#how many of these heroes have actually gone to college?

[chaoswarfare]

dp x dc prompt #23

Danny gets summoned by the justice league, but he’s tired, just finished a ghost fight, missed his morning coffee, is running late on several college assignments, and has been summoned multiple times this week.

Or- Danny screams at the justice league for summoning him until someone offers to help with his rogues and homework, not that they really know what they’re offering to do. The summoning is wrapped up, the big bad is defeated, and Danny gets to go home. Too bad that one of the heroes is absolutely infatuated.

[youatemylollipop]

I saw that you write for mha. Can you write first time (nsfw) touya x reader? Thx 🥰

Synopsis: You're tired of being the only one lacking experience in the s*x department, so when Touya suddenly suggests that you accompany him to a party, you decide to take him up on the offer. Who would have thought that this would lead to a steamy session with your childhood friend in his car?

Fandom: My Hero Academia

Characters: Touya Todoroki X Female Reader

WARNING: Childhood friends to lovers, college and no quirks au. First time, loss of virginity, kinda(?) soft dom! Touya, he's an asshole but has low-key a soft spot for the reader, explicit sexual content, oral sex (m.receiving), dirty talk, Touya calls reader slut a couple of times, MDNI!!

Word Count: 10.5K

“What’s the farthest you've gone with a girl?” You suddenly ask, tilting your head curiously as you turn to face him as he drives the car. 

Touya raises an eyebrow as he glances at you. He's quiet for a few moments before responding in a more casual tone. 

"As in, how many girls have I dated or...? Are you asking if I've... You know... Done the naughty?" 

“Yes,” you confirm blatantly. “I meant the naughty.” 

Touya sighs and looks ahead again, a slight blush on his cheeks. “How’d I know that’s where you were going to go with that question…”

His tone is teasing but there’s a hint of irritation there. He slows down slightly and pulls over to the side of the road, putting the car in park before giving you a look from the corner of his eye. 

“And why do you even care?”

“So…?” You trailed off, ignoring his question as you eye him with a scrutinizing gaze, waiting for him to say openly that yes, he’s had sex.

Touya groans and rubs his eyes, already feeling this conversation becoming annoying. Though that’s probably more because of who it’s coming from and less because of the actual subject matter. 

“Yes, alright…”

He finally caves. You’re like a child that’s curious and has a lot of questions about things they maybe shouldn’t be so curious about. Maybe it’s your own childishness rubbing off on him.

“Yes. I have.”

“So you’ve done the deed?” You continue to ask, just to make sure—and maybe just to annoy him. 

“You’ve gone all the way? Like actually putting your sword in someone else’s cave?” The way you’re describing it makes him roll his eyes and look away, the blush on his cheeks deepening just a bit. 

“Goddamnit… Yes. I have.” Now he just looks amused by the ridiculous way in which you’re asking this question.

“Ok.” Was all you said, before turning your attention back to the window.

He raises an eyebrow at that. Something’s bugging him slightly. Why is there suddenly so much interest in this? He doesn’t mind talking about his sex life, especially since it’s you he’s talking to. Though you’re kind of… weird about it. 

“Why do you even care so much?”

“Because I’ve never done it,” you admit, turning to look out the window, sounding very much like a sulking brat. “I’ve never done anything like that with a guy.”

Touya turns his head to look at you, an eyebrow raised. He had a small hunch that was what you were gonna say though it still took him by surprise. When he speaks, his voice is calm but a bit teasing. 

“Sounds like somebody’s salty that they haven’t done it yet.”

You huff, pouting at his attitude. “Yes I’m salty! Who’s gonna be willing to date a 19 year old college student that’s got zero experience? I haven’t even had my first kiss yet,” you complain with the same bratty attitude. 

“Show me some sympathy, asshole.”

Even though he’s clearly trying not to, Touya snickers. He can’t seem to help the slight smirk that has formed on his lips. You’re so cute when you’re being a pouty brat like this. 

“You say that as if it’s the end of your existence, or as if it’ll never happen. You are being overdramatic, you know that right?”

“I hope that I’ll meet someone at the party tonight,” you continue, ignoring him. “You’re friends are going to be there, right? Do you think I can kiss one of them?”

That gets the reaction he was hoping for. Touya turns to you, giving you a raised eyebrow as his lips curl into a smirk. “Oh? You want to kiss one of my friends?” 

He’s quiet for another moment before smirking a bit and speaking again. “What about me? Maybe you could kiss me instead?”

“You’re not being funny,” you roll your eyes, not taking him seriously. “I just want to get it over with, I hope that at least one of them is hot enough.”

Touya lets out a small laugh at that as he looks away from you, the smirk on his lips growing into a small grin. Damn, you’re being a brat but for some reason it’s kind of hot. 

“Oh come on, surely I’m hot enough. You should kiss me instead.”

You were about to retort until something clicked in your mind. “Wait, are you for real?”

Touya raises his eyebrow a bit, his grin widening as he notices the shift in your attitude from petulant brat to actually thinking about it. He shrugs as his lips turn into a smirk, looking back at you for a brief moment before looking back at the road again.

"Sure, I'm for real. Why shouldn't I be?"

“Won’t it be, I don’t know—weird?” You ask with furrowed eyebrows.

“What do you mean by ‘weird’? I mean we’ve known each other since we were kids. What’s weird about us kissing?” He keeps smirking and speaks playfully, not seeming to take the concept too seriously. Of course he is, but he’s not making it too obvious. 

You eye him skeptically for a brief moment before deciding to let it go. “Alright, if you say so.”

He can’t help the satisfied grin that comes across his lips. It was probably a bit easier than expected to convince you. After all, the two of you have been so close since you were kids.

“You gonna kiss me or what?”

You let out a half amused snort before unbuckling your seatbelt and crawling over to him so that you were now seated on his lap, with your legs spread out on either side of his hips. There is a mix of excitement and nervousness in your actions as you lick your lips, wrapping your arms loosely around his neck. 

“So, am I just supposed to lean in?” You ask.

Touya just lets out a small hum as he takes his seat belt off as well, watching as you crawl over to him and sit on his lap. For a moment, he says nothing, a smirk still on his lips as he gazes at you. Finally, he speaks with a more confident and teasing tone. 

“Yeah. Just lean in… Make sure to aim for my lips, though. Don’t miss.” 

You roll your eyes at his so called ‘instructions’, but do as he says anyways. The action is slow and once you get extremely close to his face you hesitate for a moment. 

“Tell me if I do something wrong,” you mumble out before finally going in for the kill, closing your eyes as your lips finally touch. 

As soon as he sees the motion coming, he meets you in the middle, closing his eyes as your lips finally brush against each other’s as well. For a moment all Touya can do is sigh softly, your scent filling his nostrils, his fingers tightening around your waist as his face heats up. 

Finally he speaks again. His voice is slightly breathless. “That’s not bad, but go again…with a bit more passion this time.”

You adjust yourself on his lap to sit more comfortably before speaking. “Uhm, can you show me how?”

Touya snickers at that. You really haven’t done this before, have you? He thinks to himself amusedly. 

“Sure… I’ll show you…”

Finally his hands start to move, slowly wrapping around you before one hand reaches the back of your head. Leaning forward slightly, as his other hand presses you down a bit more, he leans in and takes control of the kiss. 

It turns into a deeper kiss, as his hands work on your body. The movements of his mouth against yours are more precise now, his tongue beginning to explore the depths of your mouth with confidence.

His grip becomes slightly tighter, his hands digging slightly into you as his arms almost seem to constrict you from the back. His lips are demanding, moving against yours with pressure. He pulls you in ever so slightly and then lets you go, repeating the same motion over and over again, trying to show you how to kiss and how to get into it.

You pull away after a while, feeling slightly breathless as you try to calm yourself from that kiss. “Whoa.”

Touya lets you go as he lets out a soft chuckle. He lets his hands stay where they are, still wrapped around your waist as he looks at you with a grin. After a bit he speaks up again, speaking casually as he leans back in the seat. 

“Not bad… But here.” 

His body moves again, this time more slowly, as he brings you back in as he presses you against his lips again. He moves his hands to grab the nape of your neck, pulling you forward and making the kiss even deeper than before. The ravenette holds you there for another moment before finally letting you go again, speaking with a confident tone. 

“There,” a hand runs through your hair as he leans back in the seat a bit. Touya looks at you with a soft smirk on his lips. 

“See? Like that,” he speaks before adding teasingly. “Are you sure you haven’t kissed before?”

Your cheeks are flushed as you pant softly, trying to regain some form of composure. “That was—“ you gulp, letting out a shaky breath. “Awesome.”

Touya chuckles at your reaction, the soft smirk still on his lips. His body relaxes a bit as he leans back in the seat again. The way you react and your inexperience is almost adorable. But it’s also a lot of fun. 

“I can show you more than just how to kiss if you want…” He says, teasing you a little.

“Really?” You breathe out as your panting slowly calms down. 

“I can feel you, down there.” You mutter softly, gesturing towards his obvious bulge.

Touya lets out a quiet chuckle in response. He moves one hand slowly to your rear, letting it rest on your backside. With the other hand he plays with a lock of your hair before speaking in a teasing, raspy voice.

“Oh… You can feel that, can you?”

“Yeah…” You mumble with a mix of shyness and eagerness. “Can I see it?”

Touya laughs as he feels his body heating up once again. He keeps his hand on your rear and shifts his body closer so that you’re basically straddling him. Your thighs are pressed right up against his waist and his other hand reaches up to the side of your face.

“Are you sure you want to see it?”

“Please…?” You add, lips jutting out as you do so.

Touya lets out a soft sigh, his breath hitched a bit. Your bratty pout is both annoying and cute at the same time. “Such an impatient brat…” 

His tone is still teasing but he finally lets out a small sigh. With his hand still on the side of your face, his other hand reaches down to unbuckle his belt, undoing it slowly. All you can hear is the subtle sound of a zipper being undone and pants unzipped as his hand disappears from your side. He lets out a brief grumble before speaking again, his tone still being teasing. 

“So, you really want to see it, huh…” 

Still not taking his hand away, he gently pushes your head down. There may be no mistaking it as he gently pushes you even closer, your face only a few inches away from what was earlier tucked into his jeans and now out in the open.

Touya looks down at you from above, that snarky smirk remaining on his face as he watches you from this angle. There’s no denying the fact that you’re adorable when you look up at him like that. He’s only half joking when he calls you a little brat… And yet something about the way you act and the things you say makes him want to have you all to himself. It’s something he’d never admit out loud however.

He waits for a response, but there’s none yet. The corner of his lips starts to twitch as a smirk forms, knowing full well why you’re staying quiet. Finally your gaze moves lower, and your lips part as you stare. Touya keeps your head in place with a firm grip on your head as your gaze remains glued on that spot. 

You swallow thickly as you gaze at his size with awe. “Can I touch it?”

Touya lets out a breath, he can’t help but feel a little bit amused. Your eyes are so fixed, it’s adorable. Finally he lets your head go once more, giving you the freedom to do whatever you want. 

“Go ahead… I won’t stop you.”

Touya tilts his head up again to look at you from above. He lets out a small chuckle as he finally sees your hands move to the front of his pants. When you touch it, his body reacts with a subtle twitch from the sudden sensation. You can almost feel him shiver in your grip.

Touya looks down at you again, a devious smirk forming on his lips as your hand squeezes his shaft experimentally. He sighs softly and his lips curve up into a sly, suggestive smile. He’s just enjoying the sight of you right now, watching the look of curiosity on your face as you take in his size.

Touya lets his lips curl up into an even wider smug grin as your hand starts to move faster. His hips rock forward ever so slightly with the motion of your hand. Another small gasp comes from his lips and he leans back in the seat with his eyes closed.

“Am I doing this right?” You ask curiously.

With a slight nod, he whispers softly. “Mhm… You just keep doing what you’re doing.” 

Just touching him is driving him insane… It feels so good, he’s enjoying every moment of it. His breathing grows even heavier now as a raspy moan escapes his lips in response to the light brushing of your fingertips. He shifts once again, spreading his legs further to give you more room to work with. 

He lets his gaze fall on you again, watching you take his piece of flesh in your hand like this. His lips curve up into a smirk as he speaks softly for the first time in a while.

“Do you really have no experience?” He asks teasingly. 

You gulp audibly, feeling the heat between your legs grow as you continue your experimental touches. “I wanna taste it.” 

You mumble breathlessly before peering up at him, licking your lips as you feel your mouth watering at the thought. “Can I?”

That takes him by surprise. As soon as you speak up he opens his eyes once more, looking at you and noticing the breathlessness in your voice. The way you gulp and the way your body reacts to his touch tells him everything he needs to know. Though he lets out a soft, smug laugh when you ask that last question. 

“I don’t see why not…” 

He pauses briefly, giving you a teasing grin before adding, ”Just don’t disappoint me.”

He spreads his legs even more. After a moment, when he’s satisfied that there’s plenty of room for you to work with, he simply nods once again, allowing you to do as you please. You’re slow and hesitant in your movements as you bring it closer to your mouth, starting off by licking it experimentally. 

“Mm…” Touya lets out a raspy moan of satisfaction as he notices you’re slowly and timidly moving. He can’t deny that it’s very erotic. But it’s also extremely cute. Your hesitation is almost as cute as your eagerness. He stays silent for a few more seconds, wanting to see how you feel as you give it a little lick. 

Yet another moan escapes his lips again as your tongue rubs over him. You can feel him shiver slightly as he feels the sensation, his body moving in response to your tease. He closes his eyes and leans back the best he can with the little room he has left, his lips curling up into a small smirk. 

“Keep going…” You feel your mouth water as you suddenly swallow as much of the length as you can fit in one go.

You’ve gone too far, and now his reactions are becoming even more intense. His throaty mumbles turn into loud groans as his entire body starts trembling. He shifts once again, pressing his back against the back of the seat as he tries his best to keep quiet. He's struggling to maintain any sort of control over himself, but with every suck you give him, his willpower weakens a little bit.

With a satisfied grunt, he finally finds some degree of control as he lets out another small moan and leans back once again. “God… So good…”

He moves one hand upwards, gripping onto the seat as his other hand shifts to the back of your head. You can hear your name escape his mouth as he lets out another small moan.

And just like that, you feel his hands shift. His one hand grips your head lightly as he gently takes control and moves. The slight change in motion is almost imperceptible but you do notice that he holds his breath for a moment as you lick him. It takes him a few seconds to recover as he lets out a loud moan. He lets go of your head and his fingers bury themselves in your hair as he shifts in his seat. 

You can feel his grip tighten and a small shiver runs through your body as his hand moves your head up and back down again, this time with a bit more force.

“R-right there… Fuck, don’t stop… Mm…” Touya lets out quiet but clearly noticeable groans as your mouth works its magic. You gag slightly as the sudden force makes you choke slightly on his length, which urges you to send him a bratty glare despite low-key enjoying it.

Touya lets out a raspy chuckle at your glare, a smugness in his expression as he looks at you. The pressure he’s applying is steady but gentle enough not to hurt you or make you choke too hard. 

"You're enjoying that, huh..." He lets out a small grunt and a muffled moan as you keep moving your head up and down. His hand keeps a firm grip on your hair, keeping you in place.

Touya keeps this up for a few more moments, his breathing getting heavier as your mouth works up and down repeatedly. He starts to growl softly, trying to hold back a little. This is just as much of a pleasure for him as it is for you. His grip tightens once more as his growls get louder. The grip is still not rough but firm enough to make sure you don’t slip up while working on him.

Touya’s body finally gets to that point, making him let out a loud moan as his grip around your head tightens some more. His hand on the side of your face moves up to the back, making sure you stay in position as he pushes you further and further. His eyes are closed as he relaxes a bit more against his seat.

Touya lets out another breath as he finally speaks with a raspy voice. “Keep going… Don’t stop… Fuck don’t stop…”

He lets out a raspy moan as your mouth continues to work on him as he tilts his head back a bit. His fingers dig into your hair as he pushes you back down, not letting your head move away from him. The grip on your head becomes tighter and more demanding as he holds you down.

“You really are good at this…” His hands grip your head tightly, letting you feel just how much he’s enjoying this as he lets out a few more sounds. He tries his best to be as quiet as possible since you’re in a parking lot, but it’s becoming harder and harder to not get too loud. As his grip on your head tightens even more, his moans become increasingly louder. He feels like he’s losing himself…

You pull away, taking a shuddering breath as you look up at him with glassy eyes and shiny lips, panting lightly. “Tou-chan, I want you.” 

Touya’s eyes flutter open for a moment as he feels you stop with the sudden movement. Seeing the effects of your ‘experiments’ on you is quite exciting for him as his breath hitches and his heart rate picks up drastically. The grip on your head tightens again as he sees you squirm slightly.

Touya grunts in affirmation as his voice remains raspy, a smugness written all over his face. “I want you too, you little pervert.”

“Sorry…” You pant before a small cheeky grin grazes your features as you had completely forgotten about your previous unsureness. “You just taste so good.”

Touya chuckles softly at your comment, he can’t help it. You’ve clearly changed your mindset after that little ‘testing’ and now you’re a lot more eager. He tilts his head up again, taking in the view of your glassy eyes as you pant faintly, your lips shiny with saliva. The grip on your head remains firm this time though, not moving even slightly as he keeps his gaze on yours.

“You really think so?”

“Yeah,” you pant out, gulping audibly as you nod shakily.

Touya grunts softly as he sees you nod. His gaze shifts down in between your closed thighs for a minute, your wetness clearly evident on your skirt as he shifts in his seat again. The ravenette finally looks up at your face, that smugness back on his lips as he speaks again.

"How much do you want me…? Don't hold back..."

“So much that I want you to be my first,” you suddenly blurt out in the heat of the moment.

“I’ve liked you for years,” you admitted with a small, flushed smile. “It doesn’t matter if we go back to being just friends afterwards, but I really want you to be my first.”

That takes Touya off-guard for a moment, his body momentarily freezing in place from your words. You don't know how long he's waited to hear those words from you. Eventually he exhales and sighs softly with a soft grin. Touya looks down at you again, that smug look never leaving his features. 

"You want me that badly, huh..." He moves closer to you once again, his lips literally within an inch from your own.

“More than anything,” you mumble softly.

Touya smiles at that, that smugness still on his face, but it's mixed with a soft look, showing his adoration for you. The ravenette grins at your words, you sound so cute when you get all steamy like this. It’s something he has been fantasizing about for a while, and it looks like you’ve finally come around.

Touya leans forward the rest of the way and presses his lips fully against yours, the force behind it a bit more this time, as his hand moves to your rear again, giving your buttocks a small squeeze. His other hand grips your neck tighter, keeping you in place as it moves to your hair. Touya leans into it, and this time, he doesn't let you break away. His lips start to move against yours once more.

“I love you,” you mumble breathlessly between hot and steamy kisses.

Touya freezes up for a time as you let out those words. His lips part from yours as he looks down at you. He blinks a bit and slowly takes in what you just said. It makes his heart skip a beat.

After a few seconds, he lets out a small chuckle though it sounds more like a breathless gasp. His grip around you tightens once more as his reply comes out in a raspy, but soft voice.

“I love you too… I love you so much…”

“Please take me,” you speak sweetly with a small pout.

The way you say those words makes your cheeks go red immediately. You can pretty much see the effect these words had on him. You finally confessed to him. You admitted your feelings and told him you want this as much as he does. Touya is speechless, he didn't expect this to end that way, but it definitely did in the best way possible.

He reaches up to your cheek with one hand, rubbing gently over it as he looks down at you with a flirtatious smirk. “Heh… Is that a request or a demand?” 

Touya smirks at your pout, his thumb rubbing on your cheek as he looks at you. You can tell from his tone, he’s enjoying himself. Your response makes him want to tease you even more now.

“I want you inside of me,” you mumble impatiently, your lips jutting out even more.

That’s what he wanted to hear…

He lets out a breath, this is the kind of dirty talk he’s always enjoyed. The way you describe your own needs is hot and definitely makes him desire you more. He lets out a quiet laugh before he responds, the way he spoke was not the same as it used to be before your confession.

“Is that so, now…” Touya’s grip on your rear tightens slightly as he rubs gently on your ass.

With a small smirk, he immediately pulls you towards him, causing your bodies to press tightly against one another as his lips finally make contact with yours. He begins to slowly move his tongue into your mouth. Your kiss slowly grows more intense as he moves his tongue around, exploring your mouth as he holds you close to him.

The sudden switch from your hesitant behavior to this… It’s pretty surprising. With a soft laugh, he pulls away again, his lips curling into a playful grin. 

“That's what you’re asking me for, huh?” He lets out another chuckle as he leans his head close to your shoulder, whispering softly directly into your ear.

You pout slightly, “Quit teasing me.”

“You want me to quit teasing you?” He leans back so that he can look at you again once more as he tilts his head up while speaking with a smug tone.

“Is this adorable brat asking me to stop?” Touya’s grip on you remains tight as he stares at you for a moment. The look on his face says just how much he enjoys playing with you.

“Stop being so mean,” you whine, looking at him with puppy eyes. “Pretty please with a cherry on top.”

“Awww…~” Touya lets out a quiet chuckle as you beg him with those puppy eyes and that whiny tone. Touya can’t resist that look. He finds it so damn adorable. You’re so easy for him to tease.

He keeps his grip on your body tight as he moves his face even closer to yours. You can feel his breath brushing against your neck as he leans against you and whispers his next words.

“That’s not how you beg, you brat…”

“Will you please fuck me?” You beg with wide glassy eyes, batting your lashes to appear cuter. “I need to feel you inside me—to feel that big fat cock rearrange my insides to the point nobody else could ever please me as much as you could.”

Those words coming out of your mouth, and that soft, desperate tone… It drives the ravenette crazy. A loud moan escapes him as he hears you say those words. His grip on your body tightens even more as he lets you go for a moment, to catch his breath. 

Your words are such a turn-on for him. The way you just spoke right now is one he’d only hear in porn, you speak with such filthy language. He swallows thickly as he takes in the effect of your dirty talk. It's so blunt and crude, but so damn hot. That playful begging and your soft, vulnerable tone, it’s quite the combination as he stares at you with a smug smile on his face.

Touya's smile grows wider, almost to the point of being teasingly malicious as he stares you right in the eyes. Your body is so soft, so vulnerable and that tone just makes him want to take you right here and now. His grip around your waist tightens once more as he speaks again, this time with a sinister grin. 

“That’s exactly what I wanted to hear, you naughty little slut…”

“Just be gentle,” you whisper breathlessly.

The way he was talking with you—in such a degrading manner at that—was making you feel extremely hot. Yet you couldn’t help but feel a mix of excitement and nervousness as you realized that you’re actually about to lose your virginity to your childhood friend/crush.

Your mix of emotions is one that makes him want to take you even harder, to show you how much he wants you. To show you how much he’s desired this for years. 

The ravenette lets out an amused laugh as he hears you ask him to go slowly for you, to be gentle. Oh, that’s rich… But he doesn’t voice his thoughts just yet as he leans up against you again, his eyes staring right into yours as he slowly speaks with a teasing tone.

“Who’s saying you deserve that?”

You pout, tilting your head slightly to the side to make yourself even cuter and more fragile. “Pretty please…?” 

There was a childish lilt in your voice as your lips jutted out even more. “Didn’t you say that you love me too?”

You're doing this on purpose… You have to, there’s no way you’re not. The playful pout and the way you tilt your head to the side, there is no way it’s not on purpose. The way you ask for him to go slow with such a soft tone and the sudden mention of his confession… You’re making him soften up on purpose. You want a nice, soft gesture from him? You’re trying to make that happen. 

Touya sighs softly, knowing full well he’ll cave under the pressure. His lips curl into a teasing smile as his gaze narrows at you. “Am I supposed to say yes to that just because I love you?”

He continues to look at you as he lets out a breath, not yet revealing what his answer will be. Does he intend to go easy or will he just pound you and tear you apart? That's for you to wait for. But you can tell by the grin on his face that you've already gotten through to him. Despite the knowledge, you still nodded affirmatively while flashing him a sickeningly sweet smile to get your way. 

“Very well, you naughty little brat... I’ll go slow for you, since you asked me so nicely…” His reply comes out in a soft tone, with a smirk. He relaxes his shoulders as he stares at you with a smug look, but the moment has finally gotten to him. The way you have to ask him to be gentle makes it feel like you trust him after all.

He runs his tongue on your cheeks once more as he finally leans up against you, taking his time doing this. His tongue slowly makes its way down your neck, causing you to shiver and squirm as he continues licking and kissing your skin. The effect this had on you is quite visible as you breathe heavier and moan quietly.

Touya lets out a soft laugh as he hears you whimper and moan. The way you squirm as his tongue and lips move down your skin...is so damn hot. He slowly reaches his hand on your thigh now, getting even closer to your soft, juicy center.

Touya’s hand moves up to your thigh as it rests close to your wetness. As his tongue and mouth continues to move down your skin, he presses lightly against your thigh for a bit before moving even closer, using his thumb to trace circles around your wetness. The tease makes your whole body move, your mouth opening silently as you start to moan quietly.

“So wet already?” He asks you with a quiet laugh and a teasing smirk.

“I’m just horny,” you complain in a whining tone. “And whose fault is that?”

“My fault? Is that so now?” Touya laughs out, finding this to be both amusing and a bit arousing at the same time. His hand continues to play with your wetness as he traces circles around your thigh and inner thighs, his thumb brushing against your clothed clit briefly before moving upwards again.

“Just one more thing…” Touya smirks as leans in closer, his breath still hot and damp on your neck. His lips once again brush against your ear as he whispers softly once more. 

“Keep your eyes closed when it happens…”

“Okay…” You breathe out, complying to his wishes.

Touya leans back once again, his hands loosening around your waist. He adjusts himself in his seat a little bit before beginning to move his hand back up your thighs, moving over your dress and slowly starting to unbutton it. 

Eventually, after slowly unbuttoning your dress, he reaches the bottom of it. His fingers wrap around the side of your hip as he shifts once again and pulls you closer to him. His other hand slowly makes its way up your thigh as he grabs onto your waist. 

He starts to slowly lift your dress up, pulling it over your thighs and leaving it all bunched up in his hands. His cerulean blue eyes flick down at the sight of you under the dress, slowly revealing it all to him. He finally lays his eyes upon what he’s been waiting for. Your pale, slender thighs and soft smooth skin… The small mound of your womanhood. His eyes practically glowing as they wander to the lace fabric of your panties and back up to your face once again. 

The ravenette’s hand moves over the lace of your panties, gently rubbing at them with his fingers as he watches your cute, flushed face. He’s seen this many times before now, but never has it been this tantalizing… 

“I want to see you,” you mumble softly with a tiny pout, but still keep your eyes closed as he had told you. “Please, let me see you.”

“Hmm… You want to see me, huh?” He chuckles softly as he hears your request. He keeps rubbing his hand over your underwear again, slowly rubbing through your silky skin as he whispers softly once more. 

“But for now, keep your eyes shut… I’ll let you see me soon enough…” You let out a whine, but comply nonetheless.

Touya chuckles softly, his eyes wandering down to your body as his hands continue to slowly rub at your underwear with his fingers. He wants you to focus solely on the feeling of his fingers slowly going through your lace underwear… The slow and steady movement of his fingers as it rubs against your skin. Slowly giving your sensitive parts the heat and attention they crave. 

“So sensitive…” Touya growls as his fingers continue to explore through the thin fabric of your panties. When he notices just how sensitive you are, he begins to apply a bit more pressure as he rubs his fingers over you. 

He keeps this up for a little longer, pressing his fingers against that one spot, the pressure gradually increasing as time goes on. Soon, he can feel the slightest trace of your juices beginning to flow as your breathing becomes a little heavy.

“Mm… Looks like someone’s definitely enjoying this.” Touya chuckles in amusement as his fingers continue to rub at your sensitive spot. He can’t help but bite his lip as he hears your breaths pick up. The sight of you getting wet and excited from his touch is more than enough to get his blood flowing. 

He moves his hands away with a small smirk, his tongue briefly flicking out to lick his lips as he watches you. You let out yet another whine at the loss of contact. Touya laughs once again as your whine grabs his attention. 

“So, you really want more, huh?” Touya's deep voice echoes inside the car as he finally breaks his silence as he leans back towards your neck, taking another glance at the sensitive spot he just made so damp. “I’ll give you more then… Just let me do something first…”

After taking a glance at your damp spot again, he finally decides on giving his fingers a break for now. He slides his hands back down your thighs as he looks back at you once again, noticing that your eyelids are twitching. 

“Tou-chan,” you breathe out in a whining tone. With a raspy laugh, he leans in next to your ear again. His breath is still hot and damp against your skin as the tip of his tongue flickers out once more. 

“Yes?” He murmurs as his cerulean gaze narrows towards you once more, a little grin on his lips as he leans close to you again. This time his voice is even lower and more husky than before. His tongue flickers out one last time to brush against your cheek as it trails down to your neck again, where he begins to nibble on it.

“Just take them off,” you squirm in his grasp, opening your eyes despite not being allowed to do so yet. “I feel so empty.”

“You shouldn’t have opened them… You know that, right?” Touya’s voice is deeper, a bit more sinister but you can still hear the teasing tone. He speaks calmly but firmly, despite you now going against his wishes. You might be in trouble. 

“So you want me to just rip them off and take you right now~?” Touya’s voice has become much more rough. The way he looks at you, you know that all he wants to do is to just break you, to tear you apart and break every single self-control you have to make you beg and whimper for him to stop.

But he knows that you’re too inexperienced for that yet. 

“Opening your eyes like that without me letting you… This is going to have consequences, you know, little brat…”

Touya adds with a teasing smirk, but he’s immediately heeding your words and moves to take your panties off. He slides them lower and lower before taking them away completely. His hands move to the side as he takes a look at you, your face becoming flustered when he takes a look at your beautiful body. Once they’re finally out of the way, your soft folds become visible to his eyes. 

“So...this is what you meant by empty, huh?” Touya’s deep voice echoes inside the car as he gets a look at your body once again. His breath is still hot and damp as his gaze flicks to your folds. “Pretty sensitive aren’t we...? Hm?”

Touya’s fingers move in closer slowly as he traces circles around your slickness once more, this time putting more pressure than before as he begins to rub and play with you.

You tug on his shirt impatiently as you demand, “Take it off.”

“A very impatient little brat you are, huh…” Touya chuckles softly, taking note of the way you tug at his shirt, his teasing and flirty mood changing a bit as his eyes narrow against you.

He doesn’t speak much as he reaches up and pulls it over his head. The moment his bare chest is visible your body seems to be heating up. The air is thick with heat and desire as he finally lets out a breath. 

Your fingers trace his toned chest as you shamelessly ogle him. “You’re so pretty,” you mumble out breathlessly.

Touya gives you a playful smack against the side of your neck as he glances down at you, his tone and expression changing a bit as your hands trace his toned chest. His eyes widening as you compliment him, cheeks becoming a bit red as he glances at you.

“Pretty, am I? You think I’m pretty?” It’s clear that you’ve hit his weak spot as he tries his best to hide his blush.

“Like a piece of poetry,” you breathe out softly.

“Shut it…” Touya’s reply comes out as a playful tone as he gives you another light smack this time across your cheek, but the moment you compliment him his attitude changes a bit.

Touya lets out a breath as he glances elsewhere, not knowing what to say in response to that. You can tell that you caught him off guard with your words of appreciation. He wasn’t used to being complimented like that by anyone, certainly not by the person he had been crushing on since childhood. His cheeks remain a bit red for a reason. 

You position yourself over his bare shaft, gripping his shoulders tightly. “I’m on birth control so…” You trail off, waiting for him to help you.

“So that means…” Touya’s voice trails into a soft and teasing moan as he hears you say those last words. His voice becomes lower and even more husky as he grabs on to your hips, his cerulean eyes once again glance up at your body. His hand moves to your hip as he stares up at you, pupils dilated as he watches you move over his shaft.

“So you want this to be raw…?” Touya’s voice becomes somewhat teasing once again as he looks at you, giving you a playful smirk as he looks between your legs.

He doesn't speak another word as he leans in and bites your shoulder gently before letting out a breath. His hips grind against yours briefly as he gets more riled up with each passing minute.

You swallow thickly, getting equally nervous and excited. “So, am I just supposed to slide down or…?” You ask hesitantly, unsure on how to continue.

“It’s pretty self explanatory, don’t you think?” His voice grows deeper and more hoarse. The ravenette’s hands move to your thighs as he grips onto them, his eyes glancing straight ahead as he moves back against the vehicle’s fabric seats. His mouth moves up to your neck again as he plays with your body even more. His legs shift slightly as he moves himself into a better position. 

That’s your cue to move up to him once more. He’s done pretty much everything to set the scene for you. His hands slowly grip your body as he shifts your hips so it’s easier to enter. He wraps his arms around you and kisses you tenderly on the mouth. 

“Now you know…” Touya smirks against your mouth as he pushes himself against you, causing his tip to graze your folds. His breath is hot and wet as he moves his hips against you again. He moves further back against the car seat before pressing himself against you again, his body making contact with your slickness but not fully inside of you yet.

The sensation of his tip touching your folds makes your body tense. You take a shuddering breath as you let him guide you, the grip on Touya’s shoulders tightening significantly from the intrusion. Biting your bottom lip softly as you did your best to relax your body in order to make the experience less painful and more pleasant.

"S’tight, doll." Touya lets out a rough moan as you tense up, cursing under his breath and keeping his hips still to help you cope with the pain. It takes him a bit longer to notice that you're gripping his shoulders, but as he does he just chuckles gently as he kisses your neck once again.

He begins to slowly move himself against you again, rubbing his tip against your folds as he begins to move deeper slowly.

“W-wait a bit,” you mumble shakely, making Touya stop his movements immediately as soon as you tell him to. The ravenette lets out a small grunt as you halt him for a bit, gritting his teeth as he holds himself still, his grip tight but steady around you. 

“Mm? What’s wrong, doll?” He whispers softly in your ear as he tries to assure you and keep you calm.

“S-sorry…” You flush in embarrassment, tensing your body and trying your best to relax as he tries to inch himself in deeper. Legs shaking and trembling a little as you keep them wide open.. “It’s just hard to relax.”

“Hm… So you’re tense, are you?” Touya chuckles as he speaks in a teasing and flirty tone, though he’s still being cautious and slow as he doesn’t want to hurt you in any way. He wants your first experience with him to be a pleasant one, but that seems to be somewhat difficult at this moment. 

He leans his head on top of yours and whispers softly to you once again. “Relax for me, doll… Just focus on breathing…” Touya’s whisper comes out in a soothing and tender tone. You take a deep breath before slowly sliding further down. 

“There we go… Good girl…” Touya’s voice changes into a soft and tender one once again as his hands let go of your thighs and grasp onto both of your hips, helping you ease your way down into him. His cerulean eyes are fixated on you the entire time as you feel him slide inside of you, inch by inch, slowly and gently.

“Mm… There we go…” Touya’s voice mutters out softly as you slowly take his whole length inside of you, his breath catching in his throat as he feels you fully wrapped around him. 

His body is still for a moment, but his breathing begins to quicken as he feels you adjust yourself to his movements. Another shiver travels down his spine as he feels the wetness inside of you, feeling the intensity as he pushes himself deeper. His fingers move down to grip your hips as he slowly starts to move his hips against yours.

Touya’s breathing becomes even faster as he lets your body adjust to his movements, slowly beginning to thrust deep, his hand now gripping your hips firmly as he moves in and out of you slowly and rhythmically. His other hand gently runs through your hair as he moans out softly. 

“Mm… You’re so tight…” He says with a deep and husky voice as he glances down at you.

Touya’s pace begins to speed up slowly as his breathing grows heavier with each passing minute. He leans down towards you, biting your skin as his hips begin to grind against yours, his thrusts becoming faster and faster. His cerulean gaze glares into yours once more as he watches your body and the way he makes you moan every time he thrust harder and deeper.

“Mm…” Touya’s voice is a bit more hoarse as he moves quickly now, his breathing heavy as you feel yourself filled and stretched out even further. His cerulean gaze meets yours again as his fingers grip yours tightly, his thrusts faster and faster now. 

“Such a tight little hole…” He mutters out breathlessly once again.

“Full,” you moan out. “F-feel so f-full…” You let out a gasp, “S-so big..!”

“Mm~ You really feel me, huh…?” Touya chuckles softly as his fingers grip yours tight. He begins to press his thumbs into your wrists as he thrusts deeper into you and pulls you closer to him. His movements are faster now his breath becomes short and shallow. Each of his thrusts becomes harder and harder as his cerulean eyes glaze over as he moves you closer to the edge. His lips curl up into a small smirk as he watches your reactions closely.

You let out a startled gasp at the change in pace, nuzzling your face into the crook of his neck. “Th-there! Please keep hitting there,” you moan.

“Oh~ You like that spot, don’t you?” He smirks playfully as he hears you tell him to hit that spot. His thrusts grow rougher, more intense, as he hits your G-spot exactly where you need it. He grips your body even tighter as you feel yourself about to reach your climax. A light sweat begins to coat his body as his cerulean eyes grow glazed, all the while you the tip of his shaft touch that one spot inside of you that makes you moan out.

You nodded shakily, unable to pronounce any words as you kept moaning softly into his neck. He could tell just how good you were feeling as your body was literally reacting to his motions. 

“Mm~ You like that, huh…” His voice grumbles as he moves even quicker inside of you, his thrusts growing even faster as he hits all those sensitive spots.

“Such a good girl… All mine…” He whispers softly before biting your neck once again, leaving a small mark.

Touya lets a breath escape from his mouth, his body shaking a bit as he gets even closer to climax. He grips into your hips tighter than ever before as his body grows tense with each passing moment.

“Y-yes! ‘m all yours!” You moan, gripping his shoulders so tightly as if your life depended on it as you tried to meet his thrusts. “P-please don’t stop! You make me feel so good!”

“Oh~ Such a needy girl…” 

Touya’s lips curve up into a smug smirk as he feels you start to move against him, your body moving in the same rhythm as his own, making it much easier for the two of you to climax. He begins to move his hips even quicker, his breath beginning to quicken as he approaches the precipice. With each passing thrust he felt a bit of himself build up inside of you. He lets out a deep grumbling that tells you exactly how close he is.

“S-so good!” You moan out breathlessly, biting your bottom lip softly as you try to keep up with his pace. You pull away from his neck, breathing heavily as you face him. “K-kiss me, please.”

His lips curve up into a playful grin. “Oh… Are you begging me, doll…?~”

You find that his grip has loosened up just a bit as he holds onto you more loosely now. His free arm moves up to stroke your face as he leans back slightly. Touya then stares into your eyes once more as his cerulean gaze meets yours. His lips curl up into a mischievous smirk once more.

He lets out a breath as he locks his lips on yours, tasting you as his other hand strokes your cheek gently. His caresses move down to your neck once again, rubbing the spot he marked before softly as you continue to make out. The ravenette moves his hips against yours as he’s continuously hitting your G-spot. He bites your lower lip once more as his tongue gently explores your mouth.

The ravenette then lets out a breath as he parts his lips from yours, his breath quickening as he stares at you once again. “God… You’re such a needy little slut… Your tightness is sending me over the edge…” He grips your hips as he thrusts deeper and hits your spot once more, his body twitching as he approaches climax. 

“So c-close-“ you sobbed, tears trailing down your flushed cheeks from the overstimulation, clawing at his back uncontrollably. “N-need to cum…!” 

“A needy girl like you, so quick and so desperate…” His voice is a soft whisper as he begins to thrust even harder now. His cerulean eyes glaze over as he smirks and bites your bottom lip as you clawed at his back. His body twitches and quivers slightly as he feels you getting into a frenzy.

His hand strokes your cheek slowly as he feels your body tense up even more. He lets out a rough groan as your nails start to dig deeper into his shoulders as you claw at his skin. “C’mon, sweetheart…c’mon… Just a bit more…”

A soft shudder runs down his spine as his hips thrust into you deeply. He feels you tightening around his shaft, indicating that you are approaching your climax. “Fuck, almost there… Just a little bit more…”

“Feeling it?” He whispers softly, his arms wrap around your body tightly as he grips the back of your neck and pulls you back into another kiss. All you can do is moan into his mouth as he keeps hitting that one spot. 

He breaks the kiss again after a little bit, breathing heavily as he looks at you once again. He sees your body react to his movements and how your body trembles and quivers with each moment. His grip tightens around you as he whispers softly, 

“Ready?” He rasps out as he keeps hitting the spot consistently, not bothering to change up his routine or increase the pace even. He waits for your answer, still not moving his hips faster despite how much you’re clearly enjoying it. 

“F-for what…?” You ask confusedly.

He can’t help but grin slightly as he sees how confused you are. How clueless and lost into the moment of pleasure you are. His eyes shift to your mouth briefly as he asks you softly: 

“To finish…” He says it just vague enough that it can be taken as anything but he keeps slowly moving and hitting that exact spot as he waits for you to understand what he means. Your mouth forms into an ‘oh’ shape in realization as you let out a moan. He lets out an amused laugh as you moan and realize what he meant.

”Yes!” You moan out. “So close, Tou-chan! Please don’t stop!”

His body tenses even more and he groans as he feels your grip tighten around his shoulders. He kisses your neck even more as he moves with both of your movements, slowly taking you back and forth between his own pace and your own rhythm. He whispers softly as his body continues to grow hotter with your sounds.

“You feel so fucking good…” His voice is still calm but he’s growing more and more breathless with each minute and moment you keep pressing against him and moving against him. He can feel himself getting close.

Touya lets out a raspy groan as he continues to kiss your neck and keeps up with your movements. He picks up the pace even faster as it feels like you’re reaching your peak. His grip becomes tighter as he continues to drive himself into you. 

“A-almost—fuck… Keep it up…”

He closes his eyes for a few seconds, taking deep breaths as he tries to gain control over just how much his body is reacting. After a bit, he opens his eyes again and presses his body into you. His breath has gone back to being steadier and slower, but he still holds you firmly and keeps moving slowly, but firmly. He kisses your neck again as he whispers softly to you. 

“How you feelin’…?”

“Like I’m about to burst…” You gasp out.

He moans roughly as he watches you writhe and squirm under his grip. He sighs softly as he speeds up slightly, your response and movements make him want to speed up even more, but he ignores the urge of letting himself go all out.

“Don’t let go just yet…” He rasps out, his voice already beginning to become breathy as he moves more and more into you, his grip keeping you firmly in his hold as his movements become faster. “Hold it in for a bit longer.”

He can feel you tensing and quivering under his grip as he feels your body starting to twitch more and more. His grip around your waist is still firm and his body heat grows with each moment as he speeds up again. He keeps his pace for just a little bit longer before he grips your waist tighter with his one arm while he lets go of your back with his free hand. He leans forwards and meets your mouth once again, taking control of the kiss with his tongue.

His body relaxes a little bit while he’s kissing you as his body heat grows hotter and hotter. His grip is tight around you as he keeps pushing and pushing you even more. He can feel your body starting to tense and quiver even more as you grip his back and waist tightly. He can see how much you’re struggling to hold it in, and just when it looks like you’re reaching your peak, he pulls back slightly and whispers into your ear, his breath coming out quick and sharp.

Touya’s voice sounds breathless and breathy when he whispers to you, he feels the tip of his tongue slowly rubbing your ear as it teases you, his grip on your waist and back becoming even tighter as he keeps pushing into you more.

“Almost…” Touya breathes out sharply, pulling his waist away from you slightly. The ravenette breaks the kiss and licks your ear one more time before pulling back even further. His cerulean blue eyes watch you squirm even more as your body tests your limits. He sees your twitching, quivering and tense body as he grips the front of your thighs and squeezes them as he whispers softly to you. 

You moan out loudly as you finally reach your peak. Your body explodes in pleasure as pleasure spreads throughout it, flooding your senses as you twitch strongly and your body quivers more. Your tight grip on his body finally lets go as you squirm underneath his grip. 

“T-Tou-chan!” It’s more of a cry then it is a moan of pleasure. He pushes deeper into you, finally reaching his climax as he grunts softly. 

“Goddamn…” He lets out a final groan as he relaxes once he finally reaches his own peak. He leans in and kisses you one more time before pulling out, breathing heavily.

The ravenette leans back as he lets a breath escape from his mouth. His cerulean gaze meets yours once more as he glances down at you with a small smirk on his face.

“Did you enjoy that, doll…? Was I too rough with you?” He whispers softly, his hand rubs your thigh gently.

“A bit…” You pant softly, cheeks flushed as you snuggled against him. “But I…liked it.”

“Hm… You liked it…?” He lets out a low, husky chuckle as he leans his body back against the car door, his body tired yet satisfied now. “I guess you like it rough, don’t you…? You little naughty girl…”

You let out a soft, tired giggle at his implication. “Can’t believe I lost my virginity in a car that’s parked near a party with my childhood best friend turned boyfriend.”

“Is it weird to say that I find that a bit hot…?” He whispers softly back to you as he glances at you once more with a sly smirk on his face. 

You let out an amused snort, “You’re such a horndog.”

“And you aren’t…?~” Touya smirked playfully as he teased you again, causing you to bite your bottom lip as you found yourself unable to find a retort. 

“You’re not wrong.” 

The ravenette chuckles softly once more as he glances at you again, his cerulean eyes glancing at you with a more teasing and flirtatious look to them. His hand moves back to stroke across your cheek as he leans back against the car door himself. 

“I’m going to take it that you really enjoyed it…” He says as he teases you some more as he chuckles once more. “You feel tired…?” 

“A bit.” You mumble softly, nuzzling your face against his chest comfortably. “But I don’t wanna sleep naked in your car.”

“Hm…” The ravenette ponders your request for a moment as he looks at you, deciding if he should grant it to you or not. “We can skip the party and…”

He lets a breath escape from his mouth before he gives you a playful smirk. “Just go back to my place. Sounds good?”

“Sounds nice,” you mumbled contentedly. “But next time there’s a party, we have sex only afterwards.”

“Good to know, doll…” Touya smirks in amusement. He then pulls his pants back up and fixes his other clothes before he looks back at you. “Need any help fixing up yours…?”

“Yup,” you nodded, stretching out your hands before grabbing your panties, pulling them on slowly before putting on your bra. 

“Can you help me with the dress?” You ask, tilting your head slightly.

Touya’s lips curved up into a small, playful grin as he watched you put on your own panties and your bra first. “Sure,” he says with a nonchalant shrug. 

He wraps his arms around you from behind as he helps you put your dress on again, helping you with the straps on the back of your dress before helping you zip your dress up again. His lips tilt into an amused smirk as he chuckles a bit. “It looks good on your body, I have to say…”

“I just remembered that you didn’t compliment me when you saw me in it,” you huffed as you heard his comment.

He lets out a deep chuckle as he finally helps with you putting your dress back on completely. After that he pulls his arm back and sighs softly. A teasing smirk still stays plastered on his lips. “I was probably too focused on how much I wanted to take it off of you…”

“But, now that you mention it… It does look good. It compliments you very well,” Touya says with a bit of an aloof tone. His smirk widens even more as he adds to it with, “It really does hug your body… Quite the good sight~”

You let out an amused snort, “Have I ever mentioned that you’re an asshole?” 

Touya lets out a snicker before whispering softly in your ear as he leans forward and nuzzles your neck once more. “And yet here you are, falling for me…” You pout with your usual bratty attitude as he says this with a smug smirk, looking soft and playful as he teases you. He chuckles and nods his head as he turns on the engine.

“Now, let’s get out of here so I can finally fuck you in every position that I’ve imagined, but couldn’t, since we were friends.” 

[justmy-account]

List of byler-gates

I’m just bored, but read it anyways, it’s fun

there sooo many of them, and i’m still pretty lazy so this isn’t perfect, but just let’s start

Mikhailgate

This is practically anti byler theory, but nvm

So, Dimitri has a son named Mikhail, which is russian version of name Michael, Mike

So, people were just saying that instead of Mike, Will will end up with Mikhail(who’s technically Mike bc of the name, yk)

I think everyone was just joking, oh, good ol’ times

and willloveinterestgate is the same

Lettergate/Pocketgate

These theories aren’t the same one, but it’s basically the same concept, ig

The basic thing is, that Mike wrote a letter to Will(singed Love, Mike)

In pocketgate, Mike has the letter saved in his triangle pocket, bc in st, characters many times has letters, that were important to them, in their left pocket(above the heart), for example Hopper and El(Hopper’s heart-to-heart), Jonathan(acceptance letter to college) etc.

And he would just take it out in the middle of confession or sth

+the triangle always points to Will like an arrow

Lettergate is just basically the same, ok, idk how to describe it differently 

Twelvegate

Not exactly a byler, but theory, that Will was number twelve in HNL, and that he’s El’s actual twin

And from that, there’s theory that Will has powers, but wasn’t n. 012

Okay, back to byler

This is same as rainbowgate i think

Flickergate

This theory is very lovely! after Will tells Mike that rolled seven in s1, the light behind them flickers

and since ud is frozen on nov6 83, when you signal sth from ud, it should appear at nov6 83-s1

this connects to electricgate(i dunno if sth like this exist, but just keep reading), the electricity~are friends electric~will possibly having electric powers

so mike and will could go together in s5 to ud on a mission or sth, and kiss in wheelers garage, and that would make the light flicker(i’m so good at explaining things, right😐)

will and mike going to ud together is predicted by mike and will sitting on upside down couch in last ep. of s4

Birthdaygate/Memorygate

Soo, remember how they forgot Will’s birthday? what if all wills memories, that people reminded him of in the shed are gone? his birthday, building castle byers, meeting mike… and that’s why mike says that his life started the day he found her, bc he doesn’t remember meeting Will

for me, it’s really weird, they couldn’t just forget Will’s birthday, no, this ain’t it

Kiss at lovers lake

I’m not sure if this has a different name, but it’s that their first kiss will be near lovers lake

evidence: patrick(the kid who died at lovers lake), had a nickname “berlin wall” or sth(we saw this in the school newspaper), and it was devided to four, same as hawkins

and song heroes is abt couple who lived at different sides of berlin wall, and idk, it just connects, okay?

when will painted the map of hawkins while he was possessed, mike was holding blue and yellow meter

Eightfifteengate

Context: will left the wheelers at 8:15 in s1

in s1e1, time mark 8:15 is literally the shot where will disappears in the shead

i think there’s a season 2 soundtrack called eight fifteen

tw: time fuckery: while will was recording on halloween night, the time says 8:04 while he’s recording mike saying “did you agreed with this?”, but when joyce rewatches it, it show 8:15(byler)

“ it’s 8:15, you’re late”

btw, clocks and watches from hiroshima are stuck at 8:15

aaanywaaay, there’s just too much 8:15 things, aaah(this is just a few)

what it has to do with byler?

well, 15-8=….(wait for it)….seven. a byler number. it was a seven!

also, “the first lie”, when murray says this to jancy, the time mark is… guess what, 8:15

there’s this theory with the songs “the first lie” and “the first i love you”, and it just connects 

Motelgate

theory, that after mike’s “love” confession to el, they went to a motel for sleep, and mike and will had to share a bed, and we could possibly see flashbacks of it in s5, and it would kinda explain the two day skip

Colorgate

blue and yellow meet in the west, i’m sure you know this one, and there’s sooo many evidence in this

mattduffersbasementgate

It’s too late for this to be true, but the duffers are(/were) holding every cast member that ships byler in their basement, lol

bloopergate

Bloopers from byler scenes, basically, for example “not when i was the spy, oh fuck”, basically Finn and Noah being all giggly, i guess

bloopergate implies to every blooper, but why not to mention it

curtaingate

Sth like, that when there’s some fight happening between characters, if curtains are open, it means they’re open with their feeling and opposite 

Example: milkvan make out scene-closed, but you don’t love me fight-opened

Bonus: „ but they like the curtain. people like us are just trying to look behind the curtain”(my very bad quotation of murray, yk what i mean)

Also, Suzie had blue and yellow curtains, and they were opened

And, “and i love her and i can’t lose her again”? Also curtains closed, like wtf, this fandom is crazy

piggybackgate

El knows abt Mike and Will. she saw how they act around each other, she’ve heard will saying “you’re the heart” to mike, saw that mike has Will’s painting now

New Coke Theory

basically, old coca colla is mileven, new coke is byler. it contains some of the old ingredients(mike), and new ones too(will). not everyone likes(bc its gay ship). and when you look at scenes with can of new coke, it’s many times symbolizing byler vs. milkvan

one of my favorite new coke theory examples is this: in s3, after el gets attacked by the flesh monster, she tries to crash a can(but she doesn’t have her powers, so she can’t). this is a can of new coke(byler) and she can’t crush that/destroy it. and in this scene, we get a flashback to the lab, where she crushes aka destroys regular coke(mileven)

phonegate

mike and will not calling each other, bc of joyce’s telemarketer job(he won’t stop whining abt it)

————

i miss all these little silly theories abt literally everything

i hope the byler tag will be like this once again

maybe we could start naming our new theories “gate”s again

for example: heartfeltgat, strangerwritersgate, snowkissgate or sth

anyway, byee

[1percychase]

Unpopular opinion: Nico's trauma is over rated

Okay so I'm not saying that it's not validated or anything, there's a reason it's over rated, but so many fans act like he's the only one and that no one else's trauma matters because Nico has it the worst. When did we start comparing literal trauma?? I think somebody we should look into more is honestly.. Percy. He's the main character and all, but it's almost like all the fans forgot how much he's gone through, which is CRAZY to me. Anyways I have a list cause I love making list and yeah.

1. Getting abused by his step dad, which made him feel worthless and like he didn't matter.

2. Everyone bullying him.

3. The only person who ever seemed to care about him, his mom, disappeared.

4. Getting punished bc of his father.

5. Getting accused of stealing something and getting sent on a quest at TWELVE.

6. His first friend at camp betrayed him, which gave him trust issues.

7. His best friend getting kidnapped.

8. Getting turned into a guinea pig, which actually gave him a phobia over.

9. Having suicidal thoughts while only being THIRTEEN.

10. Never thinking he is enough.

11. His other best friend being kidnapped.

12. Watching Bianica sacrifice herself after he tried to stop her.

13. Holding up the literal sky while also being injured.

14. Being blamed for Bianica's death (and believing it.)

15. Finding out Nico is a child of Hades and deciding to protect him against the Prophecy even if he hated him.

16. Annabeth mad at him bc Rachel likes him, even though he can't control that.

17. Getting lost and separated in the Labyrinth.

18. Watching Pan fade out of existence.

19. Watching Bekendorf explode on a boat.

20. Being the Demigod of the Prophecy.

21. Fighting a war on his birthday, the battle of Manhattan.

22. Watching so many people die in front of his eyes, knowing he couldn't save them.

23. Silena betraying him and the camp (I don't think she was a bad guy at the end but yea.)

24. Feeling guilty that Luke committed suicide and blaming himself when it isn't his fault (idk how true this one is but I've seen it so..)

25. Being kidnapped and all his memory taken away.

26. (This one is kinda a joke) Watching Octavian kill his pillow pet.. rip perry the panda pillow pet.

27. Being in another Prophecy of the seven.

28. Being afraid of drowning, while also being a child of Poseidian.

29. Falling into Tarturus with Annabeth.

30. Going completely psycho and mad.

31. Leaving Bob it Tarturus and feeling super guilty about it.

32. Making Gaia rise with a nosebleed.

33. Fighting in the battle of camp half blood.

34. Thinking Leo died.

35. Finally thinking he has a break and getting asked to help Apollo.

36. Becoming an older brother. (it's not like physical trauma but I'll explain it later)*

37. Jason's death.

38. Going on more quest to get college recommendation letters.

*okay so becoming an older brother was on this list because even if he was so happy to get a half sibling, he's been an only child for a long time and it's hard to accept new people in your life. Also older brother duties. Even if he was just leaving the house when she was a couple months old, I still put it on there bc many people can count it as one. Also I'm the oldest out of 6 kids growing up so I would count it lol*

And people still have the audacity to say percy was too much of a jerk in heroes of olympus, please. I would act the same way.

Anyways I actually have a list of a lot of different characters traumas cause I got bored one night so if you want to see the other list, tell me!!

[mattmurdock42]

Henry dressed as a vampire. ( Henry as Husband)

Henry Cavill X female reader./ Henry X Wife / Henry as a dad.

Smutt, overstimulating, beging, p in v, Henry dom, vampire kinks.

+-3.3k

It was the birthday of your son, Tomás. A few days ago, you and your husband, Henry, asked if he wanted a party and he happily said yes, with a halloween theme, as it was close to it. You had asked all your son´s friend´s mothers if they could came and they all said yes, so, now, you´d have twelve 6 years old boys and girls, plus one of their parents at your house for a party. Your son was so ecxited that he couldn´t stop talkig about it. Your husband was encharged of your costumes. He got a mummy one for Tomás, a vampire for him and a pirate one for you. The day of the party came. Henry had to shoot a scene from his series until 3 pm, so, you´d have to welcome the guests alone until he came. You woke up and he was already gone. You made breakfast for you and Tomás and then you two started to prepare the backyard for the party. You two went out for lunch and then came back to make your costumes. You left him watching tv while you got ready, then you went to get him ready. 2pm came, his friends started to arrive. You were friend to most of the mothers, actually. Three of then were very close to you since college days. When all the guests arrived you saw how many different costumes had: witches, pirates, fairies, robots, vampires, super heroes, skeletons and more. Most parents were as pirates or witches. While the kids played, you all sat under a told and started to talk about the children. All of them said that their kids were really ecxited for this themed party, and they all complimented the idea. You said it was Tomás idea and he also was ecxited for it. After a while Henry arrived, he was already with his costume- he had taken it to work and putted it when he finished the shooting. He was wearing a black trouser with a social black shirt. His hair was put behind with gel, he had eyeliner and fangs on his canine teeth. Your breath stopped when you saw him. He greeted everyone and he and the other mens went to another place to talk and watch things. You and the other mothers talked about children, career, marriege and hobies. The talk was amazing, but it was time for cake. You all reunited around a big garden table and Tomás got on a stool- since he didn´t let Henry lift him in front of his friends- to be on the same high as the candles. The rest of the party was perfect, everyone ate and had fun. You and henry said goodbye to everyone and thanked then for coming. You said to Tomás to get inside and take the vegetables he wanted for dinner. As he did that, you and Henry cleaned the garden. When it was over, you got inside and gave Tomás a bath while henry cooked. You finished his bath, dressed him, and then went to your bath. Henry finished the dinner and you three had grilled vegetables for dinner. After, you did the dishes and henry went to take a shower, since he was still dressed as a vampire, except his fangs.

A couple of days passed since the party. One day, you recieve a message from your cousin saying that it will be a family lunch next weekend, and her dauther gave the idea of children going in costumes, since it would be halloween, so she had the idea of everyone going dressed in costumes. You confirmed your family presence. You loved the idea of seeing your cousins again, you all were really close.

You three went with your costumes from the last party. There, children were running, men were around the barbecue taking care of the meat, women were talking and were around the drinks and the desserts. You had brought a sweet pie that you made. Everyone was dressed as well. Your aunts and you were talking and they commented how pretty Henry was in that costume. You got embareced and blushed for him. At lunch time, when all of you were around the table, one little niece of your, dauther of your cousin, came to Henry and asked.

Little niece: uncle, why you didn´t dressed as Superman? since you are superman!

Everyone at the table laughed.

Henry: sorry little one, but the costume store didn´t have any superman costume when i went, it was sold out.

Little niece: but you didn´t get the superman costume when you finished the movie?

Henry: i tried to get it, but they wouldn´t let me, they would have to keep it for a while longer. But as soon as it is finished, i´ll get it.

In the afternoon, one of your cousins had the idea of making fun shots of everyone. You tried to hide, since you didn´t like photos, but one of your cousins pulled you to it. You tried to hide behind Henry but the stepped aside, saing it was a good idea to take the photos. You looked at him, with mad eyes. You all took several pictures: you and your cousins, all the girls, all the man, just children, each families (grandma make sure of that one being taken, she wanted everyone in her album). Iin yours with Henry, he stood behind you with Tomás in his shoulders and pretended to bite your neck, while you were secretly cointaining yourself to not moan with him sucking your neck dresssed like that. Of course he noticed, since he knew you well. In the end of the family lunch, your little niece asked Tomás if he wanted to sleep over and play with her the next day. They were the same age and get along so well that you and Henry couldn´t say no. Beside, Henry had plans for the night that he would prefer his son wouldn´t be home.

You went home and got back to leave some things for Tomás, like, toothbrush and clothes.

You and Henry was getting back home, he was driving and you were zoning out with the music you had putted. Then, out of nowhere, you feel something grabbing your thigh roughly. You look down and see Henry´s hand. You get home and, before you could put one foot inside the house, he lifts you, throwing you on his shoulders and going to your room. Arriving there, you already knew that he noticed the repreended moan and wanted to hear you scream that same one. He putted you on the bed and lighted the room with candles. He gently took of your pirate costume.

Herny: you shouldn´t repress a groan, pretty girl, but i understand why you did it.

You looked at him. You were feeling exposed being the only one naked, he didnt even let your panties.

Henry: tell me, you wanted to moan because you wanted sex tonight, you were needy, or you were horny because of the costume?

He already knew the answer, it was not the first time you were horny with him in a costume, it happened before when his make up was not fully gone from the witcher, and when you visited him on the set of mission impossible. But he would make you say it, he wanted to hear how you were.

y/n: i-i´m horny.

You say blushing and looking down. He gets your entire jaw with one hand and pull it up, so you can look to him.

Henry: you should have said it before. You know i don´t like that you keep this kind of secrets from me.

y/n: i´m sorry.

Henry: what do you like more about it?

y/n: i think the fangs, maybe.

You say in a whisper.

Henry: why maybe?

This conversation were making you mad.

y/n: i´m not sure because you aready have big canines, this protesis just made them a little bigger, not much, so i don´t know if it made a difference or not.

He takes it of and smiles.

Henry: so? was the fangs that made you horny?

y/n: no, maybe it was your hair in place?

Henry: maybe?

y/n: stop asking this.

You say, tired of this talk.

Henry: my delicate girl, i just wanna know. So i can do it more times.

y/n: no, looking better at it, it´s not your hair, i like it messed, natural curled. It is the eyeliner with the groomed hair. The combination itself.

Henry: see? it wasn´t so hard. With a little talk and patience, you got there.

He says grinning.

y/n: congrats, socrates would be proud of you.

You say with a sarcastic tone. He hated when you were desrespectful, and you knew that. Sometimes, when you wanted to tease your dom, you would be bratty.

He rushes to you, brutally pushing you to lay down and getting on top of you. You really knew how to get on his nerves. He took his strap and chained your hands to the bed. He took some lubricant and barely passed on your vulva, quickly inserting four fingers inside of you, making you scream loud with pain. His other hand started to dance on your clit, making your back twist. After some time you cum. He keeps doing it until you do it again, and one more time. Your vagina were sensible. He goes up to your neck and starts to suck it hard, making sure to leave bruises, while his hands played with your tits. He stopped and sat beside you, running his hands along your waist and your thighs. If you wanted something more from him, you´d have to ask, beg. He was passing his hands through your body, stopping and looking it from every angle, you were feeling to much exposed.

y/n: please, take your clothes of too. please.

Henry: i´m not sure about it.

y/n: please, be naked too.

After five minutes he decided to take his clothes also.

He gets on top of you and started to kiss you until you lost your breath for a long time. When he stopped you were weak. He unchained you and turned you to lay on your stomach. He pulled you to bend. One arm wrapped around your waist, not letting you go, and the other, slowly going in and out of you. You were done with his hands. You wanted to ride him while looking at his face as a vampire.

y/n: Henry, stop it. I wanna ride you. Let me top you, for once.

He stopped the hand inside you. But the other was still holding tight your waist.

Henry: i don´t know, i don´t think you deserve it. Hiding secret kinks from me and being arrogant.

You knew he would let you, but you´d have to barg more.

y/n: i know i was not good. But i´ll redime myself making you feel good.

Henry: i´m already feeling good now, darling.

y/n: please, Henry, let me. I wanna ride you while i see you like this. I´ll be a good top. i promise.

He let go of your waist and lays on his back.

Henry: go on, i´m all yours.

You leave the bed and go to get his fangs on the desk.

y/n: open your mouth, please.

He obeys and you put his fangs on place. You get op top of him, each thigh on one side of him. You lean for a kiss, noticing his difficulty to do it because of the fangs. You put his dick on your vagina and starts to move your hips, slowly increasing the speed. His hands grip your hips. You support you weight on your hands, which were on his waist. After some time, you hear a soft groan leave his throat. You smile at your acomplishment. You keep thrusting yourself until he cums, followed by you.

y/n: have i redemed myself?

Henry: a little.

You get out of him, taking his condom off and licking the point of his dick. After, you give him and a exeptional oral sex, always looking at his face, seeing his mouth open; the combination of the make up with the hair and fangs driving you crazy.

y/n: am i a good girl now?

Henry: i think you are pardoned.

You smile and goes up to him. You take his fangs of and messed his hair. It was straightened, but you didn´t mind. You two started to make out, with you on top. After some minutes he says:

Henry: let´s take a shower, then go to sleep, it´s almost 2 am.

You agreed and you both go to the shower. Of course you had sex there too. You came back to bed and slept cuddling.

The next day you two enjoyed each other and, at night, went to get Tomás.

[donnerpartyofone]

I'm fully aware that this is a grass-is-greener thing, but it's funny to me how there's the stereotype of the midlife crisis guy who starts fantasizing that if only he made different choices in his youth he'd be a sports hero or a rockstar or something by now, and he may suddenly try to act on his fantasy at the 13th hour--and meanwhile my midlife crisis anxiety is about how I should have gone to a trade school and learned to do a real job that is actually necessary for humanity. The rockstar guy may not have had the talent or drive to achieve his dream even if he had it all to do over again, and similarly my comforting thought is that I'm so pervasively incompetent that I may never have graduated from a trade school anyway; like there are very basic daily household tasks that I have been theoretically perfecting for most of my life, that I can still barely handle, so what makes me think I would have become a competent plumber or electrician or whatever if only I had realized I just shouldn't go to college? For every person like me who should not have listened to people who said that they were smart/talented/would figure something out, there's legions of people who were always told that they were useless or that they could only do what their parents did so many times that they never developed the ambition to prove everyone wrong. I definitely feel like it's mostly my own fault that I'm so dangerously unemployable, but at least I don't feel convinced that "if only I had done [X] then it would all be different." It all probably would have turned out the same no matter what, and I just have to remember that in the absence of any other purpose it's my job to keep looking for a job year after year after year until my fortune changes in one direction or the other. I mean whaddayagonnado.

[lonelylonelyghost]

Re-watch of the Spirealm. Episode 27

Swords :)

Murder him! Murder him dead!

The Door keys are so preeetty...

When your buddy goes off script and ruins your moment

BEAUTIFUL!

oopsie

Checkov's street urchin has gone off

Ouch

The cruel irony

Dude, I'm sorry, but you created this game, and if you're so great, why don't you try to solve it yourself, huh? Instead of dragging a completely innocent person into it. Asshole.

But this effect was cool, I have to admit

The resignation on his face... He thought they would have more time, but alas...

PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PA

This is my re-watch, I've already seen it, I knew that was going to happen, but the dread was still coursing through my veins before, and I still cried after...

ಥ_ಥ

"Li Dongyuan, are you addicted to protecting me?"

"I got asked to. And have to make it."

"I'm sorry."

"I do blame you. I'm going to die. Can't you wear white today and say goodbye to me as Ruan Baijie?"

I can't find a suitable emoji to convey my devastation so excuse me

noooooooooooooooo

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

just pain...

"We grew up in the same neighborhood. Our parents divorced and we were abandoned. We were all lonely children. When we learned that VR technology can make virtual people, we made up our minds to create our own parents with this. Even if they are virtual.

We chose to study science together and got into the best college in automation control. We wanted to achieve our dreams together. But that didn't happen.

When I was a freshman, he and I went to Southwestern provinces to collect data for the Spirealm. Unfortunately, we encountered an earthquake, and I got buried. But at the same time I heard many people calling for help. He chose to save more lives, and chose those people over me.

I understood his decision. If it were me, I would have made the same choices. When we returned to school, he became a hero for saving lives, while I turned into a troublemaker."

I would think that blaming Qiushi for getting into an earthquake is absolutely ridiculous, if I didn't know the tendency of people to blame the victims for the things that happen to them. So, unfortunately I'm not at all surprised...

But also, you know what? Gao Dawei most likely can be considered a great person on a bigger scale, but as Qiushi's friend he SUCKS.

He knew that Qiushi had literally no one except him as a support system. But he not only abandon him during the earthquake to fend for himself (and the fact that Qiushi even survived was a miracle and not due to something that Dawei did), when he himself got into trouble with his invention, he didn't hesitate to betray him again, by trapping him into a game that he KNEW actually could and would kill him, and MULTIPLE TIMES no less.

And yeah Qiushi is clever and kind so he could have a chance, and yeah it's "for the greater good" bullshit, and he has some help, but still. How could you do that, especially to the person that already had very little...

What was that proverb? The hero would sacrifice you for the world, the villain would burn that world for you?... Here is a clear example of that kind of hero and his sacrifice

[austinramsaygames]

A False Campaign Intro

Yesterday I recorded an episode with Campaign Spotlight as a guest talking about the intersection and differences between home games and actual play. It was a very rewarding interview and I'm excited to share it when it comes out in a few months. Part of their format is that every episode starts with a monologue from the guest reading the opening text crawl of their game. Well, I don't do that kind of opening to my campaigns so I had to make something from scratch for it. I was reasonably happy with what I wrote going in but as I read it aloud and saw the reactions from the host it became something I wanted to share. So here's the opening narration for The Furies: a Beam Saber Rush Wars campaign.

This is a world similar to but not our own. A world where cars have an even greater importance than in our world. They are both an identity and a conduit for power. Those esteemed few who can tap into a car’s true potential become Heroes and Villains the likes of which haven’t been seen since the Trojan War. The bond between driver and vehicle for many is a holy one. Detroit, the motor city. Once a mover and shaker in our world was a gargantuan presence in this one, but much like ours it's most fondly remembered in the history of decades ago and the residents who cling to its true nature as their homes. Residents like The Furies, a girl gang at the forefront of the illegal street racing scene that thrives on the rusting body of the city. Cinderella "Candy" Stiehl, the gang's de facto leader and muscle, is short, round, commanding, and loyal. A bulldog of a woman whose mob ties had her take the fall for a job gone wrong, and spent years in prison then the government's Jaghund task force in penance. Free once again, both from the shackles of prison and her family, she returns to crime in her monster truck, The Carolina Reaper, as it's the only way she knows how to move through the world. May Day, the group's infiltrator, is in many ways the opposite of Candy: tall, lean, impulsive and chaotic, but just as fiercely loyal as any other member of the gang. After dropping out of her interpretative dance college due to her sister's illness, she was lost at sea until she found her place first in the fans of the racing scene, and then in The Furies. Now she's strapped some nos to her thigh high roller skates, and makes sure that no one can predict what her street family does next. Rebecca Bolger, the newest member of The Furies and its mysterious face. Classically beautiful and verbally cunning, she brings info and gear from unexplained and often elided connections. No hard questions have been asked of her yet, as she's been as willing as the rest to put her body and her car, the sports coupe Bella, on the line for the girls. Now, a multi billion dollar company, Enterax, run by a man whose fans consider him a genius, has started to move in on Detroit. City council and business leaders are pleased as punch at the prospect of a new Giga Factory being built in one of the city's poorest neighbourhoods, but The Furies have their ear to the ground and can read between the lines. Whistleblower suicides, OSHA violations, disappearing local activists, battery fires. While Enterax might have a squeaky clean image those who look a bit closer and don't turn away find a company that doesn't care for its workers, customers, or neighbours, only the shareholders and its founder's ego. Proper channels haven't stopped Enterax, and respectable resistance hasn't done anything either. Lucky for Detroit there's a group of pissed off girls willing to crash this company's plans, parties, and portfolio. And they'll do it one twisted wreck of an electric vehicle at a time.

[phantomphangphucker]

Phic Phight - Young Guns With Guns

@ishouldgetatumbler @idiot-cheesehead-archenemy @faedemon @miss-nov @summerssixecho @torscrawls

Valerie’s actually managed to get college placement lined up, which means she’s got to get a Red Huntress replacement lined up too. Unfortunately every good choice is chaotic.

That single simple letter changed so much for her, could change so much. She’s spent the past year working her ass off to get her grades up, probably giving her a seriously long term case of sleep deprivation due to ghosts still being an issue, but she’s baffled it actually worked out. She had been fully expecting nothing but rejection, instead she got in at her first pick college and it’s nanotechnology and nanoscience bachelors program; meaning she didn’t even have to settle for her second choice bachelors of science.

She had honestly cried a little, danced, jumped, went ghost hunting just for the joy of it. Phantom probably didn’t appreciate her deciding to chase It around for the heck of it, or maybe It did since it was always hard to tell with that ghost and Its goddamn puns. Plus, she knew that It knew that she knew she couldn’t actually take It down in a fight. 

She might be the only half decent ghost hunter in Amity but Phantom was beyond human ability to deal with. Which yeah, meant there was someone to deal with other absurdly powerful ghosts, but It was still a damn ghost and she had no interest in leaving all of Amity’s ghost issues in Its dead hands. Amity needs to have a human protector too. She had debated not even trying to leave Amity genuinely, to go to college; but she promised her dad she’d at least ty, that she wouldn’t give up on a ‘normal’ future. Frankly even if she does get her degree there’s zero chance of her staying gone and being ‘normal’, she loved being the Red Huntress and couldn’t see her giving it up full. Zone, she basically picked her program to help her do a better job as a ghost hunter. Knowing better how to use the nanobots and machinery that flowed through her veins would be a dream, and technically self preservations since she currently couldn’t do too much if something went majorly wrong with them. She knew enough and had enough skill to use them and modify them but she wasn’t the expert she wanted to be. This, this acceptance letter would change that, let her study nanotechnology. Even if any studying or work she did with her own self would have to be private and not actually used for school; last thing she wanted was to give someone a very stupid idea. Same reason she wasn’t about to try to suit someone up exactly like she was, heck she’s pretty sure the nanobots are very much fused to her, putting someone else in that same situation just because she wanted to go to college would be incredibly mean and just a shitty thing to do. 

So...

She refuses to leave Amity without an actually decent and not insane (Maddie and Jack) ghost hunter and she also can’t refuse to go to her ideal college. She can’t give away her suit, and wouldn’t even if she could, and she’s not going to try and basically ‘infect’ someone like what that asshole dirty bastard half ghost Vlad did. She needed a stand in, a temporary worker if you will, for at least a few years. Preferable someone she wouldn’t have to actually train and who wouldn’t either be extremely bigoted to the point of being stupid -again, Jack and Maddie- or so pro-ghost they’d be leiniate on the spooks. Unfortunately that eliminated practically everyone who was actually physically capable of fighting ghosts at all. Pretty much every adult and teen involved in sports had this weird hero worship mascot thing for Phantom and ghosts in general, many having out right crushes *cough cough* Paulina and Dash *cough cough*. That one guy who runs the little martial arts place wouldn’t be half bad but he was... a little bit insane. She could see him causing a lot of damages. There was also the fact that whoever would have to deal with Vlad, meaning they needed to be distrustful of that jerk. Unfortunately, nearly the whole town actually supports that man as mayor now since he kept the government on a leash and got funding for all the damages. Powerful people with money could get away with being awful shit people. 

... Though... 

She can think of someone who not only wouldn’t be played by Vlad but also wouldn’t exactly need training. That someone being Danny of course. Danny probably managed to cause more suffering and annoyance to Vlad than Vlad had ever caused her, and he would just laugh in Vlad’s face if the guy tried manipulating him, like he usually did. Sometimes she wonders if Danny actually knows what Vlad is. Then Danny, and his friends really, did have Fenton training and all of them were in really good shape these days. The only problem with Danny and his friends, was that they were staunchly pro-ghost and had been so before anyone else really. But, and this is a big but, they were also pro-ghost hunting. They were pro-ghost in more of a ‘ghosts are just like people and demonising them universally is dumb. Some are assholes though’ kind of way. Which... was a lot more positive than her view of ghosts, them being mostly shit stirrers who wanted to mess with the living and their personhood was questionable. 

Sam she wouldn’t even consider, she’d heard that girl justify UnderGrowth’s takeover of the town on multiple occasions, apparently she even helped the ghost with that. Valerie never understood how that girl could be both incredibly holier than thou moral and incredibly ‘humans are weeds’ immoral. 

And Tucker? Tucker should not be allowed to ever have any amount of real power, authority, or control over people. Ever. Whenever she thinks of that guy having any kind of power she can taste sand in her mouth in a really revolting way, she’s got no clue why that happens but she ain’t gonna play stupid games. 

Danny... might be a little crazy, and weird, and creepy, and stupid, but she couldn’t really think of a reason why him being what’s practically a vigilant would be bad. Zone, with how he intentionally pissed off Dash so Dash would only target him, and how protective he could be; she’s kinda surprised he wasn’t already trying to be a masked hero or whatever. Her best guess is that he didn’t want to deal with his parents if they ever found out or he just didn’t want to be ‘like them’. Fair enough. But she’s kinda low on options here. 

Sure fine maybe there were other options but, screw her, she liked Danny and she’d rather hand shit off to him than someone she’s not already friendly with. Plus there was the fact that Danny said ‘Ancients no’ like it was the obvious answer whenever anyone asked if he was leaving Amity. For whatever reason he liked this town and it’s weird ass ghost problem more than most, the fact that anyone did at all was already kinda weird. Well it meant she didn’t really have to worry about him not sticking around here, same as she really didn’t have to worry about how to track Danny down. Since, like her, he wound up getting work at the Nasty Burger, in his words ‘it’s the only place that would hire even a corpse or a Fenton’ which yeah, lots of places wouldn’t hire any Fenton purely for being a Fenton.

And if she remembers properly he should be working closing shift tonight. Nice.

Getting up and stretching, “why do I feel like getting him to agree to wear a disguise is going to more difficult than actually getting him to say yes?”, he would absolutely be the type to just rip off a mask for the dramatics of it. Popping out of her room and grinning at her dad, “I’m going out, to talk to a Fenton, just not the crazy ones, about keeping an eye on those parents of his”.

Damon blinks, putting down his book, “are the Fenton’s planning to do something crazy again?”.

Valerie shakes her head, grinning now and holding up the little envelope, “no, but someone’s gotta keep an eye on them if I’m going”.

His eyes widening instantly, book getting abandoned as he jumps up to run over and hug, “congrats! You got in! I knew you could do it!”, pulling back and pointing at her face, “now I don’t want you worrying about costs, you do still have a college fund, and I don’t want you worrying about ghosts either, missy”.

Valerie flushing, “I know I know, that’s part of why I want to go see Danny”.

“Are you giving him your suit? I don’t really want that going with you”.

“Dad, you know I can’t physically do that”.

“I know, I know, that won’t stop me from asking if you’ve figured out a way to”.

She sighs at him, shaking her head. It did kind of bother her that he had it in his head that she should want her suit ripped out of her, that she was trying to figure out how to do that. The suit was part of her as a person too, why would she want to lose it and part of what makes Valerie Valerie?

He nods strongly to himself, “I’m getting a cake”.

“Dad no-”.

“It will be cake time”.

“Dad-”.

“It will be the most audacious one I can find”.

Valerie buries her head in her hands with a laugh, “ask Paulina to make a Phantom-themed one, that was the worst thing I’ve ever seen”. Even Damon cringes, because yeah that woman was still obsessed over a dead guy.

Damon shaking his head, “it will not be ghost themed. Tech perhaps?”, and hums to himself, tapping his chin before making shooing motions at her, “if trying to wrangle that boy, or man I should say, into spying on his parents makes you more willing to go then go on”.

“There’s no way this place should be without a non-crazy human ghost hunter”.

“Heck, I’ll take up your guns if that gets you to go”.

“Dad no, you have terrible balance, Danny’s is actually a bit terrifying”. Honestly she swears that gravity doesn’t affect Danny the way it should, which if that was actually true it would one hundred percent be because of that accident his parents basically caused. Either way she moves to the door waving at him, “please don’t spend too much on the cake? Please?”. He just rolls his eyes at her as she leaves. (He absolutely did wind up spending more than she’d like on the cake, it looked like it was made out of techno Lego blocks).

It takes her all of three minutes to get to the Nasty Burgers back parking lot, she thinks that’s a new record or almost a new record, man she loves seeing improvements…. Shit she’s totally going to have to take full advantage of the on-campus gym purely to make sure she stays in shape. Maybe she should ask Sam for pointers on that? She still has no clue how that girl is so ridiculously fit without do any extracurriculars during school. She out bench pressed Dash once, it was terrifying and impressive.

“Dude, I asked for goddamn Reddened Chicken Strips, not Fenton Froth! Those aren’t even in the same food group!”.

Valerie shakes her head sympathetically as she walks in through the doors. Man she would absolutely not miss having to deal with asshole customers.

“You know? Fuck this shit. Give me back my money, hell, give me all your damn money”.

What. She goes stock still, as the guy pulls an actual normal human gun and points it in Danny’s face. Shit. How should she deal with this? How could she even? She fights ghosts! With supernatural guns and a hoverboard! Not a cops badge and a freaking Glock or whatever! Quickly ducking under a table, she has no clue how her nano bots would handle her getting shot by a regular human bullet. Would it even recognise the injury since it wasn’t ectoplasmicly based? Could it even repair non-ectoplasmic injuries in the first place?! This is what she means by she needs to be more of an expert on the stuff!

Then Danny, typical fucking insane stupid Danny, says something horrifically stupid, “whatcha gonna do? Shoot me?”, scoffing like that’s ever remotely what you should do with a gun to your face, Danny might be a little too desensitised to weapons, “you can't kill me because then I'll just turn into ghost, and you'll have a Real problem on your hands because I will absolutely haunt your ass to the Zone and back. No, we need to work this out another way”.

“The only way this is working out is if you give me all the damn money! They don’t even pay you enough to put up a fight anyways”.

“I happen to actually like this place and what? Are you offering me a paycheck? No? Then get fucked and go get lost in the sauce or something, cause yeah I definitely ain’t paid to deal with your poorly packaged human shit”.

On one hand, this level of ‘I don’t care’ and reckless self endangerment was kinda necessary for her job but he doesn’t even have on a helmet and this isn’t a freaking ghost! Should she try throwing a chair at the robber? And where the hell was the manager? Other employees? Oh don’t tell her that Danny agreed to work alone like a dumbass, the manager was probably off fucking gambling again, jerk.

The robber squawks, “what?!? Dude this is a real gun!”.

“You say that like I care. You know what else is real? This bored unimpressed face, go try to show off how big your dick is somewhere else”.

Oh zone damn it, Danny. At this rate he’s going to get himself shot.

“This isn’t even a big gun!”.

“So what you’re saying is it’s the perfect size for you”.

And then the shot rings out, fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck Fuck FUCK! Valerie popping up, ghost hunter gun in hand only to see Danny having apparently blocked the goddamn near point blank shot with a fucking tray. How???? Danny then smacks the guy, one-handed, with said tray, “bad, I’d like to keep my pretty face thank you very much, it’s my money maker”.

Valerie blurting out, “what the Zone!”.

The robber guy stumbles back, looking from the tray-wielding Danny to Valerie and her red and black gun, “ah fuck”, backing up a bit and looking for an exit that she wasn’t literally right beside it. Like hell she’s letting some jackass that tried to shoot Danny leave that easily.

Her snarling, “don’t even try it, asshole”, and keeps her gun on him. Danny apparently has a similar idea, grabbing a fist full of nasty sauce packets, “I will set these on fire and blow all of us up, all my fucks have flowneth off. I’m over my fuck budget and I’m now in fucking debt!”.

Both the robber and Valerie still, slowly staring at Danny. Valerie blinking harshly, “Danny, put those down”.

He pouts at her, “no. It’ll scratch my explosive itch”.

“Danny if you do that then he’ll haunt you and you’ll be the one with the problems”. She’s slightly rethinking trying to make a stand-in of him. He had the guts but come on!

Danny blinks like he hadn’t thought of that, “oh right, I mean… what’s another ghost wanting to put me on their shit list? Am I right?”, and holds the sauce packets up a little higher, and pulls a blow torch out from under the counter.

Why… was there a freaking blowtorch there??? It wasn’t there yesterday??? “Where did you get that”.

Danny shrugs, turning the blowtorch on, the flames are loud, “Brittney broke her lighter, brought this instead as a gag”.

The robber drops his gun and puts his hands, “nope nope nope, I’m not playing chicken with that. Make a citizens arrest or whatever”.

Danny smirks, “oh I don’t know, I kinda want to blow you up now and the blowtorch is already on”, and wiggles the blowtorch around, “eh? Eh? Eh? Come on, it’ll be fun. We could start a fireworks show out of building pieces?”.

Valerie glares before hurling her gun at his head, his neck cracking a little when his head tilts as the gun bounces off of his skull. “Stop it, you little shit”, and stomps over to the guy who smartly doesn't move. At least she does actually have handcuffs, they’re made for ghosts but whatever, the guy gets handcuffed aggressively, “don’t be a dumbass before you make Danny become more of a dumbass”.

Danny apparently takes offence to that like he has any right to, “hey!”. At least he’s put the blowtorch back.

…

What he didn’t do was turn the damn thing off, the counter is now on fire. “Danny the counter!”.

Danny looking down at the slight burning and flicker of flames, “okay that was stupid, note to self don’t handle flammables on forty two hours of sleep deprivation”.

“Well put it out!”.

The robber grumbles, “I made a mistake, lord forgive me and don’t let me get burned to death by an overworked underpaid fast food employee”.

Danny points at the guy, instead of dealing with the flames, “that’s what you get for trying to shot me! And! For trying to steal money from the bestest nastiest restaurant in town!”.

“Why are you throwing the damn slogan at him! Put out the fire Danny!”.

Danny slams his hand directly into the fire, “no!”, and then, “ow!”, and that finally makes him deal with it by smashing his hand, that is full of nasty sauce packets, into the flames. Smacking his hands on the fire a couple of times before realising what he’s done, going wide-eyed, “oh shit”. The robber is crying. Danny’s over the counter in a second grabbing the robber and her by the arm and fucking booking it. It takes her a bit to get her footing and to also run of her own volition; Danny is notably faster than her.

The explosion blows out a wall, all three of them getting mildly covered in rubble, Valerie sticking her head out… the blowtorch is still on, looking back at Danny, “you stay put while I turn off your fuck up. Maine is gonna be so pissed”.

“Hey, he should have known better than to let anyone work a closing shift alone, especially me”.

“You should know better than to agree to doing that!”, her huffing and running off to get the blowtorch, getting slightly covered in ash as she does so. Stupid Danny. By the time she’s gotten back Danny’s just shaking the handcuffed robber back and forth blaming him for damaging the best fast food joint in town. “Danny stop that, before you give him whiplash”.

“He deserves it!”. The robber just groans and then passes out. That at least gets Danny to stop, “shit, did I kill him?”, and then sighing in relief at the guy clearly still breathing, dropping the man in an uncomfortable looking heap on the ground. Then looking to Valerie, “so besides being my unwitting audience, why’d you come by? You don’t usually get your Nasty on when you don’t work?”.

She blinks, giving him a disgusted look, “never say that again, ew”, sighing, “well I was going to brag about my college acception but I’m seriously reconsidering that”.

He brightens up immediately, it’s almost blinding, “oh! Congrats! You hanging up the hoverboard then?”.

“More like take a vacation- hey wait what!”, scowling at him and sticking her arms out to the side, “since when have you known!?!”.

“You threw a red and black ecto-gun at my head, I’m dumb not stupid! And who the fuck else would have ghost handcuffs just on their person?! Even my folks don’t do that!”.

“Damn you!”, Valerie groans into her hands, “you are way too casual about this to have just found out”.

“Val, my uncles a psycho half ghost, there’s a portal to a death dimension under my bedroom, one of my friends is adopted by a genocidal plant god and the others a reincarnated pharaoh. You could reveal you’re literally god themselves and Lucifer somehow sharing the same body and I wouldn’t be phased”.

There was so much wrong with all of that. “That’s really messed up”,

“I know!”.

What is she supposed to do with this? With him? Also though… “you know about Vlad? And what the zone is wrong with Sam and Tucker?!?”.

Danny snorts, “too much”, shrugging, “and yeah, that guys abducted me to try and get me to be his happy son way too many times not to notice he was freaky. Also, his super illegal creepy underground lab doesn’t have doors, how would he get in there if he wasn’t spooky”.

“How do you know he even has a lab if there’s no doors?”.

“Eh play enough stupid games and get him to blast you through enough walls and you’ll find it”.

… It’s a miracle Danny hasn’t gotten himself killed. Making him her replacement might just improve his life’s survivability, that’s was so screwed up. Huffing and sticking a hand out down to him, “well if you’re going to annoy one sorta ghost, why not annoy all of them and be my replacement?”.

He blinks at her before laughing loudly, rocking back a little, “you fucking crazy hunter, or huntress whatever”, and grabs her hand to pull himself up, dragging the robber guy up with him in one hand, “eh fuck it, why not? Note, I have no clue how your suit works beyond breaking the law of physics and matter”.

She shakes her head at him, “I’m not giving you my suit, dummy”.

“So you’re trying to employ me as your replacement but making me fight naked, got it”.

“Ew!”, she whacks him over the head for that. Crossing her arms at him, “I’ll just make you something similar, and you can help with that, you jerk”, rolling her eyes, “you know ghost hunter tech so it’s whatever and it’s not like I started out with a freaking nanobot suit”.

“Can it be white and black, you know, the total opposite of Phantom’s? Since I’m the living Danny?”.

Why did she think this was a good idea? “You, are so stupid”, looking to the robber, “we should take him to the jailhouse”.

Danny looking down at the unconscious man, “I mean, probably? He’s so gonna think this was just a really weird fever dream”.

“And whose fault is that? You might cause more chaos than the ghosts do”.

“Sounds like that’s a you problem, and a town problem”.

Valerie sighs, “at least try to keep the other Fenton’s from causing chaos”, starting to walk off towards the jailhouse, Danny hoisting the guy up onto his shoulder in a fireman carry.

Him grumbling, “you say that like I can control them”, tilting his head, “wait does this mean Vlad’s gonna start paying me? Paying me in a way that isn’t clearly a bribe?”, snickering, “he’s gonna be so unimpressed you went with me of all people”.

Valerie smirking to herself, “that’s half the point. I couldn’t pick someone who’d actually trust that lying snake”.

“He’s more of a bat than a snake, you know, the whole knock off vampire thing he’s got going on”.

“Zone you’re a dumbass”.

The cheeky smirk is audible in his response, “I know”.

Was Vlad mad about her choice? Absolutely. Was she? Absolutely not. Regardless of being at college she tried to keep up to date with what’s going on in Amity, Danny was absolutely terrorising the wealthy half dead man. The random insults he was putting into practically every public interview or announcement was making the feud between the mayor and ‘Monochrome’ very public and everyone was debating why Vlad even employed this guy and where the Red Huntress found him.

Vlad kept calling her and offering to pay for things just to get her back sooner and apparently ‘Monochrome’ fighting Phantom really annoyed Vlad, which to be fair what she’s seen of those little ‘chases’ was usually really absurd. ‘Monochrome’ dumped melted cheese on the ghost once and then bailed, it did make Technus confused enough that Phantom caught the other ghost easily though.

She’s got no clue how Danny convinced everyone that Monochrome wasn’t an Amity native. That was just baffling but did help with the ‘secret identity’ thing. She’d definitely not realised just how much Danny looked exactly like Phantom though, so she officially actually agrees with Jack’s and Maddie’s insane theory that Phantom did actually copy their son’s appearance. She’d bet her pocket change that Phantom’s real face was some kind of eldritch horror abomination, and copying Danny was to seem more ‘human’; stupid manipulative ghosts.

At least it did seem Amity was in good, if chaotic, hands and Danny was actually keeping the damn suit on and the Fenton’s were actually respecting him. Danny’d called and bragged about that, she’d been happy for him.

Maybe…

Maybe he’d continue doing it, even when she got back, even if he seemed to view it as very firmly temporary in a way that almost seemed… sad.

End.

Prompts: Well, you can't kill me because then I'll turn into ghost, and you'll have a Real problem on your hands. No, we need to work this out another way. The only option left was surrender All Amity Parkers know to never work a closing shift alone. How could the wrong Nasty Burger order lead to this? Valerie got accepted at her desired college. Since she'll be leaving Amity Park, she needs to find a new replacement to keep the ghosts at bay while she's gone. Someone tries to rob the Nasty Burger but sadly for them the person working the register happens to be a newly employed Danny Fenton. Danny has an hour left of his shift and does not have enough energy left to play nice.

[pantpisser9000]

Combined Together, Chapter one: Professor, Engineer, Captain

Inkling was a simple sea-creature, he had lived there for who knows how long, (most sea creatures didn’t keep track of their age, especially later on, and Inkling was one of those creatures) and he had done many things. He actually had an English degree, (as well as one to teach and a decent amount of experience in some science-related fields–he was called “Professor” for a reason, after all) and had a plethora of knowledge both from his vast amount of books that some friends on land kept for him, the book his own ___ had given to him, and personal experience. He enjoyed teaching, going on expeditions with his students. But he was getting old, so now while he was frequently underwater, he went to the “above” as many called it less and less, usually just to teach a lesson or two or just study on his own. But, something had always bothered him. SO many creatures were in trouble under the water, and nobody above seemed to really care. 

There had been countless times where Inkling had seen sea creatures die when it could’ve been easily prevented, or rockslides or volcanoes erupt where many of the slower creatures unfortunately met their end. And Inkling wasn’t exactly a hero. Maybe he’d help if he could, but he was old. And that gave him an idea, well, after a while. He came up with it slowly–what if they formed a team of creatures that could help those poor animals that couldn’t help themselves? 

He knew he’d need a couple of things, but he figured the best things to find first were a Captain, (as mentioned before, he was quite old, and he definitely couldn’t lead any expeditions.) and he needed someone who was strong, leadership qualities, holding their breath underwater would be good as well. And, obviously, he’d need an engineer. If what he was planning to do was travel all across the ocean and help out sea creatures, they’d need a place to eat, sleep, ect ect in. Plus submarines of sorts since he doubted that there’d be any sea creatures on the ship besides himself, and not everyone can outswim a hungry shark or territorial eel. Of course, they’d need many more people, but those two were his main focus. Captain and Engineer. 

Now he just needed to find them. 

Tweak had always loved tinkering with mechanics and building and engineering things. She enjoyed it so much that she went to college for it and passed with flying colors. She was part bunny, but what was unusual about that was the fact she was mint-green, instead of brown or white or black or any other usual colors of a rabbit. Short hair that was often partially held back by a pinkish hued headband and gloves and heavy boots usually adorned on her hands and feet. 

She had grown up in the Everglades of Florida, but came out with a southern accent so thick you’d think she was from Texas. And that was because she only really ever talked to her Pa, who was from Texas, and the people living in the Everglades, who she usually had short enough interactions with that it didn’t affect how she spoke at all. Whenever she let her large floppy ears sprout from her head, she had excellent hearing, and her Pa insisted she was the best creature-tracker in the whole world. 

But, as much as she loved her Pa and the Everglades, she’d been itching for more for a while. Going to college in the city was about as long as she’d gone, and while she never had stopped building, she wanted a real experience. Sure, she had a quick repair job, but she only went in on some days and eventually, fixing things gets boring. She always had so many concepts and ideas for transportation devices to some brief ideas for submarines on the occasion. She just didn’t have the materials to make anything all that big. 

Taking a walk through the swamp they called the Everglades, Tweak of course saw the people that lived there. An alligator hybrid or two laying in the sun, their babies curled up next to them. Tweak almost audibly went “aww”, but she hushed herself–even if they were people, she’d also prefer to not have alligator teeth lodged in her flesh. She shivered thinking about it, the blood trickling down – she stopped herself, shaking her head. Nope. She thought. Not ganna think about that. She decided, continuing her walk, jumping over logs and puddles and trekking through the mud. She’d prefer to be building, but she didn’t have enough scrap metal and she wasn’t called into work, but… maybe she could go in, say she could take over for whoever was working that day? She knew most of the employees were just there for the money or to get some stuff on their resume, while Tweak did it….Partially for the money, yes, it was nice (even if she never used it–she actually had quite a bit saved) but mainly for the fact that she wanted to have something to tinker with and improve her skills constantly. Even if it was just fixing busted up motorcycles and cars.

So, she hopped in the old jeep, (it was still functioning well because of her assistance, which her Pa was massively grateful for.) and drove. It was a decent drive to the city, but Tweak was fine with it. She was with her best friend; Machinery. 

Eventually, after the drive, she had arrived. Parking the jeep in the lot of the place, she walked in, and she saw something unusual. She didn’t want to interrupt or eavesdrop, but it wasn’t her fault if she accidentally heard something. She did have wonderful hearing, after all. So, she listened in. It was an older man–complete with a pink-hued mustache and a bald head, a bowtie fastened around his neck and seated in a wheelchair. I think I could make him a better one, she thought to herself silently, but obviously didn’t say anything. The other person was her manager. 

The manager, smoking a cigarette; “Listen, dude.. I don’t think you’re gonna find anyone here willing to develop their goddehm lives to yer… mermaid rescue?” 

The older man, pursing his lips and motioning with his hands; “... Underwater creatures. And-”

The manager, annoyed, slamming his hand on the table; “ REALLY. Nobody’s willing to commit their life to yer passion project, old man.” 

The older man bit the inside of his cheek, closed his eyes and nodded, before wheeling out. But Tweak was interested as she watched him roll out. Saving underwater creatures? While she wasn’t a medic or healer by any means, she was an engineer. And she doubted that he would’ve gone to a mechanics shop if he didn’t need someone to design machines and “gizmos” as her Pa would call them. She walked up behind him. “H��howdy there!” she said, stuttering. The older man blinked. “Hello?” he responded, confusion lacing his voice. Tweak intertwined her hands. “I’m- I’m an engineer there. I accidentally heard a bit of your conversation with my manager, and.. What I'm saying is, I’m very curious and also very very interested.” she finished. The man smiled. “Really?” he asked, and she nodded. “Well, I mean I’d like to know more details but.. This is something that seems quite interesting.” The man nodded, motioning her to follow him. 

“Let’s chat at the local library,” he said, and she responded quickly, “Alright,”. She didn’t have work today, anyways. “I’m Professor Inkling,” he said as they walked/rolled, and she responded back. “My name’s Tweak.” Inkling nodded. “Jolly good to meet you, Tweak.” he said, and then they arrived at the local library. Tweak honestly didn’t know it was there, but she didn’t mention that to the Professor. 

They sat down at a secluded corner of the Library, Tweak nervously playing with her fingers and Inkling had his own intertwined professionally. “I suppose I should tell you more about the job,” he said, and started to speak. “It’s an organization I’m working on–still workshopping the name, before you ask–and it aims to help creatures who need it below the surface. You see, I’m part squid, and I have lived underwater for many many years. And while there’s doctors and police and all of those things up here, there simply is not down there. I believe some creatures deserve more of a chance, deserve some healthcare of some sort and sometimes, they need saving. So, I’ve decided to start this project. My plan is to assemble a base team of myself, a captain, and an engineer, and then after a test run or two, we’ll get more of a team.” he said, and Tweak nodded. “So, as an engineer, what’d I be doing?” she asked, and Inkling beamed. 

“Designing the main headquarters–almost like a huge submarine-house–and smaller submarines to go out on small missions on. As well as handy tools to help us throughout and all of that stuff.” he said, and Tweak was practically beaming. “That sounds terrific Prof! That’s… well, I’ve always loved building things, even as a little bun, and.. Well, let’s say I’ve come up with designs for submarines before. Not very complicated ones, but a start, yes.” she said, and the Professor grinned. “Wonderful! Are you free tomorrow as well?” he asked, and Tweak frowned. “Unfortunately, no. I’ve got work. But, they day afterwards I am!” she said, and Inkling clasped his hands together. “Alright. How about, the day after tomorrow, you bring some of those beta designs, we’ll look them over and.. You’ll decide if you wanna take part in this project and I’ll see if you’re top-notch.” he said, and Tweak smiled. 

She didn’t say it, but she knew that it was unlikely he was gonna find an engineer as passionate as her. “Anything else ya wanna know today? I ain’t busy.” she said, and Inkling pursed his lips. “Hm. I’d just like to know some things about you. Childhood, if that’s alright.” he said, and Tweak grinned. “I can do that. Let’s see, I grew up in the Everglades with my Pa. I only really talked t’ him and he grew up in Texas, so that’s why my accents all like this. My Ma divorced my Pa a while ago, back when I was a lil bunny. Hardly remember ‘er. But, my green fur I got from my Pa. Uh, I’ve always liked tinkerin’ around, and I played ‘round with scrap metal a lot and made lil inventions. Went to engineering school, got that job ‘cus I was bored, and then I met you.” she finished, and Inkling put his hand to his chin. “Being passionate is always good, so I appreciate that. I knew that some of the people working at that place were… less passionate and more money oriented, but I’m glad I found someone like you.” he said, and Tweak nodded. She practically had this job in the bag. “I know I’m technically the one bein’ interviewed, but I’d like to know about you, Prof” she said, tilting her head. The professor chuckled. 

“But of course. Well, I grew up on a sea mount–a wonderful place, really. Christmas was wonderful, we always decorated the golden corral. Hm, well, it wasn’t all that interesting. Basic sea life, honestly. Ate, slept, woke up, ate. For a while, I was fine with that. But, I wanted to know more about the world, and more importantly, about the ‘above’. So, I trained myself to turn myself more humanoid–it was quite hard to get past my legs and arms becoming tentacles, but I did it–and, while I had to use a wheelchair, I went to college for English studies. Became a professor. And, a while after that, I saw all of the creatures suffering, and I came up with this mission.” he finished, and Tweak was slightly surprised. She had no idea what life was like underwater. 

The professor cocked his head to the side. “So, is there anything else I should be made aware of?” he asked, and Tweak shook her head. “I don’t think so. I ain’t all that interestin’.” she said, and the Professor nodded. “I’ll see you in two days, then, Tweak.” he said, wheeling out of there. Tweak was practically shining. She hopped in the jeep, drove back to the Everglades and therefore back to her Pa’s station, and hopped out. “PA!” she yelled, and her father swiveled his head. “Howdy there Tweak,” he said, and Tweak rushed up to him.

“Pa, it’s not official yet, but I’ve got great news!” she said, and her father cocked his head in anticipation. “There’s this like, underwater expedition thingy that this older man–his name is Professor Inklin’ – is setting up, to help out the creatures below, and I’m bein’ pretty heavily considered to be the head engineer! ” she exclaimed, and her Pa looked a little… sad? “So you’ll be leavin?” 

Tweak blinked. She hadn’t thought about that. “Well.. I suppose, yeah.” she said. She bit the inside of her cheek. “Well, if it’s what ya wanna do, that’s dandy, I’ll just miss ya.” he said, and Tweak kept herself from tearing up a little. “I- Um.. didn’t think ‘bout that.” she said, gripping onto her wrist. Her Pa looked back up at her. “Hey, Tweak. It’s perfectly fine if ya wanna do that. Just… contact yer Pa every once in a while, yeah?” he requested, and Tweak nodded. She looked back at his old radio. Sure, it was old and decrepit, but it worked. She gave him a hug. “I’m not leavin’ just yet though.” she said, and her Pa patted her back. 

The next day was bore-inducing. Tweak was phenomenal, as always, but she was bored. She was entertained by her thoughts of coming up with designs for submarines and other such things, she basically already had a few ideas in her head. Obviously, they’d need a variety–she was thinking of one based off of a angler fish. Light on the top to help them see in the dark incase if they ever went deep down into the trenches or if it was night. A small, slender, fast one would be good too. They’d obviously need one with a towline, in case any of the others got damaged. But, she decided she should start simpler. She had the idea for a very very simple ‘submarine’, it was really just so she could figure out the framework and then improve on it. She was thinking pedals. 

And she continued to think about various submarines and everything all throughout her work day, and while it didn’t affect her work, she did get a little worried it was so she forced herself to stop thinking of all those ideas and focused. When she left that day, she was excited for the next. She was going to scribble down some of her design ideas when she got home. She was ecstatic about the whole thing and she had to force herself to get to sleep–she didn’t want to be tired when she met Inkling the next day. So, when she woke up, she hugged her dad, jumped in the jeep, and drove to the library directly instead of parking in her (hopefully soon, former) job’s workplace. She walked in, before realizing that she was an hour early. She slowly walked out, deciding to actually eat some breakfast and then she’d hopefully end up a tad early for the interview. Sauntering over to a nearby restaurant, she grabbed some tater tots and ate them with some carrots. Maybe not the healthiest, but she didn’t want to take too long. 27 minutes had passed. She paid, walked out, back into the library, and decided to touch up her designs. 

33 more long minutes later, and Inkling came over. “Hello there, Tweak” he said, rolling over and situating himself across the table from her. “I’d love to see the designs,” he smiled. “I will say, I’m… not very knowledgeable on engineering.” Tweak nodded. She’d been expecting that bit, to say the least. Sliding the designs over to him, she began to talk. “So, that first one is just to help me get the framework down. It’s really just a small, circular submarine’s framing and I’m thinking about testing out both an engine and pedals. Once I manage to figure out how that would work, I can start to work on this one.” she slid over another blueprint. “It’s lightly based on an anglerfish, as I’m sure you can tell. Light at the top for night-time and deep cavernous missions, hatch at the bottom, dispenser as the mouth.” she finished, and Inkling looked to be in utter awe. “These are wonderful , Tweak. Did you have any ideas in mind for the headquarters?” he asked, and she nodded again. “Wasn’t sure exactly what ya wanted, but I came up with this. I call it The Octopod. ” she said. She was by far most pleased with this design. It was based on an octopus, 8 extended arms and a big circular head, hatch as the mouth. Inkling looked pleased at this one, too. “I adore this, but I think four arms would be better, just as… Well, first, I don’t think we’ll need nearly that amount of extra space, and two… they’re very close in proximity, and we obviously couldn’t make the arms very stiff, and I don’t want them to bang each other up. Tweak blinked. Of course. “Y-yeah, that- makes sense. But, besides that..?” she asked, and Inkling looked up at her. 

“Well, you’re certainly hired, officially. And two, once you make those changes, I think.. Everything’s really quite perfect.” he said, and Tweak flushed a little. “I think that, once you get all of your notice stuff for your previous job settled… figure out exactly what you need, and tell me in about two weeks, Saturday. I’ll meet you here, same time. I’ll let you figure out everything you need, make some small model tests just to figure it all out, yes?” he said, and Tweak nodded. “Sounds wonderful, Prof.” she said, and the Professor waved goodbye. “Well, I suppose that’s goodbye for now then, new Head engineer” and he wheeled himself out. Tweak already had many ideas brimming in her brain. As she hopped in the jeep, many thoughts and ideas swarmed her mind. Though, she decided to talk to her manager first–better to file her two-weeks notice in as soon as she possibly could. 

Walking in, the bell ringing, the manager looked up from the computer. (he, while he didn’t need to, also worked the front desk. He wanted more money, to put it simply) “Tweak?” he asked, obviously confused. She walked over, putting her elbow on the counter and smiling. “Where do I get the papers for my two-weeks notice?” she asked. The manager looked up at her in surprise. “You’re.. . leaving this place? Why the hell would ya do that?” he asked, a little pissed off. She shrugged. “Found a job that I prefer quite a bit more.” her manager grinded his teeth a little. “Oh, what, you got a little low-rank position at a damn startup or somethin?” she looked at him. “Nope” she said, popping the ‘p’, “head engineer” she said, and her manager slammed his fists on the table. 

“DID YOU GO WITH THAT OLD GEEZER?” he asked, yelling. She pursed her lips. “So what if I did? He’s passionate and willing to give me all the materials I need.” she said, and she noticed her manager was practically glaring at her. “Yer the best engineer we have. Think this all back over. You’re ruinin’ yer life.” he finished. He was pissed, claws protruding from his nails and teeth sharp. Tweak would be lying if she said she wasn’t a tad scared. “To be honest… not really convincing me t’ stay.” she said. At this point, she just began to speak again, “I.. I think I’m just gonna quit. Right now.” she said, handing her resignation papers. She wasn’t stupid. She considered this possibility, and then she walked out, not particularly wanting to continue this conversation. Tweak realized what she’d just done. She could never go back to that job again. But really, would she ever want to go back? 

Tweak was certain she already knew the answer to that. No. 

Walking back to her jeep, she decided she’d work on her designs more at home. Perfect them. Make a few more. But first, she wanted to make that framework. It was simple, yes, but it would be fun. Plus, better to work with what she had to figure out how she’d make it with real materials. 

Hopping in the jeep, a little bit of the leather on the seat tearing off, she drove back into her swampy home. She looked to her dad, who was surprised she was home so early. “Tweak?” he asked, and Tweak grinned. “Heya Pa. I’m gonna work here, instead.” he looked like he might cry. “Sounds great, Tweak.” he said, sitting up in his chair a little. He was ecstatic, but obviously he wouldn’t say that. 

She pulled out the scrap metal she’d been saving, deconstructed a older project or two, and she thought she had just enough for the basic framework. A day or two of welding, her face practically melting off under the hot Florida sun, another few days of hitting in bolts and making the pedals work, and a last day doing touch ups.. She was done. Grinning, she was proud. Sure, it wasn’t the most glorious thing, but it was good for something she’d built with her own two hands with scrap material and rusty old tools. Now, she just had to test if it worked. Obviously, she couldn’t go deep, but she did test a little in shallow water–it worked. She had a feeling with more covering, the light she planned, and an engine? It’d be perfect. Wonderful, even. Her dad wasn’t 100% sure what was going on, in all honesty, but he thought it was good. “Better than i could ever dream o’ doin.” he had said, giving her a slap on the back. Tweak grinned. 

And so, those few weeks went quicker than she was expecting. She and her Pa ended up spending time together, as well, which was really quite nice. And so, it was Saturday. Her Pa had bought an old trailer/wagon like thing to attach to the jeep ages ago, and now it was finally going to come in use. She loaded the frame into it, and drove to the library perfectly on time, and the Professor was waiting for her. She was a minute late, but he didn’t seem to mind as he waved towards her. “Tweak, hello!” he said, and Tweak went over and sat across from him. 

“Hey Prof.” she said, hands laced together “I built a framework, or I suppose an idea of sorts for one of the submarine ideas. It’s not the best, but I was workin’ with scrap metal an’ some older tools,” she said. The professor blinked. “My, you’ve outdone yourself then!” he exclaimed, clasping his hands together. “Oh, an’, I worked on a lotta blueprints for some of the other submarines, too. Made a small model or two for them, as well.” she finished, and the professor seemed very pleased. “Wonderful, Tweak. If you could, do you have the lists of the materials you’d need?” she nodded. “I figured we’d probably only need the materials for the hq an’ one or two of the gups to start,” she said. The Professor nodded. “Can you meet up on Tuesday? I think I’d like to figure out where to get all of this.” Tweak nodded. “I’ll continue my work, then.” she said. The Professor nodded. “Oh, do you wanna see the framework, by the way? I’ve got it latched onta my jeep.” she said. 

Inkling looked surprised. “Why yes of course!” he declared, and Tweak led him out to the jeep. He looked to be in awe. “This was made with scraps ?” he asked, and she nodded. “It ain’t pretty, but it works. Obviously, the real submarines will be nicer, but I figured this could… possibly serve as a backup, if needed.” she said. Inkling nodded. “Excellent planning ahead.” Tweak, hands on her hips, smirked. She was way better off doing this. 

She and the Professor said their goodbyes fairly quickly. And now, she’d just have to wait. She had ended up tweaking (hah) the models a tad to make them a little better, and now it was Tuesday. Met up at the library again, same time once more. Inkling had a.. Hard to decipher look on his face. “So, Tweak. Some bad and good news. Good news is, majority of the materials I can get from here in Florida. Bad news is, there’s a few only available in… well, Britain being the closest.” Tweak blinked. “What materials?” she asked, and the professor slid the paper over. “Oh, that’s perfectly fine, I can get most of it done without those anyways! Faster than you can say buncha munchy crunchy carrots!” she said, laughing a little. She’d picked that expression up from her dad. “Sounds wonderful, then. I think I might search for a Captain there, as well. Given how I haven’t had much luck finding one here.” Tweak blinked. That made sense. She nodded. 

And for once in a long time, Tweak was very really excited. 

—

Captain Barnacles, leader of the…  Barnacles put down his pen. He couldn’t expect to be a Captain of anything yet, could he? He’d worked on a few ships before, a cruise once. Never suited his interest. He ran his hand through his short hair–he’d cut it before venturing out of his snow-filled home. Maybe a tad too short, but he didn’t care all that much. He liked to think he looked relatively friendly, despite his sharp teeth from his polar-bear side. He practically never had claws or his ears or fur out, he was pretty calm most of the time. Whenever he exercised though, it tended to come out, usually just ears, sometimes a muzzle and his hands more into paws. He usually exercised more at home, well, not really ‘home’ but his apartment. Speaking of his apartment, that’s what he was currently in. It was small, he had pulled together just enough money to buy a small apartment from all of his temporary gigs. He had done some laboring and construction a few times, worked a variety of jobs on a variety of ships, and maybe worked some retail for a couple of months when he first moved to England. His sister, Bianca, was content on staying up in their icy home, but Barnacles wasn’t. He had known exactly what he wanted to do since he was a cub. 

Sighing, he decided to close the journal he had started keeping since he had moved there, and walked out. It was a nice day. Well, it would be for normal people, but being part polar bear and all it would’ve led him to overheating, easily. But, he had been given a cold suit. It was pajamas, technically, but he always just layered other clothes with it and usually he was just a little warm instead of dying from heat exhaustion at all times. 

He just had a temporary construction job at the moment, and he was only needed on weekdays, and today was thankfully Saturday. He decided to stop at a shop to get a meal. Ramen noodles. He was practically on a college budget with the cheap –and probably not exactly great for him– food he ate everyday, but he didn’t have much of a choice. This was his life until he could eventually and hopefully work on a real ship or just be in charge of something. 

Grabbing the noodles, (all filled to the brim with non-meat protein, because in this world, it’d be much less moral) and checking out by himself, he walked back to his apartment, locking the door behind him. Everyone knew he was a goddamn polar bear, could probably crush their skulls if he wanted, ( he would never, though. He thinks he’d throw up if he tried.) so there wasn’t really a point, but he figured he might as well.

He grabbed a pot from a cabinet, filled it up with some water, placed the thing on the stove, turned the heat up, and waited. Glancing over at his weights, he decided it couldn’t hurt. Picking one up, about 30 pounds, and then the other, lifting and lowering them and doing so in a few different poses and in different ways, he heard the bubbling of the water. Placing the weights down, wiping the sweat off his brow and mustache and combing through his hair with his hands, he walked over. His ears were polar bearish at the moment, now, instead of regular human ears.

Opening a packet of ramen with ease, he turned down the heat, broke the ramen, and dropped it into the boiling water. He yoinked a spatula, breaking it apart in the water with some weirdly satisfying crunch es, and he grabbed the packet of flavoring. He tore it open with his teeth, before dumping it all into the pot and stirring. He broke it up a little more, stirred, waited, and repeated for a little while until he considered it done. 

He grabbed a bowl, carefully poured in the substance over the sink, and grabbed a fork. Then, he took his dinner over to his computer. It definitely wasn’t the newest model, and the guy wasn’t super super tech savvy, but he made it work. He had an account or two on a few job listing sites, and he thought his profile looked nice. A picture of himself, from the shoulders up, as the profile picture. He was smiling in it, but not with his teeth. Of course, he had to state he was part polar-bear, but he put it as a strength, as it did help make him stronger. 

Scrolling through the site, screen illuminating his features and scooping mouthfuls of ramen into his mouth, his eyes widened–the perfect job offering. It was posted with someone with no profile picture, which while a tad suspicious, not incriminating by any means. It read, plain and simple; 

Looking for a Captain for a new expedition on the high seas. 

Barnacles looked at the requirements for the Captain, and he hoped he met all the standards for it, this seemed like a huge possible opportunity! 

(Physically) Strong

Well, he definitely had that covered. He didn’t particularly like to brag or anything like that, but he was much stronger than the average person. Again, like mentioned prior; he could crush anyone’s skull if he wanted to. He was strong. He looked at the rest of the qualities needed, then. 

Leadership qualities (not shy, kind, direct, ect.) 

While he wasn’t as confident about this one, he was also confident this lined up perfectly with him as well. He had always been first in line when he and the rest of the Polar scouts went out on their little expeditions. Always led, always in front, always directed everyone (politely, of course) and he liked to consider himself a leader. So, that one checked out as well. He scrolled onwards. 

Quick thinker in stressful situations

Of course, he immediately remembered when he had been stuck in that hole when he was a child, and he hadn’t thought quickly then, but… if they were out in the open ocean, that wouldn’t be a problem, right? He thought back to his scout days again. He had saved Tracker quickly that one time, and he had always been able to move quickly multiple times before that on previous badge-earnings, so he believed he fit that requirement as well.

Kind, a people person. Able to resolve conflicts (most of the time) as well.

Barnacles, while some people feared him, did consider himself nice. He had gone out of his way to help people as much as reasonably possible, and he was nice to everyone. Usually he could start up a conversation easily, as long as the other person was even somewhat willing. Even though he didn’t get to talk to people besides the other scouts, (including his sister) and Professor Natquik, he considered himself good at communicating. He’d solved a conflict or two between the Polar scouts as a kid, so it didn’t seem impossible by any means that he qualified for this.

Can steer/has some experience steering a ship of any kind

He grinned at this. He definitely knew how to steer a ship. He’d taken over in an emergency situation once or twice, and had a steering wheel he could connect to his computer to practice–which he did only a little less than exercising. 

Able to swim at least decently well

Again, this was no problem–he knew how to swim quite wonderfully. He and Bianca were part polar bear, after all. They had swam very very long distances before, and Barnacles had loved taking icy swims when he was younger! It was part of his very identity, so this was not nearly even a ‘maybe’, he fit perfectly with this bit. 

There was a few more qualities, but Barnacles matched up very nicely with all of them–he was perfect for the job. So, he clicked the link at the end for the man who was hiring’s email address. He sent a simple email, talking about how he had all the qualities for the job perfectly and was very very willing to meet up in person to discuss further details on the matter. 

He was sent a response only 33 minutes after. It was overwhelmingly professional, not a single mistake in its words. After a bit of emailing back and forth, they had eventually decided on a date, time, and place. A library nearby, and they were starting the interview that next day, at 3:00 PM. Barnacles could hardly wait. 

The next day, he had woke up bright and early, at 7:00am. Sure, it was a long while until the interview, and he could barely keep in his excitement. Part of him wanted to gush and tell Bianca about it, but he figured he should wait if –or until– he actually got the job before raving about this to her. This could be a new part of his life! Finally, something he’d always wanted for years, a Captain aboard the… Well, he didn’t know the ship’s name, but he was still excited nonetheless! 

He worked out a tad bit to cool off his excitement, for an hour or two until he was (kinda) tired out. He had practically unending stamina, so he was only sweating by the end of it.

Then, he came up with a plan. Eat breakfast, exercise again and then since he wanted to look nice and fresh for the interview which he was so desperately awaiting, he would take a nice, long shower. He decided on toast with that artificial meat on it.. It was pretty accurate tasting, or so Barnacles had heard, (he’d only ever eaten fish, never anything else) so he sandwiched it together. He didn’t bother putting down a plate, as he devoured the whole thing within mere seconds. Sure, not the most filling, but he usually had bigger lunches. 

Hopping on the treadmill once again, he was on it for a shorter amount of time. Only 30 minutes. Wiping the beads of sweat gathering on his face, he headed into the bathroom. Stripping down quickly and twisting the knob, he stepped in and began his long as all hell shower.

Barnacles enjoyed taking long showers and baths–but unlike the majority, his were frigid and calming instead of hot and calming. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a bathtub in his apartment, (Something he was saddened by when he realized) so he had to resort to his less preferred option, showering. Still, he tried to make the best of it. He took about an hour-long shower, (the other people living in the complex certainly didn’t care how long he showered, given how he’d never take up any hot water. In fact, when he had first moved in, he had asked if that rule counted for cold showers, and the person running the complex looked at him funny and simply said ‘no’.) and by the time he had dried off it was 9:44am. Still a few more hours. 

He pulled on his other pair of cold-suit-pajamas, then the layer on top was just a nice-enough looking dress shirt and jeans. He thought he looked nice in his outfit. He looked longingly at his computer and the steering wheel, and he figured it certainly couldn’t hurt. 

About three hours later, he turned off his computer. Maybe he had played for a little long, but he wanted to be prepared! Who knew what kinda tests the interviewer would pit against him! …Or maybe because he was slightly bored. Who knows. Either way, it was now 12:45. Just a few more measly hours until the interview which he was so desperately awaiting. 

He would probably eat lunch in around 45 minutes. Maybe he’d… go take a walk, or something. Honestly, he wasn’t really all that sure. But, maybe that’d do some good for him rather then just going on a treadmill. He’d be able to see the sights…or something like that. Not like the sights were all that amazing, but maybe he could kill an hour or two by doing it. 

So, that’s exactly what he did for 45 minutes, walking along, his tall stature scaring one or two of the smaller hybrid people. Eventually, he had gotten hungry again, and even though he was usually one for something a little healthier… he had just eaten instant ramen for dinner yesterday. And at the very least, he exercised all the damn time, so he didn’t have to worry too much, or at least he hoped so. Either way, he stopped at a quick burger place, paid and got a burger, and devoured it. He was a tad hungry but.. That was fine. He’d eat a snack or something in a little. 

He had gotten and eaten the thing in around 5 minutes. It was now 1:36. He could barely wait, and he came up with a short-term plan once again. Go back to his apartment, freshen up a little, grab a snack, and then just head to the library. Sure, he’d be VERY early but he honestly didn’t care much. They were doing the interview at a library, after all. He could just read. Maybe on captain-related things, or for tips on interviews. So, that’s exactly what he did. He arrived at the library at around 2:07, and picked up a few books. 

Interviews for dummies

You’re a captain, now! 

Ship maintenance & managing 101 

And eventually, at 3 o'clock on the dot, a man came in. He was old, obviously, Barnacles could tell that much. Barnacles himself was only 29–this man looked to be around 70 or 80. Toned pink mustache, blue monocle, bowtie situated around his neck. He was in a wheelchair of sorts. He waved, “You must be Mr. PolarBear, yes?” and Barnacles nodded. “And you’re Professor Inkling?” he asked back, to which the professor nodded to as well. 

“That I am.” he said, approaching a table. “Over here, the interview has begun.” Barnacles nodded, placing the books back where he found them swiftly and walking over to the man, and sitting on the chair adjacent to him. “So, Mr.PolarBear.. What’s your story?” he asked, elbows on the table and leaning in. “Just Barnacles, please, Professor. But I uh.. I’m from the arctic, with me being part polar bear and all. I was in this little organization called the Polar scouts.” he began, putting his hands in his lap as Professor Inkling listened. “That’s what made up most of my childhood, being a Polar scout. I got almost all the badges, besides one. The walrus help badge. They never accepted my help. But, either way, we went on many little adventures, even helped a scientist named Professor Natquik once or twice. We ventured into caves, swam across the icy sea, earned various badges.” he said, looking back up at the Professor. 

“Interesting. So you have team building experience, swimming and helping?” he asked, to which Barnacles nodded. “Not to toot my own horn, but I saved some of the other members on the occasion. Once, a large ice piece almost fell onto my friend, Tracker, and I managed to lift it for enough time for him to crawl back out.” he said, and the Professor nodded again. “And I’ve swam my whole life. I’d say I’m at least decent at it. I always led the rest of the troop, too. We all helped each other at various times.” he continued, and the Professor nodded. 

“That’s all very good. Do you have experience with ships and steering, or even Captaining?” he asked, and Barnacles nodded before speaking again. “I’ve worked on ships off and on for a while, and I.. Well, I have this fake steering wheel that connects to my computer, and I practice steering quite a bit. I did it for a few hours today.” he continued again, then, “I have worked on actual ships usually as a cabin boy or once a lieutenant.” 

Inkling nodded again. “So far, out of all the ones I’ve interviewed for this position, you have by far the most experience.” he said, jotting a note on some paper Barnacles hadn’t even noticed he had brought. “While I will say, you have a very large chance of getting in, I have another interview or two that I’d like to conduct first. I’ll contact you if you’ve gotten the job.” Inkling said, and Barnacles was about to burst with excitement, but just nodded calmly. “Thank you so much for this opportunity.” Barnacles said, and the professor smiled, nodded, and silently wheeled off. 

Barnacles when he got home immediately headed for the treadmill after stripping his nice clothes off. He needed some way to get out his energy, and this was how he was doing it. He was filled to the brim with happiness–he was the one who the professor was most likely going to select? That was wonderful! But of course, he tried his best to contain himself. There were still a few more interviewees. He had to calm down a little. 

But, just a week later, when his hope was beginning to dwindle, he got a notification in his email. It was from Professor Inkling. He said that he’d gotten the job. Barnacles practically jumped for joy, but maintained his composure–this was a pretty serious job. He couldn’t be super excitable like he was at the moment, so he took a few deep breaths and just smiled, responding professionally and happily, expressing gratitude and that he would go wherever. After exchanging emails back and forth, Barnacles and Inkling had come to an agreement. That next Saturday, they’d go aboard a ship, (Inkling had already had a reserved spot for himself and another) and go to the US. Barnacles had technically been to the US multiple times before, (Alaska), but he had never gone to anywhere like Florida. Apparently, that’s where the Engineer was stationed, along with the prototype, or more so the first version? Of the ship, The Octopod. 

Apparently, it still needed a paint job, but that wasn’t needed for a quick adventure. Just to see how it’s working before they got the rest of the crew, and the newly-crowned Captain was truly excited. A crew. His crew. Inkling said that they’d chat on the boat about what types of people they’d need, and the jobs and everything about this whole experience. 

And Barnacles could hardly wait. He finished up the rest of his construction work for the week, and even if it was technically supposed to be a two weeks notice, the employee decided that one week was better then nothing. Barnacles already had everything packed up, figured some stuff out with his apartment. His photos, Polar scout badges and old uniform, old sock-puppet, a majority of his clothes– everything. He was prepared and he was damn ready to start this new venture in his life. And he was excited. And the week dragged on and on, and then finally after what felt like an eternity…

It was time. Barnacles slid on his backpack, packed up his suitcase. He had (sadly) sold his treadmill, but that was fine. At this point, he didn’t care about a treadmill–he had his dream job practically secured. 

Rolling his suitcase out the door, wheels clacking against the concrete surface and keys given to the front desk of the apartment, he walked out, ready to start this now era of his life. Barnacles walked out onto the boardwalk. He saw the Professor in front of the ship, waving him over as they both walked on. “Barnacles, hello” he stated, motioning for Barnacles to follow him, which was done immediately. Inkling motioned to a room, and handed Barnacles a key. “This trip will take a few days, so.. And I would’ve chosen by air, but there unfortunately somehow wasn’t any to Florida at the moment, and I’m not exactly accustomed to trekking across the US.” he said, and Barnacles nodded. He wouldn’t admit it, but while he certainly wasn’t scared of going on a plane, he’d rather the Professor not see him act at least a little stupid on their first trip. 

Barnacles unlocked the door, walking in. It was.. Small, but not small enough to trigger his claustrophobia by any means. It was taller than him, and the Hammock was low enough that he wouldn’t bump his head when he stood up, and there was enough room for his stuff. Of course, he’d prefer something bigger, (he was a tad afraid he would forget where he was in the middle of the night and then have his claustrophobic tendencies pop, because it was tiny enough to where that could happen.) but beggars can’t be choosers. 

He sighed. He’d make it work. He’d hopefully learn a little more about the ship from Inkling, some of the crew plans, ect. Setting down his stuff, (but deciding not to unpack it–he’d only be on this ship for a couple days.) he walked back out. Inkling wasn’t in sight, at all. Barnacles decided to take a look around the ship. It wasn’t huge by any means, but it also wasn’t all that small. A medium sized ship, to summarize. He wandered aimlessly for a little, until he came across Inkling again, reading a book. Inkling looked up, and immediately waved to the new Captain. “Barnacles, hello.” he said, smiling and Barnacles sat down at the chair adjacent to him, and Inkling set down his book. “So, Barnacles. I suppose I should tell you a little more about the ship, yes?” he said, and Barnacles nodded. “I’d love that, yes.” he replied, smiling and Inkling pulled out a blueprint. “This is just the basic design, of course, but..” Barnacle looked in utter awe–it was wonderful. 

It was clearly octopus based, with four arms that all had rooms. “It can hold about 7 people, with two people in two of the extended pods, and me in the library, the scientist in the lab, and Tweak, our engineer, in the launch bay.” he said, pushing it towards Barnacles. “That’s wonderful” he simply said, overtaken by the wonder of the thing. 

“So far, we’ve got you, the Captain, Tweak, the engineer, and me. We’ll obviously need a medic, and a scientist or biologist of some sort. We’ll need someone to man the thing, so likely a person who has experience in IT work, and a lieutenant. Second in command, I should say. Plus, a photographer, so we’d need one of those people who can do both.” he finished, and Barnacles nodded. “I unfortunately don’t think I know anyone who’d be interested.. The only one I can think of seems content where he is, and he doesn’t exactly seem the type to travel across the ocean. He’s stationed in the Arctic.” 

Inkling put a hand to his chin. “Hm. I can think of one person, but I think she’s pretty happy on land, as well. I suppose we’ll just have to figure it out some other way to get more crew members,” Inkling said, and Barnacles agreed. 

Looked like they’d just have to figure that out later. 

—

When the Captain and the Professor arrived, Tweak didn’t know exactly who or what she was expecting. She knew the Professor was part squid–the guy had mentioned it, after all. But, she found it interesting the Captain, (whose name she ended up learning to be Barnacles,) was part Polar Bear. She was.. Slightly curious what a polar bear had been doing in London of all places, but she decided to save that question for another time. For now, she was focused on first impressions. Reaching out her hand, she said, “Heya there, Cap.” she figured that maybe she should’ve been more professional, but he shook her hand. “Hello, Tweak, is it?” he asked. She doubted he’d lived in London for all that long but he certainly had a slight accent. Maybe that was just compared to her jarringly southern one, though. He was much taller than Inkling and Tweak, –at least more than 6’0, Tweak though– with dark brown skin, white buzzed hair and a more squarish mustache compared to the professor’s monopoly-man esc one(It didn’t help his case that the Professor also wore a monocle). Of course, the Octopod was … certainly not the most beautiful looking. Tweak had a feeling this would probably end up being the prototype, as if she were to remake it it’d likely be smoother, as the metal plates were more obvious and a tad jarring. It was also silver, and Tweak thought it’d be better as a different color. A yellow or orange, maybe. She’d thought about blue, but she didn’t want it to blend in–that wasn’t the intent. 

“This is.. Wonderful-” Captain Barnacles said, in awe. Tweak was honestly quite proud of herself for how she’d constructed it in such a short amount of time. Along with the first two submarines, which she’d named ‘gups’. Tweak was thinking “-A” for the frame, but she settled on F instead. She was planning on making a lot of gups, and she didn’t want one of her actually good ones to end up with “F”. She figured she’d follow the alphabet normally besides that, though. The next one she’d name would be the Gup B, then C, and then so on. 

“Now, I’ll need those materials ya got from Brit-land, and that’ll probably take another couple o’ days, a week or two tops.” she said, and both Inkling and the Captain bobbed their heads in agreement. She looked directly at the Captain, pointing, then. “Fer you, I have a simulator or two I’d like to run ya through. I’m sure yer experienced in all o’ that already, but..” she shrugged. “Better safe than sorry, yeah?” she said. The Captain, hands together behind his back, (Tweak thought he might be a slight bit overserious) nodded to that, and Tweak decided to show them to the small space Inkling had rented out over there for training related purposes. 

She showed him how to work the computer, and he seemed like he was excited but didn’t want to show it? She decided to not say anything though, she could very well just be misinterpreting what he was talking about anywho, she had literally known him for less than a hour. 

So, she gathered up the remaining materials and got to work quickly. Popping this into that and screwing one thing into the next and welding a thing or two, making a few final touches and finally, after a little less than a week… she was done. The Captain was an utter expert at the game, and Tweak knew Inkling had picked the right guy. She hadn’t managed to talk to him much, but when she did, he was very… 

Well, he had qualities a captain should have. Respectful, sociable, (even if a little over-professional at times), generally a nice person, and Tweak already could tell he’d be a wonderful leader. Seemed like Inkling had a knack for picking out the right people. Not to brag, obviously, but Tweak considered her designs quite wonderful. Everyone else seemed to agree. 

Tweak was excited the entire time, even if this ship was technically a prototype. Tweak had a feeling it’d have problems, but since she wouldn’t be able to see them until the thing was in action, she decided not to worry about it. She’d mention that, of course, to Inkling and the Captain, but it wasn’t something that would be a super big problem. She hoped. 

It was only a few days later until it was ‘done’. Sure, it certainly wasn’t the final final product, (Inkling said he had enough materials to make three more if needed(even if Tweak thought they’d only need one more at the most)) with its uneven plating on the outside and silvery gleam, instead of the plain matte color that it would eventually don. 

Even so, it was time to board. Tweak, the Captain, and Inkling all clamored on. They decided to leave most everything at the port–this was pretty much just a test run, if anything. The plan was to move the thing from Florida, (the current place they were at,) to Alaska, then back. The Captain wanted to visit his sister, who was pregnant. They were just planning on stopping there to say hi, spend a night or two, then go back. They all decided that it was best to not bring anything important, just some clothes and other supplies. So, they got on. 

“Tweak, raise me up,” the Captain ordered, calm and collected. “You’ll be up there faster then I can finish sayin’ “buncha munchy crunchy c-' ''' and the Captain was up. It had been decided at that point that the Captain would mainly do steering in areas where the main IT worker couldn’t handle or couldn’t be as precise in. But, partially since they didn’t have that IT person at the moment and partially because the Captain wanted to practice, he’d be doing most of the steering. They’d have to stop around 4-6 times, because while the Octopod was faster than a regular ship, it wasn’t exactly supersonic. 

The first day went smoothly, and Tweak checked out the area they were gonna land in in the Gup A before they landed, just so they wouldn’t crush any creatures. (That’d go directly against their cause, after all.) Tweak made a mental note that once they got back to Florida she’d add a tracking/heat signal sort of thing to the Octopod so they wouldn’t have to check every time they wanted to land in a separate Gup. She’d be making a lot of those mental notes. 

Sleep was actually pretty good–The Captain was a bit concerned on how Inkling slept in the Library, or what would end up being the library, (Inkling had only brought a small amount of books, instead of filling up the entire thing like he would eventually) nevertheless though he always ended up seeming refreshed in the morning, so Barnacles let those worries fade away. Tweak thought about how she’d bring her gaming system down eventually. She had always played late into the night back at home, and she wanted to reflect that here, too. 

Tweak also realized she needed coffee. Just another idea for her to implement, she thought to herself, sighing. When she brought that up, though, to the Captain; “I’m not sure coffee’s a good idea. Not exactly a wonderful thing to rely on..” he said, and Inkling piped up from behind him. “Yes, he’s correct. Not all that healthy, nor is it good for.. Most parts of everyone.” Tweak sighed. “Hot cocoa then, maybe?” she asked, one hand on her hip and squinting a little, a slightly displeased look on her face. She was partly joking, in all honesty. Inkling lit up. “Wonderful idea, Tweak!” he exclaimed, and the Captain followed suit soon after. “I do believe that’d be better” he said. 

Tweak blinked in confusion, but she decided to not question it. Maybe she’d just.. Secretly add caffeine to her own. She shrugged. Good plan, Tweak! she thought to herself completely un-sarcastically. The next few days were relatively uneventful–say, besides a conversation or two. Actually, the Captain and Tweak had a somewhat interesting one about games; 

“I know y’ said ya played some ship-steering simulator games, but.. Any other games?” Tweak asked one night, when the Octopod had landed for the day. Her elbow was on a table and had a questioning expression laid on her face. “No, not really. Never been the type, I suppose.” he replied, and Tweak was a little sour. “Maybe I should get you into a game or two. You seem like the Meowdew valley type.” she said. She could certainly imagine him playing that game. “What’s that?” he asked, and Tweak grinned. “It’s just a little farming game with some dungeon and monster-slaying stuff on the side. Fun little characters, too. I like Baru a lot–she’s fun.” Tweak said. “Maybe I’ll give it a try,” the Captain said, before putting his hand to his mouth, yawning. “I best get to sleep now, though.” he said. Tweak grinned. “Night, then.” she said, waving goodbye as he flung himself down the Octoshoot. Tweak went to bed after that, too. Even if it was quite early for her. 

It seemed like the Captain enjoyed going to bed and waking up early, because Tweak felt the ship moving at around 6:00am. Inkling wasn’t good at the systems, but he could press the button to raise the Captain to the steering wheel just fine. Speaking of Inkling, he really appreciated something in particular Tweak had done–adding magnets in the floors of the Octopod, so he could sit on a specialized chair (also with magnets) that could easily move. Tweak had a better idea that he could control more easily, but this was just a temporary solution, as the chair had a button so that it could stay in place. 

The days passed uneventfully, and a few more stops later, they had arrived at their destination–Alaska. Even if they were just staying there a day or two, Tweak was a little worried about the systems freezing while they were there, but it was summer, so hopefully that wouldn’t be a problem. “Cap, Inkling, hop in the GUP A,” Tweak said, motioning towards the thing. The Captain quickly clamored in, helping Inkling in as well. Tweak climbed in afterwards, and they cruised out of the Octopod, and then the light from the angler-fish inspired GUP surfaced in the cold Alaskan waters, and the Captain hopped out. Tweak and Inkling were bundled up, while the Captain was just wearing normal clothes. They didn’t have proper uniforms yet, so all of them were wearing their day-to-day clothes. The Captain’s face lit up as a woman approached, and he ran over. “Bianca! It’s so good to see you!” he exclaimed, and the woman, who Tweak assumed was Bianca, hugged Barnacles lightly. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” she said, and the Captain faced towards Inkling and Tweak. “Professor, Tweak, this is my twin sister–Bianca.” he introduced, and the two of them waved. “I’m sorry it’s such a short visit, but I haven’t seen you in so long” the Captain said, and Bianca laughed. “It’s quite alright. Here, why don’t I lead you to my home?” she asked, and they all nodded. 

It was homey inside, and the Captain seemed excited to be there. “I will say, i’m excited to meet my niece and nephew,” Tweak overheard, remembering that his sister was pregnant. While she feared it would be a little boring, it was a nice change of style from the bleakness of the prototype Octopod. She’d make the real thing a lot nicer, more homey. She had a idea for that one pod they hadn’t really decided to do anything with–entertainment room. She decided ping-pong was a good idea. 

The day and a half went by uneventfully–Tweak didn’t end up talking too much to Bianca. Not because she didn’t like her or anything, it’s just she didn’t really get the chance to. Bianca and the Captain had a lot of catching up to do though, apparently. The two of them left once to go on an icy swim, which made Tweak shiver just thinking about it. She was also not accustomed to the coldness, either, especially being from Florida and living there all of her life prior to all of this stuff. 

She appreciated Bianca’s hospitality to no end, though. She made them food and provided them with things during their stay, and was just as nice when they hopped back inside the GUP A and headed back to the Octopod. It took a second to open up, but thankfully did. Luckily, nothing seemed to be frozen from first inspection, so Tweak thought they were in the clear. How wrong she’d been. 

A little more than halfway back from their journey—Tweak, at this point, had really thought that the icy temperature wouldn’t affect the ship at all, and only seemed to cause a few minor issues–Tweak was up and about. Since they had already done this route before, Tweak actually had an auto-pilot mode on to go back, but suddenly, the Octopod tilted, and Tweak felt her whole body slammed against the side of the Octopod’s window, her cheek squished up against the glass. “Oh me oh my–” she muttered, as she saw the Octopod had somehow swerved off course, and was going to head straight into a wall. She backed up, and hit the Octo-alert, and the WOOP, WOOP, sound echoed through the Octopod, and she shouted, “Everybody, to th’ launch bay!” as she jumped into the Octoshoot herself. She knew they were going to crash, and there was nothing she could do about it. She knew exactly what was wrong, too. She had seen it, but had figured it’d be fine. Now, it was blatantly obvious it wasn’t. She made it to the bay, and she saw the Captain and Inkling come out right after her from different shoots. “Everyone, into the GUP A!” the Captain said, and while that was already Tweak’s plan, she appreciated him saying it. 

He was a lot more commanding, and eventually they all got into it, and Tweak raced them out of there fast enough, and she turned the gup around as it crashed into the wall, dust stirring up. She felt tears in her eyes, but quickly wiped them away. “It was just a prototype, anywho..” she said. Sure, she knew this likely wasn’t going to be the last Octopod, but this was not the outcome she was expecting. Captain Barnacles was already looking at the map. “Tweak, do we have enough battery to get to Florida safely?” he asked, and Tweak pressed a few buttons. She grit her teeth. “It’d be cuttin’ it close. But we can make it.” she said, looking back at the Captain and Inkling. Captain Barnacles nodded. “Best not waste any time, then.” he ordered, and Tweak set course to Florida. 

Those few days were.. Something. They all decided it’d be best for them to get there as soon as possible, so Tweak and Barnacles took turns sleeping and steering, and eventually, a little less then a week later, (the Gup A was obviously slower then the Octopod had been) they were back in Florida. 

Inkling turned to Tweak. “Do you know what went wrong, particularly?” Tweak grimly nodded. “I know exactly what happened. I’m gonna make sure it won’t happen again.” she stated, and both the Captain and Inkling nodded. “Do you think the next version will have problems again?” he asked, and Tweak shook her head. “I know exactly what went wrong, exactly how to fix it, and how to fix some other minor issues. I don’t think there’ll need to be another Octopod after this next one.” she said. He looked to Barnacles, then back to Tweak. “So, we could possibly start looking for people in other positions? For example, the medic or IT person?” he asked, and Tweak nodded. “Maybe in a few months, when it’s a little further along. You’ll have to make another trip to Brit-land, Inkling. I have a feeling it might be easier to get some of the bigger materials I need there, too.” she said, and both Inkling and the Captain nodded. “I wouldn’t mind going as well,” he said, and Tweak nodded to that. “I’ll get together a list, we should meet at the library tomorrow.” 

And that they would do, the next day all three met in the library and discussed the plans. The idea was the Professor and the Captain would go back to Britain to get the materials Tweak needed. Tweak could get a lot done while they were away, though. She also had a few people who were willing to work there to make it go by quicker and make it better–given that she'd worked on the prototype by herself. A lot of people had recently graduated from an engineering school, and most were looking for work, so this could help them out while they looked for more permanent jobs. 

Tweak grinned. They had a plan, and soon, they’d have a full crew. 

[tssdresses]

Ultimate Trop Bastard Lovechild | Bullet Fics

"Mysterious Masked Moonlighter-- Seen in Daylight!"

This is the first part of the fic series. There might be parts that happen before this chronologically, but this one is going to set up all the characters and how they know each other, even if half of them aren't actually present in the fic.

Virgil and Patton are meeting in the library at UTBL University to body-double and study. Between Virgil and Patton, we have no more than two degrees of separation to the rest of the sides.

While the pair of them are studying, Logan, librarian and Virgil's boss, stops by. Logan says hello, talks to them for a little bit, reminds the two to take time to care for themselves in addition to studying, and then leaves them to it.

In conversation with Logan, the audience learns what Virgil and Patton are studying. Virgil is studying anthropology and creative writing, and Patton is what college students refer to as 'insane,' or 'double-majoring.' He's studying pre-law and journalism, with a minor in philosophy (focus in ethics).

Patton also asks after Miss, Logan's cat, and Logan remarks that she's as spoiled as ever.

After Logan leaves, the two continue to study.

Patton remembers something that happened in class the pervious day, and asks Virgil about it.

In Patton's journalism class, a young boy climbed into the classroom through a window (first floor) and presented the class with an article the kid had written. The article covered the vandalization (graffiti) of one of the other buildings, but also read like an art analysis, and was pretty well done. Then, he jumped out the same window, sprinted across campus, and was gone.

The weirdest thing, somehow, about the kid was that he looked like a smaller version of the one of the drama professors.

Virgil had gotten within friendship range of Roman a few semesters previous when they joined the drama club to work backstage, and still helps out with the backstage/techno side of productions.

The only response Virgil has to Patton's story is, "Yeah, that sounds like Remus."

(Remus was also the one who did the graffiti, but that wasn't covered in the presentation.)

The two return to studying.

Virgil, turning a page in their textbook, mentions that they read an interesting article that morning. Virgil summarizes the article while staring Patton down.

This article summarized all the heroisms of the newly-named hero, 'Brightlight,' who has spent the last several months stopping petty crime and doing minor heroisms. Last week, in the middle of the day, an office building exploded, and Brightlight saved the workers inside. While doing so, Brightlight learned the building had been sabotaged-- someone had planted bombs in the building after stealing company secrets. Brightlight's name came from one of the people he saved, who called him 'a bright light in the dark,' when they really thought they were going to die.

Patton says the name Brightlight is kind of silly, but that it's good those people were saved! Then, Patton quickly changes the subject and asks Virgil how much coffee they've had today. He remarks that Virgil's ability to drink so much coffee without dying is like "magic."

Patton and Virgil stare at each other for exactly thirty seconds before returning to their studying. (Patton is aware that Virgil is some kind of magical being. Virgil is aware that Patton is the superhero. They have an unspoken deal to not talk about it until they graduate.)

Shortly after, the two wrap up studying. Patton needs to go to work, and mentions that his boss, Janus, has some sort of new recipe he wants to try. Virgil says that his dad's last appointment should be wrapping up soon, and he's going to join his dads for dinner.

And thus, we have so many plugs to put new/continuing fics into.

UTBL Post List of Fics Masterpost, Jr.

[sparkles-and-trash]

Bookstore AU (dabihawks, tddk, spinneraki, togachako)

dabihawks art -

notes: yet another little au that won't leave my brain, but at least I'm writing again, so... a win is a win! maybe I'll do something more with it (one-shot?), maybe not, time will tell!

Dabi is the owner of Clandestine Books and Beverages, a small bookstore and coffeeshop that lies on a street corner on an ordinary street corner in a medium sized city

it doesn't really look like anything too special, your standard cozy store with dark mahogany shelves and too many plants and nice big windows that lets in the sunlight of the few days it doesn't rain around there

also, the owner is pretty damn grumpy

to be fair, he got really tired of people trying to flirt with him when he first opened the store

having white hair, turquoise eyes and being a member of the Todoroki family, mixed with the fact that he has this dark and mysterious aura going with the whole bookstore owner thing made people kinda crazy

but rumor got out pretty fast that flirting with him got you nothing but an uncomfortable stare of death

at first, he really built his clientele on having a lot of rare books, and if he didn't have what you were looking for, he would find a way to get it for you

when his friend from college approached him about the idea of starting off a small coffeeshop in the store, however, the customers really started pouring in

Tenko might be a bit awkward and strange, but he makes the best coffee in town, hell, maybe in all of Japan

pretty soon, Touya had to accept his fated hire a few other employees

...he hired two of his friends, but hey, he still did it, so it counts

Spinner was kinda hesitant, he was nervous that having a animorph working for him would set Touya and Tenko back, but they wouldn't hear a word of it

now, Spinner actually knows a lot about literature, and while he's a little shy, he's also great with the customers

also he gets to look at Tenko all day, which is worth more than the paycheck for him lol

Toga, on the other hand, didn't really care about books if they weren't overdramatic romance novels, but her sunny disposition did wonders with the customers

one of Touya's favorite things about the stores location was how close it was to UA High, where his youngest brother was enrolled in the hero program

now, Shouto is 18 now, and he has a hero license and all that jazz, and he's taller than Touya, whatever, he's still his little brothe r and Touya enjoys the chance to judge all of his brothers friends when he brings them there for coffee

sadly for Touya, most of his brothers friends are pretty cool

however, because of the close proximity to UA, another hero have started hanging around the shop lately, and it's annoying Touya to no end

Touya obviously knows who Hawks is, he's a pretty popular and successful hero, and the big, red wings are a dead big giveaway

at first, Keigo had just gone to the bookstore and coffeehouse because Tokoyami insisted they had the best coffee in town, but his eyes met the owners eyes once, and that was that

which frankly feels like some form of cosmic joke, that Keigo had spend his whole life without having crushes on people, and the one time he gets one, it's on the most unapproachable and grumpy guy ever

normally Keigo is pretty good at talking to people, and he gets along just fine with the other employees, but just one steely game from Touya and he freezes

so naturally, he hangs around the store constantly now

Spinner and Toga is secretly telling him about all of Touya's favorite books etc to give him an edge, but it doesn't help much when Keigo is too busy looking at Touya over the books to actually read

once Touya actually caught him looking over at him while holding a book upside-down

Touya will never admit it, but he's starting to get used to having the big bird there, and might even get a little bit sad on the days he doesn't stop by

when Shouto mentions that he wants to find a weekend job to make some of his own money while still in school, Touya tries to make him come work for him

but Shouto declines, saying that it's too easy to just work for his brother

Touya damn near loses his mind when Shouto shows up at Tenko's coffee bar

according to Shouto, that's more than far enough removed from his brother for it to count as a real job

it doesn't help when Shouto's green haired friend starts hanging out there every day Shouto works, mooning over his brother very obviously

...obvious to everyone but Shouto, who is obviously feeling the same, but has no idea

and when Izuku starts bringing his friend with the brown hair and rosy cheeks whom Toga has a huge crush on, there's almost too much crushes around him for Touya to be able to stand being at work

...including his own

oops this got long alskhflkshf

[tyrantisterror]

I want to talk about Harley Quinn for a bit, unprompted by anything, because fuck you it’s my blog I do what I want.

Because I’m a nerd who thinks too much about stories I like to sort the stages of my life by the heroes that defined them.  Godzilla was the hero of my childhood, a big dinosaur who taught a bullied kid me that you have a right to dig in your feet and assert who you are even when the world is against you for it.  Spider-Man was the hero of my teens, helping me cope with learned just how chaotic the adult world I was preparing to enter is and survive the rocky road to growing up.  Sherlock Holmes was the hero of my college years, a person who found what he wanted to do in life and devoted himself entirely to it, which is what I tried to do in turn.

Harley Quinn is the hero of my current stage.  I know most people would find that weird since she’s, like, a supervillain most of the time, and at best a very amoral anti-hero, but I mean it entirely sincerely.  And she’s the hero of my current age in part because she’s defined so much by her failures.

In almost every incarnation, Harley’s backstory begins with her going to college and pursuing a career that will bring her material success and prestige, as so many people in my generation were told to do.  She does as instructed and gets that career, only to immediately be shown the grim reality of what she signed up for, and getting broken by the stress that comes with the job almost immediately.  Saying she became a supervillain is actually generous because Harley really becomes a supervillain’s henchman, completely subservient to and exploited by a character who’s basically a personification of the corruption that made her dream job a living hell.

As a villain/henchman, Harley’s fun but a bit limited.  She exists to provide comic relief - both by being a goofier, lighter sort of evil compared to the other, more dangerous villains, and by being just debauched enough herself that we can laugh when she fails and gets knocked on her ass.  She’s a punching bag for the narrative, a joke to be laughed at and only occasionally pitied (but never enough to keep us from rooting for her to lose).

It’s important to note here that Harley was initially created for Batman the Animated Series, which is specifically a version of the Batman story where redemption doesn’t happen.  There have been papers written on this, even.  Because B:TAS was a serialized story designed to go on as long as the executives at Warner Bros thought it was making money, its villains had to stay villains, because if they ever changed from that they’d no longer serve their narrative purpose.  There are countless episodes where various villains try to turn over a new leaf (including one for Harley), but they always end with the villain in question backsliding into villainy.  As one critic pointed out, it’s kind of Calvinist that way: you’re either good or bad from creation, and no matter what you try to do you can’t change that, no matter how much you might want to be good.  A B:TAS villain has no choice but to be a villain till the story ends, and the story is never meant to end.

Comic books are also serialized and meant to be endless, so in this way B:TAS is pretty true to the source material.  However, because of just how long comics have gone on, sometimes writers are given permission to shake things up and change the status quo for a bit, to keep people engaged.  And while these changes are generally dialed back (there’s countless jokes about how rarely even death sticks in comics), occasionally they prove popular enough to become the new status quo.  It’s not common, but it has happened.

And this is where Harley goes from fun to inspiring - because Harley made a new status quo.

Being incredibly popular, Harley Quinn eventually got her own comic book series, which is a pretty big deal for a glorified henchman.  And because it was her comic series, the writers had to figure out who Harley was without the presence of Batman or the Joker, the characters who had defined her up to this point.  They looked at Harley’s personality and backstory and tried to figure out what Harley would do on her own.

And the result was something really interesting.  She stopped being a henchman, and ultimately proved too good-natured to be a villain, yet a bit too chaotic  and counter-culture to be a traditional hero, while also being too plucky and sweet to resemble most comic book anti-heroes.  Her background as a psychologist became more prominent as people realized that a comic book world actually kind of desperately needs some good psychologists around, and her wildcard status made her bounce off of other characters, both villains and heroes, in interesting ways few other characters could do.

It was fun and interesting and popular, so it stuck.  Harley, who was born in one of the most rigidly static versions of the Batman mythos, where villains stay villains and heroes stay heroes, broke the status quo and remade it.  Harley, who was originally defined by her failure and victimization, made a whole new role for herself, and found success despite it all.  The punching bag became so beloved that the rules of the universe bent for her, and what once was the sum of her character became just an added wrinkle of backstory to creating the trickster that comics fans love.

Harley went to college, got her dream career, promptly got her ass kicked by said career when it turned out to suck ass, and spent a decade or so going through hell before finally discovering who she really wanted to be, and then became that person to the love and support of all.  That’s why Harley Quinn is inspiring, and that’s why she’s my hero.

[marveloustimestwo]

Sick (Part 1/?)

This has been sitting in my drafts for a while now, but all of one (1) person asked if there was going to be a sequel to the original, so here you go. Hope you enjoy :)

*Also, I should mention that everyone is college-aged/above 18.

Warnings: Yandere themes, Peter being a creep and a stalker, kidnapping at the end.

Summary: In a world where everyone had forgotten him, Peter Parker has to deal with the aftereffects of losing you.

Pairing: Yandere! Peter Parker x Reader.

Prologue

It was Christmas morning when you first noticed you had a stalker.

At the time, you hadn't really thought much about it. Walking out of your apartment first thing in the morning, you barely managed to avoid stepping on the neatly wrapped box that sat on your welcome mat.

You had assumed it was from a family member or friend, even when it had no name on it other than your own. When asked, though, MJ, Ned, and everyone else you were even semi-close to all seemed genuinely confused about where it came from.

Once again, you shrugged it off. It was something you had wanted for a while now, so even if it was a bit strange, you weren't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. It had clearly been addressed to you on a sparkly red and green tag, so it wasn't like you were opening someone else's gift.

But when Christmas ended, you began to notice other strange occurrences. Certain possessions of yours had gone missing, though you couldn't find any sign of a break-in. Several of your most-worn shirts had gone missing, as well as the body scrub you knew was only half-full.

None of your jewelry had gone missing, nor any of the electronics or the cash you kept stored around. Any of the obvious things someone would take from you remained. Considering nothing of actual value had been taken, it seemed ridiculous to assume someone was trying to rob you, but it was the only explanation you had. You were single, lived alone, and any friends you brought over never had the time to steal that many shirts. You swear you would've caught them at this point.

It's a month after that when you start to think you have a stalker. At first, you think you're being stupid again. It sounds stupid to even think that Spider-man of all people would be following you. He helps people, and you know this because, despite the video of him and Mysterio, he saved you.

It had been three times at this point. Once when you had gotten caught up in a fight at the Statue of Liberty; you couldn't even remember what reason you had for being up there, but you were sure it wasn't a good one. He had gotten you out of the way of a strange villain on a glider, and after that, all you remembered was waking up in your apartment the next morning.

A second when a villain had shown up right next to your work; Spider-man had been the one to show up, and had saved you from an incoming piece of debris.

The third seemed so minor compared to the rest but had solidified your opinion of him. You had been walking home late from work when a group of guys had attempted to rob you. Despite the late hour, Spiderman had been out and ready to save you. He even stuck around to walk you home, and you were surprised by how young he sounded while cracking jokes.

Which is why you were so confused now. You had seen him far too often now. You had tried to reason that he was a street hero, so it wasn't uncommon to see him swinging around the city, yet in the past four weeks, he's swung past your apartment over a dozen times and gone past your work even more. Sometimes you'll even swear you can even hear someone hanging around your fire escape late at night, despite you being on the sixteenth floor.

You had asked yourself countless times now why he would be following you of all people. You're just one civilian in a city full of people.

So why did you find yourself with a rag of chloroform over your mouth one night, only to look back and see a familiar red mask before unconsciousness took over?

[marksbear]

just unearthed my obsession with the boys with that one 😍

could you make a pt2 or just something similar with smut where as hughie sort of starts to see how reader could actually be the bad guy, kinda confronts him about it, and then reader would either

a. deny it, convince hughie he's good and loves him (shows him with sex)

or

b. embrace it, convince/tell hughie he still loves him and be all like "what would you do without me" to hughie (also shows him with sex 💀)

(i had those two ideas and couldn't pick one so i'll leave a or b up to you, and sorry if b didnt make sense or was worded weird, i hope you can still understand what i'm trying to say lmao)

Hell yeah I can make a part 2! I'm going to choose B then write A maybe later tonight or tomorrow 😘. I just love villain supe reader!

HUGHIE CAMPBELL X SUPE MALE READER

Warnings, Y/n is mean and evil as HELL, manipulator Y/n, hard smut, blowjobs, fingering, Y/n killing someone with one punch, ofc Homelander a little. The boys being NOSY AF

The H/n and The Homelander.

The two superheros did it again. Almost every single week the two are trending about being the best superhero duo ever. Even though the two are in the best superhero group in the world the two are always out shine the rest.

Hughie looks at the news on his phone watching all of the new interviews of you and reading the new articles about you smiling to himself.

Y/n and Hughie have been going great with each other for the longest. Y/n has gotten more serious in the relationship so has Hughie. The two spend everyday with each other.

Mostly Y/n has been planning all of their hangouts and dates. Hughie was confused at first why Y/n was spending so much time with him. In their relationship in the past Y/n has been always busy with hero work and with meetings and all that.

But now this time Y/n he has been spending so much time with Hughie. Y/n has a reason for this. He has been keeping so many secrets from Hughie he doesn't even know more. He doesn't want Hughie one day to look for him and he's killing a civilian.

It's not like he'll ever do that right. Since you know hes H/n and all...

One day Butcher and threw a fit about H/n how hes a "Stupid killin bastard" And of course Hughie was in denial. So Billy grouped up all The Boys and went to a place where H/n will supposedly be stopping a villain at.

Somehow Billy was right and H/n was here to stop them. The Boys watch in the shadows as H/n fights. It doesn't take long for Y/n to take down the villains goons.

The villain begs for his life as Y/n stalks up to him all bloody with a sinister smile on his face. Y/n laughs at the poor man and says. "I ain't going to kill ya. Thats Homelander job... I'm just gonna--- f-fuck!" Y/n head starts to spin. He quickly knocks out the villain.

Y/n gets his phone out of his pocket calling Homelander. "Mi---ssion complete. Need you to pick... me." Y/n falls on the floor past out as Homelander hears Y/n falls on the floor and sighs. "Gotta stop using that power all the time H/n. I'm tired of picking you up all the time." Homelander hangs up and goes to his college mission to pick him up.

Billy picks up the villain telling everyone to go. Hughie stands back looking at Y/n worried and runs up to him giving him a quick kiss on the head before running away with the gang.

Somehow Y/n wakes up early as soon as Homelander arrives about to get him. "Where the hell did he go!?! I had the fucker on his knees begging for me not to kill him." Y/n says angrily standing up not even caring about his headache.

"And my phone is gone too! just my luck. Homelander can you be a good number one and carry me to an electrician store." Homelander let out a huff and picked up Y/n flying him where he wanted to go. Y/n waves Homelander off making sure hes actually gone before going to Hughie's house.

Y/n opens the door and shouts. "Sorry for not telling you that I was coming! Hughie! The most bizarre---- V/n?" Y/n stares at the villain that he was just hunting down. He sees stacks of paper about him on the table and Y/n walks up to them. He sees his phone unlocked and on his hidden. His hidden is filled with dead victims Y/n killed brutally.

"Y-y/n why did you lie." Hughie says throwing more papers from years and months ago about him doing evil things some even a couple days ago. How could this happen... Y/n made sure to use his hidden power to delete and hide every bad thing he had done from the face of the earth.

"Hughie... How did you get all of this? AND why do you have my phone?" Hughie becomes silent at the phone part and looks away.

"You were there!?! Weren't you Hughie! I told you to stay out of my missions! And don't follow me when i'm working! We can't be seen together Hughie!" Y/n grips the papers and out of anger he throws them around.

"AND YOU EVEN GOT V/N HERE! That's how you got all this information didn't you Hughie!" Y/n doesn't even try to mask his anger. He walks up to V/n and gives him one strong punch hearing a crack from V/n skull killing him instantly.

"Y/n. You lied. I trusted you! You told me you weren't like the others! I believed you. I even love you Y/n!"

"Hughie...I love you so much. But you have to understand I love it. I love the thrill of the kill. I love the thought of being caught. And just rule the world and no one can touch me or say anything about me because I am the best thing god made on this sick planet. I am the chosen one."

Hearing Y/n confession scares him and he backs away. But Y/n was faster he took Hughie's wrist softly pulling him into his chest.

"We both know that were made for each other. What would you do without me? You would have been dead right now without me... I am your savior, i'm your hero and most of all i'm your fucking boyfriend." Y/n lets go of his wrist and moves his hands to Hughie's cheeks pulling him in for a kiss.

One part of Hughie hates himself for giving into him. He hates how his cock begins to get hard from Y/n rubbing their crotches together. He hates that he keeps moaning in his evil boyfriend's mouth. Y/n guides him to the couch basically tackling him on the couch.

He is so mad at himself for begging you to fuck him. He hates the spell you have him locked in. He hates the way he grinds his own ass into your hard bulge. He hates everything about you.

But god why did he love it so much. He liked the way you made him feel. You make him feel happy, more confident, safe you made him feel that he was loved. And boy he loved you too.

Both of y'all's clothes were ripped off by Y/n who was eagerly jerking his own cock off as he watches Hughie finger himself. The two of you get more and more turned on by the other beautiful sight. Both of you watch each other like prey and a predator. Hughie adds two more fingers into his ass and becomes a moaning and whining mess. Hughie cock twitches and the precum starts to leak out of the tip. Y/n lets go of his own cock and goes down on Hughie's cock licking around the tip lapping all of the precum in his mouth.

Hughie hips bolts into Y/n mouth making him take his cock all the way in his mouth. Y/n lets Hughie fuck his mouth until his jaw goes limp and his chin is all covered in spit and cum. Y/n rest his head on the base of Hughie cock as Hughie fucks the back of his throat. Y/n grows bored and slips Hughie cock out of his mouth. Y/n uses his hand to gather all of the cum and spit from Hughie's own and applies it to his own making his cock all wet and sticky.

Y/n holds Hughie by the waist aligning him up so his hole is above the tip of his cock. Y/n spits on his cock head a few times before moving his cock forward into Hughie's insides. Hughie moans and screams fill the house as he arches his back holding onto the cushions of the couch for dear life. Y/n stops moving until only the tip is in fucking him with the tip for a while until Hughie begs for more. "Y/n!! please mo--re! I need more!~" Y/n slams his cock all the way inside Hughie.

Y/n thrust is animistic like he's using Hughie like if he was just a toy. Y/n grip on Hughie hips tighten probably gonna bruise for the next few days. Y/n only chases down his own orgasm not even caring about Hughie's own pleasure. "H/n! f-fuck h/n plea---se slow down!~" Hughie beg was filled with moans. Wet skip slapping is heard throughout the house. "Fuck! Hughie I'm close!" Y/n warns aiming his thrust into Hughie's prostate showing Hughie a bit of kindness. Y/n pulls himself down kissing Hughie jaw and chest.

"C-cum with me Hughie! I- I aM cumming!! Fu---uck I'm cumming!" As Y/n asks Hughie he cums with his boyfriend. Y/n doesn't pull out just yet looking at the mess he made with Hughie.

"I told you that you're nothing without me. No one can fuck you the way I can or love you like me."

THE END!

[1indigoisles]

Chapter 1 - All Excerpts

Who in their right mind would choose to ‘live’ in a graveyard of a town in Rhode Island over one of the sunniest places in the world, Flagstaff, Arizona?

Well, I did.

Lila must think I’m crazy. She definitely did.

My mother (that’s Lila) had always been a traveller, a hare-brained traveller who had once left half of her possessions in the States on an immigration to India for the winter. What happened to that half, you may imagine? Only the unknown force that made Lila my mother knows. Don’t get me wrong, Lila’s the best, but we were less mother and son and more the adventurous traveller and her wary follower.

Why would I choose to travel then, since another option was given to me? Well, I’ll get to that.

My life story was simple. I wasn’t a miracle, but I wasn’t a mistake either. I just happened, and I happened at the wrong time. My father’s name is – or was, I don’t really know – David Garamond and that was pretty much all I knew about him. Lila was efficient in cleaning up mistakes from her past. But she wasn’t the secretive type either; she didn’t mind talking about her past, and would tell me stories about her time with David. She would talk like they were fairy tales, which many real-life love stories are before they burn out into ashes of leftover feelings where the fire of love and hope used to be.

Lila Teigen and David Garamond were high school sweethearts, and were still going on strong well into college. They were a stable couple, which was saying something, considering how young they were. Young love tended to go wrong. But nothing went wrong for them, at least not then.

After completing college, David asked for her hand in marriage, even though he never got the blessing. Both Lila’s and David’s families were against it, and they promised to turn their backs on the pair if they did get married. But that didn’t matter; they were deeply in love, intent on forever happiness, and expecting a child, which was why David had proposed in the first place. Nothing had gone wrong around this part either. David was the guy fantasy talked about, the hero of the story. Lila had really thought that that would be her happily ever after.

But real life doesn’t have a happily ever after. It never did.

And we have now arrived at the part where things went wrong.

David was nowhere to be found on the day before the marriage. He’d gone out on a stormy night, saying he had some last-minute things to take care of and just... vanished.

And that was where the story ended. Lila would tell me nothing about what happened after that, about any of her struggles with being a single mother, if she ever found David again, or even why she took up the habit of travelling around when it was obviously much easier and cheaper to settle down in one place.

No. Fast-forward 16 years as a nomad named Kenneth Teigen on this planet, and I am currently scowling at the million dollar question of where our next voyage will take us while still recovering from the shock of having to answer said question. ‘Most difficult decision of my life’ hadn’t exactly been on my birthday wish list.

And it wasn’t as though we could go just anywhere, either, which actually made things a little easier. Lila’s job as a digital marketing strategist paid well and steadily enough, but I couldn’t exactly suggest we hop on the next plane to Greenland, now could I? Not that I ever would.

No, Lila had narrowed down my choices to two places that contrasted each other so much and were so far apart that I was fairly certain Lila had just dropped the question on my head as an elaborate prank.

"Flagstaff, Arizona, or Knightville, Rhode Island?" Lila had asked me when my school year in DC was over.

"What?" I looked up from my book, The Picture of Dorian Grey.

Lila unceremoniously flopped down onto the red bean-bag chair and regarded me seriously, which would have been comical, had she not said the things she was about to say. "What would you pick," she began again, slower, "Knightville in Rhode Island, or Flagstaff in Arizona?"

I replied, surprised, "And you're asking me this because...?"

"Because this decision is officially yours," Lila said, a smile tugging on her lips as though she were giving me some good news. "You are going to decide where we stay for the next year." There was a glint in her eyes that could only be described as defiance as she pronounced her last statement.

"No," I immediately told her.

The glint died away. "Why not?" she asked, like a child asking her parent why she couldn't get candy even though she'd done her homework.

"Because I have no idea what to choose," I said bluntly.

"But I gave you only two options," she protested. "It can't be that hard!"

"Hard?" I asked incredulously. "You're asking me to choose where we're going to live for the whole of next year!"

"Between just 2 places!"

"Doesn't make it much easier, Lila!"

She looked bewildered, and a little hurt too, for which I felt a poorly disguised twinge of guilt.

Seeing me soften, perhaps, Lila went full-on puppy-dog mode, and while I had seen it coming and should've been able to resist it, I couldn't.

So, cursing the next several generations of Lila's bloodline (which wasn't smart, since I was one of them), I conceded to her wishes with a grumble.

Now, I don’t know why I chose Knightville. It wasn’t as though it was a good travel destination or a hot tourist spot; it was cold, constantly raining and foggy, and the only colors it ever saw were white, black and different shades of grey.

I just felt, I don't know, compelled to choose Knightville, like there was something the remote town whose name I had never heard of before had that much less remote Flagstaff didn't.

I wasn't fond of it.

Nevertheless, the choice was befitting. Apparently my great-aunt Charlotte (late) had once lived in an old, slightly rickety house at the edge of town. Apartments were non-existent in small communities such as this, and it wouldn’t cost Lila a penny (except for maintenance).

Plus, the house was kind of homely.

It was a one-storey dwelling, painted a pale blue, with a brown, slanted roof. The inside was all cream-yellow walls and creaky wooden floors and the smell of good old 1950s vintage.

I didn’t dislike it, so that must have meant something.

Dinner that night consisted of Chinese take-out and ice cream for desert. I hadn’t spoken much till now, sitting in mindless silence, thinking about nothing, and staring at a small, perfectly circular hole (or was it just ink?) in the wooden floor.

“This flavour of ice cream is amazing”, commented Lila. I’d been, after all, silent for an unknown period of time, and a brooding silence of any sort from my end rang alarm-bells in Lila’s mind.

The truth was, I’d had this strange feeling ever since Lila’s car careened into Knightville. I felt... out of my own body, like I was breathing something entirely other than oxygen, that I was eating foreign food, having this foreign food with another person, that I was in another world, with alien roots that ran in alien soil. Like I was someone else. It was a creepy feeling, and it made my skin crawl.

But none of this was real. It was probably my brain’s way of punishing me because I’d intentionally forced myself to survive in a place that I didn’t like when I had total opportunity to live somewhere else.

“It’s pistachio flavoured”, I said, coming back to reality, “one of the worst ice cream flavours invented in the history of bad ice cream flavours”. I scrunched my nose with distaste.

“It is not”, insisted Lila, “you just don’t like it ‘cause it’s weird. I happen to like weird. Quite a few people do. Weird is good. Weird is different.”

But I would not indulge myself in the weirder aspects of life. While Lila was fawning over her God-awful ice cream, I was silently enjoying classic chocolate.

***********

School was due in a week, a week which was spent placing our furniture in the house, a difficult thing for a family of two to accomplish. Still, this was not our first rodeo – we’d done this exactly 14 times now – but regardless, we never got any better at arranging furniture in an apartment, let alone a house. Or faster.

“Well, the bed’s done”, Lila huffed, a hanky tied to her head, rivulets of sweat rolling down the sides of her face.

“Yeah, your bed,” I said, wiping my forehead, mentally accepting my fate. “I’ll have to sleep on the couch, won’t I?”

“For now,” she said sheepishly, off my glare.

I got up from my seat at the floor and declared, “I am officially done with today. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've gotta get out of this house and pray to all the heavens above that it is raining.”

So saying, I saluted in her direction and stalked resolutely down the stairs.

Fortunately, my prayers (which were not yet made) were answered. I stepped out the front doorstep to find rain falling in gentle sheets, letting it progressively wet my clothes as the cool droplets shifted through my hot, sweaty hair. I combed the strands back with my fingers and faced the clouds above, feeling the cold water sting my face like surprises.

I was not, in general a fan of the rain, but I'll admit, it could be beneficial at times.

It was then I noticed a house, a small way across the road, and a girl walking out of it, a black umbrella plopped on her shoulder.

From what I could tell, she had long, straight black hair and wore dark clothing that spanned her entire body. She was walking briskly, like she was on a clock, and kept looking around, her eyes darting everywhere at once before stopping, and lingering on me.

I froze, and felt my heart stop beating for a second. I didn't think about how beautiful she looked, not at that moment at least. I didn't think about how strange it was that she herself froze and stopped to stare at me. I didn't think about how she then abruptly turned around and practically ran down the street, away from her house and my line of sight.

I could only think about her eyes, which were not one, but two colors, for two irises. One was the black of tar and midnight and the other was the blue of clear skies and forget-me-nots. There was no other way to put it; her eyes were beautiful.

Heterochromia was not an unknown concept to me, and for all its uniqueness, it could also look rather plain on some people. But something about the girl's eyes struck me in the strangest way. And it was that strangeness that froze me; I wasn't easily bedazzled.

It felt wrong and right both at the same time, like a sharp needle poking at your skin, but not hard enough for it to bleed.

Her eyes may have been beautiful, but they were hard, reflective, blank, and cold and sharp as shards of ice, like her soul was hidden in walls and walls of titanium, that the blue and black of her eyes were the only walls we saw.

Eyes that I would lay awake at night thinking about.

***********

The few mornings after that were as grey and lifeless as the last one. I wondered as I woke, not for the first time, how the people here could wake up to this almost every morning and still have the energy to start their day and do whatever a regular life demands of them. For even after a good night’s sleep I felt tired, the kind of tired that I wasn’t sure would be easily remedied by a cup of coffee. Maybe half a dozen could work.

I shook my head. I was being pathetic.

I forced myself out of bed and got ready for school.

In the bathroom, I stared at myself in the mirror as I brushed my teeth. Fair skin was part of my genetics, and so was my gangly height of six feet, which did no favours to my breadth. My facial features were too-sharp and my body was lean (the gym and I have a difficult relationship). My hair was an ordinary brown with a coppery tint to it that refused to stay neat, and my eyes, deep-set, were leaf-green.

There was nothing much remarkable about me. I sighed and spit the minty toothpaste out.

Lila, on the other hand, was pretty. She had hair redder than mine, a Madonna-like face with high, sloping cheekbones, and green eyes that were always lively.

When I was done criticizing myself in the bathroom, I took a shower and wore an ordinary faded red sweatshirt and loose jeans.

I went downstairs.

Lila was, naturally, awake, and bustling about the kitchen, performing multiple tasks at once, as was her way, such as juggling her steaming hot cup of coffee in one hand, while trying to explain to her new-found friend, Catherine, who seemed to keep surprisingly military hours, all the reasons why she could go down to the book-store with her after she came back home at eight ‘o’ clock in the evening over the phone, that was, by the way, sandwiched between her ear and her corresponding shoulder. At the same time, she was trying to pack our food (she’d always insisted on home-made for first days at school). It might all end in disaster. No, it probably would end in disaster. It’s Lila we’re talking about, after all.

“Lila, don’t keep your coffee cup so close to the edge of the counter!” I grumbled as she accidentally pushed it off in order to turn to me as I came down the stairs.

The cup made crash-landing, but it was plastic, so it didn’t break. Burning-hot black coffee infiltrated the floor of the kitchen and splashed against the previously pristine white cupboards, curved layers of coffee-brown partially covering them. On the ground, the liquid pooled like water.

Lila, on the other hand, had jumped back five miles, dropped her phone onto a fuzzy carpet, and was looking at me reproachfully.

With a mental curse I said, “oh, god.” And, shaking my head, I came the rest of the way down the stairs, walked past Lila, and opened a cabinet with cleaning towels in it.

I picked a white one with bright red stripes, and handed it to Lila, who gratefully took it.

I picked one out for myself, an orange one with black boats patterned on, and sighed, “come on, Lila.” And after selecting other cleaning weapons of our choice, we dived into the mess.

So obviously, it was with easy conversation and synchronised working that we went our separate ways.

Lila would lock herself up in her office with her laptop and an assortment of files, documents and fidget-toys, whereas I would shimmy on my bike and make my way to Knightville High School.

***********

At the gates of Knightville High School, I stopped.

I looked at my bike, which was parked (squeezed) between two cars, then I gazed back at my new school once more.

The building was greyer and duller than any other building I’d ever seen. It wasn’t too tall, four storeys high, maybe, with Knightville High written in huge red letters at the entrance.

I gulped. Who was I kidding? I was nervous as hell, which was totally idiotic; I’d done this a million times now.

Maybe it was just the fear of being in the spotlight, the downright spooky atmosphere of Knightville, or I was probably just way in over my head, and I suddenly had the totally irrational desire to get on my bike and ride back to DC.

Or, I told myself sternly, I’m overthinking the entire thing, and I should stop dawdling at the front of the school gates and just get it over with already.

So, thinking this, I took a deep breath, and went in.

***********

I’d hoped for a few minutes, at the very least, of peace.

Instead, I was immediately ambushed at the entrance of the main hall of my new school by a girl just a few inches shorter than me, with a bright expression that I would soon come to know was her being cheerful.

At first I’d thought her hair was on fire, and she had galloped to me expecting a waterfall to sprout out of my backpack. A fraction of a second later, though, I realised that that was just the color of the girl’s hair, burning orange, not red, orange, like fire.

Her hair was bright orange. She had hazel eyes with flecks of green and gold in them, sweet pink lips that looked naturally dyed, and freckles that covered the apex of her nose and cheekbones like dust. She wore a white tank top that should be illegal to wear, a brown leather jacket to cover it up, fashionably tattered and faded jeans, and a bright smile that could give the sun and the stars a run for their money.

“Hi,” she said, in a naturally crisp and friendly voice, “I’m Jolene Frost, head of Knightville High’s welcoming committee. Welcome to Knightville High!”

I jumped. “Hello,” I managed to stammer, “I’m Kenneth Teigen.”

Jolene’s eyes flickered almost imperceptibly at ‘Teigen.’

“What?” I asked.

“What ‘what’?” Jolene looked a little bemused.

“Never mind,” I muttered.

She regarded me for a long moment, not like I was acting strangely, but more as though she’d just discovered something about me that told her there was more to discover.

Then she peered over my shoulder as though she’d just spotted someone, and called, “Rowan, Rowan!” I turned around, but I couldn’t be sure who she was calling. A beat passed. No one came, and no one looked at her weirdly for shouting that name, possibly because she was popular and wouldn’t have cared about it anyway. With an exasperated sigh, she flipped out her phone and dialled a number. She held up a finger that told me I should wait a minute and heard the phone ring twice before the person on the other end picked up.

Jolene did not pause to say ‘hello’ to make sure the person on the other end was there, instead immediately speaking into her phone, “Rowan Frost, if you do not emerge from whatever hidey-hole you’ve found for yourself, I will whisper your middle name to the new kid.” She said the last two words as though it would be a treacherous fate for Rowan, who I now realised was Jolene’s brother.

A reply came from the other end. Jolene retorted, “oh, I will, and I will do it seductively for good measure.” She seemed to have either not noticed my slight discomfort at that, or she was ignoring it entirely.

“Relax, I’m here,” came a child-like voice. A boy an inch or so shorter than me approached us, detaching his phone from his ear as he did.

Jolene smiled a winning smile, and leaned in to loudly whisper, “It’s Duncan, by the way.”

“You said you wouldn’t tell,” reproached Rowan while looking affronted, before abruptly grinning slyly, “Mildred.”

Jolene shrugged, clearly not the reaction Rowan had been hoping for. “I have no insecurities about my middle names. No one will ever call me Mildred, unless, of course, they have a death wish.”

“You just said you had no insecurities.”

“Mildred is a disgusting enough name to hate without being insecure about having it.”

“So is Duncan.”

“No, it’s only you who hates it because it’s old-fashioned.”

“I don’t understand why that isn’t a good enough reason on its own.”

While they went on with their incessant banter, I studied Rowan a little more closely. He had ash-blond hair that was more ash than anything really, and big grey eyes that at first seemed to be comparable to the grey of Knightville’s sky, but soon, it would look more like silver, gleaming and refracting in the light.

He had a long, thin face that had a fine sort of bone structure to it, all angles in some places, all softness in others. His body looked wiry and his shoulders were slim, similar to a girl’s. It was then I drew to the conclusion that ‘handsome’ was not a word that could be used to describe him – he looked more... pretty, yes, that’s the word. He was rather pretty.

“Shouldn’t we be showing the new kid around instead of wasting time arguing?” said Rowan a little grumpily, after Jolene had thrown a cutting remark at him.

“Perhaps,” Jolene allowed, “but maybe we could just skip the tour.” She turned to me, “don’t worry, the school layout is really simple. You’ll get it as we go along.”

The Frost siblings then took me along the halls, to my locker, through various classrooms and labs, the library, the canteen, the infirmary, other staffrooms, all while accompanying it with more banter, assurances that I could ask questions if I had any, and other interesting details, like a long crack that spread across the floor in front of the chemistry lab that had always been there. It was thin, but not so much that it wasn’t noticeable – in fact, I’d noticed it before Jolene had told me about it – and pitch black, as though it had been drawn on the ground with a marker of the darkest black, and shaped like real-life lightning, starting and ending abruptly. It was strangely unsettling to look at.

“Following so far?” Jolene asked, when I spent too long looking at the scar on the floor. “Any questions?”

I looked up, and spotted someone, walking briskly down the hallway. “Actually,” I said, nodding my head in that direction, “yes. Who is she?”

***********

It was that girl, the girl I’d seen a few days ago, with the black-and-blue eyes. My neighbour, I thought. Strange to see her here.

It wasn’t as though I was particularly surprised to have spotted her; Knightville High was the only high school in this town.

I just hadn’t expected to see her again so soon.

Even as I asked her the question, I could see Jolene’s expression change ever so slightly when she found who I was referring to, into something that was hard to coin. It was the kind of expression someone would put on to hide what they were truly feeling.

“Scarlett Raynott, I think that’s her name,” Jolene said, her voice a little away from her person. She turned to me.” Why do you want to know?”

“I saw her a couple days ago,” I said, still looking at Scarlett as she disappeared around the corner. “She lives in the house opposite to mine, at the edge of town.”

“You actually live in that rickety old house?” Jolene asked incredulously, though with the thin air of someone trying to change the subject.

“It’s not that old,” I said, frowning a little.

“It’s not the fact that it’s old,” perked up Rowan faintly, who, up until then, had been silently daydreaming, “which it isn’t, really, compared to other houses, it’s just the way it looks old. And not very pleasant. We all call it Bleak House – not a very creative name, sure, but it stuck.”

“And now people actually live in Bleak House,” Jolene mused.

“I think that’s an overstatement,” I said. “It’s not that bleak.”

“Some people died in there, didn’t they?” Rowan asked Jolene.

“What?” My head snapped up.

“Fourteen people, I think, back in ‘95,” Jolene said.

“Fourteen people?” I echoed, horrified.

“All murdered, weren’t they?” Rowan went on, unfazed.

“Police never found out who it was,” Jolene confirmed, shaking her head mournfully.

“Wow, you guys talk about murder with such ease,” I said.

Jolene grinned. “I would be more worried about living in a haunted house, really.”

“My house is not haunted,” I said, trying for a withering look but grinning instead.

“They say that there are fourteen small dots on the floor, the places where those fourteen people had stood when they were killed,” mused Rowan. “They were drawn on by the murderer.”

I shuddered minutely. “They never found him or her?”

“No, and that’s what’s really troubling.” Rowan stopped short, as though that last part was something he hadn’t meant to say.

Jolene, on the other hand, was now staring at the space where Scarlett had last been, before vanishing from view, and I felt I had to ask, “do you know her?”

Jolene’s eyes flashed in understanding. She smiled softly, like she held a secret, close enough to her that no one else could see it, hard as they tried, and answered, “nobody knows her.”

And it was precisely then that the bell rang.

***********

Nobody knows her.

Dear God, why had I said that? Not that it wasn’t true, in a sense. Saying that Scarlett Raynott didn’t trust easily was the understatement of a lifetime. Scarlett had been my best friend and loyal companion ever since we were kids, and even still, I constantly felt as though I didn’t really know all of her secrets; most of them, maybe, but not all.

I pushed that thought away. We, Rowan and I, had bigger things to think about.

Like how Lila and Kenneth Teigen had taken one look at freaking Bleak House and thought, this seems homely, why don’t we move in? Like how they now lived as close to Scarlett and endless danger as they possibly can get. Like how Kenneth had actually seen Scarlett, and recognized her.

Like how the Teigens knew that Knightville existed at all.

If I were normal, I would turn to Rowan, talk about what to do next, maybe even seek assurance that everything would not, in fact, go to hell.

But I was not normal, and you knew you weren’t normal when there was something fundamentally wrong with you and there was no term in psychology or any other science in existence that could describe it.

There had been a time when Rowan could bring me comfort and reassurance, with his simple, meaningful words and the thoughtful arch to his brow. But now, it was all I could do to smile and be playful and take up the role sisters should, to keep the pretence, to maintain what we had as siblings. No, Rowan was no longer my sanctuary, the sanctuary he had been when I was young and normal; he was someone who injured me everyday without even realising it, someone around whom I could never be myself, someone who would turn away with disgust if he knew the truth about me.

The second the bell had rung, Kenneth had taken one look at his time-table, muttered a swift “sorry,” smiled apologetically as he did, and bolted. Rowan had looked thoughtfully at Kenneth’s back then, and I could not help but do the same. Kenneth was never meant to be so... human. He was never meant to have a kind undertone to his deep, forest-green eyes, he was never meant to have such a steady set to his face, the kind that would remain the same even if flames of the tallest heights danced on the water of oceans and turned the earth and everyone on it into ash.

I was never meant to like him in the ten minutes that I knew him.

And as he went, I could not help but notice that he had disappeared around the same corner, where the classrooms began and the main hall ended, as Scarlett had, just moments ago.

I turned to Rowan with a fake smile plastered on my face. “Well, that went well.”

“Spectacularly,” Rowan said seriously, “your acting skills were truly flawless.”

I smiled winningly. I knew he was being sarcastic, but I also knew that going along with his sarcasm threw him. “Why, thank you, kind brother mine,” I said, adding a gallon of sugar to my smile and trying to ignore the sting of the word, ‘brother’.

Sure enough, Rowan narrowed his eyes, and I grinned triumphantly.

But of course, he just had to ask the million-dollar question. “What should we do about Kenneth?”

“No idea whatsoever,” I said cheerfully, as though I wasn’t losing my mind either. On a more serious note, I added, “maybe, for now, we should just keep tabs on Kenneth, what his classes are, where he comes and goes, and try and keep him away from Scarlett in general.”

“So basically stalk him,” Rowan said.

“Got any better ideas?” I asked.

Rowan’s brow suddenly cleared, and I knew what he was about to suggest. “I could always-”

“No,” I said immediately. “You could never go on for that long. It would drain you.”

And I don’t want to see you like that, I almost said, but held my tongue. It might reveal too much.

Unable to look at him any longer, I turned my gaze back to where Scarlett had disappeared, turning my attention to the issue at hand, and the reasons why the situation was this pressing.

Because everyone in this town knew the name 'Teigen.'

And we knew that name because of two people, because of the two people, because of the people who managed to get away.

***********

I was probably the only person ever to get lost in Knightville High School.

It was the middle of the school day, and I’d just spent what Jolene would surely call a productive lunch chattering away about several topics, murder included (I guess the Frost siblings like talking about this stuff). It was also when I discovered that Rowan could paint like Picasso, and Jolene wasn’t a terrible hand at volleyball either.

I look at the Frost siblings – Irish twins, I was told they were – and cannot help but think that they seemed in no way siblings at all. Very good friends, maybe, but not siblings or any blood relation at all. Siblings tend to have an invisible bond to them, something that marked them as a unit, but there was no such tether to Rowan and Jolene.

Even their overall closeness was questionable; Jolene had not caught Rowan’s eye even once throughout our conversations, the way that siblings did when they shared secret opinions. And if Rowan had noticed, then it was something that had been going on a long time, since he hadn’t seemed bemused or bewildered by it in any way.

There was also the matter of how they didn’t look alike at all.

But I could not think about that now. If I did, I was going to be late for English.

I soon realised, rather stupidly, that I’d been close to the classroom all this time. Cursing my idiocy, I made my way to the open door of the classroom as though it led to heaven.

And that was when I bumped straight into a girl.

Our shoulders collided messily, I almost tripped over my clumsy feet, and my copy of King Lear fell spine-first onto the other person’s foot, making them flinch in surprise.

“I am so sorry,” I immediately said, and bent to retrieve my book.

The girl didn’t say anything – just did the same for one of her own things, a leather-bound sketchpad with the silhouette of a crow on it as the cover design.

And it was then, kneeling on the ground and apologizing faintly, that we finally looked at each other.

Scarlett Raynott was staring right at me, her blue-black eyes fixated on mine. Her skin was deathly pale, as though it’d been first drained of all blood and then white-washed for good measure, contrasting starkly with her dark hair. Her blue eye glittered like a gemstone, but her black eye remained stubborn of light, completely dark. Her expression was totally neutral.

And something was wrong.

Something was very wrong.

But before I could name or place what that something was, Scarlett was getting back on her feet, not even sparing me a look as I did the same, and she was stalking away, her shadow clinging to her feet.

It barely registered into my mind that this was the first time we’d actually met, because something more disturbing caught my attention; two identical narrow, white slits at the apex of Scarlett’s shadow, where her head was.

I squinted.

Were those eyes?

I just thought a compilation of all the excerpts of each chapter would be easier to follow, hence this.

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