known tandem. you were her closest friend, she was yours, and everyone knew that.

over time, your friends became hers as well, and so whenever everyone was free, your little friend group composed of minji, hanni, danielle, haerin, hyein, and you, would hang out together. at a clubroom, the courtyard, the gymnasium, a cafe, the cafeteria, anywhere.

but no matter how many close friends surrounded you two, it seemed clear to anyone that you were closer to each other than anyone else. the same way hanni was to hyein, and minji was to danielle.

now your feelings for haerin grew a couple years later, and you only admitted them to yourself in your sophomore year of high school. that's about four years or so since you two met, and about a year ago from today.

from the beginning, you had always found haerin pretty. it wasn't hard to admit. she was nice to look at, and the way her cat-like eyes turned into crescent moons whenever she smiled ear to ear... yeah, you knew you were enjoying it a little too much.

and it only worsened the more you got to know each other, because you found out there were so many things to adore.

the way she wouldn't stop talking about frogs, her love for tomatoes, her eyes and the way she blinks slowly when she looks at something she loves (a cat-like habit you picked up when she was watching a recipe video for an avocado dish).

the list could go on and on if no one stopped you, and after talking about it to your mom (who was very supportive of everything, by the way), you came to the conclusion that you liked haerin, in a "more-than-a-friend way".

but you had no idea, not a single clue, on what to do with that realization. what would happen if you told her? if you didn't? would she feel the same? would she be disgusted if she didn't?

crushes and romance was one of the most untouched conversation topics between the two of you, so you had no idea if she was even open to such ideas.

but the one thing you knew for sure, was that she was your best friend, and you were hers. you loved your best friend, and so did she. in a different way, or not, you felt like she still deserved to know. you hated hiding things from her, and history proves it only made things worse whenever you did.

so you decided to confess. great!

and suddenly you see her acting all lovey dovey with danielle.

well, in retrospect, they weren’t exactly being lovey dovey, and you kind of knew that.

danielle was just big on affection, as she was to everyone, and is one of the few people whose pda was complied with (or tolerated) by haerin.

and despite not being much of a pda fan, in that moment, you badly wanted to be in danielle’s place, comfortably smothering your best friend with all the love in the world.

oh, and it didn’t help that people started a couple rumors about them being a couple.

sure, everyone knew you were each other’s number one, each other’s best of best friend, but the way you two showed affection with each other was very different from the way danielle does, to again, everyone, but you didn’t care about that.

the bitter sting in your stomach seeing the two of them made you realize that it was probably a much better idea to just get rid of your feelings (you’re an idiot, you’ve had them for years. they won’t just go away). after all you didn’t want to ruin what you had with two of your closest friends.

and with that goal in mind, so began your plan to avoid kang haerin at all costs!

you’re really stupid.

in the process of avoiding haerin, you indirectly were avoiding the rest of the girls too. you mostly hung out with your other classmates from different subjects like woonhak and eunchae. and whenever you were asked about it by hanni (mostly), you shrugged it off and said it was just “school things you needed help with”.

it was a dumb excuse. everyone knew you were at least top 5 of the class. and what kind of help were you getting if you were going out to places like arcades and karaoke spots anyways?

the girls were bothered, but not as much as haerin was. she was often visibly in a sour mood, ate half of her usual cafeteria servings, and would talk a lot less than she already did.

they were worried for the both of you simultaneously, but hyein and minji put two and two together, which only doubled their worry.

initially, it was just you and haerin's separate well-being they were concerned about, but now that they realized the time frame in which you began distancing yourself matched up with when haerin's mood went down, they were now also worried about what could've happened between you two.

so they took it amongst themselves to at least know what was going on.

"haerin-ah."

"haerin."

"kang."

"kang haerin!"

haerin looked up from her untouched tray of food, her chopsticks poking around slices of beef in sauce.

"hm?"

minji sat across her as the first two to arrive in their usual lunch table.

"i was asking if anything happened between you and y/n or something..."

"oh..."

haerin looked back down and continued playing around with her food before sighing and looking back up, muttering a couple words.

"wish i knew."

"y/n-unnie! is something up between you and haerin-unnie?"

"huh? what?" you were sat in the sound proofed booth of the music room, guitar plugged in an amplifier. you squinted at hyein's figure from outside the room, putting your guitar on its stand and motioning her to come inside.

"can you repeat that? i can't really hear anything from in there..." scratching the back of your neck, you gave hyein a seat from behind the booth's drum sets.

"i was asking!" hyein took a deep breath, you raised your eyebrows signaling her to continue. "if you and haerin-unnie have something going on."

"h-huh? what? what something?"

"no not like that! i meant you know, did you fight or... 'cause she's been so sour lately! she wouldn't even give me her leftover tomatoes... she wasn't even gonna eat them! like at all!"

the expression on your face shifted to what most would identify as worry and concern.

"...she hasn't been eating the tomatoes? she loves those..."

"yeah! and so much more! anyways, minji-unnie and i deduced it was about you, so here i am." hyein gleamed with pride while you chuckled in amusement.

you leaned over to mess with the top of her head and sighed, "i'll talk to her. you don't worry about a thing, okay?"

and you kept your word to the younger girl. how could you not?

you spotted haerin alone in one of the clubrooms, cleaning up some of the materials they used for the day. knocking on the room's door startled her a bit, given by the minor flinch, but she relaxed seeing it was you.

still, you could tell her facial expression was slightly guarded, and it hurt you, but you definitely deserved it.

she turned back around to continue organizing the materials into three separate boxes, not saying a word.

"hyein said you haven't been eating the tomatoes in your lunch." you slowly took your steps towards her and stopped when you were a couole steps away on the other side of the desk she used to arrange the items. "or your lunch at all..."

she paused to look up at you and give you a short glare, before walking to move a box to the teacher's desk in the room. you followed a few steps behind her, arms behind your back as your fingers fiddled with each other.

"you shouldn't... skip your meals, you know..." you muttered, clearly intimidated by haerin’s cold facade. "health... you need to eat..."

seeing as how you still had no reply, you decided it was probably best to just go straight to the point.

"hey... i'm sorry..."

you were used to haerin not saying that much, especially when you got to know her more and she explained that it was simply just too tiring. but you were also always the exception to that.

whenever it was just the two of you, one would be surprised to see haerin as the louder one. talkative, always rambling about something, while you smiled, nodded, and gave comments whenever necessary.

"yangi, please say something"

haerin loved that nickname more than anything. it was pretty foul to pull that card, actually. you came up with it when you two were having a friendly debate over what animal she resembled.

"i don't know where you're getting cat, y/n."

"are you crazy? how are you getting frog!"

"literally everything!"

"no. you're simply incorrect. you're literally a cat in human form!"

"absolutely not!"

"whatever you say, goyangi."

"what did you just call me?"

"go-yang-i. goyangi. go. yangi."

"you're so... annoying."

"okay, yangi."

she let out a frustrated sigh, looking up at you with what felt like her eyes piercing through your soul.

"so you get to disappear on me without a word, but i have to reply when you speak to me for the first time in 8 days?"

yes, she's been counting the days.

but wouldn't you be too if she did the same?

well, you probably would've confronted her a little sooner. but it's not that haerin didn't care enough to do something about it, she just genuinely didn't want to overstep space you might've been needing.

"thats what i thought." she let go of the box, turned her back, and walked back to the desks to grab the 2nd box.

"look... i'm sorry, i really am." you immediately caught up to her with a few steps, eyes pleading with nothing but guilt.

"if you are then can you at least tell me why you were avoiding me?"

she stared at you, observing how your thumbs rubbed over your fingers, or how your breathing got a little heavy, both nervous habits she picked up.

noting how you probably weren't going to say much anytime soon, she let go of the 2nd box to face you.

"you're my best friend, y/n"

that hurt didn't it?

a reminder that that was probably all you were going to be to her.

"do you know how..." haerin took a deep inhale, it was beginning to get shaky. her mind was a mess, thinking of the best words to express the hurt you made her feel over the past few days. but she couldn't.

"nevermind."

knowing the way haerin acted added on to your internal conflict. haerin usually wasn't afraid to speak her mind when it was just the two of you, but now she is. she couldn't. and you knew it was your fault.

but were you really ready to tell her you liked her? now? you wanted to show her you were sorry, but it really wasn't that easy.

if things go wrong, she could continue the game and avoid you forever. and just like that you'd lose your best friend, ruining the group's dynamics as well.

but you figured your brain was just making up excuses for you to not tell her out of fear. what mattered the most now was letting her know you were sorry, and that hurting her was never part of the plan.

"look, i'll tell you, because i really truly am sorry for hurting you," you start off, hands in the air motioning whatever. "but i-... i need you to promise me..."

"what?" her voice was much softer now. still cold, but not sharp enough to make it feel like you were stabbed every time she spoke.

"that you won't be... weirded out, or disgusted, or leave the room. you'll talk about it with me."

"you're the one whos been avoiding the talking y/n, i hope you know that."

you often forget how quick she was with her words. it was like a whip. painful, fast, happens before you even noticed it did. you were just so used to her nicer side. she's never been frustrated with you.

"right..."

you took a deep breath, mentally composing a script of how you felt and how you were going to say it. just like the million times you've practiced to the mirror at home.

"i've been avoiding you 'cause i think i like you. or, well, i know i like you. in a more than a friend way. and i have been for a while, and i was going to tell you because i didn't like hiding things from you, but i saw you with dani one day and i just- i don't know. okay? it's stupid. i know she's like that with everyone, but i didn't like it when she was with you, so i decided that i'd rather just get rid of how i felt to make it easier and to not ruin any of our friendships. so i figured the only way to do that was if i didn't talk to you. clearly that affected us both in a way i didn't want or intend. i'm sorry i ignored you. it was selfish of me to not think about how you could've felt throughout everything."

haerin took a minute just standing there, trying to process the hell of a bomb of information you just dropped on her. her cheeks were gradually growing red the more she realized what you were trying to tell her.

"hey... hello... did you hear what i was saying... or do i have to repeat it... because i'd really rather not..." you waved your palm in front of the girl who seemed to be frozen in place. "but if that's what it takes then i guess tha—"

you stopped talking as haerin slowly approached you, wrapping her arms around your waist and burying her face on your shoulder. she was careful to do so slowly, giving you a chance to move away if you needed to. she knows you're not into physical touch, and it just wasn't exactly the norm for the two of you.

"i was worried."

"hey, i've been eating fine. it's you tha-"

"no, not that. i was worried you might've overheard dani and i talk about you when i told her i like you, and that you were disgusted by it and didn't want to be... associated with me because of it. and maybe you just didn't know how to tell me so you went with the silent treatment.... i was going nuts, y/n. that's why hyein was talking about skipping lunch and whatever. all i could think about was why."

you could feel the guilt eating you up bit by bit on the inside. it quite literally broke your heart to hear haerin, the girl with not a lot of words, express the effect of what you did. it was like acid, burning up your stomach, your chest, your head. except that acid was guilt.

"oh god... i'm so sorry, yangi... the whole thing was a really selfish move and— and i should've thought about you first. i really am so so sorry..."

you held her closer and softly shifted your body weight from one foot to the other, swaying the two of you softly, somewhat like a cradle calming a baby down to sleep.

"hey... it's okay... i know you didn't mean it. i'm just glad we're fine now."

you two stay in that position for a couple of minutes, feeling each other relax over time as a result of finally resolving the conflict you had caused.

that was until haerin broke the silence.

"so... hate to be the person to ask but..."

"what are we?"

the two of you laughed for a while at how the question was so cliche and cringe yet necessary.

"yes."

"bff premium?"

"y/n!"

"i'm kidding! i'm kidding! but... i say we take things slow? get a little used to this, whatever it is, whatever it could be?"

"yeah, i like that."

the two of you smiled at each other with nothing but warmth and care, before ultimately pulling in for another hug.

"minji-unnie you owe me 2,000 won."

"hyein you're being too loud."

"huh do you hea-?..." haerin pulled away with a surprised face, interrupted by y/n quickly stomping towards the door, slamming it open to reveal minji and hyein falling forward to the floor. a result of relying on the door for support.

"seriously? i expected hyein, but minji-unnie?" you sighed in disappointment, haerin walking over to see what the fuss was all about.

"listen, it's for hanni she placed bets too."

"...lame excuse."

"KANG HAERIN!"

[scary-grace]

Enough to Go By -- a Shigaraki x F!reader fic

Your best friend vanished on the same night his family was murdered, and even though the world forgot about him, you never did. When a chance encounter brings you back into contact with Shimura Tenko, you'll do anything to make sure you don't lose him again. Keep his secrets? Sure. Aid the League of Villains? Of course. Sacrifice everything? You would - but as the battle between the League of Villains and hero society unfolds, it becomes clear that everything is far more than you or anyone else imagined it would be. (cross-posted to Ao3)

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8

Chapter 1

You had a best friend when you were little, just like almost everyone, and the two of you were as different as two people could be. He was a boy and you were a girl. You were the oldest of four, and he was the youngest of two. His family was rich because his dad was some kind of business genius, and your family was – not. You and your best friend had exactly two things in common. First, you lived across from each other on the same street, him in a big new house and you in one that had been falling apart since before your parents were born. And second, and maybe most important, neither of you had a quirk.

It was okay for your best friend. He still had time. People in his family got their quirks when they were two or three or four or maybe even six, like they were supposed to. But everyone in your family is born with theirs. Your family’s quirks do different things, but they’re the same type of thing – powering up or watering down or just changing some part of somebody else, and they’re active until the person’s old enough to turn them off.

You hated being home. You had one younger brother who could turn your hearing up and down, one younger sister who could turn your color vision on and off, and twin baby brothers who could make you throw up whenever they wanted to. Going to school, or going across the street to play in front of Tenko’s house with him and his big sister and his dog, was the closest things ever got to normal for you.

Tenko wanted to be a hero. You knew he’d be the best hero, because he was a hero already, even without a quirk. Nobody was every left out when you and Tenko played at school, because Tenko could make everybody feel included, and you spent so much time trying to placate your siblings that you knew how to make sure everybody had fun. But for everybody to have fun, people needed to be there. Tenko was the one everybody believed in, the one who made everybody feel important. When you spent time with Tenko, you felt like you belonged. Tenko was already a hero, even as a kid. You knew he’d be amazing at it when he grew up.

Only he didn’t grow up, your best friend. You walked home from school together one day, said goodbye and crossed to your opposite sides of the street, and when you looked out your window the next morning, Tenko’s house was gone.

A villain did it. That’s what everybody said, and you didn’t know what else it could be, because Tenko’s house was in ruins, like a giant had smashed it with its foot or someone had blown it up from the inside. You raced across the street without your shoes on, right into the middle of what was left, and even though your parents spent money they didn’t have on a specialist whose quirk let them wipe memories right out of your brain, you still have nightmares sometimes about what you saw. Tenko’s big sister Hana was dead. His dog was dead. His mom and his grandparents and his dad were dead. But he wasn’t there, so you made yourself believe he was alive.

And some part of you kept believing, even after the foundations of an apartment building were laid over the spot where Tenko’s house used to be, even after your family moved away. Your youngest younger siblings, a set of triplets born after you moved, thought Tenko was your imaginary friend because of how much you talked about him. And even once you stopped talking about him, you never quite stopped thinking about him. Your best friend, who wanted to be a hero. Who would have been the greatest hero the world had ever seen.

Everyone else forgot him, forgot him so cleanly that you almost wonder if it was a quirk. But you remember your best friend – small things, weird things, like how he’d sometimes get so excited he’d almost cry. His All Might impression, which was so bad it almost worked. His dry skin and the way he’d scratch his neck. You wonder what happened, why he wasn’t found with his family. You wonder a lot of things.

“Everybody loses touch with their neighborhood kids,” Hirono says when you say something about it, while you and your friends are getting drunk in Kazuo’s backyard one weekend. “You’re not special.”

“Don’t be mean,” Yoshimi protests. “Her friend died. That’s different!”

���She just said he didn’t die. She thinks he’s still alive,” Sho says. He whistles and rotates one finger by his ear. “Cuckoo.”

“There should be a podcast about this,” Mitsuru says seriously, and Hirono and Mitsuko laugh at him. “No, there should! Five people confirmed murdered and a kid goes missing – and it’s never solved? That’s podcast material.”

“It’s newsworthy,” Kazuo says, his voice as expressionless as it always is these days. “Have you looked it up?”

“Yes,” you say. Too many times, probably. “The articles don’t say my friend went missing.”

“They said he died?”

“They don’t mention him at all.”

“Ooh. Spooky.” Sho makes a UFO noise, and Yoji, Yoshimi’s on-again, off-again asshole boyfriend, throws in some spiritfingers to go with it. “Maybe he’s imaginary after all.”

“Or maybe you do have a quirk,” Yuichiro, Mitsuko’s latest too-innocent boyfriend says earnestly. “Your family’s all status effects, right? Maybe you made everybody else forget him.”

“Why would I do that?” you ask blankly. You’re a little drunk. “He’s my best friend.”

“I thought I was your best friend,” Kazuo says. Kazuo’s also a little drunk. “You don’t have a quirk. I would know. I know everything.”

The confidence is annoying, or it would be, if it wasn’t true – and if you didn’t know just how badly Kazuo’s quirk has ruined his life. “Maybe not,” Ryuhei says speculatively. “You only know what you know to know, you know?”

You try to parse that for a second, then give up. Mitsuru is wheezing with laughter. “Come on,” Ryuhei says, annoyed. “You know what I mean. Kazuo only knows the answers to questions he knows to ask, right? What if he hasn’t asked the right question?”

Kazuo’s quirk is called Search Engine, and it’s not an overstatement. He can ascertain anything he asks about, and if the questions aren’t hyperspecific, he can take in vast amounts of information. Too much information for even the smartest person to sort through and interpret without going crazy under the strain. He was going to be a hero, but UA High pushed him too hard, and something went wrong in his head. The smartest guy you know, who used to be funny and kind and should be changing the world for the better right now, is instead drunk in his parents’ backyard, still trying to figure out where his emotions went. You haven’t seen Kazuo care about anything in two years.

But you can see him thinking about what Ryuhei said, trying to wrap his mind around a question. “Don’t,” you say, and he looks at you, puzzled. “If I had a quirk, I’d have had it when I was born, just like the rest of my family.”

“Your family has some funky quirks,” Yoji says. You have a feeling you know where he’s going with this, and you’re not wrong. “Isn’t one of your cousins a villainess?”

“She barely counts,” Hirono says. “What could they even charge her with if they caught her? Possession of a video camera and bad taste in men? They could charge Yoshimi with that, too.”

“Hey!”

Sho and Ryuhei join in on the ribbing, and you lean back against the steps. Kazuo rises from his chair a little unsteadily and comes to sit by you. “You never mentioned this friend of yours before.”

“It never came up.” You glance sidelong at him. “Why? Are you jealous?”

“No,” Kazuo says. He hiccups. His alcohol tolerance has always been weirdly low. “I’m surprised you never asked me to find him. Maybe I could.”

“I know.” If Kazuo ever recovers from what UA High did to him, the government will be all over him. He could find anything, anyone – but like Ryuhei said, he has to know what questions to ask. “I think I’m scared of what you’d find. I don’t want him to be dead.”

“Dead might be better.”

You almost choke on the sip of vodka you just took. “Excuse me?”

“If he died, he died,” Kazuo says. No shit. “If he’s still alive, he’s been missing for fifteen years. During my work-study, I assisted in the search for several missing children. Nothing good had happened to the ones we found alive.”

You hadn’t thought about that, what it would actually mean if Tenko is still alive, and your brain supplies you instantly with a list of terrible things that could have happened to your best friend. Your imagination is pretty vivid. Your stomach turns. “I don’t want that,” you say. “I just want him to be okay.”

“Sometimes dead is better,” Kazuo says again. And then he’s quiet.

You try to get back into the mood of the party, but what Kazuo said sticks, and you’re kind of mad at him about it. The old Kazuo wouldn’t have said something like that, or else he would have put it more gently. You miss the old Kazuo. Thanks to a villain fifteen years ago and UA fucking High, you’re now short two best friends.

Kazuo’s a good guy, but you’d be lying if you said you weren’t drawn to him because of who he reminded you of. You have a soft spot for dark-haired boys who want to be heroes. If Tenko hadn’t gone missing and the two of you had gotten to grow up together, you probably would have wound up with a big, stupid crush on him, the supercharged version of how you felt about Kazuo. But a relationship between the two of you wouldn’t have worked out, for the same reason your relationship with Kazuo didn’t work. Being a hero comes first. Being a hero always comes first with guys like them. You probably wouldn’t like them as much if it didn’t.

Getting drunk at Kazuo’s is a typical Friday night pastime among your friends, and usually everybody sleeps over. Everybody usually includes you, but you have to work tomorrow, which means you have to go home. Sometimes you and Kazuo still fool around when you’re both drunk, and you want to avoid that, too. You drink a glass of water and start sobering up while the others are still sorting out places to sleep, and then you tell them all good by and head out, taking three trains in a loop around the city to give yourself even more time to sober up before you have to walk home. You don’t live in the nicest neighborhood. You need to be alert.

When you finally get off the train at your stop, you realize you’ve got another problem. You’re hungry, and you won’t have time to cook when you get home if you want to sleep at all tonight. The all-night convenience store a few blocks up from your apartment is beckoning to you, and you give in without a fight. You’ll pick something to eat, eat it in the store for one last period of sobering-up, and walk the rest of the way home.

You feel a little better with a few bites of food in your stomach, and you’re pretty sure you’re not going to throw it up later. You hang out in the corner of the shop, a good spot to people-watch from if there were any people in here but you and the owner. The TV behind the counter is blaring the news about some villain attack, somewhere – two dumb-ass middle schoolers, one sludge villain, one can of whoop-ass opened by All Might. What else is new.

“Turn that shit off.”

The voice is raspy, and it’s coming from the far corner of the store. So there’s somebody else in here after all. You rise to your tiptoes and peer over the shelves to spot the speaker. They’re wearing a black hoodie with the hood up and browsing for energy drinks, and apparently they have a real problem with what’s on TV – which means the proprietor has a real problem with them. “Got a problem with heroics? Or does seeing real heroes just remind you what a bum you are?”

“Fuck off,” the guy in the hoodie says sharply. “You’ve got more in common with me than you do with them. If you were there, you think you’d run in to help? No. You’d wait for a hero, because you’re useless and pathetic. At least I don’t walk around pretending to be something I’m not.”

Hoodie guy sort of has a point, even if you don’t like how he’s phrasing it. Hoodie guy also sucks at reading the room, because after that little back-and-forth, he yanks an energy drink out of the case and a package of sour candies off a shelf and heads up to the counter. The proprietor laughs in his face. “Get out of here. If you think I’m selling even a stick of gum to you, you’re out of your mind.”

Hoodie guy’s shoulders tense. “You’re so desperate to defend All Might that you won’t take my money? He’s not gonna fuck you.”

You must be a little more drunk than you thought, because you have to clamp your hands over your mouth to stifle a laugh. But there’s nothing funny about the situation that’s unfolding in front of you. The proprietor’s looking increasingly pissed, and Hoodie Guy’s hands are out of his pockets, open and twitching at his sides. You don’t know what either of their quirks are, but you’ve got seven siblings. You know what it looks like when a situation’s about to spiral out of control.

“I said get out,” the proprietor spits. He shoves the drink and the package of candy back across the counter, hard enough that they fall off and roll across the floor. Hoodie Guy’s hands begin to lift from his sides, and you step out of your corner. “You want to start something? Go ahead. The cops will be here so fast –”

“Not fast enough for you,” Hoodie Guy hisses. His hands are all the way up, reaching over the counter.

You scoop the snacks off the floor and duck into the scant space between Hoodie Guy and the counter. You elbow him a bit by accident and he stumbles, swears at you. You ignore him and focus on the proprietor. “Hi. I’m still hungry. Can I get these?”

The proprietor squints at you, nonplussed. Behind you, Hoodie Guy’s gotten his feet under him, and if it’s possible, he’s extra pissed. “Get out of my way.”

“You don’t want this kind of trouble,” you say, ignoring Hoodie Guy. He’s the instigator. You need him to shut up so you can handle this before it escalates. “I know you don’t. You want him out of here and he wants his snacks. If you don’t want his money, mine’s just as good.”

You’re conscious of Hoodie Guy looming over your shoulder. He’s not all that much taller than you, but he’s standing a little too close. You take your wallet out, and that seems to settle the issue. “You’re lucky your girlfriend’s here to help you out. That’ll be ¥1800.”

You pay up and collect the snacks. When you turn away from the counter, Hoodie Guy’s right there, and you get your first good look at his face – or at the life-sized model hand clamped over his face. That’s – weird. You can’t see his expression, but his tone of voice is unmistakable. “If you think –”

“I know, I know,” you interrupt. “You’re not gonna fuck me.”

It’s not a joke you’d make sober, but with the proprietor calmed slightly down, you have to knock Hoodie Guy off his game somehow. It works. He makes a weird, strangled sound, and you grab him by his sleeve and tow him out the door.

He lets you do it, which is a surprise, and you let him go as soon as the doors close behind you. You hold out the snack and the energy drink. “Here.”

You can’t see his face, but you can see one red eye, peering out at you through the fingers of the hand. “It was pretty stupid of you to get in my way.”

“It was pretty stupid of you to go up to the counter. If you’d stormed off he wouldn’t have chased you.” You’ve seen Sho use that tactic before – needle a store owner until they want him gone more than they want to check his pockets. “Just take this, okay?”

He raises one hand and scratches at his neck. There’s something familiar about the motion, and the scarred, scraped-raw patch of skin there. Maybe you’ve seen something similar at work. “Either you used some kind of quirk or you got lucky. Which is it?”

“Neither. I have seven siblings and I’m good at toning things down.” You’ve wished for a quirk that lets you affect others’ moods more than a few times. You had to learn your de-escalation techniques the hard way. “Do you want these or not?”

He’s still scratching, and something’s pulling at the back of your mind, harder and harder. “Seven siblings,” he says slowly. “That’s three more.”

“Three more than what?” you say, puzzled. And then it clicks.

You have seven siblings now. When you lived across the street from your best friend, you only had four. And now you get why the scratching looks so familiar, why there’s so much scar tissue in the place he’s clawing at – because he’s been scratching that same spot for a decade and a half. It doesn’t matter than his hair is grey-blue instead of black, that his eyes are red instead of grey. It doesn’t even matter that he’s got a creepy hand stuck over his face. You know who you’re looking at, and the surge of joy that overtakes you is like nothing you’ve ever felt before.

You’d keep it to yourself, ordinarily. But tonight you’re a little drunk, and you can’t hold it in. “Tenko,” you say, and he freezes like he’s been struck by lightning. “You’re alive!”

Tenko stays frozen until you reach for him, at which point he bolts, and you really shouldn’t follow him – but you’re drunk and it’s your best friend and he’s alive just like you knew he was, so you chase after him. He was a little clumsy when you were kids. You were always a little faster on your feet, but his legs are longer than yours now, and he keeps you at a fair distance until he trips.

It’s sort of your fault he trips. He’s looking back over his shoulder, checking where you are, and he’s not watching his feet. It’s a bad fall. He sprawls out, the hand over his face dislodging and bouncing across the concrete, and you hear him cursing under his breath in a voice that carries a familiar strain. You’ve heard that before. You do what you did back then. You run to his side and drop to your knees, hands outstretched to help. “Tenko –”

“Get away from me! Don’t touch me!” Tenko lashes out with one hand, and instinct tells you to get out of range. The hand he lashes out with looks wrong – hurt, maybe, in the fall. His other hand is up over his face, covering it the same way the model hand was. “Father – I need – where –”

Father. You wonder if Tenko knows what happened to his father – but he’s feeling around on the concrete with the maybe-broken hand, and you realize what he’s looking for. “It’s over here,” you say. “Stay there. I can –”

“No.” Tenko lunges past you, seizes the hand, secures it over his face. Then he turns on you, and the hatred in his eyes sends a bolt of pure terror down your spine.

He knocks you onto your back. You know some self-defense – like any girl, like any person without a quirk – and you kick and thrash, arching your back, trying to throw him off. Some part of your mind is still spinning, because it’s Tenko, your best friend, who wants to be a hero – and it’s Tenko, his forearm coming down across your throat and half his body weight leaning onto it. You cough and sputter, and Tenko raises his other hand, all five fingers outstretched. “Tell me what I want to know and I’ll kill you fast. Lie and it’ll be slow. Who are you?”

You don’t know how he expects you to answer with his arm over your throat. Dark spots are beginning to fill your vision. You shove at his arm, and his hand closes around your wrist. His grip is hot and dry and shaking, and a split second after he’s touched you, the burning starts. It’s like his hand is dipped in acid, like it’s clawing through your skin one layer at a time, and you scream in pain. Or you try to. He increases the pressure on your throat and chokes the sound off. “Don’t touch me,” he snarls. “And don’t scream. Who are you?”

You manage to rasp out your name, and you see Tenko’s expression shift. “We went to school together,” you gasp. “I lived across the street from you. We played together. You were –”

You black out for a second, and the pressure on your throat lifts slightly. “What?” Tenko spits. “I was what?”

“My best friend,” you whisper. Your eyes well up, tears running down your face when you blink. “I missed you so much –”

Tenko stares down at you for a moment longer. Then he recoils away from you, up onto his feet and back five or six steps. He’s cradling his wrist. You roll from your back to your side and gasp for air. There’s a rattle in your breathing that tells you your windpipe’s damaged, and when you blink the tears and spots from your vision to stare at your wrist, you see that your skin is raw, bloody and oozing. There’s the outline of all five of Tenko’s fingers, his thumb and middle finger joined, rotted into your skin.

“Go,” Tenko says. You look numbly up at him and see his face twisted behind the hand. “Now.”

Your wrist – his hair – his eyes – Tenko has a quirk now. An awful quirk. “What happened to you?” you ask helplessly. “Where did you go? Are you –”

“Go!” Tenko snaps at you. “Before I change my mind. Run!”

You scramble backwards and collide with something. The energy drink and the package of candy, which you dropped when you ran to help Tenko after he fell. The sight of them makes you want to burst into tears again. You don’t want to take them with you. You bought them for him. Without looking his way, you pick them up and set them on the ground between the two of you, pushing them towards him so he knows who they’re for. Then you force yourself to your hands and your knees and your feet and run for your life, away from the best friend you now know you’ve lost for good.

You didn’t want Tenko to be dead, and he isn’t. But Kazuo was right, too. Maybe dead would have been better. Anything would have been better than this.

[hotchfiles]

lovers wait.

pairing: james x reader (as plot device), remus x reader

content warnings: mostly teen angsty (small problems turned into huge life altering situations because of feelings and hormones) and a bit of fluff. steamy make out at the end but nothing pass that. underage drinking. mentions of throwing up (nothing graphic). reader insert with no use of names or “y/n”. just teens being teens.

word count: a bit over 3k

Loving James was easy. Too easy almost. You didn't share similar personality traits and you didn't like quidditch all that much, but you met James when you were both just seven year old kids who happened to become neighbours.

Talking to James was easy, you didn't mind saying the wrong thing to him, or sounding dumb or silly, after a guy catches you peeing in a pool and throwing up in the middle of Diagon Alley, there's no much else you can do to be embarrassed about.

Being around him was easy. Too easy. So when he asked you out by fifth year, it seemed like the right thing to do. And the date was good, it was fun, it was just like hanging out with a friend.

Kissing James was easy. Too easy. No butterflies, no blushing, no kicking your feet thinking about it. But he was James, everyone believed you would be married by the end of school years, your parents and the Potters often talked about how it's going to be beautiful to have both families united like that.

It was familiar, it was fine, it was... Was it really supposed to feel so bland? You often wondered, but by then you were already officially dating and you were more often than not found around him and his friends, merging both friend groups, boys and girls, into one.

You all spent a lot of time on Gryffindor's common room, where you would read while, like right now, passing your fingers through James' hair and waiting almost excitedly for Remus' commentary, as you were coincidentally, constantly, reading the same book.

"C'mon, all girlfriends wear it and go cheer their boyfriends during matches, please, please, pleaseeee do this for me." James lips opened once more to whine about how you were a terrible terrible girlfriend for not going to quidditch practices or games and not wearing the red shirt with his name. Rubbish, you always thought, you went to finals, that was more than enough.

"James it is not my fault you decided to play such a toss of a sport, I already have to avoid enough bludgers on the games I do go." You said in a firm tone, but still hoping just him would hear it, of course that was a only a hopeful dream, as every single one of your friends groaned at you, all of them siding with James, were you that bad of a girlfriend?

You just didn't feel like going, and didn't think your cheering on him was that big of a necessity, his abilities wouldn't suddenly get better, would it?

You looked at Remus hoping he would help you out, as he was the one who understood you the most there, he liked books, and tea, and warm sweaters, getting chocolate as a treat and being comfortable in silence. But all you got was a shrug, "I do watch James play all the time, Grumpy, can't help you, and I don't even get a snog after." you and James both snorted at the term, during those three months of dating you had kissed a lot of times, mostly pecks though and even deeper kisses wouldn't go as far or passionate as a proper snog. It was gentle. It was familiar. It was nice. It was easy.

Remus instantly noticed he had struck a nerve, being as observant as he was, and he glanced quickly between Lily and Sirius, the only two who knew his secret, the only ones who saw him actively fall for his best mate's girlfriend. Lily knew because after a while all she could notice was how Remus looked at you the same way she looked at James. Both suffering of the same evil.

Sirius got pulled in the loop after he told Remus he found the way you two dated very... Weird. It was all the three could talk about after, Remus insisting they shouldn't meddle, saying you were just a reserved person, Lily and Sirius saying that James wasn't and he also didn't make much effort to touch you. It was a whole conspiracy club talk point.

But now Remus had some sort of proof it wasn't just you and James avoiding eyes, you two weren't couple-ly alone either, that reaction for a simple snog comment gave him hope he didn't feel before, burning bright as his heartbeat got twice as fast, he just needed to wait.

And wait he did, enjoying his time with you in the library, secretly finding ou what book you were beginning to read so he could do the same and have more to talk about with you, he would get up earlier than normal just to wait for you, as you always took time to read before getting ready for the day, he waited for your presence in each decision he made for his day, when your classes would end so he could wait outside and walk you wherever you were going.

Remus was always observing quietly what made you laugh, and what made you angry or sad, trying his best to be as close as possible while still being loyal to his friendship with James.

It felt almost suffocating to you, not in a horrible way, but you were always counting the minutes for when he would show up and stumbling around your words to answer to his questions about you and your childhood and how your day was. He was always around, his cologne making you feel weird, but you enjoyed the company, especially when James was always busy with quidditch and would never read your recommendations.

It was a particular cold morning and you had forgotten your scarf and would be late to class if you went to get it, so all you could do was shiver and complain to your friends and boyfriend, hoping for at least the comforting words of understanding.

"Grumpy, take this and stop complaining." You heard Remus respond, the only one who would call you that, and you actually enjoyed it even if it wasn't a flattering nickname, the sound coming from his lips was amusing, pretty, it got you warm without anything else. You looked at him thinking he would give you something to warm you up, and you were almost right as he got closer to you, your breath suddenly weakened by the proximity, feeling the fabric of his scarf on your neck after he took his own and put it on you, adjusting so it would maintain your face warm as well if you looked down.

You didn't stop shivering though, feeling chills run through your body as the warmth of his voice touched your cheek, "better?"

You nodded quietly, but you felt sick under his eyes, you were positive you were going to hurl as your stomach wouldn't stop twirling around. It felt like an eternity, like the world had stopped, but it was only a few seconds.

You spent the rest of the day lost in thought, repeating those seconds in your mind countless times and some of the times wishing it ended with a kiss. James didn't even think to give you his scarf or jacket, and you couldn't even blame him, it would not be your first thought if it was the other way around.

But it was for Remus. And you felt that sudden urge in the pit of your stomach to be around him all the time, hell if you could catch a glimpse of his eyes you would even watch quidditch matches. Lucky thing he didn't play.

You felt like you were going insane, truly going mad and it just got worse right before you and James got to the six months dating mark, you sent a letter to your mother, asking her to send some special chocolates "like from other countries and stuff, mum" you said quickly in the note your owl delivered her, your mother obliged happily, suspecting it was a gift for James.

But it wasn't. You had told Remus your father always got you different chocolates when he traveled, and he got so excited you just had to get him some, you were blushing just at the imagery of him happily eating those.

It all came crashing down on you when you finished wrapping them, Lily asking if it was a six months gift for James.

You weren't even keeping up with how many months had passed, so obviously you didn't even think about buying him anything. You were definitely going mad, your heart broke at how badly you were treating your best friend, you first friend, your first kiss.

The fact you had to do something about it made your body itch, already uncomfortable with the idea of losing James.

That day you left the gift you got for Remus in your room, wore Gryffindor colors, wrote Potter on your forehead with red paint and cheered as your house team won the match against Ravenclaw. You saw how happy he was and you held in your tears feeling absolutely awful for what you were about to do.

His eyes sparkled when he noticed you, running to you and surrounding your body with his arms in a familiar hug, a kiss on the forehead where his name was written, "I can't believe you came, it wasn't even an important game."

"You're important to me and I realized I haven't shown that well enough." You hardened your grip around his waist, tears fighting the way down your cheeks. You looked up at him and his eyes changed, confusion and worry taking in, but before he could ask anything, you took his hand, pulling him with you far from the Gryffindor mass of people in the field.

"What's going on? Why are you crying? You know I'm not good with tears, please," he blurred out as soon as you stopped walking, worried sick that something had happened to you.

"I don't think we can keep dating, James." It was a whisper and it wouldn't be heard if you weren't so close to each other and so far from everyone else. Your eyes closed with as much strength as you could, tears being forced down by it. You kept your arms hanging by your sides, feeling unworthy of hugging him, and you waited what felt like an eternity for him to be mad, angry, you waited for the questions and the guilt. But it never came, so you opened your eyes and he was... Smiling.

Relieved.

"Thank god, Merlin, thank god, I thought I was mad for a minute there." He finally let out, you could feel how happy he was just by the tone of his voice, that was not at all the reaction you were expecting, it was better, obviously, but you were simply speechless and confused, not knowing how to reply to his relief, so he just kept going, sitting on the grass and pulling you down with him. "My mum told me we should go out and I thought maybe she was right. She was not."

"Why didn't you say anything? I was almost crying the whole game, and I look pathetic right now because I wanted to please you before destroying your heart."

The laugh you got from him with that was almost inhuman, and you weren't sure if it was because the thought of his heart being destroyed by you was too unreal or because you did look pathetic with his name written on your forehead.

"At first I thought it was supposed to be like that... Or that it would change with time." He looked up to the sky, the sun still out but not bright enough to hurt his eyes, he took a deep breath and shook his head, laughing again at the situation. "And then months went by and I was terrified I was going to hurt your feelings."

"Apparently our six months anniversary was to come this week." The fact he obviously had no idea, just like you, made it all even funnier, ironic even. "So I did what every good girlfriend would do. I bought expensive candy to one of your best mates."

"Nooooo, good Godric, woman, I thought I was an arsehole, you always surprise me." His dramatic silly response earned him a slap on his arm, strong enough to hear a loud yell from him as he felt it.

When you came back to the common room it was full of life and irresponsible drunk teens, you were happy with how things turned out but not at all in the mood to deal with that, so you went to your room, hoping to get clean and be alone with your thoughts for a bit.

You found Remus waiting at your door, messy hair, red eyes and nose, an empty cup of what you imagined was firewhisky in hand. "Been waiting for you." Your whole body trembled, he looked and sounded gorgeous even drunk.

"Sorry, I had to talk to James." You answered with a smile and you felt his eyes burn into your soul as he looked at your face, especially your damn forehead, Remus closed his eyes for just a second, licking his sudden dry lips before speaking again.

"You and Potter," he pointed at the name, smudged already, with the hand that was still holding the empty cup, "doing well, and I... Was waiting." You tilted your head, confused at the scoff he added to the end, the game wasn't even finished that long ago. You tried to touch his hand but he refused the touch. "If I wait long enough they will see." Remus chuckles, but his eyes are sad, you can see it, you've been used to his warm eyes and they looked cold, lifeless.

"Remmy, you're drunk, let's get inside, I've got you those chocolates we talked about!" You say eagerly, opening the door and hoping the promise of sweets would be enough to get him inside and sit him down on your bed, you were worried he would fall off the stairs at that state. You leave the door open as you get inside, getting the package you so carefully wrapped, showing him with excitement.

He was careful, slow, confusion written on his face as he took his steps towards you, blinking quick and hard trying to sober up, he left the cup on your nightstand and took the gift from your hands, both of you not making any sounds, the heavy breathing from both filling the room as he unwrapped it and saw how many different brands and flavors filled the box you gave him. "Why... You didn't have to... I don't..." Before he could go on a spiral of not deserving such treat, your index finger glued to his lips, stopping him.

You felt his lips quiver under your touch and that sent chills down your spine, you were unable to move, unable to speak, you were nervous, afraid you were going to do something stupid, scare him off. His eyes suddenly regaining that warmth you knew it fit him so well, if only for a second.

Remus opened his mouth and you dropped your hand on instinct, "I... love you, so I waited. Was sure you and James would break up." Your eyes widened at the confession and explanation for the obsessive talk about waiting. "Think not." He shrugs, eyes on your forehead and you quickly scrubbed your palm on the paint, trying to get it off, your focus going everywhere and nowhere at all, all at once.

You felt like your heart was about to beat itself out of your mouth, "this stupid thing was to break up with James, I wanted to be a nice girlfriend to him at least once." Remus heard that and without a word left your gift to him beside the firewhiskey cup, reaching out to you, strong and needy as one of his hands went straight to the small of your back, earning him a quick sigh from you, mixture of surprise and pleasure, he took your chin with his free hand, lifting you to face him.

You held your breath without even noticing, counting the seconds for him to finish his move, but Remus didn't, he just looked at you for seconds too long, you battled your nervous system and let your desire for him win, pulling him closer by his neck until your lips finally touched.

Just that little touch was able to flush your cheeks, feelings you couldn't comprehend or explain yet rushing through you as his tongue asked for permission to deepen the kiss, which you gladly give.

His lips were soft on yours but his hands now holding your waist were definitely not, the mere thought of having them mark the sides of your body giving you the confidence to pull his bottom lip lightly with your teeth, and Remus moaned, obviously enjoying it and you could swear to any god that you would do anything asked from you just to be able to keep getting those sounds from him.

You walked backwards to your bed, his lips leaving yours for air but quickly going to your neck as he followed your steps, you sat down and pulled him with you, laying on your pillow and feeling his weight over you, it was your time to moan feeling his leg in between your thighs as he switched between soft kisses and strong sucking your neck.

When your hands went to get his shirt off and his went up your skirt you realized what was almost happening, reality settling in above the teen hormones, "Rem, Rem." You put both palms up his chest, making him lift from his original position, the lack of his weight and warmth over you almost too much to bear. "You're drunk... and I... I've never done this before so... Could you wait a little more for me?" you were concerned for him, obviously you didn't want him to do anything he would regret, but you still felt embarrassed by your confession, being a virgin at fifteen was not weird at all, it was the norm, but still it felt weird to say it after all the feelings that made you burn for Remus just right now.

"Will always wait for you, Grumpy." He pulled you into a warm, strong, side hug, kissing the top of your head as his hand caressed your arm, up and down.

"Guess I did get a proper snog after cheering on James." You laughed, and he laughed. This was easy, it was familiar, but still... It made you feel like you could implode by how many different sensations you were feeling, emotionally, physically, mentally.

This was love.

[pinktrashgoblin]

SERIOUS POST.

This may have some uncomfortable topics. But please read this whole thing. It’s important to be transparent, and I don’t want Cin to spread more shit.

my deepest apologies to people who are just here on my blog and reblogging my work for fun.

EDIT: I can’t believe I have to say this but don’t fucking harass anyone mentioned in this post. That just reflects on YOU.

Alright, Cin. Since you want a response so bad, here ya go.

So what is this whole thing about?

User @/cintagonisupset is going around telling people this.

I’m already seeing the impacts, having my friends come to me about this. You’ve got my hands tied, so I’m making my statement.

First and foremost: I‘m not going to pretend that I didn’t make dirty jokes in my server in the past, before my birthday when I was 17, a minor myself, and before I banned such jokes last year. With 100% earnest I know this was a bad idea, and I have taken the time to be more careful about what I say around certain audiences. I am not perfect. But in his haste to fuck me up, he left out some crucial details.

1: I was 17 at the time, a minor myself, and was and still am in high school. I was a high schooler, making high-school-tier jokes in a server of other high schoolers. I am not ACTIVELY MAKING THESE JOKES like he says I am, and I do not condone the idea of doing so.

2: I am autistic. I struggle with social cues, with decision-making and so forth. I am only recently 18, but that does not mean I am mentally or emotionally mature, far from it. Mentally I am still a child. I struggle more than the average person with judgement, and often slip up around those I let my guard down around. I am working on this to avoid things such as this.

3: I am incredibly susceptible to peer pressure. In a place where those jokes were made, I wanted to feel like part of the group. So, as I often do, I mirrored behavior to feel like I fit in. I wasn’t sitting my high-school ass down and going “Let’s make raunchy jokes with kids!”, I was thinking in terms of “Maybe if I talk like them, they’ll like me and I’ll fit in somewhere” without fully realizing what everything meant, and without being able to properly process the social queues associated.

4: This was MONTHS ago. I do not actively do these things, nor condone them, I think it’s fucked up and I’ve done everything I can to be better than that. But to misrepresent the situation as me actively doing so isn’t great either.

So with that out of the way.

Do I think it was a good idea? No, absolutely not, but let’s not pretend that this is unheard of in high school and definitely on the internet. Since the dawn of time kids have made stupid jokes with one another. I was a middle schooler once and a high schooler now, I know exactly what goes on in those places. Let me restate: that doesn’t make it good, but let’s not pretend I’m the only high school kid who’s ever made a joke like that around their peers.

My point is, once this thing has become so normalized all over the place, in school, in media, it becomes difficult, especially for a neurodivergent such as myself, to deduce what to and not to do. I have fundamental principles and rules, but that does not mean I am not susceptible to being pressured into this sort of thing.

As I mentioned: I am not emotionally, or mentally, mature. I don’t know everything. I don’t fully comprehend the nuances of things. I am not always aware of what I am saying. I cannot understand social queues in the same way you do.

Make your conclusions as you will, but this is my stance, and this is the truth.

Also, maybe don’t tell people to kill themselves and that nobody likes them? Just a thought. (BTW: As mentioned I am autistic, it’s not as simple as “grow up”.)

TL;DR: I made raunchy/dirty jokes in my server when I was 17, in high school, with a bunch of other high schoolers, and Cin is telling me to end my life because of it.

Please consider my words. I have worked hard to build what I have, and feel it is important to be transparent. I want nothing but to make a positive impact on this community and the people within it. This does not mean I am perfect, but I am trying my best and my intentions are good.

Feel free to ask me, or leave opinions in the reblogs and replies. This is a conversation, not a preaching.

Also, about the art thief thing: I genuinely have no fuckin clue what he’s going on about there.

Edit: I have deleted the “P.S.” section regarding a suspicion I have to avoid further conflict.

[reidslovely]

Hi Bambi! Sorry this is late, but I’m always down to talk about Peter 🕸️❤️ How do you think he’d handle a “there’s only one bed” situation?? I can’t decide if he’d be cocky or awkward lol, but probably both

So glad you’re getting back in the swing of things! (Pun intended)

abby always a joy to see you in my inbox!! and it is not at all late (if anyone is late it is me hehe) requests will be open for quite a while!! i think that this is a very complex question i feel like peter would be too cocky about it to cover up how excited he'd be to share the bed. but at the same time your friends sooo it would be weird right??? let me walk you through it.

please reblog or comment when you like!!<3

Peter Parker ever since you had known him  was very shy, and couldn't talk his way out of a wet paper bag around girls. Not in elementary school or middle, and definitely not in high school. Maybe that's why you found the boy next door to be such an interesting person. Nearly six foot tall, eyes that could win any girl over, yet anytime he opens his mouth...pure word vomit. Peter Parker in college was the same, yet by this point he had done the whole boyfriend girlfriend thing and learned to hide his nervousness behind shitty flirting and the cockiness that seemingly flew out of nowhere the middle of senior year. 

However that shield broke the moment you checked into the beachside hotel. 

It was a gorgeous hotel sitting on the beachfront of Ocean City. Peter had booked the first hotel that popped up, and got the cheapest room they had moments after planning the impromptu spring break trip. However, opening the door he realized why a four night stay was so cheap for two people. A single bed sat in the middle of the pale blue room, the duvet a soft yellow with flowers sitting on the bed. 

“Oh I fucked up.” Peter mumbled laughing, tossing a quick glance at you. Hopefully you hadn’t thought this was a part of some long pawn he’d been playing to get you to fall into bed with him after all these years. Making a mental note to have May or you book a hotel for the next trip if there would ever be another trip after this. “Mhm, big time” You teased back sitting on the soft memory foam of the king bed. Peter rolled his eyes playfully, sticking his tongue to his teeth shaking his head. 

“You mean you don’t want to sleep with me? Could have fooled me.” 

Peter felt like his skin was on fire, he was praying you couldn’t see how red his face was. 

You scoffed, eyes following him around the room. “Hey you’re the one who looks like you’re about to burst into flames.” Mhm he was not hiding it well. “Well you’re passing up the chance of a lifetime, there are plenty of girls who would be dying to be where you are right now missy.” 

Peter states smugly, placing his hands on the back of his neck, making his torso a perfect target for you to hit him with the pillow you were holding on your lap. “Okay okay I’m serious.” He defends throwing it back, the pillow landing at your feet. “I don’t have the money to afford another room and still be an active participant on this trip so…” He thinks for a moment looking at the couch resting at the foot of the bed. “We can share a bed Peter.” 

The words made him want to giggle and kick his feet like a cartoon character. He hid a smirk forming on his lips, clearing his throat. “I mean I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.” “We used to share beds as kids.” You stated like it was no big deal. The two of you did share beds a lot until around middle school. Peter remembers being scared of sleeping on your floor so you’d let him into your bed at sleepovers, or Peter insisting that it was ungentlemanly to let you not have the bed at his house so the only explanation was to share. 

“Yeah but we were kids, now we are…” 

He was getting shy, and he felt so silly over it. Would sharing a bed really change nearly twenty years of friendship? 

“Fine, since you’re begging me to sleep with you. I’d be so evil to deny you.” Peter sighs like it is the most annoying situation ever. Hours at the beach took his mind off of what tonight would bring. He got excited and flattered at the thought of sleeping next to you, and felt like he was a kid in the science museum again. Once you both returned to the hotel Peter let you shower while he tried to figure out the best way to go about this. He turned the TV on to kill his mind a little bit, he lies in multiple different ways trying to make it seem as normal as possible yet he felt silly. 

Nothing felt natural.

Until you got in the bed with him. Your head on his shoulder as you scrolled on your phone, Peter watching the TV glancing at you occasionally. His hand rubbing your side slowly makes his heart flutter, instinctively he buries his head in your wet hair smiling at the videos on your phone. 

“What are you doing weirdo?” 

“I love you..I love this.”

 He whispers, nudging his nose against your head, it falls out so perfectly. It makes the moment even more perfect. You laugh, not out of disgust or shock but it is a laugh of relief. He sinks down into the bed pulling you with him, holding you closer. Pete hums awaiting a response watching you put your phone down.

“If I knew getting you into bed with me would be what made you finally confess I would have used that years ago.” “Mhm well..y’know what they say.”

“What do they say?” 

“Usually I love you too” He snickered, pushing hair from your forehead kissing softly. 

“Go to bed” You laugh smacking his chest. Peter hums holding you closer, closing his eyes, head still in your hair. Against his skin hears and feels your soft reply of 

“I love you too.”

🩵

hope that tickles your itch abby

__

forgot to do the taglist on the last few posts but doesn't really matter because some of those I tag never really interact with the fic lol.

@helloheyhihowdyheya @toomanyfictionalboyfriends @megmehz @sincericida @andrews-lovr @eevylynn @a-lumos-in-the-nox

[greycaelum]

I feel like Satoru has some low level 'I want to save everyone' thing in him because of his abilities. What if Kouki inherited it? Kouki got tangled with a bullying sesh and it resulted to brawling. Well, Kouki tried to be the big boy and talk things out but everything escalated. Just like Megumi-nii! And the parents got called in the principal's office. Satoru, the proud dad becuase he trained him and yn just sighs.

Kaleidoscope Series—Clouds and Mochi Chapters { Son }

—Gojo Satoru X Wife Reader

𑁍 Synopsis:

If there is one person he unquestionably respects, there's only one person in his mind.

It's his Father.

𑁍 Genre: family theme, fluff, angst if you squint, comfort

𑁍 CW/TW: (1.5k)—bullying, guidance office, brawl, Satoru just being a proud dad, and the munchkins protective moments, NOT PROOFREAD this is fight-or-fight *sigh

𑁍 A/N: Better late than never for my munchkin, here's to Kou's 8th birthday. Can't have my little mochi growing up to soon. Excuse Grey for being MIA, I'm dying from simultaneous exams, defense, and work can't believe I manage to sneak this in~ —Grey

If there is one person he unquestionably respects, there's only one person in his mind.

It's his Father.

The unwavering stance of his Papa never seems to falter.

"Again."

Kouki gasp for air on his knees. His sore arms barely supported him as he feels his muscles shaking.

"Get up Kou, on your feet, c'mon buddy." His Papa looked at him observantly but at the same time made no move to help him. "No one's gonna help you unless you help your self little one."

Has was six. Barely got his 'r' and 'l' right but started the daily training with his father. An hour of uninterrupted various activities tired and challenged him. It was the time not even his Mama can come and intervene.

He didn't hate it. Looking back on those times, he is certain that it's the reason he didn't break apart even after his curse techniques nearly shattered his mind.

"In a fight, you don't win just by physical force Kikufuku." His Father sighed, flicking his nose the nth time for losing yet again. "You first shatter the mind." The back of his father's finger knocked on his temples. "Then you break their body."

His Father sternly prohibited him from all the things he learned in their training to use against harmless people.

"What happened to your cheeks, sweetheart?" You asked him, wiping your hands and kneeling before your son who just came home from school. The reddish-than-normal patch and dirt on his clothes awakened your curiosity and fear at the solitary guess in your mind.

"I should've made myself clear. I did say don't use it on harmless people... But." His Papa busied himself cleaning Kouki's wounds while you are inquiring the school about this incident. His Papa's eyes stared at him with a dissatisfied glint. "I didn't mean that you let yourself get kicked around buddy."

Kouki remembers the distress on your face seeing him once again dirty and all. His Father never mentioned a word but only looked at him for a long time before announcing dinner. He finds it unnecessary to fight for himself. He's never been diligent enough to bother proving himself. But it comes differently when it's directed to the people he loves.

Really he never meant to let it get too far. Kouki sighed with his arms crossed over his chest. Sitting in front of him is his classmates, battered and dirty.

They are all sitting on the other side, glaring at him who's sitting by the left seat all alone.

To be fair he did hold back. His Mama raised him better than being a violent person, and while his Pa taught him how to fight, he never taught him to recklessly hit others. He doesn't really want his Ma to come to fetch him in the discipline's office.

Contrary to popular belief, he's a pretty quiet kid in the class. But these kinds of brawls always gravitate towards him since middle school.

The door slammed open. The familiar long white hair of his sister contrasts the gloomy atmosphere of the room. Her bright blue eyes darted from her brother and to the other side of the boys hunched altogether.

A feral glint soon emanated from her eyes. Kouki sometimes has to blame their father for letting Saika join in those training. She's always been a hot-tempered girl.

"You dare punch my broth—"

Kouki was ready to jump on his sister when the door slammed open.

"Ah! There's my boy, no bruises and all clean. See I told you Honey he's fine. Right, Kikufuku?"

The striking silvery white mane of his father gathered all the attention, followed by your figure, worriedly looking at your children. The guidance counselor also went inside.

Satoru looks at the boys on the other side. All looked at him and his wife with pale faces.

"I beat them up. And I'm not going to say sorry." Kouki scowled before the guidance counselor spoke.

"Well, that's not the best thing to say in your situation, young lad." The elder woman sighed. Gesturing for you and Satoru to sit. Saika finds her way to see beside her brother, calm but Kouki can see the bearings working inside his sister's brain.

"This is the..." The woman looked at you and at the record in her hand. "Fifth offense, dear. Quite overdue don't you think?" The elder lady looked at the young boys who are itching to bite at Kouki. "As for you children, five versus one? Really boys?"

Satoru chuckled. You elbowed him stifling him up.

In his defense, he gotta love the humor of the new guidance counselor.

"You won buddy." Satoru ruffled his son's hair making the boy squirm.

"Satoru." You growled, slowly regretting bringing your husband with you.

"He punched us first!"

"You talked to me first." Kouki raised a brow. 

"Mrs. Gojo, anything to say about your son's behavior?" The counselor asked. She looks and acts more calm than the previous flirty lady.

"We're not in the scene, c'mon we're at work. How about you guys tell us? Since you're the ones in school? Hmmm?" Satoru intervened, engulfing your hand in his hold to stop you. "Or how about you guys tell us?" Satoru switched to a friendly tone and looked at the boys.

Let me Honey... it was a quiet note for you.

"He punched us first! We were just talking." One of the boys justified, but quickly hunched his shoulders when he met Satoru's direct gaze.

"You were talking about how I and my sister are witches, with our unusual hair," Kouki lowly growled. Eyes turning shades darker.

"Satoru." You shakily uttered your husband's name.

"It was fine really, if you just talked about me, I would let you go." Kouki's eyes turned dark that you swear they looked so much like his Father's, much more resemblant compared to his sister's. A quiet raging storm. "But if I let you go it's like I feel sorry for myself and my sister for looking like how we are. And I'm never gonna be sorry for looking like my father much more for beating you up." Your son subtly hissed.

"Hmmm, well said, well said." Satoru nodded, once again intervening. Glancing at the new guidance counselor who took off her glasses and frowned.

"You three go out. I need to talk to the counselor alone." You kicked your cats out before they make any more ruckus.

"Now let's talk won't we little ones?" You turned to the children with a sigh.

Satoru waited outside the nearby cafe with his son sitting beside him and Saika busy playing with his sunglasses.

It's not the first time, to be fair, he was ready to transfer his kids the second they wished so. But Kouki endured it. Satoru knew his son's temper, perhaps better than you. It's a man-to-man thing. The lil' mochi wouldn't complain if it's just about him. He would keep quiet even if the kids isolate him. Even if he's always left with the shortest stick, the hardest challenges. The lil' guy would just accept it and go on.

He's always been a little worried for his son letting himself put up with such grievances. But later he understands that the little guy just doesn't wanna bother too much about the temporary things. And that he just has a different trigger than the rest. It's not about him, but his trigger lies in those he holds dear. And that doesn't make Kouki weak, it just makes him more untouchable by ephemeral situations.

He doesn't need to say much but ruffling his son's long hair is more than enough to make the little one lit up.

"Did you won?"

"Of course Papa, not a scratch or a punch. See?" Kouki grinned showing off his pristine uniform as clean as it was when you ironed it this morning.

A familiar silhouette of a young rebellious teenager with black hair flashed through Satoru's mind. As calm and organized Megumi looks, the kid was worth a dozen being the "problem" child that Satoru never really had a problem raising.

"Good boy, next we'll learn jujitsu."

"Satoru your son is still just 9." You cut him off. Setting your bag beside your husband.

"Mama," Saika ran to your legs.

"Nothing too early to start discipline." Satoru shrug. "C'mon Honey, I'm his father. Can't have my son getting kicked around."

You sighed, shaking your head and told the kids to fetch their bags. You're bringing them home early today. When they came back Satoru took their bags, your children more than excited to go home.

"Kou, Sai,—" you kneeled in front of your son and daughter, bringing their hands to your lips. "—being different doesn't make you any less. To the people who really love you, you'll never be any less."

—GreyCaelum

PLAGIARISM IS A CRIME

Check out the Masterlist for more

All rights and credits of the Jujutsu Kaisen character(s) mentioned images(s) and songs(s) used, belongs to their respective owner(s)

General/Kaleidoscope Series Taglist: @ice-icebaby  @aeanya  @gummy-dummy @tender-rosiey @lexiene @nevermoresworld

[6okuto]

I saw "suggestion for cove" i ran here asap. So hear me out hear me out.... In game you only hear about mc and Cove going to school between the steps so i would love to see if you have any headcanon about the two of them hanging school life ( from step 1 age to step 3, you choose what age )

— cove school life hcs

thank you. Thank You. i miss him. like i could just replay the game he's Right There but I Miss Him. i'm saur sorry if any of this doesn't match canon I haven't played in so long. also sorry if my experience doesn't match urs. um. i tried to pick universal experiences

the both of you stay up the night schedules come out to make sure you have classes together. there's quiet celebrations when you match up and groans where you don't

you share anything and everything that happened during your time apart on your way home ! cove has never had your math teacher in his life but from the sheer amount of stories you've shared he hopes he never sets foot in that class

BOOK FAIRS! if you really wanted something he'd offer to help pay for it. he might have gotten one of the cool pens or eraser or something

you're always field trip buddies. you sit on the bus together, you walk around together, it is simply law!

oh my god assemblies where the teachers got seats and the kids didn't. he turns to you and whispers about how unfair it is every year. you agree obviously

THE SCHOOL CHRISTMAS PLAYS ☹️ thinking about little cove singing. help. the songs get stuck in your head after music class so they get stuck in His and

little school valentine's where the both of you get each other the cards/candies they sell. platonic or not—personally i love doing it w friends

god. you know he's going to bee line towards you during group projects. why wouldn't he! he knows how you work, you know how he works, it's perfect like It's Perfect

doodle on his notebook doodle on his notebook do

there's a page where the both of you talk in the back of your notes that's a complete mess but it's lovely

asks you for help on what to say during introductions/ice breaker activities. what he says changes over time of course but he's been using the same base for years atp

school dances might be a bit hectic for him but if you wanted to go he'd definitely try his best . just give him some time and don't pull him into the middle of it all please

depends on if cove was athletic or studious but um. cove protecting you during dodgeball! let's think about this (said by girl who despised every version of dodgeball.)

you know he loved the swimming unit for p.e. like he'd actually be excited to come to school

the Dance unit. every time he'd switch over to being your partner you could see him relax

would Absolutely do the thing where you stand in line in a way so you get put on the same teams. every time the teacher would pull a quick one and you'd be on different teams he'd either sneak onto yours or be very upset.

if the class had an assigned seating chart he'd be very tense walking in before seeing the board. he denies it but you're either going to see him pout or grin at the results so

i don't know how they got to school but If it was a vehicle,, car or bus,, just imagining you dozing off and cove scooting over so you can rest your head on his shoulder ☹️

(the first time he saw you rest against the window he started panicking because of how bumpy the road was and now it's stuck in his mind forever)

walking is still quite lovely though. holding hands on the way to school...please.

you and cove will always wait for each other any day you finish earlier than the other

if you ever forgot your lunch cove is immediately splitting his in half

he'd help you study for your classes even if he wasn't taking them. hand him a quizlet/flashcards/your study guide and you're all set!!

y'know how they'd force you to go outside for recess even if it was cold as shit. i feel like cove tried to hide in the washroom at least Once. he could probably get away with it a few times before getting caught

i think it's up to you what it is but like, having something you do after exams to celebrate and relax. i'm not saying cove uses this as motivation but you know.

and if you ever did particularly bad on one cove would be upset with you because ?? he knows how hard you tried and just wants to cheer you up. always reminds you that you did your best and there's always next time.

gives you a Look when you tell him you stayed up or weren't taking care of yourself. will do everything in his power to help you

depending on what clubs you joined, he'd try to tag along. especially if it was a more chill one and not like, a dance club (😔)

^ though if you were in any kind of performance cove would make sure he could come. smiles to himself when you get on stage like Ok That's Awesome For Me

in my mind if you're dating,, you are The prom couple. even if you aren't voted in, it doesn't take a lot to notice the sea green haired boy and his s/o who he has a soft spot for. come on. there's at least 2 friend groups discussing how you'd win (i have no idea how prom works btw)

you know at the end of elementary + jr. high + high school there'd be those parties or graduation. people, fairly, get upset about leaving their friends. but cove without fail looks at you and is always always grateful for the fact he knows he won't lose you

i don't know the last time i used this taglist If Ever. pls tell me if ur not supposed to be on it omg. | @lordbugs @xfangirl-trashx @fifteenshadesofpinkk @lotus-sukimono @bakugosgrenade @vhenis

[thedivineflowers]

HII!! My first time requesting so I feel a little silly, I love your works and as a former middle schooler I love thinking of these silly dudes as my brothers and I can imagine it really well through your writing and your humor is just like mine! In your parental terms fic I read Azul offer us a job at Mostro lounge and I honestly wanna know the daily activities and goofiness that happens on our work shifts😭 feel free to decline this I can’t wait for you deuces mom fic!<3🙈

Ofc ofc and I won't decline this masterpiece bb.

School night:

Clocking in at work:

When you clock in at work you gotta be early and then go to Azul's VIP room so you can tell him about the bitch who stole your test answers and eat your snack.

If you don't clock in at the right time you will be called and texted multiple times and hunted down by the twins who are just as worried about you as Azul.

When you're done with your snack you go change into your work uniform which is the dorm uniform but you have a lounge pin on your bowtie which has a tracker so Azul can keep an eye on you. And you also get your own version of Azul's coat because I know it's cold as fuck in that damn lounge.

Near beginning of shift:

If at any point you have to take a break not even one madol will be taken off your payment no matter how long your break is.

And ofc you goof off and you're allowed to be mean to the customers.

"Hey, I wanted clams not crabs!" A customer shouted at you. "AND I WANTED A SEA PONY, LIFE AINT FAIR." You shouted at the customer and threw a knife and fork on their plate.

You and Floyd are allowed to throw people out of the Lounge and you two mostly throw people out together.

You hold the person by their hands and Floyd holds them by their feet. You start swinging the person towards the opened lounge doors. "One..." You started "Two..." Floyd said "THREE!!" You both shouted at the same time and threw the ex customer out and closed the door with a satisfied sigh.

And sometimes if you can or want to Azul would host shows for you to entertain the audience and get more Madol 😈😈😈. And to make the school fear you. 🧍‍♂️

Middle of shift:

At this time you get a thirty minute break. You mostly get your breaks with the twins so they mostly take you to go feed the sea animals and try to help you with your homework if you have any. Or if you have nothing to do you go bother the other workers and scare them. More than half of them bitches are scared of your feral ass so you just gotta do some oogly boogly shit and theyll be saying sorry.

When your break ends you have to go back to work. But you are left in charge of the lounge when Jade and Floyd have to go observe a deal with Azul. So you mostly have customers complain to you while the twins are away and you get this time to mess with them if it's something stupid.

And most of the time is stuff about how they did not like the food when they just wanted to not pay for their food. They say this while they're paying and then demand a whole ass refund so you go into the secret monopoly money stash and give it to them saying it's limited edition madol. 🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂️

And sometimes Azul himself will come in to see how things are doing and will chat with the guests but he's just watching and making sure that you're alright and don't need a break cause dawg you're a fucking kid working a whole ass job trying to get paid more than what Crowley gives you and you got all this stuff to do bro you couldn't even enjoy being a kid anymore when you first met the old ass man😔 😒.

Near the end of the shift:

At this time it's when the lounge starts closing up and people start leaving and this means extra money and coins to snatch 😈😈. You find about 500 madol lying around throughout the lounge and Azul says you can keep it most of the time.

And around this time Azul has you eat your dinner and calm down after working and you change out of your uniform right when the clock hits 9 (idfk so ima take a guess and say nine through ten at night). And when Azul makes sure your homework is completed and correct you'd be allowed to do whatever.

And sometimes it's too late to be walking out by yourself so Azul and the twins have you sleep in your own dorm room over there and if Grims with you he has his own bed and blankets next to yours. (It was demanded that the cat gets a bed by you or else you'd go bat shit around Azul's office. 🧍‍♂️) and you have your own matching pajama set that's similar to Azul so after you're done getting ready for bed you'd go in Azul's office sometimes to keep him company and drag him to his room because his eyebags look this close to being able to hold a whole fucking Walmart.

Weekend:

Clocking in:

It's morning time and you're ass is waking up at fucking 10 in the morning because you slept at 4 and almost pulled an all nighter.

You have to go to Azul's office when you wake up or else Azul will give you the day off to sleep and gaggle around.

And when you finish eating your breakfast and waking up you get to change into your uniform and choose what you want to do, paper work, keeping Azul company, or working with the twins.

You still get paid so 💃.

But sometimes Azul will have you turn into a merfolk by drinking a potion and you get to swim around the aquarium and spook the customers.

Middle of shift:

You get your break and your lunch to eat and it's free because you were able to say hello to Lucious the other day during the animal speech class.

And after that you get to do whatever you want or you could go and observe one of Azul's contract agreements thingies with the twins.

And if they try to like swing at Azul you get to go batshit and drag them outside while Azul cleans up his office for his next contract.

Near end of shift:

This time it's a little later which is 10 at night and you all clean up yiddy yadda but you get more extra change because you performed earlier.

Then you get to change out of your uniform once Azul tells you and you immediately have to take a shower then get ready for bed because you don't know when you're gonna sleep.

And obviously have no homework (🤮🤮 EEWWWWW) so you get stay up worh Azul and the twins watching national geographic, cooking shows, extreme cheapskates, boxing matches or basketball games. One of those. And you all end up sleeping on the couch in your room where the TV is (you're fucking spoiled) and sometimes you all would just sit around and gossip but no one knows what goes on in your room but the lights are always on until morning 😨. So far Floyd has taught you how to give a hug bigger than his 🤗. You've sent three people to the infirmary in less than two hours in school.

You obviously stay over because no one wants to go out that fucking late unless you're getting paid to go and rock someones shit 😒.

YEYEYEYEYEYEYYEY

I LOVE THOS SM JWHWBWJWJWJWM

Anyways I hope you like it. I know i was like kinda late I'm still working on the other ones so def look forward to those 😘😘😘

[fyrewalks]

officially meet tommy kinard, andie's (@lvebug) uncle

Tommy is born on Nov 10, 1980 to two successful parents - his dad is an award-winning chemistry prof at ucla and his mom owns an event planning business that has strong Hollywood ties 

His full name is Thomas Elijah Kinard, but he’s always gone by Tommy.

He has an older sister, Rebecca, who is 11 years older. Despite the age difference, they are very close. 

Tommy is a shy kid, mostly - and it works out. He doesn’t mind being left at home or hanging out in his parent’s offices or backrooms of events so long as he’s got books and comics and tv to keep him entertained. 

The trouble starts when he’s in middle school. He switches from a Jewish day school to a public school, and alongside a growth spurt, he starts to outgrow his shyness. He gets into sports, makes new friends, and it becomes clear that he was an ‘oops’ baby with two parents who prioritize their own careers and miss a lot of his games and extracurriculars.  They already did it once with Rebecca, and beyond keeping up appearances, don’t want to do it again with Tommy. 

Tommy is 15 (1995) when he moves in with Rebecca and her fiance, James.

He’s on the football team, popular both academically and outside of school, but he’s still a shy kid at heart and keeps an eye out for outcasts. 

After his third fight, his parents are done with his antics. No one cares that he was only standing up against a few bullies; he threw the first punches. 

Despite the potential for awkwardness, it’s a relatively smooth transition. He’s happy to spend more time with his sister and bonds with James over cars and football. 

Tommy stops attending synagogue. Rebecca encourages him to go but respects that their parents made it feel like an obligation. He keeps up culturally, though. 

Tommy graduates high school early; he starts college/rotc at 17 (1997) and finishes at 20 (2000).

While Rebecca and James are welcoming, Tommy’s aware he’s holding back their relationship. Plus, between Andie being born in ‘96 and him no longer living with his parents, there’s a fire to get started with his ‘adult’ life. 

His football coach is an army vet and knowing his interest in cars, figures Tommy would make it well as a mechanic or get some advanced training for something more technical. 

Tommy plans on just enlisting, but Rebecca pushes him to consider college. (They were, after all, raised by the same parents who put a heavy emphasis on education.)

He attends ucla and joins the rotc, considering it a compromise. Between the program and his father’s benefits as a professor there, most of his expenses are covered. While his parents don’t love his plan, they support him monetarily, and really, they know his success and future army career reflect well on them. 

Tommy majors in psychology figuring it’ll be easy since he had no real interest in going to college.

This chunk of time is also when Tommy starts noticing his interest in men. There are a few hookups, but it’s explained away with tiny excuses and the idea that he’s young and horny. Although, he is careful to keep it away from his budding army career. 

Beyond that, Tommy thrives in college. He was a popular kid in high school so this is no different. He’s charming and genuinely kind. (And being a guy’s guy, aka into typically masculine things, doesn’t hurt.)

Tommy secures a spot in flight school (20-21) and is an active duty as a helicopter pilot until 2004. 

He might’ve dragged his feet about his college, but he ends up grateful since his status as an officer comes with better pay and a chance to become a pilot. 

Given the timing, Tommy faces a lot of pressure to continue past his initial active duty commitment. While he’s faired better than some in terms of only suffering minor injuries, he didn’t understand the scope of his commitment nor did he imagine being in actual war when he was seventeen. He misses Rebecca and Andie; when the time comes, he decides to serve his remaining time in the reserves. 

Like college and high school, Tommy finds it easy to fit in. If his masculinity was praised in college, it’s tenfold during active duty. Of course, only as long as he plays up the same ignorance where his sexuality is concerned - he doesn’t think DADT personally affects him since he very firmly shuts down any interest in men. (Obviously, with reflection and time, he knows this was just denial and a way to keep himself safe subconsciously.) 

At 25, he is in the reserves, back in LA, and new to the 118. A few months before he finishes his probie year, Rebecca and James are killed in a car accident. In their wills, it’s their final wish that Tommy take in Andie, who is almost eight years old. 

His parents offer some financial support, but not much else. They further withdraw with the death of their daughter; as has been the case for a while, his parents find it easier to love him, and by extension Andie, from a distance. 

Tommy struggles a lot during this time. He’s navigating life post-army, grieving his sister and brother-in-law, and struggling to balance his job with taking care of Andie. Reserve duty also proves challenging since it requires a weekend away every month and two weeks away once a year. 

All this to say, his attitude isn’t the greatest. (It’s part resurgence of the shyness he felt as a kid and part anger at how hard everything’s become, only mildly tempered by someone who finds popularity and fitting in easier now.)

After his sister’s death, Tommy starts attending synagogue again.

While his attendance is spotty, he makes the effort to go because he doesn’t want Andie to go alone or miss out. This time, though, he feels a genuine connection to his faith rather than a familial obligation. 

The support he and Andie receive through their synagogue ultimately helps them adjust to their new life - frozen meals, car pools, babysitting, etc. 

Andie meets Chimney as his probationary year comes to an end (2007). Starting to feel more settled in their life, and having a community to fall back on, Tommy makes more of an effort to be friendlier and welcoming at the firehouse. He starts sharing more about Andie, his sister, and what his life looks like outside of shifts. 

At twenty-eight, Tommy officially retires from the reserves. He starts pursuing his flight instructor certification and becomes a certified instructor by thirty for extra income. 

Also, during this time, Tommy starts casually dating. He feels old, out of practice, and finds it hard to relate to people given he’s raising his niece. 

He dates both men and women at first, and experiments with labels, before realizing he’s gay and always has been. Andie is the first person he tells and he decides against being out at work too. 

In 2017, at 37, Tommy transfers to the lafd air station and decides he’s tired of living his life half in the closest. It’s not what he wants for himself nor the example he wants to set for Andie. He’s been proud of so much in his life (his military career, his piloting, and raising Andie through so much grief and heartache) that there’s no reason he shouldn’t be just as prideful and open with his gayness too.  

So, current season - Tommy is 44. 

other details:

alt fc if i ever make promos/icons: oliver jackson-cohen

[ssruis]

i like youre posts, thoughts on ruinene ?

As a romantic dynamic: I don’t really think abt them that way… it’s the unrepentant emunene/ruikasa bias. Also a lot of rui & nene’s interactions read as very… sibling-like? To *me*. Personally. I hesitate to say sibling-like, because people get really weird about assigning family dynamics to characters who aren’t related or raised as siblings and have never referred to each other as siblings (“it’s basically incest” no it is not what are you on), but it’s something similar to that imo. Gestures at nene’s new 3rd anniversary 2* card story where Rui is like “I remember when you were reading picture books… and now you’re reading more advanced books… how time flies…” & she’s like “stop treating me like a kid 😑” despite being him being only one year older than her.

I don’t have anything against it (& I think taking shipping fictional characters seriously enough to fight over it is ridiculous), it’s just not for me & I don’t see it romantically. But for the people who do: you do you have fun enjoy yourselves. (I also personally think Rui is gay coded but again. Idc if people disagree it doesn’t affect me I’m glad they’re having fun. Also that’s a hot button topic & I don’t want the people who do take this shit too seriously to hunt me down with pitchforks and torches please go outside it’s not that deep.)

As a platonic dynamic/going off what’s in canon: I’m so obsessed with them (as I am with all wxs dynamics). They’re so fascinating to me. They make me so sad. Another reason I hate the “they’re siblings” thing is it feels like a boring restrictive box people want to shove their dynamic into that does a disservice to how interesting it is. It waters it down.

Nene was the only person Rui really had as a friend when he was a kid, and the only person who trusted in him and his ideas. They grew their love for theatre together. At some point they grew distant - we don’t know why, but my personal take on it is this:

1. Rui slowly growing to think he would never find anyone who got him after experiencing rejection after rejection, and pushing Nene away. A combination of “I need to leave her before she leaves me, this way it will hurt less because it’s My Choice”, “I shouldn’t inflict myself upon other people it’s better for everyone if I stay by myself”, and “Nene has her own friends now I would just be dragging her down.”

2. Nene having her own friends (new troupe) and slowly pulling back - or, at least, not actively trying to prevent him pushing her away. “I don’t want to experience the same social rejection, and I don’t know how to help Rui, there’s nothing I can do.” Nene, especially in the early days, has never been very assertive, and I don’t think favoring blending into the background over standing out (in a potentially embarrassing way) due to Rui’s stunts and ideas would be out of character for her.

3. I don’t think they went to the same middle school/junior high (I could be wrong) (did they even go to the same elementary school?) which meant they didn’t spend time together without one of them reaching out, which became increasingly rare.

I don’t think either of them are to blame. Or they share equal blame, depending on how you look at it. I see people placing more of the blame on Nene though, which is… Nene get behind me. Leave her alone. If you held my prsk account at gunpoint and said “ok but seriously who is more to blame for the relationship breakdown you have choose or your 4*s are gone forever” I would say Rui. Wouldn’t even have to think about it. Given his abandonment issues/avoidant tendencies/habit of pushing others away/pre main story mindset, it’s what makes the most sense.

They don’t really reconnect until the main story, and even then I wholeheartedly believe Rui was less interested in reconnecting than he was interested in getting Nene to perform again. He accepts Tsukasa’s invitation to WxS under the condition that he gets to bring in a fourth member and then immediately tries to leave the second Tsukasa is like “I don’t want to die wtf.” like he doesn’t even try that hard to convince him he just goes “ok bye have fun nene :).”

Rui builds Nene a robot so she can perform again which - I’ve talked about it before briefly, I need to talk about it at length at some point, but while that’s very sweet it’s also… not helpful. Not in the long run, at least. It wasn’t a *bad* thing, it was just the only solution he was capable of offering. It was a bandaid over a gaping wound situation - Nene couldn’t hide behind a robot forever. Rui couldn’t always be there to fix nenerobo, she couldn’t pursue performing seriously behind a robot, and she *wanted* to be on stage again. What Nene needed was the courage to get on stage again, and Rui didn’t have the skill set to help with that, because it was something Nene needed to find on her own (with support).

The thing about them in the early days is they both enabled each other to stagnate in situations they weren’t happy with. Maybe more so Rui than Nene, in that he literally built he a robot to allow her to avoid confronting her anxiety around performing, but Nene also lacked the ability to challenge or discourage Rui’s “I’m better off on my own” mindset. The tragic consequences of two people who lack social skills (one of which has pretty severe social anxiety) trying to help each other. Nothing really gets done.

(As an aside: this is why the emu+nene and tsukasa+rui dynamics are so crucial. Yes even outside of a ship dynamic I promise I’m accounting for my own bias. Emu+tsukasa did actually have the ability to encourage nene+rui to come out of their shells - Emu is Nene’s no.1 hype man and always encourages her in everything she does and pushes her outside her comfort zone socially. Nene doesn’t have to guess at what Emu is thinking & get caught up in the weeds of anxiety bc Emu will just tell her outright. Rui credits Tsukasa specifically with giving him the chance to change for a reason, and Mizuki/pandemonium NPCs point out that Rui has seemed so much happier and less closed off since becoming Tsukasa’s friend. Pointing @ the thing Rui’s CV said about as you like it.)

There’s still some degree of guilt on Nene’s side wrt being unable to help Rui even now, but that’s lessened over the course of the story. There’s a lot that goes unsaid between them about their shared past, but they also understand each other incredibly well after knowing each other for ~10 years. By virtue of knowing each other forever they’re both well acquainted with how the other’s mind works.

Nene can tell what’s bothering Rui in wonder halloween before even he realizes it, and she understands that he struggles to explain/articulate his feelings and issues in curtain call. Rui is tuned into Nene’s anxiety saw trap of a mind and is well versed in getting her to realize she’s overthinking things (I.e. “why don’t you just ask tsukasa what he did in the acting camp” in her emu3 2* card. I think that’s the right card) as well as getting her to speak up (shutting emu up with a donut in one of the earlier nene card stories so nene has a chance to talk. source here is just trust me I don’t want to hunt the card down).

Nene is always in his corner, and the reverse is true. They want each other to be happy and they’re so so so pleased that the other is doing better now. Nene often points out that Rui seems happier, and Rui is very proud of how far Nene has grown both on the stage and off it. Love their dynamic it’s so good… I care them…

[iyokko]

introducing: iyo

sup! i’m iyo. i’ve had this account for a while, but finally decided to start using it. this is probably the most formal i’ll be for a while. also, a txt version of the image with more info is below in the cut!

introduction pt. 2

general stuff

iyokko — any prns (they/them default, afab)

hi there! i’m a midwestern digital artist who also likes to dabble into worldbuilding. i’m quite busy with schoolwork and extracurriculars, but i like to make time to share my insane ramblings i have throughout the day.

i’ve got a lovely girlfriend! i’m fruity, unfortunately. i might talk about her occasionally, but i’ll try not to since this is the public eye.

i have a pretty poor attention span though, and i’ll probably appear periodically on this account. when that happens, i’m still alive! feel free to send me stuff.

fandoms

here are some of my interests as of late:

murder drones

aphmau (why i joined tumblr! was a mystreet and minecraft diaries kid growing up.)

alice in borderland

extraordinary attorney woo

wings of fire + fantribes (also a wof kid! still am. make most of my extra cash through the ever-popular fantribes on discord.)

blue lock (manga)

beastars + beast complex (both manga)

oshi no ko (manga — stopped reading it for now since it’s gone off on the deep end)

hallow knight

danganronpa (the disease infected me in middle school and it’s sadly rotted in my head permanently)

one piece (just got into it! wish me luck)

warrior cats (read this at the same time as wof and aph. no wonder i came out so gay)

other stuff too! this is just from the top of my head.

qna

what brought you to joining tumblr?

aphmau brought me here! i saw the community, and as a lifelong aphmau fan—with a rewrite in the works by the way—i just had to join in. tumblr’s been on my radar for a while now to join!

what/when will you post?

i’ll be generally posting my art and ramblings! unfortunately, i probably won’t have a very set schedule, but i’ll try to post at least once or twice a week.

what should i stay for?

if you like my personality or art style, then you should stick around! i can’t promise i’ll be talking about every fandom i’m in, but a few that have always stuck with me are danganronpa, aphmau, and wings of fire. those three will probably continue being posted about throughout my tumblr career, so if you like that sort of content, i might be up your alley.

my inbox—is it open?

it’s currently open! but please be patient with me, i’ve only ever lurked on tumblr before. actually using it is currently a mystery i’m uncovering.

any sideblogs to be aware of?

currently i have one other account for my mcd and myst rewrite! it’s called @iyo-mcd-rewrite! hopefully the link worked for that—if not, you’ll often see me reblog posts from it.

i might make others for my two other big fandoms (wof and danganronpa), but for now they’ll be contained in this main one!

do you have other accounts?

discord — iyokko

instagram — iyokko__

toyhouse — iyokko

twitter — iyokko185998

email — iyokko.15@gmail.com

where do i contact you?

i’m most active on discord and toyhouse, but if you dm me on insta or email me, i’ll get it at a later date! twitter i am at a loss for on dms. that’s all for now!

[abrthephantomq]

Encoder Zim, Ch 2, pt 3

Every. Single. Class.

Zim was in every. single. one. of his classes. 

He shouldn’t have been surprised. He knew this was going to happen. Middle Skool hadn’t been much better; though at least then he and Zim didn’t have the same lunch. At least, not for the first half of the school year, anyway. 

The last class of the day was PE. At first the class went over the weekly schedule; how they’d spend two days in the weight room and the other three in the gym proper. 

Today, being the first official day for Freshmen, though, meant that an old staple came into play:

Dodgeball. 

Dib hated dodgeball. Like always, he was picked close to last – some other unfortunate looking kid he didn’t know got picked after him. 

Zim, of course, stood on the opposite team, teeth bared in a smile that could’ve doubled as a sneer in Dib’s direction. He already had a dodgeball in his hands. His blonde hair – which Dib knew was a wig; he’d seen the alien sans disguise before – already had that disheveled look to it that came with a day of activity. 

(Dib hadn’t given Zim the satisfaction of commenting on his change in hair style – the longer Dib went without saying something about it, the more annoyed Zim seemed to get. For how tired Dib was, he’d take his wins where he could get them – even if that meant Zim grew more and more unhinged as the day went on.)

Dib wanted nothing more than to get his hands on a ball and smack Zim in the face with it. Unfortunately for him, his aim was typically fucking atrocious. It was everything Dib could do to stay in the game, usually.

The moment their overly muscled PE teacher blew the whistle, Dib did his best to keep away from the onslaught of dodgeballs. He dodged and threw himself around in weird ways, keeping his eyes on Zim all the while. 

He knew Zim would cheat, somehow. 

He always did. With those pak legs, usually – he’d “jump” up higher to get a better angle and to dodge Dib’s teams balls. With multiple balls in play, though, Dib knew he was likely to get his ass handed to him – Zim or no Zim on the opposite team. 

The first hit nailed him on the side of his face, pushing his glasses painfully into the bridge of his nose. A second hit right after, catching him in the chest. The shoulder. His side as he tumbled to the ground. 

Thank god none of them had managed to hit him in the crotch, this time. He rolled away from the chaos, sitting with the other kids who were also out for the duration of the game – until someone on their team actually caught a ball. 

Which no one would, because of course – of course Zim’s team somehow had the vast majority of the balls, somehow. Dib sighed, taking his glasses off his face and rubbing at the bridge of his nose. 

All in all, the game ended swiftly after that. Zim, unsurprisingly enough, was the last one standing on his team, cackling. 

“I am ZIM!!” he shouted. “You all will bow down to ME, the dodgeball master!” 

Dib rolled his eyes as he pushed himself off the ground. “Will you just – shut the fuck up for once?” 

He hadn’t finished straightening himself out before his back was slammed against the matted gym wall. “What was that, Dib-worm?” Zim hissed, his hands – claws, really – digging into Dib’s threadbare gym shirt. 

Dib sucked in a breath, his lungs seizing for a moment due to his impact against the wall. He lowered his gaze, meeting Zim’s glare full on. He was all but gnashing his teeth at Dib. With the blonde hair and the blue eyes that Dib knew were so, so incredibly fake, he really did look almost like a fourteen year old kid like Dib himself. 

“Wait – have your eyes always been blue?” Dib sputtered, feeling his face burn as the other kids in their class began to chant FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT. 

Zim all but shrieked in frustration, his grip on Dib’s shirt tightening as he then pulled Dib off the wall and slammed him back against it once more – this time even harder than the first. “You notice my eyes but you say not a word about Zim’s BRILLIANT BLONDE HAIR?!” 

Dib couldn’t help it. 

He laughed. Cackled, really – and then his laughter dissolved into uncontrollable giggles. 

“Are you fucking serious right now, Zim?” he managed. Through each round of giggles, Dib noticed how Zim’s remarkably human looking face flushed with some combination of anger and embarrassment. “I’m too fucking tired for this, man.” 

Zim looked as though he were about to demand a further explanation – but before he could their teacher caught up with the commotion, pulling Zim off of Dib and yelling something about the two of them needing to take their personal issues elsewhere. 

Dib, of course, took that moment to slip out of the gym and into the locker room. Maybe if he changed quickly enough he could get the fuck out of there and be on the way home before the final bell rang. Maybe, just maybe, he’d get lucky for once in his goddamn, miserable life, and – 

“Where do you think you’re going, Dib-stink?” Zim growled, shoving at Dib’s bare fucking shoulder, because of course Zim followed him and of course Zim had no compunctions over touching Dib when he was in the middle of fucking changing. 

“Home,” he answered, moving to put as much space between himself and Zim as he possibly could. He shoved his neutral face shirt back on before pulling his trench coat out of his gym locker. “Is that alright with you, your Majesty?” 

He was so, so glad he’d changed out of his goofy ass sweatpants before changing his shirt. Trench coat on and book bag hooked over his shoulder, all Dib had to do was shove his feet back into his boots, and – 

“Can’t go anywhere without these, can you, Dib?” Zim cackled, holding up said boots. He made a disgusted face. “Eughh – why do these smell so bad?” 

Laughter broke out throughout the locker room, and Dib did his best to ignore it and the heat building up underneath the collar of his shirt. “They just need to be cleaned,” he said, his voice thin and reedy. “I didn’t get a chance to after – after last night.” 

After he’d spent hours chasing Zim around the city. Hours he was regretting spending now, because his body ached with how tired he was. His first day in High Skool had been absolutely, incredibly fucking miserable, all thanks to the asshole standing in front of him. 

Zim narrowed his eyes at Dib, then held Dib’s boots out as far as he could in Dib’s direction. Dib didn’t grumble thanks as he snatched them out of Zim’s realistic-but-fake-as-hell hands, settling on one of the benches in the locker room as he shoved his feet into his boots. He didn’t look up at Zim, either, as he began to lace them up, doing so as quickly as he could with how shaky his hands were, just then. 

“I wish you’d just leave me alone, Zim,” he said as he straightened himself out, towering over the alien and relishing in the way Zim’s expression flattened out. 

“Nonsense, you relish in Zim’s glorious attention!” he then said, as confidently as he’d normally say anything – but Dib could hear the undercurrent of doubt that lingered in his voice. Good. “You wouldn’t know what to do with yourself if I didn’t torment you every single day!” 

Dib snorted at that, shoulder-checking Zim on his way past him. Zim, of course, followed him as they made their way out of the locker room. Somehow, Zim was already changed – he probably had his gym outfit as a separate disguise or something. It probably took him just the press of a button to change. 

“I think it’s you who wouldn’t know what to fucking do with yourself if you didn’t torment me every single fucking day,” he said, once the two of them were finally, finally out of earshot from the rest of the kids in the locker room. He didn’t so much as look over at Zim; he could feel his presence to his left. Could feel Zim’s eyes on him, even, as they walked down the hall together. “I bet you can’t go a fucking month without saying shit to me. I bet it’d drive you insane.” 

“I can absolutely go a month without talking to your disgusting humanness, Dib-boy,” Zim said with a sniff. “It would be a relief not to have to engage with your big-headedness for so long.” 

Dib turned on his heel, crowding Zim against the hallway wall. “Then fucking prove it, space boy. Don’t fucking talk to me, taunt me, throw notes at me, message me – for a whole fucking month.” 

Zim’s mouth hung open, his eyes widening for a moment before resolve overtook his features. He looked so human, and yet Dib knew he wasn’t. His blue eyes narrowed, and Dib tried to ignore the way his heart twisted in his chest as Zim spat, “Fine. Zim will leave the Dib alone for a month.” 

Dib thrust his hand forward. “Shake on it,” he said as Zim jumped at Dib’s sudden movement. 

Zim took a beat too long, looking between Dib’s hand and Dib’s face before sliding his hand inside Dib’s with a roll of his eyes. “Stupid human. A month is nothing to me.” 

They shook on it. Dib did his best to ignore how he could feel the difference between the last two fingers of Zim’s hand and the three that he knew Zim actually had. “Your month starts now,” he said as he let go, turned on his heel, and marched right out of the school. 

He smirked to himself as he heard Zim sputter indignantly behind him.

[sunnixsunshine]

topher and confucius being besties in middle school makes me happy, but it also makes me sad because theyre not friends anymore in high school. its a shame because they seem to be good friends :(

If my math is right, then they both may have been in the seventh or eighth grade when the whole Christopher Columbus debacle was starting up and eventually spread all over the news and internet. So I’m thinking Topher pushed Confucius away not wanting to drag him down and “get cancelled” with him. They both were already pretty active on the internet but mostly for silly kid stuff like just watching or making cringey videos and watching anime. Again, just silly kid stuff. Nothing serious really. But quickly they both turned to it as an unhealthy coping mechanism— Confucius losing his closest friend, which would later push his other friends away and deepen his usage of the internet as a result. And Topher using the internet to escape the real world and the crap his clone father did, it providing a sense of comfort and control, until he turned into what he is now; a Reddit user 😱

Little details I like to think about is them meeting in the fifth grade and bonding over Warrior Cats and watching the same content creators on their iPad because of course they’re both iPad kids(just Topher’s was cracked worse than satan’s asscrack and Confucius had the newest model lol). They made a whole Warrior Cats oc clan with the most complicated name possible and before they broke up they were even making a whole ass animatic with their thinly veiled Mary Sue self insert ocs except neither of them could draw, especially not cats. Like the little comic I posted, they pretended they were anime characters fighting. Yes, they both were the two losers Naruto running during recess. Yes they went through a phase of saying sugoi and kawaii and other Japanese words in nearly every other sentence. They had sleepovers almost every week and would marathon movies like the Twilight Saga and other movies they really shouldn’t be watching at their age but do anyway because their foster moms weren’t exactly paying attention to what movies they were picking out every week. They were just the embodiment of carefree cringe. Living their best lives. Just a couple of stupid preteens dorks.

Now, in highschool, they tend to just purposefully avoid each other. Even though deep down both of them really do miss each other. It’s just Topher is too busy being kind of an asshole and stuck in this state of self loathing and other issues and being an actual social outcast of his own making, and Confucius is too stuck in his phone avoiding his feelings and also now that he’s got JFK as a friend who likes FlipFlop (because of him) as much as he does it’s only further distracted him from his unresolved feelings over Topher and the good times they had together. They both deeply, deeply regret not going back and talking and staying friends. Because in truth Confucius would have probably stayed through the whole ordeal. Although I can still see them both being chronically online. Just together. And most likely worse somehow? And very, very annoying.

Sorry for the rambling, I just have so much soft thoughts about these two being former friends and the potential of them making up is what fuels me. I wanna write a fic about this sooooooo bad but I’m so busy and by busy I mean I procrastinate too much AND I’m busy aihdjsh I may start one tho and it may eventually get finished???? Question mark, question mark?????????????

[rottedbrainz]

I'm working on a fic revolving around Tibbs and his siblings so I drew some designs for all four of them!

I also have some more in detail info about Tibbs siblings :)

Going from Oldest to youngest.

Beuaguard or "Budd" as most people call him is Tibbs oldest brother. He owns a small bakery in Honolulu. Everyone who comes in or knows him personally will tell you that he's just a big teddy bear. He'll bake and serve cookies to the kids at the head start schools during snack time, and hang out with the students and give the teachers a break.

But he's only there partially for the kids. The other reason why he goes is so that he has an excuse to visit his wife, who is a pre-k teacher.

However he can be real stubborn when he needs to be. If he'll get an angry customer he doesn't hesitate to yell back as said customer and ban them. He had to be stubborn a lot whenever Tibbs was a teenager since he always got in trouble with something.

Lib, or as Tibbs likes to call her, Libbey, is the younger twin. She is an art teacher at a Highschool near Budds bakery. All of her students love her and she makes sure to take care of all of them. Having snacks, hygiene products, and basic nessaistes to give out to her students. In a lot of ways her and Tibbs are pretty much the same except she tends to be a lot more naive. She is also a lot more emotional when it comes to expressing her emotions.

So you can definitely imagine she went crying to Tibbs a lot about fail boyfriends or friendships of people who she thought she could trust. Tibbs and Lib were extremely close growing up and always went to each other if there was something they needed to get off their chest. Such as Lib being the first person to come out to as Bi.

However when they got older their relationship hit a huge road block whenever Tibbs moved to the main land and never looked back.

Kid is Tibbs youngest brother. He's a little shy but once you get him out of his shell he's a really cool guy. He works and lives on a cruise ship and works in the spa as a massage therapist. He doesn't mind helping out around the ship with other jobs like hosting in restaurants, life gaurd duty, and cleaning.

He's very sporty though and one of his favorite activities to do is roller blading and surfing. When he was little he and Tibbs would build small ramps and play in the middle of the road with them.

He's the one siblings Tibbs kept in touch with unintentionally. The cruise that Kid works for always makes a pit stop in California so it's the perfect time for Kid to drop by and pay his brother a visit. It's also a perfect opportunity for him to share his cruise stories with his Nieces and Nephew. He has a little crush on Rose but would never act on it, he just tends to get a lot more akward when she's in the same room as him.

Naturally I made voice claims for all of them :)

And just some extra doodles to top the post off!

I'm actually really really excited to publish the first few chapters! Not sure what I'll call it yet but I can't wait to project my feelings onto my comfort oc!

[burnwithtears]

i've been seeing a never-ending discourse about how rina's position in s4 will be like portwell's, with ricky graduating and gina still a junior and let me break it to you: it's not the same. and i don't mean the age gap.

ej and gina started their relationship at the very end of the school year, which means ej already has one foot outside school, while gina still has two years ahead of her. the beginning of s3 makes it clear their relationship is very new (emphasis on "first boyfriend", "summer of firsts"). so basically, they're getting together while ej is already entering a new stage in his life, so there is nothing solid about their relationship to hold on to, because this is the beginning of it. if they had gotten together at the start of s2, things would be different, because they'd have a whole semester to build their connection. and don't say they've been friends since s1 and that's enough, because a platonic relationship is very different from a romantic one. gina expects different things from it.

now, ricky and gina are being honest about their feelings before ricky's final year starts. they'll have a whole year to figure out how they work romantically, and they will build a solid base, and later figure out how to keep making things work even after ricky leaves school. and yeah, the stress and fame could break them apart, but it'd be nothing similar to portwell's downfall. ricky is still a senior, he's not on the verge of graduating. he will still see her every day, they will be joining the school play together.

and while we're at it, i'd like to address some very rude comments about gina (and the other kids) being "unfair" to ej during s3. as someone who absolutely loved ej's arc in s3, because he finally got one rsrs, it's absurd to me how people fail to see that his friends did try to support him in their own way. 

there are two very different visions about ej this season: how the adults see him, and how the teens see him. throughout the whole season, he's standing in the middle of it, not knowing what to do, but, at the end, he falls to the adult side, because that's his development.

when ej comes to the camp this last time, he's a mentor. val, channing, dewey and miss jenn interact with him and give him responsibilities he didn't ask for because they see him as a young adult, not one of the kids in the camp. do you see val participating in the games? no, she's not part of any team in color wars, she's not part of the play. the thing is, ej came to camp thinking he would just have fun, but being a “senior” in camp as well comes with these responsibilities he wasn't ready for, and the adults are the ones helping him navigate through it because that's their role. he goes to val for advice with his dad; he goes to miss jenn for advice with the play; he directly deals with channing and corbin when they're trying to call off the documentary. the fact that val is the one who comforts him in the end of the season shows he made through it. it was a transition.

the east high crew, at first, sees him as one of them; they try to include him in all of the camp activities, and that's their way of showing they care for him – they want him around, want him to be part of the group. and it takes them a while to understand he won't be able to, and that it's not his fault, but neither is theirs. ricky's jab "are you sure?" to ej on the last episode is more of a "you've been pushing us way too hard for a while now", because that's exactly what ej was doing, like he was already their teacher or something. when ej says they're theater kids and will do things their way, that's him making amends. when ej says to ricky during the premiere "i could fake slap you, but you're my brother", that's him showing once again that he has grown up and will not carry high school grudges with him. it doesn't mean he's a "superior person"; only that all of their previous animosity is behind him.

gina tries to be understanding when he promises things and don't show up. she tries again, and again, to save what they have, but how can you save something you don't even fully know because it's still so new? you can say "ej is doing all this so he can stay with her", but no one believes that – not even ej himself. he's doing this to prove to his father he can make his own choices and be successful in them. he's trying to show his father he's not a kid anymore, to be ordered around. that’s his arc during season 3.

you could also say "yeah, but even if they're in different stages, the east high crew are still his friends and they still should comfort him" and yeah, sure. but this is a 8-episode teen comedy show, and the narrative tries, and suceeds, to tell the audience that ej has grown up and is moving on. just like they told the audience that nini is not coming back. ej probably will come back, but no longer as one of the kids; therefore, his relationship with them has to change.