#he can do NO WRONG he has a bad game and it's crickets from the outlets

[writingforatwistedworld]

If requests are still open (and if it is within the rules) may I request a shot for the Reader who casually refers to TWST guy as her "dream boyfriend" on a daily puzzle? For self-aware!Au and Leona/Jsmil/Riddle if possible? Thank you.

Self-aware au

I do not take any responsibility for you reading this no matter which age group you are from!

WARNINGS: Yandere themes, death, murder, violence, unhealthy relationship, implied family problems, threats

Riddle Rosehearts/Leona Kingscholar/Jamil Viper-Referring to them as your “dream partner”

Ah yes, cricket. The sport that the Queen of Hears loved so dearly and was the reason why many flamingos and hedgehogs probably planned a rebellion against humans

But here he was, Riddle Rosehearts himself, fueling that fire of hatered of his supposedly feathery friends when he felt the presence of the Overseer again

What a surprise, but he was happy none the less

Playing a perfect game because if he didn’t there was no way he could be worthy of your attention

And then you said those words

Riddles flamingo was this close to going bananas as it felt his grip getting uncomfortably tight around its’ legs

Getting called your dream partner… has he ascended to heaven?

And it didn’t stop there, the next few days you continued to fo that

You better believe me when I tell you that everyone was almost screaming in fear when he was about to punish someone only for him to freeze and stare with glassy eyes onto the distance

Mhm, you said it… only that you saw him on your home screen instead of telling a student that it was “off with his head”

But what if one day you didn’t want him anymore? What if you found someone else whom you thought was better than him?

That was the moment he started to turn into his old self

Only that he didn’t act like this because of his mother but because he thought that if he followed your roles perfectly you wouldn’t divert your attention to someone else

Dark days, my friend. Dark days…

Sometimes though even he misuses them, claiming that someone did something wrong whenever he feels threatened

Never mind that one time when something inside of him snapped and Trey had to wash suspiciously red clothing

Leona isn’t someone who desperately wants to be in a relationship but if you were to ask...

So here he is, laying like most of his free time in the greenhouse, sleeping away...

And it would have been a normal day if it weren’t for you, suddenly appearing as if you had planned to give him a heart attack

They said this wasn’t a horror game… tell that to Leona who is now clutching his chest from the jumpscare of you appearing

So, the housecat extravagant over there is expecting your visit to play out like usual, make students study… making Deuce nearly break his neck during flying lessons

What he did not expect though was you suddenly going all “Awww I like him so much!”

Well… apparently he is a heck of a fresh snack since you are suddenly like “He my dream partner!”

Charming. Absolutely charming. And absolutely not making him go into cardiac arrest for a minute

Leona thought this would be a one-time tingy but no. You are persistently trying to make him loose every single one of his nine lives

You repeat it. And repeat it. And repeat it. And… can someone help Leona over there. I’m starting to think those bad jokes are slowly turning into reality

Suddenly sleepy lion who doesn’t take care of himself is high fashion. Is Vil seething? Maybe but what I can guarantee you is that he plans to turn Sunset Savannahs second prince into a scarf

Malleus over there also looks like he might implode any moment but we don’t talk about the end of the world here… at least not now

Leona is not dangerous because he is very active but because he has his way with words and if that doesn’t work then he can literally grind people to dust… all I am saying is that his magic worked on Ruggie

So whenever he sees someone getting close to him so that they can also get close to you then they better be prepared for intimidation tactics which Lilia hadn’t seen since the war and they will definitely might end up with a few healthy bones less… especially in the neck are but this is a sunny side blog! We- we don’t talk about dark stuf here!

And yes, of course, this is bad for his ego but Leona knows that him changing in any way that is a bit more egoistical will probably end up in a negative way

After all, not even he is sure what he would do would you stop to refer him as someone you consider as husbando material

Uh… Jamil… poor in the shadow standing Jamil…

Now this is someone I can definitely assure you thinks he has absolutely no chance with you

Although that changed after his overblot, with him finally getting a good session of screaming at Kalim his self-esteem was definitely in better waters

So here he is, still a servant but at least he got his problems off of his soul

Which ends up with him dreaming. Would a kind and all-knowing soul like yourself even look at him? If yes, how would it be?

One day, that one darn day, you came and did what you ususally did

Nothing special, nothing out of the ordinary, just some guidance

And then he feels your attention on him, his body going into “plank-mode” as he started to become nervous

All the years of serving someone like the Asim family was not able to prepare him for you

And then he is suddenly perfect boyfriend material

What’s even funnier is that he was puring Kalim a drink and at your words he gave the young heir an unvoluntary shower

Huh? The incense has probably gotten to his head, he thought whilst carrying food over to Kalim but then you started to squeal about him again and… I know, what a waste of good food.

When you repeat it every day his self esteem gets even better day by day, you repeating yourself on a daily basis

But what if someone were to take this away from him? What if some lowly insect were to question his position

Jamil can be frightening. Not the normal kind tough. No. Frighting frighting

SUdddenly that students’ social life is ruined because he did something horrible, even his family can’t look him into the eyes. WHat Jamil is always alone to those recently violent becoming people? Nah, that must be wrong, right?

[trinketstar]

i wrote another big rant earlier today about character analysis again but tumblr refreshed on my phone and deleted it all. ah well

‘twas all about Max this time and the whole “id vs superego” thing they had going on cuz in my humble “took a semester of psychology and child development” opinion I think that theory isnt the greatest but it makes for such interesting character analysis 

So Max is always described as “a being of pure id” while his superego is literally locked in a dark room cut off from the rest of Max’s brain. left so ignored that it manifests itself into a weird little man that Max saw on tv (because it’s this series and of course it did). The fact that Superego apparently HATES Max, seems to barely know anything about him and wants him dead... like WHAT DOES THAT IMPLY? It’s the inside out dilemma all over again but way darker. Max has very infrequent vague allusions to the fact that he’s got some kinda mild depression but I don’t think he genuinely hates himself like that. The most I can see is that he’s got a very weak sense of self preservation. He’s apathetic to his own safety, but again that’s more because of the id thing. 

The superego is supposed to be your sense of right and wrong. It’s your morality and logic system that keeps you from doing things Max does, like screaming in public and attacking people and stealing things. 

I think in the context of the intentions while writing this game, the superego is essentially a more pretentious word for the Max’s conscience. Like a Jiminy Cricket that’s stuck in Pinocchio’s head and can’t leave. Max ignores his conscience, and his conscience is forced to watch all the stupid stuff Max is doing while ignoring any sense of morality. So he’s like “ok screw this guy all my homies hate stupid id bunny”. I think the superego only manifested once Max found the psychic toys since they’re what caused Max’s brain tumor and other such nonsense. Max couldn’t have had that tumor from the beginning because past Max is fine. 

Id is your baseline impulses. Max at his core is constantly acting on impulse and only seeks immediate gratification.  Even his love for Sam doesn’t really contradict this. Sam has ALWAYS been his best friend and protector, so keeping Sam safe and happy will keep Max safe and happy. Max isn’t intentionally mean or selfish, and he’s not stupid either. But his mind works in a very direct thought pattern and he doesn’t think through anything he says or does. And Sam kinda does this FOR him if necessary so he’s never really had to develop that part of himself anyway. Plus they’re both self aware toons, so consequences don’t apply! 

That being said, everyone we’ve seen with “the gift” that uses the toys seems to be doomed in some way, like the toys themselves are cursed with bad luck. Sammun-Mak, Maximus, the brain in the ship, Skunkape, and Max all met their ends indirectly because of the toys. 

Uh i lost track of my point here. just, It’s totally up to interpretation if the superego REALLY is a part of max that resents his own lack of ambition and power, or if he’s just literally detached from Max and is his own disgruntled entity.

[news365timesindia]

[ad_1] Ravindra Jadeja at the Gabba Nets ahead of the third Test vs Australia (PC: Debasis Sen) Lord’s 2014, and England had given India a green top. Despite Ajinkya Rahane’s fine first innings ton, India were far from safe going into the second innings. And when MS Dhoni was dismissed, leaving Murali Vijay stranded, hopes of an Indian win seemed remote. In walked Ravindra Jadeja. Two hours later came the first-ever sword dance. A Ravindra Jadeja 50, and the match had been set up. Thanks to Ishant Sharma’s super bowling effort, India won a famous victory, which to an extent had also been set up by Jadeja. Back home, he has always been superb. But overseas as well, his impact has been undeniable. Think of Melbourne 2020. While we all celebrate Ajinkya Rahane’s leadership and century, Jadeja’s half-century was as important. Few can forget the Steve Smith run-out, and time and again, Jadeja has made a telling impact for India. Let’s also state that none of us have anything against Washington Sundar. I am sure he will play many more Test matches for India, but that doesn’t mean the Jadeja selection is a bad one. He adds batting depth and will also hold one end up as and when needed. Now that India have won the toss and are bowling, more so. An out-and-out team man, few could ever debate a Jadeja selection. One also feels for R Ashwin. He did nothing wrong in Adelaide, and had Mohammed Siraj taken the Travis Head catch, things could have been different for India. Having said that, however, the fragility in the batting made the Jadeja/Sundar selection inevitable. India need extra runs and both of them seem more capable in these conditions. For the Latest Sports News: Click Here Ravindra Jadeja (PC: Ravindra Jadeja Instagram) If we take a look at some of India’s best wins in recent times, Jadeja’s imprint on them is undeniable. Be it the Melbourne triumph in 2020, when he stitched a very important partnership with Rahane, or his performances in England, Jadeja has been a key ingredient in India’s success. A much-improved batter than he was some years ago, Jadeja is a genuine all-rounder in every sense. Not just a bowler who can also bat, but rather one who is equally effective with bat and ball. And that’s where he is invaluable for India. Be it this match or going ahead in the series, Jadeja’s presence will be key for India. What explains his improvement as a batter? And how did he work it all out in the mind? Jadeja had explained this sometime back. “To play well in Test cricket was an ambition I had for a long time, and I am glad I have been able to do so,” he said. “I used to tell myself that if can score triple hundreds in domestic cricket, there is no reason why I can’t score runs at the international level. Scoring important runs for India gives you real joy and is something I am proud of.” Jadeja may not have too much to do with the ball on day 1, with rain around and the wicket not doing too much for him. But if Jasprit Bumrah needs a breather and India need to play the waiting game for a while, his hand will be up. As a left-hand batting option, he will also ensure that Australia’s bowlers don’t settle into a line and length. That can come in really handy in a high-intensity Test series. In every sense, it is a good selection and  one that could have been made earlier as well. Also Read: India aim to breach Once-Fortress Gabba again The post Ravindra Jadeja’s all-round value could make him an inspired pick appeared first on Sports News Portal | Latest Sports Articles | Revsports. [ad_2] Source link

[news365times]

[ad_1] Ravindra Jadeja at the Gabba Nets ahead of the third Test vs Australia (PC: Debasis Sen) Lord’s 2014, and England had given India a green top. Despite Ajinkya Rahane’s fine first innings ton, India were far from safe going into the second innings. And when MS Dhoni was dismissed, leaving Murali Vijay stranded, hopes of an Indian win seemed remote. In walked Ravindra Jadeja. Two hours later came the first-ever sword dance. A Ravindra Jadeja 50, and the match had been set up. Thanks to Ishant Sharma’s super bowling effort, India won a famous victory, which to an extent had also been set up by Jadeja. Back home, he has always been superb. But overseas as well, his impact has been undeniable. Think of Melbourne 2020. While we all celebrate Ajinkya Rahane’s leadership and century, Jadeja’s half-century was as important. Few can forget the Steve Smith run-out, and time and again, Jadeja has made a telling impact for India. Let’s also state that none of us have anything against Washington Sundar. I am sure he will play many more Test matches for India, but that doesn’t mean the Jadeja selection is a bad one. He adds batting depth and will also hold one end up as and when needed. Now that India have won the toss and are bowling, more so. An out-and-out team man, few could ever debate a Jadeja selection. One also feels for R Ashwin. He did nothing wrong in Adelaide, and had Mohammed Siraj taken the Travis Head catch, things could have been different for India. Having said that, however, the fragility in the batting made the Jadeja/Sundar selection inevitable. India need extra runs and both of them seem more capable in these conditions. For the Latest Sports News: Click Here Ravindra Jadeja (PC: Ravindra Jadeja Instagram) If we take a look at some of India’s best wins in recent times, Jadeja’s imprint on them is undeniable. Be it the Melbourne triumph in 2020, when he stitched a very important partnership with Rahane, or his performances in England, Jadeja has been a key ingredient in India’s success. A much-improved batter than he was some years ago, Jadeja is a genuine all-rounder in every sense. Not just a bowler who can also bat, but rather one who is equally effective with bat and ball. And that’s where he is invaluable for India. Be it this match or going ahead in the series, Jadeja’s presence will be key for India. What explains his improvement as a batter? And how did he work it all out in the mind? Jadeja had explained this sometime back. “To play well in Test cricket was an ambition I had for a long time, and I am glad I have been able to do so,” he said. “I used to tell myself that if can score triple hundreds in domestic cricket, there is no reason why I can’t score runs at the international level. Scoring important runs for India gives you real joy and is something I am proud of.” Jadeja may not have too much to do with the ball on day 1, with rain around and the wicket not doing too much for him. But if Jasprit Bumrah needs a breather and India need to play the waiting game for a while, his hand will be up. As a left-hand batting option, he will also ensure that Australia’s bowlers don’t settle into a line and length. That can come in really handy in a high-intensity Test series. In every sense, it is a good selection and  one that could have been made earlier as well. Also Read: India aim to breach Once-Fortress Gabba again The post Ravindra Jadeja’s all-round value could make him an inspired pick appeared first on Sports News Portal | Latest Sports Articles | Revsports. [ad_2] Source link

[jrpneblog]

Tough task ahead

With nine games to go it looks a tough task for North End to reach the top six even though we have a game in hand. Norwich sit five points above us in sixth place going into this international break and with West Brom ten points ahead of us it seems realistic to say that only sixth spot is open. Hull and Coventry sit two points and one point above us, respectively and with Middlesbrough two points behind us and played a game more it looks like Hull, Coventry, Norwich and ourselves in the fight for the play off place. Having said all of that if we had beaten Stoke the Saturday before last we might well be having a different conversation so it shows how quick things can change in the Championship. We will look a bit more at North Ends Easter programme next week but with Rotherham, Birmingham, Watford and Huddersfield as our next four games it seems pretty clear that the next three weeks or so will give us an idea of where we are ahead of what could be a massive game at Home to Norwich on April 13th. Much debate goes on as to whether we are punching above our weight but I actually dont think we are. The table never lies and we are where we are on merit in spite of the bigger budgets that other clubs have squandered.

Last Saturday we made the longest journey of the season to play Plymouth Argyle with the 600 mile round trip being made worthwhile as Liam Millar`s goal secured all three points. It was great to see over 1,000 North End fans inside Home Park and the travelling faithful gave North End fabulous support from the first whistle to the last. In all honest it was a game North End should have won much much more comfortably than they did. It was a drizzly damp day but North End always had that little bit extra whether it be quality on the ball or the tenacity in the middle of the park typified by my man of the match, Ryan Ledson. Plymouth should have been down to ten after an horrendous tackle by Miller but once again a referee in the Championship got a major decision wrong. It appear it is something we expect and are getting used to but I have to that the general standard of refereeing in the second tier this season is as bad as I have ever seen it.

With it being the International break this weekend my thoughts turn to England and a couple of high profile friendlies over the break against Brazil and Belgium both at Wembley. I think it is fair to say that both our visitors are going through a transition period and England should be mindful of this whatever the results are. The pressure is certainly building towards the 2024 Euros and Gareth Southgate will be expected to reach the final, probably against France if we miss each other on the way. If we are being honest we should have won the Euros in 2021 but we gave an aging Italian side far too much respect in the final. I do think it is a measure of how far we have come that we no expect to be in there at the death and I think history will look kindly on the current England manager once he has passed the baton on.

And finally this week:- what a great FA Cup quarter final the game was on Sunday between Manchester United and Liverpool. The FA Cup is, without doubt, the greatest cup competition in the world but the greedy FA have once again sold out meaning that from the 2025/26 season the Cup will only be shown on TNT. The FA Cup looks like going the way that test match cricket went as the TV rights were sold off to the highest bidder. The are some sporting events that are for the people and should be free to air no matter what. The Football Association Cup stands very high up in that list of sporting events.

.

MATCH PREDICTION -

BRAZIL (H) Friendly International - Home win

BELGIUM (H) Friendly International - Score Draw

.

JR`s HIGH FIVES

Harry Kane to score at any time against Brazil 7/5

A £5 Stake returns £12.00 on bet365

SEASONS STATS

Returns £96.00 Stake £160.00

Percentage profit+/-loss - 40.00%

Predictions 33 won 9 lost 24

[twig-tea]

Here's where I'm at.

At the beginning of the show, I really disliked Lom a LOT. Lom was in a position of power, and he was abusing the hell out of it. He was not just making Nuea spend time with him but he was also intentionally making the wedding planning process more difficult. He approached Nuea at first with no intention of acting on his interest (or at least so he says), which would have been fine if he hadn't been flirting so aggressively, but he not only played the 'annoy him because he's cute when he's mad' game, he spent time intentionally getting Nuea emotionally invested in him, to seemingly play with Nuea's feelings as his version of a last hurrah.

Nuea was clear from the get-go that he found Lom attractive but wanted to keep things professional, and continually tried to set very reasonable professional boundaries, and Lom consistently tread all over them, using his position as a high-paying client to influence Nuea to ignore his own instincts and self-preservation.

Also, this is just a personal thing, but fucking with someone's job when they sincerely love it is a particular sore spot for me and something that I find difficult to forgive in the queer pantheon of fuckery. Nuea was so passionate about that job and Lom made it a chore and then made it a place of harassment so he had to take leave in order to protect himself. You don't mess with a queer's income, especially when they love it (which is so rare); not in this economy!

When Nuea asked Lom to his face, he lied about his marriage. While everyone was right that it would not have solved the situation for Nuea to know (as this episode illustrated with Marine), not telling him meant Nuea was so confused about what to feel, how to act, and what was happening. All of his instincts were telling him that Lom was flirting with him, and this man said to his face that he's happy and in love and wanting to be married. He essentially Puem'ed (from Hidden Agenda) Nuea throughout episodes 2-4.

Lom forced a kiss on Nuea with the very tenuous argument that Nuea's turn of phrase invited it. He continued to try to encourage Nuea to have feelings, even while intending to do nothing about it.

Lom eventually decides he does need to tell Nuea so that he can actually pursue him, but he doesn't, in what felt like the most egregious instance of "wait, let me explain....[crickets]" I've seen in awhile--though I will be totally honest and admit that at this point I was not fully paying attention and haven't rewatched ep4, so this may be just my bias coming into play. Instead, he gets drunk with Nuea and they have sex.

At this point, I didn't think there was going to be anything that could redeem Lom to me. The only thing I liked about Lom so far was that he'd seemed to have come to the realization that he might have to give up his fake marriage for Nuea and he talked to Yiwa about it before talking to Nuea and without requiring Nuea to lead him to that or any other conclusion; and I did like the way the story was showing how he was coming to this realization around his parents' control and the fact that giving them something wasn't going to change their expectations--that they were seeing the marriage as capitulation, not as the compromise he was seeing it as. But none of that was enough to forgive the amount of fuckery that had happened with Nuea's feelings. At this stage, I was ready to dislike Lom excessively while still having sympathy for him. Admittedly, partially I was functioning on expecting a Mame story to do what Mame stories normally do: possibly excuse but definitely not make up for any past wrongs, not acknowledge the issue in any power imbalances, etc., and I was braced for that.

Instead, what we got was a power reversal I could not have predicted! Nuea takes time off, and because he has a supportive boss, the impact isn't nearly as bad as it could have been on his career. Lom is forced to go to Nuea on his own turf, his literal family home where his family owns the business, when up to this point Lom was constantly calling Nuea into his world (his office, his gym, his favourite places). And Lom has to get past a cadre of supportive friends and family to get there, underscoring how much richer Nuea is in this aspect of his life than Lom.

Nuea is given the option of leaving, or working to show his sincerity. And he chooses to stay. He shows that he's been paying attention to Nuea. He tells him the truth. He demonstrates that he's willing to put Nuea first above his job. He acknowledges that he's been selfish and that he hurt Nuea. And when Nuea shows independence and the ability to take care of himself, he is happy about it rather than threatened. The choice about what to do about their relationship is left entirely to Nuea: Nuea decides when he's forgiven Lom, when he's ready to kiss him, when he's ready to do anything more, when he's ready to go back to the city. He decides that Lom is going to stay in his lavender marriage, that he's going to stay on as his wedding planner, and that he's going to join the polycule. Nuea and Marine have a conversation! And being at Nuea's family home establishes pretty clearly that Nuea does not need Lom. But they took time to establish that he wants Lom, when given the chance to decide that for himself. All of this was so much more than I was expecting.

And I agree with @befuddedcinnamonroll that to this point we hadn't really seen the pressure on Lom--he said he was in the marriage for Yiwa's sake, and it was only when we saw his mother trying to dictate that they were going to live in the family home rather than have their own condo after marriage that it started to become clear the marriage was also for him.

Anyway all this is to say I was feeling big mad at Lom through episode 3, mad but appreciative of the narrative arc for him (still not for his relationship though) in ep 4, confused about my emotions during episode 5 until I'd thought through the power dynamics and why this was working for me in a way I didn't think anything would, and have now turned around in episode 6.

I'm still not sure I particularly like Lom--his personality seems to be acts of service and over-confidence stemming from money and looks, which is fine but not compelling to me--but I'm not nearly as mad at him anymore. And I acknowledge part of why I was so mad at him as a character was because I liked Nuea so much and the narrative just didn't give me good reasons for why what was happening was happening.

I still don't think the show has done a good enough job making clear the emotional weight of a secret that's been kept for over a decade, the confusion about what Lom actually wants, and the internal journey he must have had to go through to get there between episodes 1 and 4. I have been doing some of that work in my head since episode 5 when I realized they were actually doing something about the power imbalance and maybe it would be safe to get invested, but I shouldn't have to add that much in to make a character understandable. Since this show is from the perspective of Nuea, it makes sense that we'd be taken on the same emotional rollercoaster as Nuea, so in that sense it's worked really well on me! I was successfully confused alongside Nuea about what the heck Lom's actual motivations were, and what decisions he was going to make. But I also did not understand why he was interested at all, and that's where the show fell flat for me in the first few episodes.

TL;DR it was not the secret itself but the mental fuckery he was doing to Nuea that I was mad at and didn't think they'd be able to win me back from, but they did.

If there are other folks still mad at Lom and this wasn't the insight you were looking for, apologies!

[editing to add because I felt like I said this but maybe didn't say it explicitly: the reason why the power dynamic shift in ep 5-6 made so much of a difference for me is because no amount of sad history or trauma or explanation is an excuse for bad behavior -- understanding and sympathy isn't the same as a justification -- but the power shift allowed for real acknowledgement of wrongdoing and restitution without the power dynamic putting any pressure on Nuea to accept the apology.]

I haven't been in the tag, so I'm going to ask sincerely: Why do y'all hate Sailom so much?

[allpromarlo]

oh god they're acting like cincy's qb1 is the first qb in the history of everything to lead a 14-point comeback again

[rggie]

second-years as school crushes

characters: azul, ruggie, riddle, silver

summary: as title states, the boys as school/college crushes… inspired by some real crushes i’ve had

cw: gn!reader, sfw, fluff, unedited. modern!au. 1k+ words

azul ashengrotto

the academic rival. he always had to have the higher grade, even if it was by a single percent. you got 98% on your last exam? you can’t celebrate, because azul got 100%

your teachers are always poking fun at your academic rivalry. they ship you. “stop flirting!” “we aren’t sir, this is simply a heated argument between intellectuals!!!!”

the whole class know about it too. the incessant comments after either of you raise a hand, the shared looks across the classroom...everyone rolls their eyes when you’re against each other in a debate because it’s likely the lesson will go overtime.

it irritates you how you cannot best him in anything, and how he still flashes you that same annoyingly charming smile each time you clash. you’re just waiting for the moment where you finally outclass him… and you do. except it doesn’t feel as rewarding you hoped it would feel.

you’re both in different gym / p.e classes, but your teachers decide it’d be a fun activity to get both groups together for a game of cricket.

strangely, azul was quiet. he didn’t greet with you a snide remark. he didn’t spare you a single glance. instead, he stayed huddled in the corner of the field, scratching at his arm anxiously. you can’t help but wonder what’s wrong. not that you’re worrying about him

after a failed attempt of bargaining with a stubborn teammate, azul had to bat. you were pitching, so you were against each other as usual.

you’ve never seen someone fail at hitting so badly. everyone is laughing and the gymbros are yelling at him to run, so he does, but it’s honestly more like stumbling, and oh. he’s running in the wrong direction. towards you.

his cheeks are flushed beet red (due to embarrassment or breathlessness, you didn’t know) he doesn’t ever meet your eyes properly again. he stops teasing you, too.

is it wrong that you miss it?

ruggie bucchi

food hogger. this guy always, without fail has some sort of food on him. you see him in the morning? toast in his mouth. midday? two donuts. even in class, he’s snacking, not even trying to hide how obvious it is with the loud smack of his lips and happy hums right in your ear.

it’s worse because he sits right next to you, and he doesn’t even offer to share. this boy is greedy, teasing you and taunting you by waving a chocolate bar in your face only to open it and plop it into his own mouth with a cackle.

at lunchtime, you’ll see him skipping the line using the excuse that he’s friends with some popular third-year. you’ll be seconds away from getting the last cookie and all of a sudden ruggie swoops in, claiming that this friend of his wants it. (if that was true, why did you see him eating it minutes later?)

as annoying as he is though, sometimes—and only sometimes!—he’s alright. when there’s days you’re feeling down, or when you don’t do well on a test, you’ll find a snack in your seat. the same treat you know he buys. it’s a silent way of comforting you without outwardly saying it. he likes you because you don’t snitch on him, and you like him because he’s funny, despite his loud chewing.

sadly, he’s just too busy for anything real to develop. you don’t know what he does in his free time, but he’s always running around. you suppose it’s none of your business, and before you can ask anyway, you’re assigned a new seat-mate.

riddle rosehearts

goodie-two-shoes. you’ve never seen someone who’s as much as a stickler for the rules as he is.

now you’re not necessarily a bad student, but this guy makes you feel as though you are. if you’re chewing gum in class, beware. don’t let riddle catch you otherwise you’re taking a trip to the trash can before he can raise his hand and tell on you.

he’s not only a snitch, but also thinks he’s right all the time. you feel a headache coming on with all his yammering.

he reminds the teachers about homework, even when he knows you haven’t done it. and then blames it on your incapability to manage time well.

the one time he forgets his homework, you almost want to tell on him, but he looks so pitiful you can’t. he’s on the verge of tears, talking about ‘handing himself in’ as though he were a criminal. you sigh and tell him he can copy.

at first, he refuses, but as the day drawls on he finds you at lunch and sits next to you for your answers. everyone is surprised at his actions, and he seems surprised at himself too, a constant pink tint all over his cheeks. you have to actually teach him how to copy properly: “no, don’t copy this word for word. and yes, i promise this is correct.”

you can tell how guilty he feels and reassure him that it seriously isn’t the end of the world. the next morning, you find your favourite drink on your table. his behaviour becomes more mellow with you after that. he scolds you lightly, tutting quietly when having to fix your collar. he’s almost sweet—

but he’s still a snitch.

silver

you’re certain he could sleep anywhere.

the first time you met, he was in a deep slumber, lightly snoring with his head planted in a study guide. afraid he’d get caught, you start placing a book in front of him to cover the fact he’s sleeping from the teacher. it ends up becoming part of your routine.

you’re not sure he even notices you’ve been doing it, but you don’t mind. silver is super sweet, always collecting worksheets for you and putting it on your desk, saving you the trip, or offering you snacks in class when you’re hungry. he smells of comforter and fresh laundry—honestly, his presence alone makes you feel lethargic yourself.

you muster up enough courage up to ask if he’s getting enough sleep. you’d be more than happy to help him out, recommending coffee or melatonin gummies, but he tells you it’s just something he’s always dealt with, that frustratingly will not go away.

you now try to make sure he doesn’t fall asleep in class, conversing with him more or poking him gently with your pen. for that he’s grateful, being sure to return the gesture when you’re tired. (but if you’re super exhausted, he’ll let you sleep, making sure you’re as comfortable as you can be.)

some mornings, he even buys you a warm drink alongside his coffee… well, it wouldn’t be for you if silver had remembered to give it to the person he had intended it for, the name malleus draconia scrawled across the cup, printed very clearly.

you have no idea who malleus draconia is, but you hope he doesn’t mind you stealing his latte & his silver-haired friend for a while.

<-

[seafood-33]

2014-12-12

Some interviews during GPF2014

Interview by Hochi news

Q: Seemed to be doing well in practice?

I can believe that I am in good shape if people who see me all the time can see me that way.

いつも見ていただいている人にそう見ていただけるなら、自分でも調子がいい���信じられる。

Q: Any advice from Coach Orser?

Nothing in particular. He was watching Javier (Fernandez) all the time today.... Well, I thought it was OK to do it (laughs).

特にはないです。 今日もハビエル (フェルナンデス) ばっかり見てたし...。 まあ、いいかなと思ってやってたんですけど(笑 い)

Q: Three words to describe your friend Javier Fernandez, what is he like?

He likes play games, he loves to skate. And I love to skate too. Gracias!

Hanyu's Return(from Spain) to Japan

Q: About Fan Support

I am surprised. The cheering of my teammate Javier Fernandez was amazing because it was Spain, but I was cheered by the same amount of people. That pushed me all the way to the end."

ビックリしている。スペインだったので、チームメートのハビエル・フェルナンデスの声援がすごかったけど、その中でも自分にも同じくらいの声援があった。最後まで背中を押していただいた。

Interview by Deportes before GPF2014

Q: The public expects a hand in hand with Yuzuru Hanyu. Although the Olympic and world champion narrowly qualified, is he still the great rival to beat?

He has had a difficult start to the season, but if he is in Barcelona, ​​even for 15 hundredths, he deserves it. In China he collided with another skater in warm-up, came out with a bandage on his head, and still placed second. The Japanese are the ones who hold the reins in this sport, because they are very complete and constant. Their skating and expression are good, and they are also strong in jumping.

-

"Ice doesn't burn but sometimes it cuts" Interview by Nada before GPF 2014

Q: Isn't it strange to train with your biggest rival?

When I practice with him, he is a member of my family, a partner, not a competitor. We are called the Cricket Brothers, which means that we help each other out when things are not going well. And when you have a very high level competitor in a practice environment, you can always get more done.

Q: Do you see each other at the games?

We watch each other and we talk. There is nothing wrong with that. One of the best things about this sport is that 95% of the skaters get along well with each other. When the game is over, they are drinking Coke and beer together. It's a great atmosphere.

Más deportes interview after GPF2014

"it is difficult to compare myself with him, we are very different skaters. Yuzuru is very complete. We are good in technique, in spins we are there and maybe he skates faster than me. His results have been better than mine and I have no choice but to keep working.

"With him maybe better than with the others because we spend many hours together training. And if have a bad day, he's always there to cheer me up. And the other way around too. And with the rest of the rivals, whether in individual, dance or pairs, there is also a very good When we finish competing there is a third time."

Interview by As.com after GPF2014

Q: How did you see your partner and rival Yuzuru Hanyu?

Sensational. He did a terrific long program and I knew he was going to be ahead of me in the points from the moment he finished. The truth is that she deserves this gold medal, she has been working hard and has not had a good start to the season, but sooner or later work brings joy to people.

Q: Is it as unattainable as it seems?

He is a very complete skater and if he does two good programs he is almost unattainable, but nothing is impossible, but you have to work a lot more to beat him. He is younger than me, he has more stamina, especially in training and it's not that I'm old but he is 20 years old and it shows. What I have to do is keep working and in every training session I take one more step than the other skaters because that can be seen later in the competitions.

Q: At the end of January the European Championship in Stockholm arrives and from March 23 to 29 the World Cup in Shanghai. How do you face it?

(Smile). In the European Championship I don't have Hanyu's problem and I hope to defend my gold medal in the last two. In the World Cup I will have him there again, but I don't care about him. He is a skater who works a lot and it will be difficult to beat him. We have to be smart, Brian, our trainer teaches both of us at the same time and teaches us practically the same even though each one is different and there are different details, he cares about both of us equally.

Q: Do you think you can beat him?

I have said before that nothing is impossible. I have to try to outwork him and if he does 20 hits (high intensity interval training exercises) I have to do fifty.

Q: Is there a quarrel between the two?

There is not much. Sometimes, when he has a disastrous training session and I have an excellent training session or the other way around, we sometimes look at each other saying 'Joer, what a bastard, he's going to sack today'. The truth is that we get along quite well, we share ice without problems and we are quite friends.

Source

かなり追い込んできた スポーツ報知

Margarita Voronkovskaya

Anja's twitter

帰国会見一問一答 サンケイスポーツ

2014/2015 ISUグランプリファイナル

La final puede allanar el camino

El hielo no quema pero a veces corta

Javier Fernández, el rey del hielo

Nunca había vivido nada igual como lo

Full list from 2011 to present

[denkamis]

hi!! could i get double chocolate and cherry with kaminari, shinsou and midoriya please?❤️

idk if i did this right so im sorry if i didnt!

to anon: hey anon, no worries! you did it perfectly :)) aww i love the characters you chose for this prompt, this is adorable. enjoy some fluffy times with these sleep deprived boys from a very sleep deprived writer <3

warnings: none! just some swearing and some bad sleeping habits lmao. reader is gn!

prompt: denki kaminari, hitoshi shinsou, izuku midoriya scenarios + “it’s okay, i couldn’t sleep anyways.”

denki kaminari

denki stays up late playing osu and minecraft

what can i say, he’s just a gamer man

so he’s honestly pretty reliable when it comes to you knocking on his door at late hours of the night

always the biggest cuddle bug, really happy that you go to him first out of everyone

literally drops everything for you hehe

lots of sleepy kisses too

“fuck! goddammit,” denki grumbled, shaking out his wrist as he had just failed the six star version of the intro of blend-s on osu. he had gotten rather addicted to the circle clicking game. this further resulted in denki staying up late on school nights, despite kirishima’s warnings of him potentially falling asleep in class the next day. it was fine, he could always borrow notes from you or jirou anyways!

as he went to restart the map again, a soft knock came at the door to his dorm room. spinning off his computer room chair, he prepared himself to be lectured by aizawa for the fifth time this week about breaking curfew. “aizawa-sensei, i know that i’ve been loud lately but i swear this time it won’t happen- y/n?” he stopped mid-sentence as he saw you standing on the other side of the door. “what are you doing up so late?”

you shook your head, immediately hugging his torso instead. you were clearly a bit distraught about something, but denki wasn’t a mind reader. he figured that from the way you were clinging onto him, it must have been a bad dream of some kind. “hey, hey, easy there! nearly knocked me over, huh,” denki laughed lightly, pressing a soft kiss to the side of your head before closing the door behind you. you clung onto him, face buried in the crook of his neck. it made a small blush dust across his cheeks, a warm feeling spreading through his arms as he held you close. “i hope i’m not bothering you,” you mumbled, to which denki hummed. “you never bother me, babe. it’s okay, i couldn’t really sleep anyways.”

the two of you stayed like that for a long while, denki swaying the two of you back and forth. you could feel gentle lips peppering the crown of your head with kisses. as your heart rate slowed, denki piped up. “wanna stay here for the night? my bed’s missing out on some action! and by some action, i mean sleep. i really can’t sleep.”

you snorted at his words, your eyes flicking up to his goofy yet endearing smile, his eyes bright yet a bit tired from late night gaming. he poked his tongue out at you, making you roll your eyes with a tiny smile of your own gracing your features.

“how could i say no to that?”

hitoshi shinsou

we already know he’s up at these unholy hours

not for any particular reason, just because he can’t really sleep

quite the insomniac that one

and the fact that he can’t sleep properly or well unless you’re with him

you smell like lavender in the morning too bc he puts it in his pillow to help him sleep, thank you

shinsou lay awake in bed, eyes trained on the ceiling as he waited for himself to fall asleep. it was no secret that he barely got any rest, so it was simply easier to just sit and wait until his body exhausted itself to the point where he simply fell asleep. staying as still as he could, he kept counting the amount of times he breathed in and out. it made him acutely aware of his surroundings. the crickets outside his room, the way the moonlight streamed through his blinds, the miscellaneous creaking sounds of the dorms. yeah, he definitely wasn’t sleeping tonight.

he didn’t flinch as the door to his room opened, blinking slowly as his eyes adjusted to the light spilling into his room along with a new figure. “y/n?” he asked, not bothering to sit up. “hey, are you up? sorry toshi, i couldn’t sleep,” you explained softly, allowing the door to close behind you as you tiptoed across his dorm room. his hair was sprawled across his pillow, deep violet locks hiding his hands situated behind his head comfortably. it showed off his arms that were built from training for when, not if, he ever got into the hero course.

a lazy smile crossed his lips at your words, his heartstrings being played by you so seamlessly. “it’s okay, i couldn’t sleep anyways,” he replied with a tilt of his head towards you. he moved over a bit in his bed as to give you space to lay down next to him. you crawled beneath his comforters, inhaling the scent of lavender as you did. apparently shinsou had said that the smell helped him fall asleep easier. strong arms wrapped around your waist, encasing you in a protective embrace as your head rested comfortably against his chest. the comforter was thrown over the two of you. you felt so much safer already.

his large hands were placed on your lower back, his thumbs drawing lazy circles on your skin as his breathing began to relax noticeably. hiding your smile, you cuddled closer to him. to this day, you had never seen shinsou fall asleep so quickly since that night.

izuku midoriya

baby is up studying for a test that’s in like 2 weeks

either that or he’s on an all might video spree on youtube and no that is not the first time this has happened, it is certainly not the last

he has so many stuffed animals in his room probably, like he just has them stuffed in his closet

the all might plushies stay on the bed tho

his cuddles are unmatched tho, change my mind

izuku was pacing around his room, vocabulary words spinning about his mind as he counted them on his fingers. he was mumbling definitions to himself, going over all of them in his head before referencing his notebook to make sure nothing went wrong. amidst his ramblings, a knock at the door made him jump to attention. “come in?” he called out, watching intently as he saw you come into view. his face showed relief, grateful to know it wasn’t aizawa or kacchan complaining about his incessant pacing.

“would it be alright if i sleep here tonight? i’m worrying about my grades and stuff again,” you rubbed the back of your neck with a small smile, trying to play off your question as relaxed as you could. it wasn’t exactly a secret that you had a crush on the boy in front of you. he was kind and humble, wanting to help as many people as he could despite all the circumstances that had the world against him. it was admirable. even now, he looked so concerned from the clear lack of sleep you’ve been getting these past few days. “of course you can sleep here. ah, wait! i have to, ah,” he stumbled over his words as you looked to the bed to see not one, not even two, but four all might stuffed toys on his bed.

“oh.”

midoriya’s face erupted with crimson, shoving the plushies into his closet as he sputtered out various excuses as to why they were there in the first place. when he turned back to you, you were giggling. not at him, but because of the entire situation in general. “you’re adorable, izu,” you told him gently. a light feeling bloomed in his chest upon seeing the smile you held for him. you looked so undeniably beautiful to him, the way your hair was a bit messy and how you stood in your pyjamas. while others, including yourself, would find that you looked completely normal, midoriya loved seeing you be so casual, so comfortable around him.

“you’re sure i’m not interrupting you, though?”

midoriya returned your smile with his own, stepping forward to intertwined his scarred fingers with your delicate ones. “it’s okay,” he murmured softly, holding your hand as if you were the most precious thing in the world to him, “i couldn’t really sleep anyways.”

all works © denkamis 2021.

tags:

@meilbox @honeykami @httpfirx @strawberrysalwa @hey-i-really-miss-you @smexy-goose @satis-kei

want to be on the taglist? see this post!

[hee4won]

hate(d) | nishimura riki x reader

requested by @onionhaseyeo i’m so sorry if this isn’t what you wanted but for some reason i got super excited

a/n: this is my first time writing a fic(?) i guess it could be considered.. i just had an idea i liked for the request and it felt more like a fic than a headcanon :] i hope it’s not too bad !

word count: 2.1k

warnings: probably some grammatical errors, other than that none. (lowercase intended)

tags: e2l, slight angst, slight fluff

you hate nishimura riki. when you tell others how you feel about him they always have the same unoriginal response, “hate is such a strong word.” and that, is exactly why you chose it. 

now, in order to really understand why your hatred runs so deep, let’s get into the Three W’s! WHY do you hate him so much? he stole your best friend, she ended up developing feelings for him and ghosting you, she moved away, he never apologized for it. WHEN did you realize nishimura riki was the worst thing to ever happen to you? 7th grade, it’s always 7th grade. WHERE did the beginning of the end commence? the cafeteria, your friend decided to spill her guts out in front of the whole lunch table, only to be humiliated not long after. 

there you sat, glaring at the back of riki’s head. anyone from a mile away could sense your distaste when it came to him. truth be told, no one could understand why, and you never cared to explain. you figured the situation between the two of you or - just you and an unknowing boy -  was personal and should be kept private. you were really good at keeping it a secret too, so good that riki himself couldn’t pinpoint the issue you had with him. 

for the most part you did your best to avoid him, whether it be physically or when he was brought up in conversation between classmates. ni-ki, as people on good terms with him would address him, was a really friendly student. he didn’t pick fights, kept his teasing to a minimum, and somehow got good grades despite sleeping in and skipping classes. 

going to school knowing his sweet, smiling face would be one of the first things you would see in the morning was what kept you in bed during first period. just the idea of him was revolting, and you simply weren’t strong enough to hold your ground right after waking up.

that was until your first period teacher emailed you letting you know a group project was coming up and it counted as 60% of your overall grade. all you could do was send a friendly reply, close the laptop, and scream into your pillow. you were going to be seeing nishimura riki for the first time in almost a month. which you considered to be the best month of your life.

you were alert all morning, barely getting any sleep the night before from how nervous you were. it actually wasn’t as bad as you thought. you were late, which meant everyone already picked who they were going to group with. and, to your luck, riki was nowhere to be foun-

*bump*

“oh my gosh, i am so sorry. . . y/n?” sigh, of course it had to be him. you flashed a limp smile and hurried over to an empty seat. you noticed his hand go forward then drop down to his side, almost like he was trying to bring you back. “oh! ni-ki,” even the teacher knows his nickname? how wonderful. “what perfect timing, you and y/n will be partners for the project, i’ll send the rubric out this afternoon. class dismissed!”

your legs were like jelly, since when did you become this way? sure, you hate him but. . . not being able to move? it was different, it was new. riki noticed the look of confusion on your face and cautiously made his way over to you once all the other students cleared the classroom. “hey, y/n. i haven’t seen you in a while, have you been doing alright?” why on earth was he concerned about you? so shameless.

“yeah, i’m fine, thanks,” you glared at him while standing up and purposefully bumping into his shoulder. bad move. your knees gave out right then, luckily, riki held onto you before you could hit the cold floor. you sighed in defeat, today just wasn’t your day, and mister nishimura just wasn’t the person you wanted to be this close to.

“do you need something? or is there another reason you won’t let go of my arm,” every word had a hint of poison mixed in it. riki muttered a small apology and quickly released you. “i just wanted to let you know that we can work on the project at my place, only if you want,” he gave a boxy closed-mouth smile, almost as if he was trying to act cute. disgusting.

“whatever, give me your address and i’ll come by at 4.” and with that, you two went your separate ways.

after school

as you made your way to riki’s house, you were running over every possible scenario that could occur. you wanted to avoid arguing, only because you took your grades very seriously. but does he? you couldn’t help but feel nervous and slightly jittery as you got closer to his front steps. oh! the door is open. but. . . no riki?

you called out for him a couple times until hearing laughter and the crunching of chips coming down from the second floor. of course, he’s playing the game. trudging up the stairs you wiped off your sweaty palms, mentally preparing yourself before inviting yourself into his room.

“sunghoon, shut up! it’s not even like that, you’re so weird,” he was so loud. “jake, you too! as if you haven’t been trying to swoon that girl in your third period for the past two months now. haha!” well, boys will be boys.

you open the door and riki notices immediately. he throws his headset and controller down to the floor. “y/n, you scared me,” he was almost out of breath. “oh my bad, i called out for you but you didn’t hear me so. . .” you fiddled with your fingers awkwardly. riki muttered a quick, “it’s okay” and gestured for you to take a seat on his bed.

picking up his headset, he told the cheeky upper-class boys that he would talk to them later. grabbing his supplies and computer, he took a seat next to you. you shifted away from him a little, not comfortable with the closeness between the two of you. he didn’t seem to notice, that or he just didn’t care.

“okay, so, have you already looked over the rubric?” crickets. “helloo, earth to y/n! have you checked the rubric yet?” “OH! yes, i have, ha,” you gave a quick reply, trying to pretend the awkward moment of you staring at him never happened.

ha? are you insane? you were nervous yes, and you thought it was because of the bad terms you two were on but. . . this nervousness felt a bit different.

“i also wrote up a quick outline during lunch,” you took the paper out of your bag and moved to hand it to him. “ooh nice, you’re such a scholar,” you gave him a lighthearted “shut up” before looking back at your laptop.

did he feel that? your fingers touched. they did touch, right? you can’t be imagining all of this. Y/N. WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOU HATE HIM, REMEMBER?

“uh, y/n? why do you look like you’ve been holding in a wet fart for the past three minutes?” he was being playful while also holding genuine concern because of your recent actions. your jaw drops, you were always bad at keeping a poker face. but you knew you had to go back to your cold state, there was no way you were going to finish the project by gawking at him. he has such pretty lips by the way, how did you not notice sooner?

it had been a few hours since you guys started working on the project. you checked the time, 8:00 pm. “hey, riki,” you began with a small yawn. “y/n, you know you can call me ni-ki, right? that’s what all my friends call me,” his eyes suddenly widened noticing your discomfort. “wait, i mean. . . only if you want to!”

you cleared your throat and just asked for the bathroom. once inside and closing the door behind you, you felt the need to cry. sob, even. what is going on? why do you feel so bad for being around him? are you a traitor? is it wrong to be laughing and giggling like the two of you are besties?

you turned the water on, hoping it would drown out the sound of your muffled cries. unfortunately, you have some awfully loud sniffles. riki came running to where you were and knocked on the door. he spoke softly, “y/n? are you okay? can i come in?” what was the point in saying no? it is his house, and maybe if you told him. . . you’d feel better.

as you opened the door and looked up at him, the look of worry on his face made your heart ache. gosh, why do you care about him so much? he looked at your tear stained face and slowly reached out his hand, giving you a look that pleaded for your approval. you pass a small nod, and almost sank into the warmth of his hand on your cheek. he pulled you in for a hug as you cried for a little while longer. “do you wanna talk about it?”

here it was, here was the chance to let him know what you’ve been wanting to since 7th grade. you took a moment to steady your breathing and gather courage to look him in the eyes. you told him everything, from the beginning of 7th grade, to the day it all happened, all the way to where the two of you stood now.

he just sat there, probably trying to process everything you had randomly dumped on him. you were about to apologize and pack your things, but for some odd reason, he smiled? “ni-ki? what’s so funny? i was being serious,” his smile only grew bigger, “no i know, i just find it so funny how you had so much agaisnt me meanwhile i just wanted you to like me.”

he?? wanted you to like him??? hmmm. “what do you mean. . . wanted me to like you?” you were really curious, “i’ve had a crush on you since 7th grade, that’s why i rejected your friend later on. i never knew it would hurt you in the process, and for that i am sorry. very sorry.” you let out a small chuckle, “it’s not your fault, really. now that i’m older i think i was only mad that you two didn’t end up together because i liked you too. i just couldn’t live with myself for liking the same boy my best friend liked. it’s stupid, i know.”

riki reached out for your hand, which you obviously let him have. “you’re a good friend.” he flashed you a sweet and caring smile. you let out a sigh of relief, it felt like a weight had been lifted off your shoulders. all this time you had been pushing for yourself to hate him, while it was all just a plot to get rid of your feelings for him. crazy.

it was 11:00 pm.

you and riki had already finished the project and were laying on his floor. the both of you just staring at the ceiling and stealing glances at each other. what lovesick little kids.

after noticing the time, you hopped up and told him you really needed to go. he gave you a small pout with puppy eyes trying to get you to stay, and of course, it was hard but you’d rather leave now and see him later than get grounded and not see him for another month. “i can just text you, don’t make that face.”

he escorted you down the stairs, both of you moving discreetly, careful not to wake the boy’s parents. he opened the door for you and you turned around, gazing at him. “what are you thinking?” he asked with a tired smile on his face and small pieces of fluffy hair sticking up in every direction. you gave a shy smile and pecked his lips. he was very surprised, but also very happy.

“nothing.” you said, holding a cheeky grin in an attempt to hide your shyness. “wow, just to think that you hate my guts,” riki poked fun at you.

“hm, hate is such a strong word.”

“what would you call it then?”

“i would say. . . i hate(d) you. past tense.”

the two of you just laughed, both of you yawning shortly after.

“goodnight, mr. ni-ki.”

“goodnight, y/n.”

and with that, the two of you went your separate ways. but this time, with mutual feelings.

oh and btw, the project got you guys an A+ ;).

[officialgritty]

How I Would Humble NHL Players

An essay written by bigboigritty. 

I would humble hockey players the only way I know how to, by sending them to Australia. Let’s suppose that they have decided to hold the All Star game over here (forget about it’s usual date) (forget that some players I have listed below might not be invited) (and while you're at it, please forget that Australia’s rinks are Not Good).

I think that they would suffer but in an entertaining way so it’s fine. 

First of all, their biggest concern is getting sunburnt. It would effect all of their dumb asses but I’m particularly worried about Pierre-Luc Dubois and Mitch Marner. Boys are practically translucent. Vince Dunn would be fine, he’d probably wear a shirt most of the time which is a very smart decision. 

You may wonder why I didn’t mention Nolan Patrick because I am a certified slut for him, well I don't think he would have a problem. He would spend most of the time inside and when he joins the others, I think his Virgo ass would reapply sunscreen. Maybe he would burn slightly but I don't think it'd be enough to make him uncomfortable. 

Another thing that I think they will gain from this experience is a higher pain tolerance. Now you’re probably thinking, “Zoe they are NHL players so they can handle pain.” Wrong.

Real pain is running barefoot on cement at theme parks while you race to get to the next ride. Also getting into the car and having to avoid touching every piece of metal to not get branded like a cow. Or better yet, when the heat gets so bad that there’s a black out because everyone has their air conditioning turned on.

Don’t get me wrong, I know that other countries have scary animals but I would pay to see them panic over ours. Crocodiles here can grow up to 5.2 metres / 17 feet. We have a box jellyfish season where it’s advised to avoid swimming or wear wetsuits for coverage. Funnel web spiders can survive underwater for hours by trapping air bubbles around their skin. We have several of the worlds deadliest snakes present across the country. 

Listen, I don't want anyone to get injured but the constant fear that they would have when doing anything would be enough to make me happy.

My biggest question is who would survive in the shady areas, who would survive the eshays?

Under no circumstances can you look them in the eyes or cross their path. They are not to be feared individually but in groups caution is advised. I think the players would attempt to assert dominance and that is simply not an option. You are better off to ignore the eshay.

Nolan would have no issues here if im being honest. He is big and I don't think they’d find it worth it to fuck with him. But you know who they would target? Matthew Tkachuk. “Where are you going pretty boy?” “Oi braa did we hurt your feelings ya pussy cunt?” They would make fun of his hair in particular. 

Travis Konecny would be an eshay. I don't think I need to make further comment. (So would Louis Tomlinson but I am not a 1D account and I will continue to repeat that until it’s true.)

I would also give them a few iconic tasks to get the true Australian experience. Activities for the ‘vacation’ include triathlon events, beach flags, bush walking and climbing the harbour bridge. They could attend a cricket match but they tend to like golf so unfortunately they would probably enjoy this :(

AFL is an extremely popular sport here and I think they would loose their shit when they learn the rules of this game. No protective equipment is used other than mouthguards, that's it. That’s all you get. And jumping onto other players for leverage is encouraged. I would thoroughly enjoy the fights that would break out because of this.

Another task would be to use a map to make their way to a servo for a slurpee. The catch is that they will be required to pass through multiple alleyways. Also, the season is Spring, it’s swooping season mother fuckers. Let’s see how brave you are when birds chase you down the block. Personally I don’t think any of them would pass this test, maybe McDavid because the birds may not be able to detect a heartbeat.

Australian food would disgust them, I just know it. Things that they would need to try are a Bunnings sausage sanga, fairy bread, lamingtons, baked beans on toast, Milo and Vegemite. Because I’m me I would give them no butter with their Vegemite. 

An after thought I had was money so I’m editing this to include it. Everything here is EXPENSIVE so they would need to learn how to budget. Upon doing research, Canadians would be fine but the Americans will be mad.

1000 CAD = 1019 AUD

1000 USD = 1297 AUD

Another after thought was the fact that they won’t be able to drive (or at least drive well) here. We drive on the left and not the right, same goes for walking paths too. I can sense a lot of them bumping into people.

Where I think players would live based on vibes alone:

Carter Hart and Vince Dunn: North Shore Beaches, NSW. Daddy’s money. Carter probably did Nippers whereas Vince was a skater boy. 

Travis Konecny: Darwin, NT. Would 100% live there and enjoy it. He would try to conduct crocodile tours but gets assigned to feeding the baby crocs and doing shows for little kids. 

Tyson Barrie: Perisher, NSW. One of the only ski resorts we have to offer, major friendly mountain man energy.

Nolan Patrick: Byron Bay, NSW. @antoineroussel enlightened me, steering away from my original thought of Katoomba, NSW. Byron Bay is a magnet for hippies and links rainforest to the ocean. Chris Hemsworth and his family also live there.

William Nylander: Perth, WA. I don’t know much about Perth other than they wouldn’t shut up about partying while the other states had to quarantine. For some reason, I also associate Perth with Tik Tok. 

Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid: Melbourne CBD, VIC. These two would live in the same apartment building in the city, Connor one level above Sidney. It’s the most boring looking block of them all and Crosby would send in complaints to the landlord about McDavid pacing during the night.

Tyler Seguin: Surfers Paradise, QLD. Party central, not many people are actually from this area and he would be sure to tell absolutely everyone that he was. I also think he would get a Meter Maid tattoo, specifically on his leg. Has definitely slept on the beach before because he couldn’t find his way home.

Jamie Benn: Hobart, TAS. Tasmania is usually forgotten about. Another one with mountain man energy except he is more creepy than friendly.

Mitch Marner: Fitzroy, VIC. @antoineroussel is responsible for this one too. Hipster central, makes you question how the hell someone so young can have so much money. Would chug $45 wine and not blink an eye.

(honourable mentions include = Sammy Blais: Hobart, Tas. Once again no comment on Tasmania. TJ Oshie: Cairns, QLD. Would do reef tours. Haydn Fleury: Western Sydney, NSW. Haydn would 100% own a ute or a white holden commodore and you can’t tell me otherwise. Roman Josi: Adelaide, SA. Small town history teacher vibes.)

I have attached a handy map for those who may need it.

In conclusion, the NHL should send their players over here to teach them some manners and while they’re at it, management should bring themselves too. Nolan Patrick could pass as an Australian if he built up a tan. (So does Nylander in this picture but we won’t talk about that.) Come over anytime baby, I’m free. 

Glossary

Servo - A service station, also known as a petrol or gas station. Example: 7/11

Theme park - An amusement park. Can be said in reference to both normal parks and water parks and usually means those in QLD. Example: Six Flags

Swooping season - August to October in Australia. When birds attack and chase humans and / or pets for getting close to their babies. Magpies are notoriously bad for this. 

Bunnings sausage sanga - A cheap feed / meal found at the front of a hardware and gardening store called Bunnings. Made up of white bread, sausage, onion and your choice of sauce.

Fairy bread - White bread with margarine and topped with 100s and 1000s / sprinkles. 

Meter Maids - Women who work along the beach dressed in gold bikinis. They top up parking meters to save tourists from getting fined and will often stop for photos. 

Nippers - Surf lifesaving programs carried out for children between 5 and 14. 

Ute - A pick up truck.

Eshay - A person who partakes in drug use, graffiti, listens to EDM and targets victims in groups. Below is the typical style of an eshay. 

Tagging a few friends so this doesn’t completely flop but feel free to ignore if it isn't your thing. I won’t be offended lmao

@scheifefe @ifiwasshawnmendesidslapmyself @d00dlebob @bowenbyram @kempe @prettyboyroope @quintonsbyfield @travisgermy @pitoftrash @kspitehockey @ballsakic @canadianheaters @bricksatlandyswindow @powerblais @brokeninsidebutnobodyknows @jamiedrysdales

[crystal-moon-101]

Managed to do another redesign with rewrite notes, this time my second favourite character in Ben 10, Azmuth The First Thinker. And just like Ben, he's canon self is such a mess that I wish to fix in my own way. The other Galvans in this picture are his family, with his father from the movie "Destroy All Aliens", his nephews mentioned by DJW, and their mother who is Azmuth's twin sister. So let me get into the notes and rewrite ideas of mine!

-Retaliator-

Yes, I am aware that this is most likely not his name, but I could not be bothered to make up my own at this point, and I also find it funny to have a Galvan dad called this, so I'm sticking with it. So Retaliator is the father of both Azmuth and Divi, a very humble and calm old galvan, who has seen a lot through his years, now retired and mostly just trying to keep the family together through small things.

Retaliator has the rare gene of having aqua/turquoise eyes, a recessive trait in galvans, similar to human with the red hair gene.

Retaliator looks younger than he should be, and that's because he is, in a way. You see, right before Azmuth vanished to start working on the watch, Retaliator fell ill to an disease with no known cure, and this caused the family to...kind of break down. A lot had happen up to this point (Things that will be noted throughout this), and none of them wanted things to end like this. So Azmuth did something he know he shouldn't have, as such a thing takes so much time and resource, and generally frowned upon, and ended up creating a new young clone body for his father's brains to be transferred too. By the time Retaliator woke up from surgery, his son was already gone, off in hiding. It this was event that really made Retaliator realize he may not have been the best father for a long time...

While he is retired now, Retaliator use to do work based around energy stuff.

Since he's family's back together, he likes to host game or movie nights, or even little dinners and get togethers.

He adores his grandsons, and loves to share stories from his past to them, and he's one of the few people they calm down around.

He will admit that he did...go a bit wild when he thought Azmuth died, fighting Ben in the Galvanic Mechamorph suit, but him and Ben have since made up, and the old galvan likes talking to the young lad often.

He has most defiantly embarrassed both of his kids by showing off baby photos of them.

He met his wife through work, like most galvans, with her being a much higher up worker. Surprisingly, despite their statuses, it was his wife who asked him out first, having found him very charming.

Retaliator can never thank Ben enough for convincing his son to come home, and despite their bickering, he enjoys seeing Azmuth's bond with Ben, as the two have a way of balancing each other out.

While he may be in a younger body, his mind is certainly still that of an old galvan, and can often act like his body is older than it really is due to the mental age of his brain.

-Azmuth-

Ahhhh, dear old Azmuth, how I love your character concept, and yet get so frustrated with your actual canon self...There is a lot I have changed in terms of his placement and behavior on the show, and while I can't note all of them down there, the major theme behind them is that he is not a complete jerk in them. Don't get me wrong, Azmuth would still have flaws and issues with his off-standing nature, but he would act in a way that feels more natural, showing his growth and change while mentoring Ben. He genuinely wants to help and is a good person, it's just...he still has a lot to work through. In terms of his slight redesign, I'll like to mention that if you look closely, his outfit is a mixture of his first original outside, crossed with his UAF outfit.

I did mention that I couldn't note all changes of him in series plots, since most boil down to be him being nicer and more realistic, but I will note one change because it's big enough to mention. For the Diagon/Forever Knight Arc, Azmuth did not create Ascalon, because I while I get he's smart and created things like the Omnitrix, I don't think he should be such a big source of dangerous artifacts in the series so often, especially ones that cause trouble. So instead, Ascalon was a weapon crafted in Ledgerdomain, to help fight Diagon who orientated there, and at the time had been trying to conquer earth, and Zenith leaving Azmuth happened because of miscommunication and issues between them instead.

That being said, Azmuth does get involved in the Ultimate Alien Diagon arc when Ben himself calls Azmuth over, needing his help knowing he can better understand Ascalon, and eventually entrusted Azmuth and the Galvans to keep it and the trapped Diagon safe.

Azmuth and his sister had a very rebellious phase as teenagers/young adults, this being the age that Azmuth said he was a lot like Ben, though admittedly, Azmuth was slightly more of an ass than Ben ever was. They were going through a tough time, and Azmuth reacted negatively too it all. Funnily enough, the one thing that seems to make him doo a 180 degrees in personality was his massive swooning crush over Zenith.

He won't ever admit out loud, but he does find Ben's trait of nicknaming his aliens kind of funny...

He shares a mentoring role towards Ben with Grandpa Max and Tetrax, with Max handling the more emotional and human side of Ben's problems, Tetrax handling the physical training and teachings, and Azmuth handling the more logical steps and hard truth Ben needs to hear. He's one of the few people to give Ben the smack of reality he needs from time to time.

That being said, Ben is also one of the few people able to handle Azmuth right back, and give him needed talkings to when the man is losing himself to a bad habit.

Mostly due to the fact that Tennysons seem to have a habit of making people very close to them like family, E.g with Ben seeing Kevin and Rook like brother figures at times, there seems to be subtle hints between Azmuth and Ben that there might be parent and child like moments between them, though both would deny it if brought up.

It doesn't help that Azmuth ends up taking it upon himself on making sure Ben is healthy and happy, based on scans from the Omnitrix he reads daily. Of course, he'll just say he doesn't want the boy he entrusted his watch with to die in a stupid way, but people close to either of them know that Azmuth really does care deep down.

He has said both "I'm too old for this" and "I'm too young for this" many times.

Azmuth has admitted that he's nervous around the Omnitrix, and doesn't like putting it on. He's not good at handling the idea of becoming something he's not...

The Malware arc for Azmuth was...a lot more complicated than canon. Azmuth really did try to fix Malware, but for some reason he couldn't, and it scared him that one, this might be the first problem he can't find a solution too, and second, he just came back from hiding and had been wanting to make changes in his life, so to fail and hurt someone already? He didn't know what to think. It didn't help when Malware started refusing his help and ended up endangering the lives of others, including galvans and Azmuth's own family. And despite it all, Azmuth kept trying over and over again to let him help Malware, but the villain always refused, until Azmuth eventually had to accept that he couldn't do anything. When Malware was finally killed, Azmuth went quiet for a good while, and needed time to recover from his mistake.

Due to some past issues, Azmuth mostly refers to his father by his real name, and only calls him dad or father during emotional or quiet moments.

Whenever they're hanging out, Ben likes to bring him and Azmuth cricket smoothies to drink together.

Despite how they seem to bicker often, Myaxx and him play off each other rather well, able to dry wit each other every day.

Azmuth and Albedo's relationship is also very complicated. Before Azmuth returned, Albedo was an outstanding Galvan and protégé, being praised every single day. This, unfortunately, made Albedo develop a prideful nature and his close minded views on the galaxy, as he rarely was ever put down or critiqued. His ego also got a bit of a boost when the great Azmuth took notice of him, and made him his assistant, and while he loved it at first, some issues started to arise when Azmuth wasn't like the other Galvans who praised Albedo to no end. That isn't to say Azmuth never complimented him and liked his work, but he was an honest man who knew no one was perfect, and especially wasn't going to worship someone, knowing what kind of ego that could make in someone. It doesn't help that Albedo just can't understand what Azmuth sees in Ben, and how the two bond, despite Ben's young careless nature, and being human. It ends up making Albedo want a lot more from Azmuth, the man he looks up too, and when he's denied that he eventually turns his back on the First Thinker. Azmuth can only hope that being able to turn into other aliens, and being stuck as human, will teach Albedo that Galvans, including himself, aren't what make the galaxy function.

Azmuth is typically one of the must unfazed people you'll ever meet.

Given most Galvans have an issue of seeing themselves as the top race, Azmuth is kind of fond of Blukic and Driba for being very open and helpful to outsiders, and was even the one to suggest them to join the Plumbers.

Zenith and Azmuth too meet up again eventually, and while they don't get back together, they do make amends.

Azmuth was fairly small for a Galvan for a long time, until he finally hit his growth spurt late into his teen years, something his sister use to tease him over.

Greymatter's DNA mostly comes from Azmuth, meaning Ben actually looks like a Azmuth when he was young, his family having made comments about Ben being his "Clone".

-Divi-

Here we have the twin sister of Azmuth, Divi. A dry wit, no nonsense, sarcastic and feisty single mother of her three chaotic sons. Unlike Azmuth's father and nephews, she was something I had to completely make up from the spot, since Azmuth was said to have nephews, that meant he had to have a sibling, so it was fun to create someone with an interesting dynamic with Azmuth. She is, after all, one of the few people to exhibit some of those petty family squabbles out of him. So I hope you enjoy her and her sons.

As mentioned before, Azmuth and her went through rebellious phases after some downfall in their family life, with Divi jumping around jobs and never settling for one, and even dating another Galvan that neither Azmuth or Retaliator approved off. When Azmuth first left Galvan Prime to go into hiding, Divi and her boyfriend had still been dating. However, when he finally came home, he found the boyfriend to be gone, and Divi now a single mother to three sons. Azmuth never got a clear story what happened to the boyfriend, but he knows that the break up was nasty, and that the boyfriend isn't on Galvan Prime anymore.

Sometime after Divi had her children, she eventually settled for a job in the nursery/incubation centre on Galvan Prime, looking after eggs and newly hatched tadpoles before they go home with their parents.

Divi is quite a blunt and honest woman, who has no time for dragging things on, and while she may sound harsh, she ends up just wanting the best for people. In fact her open nature of speech is how she gets people to listen and see reason.

Her and Azmuth had a...bit of a dysfunctional relationship growing up. Azmuth was actually a slow learning when he was young, and Divi had a habit of picking on him. They did eventually mallow out, until tragedy struck their family and they entered their rebel phases, and the bickering and arguing come from both sides. They have made up since Azmuth returned, but the two have their squabbles here and there, but they're mostly just playful banter or family habits.

Her and Myaxx get along quite well, and the two like hanging out with each other.

She's also fond of Ben since meeting him, and the two like chatting whenever he plays with her sons, he's even babysat for her a few times.

She has no interest in dating again anytime soon, and is proud to be a single mother.

She's the one who points out Azmuth and Ben's family like roles to each other often, mostly due to the fact that she understands what a paternal feeling is like, and because she's blunt about it.

She got her wisdom feet first out of her and Azmuth growing up.

While Azmuth was off in hiding, Divi reconnected with his father when looking after to him after surgery. So, unlike Azmuth, she mostly just calls him father and dad.

-Trapez, Cieven & Aegls-

The three mischievous nephews, sons and grandsons of the family. Left to right, Trapez, Cieven & Aegls, who are the triplets of Divi. The three are like glue, and are often playing or up to little tricks, creating chaos around Galvan Prime. While they mostly look the same and are all tricksters, they do have personality differences. Trapez is the best when it comes to emotions and the phycology behind it, something most Galvans struggle with, and can come across as the kindest of the three. Cieven has a lot of traits from Divi and Azmuth, being fairly intelligent and wanting to be a lot like his uncle someday, though does have some of their sarcastic nature as well. Aegls is the most energetic of the three, hype up often and quick with crafting and thinking of ideas. When you combine all three together, you get a force of endless chaos.

Their mother has been honest to them about who their father is, and why he isn't around, but the three have grown up fine without him, and will forever be grateful for the work their mother put into caring for them.

They were born while Azmuth was away, and so have been building up hype about their missing uncle for most of their lives, enough so that when Azmuth did come back, they all tackled hugged him while he was still understanding the idea that he was now in fact an uncle.

They love Ben and the Omnitrix, roping Ben into some of their pranks and shenanigans, and while Ben mostly tries to stare them into the right direction, he can't help himself half the time and joins in on the chaos, much to Azmuth and Divi's dismay.

They do become a part of my Ben 10 Next Gen Series, given Galvans take forever to age, and will finally be young tweens when the Next Gen takes place.

The three each have different dream jobs for the future. Trapez wants to be a psychiatrist or doctor, Cieven wants to be an inventor, and Aegls was to deal with energy based matters like his grandfather once did.

Never give these kids sugar or coffee, it will end badly.

The three...had a bad encounter with Malware during his rampage, and for a while were scared around Galvanic Mechamorphs...They get over it eventually, but Malware does haunt them for a long while.

They once picked up some colourful language from Azmuth and Myaxx when overhearing them once. You can imagine how Divi took that.

-The First Thinker Family-

The traumatic event that struck the family was in fact the death of Azmuth and Divi's mother, who was killed by someone who was after Galvan Tech. The family fell apart after that, with Retaliator falling into a deep depression and being distant from his kids, and Azmuth and Divi going wild in their teen/young adult years to distract themselves from the grief. They've all come together now and have been taking the proper sets to honor her memory, and become a family again.

While no one has outright said it, Ben has kind of become part of this little family in a few ways, and after a while Azmuth stops being survived when the boy shows up for family dinners or game nights.

They all live on Galvan Prime, though Retaliator is known to take trips here and there around the galaxy, wanting to see more of it during his retirement.

On the outside, many Galvans treat the family as there wise people, who have sage advice. And while that isn't wrong, once you get to know them they're a very chaotic family...

[l4verq]

remnants (3) | r.d

ransom drysdale x reader

in which you have to protect ransom drysdale because he has the same face as steve rogers, your ex who’s gone back to peggy.

warnings : mentions of panic attacks

lmk if you wanna be added to the taglist 💗

ʀᴇᴍɴᴀɴᴛꜱ

*not my gif*

-

“rock, paper, scissors, shoot!”

your eyes frantically looks around the outstretched hands, each holding up a rock.

bucky yells a cry of victory while you groan, glaring at your hands holding up ‘scissors’.

ransom rolls his eyes, “you guys hate me that bad?”

upon arriving to the hydra base after a long, long road trip, ransom grumbling about the music, sam screaming about how marvin gaye remains superior, you just couldn’t seem to catch a break.

because of course, you’d lose in this stupid game of rock, paper and scissors and of course, be forced to stay back with ransom in the car while sam and bucky scoped out the base for “any traps”.

“alright, we’ll be back in a few,” sam puts on his goggles, “but if we’re not-.”

“then we run.” ransom interrupts, pointing at you and him.

you have to bite back a smile seeing sam’s unamused face.

“then we go see if anything’s wrong.” you correct ransom, giving him a look.

“actually, no. he’s right, just run.” bucky ponders over it.

ransom scoffs under his breath and looks at you.

you’re smiling sof-

wait, were you actually smiling? at what that shaggy dude just said or more precisely, repeated?

“we’re obviously not running. it was a joke.” ransom clarifies, glancing over at bucky.

bucky’s vibranium arm locks in place, returning ransom’s stare, air getting unnecessarily tense.

they just look dumb, atleast to you.

sam claps his hand, “ok, so no one’s running. let’s go.”

he deploys red wing, the scarlet gadget humming off into the sky.

bucky gives you a nod, trailing behind sam, headed towards the entry door.

an awkward silence ensues, crickets violently chirping in the moonlit night.

“how’s your hand?” ransom clears his throat, adjusting his stance.

he’d been meaning to ask since yesterday but he just.. couldn’t.

“been better.” you flare your sore hands in front of you, tilting your head.

even though there weren’t any external wounds, you knew all of the damage was inside, lurking behind layers of flesh.

“so, you really did break your hands to get out of the chains?” he questions, eyebrow quirked.

“if you put it like that, i sound crazy.” you cross your arms, leaning against the car next to him.

he chuckles, a loud - almost obnoxious - sound that startles you a little.

steve never laughed like that, even when he did, it always felt like he was holding back, had his guard up.

“y/n, do you copy?” sam’s voice crackles in your ear, courtesy of the ear comm.

ransom springs to his feet, hand on his ear.

he’d asked for an ear comm as well to which everyone respectfully declined.

but after two hours of whines and grumbles about why he wants one, bucky practically flung that flesh coloured, pea sized gadget at him.

“we’re here.” he barks a little too loud.

“yea, we can hear you.” bucky mutters, annoyance laced in every word.

“you can speak normally.” you inform ransom, who flashes a thumbs up with a “got it.”

“there doesn’t seem to be mu-.”

static takes over, cutting sam off, you and ransom both flinching at the sudden blare in your ears.

you immediately cock your gun, reach into the car to pull out a flashlight and hand it to ransom.

“stay behind me.” you order, “we’re going through the back.”

“is there even one?”

“let’s find out.” you grab a flashlight as well.

you’re light on your feet, with careful, calculated steps.

ransom.. you couldn’t exactly blame him, he’s just a normal guy.

a normal guy who’s made it his goal to step on every single fallen leaf, producing this god awful crunching sound in the dead of the night.

“a little quieter?”

he starts tip-toeing, stumbling around.

you walk round the building, well what’s left of it.

it’s in bad shape, the entire building, hanging on by decaying bricks covered in mold.

it looks like it might’ve been around 3-4 stories high but it’s impossible to know now.

“there it is.” you whisper, flashlight pointed towards a door labelled EXIT.

on closer inspection, the knob is broken, only a hole where it used to be.

the hinges creak as you push the door open with ease, uncertain how the door didn’t fall right off because it was barely holding on.

gun in hand, flashlight on top, left foot forward, supporting your dominant one, just like you’ve been trained.

“this is how people die in movies.” ransom whispers, peeking inside the dark room.

you glare back at him, shushing him.

he clamps his forefinger and thumb together, dragging it along his lips, pretends to lock it and hands you the key.

“just search for a switch.” you mutter, looking straight infront again.

you aim your flashlight around, taking small steps inside.

clang.

you damn near jump out of your skin, finger already curled around the trigger, ready to pull when you whip around.

“sorry.” ransom mumbles, hands trailing around the wall, looking for a switch.

“i nearly shot you!” you whisper yell, lowering your gun.

the light flickers on, your eyes nearly blinded by it.

you look around, vision slowly adapting to the lit up room.

it’s a workstation with sewing machines?

the red, white and blue bits of cloth catch your eyes as you inch neare-

thud.

“y/n!” ransom shouts, but it’s distant.

too distant.

“yea, i’m here! i fell.,” you groan in pain, “somewhere. be car-.”

thud.

“fucking hell.” ransom curses, rubbing his shoulder, writhing in pain on the ground.

you’d be screaming at his stupid ass if only you weren’t doing the same, all feelings in your left leg lost.

“didn’t you see me fall?” you grit your teeth, clutching your leg.

he moans, slowly rolling over to his face.

“great! we’re both stuck here.”

you crane your neck to look up at the crack of light at the top, maybe a good four stories from where you’re sitting?

it was a miracle neither of you plunged to your death.

your hands fumble around the cold ground, feeling for your gun when you hear it.

a low, gentle whirring but it’s definitely not red wing this time.

you frantically scramble to your feet, left leg screaming in anguish even at the slightest pressure.

your hands reach out and this time they land on something hard.

something cold, much like the ground itself with ridged lines and creases.

it’s the wall.

but you could’ve sworn it wasn’t there before...

“the walls, they’re caving in.” you breathe out, instinctively backing away.

the familiar dread building up in your heart seemed to dull whatever pain resided in your leg.

“hey! get up.” you hop towards him but he brushes you off with a wave of his hand, still squirming in pain.

the whirring stops abruptly, along with the walls.

“bucky? sam? can you hear me?!” you yell into the ear comm, only to hear distorted sounds.

your eyes are adjusted enough to see the space between the two walls has decreased significantly.

ransom pushes his body off the ground with his shaky arms, slowly getting on his feet.

“am i crazy or did the wall move?” he breathes out, touching it.

“yea,” you exhale, closing your eyes shut, “yea, it did.”

“y/n!”

your ears perk up at the familiar voice.

“down here!” you yell, not sure if your voice can even be heard from where you are.

then like music to your ears, a familiar scarlet buzzes towards you two.

“sam!” you wave your hands at red wing hovering over you two.

his voice crackles “we’re trying to shut the whole place down, we’ll get you out.”

“the walls-.”

the whirring starts again as if reminded about what it needs to do.

red wing bumps against the contracting walls, falling into a heap of metal next to your feet.

you limp closer and closer to ransom, the wall centimetres away from your back, both of you realising the only way to have more space.

he pulls you into his chest, his good shoulder around you.

tears well up at your eyes, the crippling feeling sneaking in again.

these endurance tests are meant to help you get over your fears and phobias.

steve’d lied.

the endurance tests didn’t work.

because you were struggling to breathe, air hitched in your throat.

“it stopped, the walls.” ransom can barely move his body around, back hitting a hard boundary whenever he tries to.

balled up fists hanging desperately onto his clothes, you’re sobbing now, a hysterical mess.

the air only seemed to thin out more and more, your lungs straining for oxygen.

he watches in horror, the tiny space filled with your desperate gasps and whimpers.

you’re having a panic atta-

think, ransom.

what calms you down?

“you know, sometimes i look up at the stars at night when i can’t sleep.” he blubbers out, heart racing.

anything to just get you to stop trembling like that.

“i just lay in my bed - i have this window on my ceiling - and i look up at it.”

he’s unsure as he continues.

“reminds me of the glow in the dark stickers i had back in fourth grade.”

and of his fleeting childhood.

“did you have those? the $1 a pack with all the crazy fonts?” he whispers in your ear, tapping your back for an answer.

you manage a small nod, biting down your quivering lip.

who didn’t have those ugly stickers that seemed to fall off the very day you put them up.

“take a deep breath, can you do that for me?” he cooes, wincing when he brings his other shoulder around you.

he’s pretty sure it’s broken.

“c'mon, i’ll do it with you,” he pats your back, signalling you to inhale.

so you do.

you focus on the pace of his chest rising up and down steadily, willing yourself to do the same.

it was kind of working? whatever he was doing.

with those arms around you, whispers of sweet nothings in your ears, mediating your breathing.

until the whirring started again.

-

a/n : ohshsjsnssjsteysys pt 3 finally uppp :)))

tags : @readermia @inmate-marmalade @randomsevans @xoxabs88xox @thebadassbitchqueen @mypalbuck @natrushman3000 @townwitchbitch

[luxaofhesperides]

these lingering remains

@tucweek DAY TWO: SACRIFICE

also on ao3

. . .

He still dreams about falling. The nightmares linger, even now, years after everything. He wakes up most nights with his heart in his throat, free-falling to his death and no one is there to grab his hand. It’s terrible; it’s the only thing he has left of Ares.

The feeling of falling, the feeling of being caught, of trusting his bond to be there. The feeling of holding Ares’ claw in his hand, first to save him, then to die with him. 

Gregor is used to living off of four hours of sleep a night. It’s not difficult when he doesn’t go to school; his many, many scars would bring up too many questions, so his parents homeschool him while Lizzie and Boots live normal lives.

Sometimes he wishes he could talk about it-- the Underland, a taboo topic in the household. But no one would really understand him if he said he wants to go back. The Underland is the place that took their father away, held him captive and tortured by gnawers, the place that brought a plague to his mother, the place that drew his anxious sister into a war, the place that nearly killed Boots time and time again. 

It’s the place that destroyed him in so many ways; body, mind, and soul. 

It’s the place that killed his bond.

But it’s also the place that gave him the people who changed his life: Luxa, Hazard, Vikus, Mareth. Even Ripred, as horrible as he is. 

Gregor misses them everyday, feels their absence like a wound; always present, always hurting. 

He knows no one else will understand his connection to the Underland, so he keeps quiet, keeps waking up shaking, and doesn’t say a thing.

Virginia is never quiet in the summer. Cicadas cry every second of the day, birds chirp endlessly while the sun is up, and crickets fill the night air with sound. After spending most of his life in New York City, living on a farm in a small town feels like living in another world. Everything is different: the people, the sights, even the air itself moves differently. 

Gregor tries his best not to leave the house. For a few months, his mother tries to get him to go to town with her to help with shopping, but pulling up his sleeve to show her his multitude of scars quickly put a stop to that. His body is a map of his time in the Underland, and invites too many questions. His mother, refusing to acknowledge the Underland, always turns away from his scars and keeps quiet. 

His father spends some nights with him, when nightmares wake them both. There’s no saxophone to play anymore, not with his father’s damaged hands, but they sit together outside to look at the stars. Looking up helps distract them from their time below ground. 

Gregor wonders what Luxa would say, if she saw the stars. 

Lizzie remembers too much; her anxiety keeps the memories well kept in her mind. She freezes when she hears anything resembling rats running, keeps to open spaces, doesn’t solve code breakers anymore. She’s the only one who talks about the Underland with him. She speaks of the people, of Ripred, of baby nibblers. She asks about Ares and Luxa and Vikus, and she doesn’t look away from his scars. 

There’s still much he refuses to tell her; how ready he was to die when the Bane’s claws ripped into Ares, how he never thought he’d survive this long. He doesn’t speak of the war, or any other time he’s nearly died. Some things are better left unsaid. 

And Boots. Boots was so young, could only properly say his name after everything was over. Sometimes she sings the bathing song, or babbles something in the crawler’s language. Sometimes she asks about fliers, or asks to see Hazard. Each time, everyone freezes, unsure of what to tell her. 

His mother decides to let Boots live a normal life and instructs everyone to tell her it was a game she made up. The Underland isn’t real, it was just her imagination. 

And Gregor, carrying the burden of loving a land he can’t return to, obeys.

“Gregor, didn’t we see these before?” Boots asks, holding up a book about frogs in the Amazon. Poisonous frogs, all brightly colored. Gregor stares at the illustrations, remembering the desperate search for Starshade and the fear that consumed him when he saw Boots sitting amidst a swarm of frogs. 

He swallows, trying to speak around the sudden dryness of his throat. “See them where?”

“Before we moved here! We saw them, right?”

“Yeah, once. At the zoo. They were having an exhibit about the Amazon rainforest.”

Boots frowns, squinting down at the page as if she’s trying to find a reason to say he’s wrong. But after five years, Boots doesn’t remember much about the Underland at all. Lying is easy, when the truth can’t be remembered. 

Please don’t keep asking, Gregor pleads internally. There’s not much else he can say. It’s lucky enough that Boots never asks about his scars; to her, he’s always had them. Why wouldn’t he have scars?

“What about bats?” Boots asks next, “Did we see bats too?”

Gregor’s breath catches in his throat, choking him for a moment. If she remembered Ares… If she remembered any of them....

Lizzie walks into the living room, immediately catching sight of them. He doesn’t know what he looks like, but it must be bad enough for Lizzie to immediately come over and get Boots’ attention away from him.

“What’s that?” she peers at the book Boots is holding. 

“A book about frogs!” Boots holds it up for Lizzie to take, quickly forgetting her question. “We saw them at the zoo before we moved!”

Lizzie glances at him, and Gregor nods. “I didn’t go to the zoo with you that day. Do you remember a lot about the frogs?”

“No! I just remember them jumping.”

“Frogs do tend to jump.”

“What about bats? Do bats in zoos jump?” Lizzie looks at Gregor again, eyes wide, as Boots asks turns her interrogation onto Lizzie.

“No, bats fly. Gregor, mom wanted you to help her in the kitchen.”

Taking the exit gratefully, Gregor quickly makes his escape, leaving Lizzie to field Boots’ curiosity. He feels almost sick from the conversation; Boots was always with him in the Underland, she’s the only one who traveled through the Underland with him, and she barely remembers any of it. Instead of the jungle, or Regalia, or the Waterway, it’s a zoo, an amusement park, a river that she thinks she went to. 

He’s the only remnant of the Underland left now. No one else in his family experienced it as he did, as a part of Regalia instead of an unlucky Overlander who got caught by gnawers. 

“Mom,” he whispers when he enters the kitchen, and his mother immediately drops the vegetables she was cutting to guide him to the kitchen table and sit him down. 

“What’s wrong?” she asks, a hand brushing over his forehead. 

“Boots,” he says, “She remembered the frogs we saw in the jungle. Down there. I told her we went to a zoo and saw them. But she remembered the frogs and… the bats.”

His mother presses her hands down against he shoulders, grounding him. “It’s for the best. She should live a normal life. She’s the only one who can. I know it’s hard for you, but there’s nothing else we can do.”

He knows she’s right. If Boots remembered too much, too clearly, she’d tell all her classmates and teachers about it. It would invite questions they can’t answers, bring back painful memories that they’re all trying so hard to move past. But Gregor can’t forget or move on; the Underland changed him too much, engraved itself into his body over and over again. He will never live a normal life, not after being the subject of a prophecy and turned into a child warrior, not after nearly losing both his parents and having to shoulder the responsibility of keeping his family alive when he was just an 12 year old kid who wanted to look after his baby sister.

But she’s right; Boots is young enough that the Underland is like a long dream to her. She can live a life without it. She’s the only one who can.

He remembers how happy Hazard was to play with someone closer to his age, someone who loved languages and other creatures like he did. 

He bites his tongue, and keeps lying.

The Underland isn’t real, it was just a game. All the animals we saw were from the zoo. Be good, Boots, and go play with your friends. Stay away from grates and manholes. Be good, Boots, be normal.

Gregor wakes up shaking, his hand achingly empty. The phantom feeling of Ares’ claw remains. In the morning, he lies to Boots and says he was up late reading and that’s why he’s so tired.

He stays home and misses the comforting dark of the Underland. He clicks his tongue in a dark bathroom, and imagines that he’s back down there and just outside the hall, Luxa waits for him. His clicks his tongue, and all that comes back is the faint outline of a mirror which only holds his reflection.

No one speaks of the Underland. 

They move on, and leave him behind.

[lizbotw]

SEVEN MINUTES IN HELL: BAKUGOU’S ROUTE - DIADEM

YOU’VE CHOSEN A WINDING PATH: TURN BACK NOW (MASTERLIST)

pairing: bakugou x reader

summary: An attempt to blow off steam is your saving grace in the forest.

a/n: second route of my halloween collab with our favorite explosive boy and the prompt “firework’s lightshow” ♡ also, the title is a specific type of firework in case you were wondering! i think they might be my favorite kind actually lmao, they’re super pretty if you look at the differences between the different fireworks patterns!

warning: very mildly spicy in one part

word count: 3.9k

You could practically feel the impatience rolling off of him in waves from next to you. Outwardly, he was the picture of calm—or at least as calm as you could seem with your arms folded across your chest and your face set in a scowl. He was thinking and you could tell because his eyes weren’t fully focused on the spot on the floor he was supposedly glaring at.

It was hard to be sure in the dim light, but you knew that look anywhere.

It was clear he wanted to do something. The obvious choice when you had been trying to figure out how to get out of here had been to have him either go blasting off above the trees to find the way back to U.A.—if it was even close enough to see—or to set off a signal in hopes of someone catching sight of it. Then, of course, there was the issue of visibility that had put a halt in all plans of escape.

Yet there was still that small voice of reason within everyone’s head though that perhaps you were being overly cautious—Bakugou could still technically do it. You were hero course students, among the best of the best, a little rain and lack of sunlight shouldn’t stop you.

While Todoroki was good for the survival aspect, especially when it came to staying warm during the frigid night, Bakugou seemed like the key to the way out. It felt like everyone was expecting him to do something, just volunteer already—or, at least, you were pretty sure that’s what he felt like. The truth was, no one was expecting anything from him. The plan had been set to simply try to find a way out in the morning. Things would be better then and you knew all of you would have reacted the same way he did and held back a little from immediately rushing out to look for help in conditions like this.

Plus, you were pretty sure they felt it too. A weird tugging in your bones—you don’t know how but you just knew it had something to do with the forest not mixing well with your quirks. You could feel it.

You knew Todoroki and Iida had amazing stamina, honing their quirks from a young age in top hero families, but it seemed that even they had to take more frequent breaks than usual when they had been using their powers earlier. Kaminari’s attempt at sending out a signal had fizzled out and he was reluctant to try charging your phones, stopping every so often to take a deep breath.

All of them must’ve felt it, even if no one said anything. It was like the forest was trying to keep you here.

The feeling was so strong that it was the only thing that could keep someone like Bakugou from pushing past the cautious side of things and actually saying fuck it, he was going to do whatever he wanted. He was still tense though, feeling like he should do something (you could tell). He was the best and he was going to be your way out of here in his mind.

You noticed the way his fingers were digging into his forearms where they gripped and you felt terrible all over again.

You tentatively reached over, about to lay a hand on his arm. “Hey-”

“(Y/N)! Truth or dare?” Kaminari’s voice sliced through the air and you stiffened, quickly drawing your hand back and pushing it into your lap. You could feel the other’s eyes on you even though you were staring straight ahead at Kaminari, chest hot at the sudden choice to begin the game with you.

“Um…”

Bakugou shifted next to you, not really readjusting his position, but seeming like he just wanted to move. “This is stupid…”

“Yeah, you said that before, Bakugou. Lighten up a little, will you?” Kaminari was grinning, tone teasing, and it seemed that it was only you that had noticed Bakgou’s ansty nature. Maybe staying in a random cabin wasn’t the best idea. You started to feel a little trapped too and the onsets of a possible headache pounded in your skull. This all felt weird.

“How the fuck can I lighten up when we don’t know even know when we’ll get out of here?” You expected him to yell it, emotional and scoffing at how stupid the rest of you were being to be fine with sitting around—but that was the opposite of what happened. In fact, you would’ve preferred that to the alternative. Instead, his voice was flat, his brows still furrowed as his eyes seemed to take a special interest in tracing over the ridges in the floor. He refused to look at anyone and he seemed strained.

“Bakugou, come on, man. We’ll get out of this fine. Just give it a few more hours.” You weren’t sure if Kaminari was getting what Bakugou was feeling the same way you did, but he did seem to be choosing his words a little more carefully. That is until— “It’s almost like you want to get dared.” The light laugh that followed had your heart clenching because Kaminari why.

Bakugou finally looked up, staring Kaminari dead on. “Fine. I’ll play.”

That almost halted his laughter, turning it uneasy. “It’s not really your turn yet-”

“I said I’ll play.”

Kaminari seemed unsure now.

You bumped your arm with Bakugou’s and whispered, out of the side of your mouth, “Calm down.” He grunted in reply but made no other indication he was going to listen to you.

It seemed like Kaminari, after a brief second of back and forth with himself, had mustered up the courage to actually agree with Bakugou’s request. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare.”

No one said anything for a moment and the crackling of the fire was the only noise.

Then, Kaminari released the tense breath you had all been holding. “I don’t know what’s with you, but you’re giving me a weird look—and not the standard I’m-going-to-kill-you one either.” The others were silent, although it looked like Midoriya wanted to say something with how he was leaning slightly forward, biting at his lip like he was forcing the words back down. Kamianri continued, trying to lighten the strange mood that had settled over all of you, “I dare you to chill out. Seriously, we’re going to be fine. Ha, didn’t know you were that worried about me, dude.”

The cheeky comment was apparently the wrong thing to say because before you knew it, Bakugou had risen to his feet beside you. “Okay.” And then he made for the door, opening and slamming it shut behind him. Everyone was left blinking at where he had just stood.

It happened so fast you weren’t sure if it had been real, although the sudden coldness at your side gave you the answer to that question.

“Are we still going to play?” Jirou broke the silence. No one was sure if they should go after him or give him a moment to clear his head.

“Um…,” Kaminari was dumbfounded for a moment as his eyes kept going back and forth between the spot where Bakugou had sat and the door he had just left through, “Yeah… sure… who wants to go next?”

“It was (Y/N)’s turn,” Jirou supplied helpfully, leaning back to rest on her hand. Were they just trying to pretend that nothing had happened? Being here sure was starting to make everyone act different.

“Right. (Y/N)-”

You cut him off. “I dare myself to go check up on him. Be right back.” You scrambled to your feet and within a few heavy steps you were pushing open the door and stepping out into the cool night air, surely leaving the group to lament the loss of yet another player.

You hugged your arms around you as the door swung shut and the glow of the fire was left long behind you—if you thought it had been bad inside, out here was freezing. “Bakugou?” He was nowhere in sight, although you knew he couldn’t have gotten far.

You took a quick glance around the edges of the cabin, covered in moss from years of disuse (you would have expected a lot more though if this had been truly been abandoned… you pushed the thought out of your mind), looking to see if he’d turned a corner. Unlikely. There was no way he wanted to be near here right now.

Then that leaves… your gaze slowly shifted to it. The forest. Of course he would.

You toyed with the idea in your mind for a bit, wondering if you should just call it quits and head back inside.

...fine, you would just briefly check and if you couldn’t find him, you’ll turn back right away to avoid getting lost. He probably had some grand secret hiding place if he wasn’t there anyway. Without thinking, you walked forward and beyond the trees, not seeing any point in hesitating.

Cautious to watch your step, you began to pick your way through the area, each hum of nature, hoot of a faroff owl, and chirp of a cricket making your heart race. It didn’t take long for you to see a flash of movement up ahead—you had been right, he’d come to the riskiest place to be alone right now.

Your steps picked up in speed as you rushed after him, closing the distance easily. “Where the hell are you going?” you hissed, “There’s a reason we’re all staying inside.”

He didn’t answer, but you hurried to catch up and fell into pace next to him, trying to search for any signs of his thoughts on his face. The moonlight coming through the branches wasn’t much help and everything was shrouded in shadows.

“Bakugou.” No answer. “Bakugou.”

“Where does it look like I’m going?”

You didn’t expect the sudden response and faltered momentarily in your steps before you quickly recovered. “What?”

“Where does it look like I’m going?”

“I don’t know! Maybe somewhere you shouldn’t be?”

“I’m getting us out of here.”

“Yeah, in the morning.”

“No, now.”

“Bakugou, you’re impossible.”

“You’re one to talk.”

This time you actually stopped walking and although he continued for a few more steps, he eventually stopped as well, a few paces in front and his back to you.

“What do you mean?” Your voice sounded small.

“What? You’re the same way when we’re at U.A.”

“I don’t-”

“The sports festival?”

“Well-”

“How many times did I have to stop you before you hurt yourself?”

You bit your tongue when he turned to face you now. You could say the same about what you did for him.

The moonlight barely reached this part of the forest, although you knew what he probably looked like right now—you knew his facial expressions, his hard stares, the way he twisted his mouth for brief flashes when he tried to hold in emotions.

Bakugou rubbed at the back of his neck before he came back to stand next to you wordlessly, passing through a patch of moonlight before pausing in the darkness with you. You were about to say something when he reached a hand up to flick at your shoulder.

“Wha-”

“Leaf.”

Right. You were in a forest. “Thanks.”

“Mhm.”

You stared at each other for a while and suddenly it felt like all the fall layers you had on were too much—who was messing with the thermostat in this forest? Not necessarily because of him (although, maybe he was a factor... who knows?), just… in general. You wanted to go home.

“You still got first.” The dark shadows made it difficult to see his face and you shifted to get a better look at him, accidentally bumping into the tree behind you. You reached a hand behind you to steady yourself against the trunk. “At the sports festival I mean,” you quickly added for clarification, “even though you kept trying to babysit me.”

“I did.”

There was the unspoken agreement to drop the matter—you knew he was still bitter over what felt like a false win to him.

“I’ll get first now too,” he said quietly and you knew what he meant. He was still set on finding the way out. Your hand darted out automatically, grabbing his arm before he could try to go off on his own again.

He tried to shake off your hold but when you held fast, he gave up relatively quickly, twisting his wrist around to grip your arm as well. It was mutual now. Always something equal between you two.

“Why the fuck do you keep stopping me? Don’t you want to get out of here?”

“Not if it means we get lost in the middle of the night.”

“Don’t you have your phone?”

You tapped against your pocket to feel if the device was there. Empty—you’d left it with Kaminari to charge. Not that there was any reception out here anyway. “No. Do you have yours?”

“No. I was going to say we could use the flashlight and then it wouldn’t be as bad.”

You fully leaned back against the trunk of the tree now, not caring if it ruined your jacket, your legs tired from standing up already. You were still holding onto each other’s arms and his grip was starting to hurt a little bit. Bastard. You tightened yours to make it even again. “You could just use your quirk, you know.”

You felt his fingers flex against your arm at the idea and even with the minimal light you could tell he was pressing his lips into a thin line. “You feel it too, don’t you?”

Of course you knew what he meant—the weird quirk suppressing feeling. “Yeah.”

Bakugou grumbled, no longer studying your face, but now observing his free hand, as if that would reveal some sort of secret. “I can’t do anything like this. For fuck’s sake, I fucking hate it-” In response to his anger, a few sparks flared up his palm, although you could see what he meant—they were dull, as though something was actively putting them out.

In the brief light, you could see his eyes dart to you as if he wanted to make the most of the illumination as well and take in what you looked like. You could see where the cold had nipped at his skin, and the way his expression was slightly less tense now that it was just the two of you and—

And then it was dark again and you were all but left with only his silhouette. It felt darker now that you had experienced that brief taste of light and you considered asking him to do it again.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Bakuogu suddenly asked and you were caught off guard.

“Like what? You can’t even see me.”

“I saw you just now though. You’re making that face.”

“What face?”

“That face you’re always making at me during times like this and-” He cut himself off and shook his head, knowing this was going nowhere, although you had a feeling you knew what he meant. He had been giving you the same look as well—one that was indescribable. “Nevermind.” He was back to looking at his hand, flexing his fingers—the dark shapes twisted in front of you as you watched him, not able to make out the details of the lines on his fingers or the area where his sleeve met his wrist.

“What’s wrong?” You knew he was thinking about earlier when all seven of you had tried to come up with a plan to find a way out, but you still felt the need to ask.

“I would’ve done something—”

“I know you would’ve.”

You felt his harsh glare on you even if you couldn’t see it. “Will you let me finish a sentence for once, for fuck’s sake?”

You held up your hand in surrender, smiling—even if he couldn’t see you—at how easy it was to rile him up. He studied your darkened form as if making sure you were truly going to be quiet before he continued.

“I was going to do something—I would’ve—but my hands were feeling weird and I knew I couldn’t make a proper explosion.”

You nodded—you felt the same way with your quirk—and then remembered he couldn’t really see you and stopped.

“I didn’t want to be in the middle of doing whatever and suddenly my power supply cuts out. Don’t need anyone seeing that shit.”

“Bakugou, it’s fine.”

“It’s not because I know you wanted to catch the rerun of that dumb old Halloween movie on T.V. tonight.”

“Do you mean-”

“I don’t care about the name so don’t tell me.”

Typical, Bakugou. The thought had you grinning as you pulled on his arm to tug him closer to you because you were suddenly feeling cold again. He was fluid with your movement as he stepped closer like you wanted. “I didn’t think you’d remember.”

You just knew he was rolling his eyes. “Of course I remember. You wouldn’t shut up about it for the past week.”

“Yeah, but still. That’s cute.”

“That’s what?”

“Cute.”

He didn’t immediately shut it down and after mulling it over, seemed to accept the term. His head dropped down to rest on your shoulder now and you let him, supporting the pressing weight as you readjusted yourself against the tree trunk.

“I guess,” he breathed out.

“You’re always cute.”

“Okay, I fucking get it, can you shut up now?” You felt his scowl against the part just below your shoulder where his mouth was almost brushing against due to the angle.

“Okay, okay, but get off. You’re tickling me.” You were laughing at the feeling of him talking against your shoulder now and lifted it up to your ear as you tried to pull away. He relented, straightening up a little, but not moving completely away yet, and as you slid back into place, comfortable against the trunk, you realized he was but a hair’s breadth away. There was a small bit of moonlight that came in from between the branches of the tree and positioned like this he fell right into its path. Only half of his face was lit up, but it was enough to see the crimson iries that bored into your own.

“I’ll watch it with you when we get back,” he whispered.

“The movie?”

“Yeah. I checked in case we didn’t have time to watch it today—didn’t fucking think we’d be bsuy doing this though—and they’re showing it again tomorrow. Halloween night.”

“That sounds good.” You breathed in. “Make me popcorn?”

“You fucking bet.”

Neither of you could think of anything to say, but you lean forward to playfully bump your nose against his. His eyes closed at the action and there was an irregular thumping in your heart when he started to tilt his head. Steeling yourself, you let your eyes fall shut too, anticipating the warmth.

That is, until a loud crackle rang out through the forest and you harshly pulled back from each other in surprise, startled. You hit your head against the trunk behind you and brought up a hand to run at the sore spot. Bakugou had released your arm in his haste and you could still feel the imprint of his bruising grip (your own grip had been loosened on his arm when you’d gotten distracted by the proximity before, so when he pulled away you easily let go).

“What was that?” Your voice was hoarse and you cleared your throat, eyes darting around the area.

“I don’t know…” You saw him looking down at his hands now, remembering that he was almost entirely defenseless like this. If it was something objectively “bad,” you would for sure be in big trouble. It didn’t look like he was worried about himself though—more so about protecting you (as strange as it seemed) even though you’d proven yourself to be more than capable of taking care of yourself on countless occasions (then again, that had been before whatever quirk zapping magic had descended upon your group).

You rested a hand on his arm. “Maybe we’ll find someone if we follow it.”

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever-” Another faint crackle rang out and above the trees there was a flash of light—someone was definitely here.

You looked at him now with the same I-told-you-so tilt of your head and raise of your eyebrows you knew he hated and you knew he could picture you doing it as clear as day even if he couldn’t see anything.

“Fucking fine, let’s just go already.”

It didn’t take the two of you long to get closer to the source of the noise since every few seconds it sounded again, and the colorful lights in the night sky were enough to keep drawing your attention in the right direction. Bakugou kept stopping to make sure you were following him and keeping up, but whenever you waved him off because you were fine, he would just grumble and pretend like he hadn’t been looking behind him for your sake at all.

Within a few minutes you emerged onto a cliffside, the area clear. In the distance below it, you could make out what looked to be glimmering city lights (which was alarming enough) and as you walked closer to the edge—

“Is that-”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Not far away from the cliff, U.A. towered from its place atop the hill it always sat upon—the campus illuminated as part of the ongoing holiday celebrations. You could see now that fireworks were being set off from there. You had been this close all along.

You were caught up in admiring the display—and slowly lowered yourself to sit at the edge of the cliff, legs dangling over the edge, eyes on the bursting lights—until you remembered the past few hours and what this meant. You quickly moved to scramble to your feet— “Bakugou, have to tell the others-” —but found a weight pushing you back down into place.

Bakugou sat down next to you with a thump on the hard packed ground, swinging his legs over the edge of the cliff to mimic your position.

“Bakugou?”

“We’ll tell them later,” he mumbled, wrapping an arm around your shoulders and pulling you against him. You thought about protesting but then— “Ten minutes. Give me ten minutes.” You couldn't tell what he was thinking and his voice concealed it well, although you understood the implications of his words.

“Okay.” And then you were quiet, settling against him as another string of fireworks went off—U.A.’s annual week-long Halloween light show—brilliant variant colors that twisted into various shapes lighting up the night sky against the sparkling stars, moonlight bright now when paired with the hustle and bustle of Musutafu down below. It was still chilly, but you felt strangely warm now and… free? You realized the weight of the forest was gone. In its place you felt a comforting pressure—warm and spreading through your body, and as you sat there and listened to Bakugou’s beating heart, you decided you had an inkling of what it might be.

YOU’VE REACHED THE END OF THE PATH: RETURN TO THE CABIN