#going to take a bunch of shots in retaliation

[carefreecoffee]

Fluffmas Day 9: Icy hands w/ Keigo Takami

Word count: 1k, Gender-neutral Reader

Keigo opened up the front door to his home, having finished a long shift on patrol from noon until the sun had begun setting.

He quietly slipped his shoes off and closed the door behind him glancing around until he saw you curled up on the couch bundled up in a bunch of your shared blankets as you watched the television. “Hey Birdy” A smirk tugged at his lips as he made his way to and sat down next to you.

“Ya look like a burrito” He teased gently, running hand over your covered leg.

You grin, glancing above the blanket and meeting his golden eyes with a smirk. “Comfier than you by a long shot”

He let out a soft scoff, leaning against the back of the couch, crossing one leg over the other. He reached over and gave your blankets a light tug “Oh yeah? It’s true your comfy and warm but, I’m comfier and warmer, no doubt”

He scooched toward you a bit more, “Can I join ya in that little burrito of yours?” A playful smile tugged at his lips and without even waiting for a response, Keigo shifted so that he was closer to you, his wing lightly draping itself over you to join in the cocoon of warmth.

You yelp, a small chuckle escaping you as he huddles under. His hands raise to your arms in order to properly cuddle until he feels the temperature of your skin in vast contrast.

He let out a small huff, his hands roaming down to your legs that were draped around his waist. “Christ your hands are like ice, and you're freezing” Keigo shifted slightly so that you were now sprawled on top of him, shifting closer to you and draping the blanket back over the two of you properly. “How’re you so damn cold?”

You shrug, “Jus' how i run i guess” You run your hands up his clothed arms before getting a rather devious idea. Slowly you ran your hand up and quickly placed them upon the nape of his neck.

Sullen of being cold, the sudden feeling of your icy cold hands on his neck made him jump slightly. “Gah cold! Hands not that damn cold” He yelped quickly burying his face in the crook of your neck to try and warm up. In return he retaliated by doing the same to you, running his warm hands along your arms and up to your neck.

You shiver as his warm hands trace along your colder body, “Jesus you're burning!”

Keigo laughed as you shivered when his warm hands touched your cold body. He lightly traced patterns along the expanse of your body with one of his warm hands, his other hand gently cupped the back of your head giving him more access to bury his head into your neck, his hair lightly tickling your face. “And you're absolutely freezing, seriously how are you this cold?!”

You shrug once more, glancing down at him cheekily. “I don't know but it's kinda funny seeing you so scared of my hands” You wiggle them toward him creepily, a grin emerging on your face as you notice his eyes widen.

His eyes widened as you moved your hands towards him, clearly showing that he was trying not to cringe as your cold hands grew closer. “Hey! Don’t touch me with your ice cube hands, they’re way too cold” he scolded, lightly swatting at your hands.

In retaliation, you move them under his compressed work shirt, trapping them there as you run them along his chest.

He let out a strangled gasp as your icy cold hands made their way under his shirt. He shivered as the sensation of the sudden coldness on his skin, he let out a low grumble as your hands settled on his chest. “C-Cold! Dammit your hands are cold stop! They’re freezing, get ‘em off!”

You chuckle at the reaction, getting exactly as you wanted. With nowhere else to go, he rolled out onto the carpeted floor, taking you with him as you yelped, his wings still making sure that you didn't get hurt.

A quiet ‘oof’ left his lips as the two of you fell, he ended up pinning you to the ground, his body hovering over yours. He tried to give you a stern glare but the small smile on his lips gave away how he was actually feeling “Oh, you think this is funny huh?!”

In the midst of your giggling fit, he took one of the many blankets off of the couch, beginning to wrap you up in the blanket skillfully, rolling you into a proper burrito at this point.

With you now all wrapped up in the blanket, Keigo sat on top of your hips, preventing you from being able to try and break free. He sat with a smirk on his face “Now what’re you gonna do now? You’re all wrapped up like a little present!”

You move your head a bit, testing the mobility of your arms and legs. “You suck, Kei” A pout forms on your face as you glared up at him.

Keigo chuckled at your attempt to move, leaning forward as he placed his hands on either side of your head, a playful yet mocking smile appearing on his lips “Aww, you’re pinned down and can’t move. Sounds like a skill issue”

Your mouth drops open in shock at the insult, feigning offense. “You little shit!”

A bark of laughter left his lips seeing your shocked reaction “Now now, no need for language like that. I’m just teasing you.” He leaned down closer to your face, his golden brown eyes gleamed as he smirked at you.

You sigh, giving into the situation, a small smile finding your face. “Yeha yeah, Birdy” He hummed happily, leaning down and finally pecking your lips.

“Jesus! Even your lips are cold!” He hopped off of you, letting you unwrap yourself as he walked down the hallway. “I'm running you a hot bath!”

All you could do was chuckle, laying on the ground as you caught your breath from the cheeky endeavor, knowing that in the moment, you had the best life you could ask for with the best bird-brain in the world.

Please request! <3 {Taglist: @staygoldsquatchling02}

[sensitivedead]

.

[imababblekat]

Chase

Anon Request, “Funny ask here! An expert free runner (jumping from building to building) catches the turtles on camera. The boys planned to do the same intimidation act like with April but are shocked when they jet off managing to keep a good distance. Then once they think they have them cornered on a construction site the boys fall through the building roof landing in waist high wet concrete. Looking down at them the runner blows them a kiss before taking off. (P.S. their cool though and just keep the photo as a momento)How do the 4 react to seeing them again when they literally bump into each other on the rooftops?”

 ◌ Part Two ◌

~xXx~

You hadn’t intentionally meant to take a picture of the turtles. If anything it was their fault they ended up in your shot. After finishing a course you’d been aiming at for over a week, you thought it’d be a great moment to capture, but hadn’t expected to catch anyone else in the background of your roof top photo. Much less those anyone’s being four mutant ninja turtles. It was the squak of surprise at the sudden flash of your mini Polaroid that alerted you to them.

Seeing the turtles left you somewhere between an intriguing shock and confused fear, even if seeing one of them rapidly rub at their flashed eyes while over exaggerate about how they burned did indeed give you a little giggle. There wasn’t much time to process the whiplash of emotions however, as one of them, clad in red and quite burly out of the bunch, came marching your way. Not a word had a chance of making its way from their lips, as your body did what it was trained so hard to do, making a mad dash across the old market roof top. Just like that, the four brothers found themselves in a sudden grand chase. “Great job, Raph!”, Leo snapped at said aggravated terrapin, making easy work of hopping over a fenced roof. “I ain’t even do anythin’! It’s your fault!”, Raph retaliated, vaulting over some exterior vents. “Oh, and how is that exactly?!” “You’re the one who gave us the all clear!” Bouncing from wall to wall as the group followed you down into an old parking garage Donnie interjected between the two argumentative brothers. “Guy’s is now really the time?! We kind of have something urgent on our hands.” “Yeah! Like how I can’t see their sick moves because my eyes are still having a disco party!”, Mikey continued to blink rapidly, nearly missing the open edge if not for Donnie giving him aid with his staff. Rolling his own eyes, Leo brushed off the youngest, keeping track of your movements as you scaled your way into a construction building across the way. “Come on, let’s get this over with. There’s no where to go past that building, we’ll catch them there.” All the years of free running across New York, you’d never felt as thrilled as you did now. Sure, it was still terrifying in a way being chased by four giant creatures who were quite nimble despite their enormous size, but you had to be honest in the way their pursuit brought on an adrenaline like no other. They put your skills to the test in a way you could never personally do yourself, and as you swung from a bar into another construction building, you felt elation rush through your body. At least, till you found yourself caught in between a rock and a hard place, staring at a concrete solid wall with no where to escape. Hearing the collective sounds of heavy foot falls, you quickly turned around to find the four beings surrounding the only path you’d have of escape. Seeing the glares upon their faces, your racing heart now beat rapidly for a different reason. Taking a moment to even his breathing, Leonardo stepped forward, watching your reactions carefully. “We’re not going to hurt you. Just. . .don’t scream.”, he spoke as calmly as he could, hands raised to show he had no misleading intentions. You said nothing, just continued to take control of your own breathing as your eyes shifted between him and his brothers. “I’m Leonardo, and these are-“ “I’m Michelangelo, but you can just call me Mikey!”, the orange banded turtle cut in, shoving past his brother and winking at you. “The guy in purple is Donatello, and the one in red who mean mugged you is Raphael! What’s your name angel? I say angel, because there’s no way you could have crossed those alleyways so eloquently without a pair of wings~.” “Mikey!”, all three other brothers shouted in unison. “What?!” With a light groan, Donnie reminded him of their current objective. “We’re here to get the photo. Not you a love interest.” “Oooooh right, the photo!” Your eyes shifted from Raphael, back to Mikey as he moved closer, three fingered hand reaching out. Sifting into your pocket it didn’t take long to pull out the small square picture. Despite it being exposed and grainy in some parts, the tangibility of the photo and the story it now held caused a surprising sorrow in your heart to have to depart with it. Yet, gazing back up to the four mutants before you, you understood why they’d want it. With the way you reacted, who could imagine how others might to their discovery. You met Mikey half way, extending your own hand to give him the small photo, fingers lightly brushing the other. All of a sudden, a loud crack was heard, and all five of you stood frozen. Before anyone could blink, the floor caved in, the four brothers descending down into dust and debris, and you with quick reflexes pressing tight back against the concrete wall. Once the clouded air had settled, you quickly peaked over into the newly established hole, a surge of worry for the ninja quartet. Relief washed through as you caught sight of the brothers who had landed in a mucky puddle, most likely sore from the fall but seemingly fine otherwise. As the boys groaned and started another round of arguing with one another, you suddenly remembered the photo and quickly checked your closed fist to find it still there. Carefully bringing the picture before you to look at once more, a thought had emerged. This was the most fun you had in long time, the most alive you’ve felt in a while. Recalling the kind smile Mikey had given you and Leo’s mindful approach as to not frighten you, you considered the growing idea in your mind even more. Making up your mind, you gently tucked the photo back into your pocket with a gleeful grin. You swore to yourself that night to never show anyone that picture, but as long as you held on to it, you knew you’d eventually wind up seeing the turtles again. With that, you skipped from the tiny ledge along the wall, and whistled to catch the turtles’ attention. “Bye boys! It was nice meeting you!” Loud shouts and scrambling could be heard as each one clambered over the other, slipping back and forth into the deep puddle in an effort to get up and to you, but by the time they’d get themselves straightened out, you’d be long gone with anticipating hope of the next chase.

~xXx~

[itgirlgyu]

HOW TO GET BACK AT MIDDLE-SCHOOLERS.

₍ sum.₎ after experiencing some bullying from middle schoolers, and getting swindled out of the last bit of his money, he instills your help, his best friend, to get back his money as well as honour. but you soon find out that he was not telling the entire truth... would you still find him despite finding his dirty little secret? yeonjun x fem!reader. ft! cashier!soobin. warning!!! some cussing, mean kids, weird adults, age shaming. :( WC! 3.9k+.

“how the fuck do you get scammed by middle schoolers?” you spat the words with the contempt to bruise whatever ego yeonjun had left—if any—after getting deceived by a bunch of school going kids and instead of taking action by himself to sleep better at night with the assurance that he wasn't such a major pushover, he had come crying to you; begging you to avenge him whilst you were busy trying to prepare to crack the examination of your recent job interview.

“aren't they like 12?!”

“15!” yeonjun, suddenly growing a backbone corrected the little error in your data, “they are in their third year!”

“you look like you are in your third reincarnation!” she shot back, “the bags under your eyes could hold up to 15 kgs of your own bullshit so just own up to your carelessness”.

yeonjun opened his mouth to defend himself, controlling the urge to take out his phone to check out the state of the durable eye bags he was carrying under his eyes,”i thought this concealer was ultra coverage with skin like finish,” yeonjun murmured to himself.

yeonjun and you were huddled together under a shrub in the afternoon–when you should be cramming down job questionnaires–waiting for the group of kids who had mercilessly robbed your friend of his last 50 dollars of the week and seek the revenge; the barely legal sort, kissing the lethal of edge of ‘if it ever got out–neither of you would be able to show face in the community for a while. not glossing over the fact that you two were hiding into the shadow like a pair of perverts waiting to spring forth and scar the futures of the nation irrevocably. “quit yapping to yourself’ you snarled, quickly snapping your neck to check up on yeonjun, “ so what's the plan”

you both were blinking at each other for a good few seconds before it all registered in his head and he managed to face without lifting his butt even once. despite his pitiful morality to be fooled at the drop of a hat, if there was one thing he didn’t disappoint in–it was his core strength. you sometimes wish the same could have been said for his mental strength. all it took for you was to let out a sigh for him to remember the plan that he had crafted all weekend long.

“we confront them,’ he began before the expression in his face to display the crucial detail which he was failing to recall had finally graced the lacking department of his memory, “you confront them.”

you could have seen this coming from a mile away and that is exactly why you had arrived at the rendezvous for the reprisal against the middle schoolers that had wronged yeonjun.

“deal with your own shit.”

it took yeonjun less than a second to almost throw himself at your feet to stop you from abandoning him. you hadn’t even gotten to fully straighten your back before he came to his senses and decided to follow your version of the plan; the rational kind.

“we throw water at them and then we run.”

“thats your rational plan?” yeonjun retaliated, the glimmer of hope swimming in his head drowning as soon as the rational plan you had come up with was verbalized.

“i thought of it all day yesterday after you told me.”

bare-faced lies; you didn’t spare a single thought on his matter, and you were not even guilty about it. rather than keeping the promise you had been thrown into haphazardly. yeonjun, in fact, had to wake you up from a nap to come out with him to execute the little mission to reclaim his honor back.

“no we can't do that,” yeonjun spoke solemnly. the wrinkle of consequences settling deep within his non-existent pores as he averted his gaze rather shamefully. his footsteps taking like steps to aid him in facing away in his rather compact position, “my cousin is one of them.”

yeonjun added the last bit of the sentence timidly; his teeth were almost chattering out of fear.

amidst all these elaborate ruse to gain one's honor back, yeonjun had forgotten to relay one tiny crucial piece of information to you; it was his cousin and his annoying friend group who had swindled the money out of him, and the only reason he wants revenge, or something like that, was to gain back the authority one must possess as one of the eldest sons in the family: a position that he accidentally let stumble, also the money.

“why can't we do that?” you repeated your question, the annoyance slipping back through the crevice of the words letting yeonjun know of your irritation and the lack of willingness to be there any longer.

yeonjun thanked his stars for your poor sense of hearing, and his soft vocals to keep the secret remain as one, because god forbid you catch the whiff of it—yeonjun would not contemplate much to figure out the amount of money you'd extort out of him for wasting your time over a topic that could be solved in a family function. even if he does not gain back the respect he deserves, he can not let you figure out the truth if he wishes to carry on his life without a nose revision job.

“jail!” yeonjun blurted out, “we might end up in jail for harassing minors.”

“wait yeah,” you concurred, the repercussions of having hands on punishment over quite literally children finally dawning into your foggy alley of judgment, “you're right.”

“so we confront them.” yeonjun revised his earlier plan, at last deciding to go with you version, he had just to make sure his cousin does not get a word in and end up spilling water over the entire bit he had planned out—in the moment right now. if he had realized this in that time when he was overwhelmed with the humiliation and fear leading him to vent to his best friend—you—and convince you to partake in his zany revenge on children; one of which is his actual cousin. whilst this all may seem juvenile he did want to gain back the respect over the younglings in the family so perhaps this little mission was not that of a bad idea as yeonjun might have concluded it to be as it approached closer.

“i didn't think you'd be actually smart enough to foresee the consequences,” you ended up complimenting yeonjun, despite not wanting to. you hadn't always gotten a sense of caution and logic from him but at times when he did excel your set expectations of him you couldn't help but praise the man.

whilst the two of you were busy commemorating the acute common sense yeonjun possessed and decided to marvel at time of need, there was a sudden disruption into the bush you two were inhabiting. it was a football and a toddler; followed by a teenager who had come to collect both the ball and the toddler and had been very verbally freaked out to see two adults crouching down whilst having a heart to heart conversation. the look of shock and mild disgust etched on the face of the teenager had you springing up to your feet and trying to come up with a good enough reason that would not result in both of you spending a night in the jail cell.

“it's not what it looks like!”

“su-” the boy dragged his words, with his eyes glued to you as he snatched the balls and the toddler, making sure you didn't get any time to surprise attack them. without providing any time to put forth any semblance of appeal from your side the boy has scurried away, leaving you to be the epitome of “stranger danger” as well as the weird person to steer clear away from.

“this is all because of you!” the rage taking over you upon the realization that you had just ruined your perception on some random people that you will never meet again and manifesting in the kick that you had bestowed upon yeonjun's knees causing him to tumble on the side like a singular pin in the bowling alley.

“how is it because of me?” yeonjun hissed in pain, his hands quickly reaching out to grab the knee you had slightly grazed over—the real reason why he had fell over was of course his poor posture and the need to incorporate dramatics in every aspect of his life but he did not need to tell you that, and you did not need to know it either—you were already aware of this peculiar aspect of his personality as a result of the long-standing friendship, “my knees! my knees!”

you rolled your eyes and stepped away; and kept stepping away until you were almost out of the bush and he alone looked like a man who had done too much day drinking.

“when the hell are they coming?” you squint your eyes in displeasure from waiting, letting the sobriety clutch your shoulders and shake you into remembering that you are two adults waiting to ambush a bunch of kids—albeit the kids stole from your friend first, so the guilt did ease itself a little.

yeonjun shook the dust off his pants, “right about now?” scanning through the myriad of teenagers bunched together getting out of after school classes looking for the familiar faces within them, “there!” yeonjun pointed his finger towards them, pinpointing the lil posse of delinquents. your eyes followed suit and stopped at a group of three boys and two girls at a feasible distance, seemingly heading towards the convenience store.

“It's game time,” you cracked your neck, readying yourself to not get fatally wounded by the expected brashness of those brats—skillfully ignoring the look of adoration from yeonjun that followed after the declaration of gusto. strengthening the spirits as adrenaline began to rush through your veins, providing you with enough bravery to whizz out at the kids and come out as victorious if it ended within fifteen minutes: the chances of this going very wrong after the set time was dangling somewhere around 90 to 98%. if you were going to do it, you shall do it with your all.

“welcome!” the part time behind the counter greeted you and yeonjun with a sort of monotone that itself felt like it was forced out of the larynx of the unwilling worker, but you weren't here to critique the work ethic of a barely paid man; or to reciprocate the forced etiquettes. instead you let your hawk gaze zero on the pesky group that you both had followed into the store blissfully, and noisily loitering around the ramen isle.

“and i said that peanut flavored ramen would give you gyatt issues.”

“you mean gut issue—”

“hey you peanuts!”

confronting a bunch of teenagers was no easy feat, and with the so-called victim slowly stepping back with the means of becoming one with the various packets of chips was another thing but the war had been waged. in simpler words, it would be very embarrassing to not get through to the end of it.

“you bullied my friend over here,” you moved your head vaguely to point at yeonjun’s disintegrating presence, “and stole from him didn't you all?”

“what friend are you talking about?” one of the kids spoke up, “ and who you calling bullies ahjumma?”

“ahjumma?” you patience had already started strip away, pulling your facial muscles tighter, and freezing your face into an expression would make anyone's blood run cold with one glance, the only sign of life left within your eyebrows as they twitched due to the time bomb whose reverse countdown had began since the utterance of the forsaken word.

“please, any battery assault on minors if intended must be carried outside this property!” the cashier sprung into action faster than anyone, deftfully stepping up to protect his minimum wage job but the apathy had still been seeping out of his words without a hitch, sneaking stealing a glance at the cctv overlooking the entire situation to make sure his warning had been captured into the camera to ensure his participation in making sure whatever that would transpire, he had indeed tried to stop it.

perhaps, it was soobin, the cashier who had brought yeonjun back to the reality and the really ugly scenario that was about to take place if he put himself first and ran off, bidding adieu to his self respect, the money and the friendship or he could see the anger that happened to be radiating off your body because he had appeared instantaneously from the lucrative hiding spot he had found for himself within the layers of jellies, “are you okay?” the worry was evident in his voice although anyone would be a fool to not recognize the undertone of fear layered underneath the cadence of his voice.

“hyung?!”

yeonjun stiffened up—his gig was up. it happened sooner than he had expected, honestly but the little humiliation was miles better than you getting into an actual physical altercation with the kids where one of them was the son of his aunt. he was willing to sacrifice as much—amazingly enough forgetting that he was the one to rope you into this mess in the first place.

“hyung what are you doing here?” the kid queried once again, inching closer to get a better look at yeonjun’s guilty ass that even his full coverage concealer couldn't cover up.

“i-”

“hyung?” you repeated incredulously, gazing back and forth between the accused and the accuser; the so-called victim and the perpetrator, “why is he calling you hyung?”

“that's cause he is my cousin,” the accused #4 deadpanned, “wait was it because we asked for money from you like yesterday?!”

“asked? more like you guys surrounded me and wouldn't stop peer pressing me into giving you the money, so you did bully it out of me and that's not cool. “ yeonjun sighed, confessing what he had truly felt, “ so i want you to give me the money back and never do this again, that is not how you were raised.”

“wait a fucking second!” you spoke up interrupting the life lesson from older brother to younger brother, fanning away the smoke that was coming out of your nostrils at the utter betrayal from the man you had been foolishly calling your best friend for all these years, “your cousin took the money from you not some random middle schoolers?!?”

accused #4 who had been shamefully hanging his head low—proof of the choi genes aren't as rotten as yeonjun had thought it to be because once publicly shamed and given the right lesson, they do indeed listen like real men!—sensed the upcoming tsunami, and backed away, letting his cousin take the blow which he rightfully deserved.

yeonjun opened his mouth to defend himself but decided not to dig himself a deeper hole, and nodded. his new game plan was to take the verbal beating and then speak up once the physical one begins, “but you see this was needed.”

of course he couldn't help himself but speak out the truth regardless of his decision to stick to taking it instead of sticking up for himself. it is not like he has stood up with any of his choices through and through and he wasn't going to start today as well; every plan could be revised according to the situation and yeonjun quite prides himself in his flexibility. although his regard about himself might just be a little skewed to himself according to on-lookers.

“please, any attempted murder should be carried outside!” soobin the cashier intervened once more.

“dude!” yeonjun cried out, snapping his head around to find the name tag on the cashier's chest to build a closer relationship to stop him from giving his already furious best-friend—now steaming like an overheated engine—ideas on how to handle the situation. yeonjun could very well buy a new nose but how would he buy his life out from a grim reaper?

“soobin please!” the cashier, soobin, shrugged with an utmost look of languor before going back to doing nothing behind the counter, yet appearing very unavailable to be involved in further chumminess with a bunch of unpaying and troublesome customer in the store.

accused #4, who was better at reading the room than his obtuse cousin,had been quietly gathering his friends to take a run from the painful showdown that was taking place at an excruciating pace. in spite of the skilled attempt to make a run, they were stopped when you raised your voice after you finished analyzing the situation and what to do in a stupid situation like this. murder was still somewhere in the mental notepad, although not right now. you could somehow make out why yeonjun would instill your help after getting bullied by his own cousin and friends. more than his money, he wanted the respect back and you were still willing to help the man—who betrayed your trust, ruined your evening, made you seem like a pervert in the park, got you to hear a bunch of middle schoolers refer to you as an old woman and made you appear like a homicidal freak to the cashier—because he was your best friend. not for long though.

“you heard him,” you crossed your arms against your chest, the cold stealth back in your voice to scare the kids, “cough of the money and apologize to your cousin. “

yeonjun was touched; he could cry in that moment; unaware that the tears had already started to pathetically stream down his cheeks until soobin, the cashier with whom he now built a closer relationship with once he figured out that no potential crime is going to be committed in his work place, passed him the tissue to dab away the tears.

after the initial moaning and groaning, with the kids huddled in a circle to gather cash for the rightful return. they came up with 25 dollars and a few cents, the first installment as they had called it smugly.

“hyung! you have to give me a family discount!* accused #4 pleaded to your surprise, and to much bigger surprise (not really), yeonjun gave in to the entitled demand. disgracefully accepting the measly twenty five dollars and the few cents of the whole fifty that was taken away from him with an ear to ear proud grin plastered on his face, watching the presumptuous entourage of middle schoolers.

“im so glad you decided to forgive me. “ you wanted to snap in middle and shove his little gesture into his own bottoms but you resisted; clenching your teeths, your lips were pulled into a tight line to to ensure no harsh words just magically slip past and ruin the beautiful tension you were building up before you hit him with the news after he was done yapping.

“i would forgive you if you were my best friend,” you smiled, ignoring the smile that slowly disappeared off his face, “that's why you're no longer my friend. “

“consider that twenty five dollars your parting gift.” you added. your expression still taut on your face whilst yeonjun’s facial muscles started to twitch like the tectonic plates under earth's crust as he processed the sudden break up. opening his mouth like a fish coming out of water before sinking back in with the visual representation of his beak obvious in the way he appeared, clutching the twenty five dollars and the few cents in his sweaty palm.

“what?” yeonjun finally found his voice. you nodded, reiterating what you had just expressed to him, “ but you helped me out there”

“parting gift!” you called out just as soon, your attention now used to pick out the flavor of ramen you wanted to eat since you had come to the store anyway, “and for our parting dinner, pay this off” you held up the cup that you had chosen before going back to

“can't I just just pay for this and call it even?” yeonjun pleaded, hurriedly picking up the flavor he preferred and tailed you to the microwave. the impatience reflecting in the restless in his foot as he waited for your reply like a little child, making an unfair deal.

“nope!” you replied, closing the microwave and turning to look him in the eyes as you say it, “you humiliated me.”

yeonjun appeared apologetic. he was no selfish person who would put other people in such positions and derive joy from it. he wouldn't even think of asking of such favors from other than you but you felt a rage sail within you because of the fact that he had hidden the real motive beneath the silly request he made, and you had come with it despite how juvenile it might have sounded; along with the consequences if it were to turn ugly in some way

“i know i'm sorry, but you were the only one who could have helped me,” yeonjun apologized once more,“and you see how well that went. “

“no can do, grow a backbone.”

yeonjun placed his bowl after you took yours out as you were occupying the only working one.

“please!”

“nope!”

“well… “ yeonjun was growing even more restless; the rhythm of his foot tapping against the ground relaying the disorder of the folders of his mind as he fished for a suitable reason to keep the friendship,“ you don't even have other friends.”

the gasp that followed was involuntary as you sealed the packet with the wooden chopsticks with a renewed flash of anger coursing through your veins, “I'll make new!”

yeonjun finally eased a little. the smirk was slowly beginning to appear back on his face and it was looking quite smug to be owned by a man who was to be abandoned by a friend, and was supposed to be apologetic.

“hey…” you looked at the cashier, catching his attention before reading the tag on his vest, “soobin will you be my friend? ill make this convenience store my regular”

“this is already your go-to convenience store.“

your enticing smile faltered at the embarrassing attempt to make your first friend after the fall out with the best friend five minutes ago, and worse—it happened in front of him!

“oh… you must be new then?” you narrowed your eyes to analyze his features to figure out any other time you had seen him at this store, although the face felt unfamiliar but the attitude he was giving did not seem to support the conclusion you were coming to, “you're not.”

“exactly.” soobin smiled, taunting a dimple at you before putting on his deadpan expression back on.

“your best bet is me,” yeonjun, now with his hot ramen in his hand, sat next to you in front. of the window, blocking the view of soobin with his big head which had grown a few more sizes after watching you get rejected in real time,“we are the only ones who can handle each other. say if we are 30 and have a hard time finding a spouse we settle together.”

“shut the fuck up and eat your ramen.” you sulk, blowing onto the portion that was wrapped around your chopsticks before shoving it into your mouth.

“does this mean you forgave me?” the child-like lilt was back into voice and you couldn't help but roll your eyes and leave him. hanging. the silence—save for the slurps of the noodles—giving the answer he needed to feel at ease and gleefully chomp onto his sausage.

©ITGIRLGYU 2022-24. ₍ finally a proper comeback yay! ₎

PERM' TAGLIST: @bamtorin @ox1-lovesick @jisungsdaydreamer @wonioml @1921choi @forever-in-the-sky2 @beoms-sugar @gyuletters

[thats-rough-buddy04]

After almost five years I decided to rewatch Voltron.

1. Because it’s getting booted off of Netflix

2. I wanted to do more of critical analysis of it now that it’s been so long since I watched it . Does it hold up? Do I view the characters the same as I used to? Trying to separate that fanon from canon.

3.I also wanted to see how plausible was Klance and was I being delulu all those years ago? Like I know of the art done by story board artist and stuff but just by the show itself, do them being together romantically make sense?

This is my season 1 analysis because doing it by season makes the most sense.

So season 1 was still pretty solid. The pacing was very quick and it was hard to digest what was going on cause it just was rapid shot of information. I think the biggest offender of this was the first episode which just everything was moving so quick. I feel that could have been a longer episode and it would have helped the flow of the first season a lot. Like they are on Earth for like 15 mins, and within that 15 minutes we are introduced to most of the main cast, already introduced to the first piece of Voltron, then boom space. Bring back 24 episode seasons especially if most episodes are 20 mins.

The main cast quickly got over being in space and you know having to pilot a huge mech pretty quickly which like if that was me I would be freaking out for awhile. Like it was maybe a minute and then everything was chill. Again everything was just quick pacing wise.

I still really like the fight scenes both with the mech and on foot. The animation pops off and it’s a fun watch. The humor for the most part was fine, like I didn’t think it was outstanding but I’m also not in the target demographic anymore. Like the simple joke about the sounds of a blaster was funny and it made me laugh. But there is jokes where I’m just like oh….. but they quickly move on from it so it doesn’t bother me as much. For Lance being the supposed comedic character I thought Hunk was funnier because Lance is not funny he’s mean.

With that Lance is just plain mean to Keith, when Keith has done jack shit to him. Keith will only retaliate after Lance says something to him. There was about one time Keith started it but who can blame him when Lance is constantly being a bitch. Which meanness comes with insecurity and it’s obvious he struggles with insecurity even if they haven’t really touched on that yet. Lance also almost dies multiple times this season which i don’t have much to comment on just that he almost gets sucked out of an air lock and Keith has to save him.

The Main Cast:

Shiro: His character arc hasn’t happened yet but the crumbs have been laid. I like him alot. I think how quickly he becomes dedicated to Voltron is believable because of how much he suffered in the Galran prison. Like he doesn’t want what happened to him to happen to anyone else. He’s the most serious out of the bunch but it makes sense since he’s seen what the Galra can do.

Pidge: I don’t much to say about her. When I was I younger I didn’t have much to say about her and I don’t have much to say about her now. Doesn’t mean she’s bad, I don’t really have much a a connection with her. I do really like the story line about finding her family though and I’m excited to rewatch that payoff.

Hunk: Like with Pidge I didn’t have a feeling either way for Hunk when I was younger but where that differs is that I appreciate him alot more now. That mini arc he goes through where he discovers how bad the Galra truly are, was pretty good. Him being the most scared to take risks then being the one urging the rest of the team to save the planet was a change of character but the was obviously the point. Also his relationship with Shay is super cute.

Allura: I adore her. She is serious like Shiro but again she had her whole race wiped out by the Galra, she knows that what they are doing is important. Yeah so she is bit tough on the paladins but she does it with the hopes they’ll be ready to save the universe. She is just a girl and I love that for her. The scene where she has to let go of her father for the final time is really sad because she is not just losing her dad but what seems like the last remnants of her home planet. I also just love her design, the pink is such a pretty color and suits her so well.

Coran: He’s funny, he’s silly. Still adore him, nothing can change that.

Keith: I adore this man. But season one Keith really doesn’t have much going on. Like he’s reckless and stubborn but that’s kinda all we know about him. His name is Keith, he was living in a shack, he’s good a flying and fighting, and he has a close relationship with Shiro but even that is shown for like a second in the first episode. I do know their dynamic is explored more later or which I hope so it’s been so long I don’t remember. I remember him being the more mean one but he’s not, he’s a guy and I love him for that. I also remember him being the super serious one but in reality he’s silly and goofy when he wants to be. He only gets serious when it’s mission time as he should be. I am excited to watch his full character arc but I can’t remember my opinions on it but I remember other people not liking it, so hopefully I do.

Lance: Lance is one of my most favorite characters ever. There comes a time in every man’s life where they must critique the things they love and now it’s mine. There isn’t much going on with him. He is there to be the funny guy which doesn’t work cause I don’t find him very funny. When his thing is to be funny it comes off as being mean makes it very hard to like him. I grimaced a couple times for what came out of that man’s mouth. I know he has a character arc but omg it’s so hard to like him at all season 1 for a character that’s supposed to be likable. That doesn’t mean there wasn’t moments where I saw the man I used to know but season 1 Lance very unbearable for the most part. I think I gasped audibly when he was like I miss Varadero Beach, cause I didn’t remember if the show itself said he was Cuba, I just assumed it was someone who worked on the show did. So I was like oh I’m dumb, it’s literally in the show.

Klance: For two characters that don’t have much going on this season, their dynamic is so odd. Like half their screen time is bickering, that Lance starts. They’re not rivals because Keith doesn’t view Lance as a rival, so it’s one sided rivalry. Then you think oh they just hate each other, but again Keith doesn’t hate Lance, it’s just Lance being a hater. But with that I can still see why people started to ship them. There were moments I was like wait…like when Lance asks Keith to save him after he gets chained to a tree. Keith response is a bit flirty to me and I was oh..wow. I see why people shipped them but I don’t see how they were thought as endgame, from just watching season 1.

I’m looking forward to season 2 but nervous for the rest of the series because I know the farther you get into the show the worst it gets. I don’t want to watch s7 and s8, there is no need to relive that. We will see when I get there though.

Also the fact it’s getting taken off Netflix is crazy. Like where is it going? Like I know it’s because of the contract with Netflix but I also theorize it might have something to do with the life action. If anyone wants to know where to watch after it does I can link it, cause trust I wanted to make sure I had a way to watch before it was gone for good.

[thelaurenshippen]

finally taking the time to read through the SAG agreement summary and oof, I hope they have an AI town hall soon because...well, there are things to discuss!

so, in case folks are curious, here are my immediate takeaways from the deal as a SAG actor, a SAG producer, and person who is not any kind of expert but spends a lot of time being skeptical of contracts I sign. this is a summation/commentary, not a holistic breakdown of every point, nor even an in-depth discussion of the points I do talk about. and it is, of course, in no way legal advice or voting advice.

this post is already maybe the longest post I've ever written on tumblr (lol) and I feel like I've barely scratched the surface. to be clear, nothing I'm saying here represents how I'm going to vote, how I think other actors should vote, or my be-all-end-all stance on a particular issue. this is me reading through, flagging what concerns me, and asking myself questions. and I'm here to take your questions too! though of course my expertise is limited.

(what?? something I wrote got annoying long?? in my tumblr? it's more likely, etc. huge write-up after the cut)

the good

self-tape stuff: this is one of the more niche/the thing that the general public will find least interesting, but they've put in a lot of provisions to make sure self-tape auditions have limits (# of pages, no stunts, no nudity, doesn't have to be professionally shot, etc.) which is amazing because these types of auditions have gotten out of control since the pandemic. this feels like a great gain

data transparency: in no world did I think the streamers were ever going to agree to any data sharing with either the wga or sag so even though the data is limited, this still feels huge to me.

folks who sing and dance will be paid for both of those things now, which is great

they've added MLK day and Juneteenth as holidays (about time)

a performer cannot be required to translate their own lines

principal performers are required to be given hair and makeup consultation or reimbursed for obtaining their own services - this seems like a small thing, but it's being put in here pretty much entirely because HMU services have generally been appalling when it comes to textured hair/a variety of skin tones. there's also stuff in here about working to hire more diverse HMU artists

it looks like it's going to be easier/provide a path for folks getting IMDb credits even if they're not credited on screen

miscellany: there's a bunch of gains in wage increases, P&H increases, relocation fees, franchise language etc. that all seem good to me, though my limited knowledge on those subjects prevents me from going in depth on them.

this is not important, but it tickled me, there's a term to replace all instances of "telegraph" in the contract with "email & text" which like...why has it taken us thirty years to do that lol.

the "...hm..."

intimacy coordinators: oof. when I watched the press conference SAG gave, I was fucking thrilled when they said that the new agreement required folks to hire intimacy coordinators for nudity and simulated sex scenes. that was almost reason enough for me to vote for it tbh - not requiring it is the exact reason I voted no on our last contract. however, reading the contract summary now, the exact language is: "Producer must use best efforts to engage an Intimacy Coordinator for scenes involving nudity or simulated sex and will consider in good faith any request by a performer to engage an Intimacy Coordinator for other scenes. Producer shall not retaliate against a performer for requesting an Intimacy Coordinator." this....sucks. "best efforts" and "good faith" are not the same as "required". IMO, an intimacy coordinator is the same thing as having a stunt coordinator or, like, any number of health and safety requirements. OSHA doesn't say you must "in good faith" put your "best effort" to providing fire exits. it's great that performers can request coordinators for any kind of scene, and this is still the strongest language we've ever had in a contract but....c'mon guys.

residuals: look, I can't speak to these new terms in any concrete way. there are increases, there are bonuses for streaming success, there's a whole thing about a fund regarding those successes that I need explained to me more in depth, but overall, it looks like we made some in-roads here. as someone who employs actors under digital distribution contracts that has no residuals (podcasts), I know how genuinely cumbersome the unholy trifecta of "views-success-profit" can be (as in views do not equal success, success does not equal profit, etc.). I also have no sympathy when the majority of companies dealing with that cumbersome trifecta are massive media conglomerates. anyway, long story short, idk if this is good enough, I'm hoping to attend the next info meeting sag has.

the bad

the new hair/makeup provisions are explicitly for principal actors. while I hope it leads to better, more inclusive HMU services all around I haaaate that this implies supporting or background actors (who oftentimes also have to sit in HMU) don't deserve the consideration. (then again, background actors are usually required to do their own HMU/bring their own costumes, but for productions where that's not the case, the same HMU provisions should apply IMO)

as with every contract, there's language that could be stronger, clarity that needs to exist, and important things missing - but this isn't the final contract and I'm not a lawyer, so I'm gonna leave that stuff to the experts.

but, "lauren", you say, "what about all the AI stuff? where does that go?" well, reader, I was planning on including that in the above but it's the hot-button issue right now and I think it's wickedly complicated, so I wanted to break it down separately, after I had a chance to point out all the good-bad-in-between stuff that's not getting talked about.

a note: in my career, I've learned there's two big things to keep in mind when reading a contract you might sign:

what is the worst case interpretation of this language (thank you to my lawyer, prince among men, for teaching me how to do this in practice (that said, anything I say here is not legal advice, he'd also want me to say that lol))

what are you willing to lose/compromise on/what are the limits of your pragmatism? contracts are not about a company giving you everything you want out of the goodness of their heart - it is always a compromise. pragmatism has to be a part of the equation.

so, with that said, I'm going to play a little devil's advocate here, and a) try to find the good/the pragmatic and b) catastrophize the worst case scenario. but first, it might be handy to look at this SAG infographic for some basic definitions. let's go.

the AI good

a ton of stuff here requires consent. that is not a small thing, and the consent continues even after your death (whether it was a yes or no; though this can be complicated by your estate/your union)

the language does establish that the consent must be a separate signing from the employment contract, even if its in the contract, which is great (but more on that below - timing matters)

actors often do get paid for use of their digital replicas, though it's different based on the use/type of replica.

the actor must be provided with a "reasonably specific description of the intended use". this language is vaguer than I would like, because it allows producers to decide what "reasonably specific" and "intended" means - there's always going to be some vagueness when it comes to this specific thing, but a good start would be for producers to require not blanket consent, but conditional consent for each significant use of digital replicas.

if the replicas are being used in other mediums, that must also be consented to, thank god.

replicas cannot be used in place of background actor counts on a given day - if I'm understanding this correctly, this means a production can't just have a bunch of fake background actors by themselves, they have to engage real people up to a certain number first (which in this new contract is 25 for TV and 85 for movies). we're already filling in background with digital people or copy-pasting of the same crowd over and over and have been doing so since at least the late 90s, so it's good we're continuing to put up boundaries around that.

the AI "...hm..."

it's unclear (to me) when an actor can be asked to consent. IMO, everything is meaningless if the consent is happening as part of regular contract negotiations. these things have to happen when - and only when - the actor has already been engaged in a role and feels empowered to say no

the use of independently created replicas (replicas pulled from existing footage, not created by the actor) being allowed without consent under first amendment reasoning - this is obviously concerning a lot of people bc first amendment arguments are so broad. that said, there's a pragmatism part of me that understands this is already happening/has been happening for a while and used in ways I think are perfectly fine - I was just watching the new episode of For All Mankind (one of the best TV shows right now!) and it's an alternate history, which meant that in the opening scenes of this season they had some bonkers good deep fakes of Al Gore saying stuff he never said. I think that's okay to do in a fiction show that imagines a different US history! "but Lauren", you might be saying, "Al Gore isn't a member of SAG!" are you sure? are you positive? because I'm pretty certain he is - he was in several episodes of 30 Rock, way more people are in SAG than you think (every NPR reporter for instance), and the two worst presidents we've had in the last 50 years (yes, those ones), are both definitely members of SAG (even if one is dead). now, the other side of this is that public figures like politicians are under a different social contract than actors, and if they wanted to sue, they could, unlike the average SAG actor who might have their image abused. this is why this is in the "hm" column - deep fakes and parody/satire/commentary use of replicas is already here and there's always going to be a 1st amendment argument to make, so we need to figure out how best to limit those and protect the most vulnerable.

alteration: with this language, a project can digitally alter without consent if the script and performance stays "substantially" the same. again, this language is too mealy-mouthed. I don't know that I have a huge problem with a line of dialogue getting replaced with a digital version of that actors voice if, for instance, a word was mispronounced, or wind garbled the sound or whatever - yes, it would eliminate the need for ADR, but if we put some limit on it like..."if there are more than 5 lines in a given episode/movie that require digital alteration in the service of clarity, the actor must be engaged for an ADR session or paid for the digital replacement" then I could see this being workable. I'm also personally okay with things like costumes being digitally altered but, again, we need limitations on that. digital altering cannot replace the art of costuming but, for instance, if a costume needs to be altered to include a hate symbol or something, I think that's fine (example: I have friends who worked at the VFX house for an alternate history TV show that involved a lot of Nazi costuming and set design - a huge part of that VFX house's job was to put swastikas in places, rather than props making nazi flags. I'm okay with that!) but again, these fringe cases do not a compelling arugment make, and this contract language can be interpreted too broadly for my comfort! like everything else in this "hm" category, I need to see the final contract language to decide.

the AI bad

there's a bunch of circumstances in which actors don't get paid for creating their replica/use of it and those circumstances are too broad for my taste.

synthetic performers - this is just awful. no. no, we should not be allowing AI to generate entire actors. just............no. there's some language about the producers having to talk to the union if the synthetic performer is "used in place of a performer who would have been engaged under this Agreement in a human role" but this doesn't apply to non-human characters so....wouldn't that be all roles?? leaving the producers room to be like "this role has to be synthetic, we never would've cast a human!" is bullshit. also, even if we're having AI create a magical talking unicorn whole cloth (which, like, also no, we have artists for this), that unicorn still needs to be voiced by a human person. this whole section is a disaster.

the exceptions to consent for digital alteration are bad-bad. I talked about the potential ADR replacement above and that has a whole host of issues with it that I didn't even get into, but I can see the argument. the rest are very troubling:

there is an exception under "any circumstance when dubbing or use of a double is permitted under the Codified Basic Agreement or Television Agreement" - okay, so does this mean we can replace dubbing artists and stunt performers entirely? this section is about digital alteration, but who's to say alteration couldn't turn an actor broadly miming a fight into an entirely digital, expertly performed fight that usually a stunt double would have done? with AI translation technology, does this mean we're replacing VO artists for dubs entirely? bad!

similarly, "Adjusting lip and/or other facial or body movement and/or the voice of the performer to a foreign language, or for purposes of changes to dialogue or photography necessary for license or sale to a particular market" - Justine Bateman has a great twitter thread on the terrible puppetry potential of this but I want to draw attention to the particular market bit - we all know that selling to china is such a huge part of studios' strategies that they'll remove entire scenes or lines around queer stuff. to me, this clause makes all of that so much easier. I know the argument here is going to be "we can replace swear words and license it for kids!" which.......sure? fine? but, uh, we already have ways to deal with that? and the potential for abuse here is terrifying to me. with all the digital alteration stuff too, there's just so much icky implication for the beauty/body standard to get so much worse.

if a background actor’s digital replica is used in the role of a principal performer, they'll be paid as if they actually performed the days for that role, which, sure, but uhhhh why are we saying it's okay for a digital replica of a background actor to suddenly be a leading role!?!?! I can't think of anything more demoralizing than going to set to act in background (a job I've done! an important job! a fun job a lot of the time! but creatively limited) and then getting a much bigger role (the dream!) and.....not being able to, you know, act that role or be in scenes with other principal actors or do the thing that you've dedicated your life to doing. nightmare stuff.

woof. there's so much more to say but I'm going to leave it there. these are the concerns I'm going to go into SAG's meetings with, and the concerns I'll be considering as I decide how to vote. I know there are things I didn't address and very possibly things I misinterpreted or misrepresented - if you're an actor, I highly recommend a) reading that Justine Bateman thread and b) attending SAG's meetings to ask questions and express your concerns. and I'd love to hear what y'all think! my ask box is open.

[bow-of-aros]

Day Twenty-Nine: Magic

Summary:

Mollymauk's been messing with Caleb for the past couple days, and Caleb decides it's high time to return the favour.

Hey folks! This is simultaneously half-assed and probably one of my longer Critical Role ones, so I'm not totally sure what to do with that. I think it's pretty fun though, so I hope that y'all enjoy!! <33

Mollymauk had been pushing his luck as of late.

Sure, he’d already had a penchant for messing with the people in their little family, paying special attention to the so-called “grumps” which basically only included Caleb and maybe Beau on occasion if he was feeling lucky.

But he’d been growing bolder in the past few days. Especially since he’d discovered Caleb’s weakness. Or his “Human switch” is Molly was to be believed.

“One poke and boom! Real human Caleb with a real human smile!” Were his exact words.

His little attacks had been growing more and more frequent. At this point it didn’t matter if they were on an isolated road or a crowded tavern, Molly had gone from tickling him every few days, to every day, to multiple times a day.

It was always in the brief moments when Caleb was distracted, engaged in conversation or reading a book, there was always a purple tail poking at his torso pulling out some humiliating noise or another.

Caleb didn’t exactly mind it per se, but the brief attacks left him an anxious, jittery mess. His guard was almost always up, his eyes were constantly darting over his shoulder, and he was getting tired of it.

He thought about having a proper conversation with Mollymauk about it, but he didn’t want to upset the tiefling, and it truly wasn’t that serious.

So, instead, Caleb figured that he could give Molly a taste of his own medicine.

It didn’t take much planning, truth be told. Caleb’s not exactly the sneakiest of the bunch, but, he does know the spell Unseen Servant. Schmidt was going to be his partner in crime.

It went off without a hitch.

He started cautiously, sending Schmidt to goose Mollymauk’s sides when he was standing next to Jester, earning a startled squawk and immediately sparking a battle between the two of them.

Then, Schmidt would claw into his ribs in a crowded marketspace. The shriek he’d let out had earned his a few stares but was quickly forgotten.

Once, before going to sleep, he’d had Schmidt swipe a line up Mollymauk’s spine and the resulting scream had been deeply rewarding. Caleb had nearly lost the battle of impassivity as he watched Molly launch himself an impressive distance into the air.

Molly’s own attacks began to dwindle as he fell into the same cycle of vague paranoia that Caleb had. Except he didn’t know who to retaliate because it just couldn’t be Mister Caleb no fun Widogast.

Maybe it was time to finally talk to him.

That night, Caleb ensured that they would be taking first watch together and angled himself towards Mollymauk when he took his seat beside him.

“Mighty fine evening, wouldn’t you say, Mister Caleb?”

Excellent. Caleb didn’t even have to start the conversation. “Yes. It’s always nice when I’m not actively freezing.”

Molly huffed out a surprised laugh at the joke, shoulders relaxing as he stares out into the twilight sky.

And then Caleb has Schmidt poke him one last time in the side, just for fun.

“HEY!” Molly’s head whipped around to where Schmidt stood, completely invisible, and then back to where Caleb was sitting, proud smirk on display for all to see.

Molly pointed an accusing finger at him, “You?!” He stammered for a moment, at a loss for words for a moment and eventually settling on, “How? Why? I thought I was losing my damn mind!”

Caleb started ticking off the answers on his fingers, “Unseen servant, for revenge, and ja, how do you think I felt? I am already on edge all the time! I have been unable to relax over these past few days.”

At least Molly had the wherewithal to look a bit guilty at that, which made Caleb feel a bit better.

“Shit, yeah. I guess I got a little over-excited there.” Molly shot him an apologetic grin, “I’m sorry, Caleb. I’ll make sure to cut it out.”

And that brought up a whole new problem. Caleb could already feel his face getting red.

“Ah, well, I don’t entirely mind it, Mollymauk. But—” Caleb was sure to cut off Molly when he opened his mouth, glee colouring his features, “Not all the time. And I truly cannot handle being held in suspense, I really would prefer if I could see it coming so that I can at least get some sleep at night.”

Molly was silent for a while, then held his hand out, “I think you’ve got yourself a deal there, Mister Caleb!”

Cautiously, Caleb reached out to shake his hand and, to his surprise, was allowed to draw his hand back.

About two seconds later, a mischievous grin spread across Molly’s lips and he lifted his hands in order to wriggle his fingers at Caleb.

“Now, is this enough warning for you?”

Nobody could say that Caleb couldn’t think quick on his feet because, the second he saw Molly’s weight shift forward, Schmidt’s hand shot out and wrapped itself around his tail. Molly only had enough time for his eyes to widen as Caleb directed fingers to scratch at the underside of his tail and he pitched face forward into the dirt.

“CahaHAHAHAHALEB! Nonononono SHIT! I CAHAHAHAN’T!” He looked up at Caleb through pleading, watery eyes, and Caleb simply smiled back down at him.

Yes, he could get used to this arrangement.

[w2soneshots]

I hate you? -Miniminter

words: 1.4k

warnings: light smut, angst, friends with benefits, enemies to lovers.

summary: you and Simon realise the real reason you hate each other so much.

I met Freya during high school, we immediately hit it off and have been best friends ever since. When she met Josh during college, we got to know each other, since me and Freya were roommates, so whenever he came round we would usually end up chatting the next morning while Freya got ready. After college, when Josh started the sidemen I ended up helping Freya with sidemen clothing. I became good friends with all of the boys, except Simon, for some reason we just never got along, always bickering. And around ten years later we still hate each other. I've tried in the past to be his friend but it always ends with an argument.

Today is my party for my 29th birthday and I'm hosting it at my house. Here's the guest list: Freya, Josh, Faith, Ethan, Vik, Tobi, JJ, Harry, Freezy and Simon. I didn't really want to invite Simon, but I don't think it would be fair to invite the entire group and leave him out, so he's coming. I decorated my open plan living room and kitchen with balloons (to take pictures), lights, set up the speakers and set out a bunch of alcohol along with cups. Once I was done I got ready, taking a shower, drying, and straightening my hair, putting on a bunch of make up and getting dressed into a long sleeve, black top, a light, blue, short denim skirt, tights and long, black boots. As I was adding my finishing touches, my doorbell rang.

I quickly put my lipgloss down and shuffled towards the door. I opened it to see Freezy and Harry. "Hey! Come in." I exclaimed stepping aside. Tobi was the next to arrive followed by, Josh and Freya, Vik, Ethan and Faith and finally JJ and Simon. I tried to just avoid Simon as much as I could, practically ignoring him. As the party went on, everyone began to get progressively more drunk (except Tobi). I quickly popped upstairs to go to the toilet when I banged straight into Simon. "What the fuck!" I shouted, stumbling into the wall "you fucking idiot." I said drunkenly. "you should've been watching where you were going." Simon retaliated. "No you should've!" I said moving past him and into the bathroom.

Once I finished using the toilet and touching up my makeup, I went back down stairs. The party continued until 2am when everyone began leaving. Simon accidentally fell asleep on my sofa so once everyone was gone I harshly shook him awake. He shot up "what the fuck?" he said groggily looking at me. "You fell asleep, everyone is already gone." I said. "Oh sorry." he said getting up. My eyes widened "wow, never heard that before." I said sarcastically. He rolled his eyes "you know I don't really hate you, you just annoy me to fuck." he said. "I highly doubt that." I said, scoffing.

"Why don't I prove it to you?" he said standing up. "What?" I furrowed my brows. He walked around the couch then slowly got closer and closer to me until I could feel his breath on my face, staring down at me. "What- what are you doing." I stuttered quietly. "I'm proving to you that I don't hate you." he said then leaned in and connected our lips. I froze "what the hell is happening?" I thought but suddenly began kissing him back. All of the built up anger and resentment was finally being realised. His hands traveled down to my ass, squeezing lightly. As my hands traveled to intertwine with his short hair.

Suddenly he broke the kiss and lifted me up, firemen style. He ran up the stairs and I squirmed and cursed in his arms. "Put me down!" I shouted. "As you wish." he said once we were in my bedroom, throwing me onto the bed. As I held myself up by my elbows Simon undressed in front of me. My eyes widened as his massive hard cock hit his stomach when he released it from his boxers. He moved towards me and pulled my boots off, then my skirt and tights in one fail swoop. "No underwear, you dirty girl." he practically growled. Then he pulled me forward and placed my legs over his shoulders.

The next morning... I woke up with a banging headache. I threw a hand to my head and groaned. Once I was properly aware of my surroundings I looked to my left. I gasped "no, fuck, fuck, fuck!" I whispered. Simon Minter the man I've hated profusely since I can remember was lying asleep next to me in just his boxers. I looked down at myself "shit I'm fully naked!" My brain shouted. I frantically jumped out of my bed and pulled on some clothes. When I was dressed I walked round to the side of the bed Simon lay asleep on. I shook him "Simon!" I shouted, making my head ache. He slowly opened his eyes and they widened as soon as he saw me, "What the-". "Yea, that's what I said." I joked sarcastically. "Did we?" he said flicking his finger from me to him. "I think so, I was um- naked when I woke up." I answered. "Shit." he cursed.

After that night I assumed it would never happen again but when we were, once again drunk we did it in the bathroom of a club. Then It became a regular occurrence, don't get me wrong I still didn't like him but I was horny and so was he so... this went on for just over three months, he'd come to my house, I'd go to his. We told nobody, non of the boys knew and I'd been keeping it from Freya, which was difficult because we talk every single day.

One day I went round to Simon's house like normal, I knocked on the door and we immediately got down to business. We were in the middle of having sex on his couch when I heard the front door click open. I pushed Simon of me, grabbed the blanket that was folded on the head of the sofa and covered my bottom half (since we hadn't taken our tops off). Simon was confused "What are you-" Then there was a gasp, Freezy stood at the front door, eyes wide and the bag he had in his hand was now on the floor. "Shit!" Simon exclaimed and also jumped under the blanket. "You- you too were- oh my god!" Freezy stuttered.

I quickly pulled my sweat pants on under the blanket and stood up "wait, Freezy you can't tell anyone." I said trying my hardest to keep calm. He was still in complete shock "how long have you too been- wait I thought you hated each other-" words and questions stumbled out of his mouth. "Three months." Simon said as he walked up next to me, now fully clothed. "I only came round to drop off these footballs and I find this." Freezy said and I couldn't help but giggle.

After a long talk with Cal we agreed that he would keep the secret. Once he left I looked to Simon, since my birthday we haven't really been arguing and recently instead of leaving immediately after we fucked he's been cleaning me and wherever we did it up, he also stayed the night a few times and we've sat and watched a few movies together. Another thing is that when we started this we made a rule of no kissing so I was purely sex but a few weeks ago we broke that rule and didn't regret it.

"I don't know if I trust him to not tell anyone." I said. "Would it really be that bad if he did?" Simon said. My brows furrowed "what do you mean?" He took a deep breath "I know we've... disliked each other since we met but I think it was just because there was something else there we were trying to distract from." I raised my eyebrow and shuffled closer to him. He stared into my eyes "I love you y/n." I smiled "I love you too."

After we finally admitted to ourselves that the reason we've despised each other, all these years, wasn't because we were bad people, but was because we had fallen for each other and were trying to deny it, was when everything finally fell into place.

[coffeeman777]

hi pastor kreg! i have two questions.

can you explain the Isreali-Hamas war a bit? because the news and the media are so conflicting about everything. I know its not a black and white issue, and on the one hand, I agree with Isreal in the fact that they were the ones who gave up their land for the Palestinian people in the first place, and Hamas attacked first. I understand that the Isreali government feels like it has to push back harder than it ever has before, because it is such a small, young nation, and they KNOW that their persecution will not stop because the Bible (both old and new Testments) say so (not to mention that there are a slew of countries whose agenda is to destroy Isreal). but on the other hand, there is so much news about Isreal doing horrific things, like rumors of death camps and hurting civilians. and that Hamas, the terrorist organization, is not the same as Palestine, but Palestine has also *allowed* them to take over their country politically, economically, and socially. I just don't know what or who to believe, and what other gray areas I need to consider in my choices.

i keep getting asks to support Gazan refugees. like on the one hand, OF COURSE I support all of the civilians who have nothing to do with this! but by giving them support, whether financially or just by posting about it, I support ALL of their agenda to free Palestine, which I am pretty sure in don't agree with, but I'm not positive yet. so far ive just been not answering these asks but they're getting harder to ignore, especially when a lot of my mutuals do support Palestine. not in a ultra crazy way like most do, but they're just reposting some of the expose stuff.

im just having a hard time with answers (cause a lot of these people don't know what they are talking about) and wanted some sort of advice. thanks.

Heya!

So, I'm very much on Israel's side in this whole thing. To state it simply, Hamas has been attacking and killing innocent Israelis for decades. Their goal is the complete eradication of Israel. Hamas isn't interested in peace or a two state solution; they want Israel gone, wiped off the map.

Hamas terrorists are cowards. When they attack Israel, they run and hide behind women and children to prevent Israel from retaliating. They whine and cry to the leftist media about how horrible Israel is and generate ridiculous anti-Israel propaganda. So many times, desiring not to kill innocent civilians and being under the weight of intense pressure from the international community, Israel has backed off and let Hamas go. Hamas then regroups, stockpiles weapons, makes new plans, and attacks Israel again. This cycle has been going on for as long as I can remember.

On October 7th, Hamas invaded Israel and butchered a huge number of innocent Israelis, raped many Israeli women, took a bunch of hostages, and even shot and beheaded Israeli babies. This was by far the worst Hamas attack in recent history. Israel said enough is enough, we're taking Hamas out and rescuing our people who were kidnapped. Hamas has done the same thing they always do, but this time Israel isn't backing down. And they shouldn't. Israel has a right to exist in their own land and defend themselves.

Israel is doing everything they possibly can to save civilians in Gaza. All the stuff you hear about death camps and the like is completely false. If Israel wanted to kill everyone in Gaza, including civilians, they could easily do it. They could glass the whole Gaza strip if they wanted, kill every living thing there. But they haven't done that, and they won't. Israel has continually put their own people at risk to provide help to the Palestinian civilians. But they're committed to bringing Hamas down. They have to be.

It is heartbreaking that innocents have died in this conflict, but their blood is on Hamas, not Israel. Even after everything, Israel has offered numerous ceasefire agreements to Hamas, but Hamas has rejected them all. If Hamas would release the Israeli captives and surrender, the fight would be over tomorrow. But Hamas won't play ball. Israel has no choice.

I don't believe anything I hear in the news from leftist outlets. I don't believe the horrible things they're saying about Israel, because in my experience, it's always half truths spun to make Israel look bad, or else just outright lies about what's happening. The same sort of tactics the leftist media uses to discredit and attack conservatives here in America.

As for supporting refugees, if it can't be done without also supporting the anti-Israel propaganda, then I wouldn't do it. Seek the Lord about other ways you can help.

I hope this post is useful to you. My personal conviction is to stay on Israel's side and be a blessing to the Jewish people as much as possible. I think this is the correct position for all Christians to take.

Take care, be blessed!

EDIT:

I apologize, I forgot to make a correction. I'm not actually a pastor, just an ordained minister. The difference is that, while I have credentials to preach and teach, I'm not serving as the head of any congregation of Christians.

[v--143]

Day 6- Chase

[Lee! Han]

[Ler! IN]

“Where is it?” IN yelled at the members in the living room.

“May we was what ‘it’ is” Seungmin said mockingly.

“You know! My hoodie, literally the one I always wear” IN replied (dramatically).

“I haven’t seen it” Hyunjin said, head in Chan’s lap.

“I haven’t either”

“Not me”

“Dang it” IN whispered as he continued to look around. That was, until.. Hanji walked into the room.

“What’s up my mammals” Han imitated Sid the sloth with the audio blasting. He was in one of those moods today.

“HANNI” IN screamed as he stomped over to Han who was on the other side of the room.

“What?!” Han shouted as he shuffled away from the younger, “What’s wro-! Oohhhh..”

“‘Ohhh’ yeah you’re wearing my hoodie! Where’d you find it?! Why are you wearing it.”

“Washing machine, it was warm” Han said, smiling.

“Give it back” IN said while walking closer to Han. He just continued to take steps back.

“Now” IN emphasized.

That was when Han ran out the room.

All the members burst out laughing, some of them yelling “run Han!!” or “go him Ayen!”. A bunch of instigators (<3).

Naturally, IN began chasing Han and was actually not that far off from catching the crazed quokka.

“I’m sorhorry!! Leave me ALONE!!” Han screamed as he ran through hallways and jumped over furniture. They were both laughing, Han more out of nervousness as he hugged IN’s hoodie to himself as he ran. This didn’t last long though as IN suddenly wrapped his arms around the older and held him in place

“Let me go!!” Han yelled as he writhed from side to side.

“Give me my hoodie back!” IN yelled back as he, still hugging Han around his waist, dug his fingers into his sides.

“Hehahaehey!! HEY! Ayehen stOHOP!” Han shrieked as he began to jump as much as he could while wiggling in IN’s arms. The little movements of IN’s fingers across his sensitive sides and ribs were bad.

“You should’ve given it back when I gave you the chance idiot!” IN said lovingly and entirely too close to Han’s ear and neck. He squealed away from IN as he laughed out.

IN soon stuck his hands into the hoodie pockets, which IN knew had a super thin layer separating them from the skin.

“NOAHA HAHA” Han yelled as IN tickled him crazy from inside the pockets. His knees folded and he began to fall to the floor.

“Plehehase!!!” Han begged as he curled up on the floor in an attempt to make IN’s hands move slower.

“Fine, I’ll take it off if you myself” IN said. And so he dug his cold hands under the hoodie.

“AAHA HAHA HAHA” Han yelled out as IN went crazy on his torso. Han quickly got back up and began shuffling around weirdly, trying to run to one side of the room and then directing his body another way to get away from IN’s fingers.

“STOHOAHAP!”

“Give it BAHACK!” IN retaliated.

“Fihine!!! Take it O- OHAHAFF TAKE IT off MEHE!” Han yelled through loud laughs.

IN began to pull the hoodie off of Han by tugging the hood up… until it got stuck right at the point where Han’s arms were shot in the air.

“IN.” Han said sternly.

“Mhm” IN giggled.

“No. Take it off” Han couldn’t even see at this point as the hoodie went from his neck to his arms only.

IN poked his stomach and stepped back, Han flailing around. He couldn’t run because… well… he couldn’t see.

He poked him again.

And again.

And again and again until Han was a puddle on the ground with nowhere to go except curl up into himself.

IN eventually let up and took the hoodie off the older, making sure to tell him to wash it again and not put it on once it was done drying.

But of course… Han didn’t listen.

———————————————————————————

Popipopipo pipo

I cannot believe day 6 is on day 11 my bad y’all just pretend I’m on schedule 🙍🏻‍♀️

[g1itchtree]

Divulgence- Part 2

Previous - Next

SO I'm really only going to be updating this when ideas hit me. Which takes a while tbh so yeah very sporadic updates sorry

Also I really like writing dialogue but that comes at the expense of actual like scenebuilding or whatever lmao

———

“You WHAT?!”

“Shh, not so loud!” Marinette scolded, covering Alya’s mouth. “I’m really trying to not let my parents know, okay?”

Alya rolled her eyes, licking her hand in retaliation. Marinette immediately pulled away, wiping her hand on Alya with a laugh. “Okay girl, geez. But I thought you were over Luka?” Alya asked.

“Well, not really. I just knew I couldn’t feasibly be with him and be Ladybug at the same time,” Marinette shrugged, averting her gaze. This next part was the one she was most worried about sharing. “But… he may have found out who I am?”

“He WHAT?!”

“Alya!” She laughed, mostly to shake off the nerves.

“But how? You’re so careful!” Alya pressed.

“Well, you know how Wishmaker revealed people’s dreams, right?” Marinette started, receiving a nod in return. “I brought Viperion along in case me or Chat got hit… and Viperion may or may not be Luka.”

Alya opened her mouth, probably to scream again, but Marinette shot her a look and she smiled sheepishly. “Okay, so he saw your dream?”

“…and Chat’s.”

“…It’s like you’re looking for a reaction.”

“I’m not, really! Yesterday was just a lot, that’s all.” Marinette shrugged, tapping her fingers together. “But it should be okay, since Shadow Moth has no idea.”

Alya let out a little huff, crossing her arms. “That’s still a big risk.”

“I know, I know! But really, it shouldn’t cause any problems. We talked it over a bit, and unless he gets akumatized then there’s basically no way for Shadow Moth to know. And I already gave him a charm, so we’re totally fine.” Marinette explained, knowing she won when Alya gave an overly dramatic groan.

“Okay, but what about Adrien?” Her friend asked, giving her a look. “We both know you have feelings for him, don’t even try to deny it. Is Luka okay with that?”

“That’s a whole other thing,” Marinette sighed, slumping over slightly. “Apparently Luka likes him too?”

“No!” Alya gasped, smiling wide.

“Yeah! That’s what I was like!” Marinette exclaimed, standing up as she tries to explain the whole thing. “And he told me about this thing called polyamory? Basically just having multiple partners at once.”

Alya snapped her fingers, eyes shining at the realization. “So you guys can both date Adrien!”

“Well, if Adrien wants to,” Marinette held her hands up, shaking her head. “He might not be into that sort of thing, or even like either of us. Or maybe just one of us.”

“Well duh,” Alya said, brushing it off. “But this makes so much sense. No wonder why you couldn’t choose. You literally love them both the same!”

Marinette gave a tiny laugh at her enthusiasm, relieved she didn’t find it super weird. “I’m not really telling a bunch of people though. I mean, Luka and I just broke up, so it’ll be a bit weird to be back together so soon without explaining why.”

“I guess you can’t just say you only broke up cause you were Ladybug, and now he knows so it’s chill,” Alya conceded.

“And we both know I won’t be able to stop gushing over Adrien,” Marinette pointed out. “I don’t really know how everyone would react to the whole ‘multiple partners’ thing either, so please don’t mention it until I do?”

“Of course girl, you know I wouldn’t out you like that,” Alya immediately assured, zipping her lips. “I’m glad you felt you could tell me.”

“You know I can’t keep anything from you,” Marinette giggled, pulling her into a hug.

Alya smirked a bit, messing with Marinette’s hair. “Yeah, I’m too charming~”

“Oh my god you sound like Chat.”

“Well maybe he had the right idea!”

Marinette gives her a disapproving look, eventually dissolving into more laughter with her friend. This was good. More than that, this was relieving. She didn’t expect it to be more nerve-wracking than the first time coming out (was this even coming out?). Obviously Alya wouldn’t react too bad, but hopefully her other friends would react like this too!

Maybe Adrien wouldn’t mind either?

———

“You seem happy today, m’lady,” Chat Noir hummed, swinging his legs from his place on the roof.

The two of them were just relaxing after their patrol, as they often do. It was tradition at this point. But today, she had this sparkle in her eyes and her whole demeanor seemed… lighter.

Ladybug gave an awkward little laugh at his comment, scratching at her cheek. “Is it that obvious?”

“Nah, I just know you too well~” He grinned, bumping their shoulders together. “So what’s up? Something good happen?”

“You could say that…” Her cheeks went a little rosy and she played with fingers a bit. So it was embarrassing then? That just intrigued him more.

“Come on, what is it?” He pressed, turning to fully face her. “Give me the deets!”

“The deets? Seriously?”

Chat snickered at her incredulous look, starting to chant. “The deets! The deets! The deets!”

Ladybug broke into laughter, waving her hands to stop him. “Okay, okay! I guess it wouldn’t hurt to tell you, but… don’t freak out, okay? And… tell me to shut up if it upsets you?”

He paused at that, curious and a bit concerned. “Okay…? Though I doubt you would be able to upset me so easily.”

She let out a sigh, tracing the edge of the roof with her finger. “Well… I kinda have a boyfriend now?”

Oh.

Ladybug must have seen something in his expression that she didn’t like, because she immediately went into fix-it mode. “I’m sorry, I know you’re trying to get over me, and I really appreciate it, and I didn’t want to rub this in your face! I know how much it sucks when the person you like is with someone else, and-”

“It’s okay, bugaboo,” Chat cut in, grabbing the arm she was waving around, like she did whenever she rambled. “I was just surprised, that’s all! And you don’t need to apologize for dating someone, that’s your right and I don’t mind.”

“Really?” She asked. “‘Cause I’d totally understand if you did mind.”

“It’s fine. I’m happy for you, if anything!” He assured. “You deserve to have someone to love and for them to love you, even if it’s not me.”

She let out a sigh, though she was still hunching her shoulders uncomfortably. “Thanks, Chat. I appreciate that. But… there’s something else you should know.”

He raised a brow at that, concern seeping into his expression. “Alright…?”

She glanced around them, probably looking for any cameras or potential eavesdroppers. So this was something confidential, then? How could this be related to her boyfriend?

Satisfied that no one was listening, she leaned in, voice just above a whisper. “He kinda figured out my identity.”

Oh.

“How did that happen?” He asked. She was more careful than anyone he knew, it was definitely weird.

“Well, I dated this guy before,” She started, which honestly surprised him more. “I didn’t tell you right away in case you know me, since it would be suspicious that Ladybug me and civilian me started dating someone. But… it didn’t last long. I couldn’t devote enough time to him because of this whole superhero thing.”

“Ah. That sucks.” Chat could relate. He hardly had enough time for his own friends. Not because of his superhero identity, but his jam-packed schedule.

Ladybug nodded, a bit of a sorrowful, wistful look in her eyes. “It was my decision. I didn’t want to keep lying, and he deserved better. But I guess he connected when I had to run off to the time Ladybug appeared. He asked me about it the other day.”

“So now you’re back together?” He finished, smiling a bit. “That’s such a sweet love story! Definitely fanfic worthy.”

Ladybug laughed, her nose scrunching up in a way that had his smile widening involuntarily. “I think I’ve actually read this exact scenario before, now that you mention it.”

“But why tell me this time?” He asked. “Not saying I don’t appreciate it, but that risk is still there.”

“We’re not telling that many people right away,” She explained. “It would be kinda awkward to explain why we got back together so quick.”

He nodded at that, getting her point. “So he’s good to you, then?”

“Amazing,” She confirmed, her smile gentle but so sweet it could give him a toothache. “Even before he knew my identity, he was such a big comfort… He always knows what to say to make me feel better.”

“Sounds like a good guy. Hopefully I can meet him eventually, make sure he’s treating you right.”

“I don’t think you have to worry about that. The thought’s sweet, though,” She replied, patting his arm.

The two of them sat in companionable silence from that point, content with watching the sunset. Chat excused himself when it started to get seriously dark, not wanting to risk being caught by his father or Nathalie. He could only “shower” for so long, after all.

Dropping through his window and releasing his form, Adrien flopped onto his bed with little grace. He dug some cheese out of his pocket for Plagg, tossing it towards the kwami before shoving his face in a pillow.

He could feel Plagg’s eyes on him, probably out of a modicum of concern. “So you are upset about Ladybug’s new boytoy?”

“Plagg, that’s rude,” Adrien scolded, reluctantly sitting up.

“Don’t avoid my question!”

He rolled his eyes, leaning against his backboard with a huff. “I mean, yeah. I really am happy she found someone, don’t get me wrong, but it’d be weird if I wasn’t somewhat sad.”

“You’ll find someone else, kid,” Plagg said, though Adrien couldn’t quite tell if he was being sarcastic. “Plenty of cheese in the world! Sometimes you have to taste many different kinds before you find the one right for you.”

“You and your cheese metaphors,” Adrien shook his head. “Don’t you have any other material?” 

Plagg scoffed, looking thoroughly offended. “Why have more when cheese is so applicable anyways?”

That one earned a laugh. He scratched the top of the kwamis head, letting himself think the night over. He really was trying to get over Ladybug, at her request. And strangely, he didn’t really mind that she was dating someone else. What bothered him more is that he would never be able to hold the same kind of place in her heart. He knew she cared about him, but it just wasn’t the same.

He supposed he would have to learn to be satisfied with what he could have now.

[frikatilhi]

*quietly plants brainrot here*

(no pressure ofc pus)

OK YOU NOW LISTEN

What makes you think you can just BARGE in here and drop THAT in my askes WHAT

please continue

Anyway, under the cut is the last of the prompts for now (feel free to send more though, I've loved these!!).

“Is that what you’re gonna wear?” Jesse asked.

Bojan looked down at his Pasivision jersey. “Yeah, why?”

Jesse’s eyebrows were up. “Not exactly club attire.”

“I’ll change after the show,” Bojan shrugged, going for the dumb and innocent approach. Jesse shot him a knowing look. 

Bojan wasn’t sure what the big deal was - it was meant to be funny. He had come to Glasgow to support his friend, so he was ready to go all in. He had tucked his Pasivision jersey in his luggage in hopes he’d have the courage to wear it, and when it was time to go to the venue, he had pulled it over his sparkly top meant for partying later. 

Jesse was still saying something, but suddenly Jere came into view, in performance mode, ready to take the stage, and Bojan wasn’t listening anymore, because he had also noticed Bojan and was coming over.

“Hey there superstar, ready to blow the roof off?” Bojan said, offering his fist for a bump.

Jere tapped his knuckles into Bojan’s. “Look at you, fanboy.”

Bojan patted his belly. “Oh, this? My turn being the tour wife, I guess. You did so well, last time.”

Jere grinned. “Yes. You serve me drinks, after show.” 

“Sure thing, hunnybunny.”

“Okei, gotta go. See you!” And he was gone. Bojan let out a sigh of relief, not sure why. Next to him, Jesse rolled his eyes.

****

It was more than halfway through the show, and Bojan was watching from the balcony. Jere had exited the stage for a minute, letting the others take over for what Bojan assumed was a change of outfit, sip of water and a much needed breather. A new song started - Bojan wasn’t that well-versed in Käärijä’s discography that he would have been able to differentiate between the songs easily - and Jere came back on stage and.

And.

He was wearing - a shirt? That itself was unheard of, Käärijä did not perform in a shirt, ever, but on top of that, it was… something white.

Not just anything white, either. It was Bojan’s mesh shirt, the one he had worn at Tavastia, the one that he had left at Jere’s, the one that Jere had proudly waved and smelled in front of the entire internet, the one that had made the freaking news.

He hadn’t left it on purpose, mind you. He wasn’t even sure how that had happened, because it’s not like he was wearing it when they had crashed at Jere’s. Somehow, Jere must have stolen it from his bag, that bastard.

The boxers, on the other hand, he totally owned up to. He had taken a shower at Jere’s in the morning. He was not good at keeping tabs of his belongings, so it’s no wonder those had been left behind. 

But that wasn’t on purpose, either. Or so he told himself.

He wasn’t super excited about Jere’s public stunt with the laundry, but at the time there wasn’t anything else to do than to take it in stride, share the story, and dm a bunch of skull emojis to Jere. This was their love language, was it not? Bojan was glad he had retaliated by sneaking the Bulbasaur beanie in his bag when Jere wasn’t looking, even though he couldn’t have known at the time it was to be revenge. He felt no need to flaunt his achievement for everyone to see, though. He hadn’t told or showed it to anyone, actually. He told himself he was waiting for the right moment to strike.

Jere was thrashing about the stage and the shirt - Bojan’s shirt - kept riding up and exposing his belly. Which shouldn’t have been as hot as it was, because Jere’s belly was always on display. Why did seeing it under - and through - a shirt suddenly made Bojan’s want to bite?

The same went for Jere’s nipples that were barely visible through the mesh. God, is that what he looked like, as well, wearing that? That shit should be illegal. Suddenly, the jersey felt too fucking hot on him, he could feel sweat pooling under his pecs and on his lower back. The song ended, and Bojan couldn’t be sure how the rest of the show went. All he could feel was… some kind of unfounded ownership, like he had staked his claim without even trying, like now everybody was able to see right through him, like now everybody knew.

Afterwards, backstage, they had a laugh about the whole thing. Mikke took pictures of them, Bojan showing the victory sign in his jersey, Jere tucked under his arm in the white shirt. Both of them were sporting wide grins. Jere enjoyed the frenzy it caused when he posted it; Bojan was not so sure about how he felt. He shared it adding a single heart - he didn’t even dare to try to put anything into words. It took enough effort to keep acting like his insides weren’t on fire.

They didn’t talk about it much, then or later. Jere said he had brought the shirt because he wanted to return it. Neither of them mentioned that it never actually made it back to Bojan. Instead, another pair of boxers was accidentally left behind, this time by Jere, who had to scramble to make it back to the tour bus after extended goodbyes in Bojan’s hotel room. Bojan didn’t feel the need to roast him publicly about it. Privately though, back in his apartment in Ljubljana, he made sure to send Jere a picture of himself wearing them, fresh from the clean laundry pile. And the reaction he got back - meant for him and him alone - was enough to sustain him for a good long while.

[plotbunnsies]

What if Aizawa is some form of cryptic that one day stumbled upon the school someday and he wasn't allowed to leave ever since? Like he's Mothman or some shit (btw check out this wip of aizawa being Mothman that i found) and he's being a lil cryptic shit like "Everyone's gonna be so confused" and so he sits their as a student in the hero course. Enter Oburo and Hizashi.

They take one look at the thing with hair as black as the void, eyes that are hazy, always shifting, always watching, and the smell of dew and grass and mold coming off him like he's been living in the forest all his life. They take one look at this Aizawa i-take-your-quirk-if-you-come-too-close Shouta and decide he's their best friend now.

And since then Aizawa is stuck.

He hisses and scratches and his eyes turns blood red and somehow your quirk refuses to work? Aww he's an introvert!

He skips school until either one of his 'friends' come and drag him their? Aww he wants to walk to school with them!

He lives in a forest? Ooh he's also antisocial too, but don't worry shouta! We'll be sure to give you a healthy dose of socialisation so you wont go crazy all alone!

He can talk to animals? Must have been hit with a quirk when you were younger!

Can talk to shadows? Wow, young shouta must have been very clumsy to be hit with so much quirks

Wait what's his quirk? Well, nezu gave them this analysis after shouta tore his to shreds and looks like he can null quirks he looks at. Cool!

How shouta got into school? The teachers figured he was a potential nezu found. Nezu figured he was a potential one of his staff found and wanted to be cryptic about him to get back at all th bs nezu pulls on them.

A quick search into the school's database and another search in the government database and nezu is slightly concerned about why this child does not have an identity

The next day official papers were presented to Hizashi and co. to keep on and make sure aizawa doesn't shred

And it went on for years. No one could figure that aizawa Was Not Human for years, until he's somehow roped into teaching a bunch of brats about heroics and whatever other bs this society is on about these days. A young kid with bush-like hair enters his classroom, takes one look at him, and asks "what the fuck is that"

If aizawa could die, he would be happy dying at this moment. He swears he can feel these 'happy tears' his friends talk about.

And so aizawa and midori for the remainder of the year try to find anyone who’d just believe them.

His friends thinks it’s nice that he's bonding with his students. He's using "friends" with heavy quotations for the rest of the year as retaliation.

On the day of oburo's death, two pieces of shouta died. A piece he intentionally gave away to his...friend to still have a connection to this earth to visit it whenever he wishes to

And a piece, crumbled to dust when the ghost of oburo stood above collapsed buildings and shot him a smile. It was not eye-hurting-bright smile, and was not i-am-annoying-you-like-friends-do smile. It was like the smiles nezu-sensei gives him when he says he's not human, or that he doesn't need therapee because he'll never feel like other people do

And oburo looks at him and asks him one question

"How many quirks were you hit with, sho-sho?"

A glass-shattering scream could be heard from across the country. Many believed it was a grieving hizashi scream. It was the scream of a very frustrated aizawa

He threw the piece of his shadows at his face, and left with a done shout of "this will ground you to this plane. Visit hizashi and nemuri for fucks sake!" And leaves

And if he goes to check on hizashi after two whole days on no-pestering, if he lets nemuri cry on him and doesnt complain of the salty, slimy liquids that get absorbed into his hair, if he lets tensei talk and talk and mourn a shout and cry more than any human probably should, if he talked and talked and talked and checked and persuaded his, his friends to try this therapy guy and let them hug him and drag him around with less aggression because now they're sad and fragile and he doesn't want, he refuses to be the reason they snap

Then no one but his shadows will know. And the annoying ghost of oburo.

And the therapist nezu-sensei forced him to go to. Maybe he shouldn't have said that he can't feel like humans.

[terrence-silver]

Do you think Terry Silver was drafted, enlisted, or was forced to do either or by his father? Because there was definitely a time frame when rich people were dodging the draft all together, buying their way out, or used being enrolled at school as a way to get out of it. Terry definitely had all those options at his disposal but I feel like it's sort of implied his dad was making a lot of his decisions for him at that point in his life. Which leads me to wonder what his relationship with his parents even looked like.

---

People never consider Terry Silver went to Vietnam...because he wanted to.

And it's precisely because up until that point, his old man was calling all the shots.

Making all the decisions.

Everyone always removes Terry's agency entirely.

Like, there's always these super complex theories on why he did it (and I fell into these myself for a while too) and while I appreciate those complicated ideas immensely, the more I think about it, the more it stands to reason Terry was simply hugely Patriotic. Can we not see it? In the way he talks about Vietnam in the 80's, for example? There's definite pride there, like the man absolutely, well, dare I say, liked the fact he has a military background to himself? In the original, it never seemed like he was forced into it. Serving in the army was simply something a young man was supposed to do back then; a norm of sorts. A rite of passage into manhood. Answering the call of duty? A given expectation. Buying one's way out? An utmost cowardice. Different times, different mentality. Terry was an American Exceptionalist and the minute he felt there was something he could do to show his loyalty and devotion to the cause (and maybe even retaliate over what he felt was American interests and Expansionism...because we do know he has his own set of prejudices for sure) he was on the first plane out of the country. He volunteered. He didn't have to do that, but he wanted to. And we do know when Terry wants to do something, good luck trying to talk him out of it. Vietnam could've been the first taste of true integrity and freedom of choice Terry Silver ever had in his life. The first taste of him being in control of his decisions, growing up in a rich, oppressive family with many expectations and a path firmly set, undoubtedly. Going to fight for what you believed in? It was liberty.

Would also be ironic if it was actually his father who didn't want him to go serve.

A typical reaction for a parent. Even a despotic one.

Visualize that.

Terry's father who considered his son is ungrateful. So ungrateful!

"We give you everything and off you go, gallivanting knee deep in jungle mud on the other side of the World, risking your life and limb with a bunch of greasy tikes with suspicious backgrounds who smoke the reefer and bring home Herpes! Most of them don't have a pot to piss in! They've nothing to lose and they've nothing to look forward to either. Unlike you! You're the person they'd come turning to for a job when they're back from the muck. You're not the same. You never will be."

Read that with a slightly Transatlantic accent.

Terry's father might've felt Terry had everything he already needed at home and that he was more useful taking over the family company and focusing on what he was always meant to do and let the working class fight working class battles overseas --- added bonus is, that if we consider his family Jewish, that his father could've thought that they shouldn't be here laying down their life for a bunch of gentiles and mostly outsiders who, given the right historical circumstances, might be here turning the barrel of their guns just as easily towards them next --- after all, if Terry Silver was born somewhere in the midcentury, vaguely speaking, his father was probably born a little before WWII just according to some very basic math and my god, does that explain a lot. The shadow of intergenerational trauma looms awfully closely over this family, which opens a whole new can of worms. I can envision that his father felt, much like most rich people feel, that their family is an insular microcosm of its own and that they don't owe anyone anything and should primarily mind their own business, but here Terry was, going against his parent's explicit wishes to try and be a big, damn hero, wasting his time when his time would've been better applied with the family interests. Can totally imagine Terry as a pampered family princeling who ran away from home to go off with the army. Would explain the line of a young Terry telling John that his father expects him to leave ''the whole Vietnam thing behind''. Stands to reason...if his father never approved of him being there in the first place. That Terry Silver's dad hit him with a big 'I told you so' the minute he was back and very much changed by his experience out there.

And even more worryingly, even in spite of that, knowing what he knew upon his return, I imagine Terry Silver would go again if he could...which is just...very dark to consider. A victim and an oppressor always craves to return to the scene of the crime.

[str4ng3rdanger]

I'd love to hear more about the lighthouse au, even if it's just little tidbits and headcanons

okay so since this au isn't as developed as others i will go over a big thing and if i think of anything else to add then i will after

so i imagine that wash pleaded to caboose to help him of all people to get maine out the water after grif comments from on the ledge about seeing thrashing in the water below (because it pains wash to have to think about maine struggling to not freeze and drown in an arctic ocean like christ man) and he knows caboose is one of the more simple and sympathetic of the bunch, and it works.

with a strong grappling hook (considering they are by a base of sorts/if they were told to find power sources there may have been other equipment around), caboose keeps hold of it while wash retrieves maine, who initially struggles until realizing that this is his only way to. not die. and once he is back up, he is finally brought to a point of injury (stabbed, shot, nearby drowned, winded, and probably close to receiving some negative effects of the cold) where he can't exactly retaliate any further, and so the reds and blues manage to tell the personnel who show up that maine died and they wanted to personally deal with his remains when really bro is tired and they're getting him out of there. then they go back to valhalla and the character development begins!!

after all, maine has to either backstab the very guys that could have left him for dead with no clear ai in any feasibly easy sight, or he could take advantage of the fact that he is currently out of wherever he was before and has the vague support of the people around him. so, he decides to try and cope with literally everything going on - he has been doing nothing but chasing down things and killing for the past long while, and he is still trying to get used to not having other voices in his head directing him. i imagine caboose is the first one he befriends because he is entertaining and maine doesn't have to so much of anything to get caboose to talk about something random and fun. this leads to tucker taking the time to randomly stumble on a conversation (which are entirely one-sided since maine doesn't talk) and starts adding to it which leads to tucker becoming something of a friend to maine, and then tucker and caboose plan a thing to get maine and wash to talk to each other because even though wash had come up with the plan to save maine, i imagine they had avoided each other since making sure that maine was alright. they reconcile and things are pretty light-hearted for a while.

they antagonize the reds, which leads to red team getting used to maine as well, and all of them start to bond really well by the time carolina finds them.

now THAT, i imagine, goes very interestingly......but the post is long enough for now!

little side things:

considering doc was at valhalla when they got back, i imagine he had to help maine. wash probably stayed by maine's side until he regained consciousness (as he passed out on the way back to valhalla)

caboose loves to tell stories about church to maine, and encourages him on the fact that "church will forgive you when we see him again" when it comes to the fact that maine was hunting him down (and is indirectly why church went into the memory unit). maine probably wasn't handling such topics well initially, but caboose actually helped him get better at handling any subjects related to ai.

in addition to the above, caboose has had a lot of ai in his head before - he probably was able to somewhat bond with maine over this. maine likes to imagine caboose's perspective with it and sees him in a sense that there is hope for himself, too, even if their experiences with a lot of ai were drastically varying. (caboose has technically had 3 in his head at once though, in the form of alpha, beta, and omega during bgc)

grif keeps trying to steal maine's brute shot (weapon) back, and so whenever the blues kick their asses and whatnot, it is usually what they make the reds surrender.

lopez and maine get along surprisingly well, mainly because maine doesn't say dumb shit and can't interpret lopez poorly or something, and maine thinks lopez is funny so he'll listen to him rant about the reds and blues and might not even know what he's saying but pays attention so lopez appreciates it.

doc says he forgives maine but is passive aggressive for a brief period before warming up to maine being around, which is. pretty fair. doc has definitely asked "did o'malley talk about me??" and he maine just. grunted quietly in response. doc decided that it was up to interpretation.

i love this au it is so funny and charming to think about 💕

[dragon-business]

Majima’s long road to accepting that Kiryu is not straight

previously on this little story.

It's time to start shooting Majima's denial horse! 

It all starts when Majima comes up to the construction boys that are all cheerful and drinking in their relaxation corner on a lunch break.

And he's like, "What is goin on, what are we celebrating here, are you drinking on the job, there should be a good cause if that's the case.

And everyone gets really quiet and awkward, because yeah, they are railing it up for support, celebrating, as usual. Sometimes they will throw mini parties for someone going through the not straight Struggles, or passing some milestone, it's a whole thing.

And Majima (who very much knows about these parties, and even participates in them sometimes) looks them all over and realises "Oh, okay. Sounds like a good occasion today." And everyone gets hushed again, like a bunch of weirdos. And (slightly drunk) Kiryu looks up at him from his shot glass, and says "Today I told a stranger that I'm not straight."

Blinking, Majima goes "And why would you do that?". "Because I am not," says Kiryu, jabbing a finger in a vague direction, and spilling some of his drink.

"Oh, okay then. Have fun," Majima replies with a little snort, and casually goes back to his office-trailer in the complete silence that trailed after that whole conversation.

And in his little private office Majima  proceeds to loose his shit.

After a couple minutes the celebration noises resumed. And in the darkness behind the blinds Majima kept staring in horror at the calendar with big fishes on it. Fishes stared back, reminding him that Kiryu got him really nice fishing gear (very pricey, too).

So yeah, with how everyone was taking it, and the fact it was a legit celebration, Majima can't dodge this revelation.

But "not straight" would totally mess with his head, it's too vague. But he can't just ask for clarification like a normal person, he gotta suffer and make sarcastic jokes, and accidentally make Kiryu and everyone else uncomfortable.

Because Majima can't really fully accept the concept in his head yet. Of Kiryu actually not being straight. Everything suddenly gets too real if he does: all the insistent awkward flirting, the looks, the box.

So, Majima goes for desperate distancing, and goes for it hard. Nishida and grandpas will heavily disapprove of this.

Poor Kiryu, he has his bitchy moments, but Majima is a bitch master, he can go on and on, for months. Well at least for one minimum.

Over this time, Nishida got very displeased with Majima. Grandpas probably developed strong opinions on weak-minded youth and internalised homophobia. In interactions with Majima it mostly manifested as sparring fights with the second grandpa.

There's layers to this. Back in their years- *insert some trashy story about how you had to fight homophobes every day, and become strong like a truck because of it*

– All the irony and teasing can't save Majima from the realness of it all. And also from Nishida getting upset with him for being an inconsiderate bitch. You just can't be too bitey when someone is sharing private stuff with you, that's not the thing you test people on, wtf. Yeah, Majima wasn't really testing Kiryu, he was distancing himself, but it still comes off just as cruel.

Nishida is very close to a riot. One day he just blows up at the boss. Not a lot, and fully expecting retaliation, but Majima asked him to do something to poke Kiryu again, and Nishida refused. "Do it yourself, if you really feel like this," Nishida will not participate in a thing like this. He watched Kiryu go through a full blown life crisis, it's not a thing to be mocked.

And here Majima is, trying to send male host to have a date with Kiryu. Not undercover, really upfront, but still. This is really coming off as "celebrate your coming out by banging this twink" or something.

Just look at Majima entering the ring, not knowing anything. Still somewhat believing in hoards of girls Kiryu had flings with.

Nishida's horrified. You send the guy thoughtful gifts, give him the utmost support, gift him your knife, and then suddenly lose all taste and self-respect on the spot. It's all quite frankly tasteless and boss should know better.  Nishida means it. It's not like being gay was a walk in the park for Majima himself (get his ass, Nishida, you're wearing the hard hat, you're ready)

– Kiryu still had a date with the host though. Haru-kun (he looks like Haruka from Sailor Moon) is a good boy, they talked about life and stuff. He's sending money to his grandparents and wants to open a coffeeshop one day. Him and Kiryu have a nice evening, while the peak drama is happening in the Majima Construction office.

Sure, the whole situation made Kiryu sad, but that's not on the host. He even tried to cheer Kiryu up! So they get some beers and have super awkward talks about gay topics.

Haru-kun is young, around 21 or so. He's sending money back home to the cold emptiness, because grandparents refuse to talk to him ever since they learned he's not straight. Haru-kun is still sending the money, because what else can you do. Kiryu doesn't have much family left to come out to (thinking about Kazama is complicated enough already, so, no, thanks, it's all in the vault).

Kiryu tries to cheer Haru-kun up after souring the mood though, it's not the boy's fault that Kiryu is so fucked up. Haru-kun will also try to lift the mood, because he is a good host, and that's his job – to make clients forget their hardships.

At some point it becomes clear that restaurant and drinks don't work, so they go to play mahjong, then to the underground casino, lose everything, and end up fishing at the pier at night. Then they accidentally get into some beef with local homeless fishermen, and suddenly have to defeat three kings of fishing in the fishing competitions!

They also lost random clothes items, while gambling, and are now sporting old dirty-ish coats instead of the usual suits.

Haru-kun: I didn't know that fishing could be that dangerous.

Kiryu: and deep.

The Seashell monarch, jumping out of the water, dressed in nets: some of it is!

Haru-kun and Kiryu just got somewhere more chill and peaceful, but alas. No frying fish on the bank. (Oh, they will do it – with the kings of fishing in the morning. But only after trials and tribulations.)

Meanwhile, Haru-kun is killing it (the fish). He is from a small fishing village, or town, he knows this stuff.

Master king of fishing: This boy knows how to kill. He will become my pupil.

Kiryu is there, as always. Nodding approvingly.

And Haru-kun flips his bangs like: I will not be an apprentice to someone who does not partake in the joys of the fishing, and also forgot that we do it to survive sometimes, too. One cannot separate these sides. Like everything in life, fishing is both joyous and harrowing and the master that can forget this does not know his craft nor life.

And then there's a whole ark of saving the king's of Deep fishing family. During it, the Master king of fishing comes to his senses, because doing trials and fishing itself became an act he does, a skill, and not the appreciation of the fishing culture and fisherman way of life.

And also Haru-kun got a heat action with Kiryu, where they beat people up with fish!

– So, there's the Seashell monarch – non-binary manic pixie dream pal of fishing. There's the Master king of fishing who is clinical, but wise. And there's the king of Deep fishing, who has family problems. 

The Master king of fishing and the Seashell monarch straight up live on the beach. Seashell monarch wears fishing nets all boho style. They practise "live netting", where they go down to the seafloor in their outfit, and swim around, and that's how they catch their breakfast.

The Master king of fishing is grumpy, but takes everything in stride. Like. whatever happens – happens. “You take what the sea of life gives you, and you make use of it” he says, while cleaning seaweed from a flip-flop he found washed up on the shore and putting it on his foot (yes, he’s going around barefooted on the shore in cold weather).

Sea brings you the flip-flop – you wear it. Sea brings you a guy in a trunk – you make him train with your pupils.

Couple days back the sea washed up a whole bag of chips on the shore. Unopened. Shrimp flavoured.

Sea can be dangerous. Especially if you  think that you’ve mastered it, and can handle any waves.

Look at the Master king of fishing, his pride got so big, like an overstocked boat, and it got toppled over by two shrimps and a marlin (and yes, Kiryu and Haru-kun used marlin in their heat action that fateful night).

The master king of fishing will also always complain about being too old or too out of touch, sometimes while actually doing some incredible feats of strength or ingenuity.

He’s not Komaki who’s always 10000% sure of himself, or the lady white lotus. The Master king of fishing has his ego in check, and also is just generally mildly annoyed with everything, including himself. But he’s still taking it all on!

Diversity win, found family footage, Haru-kun is living the life. He really missed fishing since coming to the big city. Kiryu is having a good time too! He likes to see people thriving.

– After this night Haru-kun and Kiryu will be acting like good friends when meeting each other, talking about life, the boy laughing, Kiryu smiling to him. The Seashell monarch will come to work for Majima Construction; part time, because you need to throw them in the water every so often. You wouldn't understand.

And someone from Majima Construction will definitely hear the boy saying with shiny eyes that the fabled date was "the best night of his life". They stayed up until sunrise!

And maybe Haru-kun ended up having a little crush on Kiryu, alright. But it's the parental figure projection, Kiryu just emits this warm safety. Also Haru-kun got a profound connection to some of the fishing people, while being out with him.

Haru-kun with a dreamy face like he’s smitten: I’d like to have a dad like this… Someone: a daddy? Haru-kun: no.

And instead of romantic scenarios in his head it’s “playing catch”, “visiting my graduation”, but in pink filter.

(He got a tsundere rival or something on the night of the fishing quest. It's a whole thing. The rival is the previous possible pupil of the Master of fishing king, who left him, because he has his own fishing path. And that night he came back all powered up with unknown techniques, some secret bait he conducted. Someone accidentally eats it in a fight and they figure out what it's made of.)

And, yeah, when you spend more than a couple of minutes around Kiryu, you learn that he emits the aura of safety and reliability.

– And Haru-kun got a sense of some drama going on between Kiryu and whoever-san from work that set Kiryu up on their date, but they didn't discuss it too deeply. It felt too raw to bring up, Kiryu-san was too sad, and being a Good Host Haru-kun took up the mission of cheering him up! First up on the agenda – not mentioning the dickwad-san.

– After this Kiryu picked up fishing again, for the first time since y0. Doing it alone was not fun, but he has friends now! They make plans easily. Haru-kun even casually stops by Majima Construction to drop off lunch for Seashell monarch, and say hi to Kiryu-san.

The whole family pointedly continues the lunch break, as if no one is listening in, passing the lighter back and forth. Like, four times in a row.

Only the first grandpa Musketeer gets their whole story correctly right away. He just takes things as they are. And what's better than two bros having a good old fishtime, amiright, boys? He used to fish with his bros, because it's in his dragon instincts to hunt, and eat the catch raw. Or fried, but like a creature. (No one even gets what he's talking about.)

"Dang, they sure are eating eachother up with the looks." "Didn't know Kiryu-san was a cradle snatcher." "He may be just looking young, hosts these days look younger and younger." "You sure know a lot about hosts." "You bet I do." "Focus on the problem at hand, guys. We're observing a bright blue sky before the storm."

And eat your catch raw. Or fried.

(First Musketeer grandpa hits it off with the Seashell monarch, they're the best duo)

– Oh, and then on one of Haru-kun's visits the construction site gets attacked! And he is stuck inside, and gets to show off their heat action with Kiryu (Live fishes are provided by the Seashell monarch. Don't ask).

a/n: at this point we were so attached to Haru-kun, that we felt sorry for dragging him into all this drama.

But he can stand his ground, after he found it, back at the sea.

Majima will probably not be crawling out of his office for this fight, he's in one of his moods. But getting wind of Kiryu and the host fighting together? The "see you next week, Kiryu-san!"? This is, like, the most terrible insult. And Majima is totally not overreacting.

And Nishida is still angry at him. This worsens the sentiment, everyone’s abandoned him. Poor old Majima, the ugly bastard with a bad attitude.

But before he spirals into a hole, Kiryu, being who he is, decides to invite Majima to go together with him and Haru-kun.

As in, go fishing on the pier at the dead o'clock in the morning, see the sunrise over the waves. Maybe then he'll calm down. Breath in the breeze. Get smacked in the face by the fish. Healing experiences.

But you gotta get him there first. He will be arguing with Haru-kun's rival over the bait later, no problem. But getting him to the place might require some force. Maybe a kidnapping. A false work assignment, Nishida can help arrange it. The assessment will be rest.

Kiryu, opening the trunk of the car on the pier: here’s the rubber gloves, Majima-san Majima, quietly: what the fuck Majima, standing there wearing rubber boots and a panama hat: what the fuc k Majima, finding a spinning in his hands: no, sincerely, what the fuckKiryu: be vigilant, our opponents have already fished out a squid!

It is, once again, the deadass in the morning, The hottest fishing hour. And it’s all taking place after Majima said a bunch of ugly words to Kiryu. Get fished, idiot.

– So,  ended up being Majima and Haru-kun’s rival versus Kiryu and Haru-kun. And now Majima is on full alert, he’s gonna slay (he can’t fish at all).

There’s several early morning regulars fishing on the pier, they are not to be disturbed, and so complicate the challenge. So they all gotta be quiet, and lots of inner voice dialogs happen, uul on Gintama-stile.

So, they all fish, make breakfast, and nearly get busted by the police, because apparently one cannot make fiers in the beach. They have this conversation by another, unrelated fire crackling nearby.

Because yes, this was a targeted raid. Tokio police ain't having any yakuza bullshit here on the beach. Anyone wearing a panama hat is a danger to society.

Actually they got a tip off from the fishing club members that are going to go against Haru-kun and his rival in the upcoming competition (the boys are totally gonna win).

And oh, Majima if IN after this. He finally got the abridged version of previous events, but now there’s focus on the rivals backstory, and Majima is invested. He’s giving rival the Talks. Majima touch (it works wonders). Kiryu: ain’t you supposed to be on our side? Majima: the sea has no sides! my boy will kick yall’s ass!

– Majima in a panama hat, rubber boots, and a fishing vest over his naked chest. Kiryu in a horribly patterned sweater, overalls, and a vest, lookin like the peak dad. 

Kiryu in this outfit totally kills any semblance of sexiness Haru-kun saw in him, but Majima, on the other hand, gets very amazed.

– Majima is suddenly nodding to some of the Master king’s of fishing annoyances like an old man.

Sea pollution and trash suck. Draftes, youngsters, taxes are all a plague. Don’t get it wrong, the Master king of fishing doesn’t pay taxes. But he will complain about them. Who even comes up with that, Anhuman. Unbelievable torture of the most abstract level. Removed from real life. Majima, who invented taxes:

Also yeah, they both are big on environmental protection too.

The Master king of fishing cleans up the beach sometimes, and gets his pupils to do so too. Maybe they organise a group with the locals for that, after they get in trouble for cleaning up (because ofc they do).

– Think about Haru-kun coming up to Majima on that fishing trip all: you work with Kiryu-san, right?.. so… Majima-san…… you might know the person who tried to pull that cruel joke on him, with the inconsiderate gift……… it worked out alright, yes, but to think there are people in this world who’d do something like this………… to Kiryu-san here…… the most thoughtful and kind person ever…………… terrible to see people like him sad………………… so, you know someone at your company that can do that? this kind of thing?.......... I’m just asking… for no particular reason…… just want to have words with them…………………Kiryu-san can forgive, but us, his friends, should watch out for him……… so, you know… a little hint.

Haru-kun being ready to kill for Kiryu after knowing him for a couple of days is not at all surprising, it’s logical even. They got into a Situation together! In an abundance of situations, more situations happen only in a cult- or a scam substory.

So yeah, with all this guit building up, Majima rechannels his frustrations into the poor rival. He’s overcompensating, by getting the boy more courageous about approaching Hare-kun. Majima gives him a whole inspirational speech, that is obviously a little too specific.

They sit on the pier, a bit away from Kiryu and Haru-kun, Majima goes off on his anime inspirational monologue about courage and acceptance, while looking at Kiryu. Everything is basked in the warm golden light of the rising sun.

And it’s a nice start of the day, for all of them.

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