#i got sort of excited that there was a group of people who could appreciate my new scissors

[scissor-tournament]

I wanted to share my new scissors I got a lil while ago. since I shared them on my own blog but they didn't get any attention there.

it comes with the lil sheath with a tail on it too!! so cute 🥰

[raainberry]

I’m so glad you got lost

Jihyo x gn!reader

Fluff

synopsis - helping a damsel in distress like in the old times still works like a charm (you’re a security guard at a music festival and Jihyo appreciates both your help and looks)

worcount - 2.9K

T/W - none i think, but like cute summer vibes, first meeting, sweet moments, you’re whipped for her, the usual stuff

A/N - lowkey struggled, tried to get a bit out of my comfort zone by adding a little more desc but not mad at how it turned out

The outdoor festival Jihyo and her friends chose to spend their weekend at was a success. The atmosphere was vibrant, fun and exciting, the music was good, the food was even better, but perfection is just never possible.

Something had to go wrong or else it wouldn’t fun.

Losing a few people in a friend group as large as hers is understandable and not uncommon. It’s expected, maybe even fate, but only losing one? Now it just felt like luck was involved and there wasn’t any on her side as Jihyo found herself to be that one lost friend.

She tried to scan the elated faces surrounding her for signs of more familiar ones in vain. She could feel a sense of mild unease creeping over her as the crowd seemed to grow denser, making it all the more difficult to locate anything familiar by the minute.

She was slowly feeling herself losing grip over the situation when a gentle hand found its way to her shoulder.

The sudden contact startled her though, and she turned to see who it belonged to. Last thing she expected to face was a warm, comforting smile.

"Hi! You look like you’re on a mission,” you chuckled. “Need a little help?" you offered over the loud music.

Jihyo’s eyes quickly noticed your attire, and if the black and bulky clothes you wore didn’t make it evident enough, the “security” arm band did enough on its own. She’s never been more thankful for assistance in her life, and a flicker of relief crossed her features as she nodded.

"I'm looking for my friends, there’s no service and it's getting a bit overwhelming.” she explained, her voice barely audible.

You nodded understandingly, and gestured for her to follow you. With practiced ease, you navigated through the crowd while Jihyo trailed close.

Your familiarity with the festival grounds seemed to guide you effortlessly, and maybe it was the distress she was in, mixed with the fact that you jumped in to save her when no one seemed to care—maybe the uniform had its hand in as well, but… You looked pretty cute.

The soft and warm smile, the gentle and protective gaze as you looked back at her every once in a while, making sure she followed suit—and the hand… The way your hand brushed against her exposed skin as you guided her; never daring to rest it on her arm, her back…

The subtle spark your touch ignited didn’t go unnoticed on your end either.

In fact it was very much felt. Though you were focused on getting your job done, part of your attention was monopolised by her appearance.

Jihyo, a name you had yet to learn, was certainly one of the prettiest sights this weekend outdoors offered. The make up she wore was flattering, highlighting features you found to be among your favorite in people. They looked even better on her.

You crossed eyes with her brown ones a few times on your way over to the security post. The hints of worry as she looked around tugged at your heart, feeling a sudden need to protect her beyond the way your duty called for.

“Let's see if we can spot them from here." You said, holding on to the bit of professionalism left in you before helping her up the ladder to reach the small elevated shed.

It was a sort of temporary lifguard tower imitation. Your colleagues referred to it as a base to make it sound fancier—which you mocked them for multiple times—but part of you hesitated to use the word in case it would impress the damsel you’d brought over.

You judged against it though, something your future self would be thankful for, and instead guided the woman up to the railing surrounding it.

The vantage point offered a broad view over the better half of the festival, and her eyes wasted no time in scanning the animated sea of festival-goers.

You joined the search only a second later, snapping yourself out of the micro-trance her sculpted arm sent you in when she brought her hand up to shield her eyes.

You don’t know how long it took, if the silence as your gaze flitted from one cluster of people to another was awkward or not; but she ended reuniting with her friends.

Their shouts for her as they noticed her up the tower from the ground taught you her name, and you had a hard time tellibg whether your smile was because of how funny their desperate waving looked from up there, or because of the way her name fit every idea of her your mind had managed to come up with.

A wave of relief washed over Jihyo, and you were sure to never forget that grateful smile she sent you before rushing to friends.

Who knows how they got separated. The thought was very much far out of line, but you were glad she got lost.

—

As the day melted into the night, the festival began to wind down, and the crowd started to thin out.

Jihyo and her friends made their way towards the exit, with the day's excitement still clinging to their spirits. A bunch of memories were made that day, all ranking in their own degree of wholesomeness.

The smile on Jihyo’s lips was subtle, her mind lost in the remnants of her emotions as she walked surrounded by the people she cared so much about.

Their intensity was exhausting, and little did she know this festival had just one more thing to make her feel, and her friends were very much happy to help with that.

As the group approached the exit, they spotted you there, your attentive gaze scanning the departing crowd. A quiet presence amidst the festival's crescendo.

Jeongyeon, her most daring friend couldn't resist her own playful nature as she hurried to tease Jihyo, "Look, your savior’s still on duty.” Her elbow nudged into her best friend’s back a couple times as her messing around soon received back up.

“Why don't we go and say thank you for helping you?" Sana giggled, not bothering to wait for an answer from anyone, much less Jihyo as she made her way over to you.

The sight of a bubbly woman darting towards you was enough to get you on alert. Sana was oblivious to the walls you’d put up, and the ease with which she knocked them down was alarming.

You guessed her charm had a lot to do with it, but recognizing her as one of Jihyo’s friends from earlier did most of the job. As soon as you did, your gaze was quick to find the rest of the group approaching you.

Among them stood Jihyo, who stayed silent as they expressed their appreciation for your assistance earlier in the day.

Half their words didn’t make it to your brain, which was crazy considering there wasn’t many. In the moment, you found Jihyo’s silence to be much more interesting and important than anything else.

Teasing words and drunk people needing guidance could wait, you had an opportunity to take.

Your eyes met, and the sparks you caught in them were undoubtedly fueled by each other’s lingering effects ghosting over your skin. It seemed you could communicate without uttering a word, but you still needed her friends to make anything of this miracle.

The two of you exchanged numbers amidst the playful teasing of her friends, their laughter and banter serving as a backdrop to this tentative yet promising connection.

As she struggled to type in the right numbers in the correct order in your phone, Jihyo could only thank the moon for hiding the blush burning into her cheeks at the thought of everything this could lead to…

—

Well, back to square one apparently. Although the year it took to get there brought some wonderful changes.

“I can’t believe I’m back here again…” You sighed in disbelief over the situation.

You knew history repeats itself or whatever, and sure the romance you’ve built with Jihyo was one for the books, but damn… Losing your friends twice at the same festival is just too much.

While the situation kind of annoyed you, Jihyo seemed amused by it, laughing as she turned to you after a quick scan of the area. “Y/n, stop whining, it’s like a full circle moment, isn’t that fun?”

“Okay, but how do you lose eight people at once, I don’t understand.” You whined even more, frustrated, but the feeling was weak compared to the smile that cracked through your façade when you met your girlfriend’s pretty eyes.

They had a mischievous twinkle in them as she suggested, “Okay, let’s use your useless height. Let me climb on your shoulders,” she tapped on them and you lowered yourself down. “I’ll see if they’re anywhere near.”

“If that’s what you wanted all along you could have just said so.” You mumbled. “Didn’t have to lose everyone…”

A playful grin tugged at the corner of her lips as you caught her shameless one. You couldn’t resist her infectious joy. It only took you a few seconds to secure Jihyo onto your shoulders, and you went on to navigate through the scattered sea of people, laughter blending with the distant music.

"See them yet?" You asked after a while of weaving through the crowd. Jihyo shook her head, her hair swaying with the motion. "No," she frowned, gaze sweeping over the people’s head in search of the same familiar faces.

Apparently you took that as a sign to let her down, and she found out when you suddenly stopped in your tracks, crouching down to make her step down safely. Key word was sudden; Jihyo was not ready for the drop and ended up reaching for your hair out of survival instinct, accidentally tugging on it.

That hurt, naturally, so you let out a half genuine whine and brought a soothing hand to the top of your head as she tried to do some damage control. She’d made it down unharmed, but at what cost.

“Oh, baby I’m sorry—” She laughed through her apology, and although you didn’t doubt her concern, her laughter did make the mocking come out on top.

Her hands tried to convince you otherwise, gently brushing your hair away from your face. You felt a rush of warmth as Jihyo's fingers brushed against your skin, her touch sending that same old shiver down your spine.

Despite her obvious amusement, there was an undeniable tenderness in her actions as she cupped your chin, her gaze scanning your features for any signs of discomfort. You couldn’t help but lean into her touch, appreciating how close she was.

“You should have warned me, did it actually hurt?” She asked and you pouted your lips in hopes to get a healing kiss from her own.

“Kind of.” You said, but she only gave you a few mocking giggles, making you sulk even more.

“I’m really sorry.” Jihyo's laughter was infectious, filling the air with joy as she peppered kisses all over you. You could feel the pain fading with each one of them. Each touch of her lips against your head, your forehead, spilling over your temples…

Placebo effect or the healing power of love, whichever it was, it worked.

It was in moments like these, where you stood together, lost in your own little world, that you realized how grateful you were for her and the love and warmth she’d brought into your life.

“Well, there you are!” A familiar voice you recognized as Nayeon’s pulled your eyes off each other, finding the rest of the group trailing behind her. “We’ve been looking everywhere, stop wandering off!”

“Yeah, or just get a room. No one wants to see this.” Jeongyeon gestured to the two of you, waving her hand around in a way that pulled a laugh out of everyone.

You only shared an amused look with Jihyo, a silent understanding prompting the two of you to playfully stick your tongues out in response, brushing off the harmless teasing.

—

Jihyo is competitive.

You knew that by now and learned the hard way. The only reason you don’t cry when she renders you bankrupt in Monopoly is because you’re cut from the same cloth.

She’d found her match in more ways than one, and her friends were oh so delighted, taking any opportunity to turn games into a true and free show by putting the two of you on opposite teams.

“You don’t stand a chance.” You told Jihyo, grabbing the cornbags from the friendly festival-goers who’d put up the game and turned it into a side attraction.

Trashtalk isn’t the most loving kind of talk, but the two of you kept it playful and harmless, taking it as a form of bonding.

“I love you.” Jihyo answered, ignoring your words, and her knowing look startling you into a horrifying realisation.

How could you forget about the pre-game vows…

“Right, I love you too.” You smiled, quickly going over to her side in order to lay a shy kiss on her cheek. The gesture pulled a few aw’s and laughs from the small crowd around, but you could very well distinguish your friend’s teasing as you went back to your side.

The game started shortly after with Jihyo opening it. She never went easy on you, and neither did you, to everyone’s pleasure.

The way you bickered, trying to destabilize and distract each other in each round was a highlight of a lot of people’s night.

While you tried to stay civil, only sticking to playful taunts and harmless cheating claims, your girlfriend went as far as stealing one of your bags.

Honestly you weren’t mad she did it, you were only mad you didn’t do it first because the point she made with it was counted by the appointed referee, along with the crowd’s approval.

It was everything but fairplay, but it was a good time. A memory you’d cherish for a long time.

“Congratulations, Hyo.” You shook her hand and she chuckled at you formal greeting. “I hope you know I let you win.”

Her laugh resonated amidst people’s cheers and playful protests from the ones who’d been cheering for you.

The smile on your face stuck around even when she landed a playful swat on your shoulder. If it weren’t her you’d be sulking like never before. She was the only one you’d be glad to lose against.

—

The chaotic search earlier didn’t teach you anything. That same evening you wandered off again, although this time you did at least agree on a place to meet back at.

As the night slowly settled in the sky, moon and stars rising to offer a gentle lighting support to the ones the festival offered, the two of you embarked on a stroll around the grounds you were still familiar with somehow.

Hands clinging to the other, fingers intertwined and shared giggles marked the way you’d remember the moment.

After a while, you walked into a quieter, more secluded area where nature seemed to hush the lively music still blasting from the stages afar.

The playful twinkle in your eye was hard to miss and stay indifferent to for Jihyo as you sat down, arms wide open and inviting.

You recognized the grin she sent you before ignoring the arms she was actually dying to feel around her. She went to sit next to you instead, prompting your shoulders to sink down with your arms.

“Why are you so mean to me today…” You sighed, wonder dramatically evident on tour face.

Jihyo chuckled, a soothing sound that brought more comfort to the bubble you were immersing yourselves in. “I’m not mean, you just made it really easy for me to tease you,” she shrugged, eyes wiping her nonchalant words with the affection they held for you.

Your smile returned when she carried herself into your lap shortly after, shifting herself to comfortably rest her back against your chest.

A quiet conversation eased itself between the two of you, soft and shy words reminiscent of the path you’d shared together so far as you mindlessly cuddled her; your gentle swaying a soothing rhythm.

“Do you remember when we met here?” Your voice sounded a little more nostalgic than you meant as you spoke.

Jihyo’s gaze softened on the flowers standing in the grass she was picking at. “Of course I do. It was only a year ago.”

“Feels longer, though, no?” You asked, wondering if she felt the same for a few seconds. The bond you’d developed was so strong, sometimes you forgot it was only your 8th month together coming up.

Everything was still so fresh, yet intense in the most perfect way. You could only hope she was on the same page.

“It does.” She admitted quietly. “It’s a little scary to think about sometimes.”

You recognized the nerves in the small laugh she let out, and you focused on softening the patterns your fingers caressed over her upper arm as she continued. “I mean… I was hopeful when I gave you my number, but I really didn’t think it’d amount to anything close to what we have.”

A small smile tugged at your lips upon hearing her words. It was enough reassurance for your heart. “You know, I never told you this, but… I thought this then and I think it now; I’m so glad you got lost that day.”

Her giggles sounded amazing breaking the peace and quiet you were getting used to, and she suddenly sat up to look at you in an amused kind of disbelief.

“Seriously?”

“I’m sorry, but you looked so pretty, and your smile almost made me faint; what else was I supposed to think?”

“Really?” She said slyly, poking at your chest. “What else happened?”

“Well, there’s not much. We barely spoke and acknowledged each other for like ten minutes tops.” You reminded, and the truth only made her roll her eyes before bringing you in for a kiss.

Her sudden impulse led you to share a quick, tender kiss, something you almost considered a moment of weakness when you pulled away on instinct, expecting the girls’ banter and teasing.

You could only laugh at each other when you realized you were alone. Happiness bubbled between the two of you, pushing Jihyo to draw you back into a sweet, deeper kiss.

It didn’t last long though, as your embrace soon got interrupted by the sudden burst of fireworks further away.

Right, that’s what you’d wandered off for this time.

[imasoftieforbarb]

PH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH!! Okay so we know that the brothers all like or tolerate rock of some sort canonically…. So what if Floyd got a goth wife/partner?! I feel like it could be really cute and this dynamic is def not based off of my trolls OC Dina…

BUT YEAH!! Floyd x goth wife/spouse (etc)

maybe his brothers met them n were like “wtf Floyd’s married or smthn??

IM A FREAK IM SORRY-

WE’RE BOTH FREAKS!

FLOYD WITH GOTH PARTNER:

I’m so obsessed with this

Ok

He’s so down bad it’s ridiculous

Absolutely loves your clothing style

Asks you if you can do traditional goth make up on him

He just wants an excuse to get close to you

If you make goth music?

He 👏 will 👏 be 👏 at 👏 every 👏 show 👏

If you don’t?

He’ll buy tickets to go see your favourite group together

I hc him to appreciate all musics- but pop will always have a special part in his heart

Metal covers of pop songs- he’s there for it

He’d be a bit nervous to introduce you to his brothers- he dreads the amount of teasing he might get

It goes down really well!

Jd was excited to hear your stories of adventures the two of you had been on

Bruce and you ended up exchanging recipes for various foods

Clay loved all your cool accessories and wanted to understand your culture more

Branch was just happy that his brother was with someone who made him happy and (surprisingly) gave you a hug!

They’re the first people Floyd tells when he starts planning to put a ring on it

Bruce let’s him rent out his restaurant

Jd helps him come up with a speech

Clay helps set the mood

And Branch reassures him

The proposal goes well (obviously)

They pull y’all into a group hug to welcome you to the family

Jd definitely starts crying

[seeingivy]

spiderman’s sweetheart 

spider!eren x f!reader 

you find yourself helping out your friendly neighborhood spiderman

content: spiderman au!, mentions of violence/blood/injury, a very corny spider gang, pieck + hange best girlfriends and aunts, they keep calling the female titan a pervert, the iconic spiderverse monologue at the end

an: based on a request I received from @cutiejg hope you like it sweetie pie!!!! ur request made me so excited I just had to write it now bc I LOVE LOVE LOVE SPIDERMAN 

-- 

Eren’s late. He’s late, he’s late, he’s late. 

His skateboards not moving him nearly fast enough and the stupid fucking school security stopping him every ten feet isn’t helping him either. And the cracks in the pavement slowing him down and the soreness from last night aren’t exactly boosters either. 

When he reaches the basketball courts, he sees you sitting there and feels his heart drop - black sunglasses perched on your face, your hair glowing in the sun, and your nose stuck in a book. As he walks up, he instantly recognizes the cover of the book you’re reading - The Heir to the Jedi - one of his favorite novels from when he was younger. 

He picks up his skateboard from the ground, running his hand through his hair one time before he clears his throat to get your attention. He watches intently as look up, giving him a smile as you yank your earbuds out of your ears. 

“Hi. I’m Eren. Eren Yeager. From the yearbook? We uh- went to elementary school together. And middle school. The same class too - with that hardass Mr. Levi? And uh-I’m sorry I’m late, I just got out of work.” 

Work. In his job as the cities most wanted vigilante, Spiderman. 

He’s cut off by the sound of you laughing, your nimble fingers pulling your sunglasses off the tip of your nose and pulling them up to hold your hair back. 

Fuck. This is infinitely harder when you’re making direct eye contact with him, glowing eyes peering into his. 

“I know who you are, Eren.” 

“You do?” 

“Of course, I do. How could I forget the guy who spilled orange juice all over Mr. Levi - the clean freak hardass himself’s - desk? 

Eren feels his cheeks burn, embarrassment coursing through his blood as he fumbles with the camera around his neck. Great. All you remember is the time he got yelled at and sent to the principal’s office in seventh grade for being clumsy. 

It’s not his fault he spilled the fucking orange juice. You just happened to look at him right at that second, pulling your face up from your textbook, to smile at him and his hands just started sweating and it just happened. 

“Right, uh- so you like Star Wars?” 

He watches you gather your belongings - a pale green waterbottle, your solid black backpack - covered in pins and ribbons as you both head down to the courts. One pin catches his eyes - the signature spider emblem right in the middle. The “I Stand with Spiderman” pins. 

A month after he started this whole Spiderman thing, the police chief called a task-force, aimed towards arresting the “spider vigilante” that was wrecking havoc. He almost got caught, backed up into a corner during one of his first fights, but the people in the city blocked him off, giving him enough time to get away. 

It was…a whole moment. The community, the people - they love Spiderman. So much that they started a whole movement to protect him, started by a group called “The Lions.” The names corny, but they’ve protected him more times than not so…he appreciates it. And that pin - it means you’re a part of it. 

Not only are you a part of a group that supports him, but you’re the class president of the school. And he’s the editor in chief of the yearbook. And in your presidential duties, you’ve tasked him with joining you at all your club progress meetings to take pictures of each club. It’s easier to do it together so you don’t take up that much time from each club - one meeting to get all the business sorted out. 

“Huh? Oh! Because of the book. Yeah, my little brother, Falco. Really into that stuff.” 

“Does he have a favorite character?” 

“Kylo Ren.” 

“I was Kylo Ren for Halloween. Armin, Jean, and Connie were the knights.” 

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. Why the fuck did he just tell you that he was a nerdy fucking Star Wars character for Halloween? Did he seriously just admit that he has the same interests as your fucking eleven year old little brother? 

“That’s clever, since it sounds like your name and all. Eren - Ren. Falco and I went as Harry and Hermione.” 

“Ah. You should be Rey and Finn next year. Because you’re like….a ray?” 

He watches you turn over to look at him, eyes squinting in confusion. 

Because she’s a ray? Eren Yeager, literal fucking spider-human who can swing from literal buildings, and the best he can come up with is you’re a ray. He couldn’t even finish the sentence and say ray of sunshine? 

“If I’m a ray, than you’re a segment.” 

He laughs so hard, he snorts and it’s literally so fucking embarrassing he wants to crawl in a hole. 

Math joke. You made a math joke. Because if she’s a ray, a part of a line that has no fixed end point, then he’s a segment - a line with two distinct end points. 

Eren tries his best to concentrate, but your sweet honey voice and your soft flowery smell make it hard to pay attention. He snaps the pictures. He walks you to your car. He goes to sleep with a smile on his face. 

- 

from y/n l/n 

you: eren!!! the basketball pictures are so great. ty for all ur help :’) 

Armin, Connie, Jean, and Eren all hover their heads over the phone - lying flat on his bed spread - trying their best to write out the best response. 

This is serious. Eren’s had a crush on you since the fourth grade. And this is his chance. 

“You should tell her thank you. And that you want to get coffee with her.” 

Connie grabs Armin by the collar of his shirt, nearly strangling him in the process. 

“Are you fucking kidding, Armin? He might as well say he wants to have sex with her.” 

Eren can feel his cheeks heat up as Armin and Connie start arguing, half swatting each other on the face. Armin’s screaming into Connie’s ear, the both of them tangling on the floor now. 

“What the fuck are you on about, Connie? It’s coffee shop, not a fucking bar.” 

Eren webs the two of them off each other, giving them both a smack on the back of the head as they stop. 

“You can’t web us Eren. We’re your guys in the chair!” 

Originally, Eren had one guy in the chair. Armin. A bloody genius at all things science and technology - he couldn’t have designed his web slingers without him. Granted, he tried but they didn’t work as well. 

But then he had to tell Connie. Because Connie had an in at the fabric store, his best friend Sasha’s mom as the primary designer, and he desperately needed someone to design a suit so he could keep his identity a secret. So he told him. Because that’s the only way Sasha’s mom would agree. If her biological son basically begged her to make a suit. 

Connie’s a loudmouth. Who told Jean. Who isn’t entirely useless. Sure he’s got a pretty big fucking head, but his dad is also a cop - meaning Jean can steal their radio systems so Eren can respond to events faster than them. 

A spider gang. 

“You’re both some big fucking idiots, that’s what you are. Where the fuck were you raised, Connie? A barn?” 

Eren, Connie, and Armin immediately stop talking the second they hear the swishing sound fill the air, turning their heads to find Jean with the phone in his hands. He sent a message. 

Jean’s smirking at the three of them, shaking the phone in his hands. Eren immediately stalks over, his eyes boggling out of his fucking sockets when he reads the response. 

to y/n l/n 

eren: thanks bae! 

“Jean Kirstein. Count your fucking days.” 

He immediately webs Jean to the wall behind him, slapping across the face one time for good measure as well. 

“What gives? It’s sweet - calling back to the ray joke you told us about.” 

Jean yanks his hand off the drywall, placing the stray webs onto Eren’s bed spread. 

“The ray joke? Your dumbass literally responded with ‘thanks bae’”

Jean sits up, snatching the phone from Eren’s hands as he runs his eyes over the phone again. Jean’s face turns uncharacteristically pink, an apologetic look on his face. Eren tags him to the wall behind him, spiderwebs holding his wrists up properly to the drywall this time. 

“Touch my phone again and I’ll web you upside down from the Empire State Building next.” 

“It was autocorrect! I thought I typed ray.” 

Eren webs over Jean’s mouth to prevent him from talking any further. He plops on the floor, head in his hands. 

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. This can’t get any more embarrassing. First he spills that orange juice in front of you and then calls you a ray and is late to meeting with you and now sends you this fucking horrifying text? 

You’re going to block him. You’re going to block him and Eren’s going to lose his chance with you. Eren is most definitely going to hang Jean upside down from the Empire State Building. 

His phone dings in the air and the three of them - Connie, Armin, and Eren - nearly drop the phone off the fucking bed trying to read the response. Jean’s voice is muffled against the web - sounding an awful lot like “if it’s a good response, you have to set me up with Mikasa”

from y/n l/n 

you: you’re welcome sweetheart :DDD 

Armin and Connie are fucking shaking Eren by the neck, the three of them screaming in the air. Jean’s still muffling against his web, begging to find out what you responded. 

Eren ignores that embarrassing heart skip in his chest. 

 - 

“Where is it guys?” 

Eren turns up his earpiece, swinging towards the end of the buildings. He could hear the crashing as he was walking back to his apartment, decking into the alley way to suit up. 

Armin - in all of his fucking genius - created matching earpieces for the four of them to use when Eren was on sight, everyone making sure a base was covered. Armin reported on the casualty, trying his best to think of ways to use the enemies weaknesses to Eren’s advantage. 

Connie watched the security cams Jean gave him access to, finding the best access route for Eren to get in and out of places. And Jean, in all his annoyingness, kept surveillance on the fucking cops trying to arrest him at every move. 

“Rose Middle School. Apparently, it’s like some fucking superhuman female titan and she’s giant. She’s wrecking through the parks right now.” 

“On it, Armin. Jean and Connie - keep me updated on where the cops are.” 

“Make sure a flaming car hits Mr. Levi.” 

“Shut the fuck up, Jean.” 

Eren turns his ear piece down, swinging into his old middle school as he surveys the problem. 

And Lord have mercy, she is fucking giant. A chiseled titan of pure muscle, striking blue eyes and blonde hair watching him swing through the air. She’s currently demolishing the PE equipment, which he imagines can’t be too bad, given it’s centuries old. 

Maybe they’ll finally replace the pickle ball equipment with a real sport - like basketball of volleyball. Eren webs her ankles and arms together first, knocking her down to the side. 

“Hey lady. Have you ever thought about like…putting clothes on? This feels weirdly inappropriate.” 

She only roars in response, breaking open the webs around her ankles as she reaches around for him in the air. Eren swings around her, basically flying through the air, as he tags her to the tree behind her. He taps into the ear piece, waiting for a response. 

“Best idea is to leave her there for now, Eren. There’s a kid around the block, make sure he’s okay before you try again.” 

“On it, Armin.” 

He swings around the block, to find one pale, blonde haired kid - a nose stuck in his book and headphones covering his ears. Did he not just see the hoard of kids running away? Or here that female titan just scream? 

He steps down, using his webs to yank the kids headphones off as he steps down in front of him. When the kid looks up, he realizes he has a puddle full of tears in his eyes, his cheeks brazen pink. 

“Hey kid.” 

He sniffles in response, pressing his hand against his nose. 

“Hi.” 

He crouches down, holding out his hand to shake. 

“I’m Spiderman. What’s your name?” 

“Falco.” 

“Nice to meet you, Falco. Want to get out of here before that creepy little weird lady comes back?” 

“Um, yeah. But my sister is supposed to come get me.” 

“Your sister, huh? Did she say where?” 

Stupid sister. Was she really planning on getting you from here? This sister couldn’t meet him at the Starbucks across the street?

“Right here. I’m waiting for her to show up so we can leave. She said to listen to music and read my jedi book so I don’t panic.” 

Jedi Book. Sister. Falco. You. Holy fucking god, this is your little brother. The one who likes the Kylo Ren. 

Right on cue, he can feel his spider sense tingling, with you running behind him - sneakers slapping against the concrete as you sprint. You nearly knock Spiderman over as you grab Falco by the face, cupping his cheeks in your hands as you run your eyes all over him. 

Your face is all scrunched up in panic and Eren can feel his senses heightened at the sight of you, this kid, and this creepy fucking titan lady a few feet away from you. You need to leave. Now. He needs you to leave because he can’t focus if you’re here. 

“You okay, Coco? Let’s go. Right now.” 

“Okay, okay.” 

But before you can, a large crashing sound knocks the three of you to the ground, the stupid female titan standing over the breadth of the elementary school, crystal blue eyes glaring down at the three of you. Spiderman webs up first, spinning around her as he calls out to her. 

“God, lady. You should really put some clothes on. You’re flashing entire titty to a kid right now.” 

All you can do is look up in shock, the titan’s crystal blue eyes staring into yours. Your hold on Falco is nearly deathlike and you shaking Falco’s arms as hard as you can to signal him to follow you. 

You begin to pull him but feel a tug when Falco doesn’t follow. He’s crying hard - tears pouring out of his eyes as he looks down at his feet. 

“I can’t move- I-I’m scared, Y/N.” 

You reach down, pressing your hands firm against his shoulders as you squeeze. 

“This isn’t the time to be scared, Falco. You’re okay. Spiderman’s right there and he’s dealing with-” 

You look up to find Spiderman, trapped in the palm of the titan’s hand, a broken device in his hand and one splayed on the floor, not a few feet away from you. You leave Falco where he’s standing, scrambling over to inspect it. 

It’s small and rectangular - blue and red splayed all over the intricate design work. In the tiniest of handwritings, there’s a small piece of text in the corner. 

property of the spider gang bitch 

Spider Gang? That’s so fucking corny. 

You hear Spiderman yelling out at you, refocusing to your vision to him, where he’s still trapped in her hand. 

“Mind giving me my webslinger back, sweetheart?” 

“Uh- yeah. I-” 

Before you can toss it up to him, the female titan stomps straight on to the concrete, knocking you and all the nearby outposts to the ground. Your ankle is immediately trapped under the mailbox to your right, the webslinger still in your hand. 

You try your best to yank your leg out from the metal, but you can feel your ankle burning - the pressure on your leg making your chest writhe in pain. Falco runs over, his hands in your hair as his hot tears start hitting your cheeks. 

“Hey. Hey hey hey. Falco, right?” 

You both angle your head up, looking at Spiderman talking to the two of you. The titan’s still got him crushed in her hand, but she’s distracted by the sound of the police cars coming up the block. Falco’s taken a few steps forward, towards the stupid alien mutant whatever the fuck titan she is. 

“You’re a strong kid, right?” 

“Not really. I didn’t pass my physical test last week.” 

“Not strong in that way, kid. Strong in the head, the heart.” 

“Um. I don’t know, Spiderman. I’m kind of lame when it comes to stuff like this.” 

Eren racks his head. He just needs his fucking webslinger back so he can get you guys out of here. And not get arrested. And not break every bone in his body from this death grip this naked lady has on him. And to make sure you’re okay. 

“Kylo Ren. He was pretty lame when he started out too right? He had to go to the special Jedi school with Luke and kind of learn everything from the start.” 

Eren sees Falco’s eyes light up, his tears lightly subsiding as he finally meets his eyes up to look at Eren. Bingo. 

“Yeah.” 

“And then he became really, really cool because he just tried it out right?” 

“Yeah and then he became evil and got the Knights of Ren.” 

“Okay, kid. Maybe ignore that part.” 

He sees Falco laugh, the female titan squeezing him harder in his grasp as she looks around, the police helicopters, right on fucking cue, starting to surround the three of you. 

“Okay, Falco. I need you to be strong. Like Kylo Ren, right now. Your sister, she’s got my webslinger in her hand. I need you to get it and then toss it to me. Can you do that?” 

Eren watches Falco nod, turning back to grab his precious, precious web slinger and toss it up to him. He misses the first time. And then the second time. But on the third time, he aims just right, the magnetic latch sliding in and Eren webbing this stupid titan bitch right in the fucking eyes. 

He swings down, lifting the metal mailbox from your legs as he lifts you into your arms, carrying you bridal style. He looks down at you - sweat coating your forehead and your eyes blinking closed. Falco’s at his side watching expectantly, his hand in his hair. 

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’ll get you to a hospital right away, okay?” 

He watches you nod in pain, crimson red blood running down the side of your leg. 

“Spiderman. Can I come too?” 

“Kid. That’s a stupid question. Climb on my back. We’ll take Y/N to the hospital, okay?” 

He swings away as the cops close in, the female titan encasing in steam as he swings away. He taps into his earpiece. 

“Someone watch what happens. See if she escapes through the steam somehow since she’ll definitely be back. And where’s the closest hospital?” 

“King Street, Eren. Pieck should be working.” 

“Got it, Armin. Thank you.” 

He swings as fast as he can, trying to ignore Falco’s death grip on his neck and your eyes fluttering closed as he swings into Pieck’s open window. 

A special edition to the Spider Gang (unofficially, of course) - Pieck is the best fucking asset in the world. A Nurse Practitioner he once saved from getting robbed, she’s now indebted to him entirely. And she’s also his Aunt Hange’s girlfriend - not that either of them know he’s Spiderman. 

Not that he would ever ask her for anything personal, he just brings injured civilians caught in his crossfire to her so he can avoid the whole - Are you Spiderman? Do the webs come out of your holes? Can you swing me to work later? 

He swings into her office, laying you flat on the gurney in the center of the room and setting Falco down on the couch nearby. 

As soon as he settles Falco into the chair, he feels his spider sense tingle and spreads his hand behind his neck, catching the syringe Pieck threw at him before it could hit him. He turns his back, smirking at Pieck through his mask. 

“Pieck-chan.” 

“I’m calling the police, SpiderFuck.” 

“Cmon. I saved your life, you know?” 

“That was one time. You’ve almost got me fired three times over.” 

“Cmon, cmon Pieck. This girl, I know her. Just help her out, yeah? She’s really sweet, y’know that?” 

He watches Pieck divert her eyes past him, focusing on you writhing on the gurney. She sighs as she smacks Eren on the side of the head, reaching forward to attend to your leg. 

“Get out of here, SpiderAss. They’ll be circling around the building any minute.” 

Eren runs up, tackling Pieck in a hug, before she can protest and swings out the window. 

-  

You haul your black boot up the door, knocking on the door. You can see “Zoe” inscribed into the little call box, ensuring that you did find the correct apartment from the directory. You can hear a loud rustling behind the door and the door swings open. You’re met with Hange, Eren’s aunt. 

“Hi. My name is Y/N. I attend Shiganshina High School. I’m a classmate of Eren’s, I was wondering if he was here.” 

“Pieck. Pieck! THERE’S A GIRL HERE TO SEE HIM.” 

Eren’s aunt drags you in by the wrists, taking the tin of brownies in your hand and setting it on the table, as they inspect you. Their eyes are glinting with excitement as they smile at you, teetering on their ankles as they talk. 

“Do you like Eren? Oh, isn’t he just so nerdy and sweet, I just love him. Do you love him?” 

A hand comes straight into Hange’s hair, yanking them back. You follow the line of vision, seeing that the hand belongs to Pieck. The nurse that Spiderman dropped you off to. Only more proof that you’re right. 

Pieck leans straight into Hange’s frame, rolling her eyes at Hange as she starts talking to you. 

“We were starting to worry about the kid. I thought he was impotent or something.” 

“Oh! Uh, no-” 

Hange leans over into your space, grabbing you by the shoulders. 

“How do you know he’s not impotent? Oh, you two better be having safe sex or I swear to god.” 

“No! Oh, no no, I swear it’s not-” 

Hange keeps rambling to themselves as they walk around the kitchen, yanking Pieck along with them. Pieck glances to your side, mouthing the words “he’s upstairs” as you shoot her a grateful smile and you start lugging your boot up the stairs. 

You knock on the door, voices muffled on the inside as you peak in. When you swing open the door, you find Connie, Eren, Jean, and Armin in a very strange position. The four of them are clearly playing Twister - Eren’s face near Jean’s ass and Connie’s hand right near Armin’s…dick. 

“Uh. Hi guys.” 

At the sound of your voice, they all quirk their heads towards you, so shocked at your presence that they all tumble on each other. You hear Hange screaming from the bottom of the stairs, her words making your cheeks turn red. 

“Eren Yeager. You better not be having sex with that girl in my house!” 

You watch Eren tangle out of the mess, rubbing the back of his neck as he screams back at Hange, slamming the door shut. He helps Armin and Jean up, before he turns back to you - his cheeks glowing pink. 

“Hi Eren.” 

“Hi Y/N. What are you doing here? Is your leg okay?” 

You hold out the card, embellished in your sparkly pink stationery and hold it out to him. You bought him a gift card - to Joe’s, the coffee shop near the highschool. You’d seen him bring a half empty cup to class a few times and figured it would be the best gift. 

You had to thank him. Because your leg put you out of commission for a week, you hadn’t been coming to school. And he sent you all the assignments (and the answer keys) while you were out. And made sure to tell all the clubs to keep their emails to themselves until you were back. And if you’re right, he’s the one who saved your life. 

“This is for you. Thank you - for the homework and the emails. It helped a lot.” 

You lean forward and press a kiss to his cheek, the skin soft and warm under your lips. Jean face plants on to the floor, Connie and Armin staring at you in shock. 

“Right. I’m Y/N. It’s nice to meet you guys. You’re Connie, Armin, and Jean?” 

They all nod, awkwardly shaking their heads as they plant on to Eren’s futon, Eren joining them on the seat. You sit right on Eren’s bed, the sheets Jurassic Park themed, as you face them. 

Here goes. 

“I know your secret.” 

“We know yours.” 

Eren smacks Jean across the back of his head, signaling him to shut up. 

“I thought about it. Really hard when I was in the hospital. You see, I really didn’t have much to do.” 

You lay back on Eren’s bed, pin pointing each of them and what you discovered by the line they’re sitting in. Jean first. 

“You know, one of the biggest mysteries about Spiderman is how he manages to get to casualties and robberies so fast. They’re usually reported through the police department, the intercoms only going through the radio.” 

The four of them are twitching at your words, after you casually drop the word Spiderman specifically, as you continue. 

“There was a radio that went missing a few weeks ago. Police Officer Kirstein lost the intercom on his way home from his shift. It was never recovered.” 

Jean turns red at the implication, his knees shaking as he drops his eyes. You’re right. You’re right, you’re right, you’re right. Connie next. 

“And you know, Spiderman has a very cool suit. Blue and red, specially stitched and special fabric clothes. I’ve thought long and hard about who could have designed it, but really there’s only one good designer in New York. Lisa Braus.” 

You turn your eyes to Connie, whose awkwardly looking around the walls, at anywhere but you. 

“Lisa Braus is Sasha Braus’s mother. You know, I’ve heard she can be coerced really easily, she really loves her daughter. I’m sure if you, Connie, gave Sasha say - a promise of a lifetime of free lunches from your parents restaurant - she could have given in and gotten her mom to make the costume. No questions asked.” 

Connie wrings his hand around his neck, groaning as he leans back into the futon. Armin’s hands are splayed right across his thighs, surely rubbing the sweat off on his slacks. 

“And the web-slingers. Ingenious design, really. There’s only one person who beat me out at the Tech-A-Thon in ninth grade. And it was you, Armin. They have your name written all over it - the design, the metrics. Though, you’re getting kind of sloppy. From the few seconds I looked at it, I think you can pack more webs if you lay them diagonally against the hardware instead of vertically.” 

You watch the gears move in Armin’s head as he thinks over your suggestion, turning to Eren to shrug. And then you look at Eren, leaning his elbows on his knees as he looks at you. 

“And you. You’re Spiderman. That day, when you saved me and Falco. You told him to be strong, like Kylo Ren. But you don’t know Falco like that. All you know is what I’ve told you And there’s no way Spiderman could have known that - unless you were Spiderman.” 

He leans over, his green eyes glaring into yours. 

“That’s all a coincidence, Y/N. Maybe you hit your head when you fell on that mailbox.” 

You falter for a second. You can’t be wrong. You can’t be wrong because you’re sure of it. You’ve thought it over for the past few days and he has to be. He has to be Spiderman. 

“How do you know it was a mailbox? Stop lying, Eren. I know it’s you.” 

“No, you don’t-” 

Eren stands up and you join him, getting closer to him as you keep talking, trying to convince him that you know. 

“You-you took me to Pieck when I got hurt. And while Pieck is just a nurse and anyone would do it, you took me to her specifically. Because you know she’ll fix it. Not just because she’s a nurse who cares about healing people but if she tries to rat you out - you can tell her you’re Spiderman. She’ll defend you like no other because you’re basically her pseudo-kid.” 

“You’re making things up, Y/N.”

“And the earpiece. You said “got it, Armin” when you were carrying me to the hospital. I’ve looked and looked. Armin Arlert is the only Armin in Brooklyn. It’s a pretty unique name. And I know if you’re Spiderman and he’s probably the first person you told. You’ve been best friends forever and-

“Y/N. Seriously-

“No, Eren. Because Spiderman called me sweetheart! And I called you sweetheart when you called me bae and you told Pieck that you knew me and that I was a sweet girl when you thought I couldn’t hear you.” 

You place your hands on his shoulders, boring your eyes into yours as he looks at you. 

“Eren. You’re Spiderman. And I would never, ever tell anyone.” 

You watch as he drops his gaze, muttering under his breath. 

“Got me all figured out, don’t you sweetheart?” 

Eren settles back down on the couch, as Connie, Jean, and Armin start their protests. 

“Eren, you can’t just go around telling people you’re fucking Spiderman.”

“You’re a vigilante. Do you know that? Her dad is the fucking police captain who wants your head on a stick.” 

“Spider Gang is already way too big as it is. Your identity will get revealed if you keep being an idiot.” 

You clear your throat, the four of them craning their heads to look at you. You look down awkwardly at your hands as you sit back down on Eren’s bed, rustling with your keys in your pocket. 

“You guys told me a secret. I can tell you one too.” 

Jean leans forward, rolling his eyes at you.

“He just admitted he was Spiderman, sweetheart. I don’t think anything compares to that.” 

Eren brings his hand down in Jean’s hair and yanks hard. 

“Don’t call her that.” 

You yank your keys out, fumbling with them in your hands openly. 

“You guys know about “I Stand With Spiderman”?” 

Connie rolls his eyes, glaring at you. 

“Obviously. Shit’s a fucking revolution at this point.” 

“I started it. The pins and the spray art and telling everyone.” 

You watch the four of them go slack jawed, for what feels like the tenth time today, staring you down. Armin speaks first this time, standing up to run his hand through his hair. 

“You-you’re the Lions?” 

“Yeah. It’s a stupid name, but-” 

Jean cuts you off, nearly strangling you as he shakes your entire frame in his hands. 

“That’s fucking impossible. Your dad is a bigger pig than mine and there’s no way in hell his fucking daughter is the one who started the thing that protects Eren every time he’s out there.” 

“That’s just the point, Jean. I got mad at my dad. So I started it. I think Spiderman’s the best thing that happened in the community and I knew that people agreed with me. So I did what I knew how to do. Spray paint. Pins. The people.” 

Eren stands up, yanking Jean off to grab your hands and lock his fingers with yours. 

“The Lions?” 

You clear your throat, explaining. 

“Harry and Hermione are Gryffindors. And Gryffindors are lions.” 

You can feel your cheeks turn pink - from Eren staring at you so close and holding your hands and Armin smiling at the two of you in your peripheral vision. You hold your keys up, dangling them between yours and Eren’s face, your shiny little Lego Harry Potter key chain making Eren’s eyes light up. 

Eren lets go of your hands and starts rummaging through his drawers, looking for something. He pulls out a small black string. Her reaches up to push your loose hairs behind your ears, stringing the piece through your ear. 

He taps on his own ear, speaking into the mic. His voice vibrates through your, a beaming smile on his face. 

“Y/N. Welcome to Spider Gang.” 

“That’s a really corny nickname, Eren. Could you really not come up with anything better?” you laugh, smiling at him.

“Says the girl who named a fucking revolution after Harry Potter.” Jean speaks up, glaring at you as he talks. 

“Jean. Shut the fuck up.” 

“Sorry, Eren.” 

 - 

Eren’s swinging through the buildings, clutching the side of his thigh as he retreats back to his apartment. 

Stupid fucking female titan. He’s been encountering her here and there - a total of six times now and he still has yet to understand what she’s doing. 

She appears out of nowhere, in locations that have no thread of connection - the elementary school, the coffee shop on the block near the bodega, the botanical garden all the way out of Brooklyn. 

He can’t figure it out. She doesn’t speak. She doesn’t talk. No matter how many times he insults her for being a naked pervert, she still doesn’t break. 

When he makes it back to his apartment, swinging into his room through the open window, he finds his spider team…down. Armin and Connie are sprawled on the ground, hair all messy and tiredness pressed on their faces as they pore over the new web-slinger designs. Jean’s on the computer, six empty cans of redbull on his desk as he pores over the footage, trying to figure out how she escaped. 

And you. You’re sprawled on Eren’s dinosaur sheets, using the DNA samples he gave you as a pillow, lightly drooling onto the results. He reaches down, lifting your head gently as he places it back down onto a real pillow, as you mumble on in your sleep. 

“Is she okay, Armin?” 

“Ah. She might be taking her Spider Gang duties a little bit too seriously than the rest of us. That and she’s more busy - she’s still doing all of her class president and internship stuff on top of this.” 

He sees you move in your sleep, rubbing your eyes with the back of your hand, as you focus in on your surroundings. The second you see Eren, the gash in his thigh, you jump up from the bed, scooting over to examine the gash. 

“Eren. Are you okay? You’re okay, right? Because I think I might be on to something and you can get her next time. I-I think she goes to our school or maybe-” 

Eren presses his hand to your knee as you take the seat next to him, leaning over to look at the gash. 

“Guys. Can I talk to her alone please? And get my dinner from Pieck, there’s no way I can hide this from her.” 

Armin, Connie, and Jean close the door behind him, leaving you to help Eren strip out of his suit. You’re trying your best to be gentle - pausing every time he hisses and groans in pain, lightly pulling the fabric out of the gash on his thigh. 

After it’s off, you reach for the kit Jean stole from Pieck’s room, cleaning and bandaging the wound. You try your best to not focus on the fact that Eren’s just wears his boxers under the suit and he’s just wearing his boxers right now in front of you. 

“Hey.” 

“Hi Eren.” 

“You know, you don’t have to take your Spider Gang duties so seriously. We’re all trying to figure out who she is and the bulk of it doesn’t have to fall on you.” 

“Spider Gang is a stupid name. And yes, I do. They barely spend any time thinking about it - with Jean trying to push back on all the initiatives they’re putting into stop you and Connie and Armin trying to perfect your tech so you can last longer.” 

“I last just fine. I just mean…you’re busy. Take a break, I don’t like seeing you guys all so worn out.” 

You push hard on the wound on accident, Eren groaning in pain. 

“Sorry. But we don’t like seeing you hurt Eren. You’re literally bleeding onto your futon right now and that’s not exactly a fun thing to see either.” 

He tilts his head down, his eyes in front of yours. 

“Worried about me, sweetheart?” 

You feel your cheeks burn, placing your hand in his hair to move his head out of the way. You start placing the bandages over the mark, smoothing them out with your hands. 

“Yes, Eren. Sue me. You’re fighting a crazy, perverted naked lady everyday. Arrest me if it’s so criminal to worry about you.” 

Eren laughs as he places one of his hands around your face, angling your face up so you look at him. You’re glaring at him, which Eren only returns a soft smile to. 

“You don’t have to worry about me. I’m Spiderman.” 

“Yes. You’re Spiderman. Not God, Eren. You can get hurt. And you just did. And she’s crazy and-

Eren presses his hands around your waist, pulling you in his lap to sit on him. You’re careful not to rest your legs against his wound, your arms secured around his neck and his around your waist. 

“Y/N. Are you scared of her?” 

You can feel the tears burning in your eyes at the question, your heart dropping in your chest. 

“Horrified, Eren. She-she knocked that mailbox onto my leg and had you in her hand and I just-I thought she was going to crush you and then Falco next. And I dream about it all the time, and it’s just- my leg still doesn’t feel the same and it hurts and-” 

Eren tangles one of his hands around your neck, laying your face flat against his neck as he rubs small circles into your back. You’re crying - wet tears falling onto his neck as you rack sobs into his neck. 

You’re not going to get hurt. You’re not going to get hurt because he’s Spiderman and he’s going to protect you. And there’s no point in him having any of this if you feel this way. 

“You were really brave that day, Y/N. You and Falco.” 

“Just Falco, Eren. You-you made him so brave, I feel like his confidence has been better lately and-” 

“Even if you were petrified, you were still brave regardless. I’ve seen it happen - people freeze up in shock, freak out when they’re faced with things like this. But here you are, still fighting it, in the way that you can. You’re brave, sweetheart.” 

You avoid the tingling in your chest at the nickname, his hands on yours, and his sweet, sweet voice in your ears. 

He’s going to find that fucking female titan if it’s the last thing he does. 

 - 

“Armin, what the fuck happened? Why did we just lose connection?” 

The four of you - Armin, Connie, Jean, and you - are currently locked in the computer lab, six hours after the school closed. You had planned it all out, set a trap for the Female Titan underneath the school, so that Eren could catch her once and for all. 

The problem? Eren just went underground. And he had been talking to you for the last twenty minutes. But you heard it, that loud, high-pitched feminine voice and then static in all four of your earpieces. 

Armin’s smacking on his computer, Jean clicking through all the footage. All of the camera’s are still up and running, all but one on static. You stop Jean in his stead, as Armin and Connie smack on the computer, trying to fix the ear pieces. 

“Wait, wait, Jean. Where is that?” 

“Girls locker room. The volleyball team was there last.” 

You lean over to Connie, opening his computer as you log into your accounts. Jean’s leaning over your chair, both of you hovering as you log into your administrative office account. 

“What gives, Y/N?” 

“Jean. The girl, female pervert whatever. She must have transformed in there and broke the camera. Whichever girl didn’t log in for practice today, since there’s no way that girl isn’t injured from the fight she had with Eren last night, has to be the girl we’re looking for. Attendance in class but not in practice.” 

Armin, Jean, and Connie lean over your neck as you log into the account, loading the nursing record for today. And then you find it. 

Annie Leonhart has requested a medical leave of absence for the week due to an extenuating injury. She may return to regular practice next week. 

Signed Pieck Finger, N.P. 

Armin all but falls out of his chair, quickly getting up to fix the computers. 

“Shit shit shit shit shit.” 

You grab his shoulder, basically strangling him as you ask. Because why the fuck is he so worried that Annie is the fucking female pervert? 

“What’s wrong, Armin? Why are you so panicked?” 

“Annie. She suspects that Eren is Spiderman. And she…she wants to know who he is for sure, she’s told me that before. And if she puts him into a corner, she’s going to expose him to the police.” 

You feel your throat run dry as the tears start working their way up to your eyes, burning hot. No. Because they’re going to arrest Eren. Maybe even kill him and- 

Connie drops his laptop straight onto the floor, his eyes weary as he looks up at the ceiling. 

“What now, Connie?” 

“Y/N. It-it’s Friday. Meaning, they’re resetting the plumbing for the weekend and-” 

Armin speaks up next, racking his hands through his hair. 

“Oh my god. The sink waters flooding in the tunnels. He’s done for.” 

You grab Armin by the collar, the anger seething in your chest. 

“Why is he done for? What’s wrong with the water, Armin?” 

“The webs. We haven’t perfected them yet and they dissolve in water. And it’s not a big deal because it’s not raining yet but-” 

Now you get it. 

“He’s down there with no defenses. And Annie’s going to get him any second. And tell everyone who he is.” 

Jean grabs you by the shoulders, shaking your head as he fixes your hair against your ears. 

“Think. Think, Y/N. You must know something about how to turn it off - you sit through all those administrative board meetings and talk to every fucking faculty member at this school because you’re a goody two shoes. You must know something.” 

And then you remember. The only way to turn off the water is to go down there, close off the pipes manually. 

You leave the three of them in the computer leg and sprint on your bad leg, down to where you know Eren’s waiting for you.  

 - 

Connie, Armin, and Jean find you an hour later. You’re in the tunnels, where they set their trap, with a huge gash on the side of your head and a very bruised and battered Eren in your hands. You’re crying hard, your hands soft on Eren’s hands trying to will him to wake up. 

Connie and Jean loop their arms around Eren’s, prying him out of your arms to lift him out of the tunnels. Armin helps you up, supporting your bad leg. 

“What happened, Y/N?” 

“I got down here, Tried turning off all the pipes manually. Eren was still trying his best, climbing around when I got most of the pipes off. She delt a few good blows but I mentioned that I knew she’s Annie and she kind of….ran off. She wasn’t really trying to…expose him or anything but I feel like she was trying to get the tech.” 

“You okay? I know she scares you and…” 

“Yeah. I just-we have to take Eren to Pieck. We can’t fix him on our own-” 

“No. No he wouldn’t want us to.” 

“He can’t want anything if he’s dead.” 

“He’s not dead.” 

“You-you don’t know that. He’s not invincible just because he’s Spiderman, he-he’s just Eren. And he can get hurt and I don’t want him to die and-” 

Armin wordlesly agrees to take Eren to Pieck, the five of you piling into Jean’s car. Eren’s next to you, still not awake with his head slackly leaned against your shoulders. 

When you reach the apartment, Connie, Jean, and Armin task themselves with bringing Eren in as you explain to Hange and Pieck. You knock on the door, teary eyed to Hange and Pieck responding, worry in their eyes at the blood leaking down the side of your face. 

Pieck reaches forward, lifting your face in her hands which you swat off. 

“P-Pieck. H-Hange. It’s Eren and he…he’s not okay. Please just help him without asking anything, I don’t want him to die on us.”

Connie and Jean drag Eren in, lifting him onto the couch as Hange racks back sobs. You go to Hange’s side, squishing them in an embrace as Pieck gets to work, cursing under her breath as she goes on. 

“Wake up, SpiderFuck. Of course, this dumbass bothering me for the past three months is our kid. I’m going to kill you, you son of a bitch when you wake up, you know that? Stupid SpiderMotherfucker, I hate you-” 

Pieck works around him, taking Hange from your arms as she leaves the two of you in the living room when she’s done. Connie, Jean, and Armin leave you with him - already working on figuring out where Annie went upstairs. 

You take Eren’s hand in yours, squeezing tight as you whisper to him. 

“Wake up. Wake up, Eren.” 

No response. 

“Come on. You can’t be serious. You-you’re Spiderman and you don’t get hurt and-” 

No response. 

“I….I can’t be brave without you, please be okay.” 

No fucking response. You lay your forehead flat against the table as the sobs rack through you, Eren’s uneven breaths continuing on the table. 

“Please, Eren. Come back to me.” 

You feel a hand at the top of your hair, pressing down to the length of your neck. You look up to find Eren, weakly smiling at you as he winces. You sit up immediately, tears still streaming down to your neck, as you cup his face in your hands. 

“Eren.” 

“Quit crying, sweetheart. I’m Spiderman.” 

You laugh through your sobs as you press yourself against his chest, hugging him as softly as you can. You can feel his hands on your back, jaggedly circlcing into the small of your back. 

“Where are we?” 

“Your house. Pieck fixed you up and-” 

He sits up, groaning as he glares at you.

“Don’t tell me you told them that I was-” 

“I had to, Eren. I thought you were dead and-” 

“I wasn’t dead. I’m Spiderman!”

“Spiderman can die, Eren. And you didn’t fucking wake up.” 

“I heal supernaturally fast. You should have given me a minute to come to.”  

“The fact that you needed Pieck’s medical attention to come to right now, four hours after the fact, tells me that you weren’t fucking okay, Eren! And they don’t care and-” 

“You think my aunt, Hange, who watched my parents fucking die in front of me doesn’t care that I risk my fucking life on the line everyday? They fucking care!” 

“It’s not a big deal, they just want you to be okay and-” 

“And what the fuck were you doing down in the tunnel? Don’t pretend like I don’t see that fucking gash on your pretty face and I’m just ignoring it right now.” 

You can feel the anger seething in your chest and you really, really want to smack Eren right about now. 

“We figured it out. Annie Leonhart, the girl from the soccer team, she’s the pervert titan. And she’s-she’s trying to expose you as Spiderman. Or maybe not, I don’t know. And the water tunnels were on and I know your webs dissolve in water and I just-” 

“You just what? Thought you’d run down them and turn them off?” 

“Yeah, asshole. For you.” 

“You know the best part of Spider Gang. You’re the team in the chair. Do you understand what that means? You keep your ass in the chair and away from shit like this!” 

“I can’t just sit by and do that.” 

“Why the fuck not?” 

“Because I’m not Connie or Armin or Jean. I’m not just your friend who can sit by and let you get hurt. You’re-you’re not just” 

“What am I then, huh?” 

“You’re the guy I love. I can’t just fucking watch you bleed out from a tunnel and pretend it’s okay, Eren.” 

You’re both panting, chests heaving from screaming so loudly. Eren closes the space between you, pressing his lips to yours as you melt under his touch. You can taste metal - surely from the cut on his lip - but you can also taste mint, definitely from the stupid pocket he made for Altoids in his suit. He’s smiling against your lips, leaning his weight on you as you rest your forehead against his.

“Guy you love, huh?” 

“Shut up. When did you become so cocky, Eren?” 

You wrap your arms around his neck, pushing your burning cheeks into his shoulder as he laughs against your ears. The next questions genuine, his voice wavering when he asks. 

“Do you only love me because I’m Spiderman, Y/N?” 

“No. I love Spiderman because he gives Eren the confidence to talk to me. You…you’ve always been so shy and stand-offish with me since we were kids, I…kind of thought you hated me. But Jean told me, you’re just really awkward.” 

“Remind me to kick Jean’s ass.” 

“And…I always liked you. You know, we really didn’t need pictures of each of the clubs. I already took those during club registration at the beginning of the year. I just wanted an excuse to be around you and I think that’s technically an abuse of power but-” 

He leans forward, pressing his lips to yours once again, leaning so hard on you that you both get knocked on the couch. You’re both laughing, smiling so hard that Hange and Pieck and the rest of Spider Gang comes down to find you two giggling on the couch. 

Now that Eren’s sentient, Hange yells at him for three things. One. Being Spiderman. Two. Being a dumbass and getting hurt. Three. Attempting to have sex with this girl on the couch. 

And then they ask if Eren should be taken to a vet, since he’s technically half spider. 

The five of you corner Annie later that week. And she confesses it all - that she didn’t know when this power happened, or what came over her, or even what’s going on. And that she doesn’t want to expose Spiderman, she wanted the technology. 

She wants to know what’s wrong with her. And she figured that if she knew who Spiderman was, if she could lure him out by stealing his tech, she can find the person who makes his tech and have them help her. 

Eren extends his hand first. Promising that Spider Gang (a name that she snorts at) promises to help her figure it out and control it if she promises to not wreck havoc or drop mailboxes on your leg again. And she explains that she has no control when it comes over her, that she really doesn’t want to hurt people. 

When Armin figures it out and when Annie can control it, she’s instated as the sixth member of SpiderGang. Eighth if you count Pieck and Hange. 

And she doesn’t scare you. It’s nice to have another girl on the team. Especially one who hates “Spider Gang” as much as you. And it’s sweet to watch Armin and Annie bustle around each other, working on perfecting the tech. 

And to watch Jean and Connie tease them. And to have Eren swing you around in New York and sneak into your bed every night and save lives all around the city. 

- 

Okay. Let’s do this one last time. 

My name is Eren Jeager. I was bitten by a radioactive spider. And for the last six months, I’m the one and only Spiderman, equipped with a fully functional Spider Team. Officially dubbed, begrudingly, the Spider Gang. 

Connie and Jean, codenames C-Man and Horseface (since using real names got me exposed the last time) are my surveillance team. Surveying out my enemies, making sure the cops don’t get to me - they’re important reconnaissance for each mission. 

Armin and Annie, codenames Ocean Eyes and Pervert Lady (don’t ask). They’re my technical geniuses. Always redefining my tech, fixing up my webs to make them stronger, faster. There’s no Spiderman without Spidertech. 

And Y/N, codename Sweetheart. My girl in the chair. And the one in my heart too. Not only does she figure out motives/identities/locations for every villain and plan out every attack before I do it, but she’s the main reason Spiderman even exists. 

Why I fight so hard. 

I have to keep Brooklyn safe for my girl.

[slvt444books]

Indifference

In which Nanami kento finds himself drawn to you despite his usual indifference towards his usual coworkers

Nanami Kento was a “good” man. Always following the speed limit when driving, doing his taxes annually, and doing his share of work diligently for the sake of his coworkers, going to bed, and waking up at a reasonable time. There was one small flaw to his lifestyle, he was just so fucking bored.

It wasn't that he expected this lifestyle to be fulfilling in the slightest, yet there was something majorly lacking within his dreary life. It's not like he wanted to mirror Gojo’s life and whatever that idiot was up to, but he wanted to feel. To feel beyond the fleeting excitement of finding a new sandwich at the convenience store, or the prospect of a raise from his crummy boss that is. But it was fine, he’d simply save up then retire and live out his days in some tropical paradise.

That was until he met you. You filled the role of a temp who had been fired for slacking on the job. His expectations weren’t very high, to say the least. When you were introduced to him His first impression of you was that you were average. Attractive but yet average, long legs, full hair, round face with a neutral yet edgar expression across it, to be short you were beautiful, but still an Average looking woman. Your face wasn’t exactly the sort to stick around in his brain for years.

Either way, he had no plans whatsoever to get close to you or become too familiar. The line he drew between His personal life and work life was very clear. Not to be crossed. So he trained you accordingly, showing you the ins and outs of the business, you asked questions that proved that you paid attention to the boring rules and explanations, occasionally throwing a witty joke or two that he couldn't help to slightly grin at. (not that he'd show it) At the end of the work day, he walked with you to the front of the building, to find rain pouring down relentlessly. How cliche he thought, it reminded him of a rom com he saw while flipping through the television. Being the person that he was he carried a mini umbrella on him always. He turned to his right to see your face, obviously dreading getting drenched by the rain. So without thinking, he handed you the umbrella, walking away quickly to avoid any sort of dialogue between the two - why watch someone's day turn shitty like his usual ones?

He had made it an entire block until he heard the pitter-patter of squeaky shoes and breathless uneven pants right behind him. Then he felt the rain droplets stop kissing his head. It was you on your tippy toes holding the tiny convenience store umbrella over his head and shoulders- well half of his shoulders anyway. Before he could open his mouth to question your strange actions you quipped your mouth to say “I knew you were a bit strange but getting rained on for a total stranger? Not that strange ” You were joking but At a loss for words, he just stood there making an incredulous face at you. Why not just accept the umbrella and move on? Instead of just standing there like an idiot lacking a response he just simply said “I just thought you’d appreciate the umbrella, Nothing more.” With that, he turned back around to head home. But your voice reached him again “I didn’t mean to be rude or anything I just figured since we seemed in the same age group I could speak informally, sir” There seemed to be an underlying timidness in your voice that hadn't been there before. “It's fine” he uttered flatly, once he thought that he'd got off the hook and could leave you spoke once more “Could I take you to ramen to make up for my rudeness?” he sensed sincerity in your voice. Unlike many people he encountered daily. So he simply nodded and let you lead the way, maybe this could stop the your babbling and stop any awkwardness that lingered from this interaction, he lied to himself. The truth was he was intrigued by you. Why that was? He just couldn't seem to figure out.This entire day he seemed to act on a whim, not as logical as his usual self. Soon he found himself in a small poorly lit ramen shop downtown. In this moment it dawned on him that he wasn’t bored. A rare occurrence at the end of a long day. He found himself drawn to you oddly. Maybe he’d bend his rules and interact with you a bit more… just maybe.

[stomach-bugg09]

im insanely in love with your older! Sister mini series!

Hmm I have a request, could you perhaps do one where you remember the scene where kiri unfortunately has a seizure underwater?

Instead of it being kiri could you switch it so instead we’re the one who has a severe seizure?? maybe a little different? Not too similar to how kiri’s whole situation went.

And the whole family especially our younger siblings go into a panic bc this has NEVER happened before.

It’s alright if you don’t want to do this one 🤍 was trying to come up with an idea so the mini series could stay alive for a bit longer! Lol

summary: [y/n] is normally the one taking care of her younger siblings—how are they supposed to care for their big sister while she’s hurting?

a/n: ahh !! thank you for this request. it’s been sitting in my drafts for a while because i was writing other requests , but i’m finally here !! i kind of changed the plot because kiri has a reason for her seizures ( “epilepsy” as norm might say , or as educated people might say , she’s connected to eywa ) so i decided to go with more of a connection to ancestors sort of route so that way they’re still super worried and she’s super in danger , but at least it’s something unique to her character !! hopefully you all enjoy. feedback + reblogs are always appreciated !!

tags: @rafeslovergirl @wxnderingthoughts @liyahsocorro @bonnibuckets @hjkshshjkhklhkl @itssiaaax @grierpilots @fleurbeass @eywas-heir @historygeekqueen @missroro @23victoria

warnings: mentions of immense pain , passing out , almost drowning , death , a very familiar death scene of a beloved na’vi from the first movie

not invincible

it should have been a normal day. it truly should have! but, alas, the sully family would forever keep it from being anywhere near “normal.” especially in their new home.

the group of siblings had been overwhelmed with honor when tsireya offered to show them the metkayina spirit tree settled beneath the waters of the cove of the ancestors.

as soon as [y/n] broke through the surface, immersing herself in a completely different world than she ever grew up around, she could feel the change in atmosphere. there was something different, something deeper that exuded itself through the cove. at the feeling, she could not fight the natural smile. it reminded her of her home, of the omaticaya tree of voices. oh, how she missed it.

the underwater bioluminescence highlighted features upon each of her companions, the beautiful splatter of glowing freckles littering each of their cheeks. [y/n] sent a cheeky grin towards her youngest sister, excitement omitting from every one of her movements.

the further they swam, the more in awe that [y/n] seemed to be. it was absolutely gorgeous. the scenery was jaw-dropping,

“come,” tsireya signaled, gently grabbing her own queue as they neared the tree. the four sully siblings that joined her on the journey to the spirit tree, neteyam, kiri, tuk, and [y/n], all followed suit.

the closer [y/n] swam to the tree, the louder her heartbeat got. she couldn’t help but stare in complete awe, the purple light omitting onto her face. she smiled, grabbing her hair, and she connected it to the underwater tree.

immediately, warmth flooded through her body. her smile broadened, and her fingertips tingled. at the comforting sensation, she felt herself slip from reality, allowing her eyes to close as she shifted into another world.

when she opened her eyes again, [y/n] was met with a familiar sight of home. she let out a laugh of joy, spin around as she took in the sight. she’d missed the forest, but as the eldest child, as the role model, she felt as if that longing feeling of being homesick had been pushed down. it was a common role that [y/n] had to take as the eldest. push down her feelings and prioritize that of her baby siblings.

[y/n] took a step forward, feet sinking into the wet mud. she paused, wiggling her toes, a moment of nostalgia playing back. once she looked back up, she felt smaller as she was met with the comforting eyes of her father.

he looked younger, much less stressed than how he did now. he looked happy.

“daddy!” she cried, stubby arms reaching out to him.

jake laughed, immediately swooping down to grab his daughter. “i’m gonna get you!” he taunted, voice teasing and soft.

[y/n]’s small voice shrieked with joy, turning and attempting to run. unfortunately, her father was far too quick, his large hands grabbing her by the waist.

she cried out, laughter flooding her voice as he lifted her into the sky. [y/n]’s eyes squeezed shut as he soared her through the air. and then, everything changed.

the wind picked up, and she felt lighter. the air was thin from where she flew. at the change in her senses, she instantly opened her eyes wide, her stomach crawling into her throat as she took in the sight.

she flew through the skies atop an unfamiliar ikran. the ground was very far beneath her, it was merely just her and the atmosphere.

the one thing that did accompany her, however, was the sight of sky-people technology, specifically that of the rda. it was large and dangerous. ammo was stacked within the ship that flew in front of her. she ship that she was flying towards.

[y/n] screamed at the creature to stop, but it was as if she couldn’t open her mouth. she had no free will, in fact. no, she was merely watching the scene unfold from eyes that weren’t her own.

she gasped as she jumped forward and off of the ikran, bow pointed at a soldier standing aboard the ship. a fierce battle cry left her throat raw, tears pricking her eyes from the wind that pierced them.

her feet thudded against the metal ground, grabbing men and throwing them one by one. she was actually doing quite well!

she smacked a few with her bow, multiple ending up thrown overboard. but, just when she was getting to the last of them, one of the humans released a round of bullets. each one embedded themselves into her chest.

[y/n] screamed at the feeling, warm pain spreading from her chest outwards. she could feel it in each of her limbs, a feeling of a throbbing numbness.

before she knew it, she was free falling, the wind roaring in her ears. and then, it all flashed to complete black.

[y/n] awoke from the spirit tree, and she couldn’t breath. her chest hurt, it was so tight. she could not feel her arms and legs, they were numb.

immediately, she detached her queue, stumbling backwards as best as she could underwater. cries left her throat, but all that came out was bubbles upon bubbles.

every second that went by, her vision began to darken. she could not see, could not hear, could not think. everything hurt. so bad.

neteyam was the first to notice. it was almost as if, through his urge to protect, he instantly felt that something was off in the universe, and as a result, he left the spirit tree earlier than anyone else.

at the sight of his big sister floating helplessly, screaming as loud as she possibly could, his heart burst. what happened? he was quick to act, bringing everybody else back to reality as he swam over to [y/n].

when the eldest sully felt her brother’s hands grab her’s, she felt a little bit more at peace, although not by much. all of her senses were out of whack, simply put, and she was in so much pain.

she barely even noticed as neteyam swam her upwards to the surface, and, thanks to her lack of oxygen from screaming, she kept fading in and out of consciousness.

once they broke the surface, the first thing to leave her throat was a scream. “it hurts so bad!” a sob took over her voice, each word shakier than the one before.

“sh,” neteyam attempted to calm her down as he brought her over to his ilu, getting her to lay on top of the creature rather than float in the water.

beside them, tuk bobbed up and down with tsireya, kiri, and rotxo. “[y/n]!” she cried, repeating herself a multitude of times. kiri clasped a gentle hand on her shoulder to quiet her down.

“what happened?” kiri panicked aloud. “what is happening, sister?”

the only answer she got was another choked cry. “it hurts. oh, it hurts so bad.”

“go!” tsireya called their attention. “you must get her back to the village.” neteyam nodded, boarding the ilu as he wrapped his arms safely around his sister.

“let’s go.”

neteyam and his ilu shot into the distance, kiri, tuk, rotxo, and tsireya not far behind. kiri held the youngest sully between her arms, attempting to comfort her, but it was extremely difficult considering kiri herself was worried.

the only reason neteyam was composed was because he had to assume authority, as weird as it was considering [y/n] was always the one to fill that role. as soon as he swam into the docks screaming for his parents, his heart began to rise to his throat.

when he watched his big sister get carried away in the arms of their father, pain panged deep within his chest, worry overtaking all of his emotions.

not one of the sully siblings sleep all night, especially lo’ak upon returning and learning that he was not there to help.

upon waking up a few days later, after a multitude of different attempts from norm and maxwell to ronal and eywa, she is immediately attacked by love and care from every member of her family.

when [y/n] first wakes up, she cannot help but cry. although she is no longer in pain, she can’t get the image out of her head. the way that na’vi died, no matter who he was. it was sad, it was gruesome, it was unfair.

the one thing to bring [y/n] back to reality was the small body of tuk who laid herself on top of her, the youngest sully’s arms wrapping themselves around her big sister.

“[y/n]!’ she cried, her small hands laying against [y/n]’s. “i am so glad you’re okay.”

once tuk noticed her new sense of consciousness, it did not take long for the rest of the family to pay their honorary visits, each of them having their own sense of emotion to them.

neteyam’s was more relieved than [y/n] could have imagined. he was so worried, so concerned for his big sister. he told her about his prayer to eywa, he told her about how scared she’d made him. she couldn’t help but smile, another round of tears pricking her eyes ( this time more bittersweet than sad ).

kiri was quite teasing the way that she threatened, “if you ever do that again, i’m going to kill you!” she told her of the way they’d all been so worried for [y/n], the way they’d all forgotten that their oldest sister actually had feelings and could get hurt. “we’ve just been so used to you taking care of us!”

lo’ak told jokes. he updated her on the ways of life in the past few days, told her of the reef. a part of lo’ak wanted to avoid speaking of her event because of how difficult it was to visit what could’ve happened, so he avoided it with his humor. as he always seemed to do.

tuk didn’t leave her side once. she made bracelets for her healing sister, she ranted about the reef, she made dinner with her. there was so much to do, so much to talk about! after a few days of [y/n] being asleep and healing, tuk had a lot of quality time to catch up on.

neytiri and jake, of course, were just so happy she was okay. it took a while for them to get rid of her siblings, wanting them to get their own time together before they had to remind her of whatever’d happened. but, they needed to understand.

once neytiri asked her, tears immediately pricked her eyes. as [y/n] retold the events, she had to pause multiplied times to keep herself from choking on her tears.

by the end of it, jake and neytiri exchanged glances. the story was far too familiar. but, they also decided that was a problem for another time. they just had to thank eywa for keeping her alive.

overall, the sully family learned a valuable lesson. just because [y/n] seems invincible does not mean that she actually is.

[rascalentertainments]

My Official Wish AU Title: 🌟🌟🌟

Not sure if this will be an entire full length story or just bits of ideas to accumulate yet. It'll depend how much people actually like the idea here. And I need some pics of Valentino's concept so I can come up with a better redesign idea for him, I just keep losing the post that had it. 😅 But, as for the story plot, I can give ya a synopsis: *clears throat*

In the beautiful kingdom of Rosas, the citizens happily live their lives without a care in the world. Thanks to their wonderful and magical rulers; King Magnifico and Queen Amaya, together they created a place where everyone's wishes can come true..... Or so they thought.

Behind the castle doors, the two rulers (and their proud lynx, ) have been taking control of people's wishes, choosing who really deserves happiness or misery. They feed on the hopes and dreams of their citizens, quietly gaining power that will soon become insufficient. Magnifico's true goal is to harness infinite power. To rule with such cosmic force that no one would dare defy him. To catch a Star.

Not all the citizens had the wool over their eyes, as a small group of them quietly fled from Rosas into what was nicknamed "The Enchanted Forest". There the people made their own lives away from Magnifico and his dangerous magic, but they know they could only hide for so long.

Asha, a young woman of 17 who grows restless in the village and wants to venture back out into the world, but still has fear of Magnifico finding her family. Especially with her saba, Sabino growing weaker everyday as a result of losing his wish.

So in an act of desperation, she wishes upon a star for a miracle, for her family and people to restore what was taken from them. Her wish is granted, but not in the way she ever imagined: A Star comes down to Earth, taking the form of an excited, shape shifting, glowing, teenage boy. Together, the duo (along with Asha's loveable and loyal pet goat, Valentino) travel to Rosas to restore the wishes to their rightful places. Only Star has no idea what he's doing....but he'll try. 😅

Its A bit long, and its inspired by the bits of the original movie we did get to see. I thought the hidden village idea was an intriguing idea, really. So if I did do a full on rewrite, I'd include those deleted scenes as sort of bridges to other scenes I write and add interactive fun.

My last addition for now is that Star and Asha's dynamic would be A little more akin to Hercules and Meg, since he's heard stories about Greek heroes and such that humans have recorded in books. Asha is a little more down to earth and Star helps her see the good and magic still in the world despite the looming threat.

That's all I got for now, and I hope its good. Fantasy is not my strongest thing to write, I'm really into Sci-fi/Superhero, p. But I'm willing to try new things. Its no "Kingdom of Wishes" level of excellence, but if this grows some more, I'd be happy about that and appreciate it.

Thanks so much for reading this!

[yacinthemorning]

A Lesson in Listening

Summary: Grian's brother is moving to town and staying with him while he house hunts. While introducing him to his friend, however, Jimmy and Tango seem to make quite a connection. Determined not to suffer through the pining, Grian and Impulse attempt to play matchmaker.

Ships: Grian & Impulse(Platonic), Jimmy/Tango (Romantic), ZITS (Platonic), Grian & Jimmy (Familial)

Warnings: mild acephobia, verbal fight, sibling bullying, misunderstandings, relationship meddling

If Grian was good at one thing, it was connecting people. Not to be a braggart, but he was a sociable sort who was good at reading people, made new friends with ease, and led the pecking order in his circles. It was his great talent, really. One of many.

“Humility not being among them, clearly.”

“Shush.” Grian hissed, whipping his head around to glare daggers into Impulse. The stout man returned it with his trademark innocent smile, as if Grian didn’t know what went on in the head behind it. “You’re distracting me.”

Impulse chuckled. “What’s there to distract from?”

“I’ll have you know mixing friend groups is a very delicate process!” Grian explained, holding his phone to show the opened notepad doc. “Inviting the wrong person could be the difference between success and disaster.”

“I think you’re overthinking things, G. Anyone who’d get along with you will probably get along with your brother.”

Therein lied the problem, though. Jimmy was nothing like Grian. Okay, well, nothing was a bit of a strong word. Jimmy was extroverted and sociable like Grian, and they both had a fondness for mischief and cats. And maybe Jimmy was the first person Grian always invited to karaoke night when he was in town, because no one else was quite as enthusiastic as they were. But other than that they were nothing alike! For one, unlike Grian, Jimmy was a massive loser.

“That’s a bit rude.”

Grian squawked. “Would you please stop reading my mind!”

“You should stop speaking your mind, then.” Impulse shrugged and returned to scrolling through his phone. Grian had assigned him the task of picking out the venue for the night out, being far more familiar with the town than Grian. He paused, “You might as well monologue, I know you want to.”

“I don’t monologue! I’m not Scar.” Another name was struck out on the list. Doc was angry at him right now, anyways. “I just want things to go well, can I not be excited that Tim is moving closer? I’ve barely got to see him more than once every other month for the past several years! By the way, we can’t-“

“Can’t eat red meat so make sure there’s other options, yeah, I know.” A large hand patted down on Grian’s head, ruffling his hair.

He pouted, falling back into the cushions of his couch. “I feel like you do not appreciate the skill needed to coordinate you people. It’s like herding cats, you know.”

“Why do you think we leave it to you?” Impulse leaned over Grian’s shoulder. “Who you got so far, anyways?”

“You, Scar, Gem, and Cleo. Mostly people he’s met before at least.”

A curious hum filled the air and Grian patiently waited for whatever idea was brewing in Impulse’s head. There were a few taps to his screen, then, “You think Tango can come?”

“Tango?” Grian’s eyebrow quirked up. “Isn’t he hauled up in his basement working on some game right now?” While most certainly a good friend, Tango was one Grian went almost just as long without seeing as his brother half a day’s drive away, despite being a street away. Once he had an idea he would dedicate himself to it until it was done.

Impulse sighed. “Yeah. Zed was able to get him outside for an hour last week, and he went on some business trip for a bit, but he also hasn’t eaten in like two days last I checked. It’d be good excuse to drag him out. He’s gonna forget what real people sound like outside his headphones if we don’t.”

“I honestly don’t know how he expects to survive if he moves out from you guys.”

“I already made him promise to give me a set of spare keys when he does.”

Grian tilted his head as he stared at his last message to the man in question. Something about a crazy idea for a remote-controlled cat toy he thought of. In all honesty it wasn’t the worst idea. Not the cat toy- Tango was a strong personality who left a big impression, but he was always polite. Certainly much more introverted than everyone else going, but not nearly as bad as Zed. At least, when he remembered to leave his basement. It couldn’t do them any harm. At the very worst he could sit in the corner and chatter with Impulse. “Yeah, sure, let’s invite him.” He said, already typing. 

Impulse gave a thumbs up. “Tell him we’re gonna go to that barbeque place he loves, that’ll get him.”

“I said-”

“They have plenty of chicken and even vegetarian options, I double checked. It’s right across from the bowling alley, too. And call him, don’t text, or he’ll never see it.”

It was a small miracle Tango agreed to go. It was a small miracle he answered his phone at all. The mention of barbeque worked, though. How much of the rest of the evening they could convince him to stick around for had yet to be seen, but Grian was hopeful he’d stay a little while at least.

Impulse could deal with Tango, though. Right now, Grian had his hands full with Jimmy. They were running ten minutes behind because his poor little brother couldn’t bear going a day without a bubble bath. “C’mon, Tim, get in the car!” He shouted from the window.

Jimmy stumbled in, nearly dropping his phone between the seats in the process. “I’m hurrying, I’m hurrying, I just had to send a text. I thought this was supposed to be fun?” He whined. The second his door was closed Grian began driving, not waiting for him to get his seatbelt in. He was so tall and lanky he’d just smash his head through the glass whether he had one on or not, anyways.

“It’s called punctuality, Timmy. Something the hosts should have!”

“Alright, I get it.” He slumped back into his seat, caving as he always did. It must be hard, having an older brother who was always right. Of course, it was much harder being said brother, as Grian could attest.

The car ride was quiet, only the radio filling the space while Grian worked to remember where he needed to go. Jimmy was the first to break the silence, “So, I’ve scheduled some tours for this week.”

Grian hummed. “Anything promising?”

“Actually yeah.” He chirped, pulling out his phone. Before he could shove it in Grian’s face he put his hand up. It’d only been a month since he rear-ended a Toyota, and he’ll be damned if he hit someone else. The last thing his friends needed was to reignite the jokes about him being too short to see over the dashboard. Jimmy made a whine but didn’t try again. “There’s a place not far out of town in the farmlands. It’s small and old, but it’s an actual house with over half an acre.”

“I dunno why you care so much about land. A condo downtown is way better.”

“It’s nice, isn’t it? I could have a garden.”

“I guess.” The obnoxiously large sign for the barbeque glared high above the trees and buildings around it just up ahead. “Oh, we’re already here. Should be mostly people you met before, by the way.”

“That’s fine.”

Pulling into the parking lot, Grian could already see Impulse’s minivan and Cleo’s beat up old car. He clicked his tongue as he pulled up next to them. “See! I told you we were late, everyone’s already here.”

“Oh, come off it, they probably just got here, it’s fine.”

It was not fine, the host should always be first, but he wouldn’t expect Jimmy to understand. The two squabbled all the way inside, only stopping to tell the waiter their booking. A nice large table on the patio already had most of Grian’s friends sitting around, still having yet to be served even drinks. Everyone but Tango despite his phone, unmistakable with its Guy Fieri case, on the table. Bathroom, maybe? He was always terrible about going before he left. Scar was the first to spot them. “G! Timmy! You’re here!”

“That we are.” Grian mumbled and turned to Impulse. “Where’s-”

“Hey, Grian, just in time!” The scratchy voice of Tango shouted too-loudly behind them. He saw Jimmy jump, and both brothers swivelled on their heels. Tango jolted back a bit, friendly wave shrinking to his side at the reaction. His eyes grew wide, locking with Jimmy’s which mirrored him like two deer caught in headlights. “Oh!” He squeaked unintentionally.

It jogged Jimmy out of his fright enough to look away, though Grian took suspicious note of the redness of his ears. He gave his baby brother a raised eyebrow, but he didn’t seem to see it.

“Right, well, Tango, Cleo, this is my brother, Ti-”

“It’s Jimmy.” Jimmy jumped in at lightning speed, holding his hand out for Tango to shake with a wide smile. “The name’s Jimmy.” Tango hesitated for a second, before tentatively shaking back with an equally tentative smile.

“Tango, of the Tek variety. Nice to finally meet you.”

“I thought you said your brother was Tim?” Cleo asked.

Impulse scratched at his bread. “Honestly, I thought it was.”

“It’s not, my name’s Jimmy. Don’t trust anything this man says, he’s a menace.” Jimmy huffed, which got far too enthusiastic an agreement from nearly the whole table for Grian’s liking. Behind him, Tango snuck around back to the table. In a baffling move, as far as Grian was concerned, he paused at the empty chair across from his own and pulled it out. He nodded towards Jimmy, who muttered a sheepish thanks. Grian narrowed his eyes at the engineer, but he seemed to be pointedly not looking at him. A shared look from Impulse, though, let him know he wasn’t the only one who took notice.

“Well, then, Jimmy, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Cleo reached over the table, offering their hand.

Chatter very quickly picked itself up once they were all sat down. Most was directed towards Jimmy, asking what he did and the places he was looking at and how on earth did he get his hair that perfect. It was a bit awkward with him sitting at the end. Given the middle seat where Grian now sat was also empty, he suspected Tango’s little gentleman’s stunt had messed up the seating arrangement Impulse intentionally left. 

It wasn’t the last. When their drinks came Tango had ordered some crazy bright red fruity slushy monstrosity like he was on vacation or something. For him it might as well be. Something that brightly coloured, with a fruit skewer at that, was basically tempting the gods as far as Jimmy was concerned, who looked more dazzled by it than the already bright blue drink he ordered. Only a sip had been taken before Tango was nudging it towards him, asking, “Wanna try?” Which he wholeheartedly accepted.

Honestly, between that and the conversation somehow always managing to close into a back and forth between the pair, Grian wanted to gag. Did his brother have absolutely no shame? Or maybe Grian was just bitter he had to order something lighter as their driver. It was at least funny to watch Scar also ask for a sip and be completely ignored.

A large platter was ordered over individual meals. It was just easier, when everyone wanted to try this and that. Astonishingly, it was probably the first time Grian had witnessed Tango eat a vegetable, when he tried one of the skewers the brothers ordered on the side. That was the power of good barbeque, he supposed.

They finally called it after Gem won the third round of bowling in a row. Grian tapped against the open door of his car, glaring holes in the back of his brother’s head, who was too busy saying goodbye to Tango to notice. “Come ooon Tim!” He finally shouted after the third obnoxious little giggle they shared. When he turned, Grian narrowed his eyes. You ain’t subtle. The pair finally said goodbye for real, and Jimmy ran to get in the car before Grian decided to drive off without him. He’d barely gotten his seatbelt on before he was furiously typing something on his phone. Really?

“So, how was it?” Grian asked.

“It was fun, your friends seem cool.” Was the distracted response.

“Mhm…” He leaned closer over his shoulder. “And how was Tango?”

If it was possible to jump out of one’s skin then Jimmy had jumped out of his skin, muscles, and bones. “Huh?” He squeaked, face red and eyes bugged. Grian only returned it with an unimpressed eye roll.

“Oh please. You nearly dropped a bowling ball on your foot while swooning.”

“Well… He’s a cool guy, isn’t he?”

And that shut Grian up. More efficiently than he would like to admit. He expected Jimmy to deny it, or be too flustered to say much of anything. When Grian failed to reply Jimmy went back to his phone, tapping away with a smile. There was that obnoxious giggle again.

This was not one of the issues Grian anticipated having when his brother told him he was moving. 

“So, how do we set them up?”

Impulse Hummed, spending far too long reading the contents of a can of cream of mushroom like it wasn’t the same can he always bought. “Who?”

“ Who? ” Grian mocked back. “Tim and Tango!”

“Do we need to?” Three more cans joined the first, before they moved on to the broths. Grian threw the bouillon in the cart before his companion could grab a carton that would languish in the back of his fridge. “They seem to be doing fine on their own.”

“No, trust me. I know Tim. He was literally living with his last boyfriend before he realized they were dating and that he liked him. He’s an idiot.”

“And Tango hasn’t exactly been leaving the basement much lately.” Impulse conceded, grabbing a carton of pho broth anyways. Acceptable, Grian supposed.

“So, then, any ideas?”

They paused before entering the next aisle. The larger man’s face twisted in thought. “Well, we could invite him to D&D, run a oneshot, and have their characters drink a love potion until they get the hint.”

“That sounds like a terrible idea, absolutely not.” He wrote it down in his phone for a future session.

“Another dinner?”

“What are the odds of getting Tango out of the house twice?”

“Probably a lot higher than you’d think with how they were acting.”

“What if I gave Timmy a tour of your house and just locked the basement door behind him?”

“You know I’m starting to think we might be bad at this and should leave it to someone else.”

“Nonsense!” Grian grabbed the first bottle of soya sauce he spotted, much to Impulse’s protests. He wasn’t going to sit and wait for him to match the prices to the ounces. “Look, I know Timmy best, and you know Tango best. Logically, there’s no better pair of heads to crack together for this. They’ll thank us at the wedding.”

A jar of pickled bamboo shoots found its way into the cart beside the biggest bag of basmati rice Impulse could pick up. He had to catch his breath before he continued. “Listen, Grian, do you need to… talk, or something?”

“What?” Grian’s head whipped around from the wall of spices he was mulling over. “About what?”

Impulse hunched his shoulders up, cringing slightly. “I dunno, y’know… You’re planning your brother’s wedding to your friend while picking out my groceries for me. I’m not even sure how you found out I was grocery shopping or found me in the store. I don’t think that’s normal, healthy person behaviour.” 

“I am so completely normal and healthy!” He said just a bit too loud.

“You know you can talk to me if you need to.”

This was getting nowhere real fast. “Are you going to help me or not?”

Impulse sighed. “I’ll help.”

“Good. Then, what’s the plan?”

In the end, the plan was little more than ‘wait and see’ with a side sprinkling of putting the pair in as much direct contact as possible. This turned out to be much more work than they anticipated, however. Jimmy had always been a socialite, but he seemed to be gone every other day viewing houses or visiting locations. Meanwhile, Tango did as he does and made himself busy constantly. Every group activity Grian planned was lucky to get even one of them, and he was about to lose his damn mind.

Their big break finally showed itself one evening, when Jimmy dropped in with Grian. Well, it was more like Grian promised to drive him to do some errands and made a left turn away from the mall and directly to the ZITS house instead. A decision Jimmy was not familiar enough with the town yet to notice until it was too late. Just the sound of Jimmy’s voice managed to draw Tango upstairs to see what was going on in his kitchen, where the rest of them were chatting.

Immediately the annoying little giggles started up again. If there was one thing in this world that could make Grian try to keep them apart, it was that giggle.

“By the way, Jimmy,” Skizz piped up from where he leaned against the sink. “You still need a lift tomorrow?”

When had Jimmy found time to befriend Skizz? Who knows. Knowing the two of them they probably bumped into each other on the street and kept talking till the sun went down. Extroverts were so exhausting. (He ignored the little Impulse-ish voice nagging that Grian was also something of an extrovert.)

“Yeah, sorry, I appreciate it.”

“Where you going?” Impulse asked.

“Got another house tour.” Tango of all people replied. Maybe that wasn’t all that surprising, though, given the amount Grian has spotted Jimmy texting the past few days.

“Is that so? Will you be going with them?” Grian teased, but instead got a toothy grin back.

“Yessiree!”

Really? Inviting your crush house hunting? Was that forward or just weird? Either way, it was an opportunity. “You know, Tim, you haven’t invited me to go with you.” He whined, putting on his best puppy dog eyes. 

Unfortunately, while Jimmy’s talents were sparse, this was one area where he outranked Grian by a factor of magnitudes and had unlocked absolute immunity, or something. “Yeah. That was on purpose.” He said bluntly, not even looking away from Tango, who laughed. In fact, everyone laughed. Even Impulse, the traitor.

Grian wouldn’t give up so easily, however. “Well I think you should. So where is it?”

“What? You’ll just embarrass me, I’m not telling you!” He squeaked, finally looking at his kind, sweet, dear older brother.

“Yes, you are!”

“No, I’m not!”

And that was how Jimmy ended up in a headlock on ZITS’s kitchen floor, Impulse reluctantly using Jimmy’s phone to text Grian the address on his calendar. Tango, simp that he was, managed to distract Grian by jokingly calling Jimmy honey, forcing Grian to let go in order to pretend to hurl, during which time Jimmy made his escape back to the car. 

He won though, and the next day when Jimmy pulled up with Skizz and Tango to the house tour, Grian and Impulse were already waiting there with the realtor.

“I can’t believe you.” Jimmy dragged his hands down his face. “Don’t you have to, I don’t know, work?”

“Jokes on you, I’m my own boss.” Grian puffed up his chest.

Tango patted Jimmy on the back and turned the both of them towards the poor, confused realtor. “Let’s just get this over with.” He soothed, to which Jimmy gave him a saccharine smile.

The property was ridiculously nice. It wasn’t especially big, but it was lined by woodlands and already had a garden, albeit in need of some severe TLC. There was even an old chicken coop to the side of the house that only needed new fencing and cleaning. The house itself was a one-story cutesy cottage-like thing. It was older, but whomever had lived in it last had the wiring redone and appliances replaced. The bedroom was big, too, as they tended to be in these older houses, and the bathroom had a proper large tub. There was a spare office room with a nice big window to the garden. The garage was separate, and large enough to be a workshop. All that while being well within the range of good internet and still close enough one could walk to town if they really wanted to. 

It was, essentially, Jimmy’s dream home. The only issue Jimmy seemed to have was the fact that the wall between the living room and kitchen had been knocked out for a more modern open concept design with the largest windows in the house.

“It’d probably be a pain to heat in winter, right?” He asked no one in particular. 

Grian knew jack all about houses, and only shrugged. It still wasn’t that big, so he imagined not. Impulse and Skizz seemed to mull the idea over a little longer. Tango, though, saw an opportunity, and Grian had to give him credit because the man took it without hesitation. His arm was around Jimmy’s shoulder, toothy grin leaned in a bit too close. “Well, that sounds like a good excuse to cuddle up in bed all winter, hm?”

Jimmy’s cheeks turned pink. He muttered something under his breath that made Tango chuckle. Grian rolled his eyes towards Impulse, who seemed almost too shocked by his friend’s forwardness to notice.

More questions were asked, things Grian was glad he never had to worry about as a condo guy. Owning a home seemed like so much work, but Jimmy had lists upon lists. Of course, it was Jimmy, and even with lists he forgot certain things. But Tango seemed ready to pick up the slack with his own barrage of inquiries. 

“I think,” Jimmy said, looking at the kitchen with a bit of awe. “I think this might be it, guys.”

“Yeah?” Tango’s eyes practically sparkled with excitement. Jimmy nodded.

The realtor stepped up. “There aren’t any other serious inquiries at the moment, I think you have a good chance if you put in the asking price.” Jimmy nodded, and the realtor went off to his car to make a call.

Grian pursed his lips at his brother, though. “Are you sure you can afford that? I know you’ve saved up and all, but it’s still a lot.”

Jimmy beamed though, clearly overwhelmed with excitement. “Of course, you think we would look at houses we can’t afford?”

“I mean if I’m honest kind of, but- wait. We?”

“I’ll have you know, despite the beliefs of certain individuals, my credit score’s top notch.” Tango patted his chest proudly. “And between the two of us we have more than enough savings for the down payment.”

Grian felt the wires in his brain short circuit and reboot. An unholy screech came from his throat. “What!”

Jimmy and Tango both side-eyed each other, their awkward smiles caught between guilty and like they were ready to burst out laughing. “You… Thought I could buy a home on my own?” Jimmy asked, hiccupping in the middle.

Impulse looked just as dumbfounded. “When did you work this out?” His voice came out hoarse.

It was Tango’s turn to be confused, raising an eyebrow. “Um, months ago? I told you, Impy.”

“You said you were thinking about moving out, not buying a house with a stranger!”

“Wait-” Skizz burst out laughing, pointing at Grian and Impulse. “You guys really didn’t know?”

“No, why do you know!”

“Cause I listen to my roommates?”

“Hold on. Months ago?” Grian pushed them out of the way, getting into his brother’s face.

It seemed Tango was no longer able to hold in his laughter, leaning on Jimmy for support while Jimmy rubbed the back of his neck. “I honestly couldn’t tell if you’d actually forgotten or if this was some bit.” He admitted.

“We’ve been together for almost three years.” Tango wheezed out between cackles.

“Excuse me?” Balked Grian. “Since when? You’ve never met!” His head whipped between the two. How on earth-

A finger twirled absently in the air as Jimmy tried to explain. “Do you remember your Halloween party? The one me and Joel attended, where Tango was dressed up as an imposter?”

“Yeah?” It was the biggest party he’d ever held, how could he forget? His brow creased. “But that doesn’t make any sense, I never got to introduce you two cause you both went… home… early.” Grian’s eyes went wide as the puzzle pieces clicked into place.

Tango leaned against Jimmy’s shoulder with a smirk. “There it is.”

“Oh. My god.”

“I told you he doesn’t ever listen to me.” Jimmy groaned.

“You two-”

“Yeah.”

Grian gasp cracked. “Jimmy you slut !”

“ Excuse me? ” Jimmy shouted back in equal amounts of disbelief and anger.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw the realtor pause in the entryway, then slowly back out of view once more.

“You heard me!”

“What do you think we did!”

“Well you weren’t enjoying my party, that’s for sure!”

 “Okay, okay, everybody calm down.” Skizz stepped in, pushing Grian towards Impulse, who seemed to hold Grian back on instinct more than anything as he was still lost in shock.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Impulse asked, giving his housemate a look of betrayal. It was returned with concern.

“I did? I swear I did.”

“Dipple Dop, he told us he was busy in call with his partner all the time. He extended his work trips several times.”

“That was Timmy?” He stumbled back, leaning on the counter. “I thought he meant, like, an MMO buddy.”

“Yeah, and you certainly never told me!” Grian huffed, which Jimmy returned.

“I did tell you, but you didn’t listen! Or did you just do that thing like with Scott where you thought I wasn’t aware I was dating the guy I lived with for two months just because I told you we hadn’t-”

“You know what?” Skizz clapped his hands together. “I think we all need to just take a deep breath, okay? Everybody just breathe. In,” He took a deep breath, of which his housemates joined in while the brothers continued to glare at each other. “And out.” They all let out a long sigh.

 A brief silence fell over the group, only interrupted by a nervous knock at the door. The realtor stuck his head in, eyes darting between the group. “Um, Mister Solidarity, Mister Tek, could I speak to you now?”

“Yes, one second.” Jimmy said, voice tight. The pair left to talk outside.

Grian and Impulse went home after that, waiting for the other three to return. They said little, Grian fuming while Impulse stared at his lap like his dog just died. Zed popped in to say he was going out, at which point he was let in on the day’s events and gave them both odd looks. Had they really been the only ones who didn’t know? 

By the time everyone else arrived back at the house they’d pulled themselves together somewhat. Not entirely, but enough to ask questions without shouting.

“So, you’re really leaving?” Impulse asked, voice almost watery. Tango’s posture softened with his smile, and pulled the larger man into a big hug.

“Oh, buddy, I told you I was gonna. I’m a big boy now!”

“Yeah, but… I dunno. We’ve lived together since college. I didn’t think this would actually happen…”

Skizz rubbed his back. “Hey, he ain’t movin’ cross country, he’s just down the road. We’ll see him all the time.”

“Yeah! I promise, Impy, I ain’t going nowhere.”

The three continued to talk among each other, comforting their friend, so Grian left them be. Instead, he turned his attention onto Jimmy, who still looked huffy, with his arms crossed and a glare squarely on Grian.

“I told you.”

“Well, maybe you should have told me better.” Grian turned his nose up as an almost automatic response. Jimmy threw his arms in the air and stomped off to the doorway, and immediately Grian felt the regret. He chased after his little brother. “Wait, Tim. I’m…” A warbled wheeze escaped his throat, straining to get the dreaded word out. “Ssso-…rry... That I didn’t listen.”

The shift was near-instant, disdain laxing into smugness. “There, was that so hard?”

“Immensely.”

“Oh, come off it, you big baby.”

“I just don’t get it.” Grian grabbed his hair. “How did I miss that you two were dating? Why didn’t Tango say something when we invited him to dinner?”

“Well, it probably started with the fact that you introduce me to everyone as Tim and his boyfriend’s name is Jimmy.” He sneered, eyebrow raised.

Well, he had him there. Not that he would ever admit that to his brother’s face. “I still can’t believe you ditched my party to hook up with my friend.”

“Oh my god, we didn’t hook up!” Jimmy threw his head back. “We just went to get Mcdonald’s and watch movies because Tango almost had a panic attack at the number of people you invited and couldn’t breathe.”

“In my defence, I didn’t expect that many people to actually show up.”

“Either way, stop projecting.”

“Wh- excuse me?”

“Tango’s the same as me. I can assure you nothing like that would ever happen.”

Grian pouted. Well, at least they were happy and close by. “Fine, I’ll forgive you if you can get Tango to come to roller derby night.”

“Uh, I don’t have anything I need to be forgiven for, and I’m not going to make Tango do something he doesn’t want to do.”

“But Tim, consider: Tango falling on his butt in the most hideous disco suit.”

That gave Jimmy pause, thinking for a solid moment before a smile stretched behind his hand. “Alright, fine.”

“Yes!” Grian pumped his fist into the air, nearly smacking Impulse in the face as the group joined them.

“What’s going on out here?”

“Nothing.” Both brothers replied, matching smiles immediately getting them suspicious looks. Jimmy pushed past them to grab Tango’s hand and drag him towards the basement. “C’mon, we have to finish planning.”

“Yessir.” Tango saluted with a chuckle. 

As they retreated, Grian shouted after them. “Oh, Tango!”

“Yeah?” Bless his soul, he was too busy giving his partner a doofy look that was wiped away the second he turned to see Grian. He did his best to bore a hole through the man’s skull.

“You better watch your back. I know where you sleep.”

“Well, I’d hope so.” Grian didn’t like that grin. “Be weird if you didn’t know where your brother was.”

And that was how Grian began to plan the death of Tango Tek.

[whirlwindimagines]

First time requesting so I hope I don't make this super confusing but I couldn't help it because I love your writing ♥️.

I was thinking that the reader is a printer (prints the newspapers on the press, designs and prints wanted posters, etc.) Reader is a good friend of Meryl and Roberto because of the newspaper business, so when the group comes into the print shop to look for some information on someone/some place the reader recognizes vash from the wanted posters. Because of that the group thinks reader is gonna turn vash into the police but the reader just says that vash looks cuter than the wanted poster xD

Reader probably offers to stop printing his wanted poster.

Just an idea I had and (totally not because I personally work at a print shop cough cough) wanted to share!

Thank you! Hey nothing wrong for asking for something self-indulgent! And that seems like a cool job! This is a shorter one, but I hope you enjoy it! (lol its still over 600 words)

'Wanted'

Vash x Reader

You dropped the stack of papers on the table with a sigh, God is it time for your break yet or not? With a sigh you sort through the papers, your mind going blank at the actions. You don't know how many wanted posters you can look at anymore, how could this many people even be wanted?

With a groan you rub at your eyes, maybe you should just take that break now. Hands messaging temples, you start to sneak out to the back room. Passing towers of paper, and your co-workers rushing around you are stopped before reaching your destination.

“Y/n there’s someone here to see you, Meryl it was?” Your whole demeanor brightens, you haven’t seen Meryl in forever! Thanking your co-worker, you quickly head to the front lobby, the thought of a break far from your mind. You haven’t seen the reporter for a while now after she got sent on some big assignment as she put it.

Hoping everything was okay with Meryl, you spot her standing in the lobby. She called your name, giving a big wave as she did. Joining her side, Meryl quickly pulls you into a hug which you gladly returned. “It’s been a while how are you?” You ask pulling back, she lets out a laugh. “Busy it’s been a little hectic.” You’re not what sure she means; you notice Meryl looking around a little nervously. 

You are about to question her, but she speaks before you can. “Can we talk outside? As excited as I am to see you again, we’re actually looking for some information. And I thought you’d might be able to help us.” You let out a ‘hum’ guess you were taking that break. “Sure! Just give me a moment.” 

Once you have everything settled away, you let Meryl lead you outside and around the corner. The two of you chat idly, whatever she actually wants to talk about must be important, but you’re always willing to provide an inside scoop for a friend. Rounding the corner you spot Roberto, who looks as tired as always, you’re sure Meryl is keeping him on his toes.  

Beside him is another man, and oh hello tall, blonde, and handsome. You narrow your eyes something looks so familiar about him, but you can’t put your finger on it. Meryl drags you over to the two men, and you greet Roberto with a bright smile which he returns with a gruff 'hello' and a pat on your shoulder. 

The man in the red coat greets you with a bright smile, and it’s very nice. He doesn’t give you his name, which you find very suspicious but you still can’t figure out why. Meryl starts talking, explaining what they’re looking for and that any information will be appreciated.

You are listening you really are, but you can’t help but sneak some glances at the blonde. It hits you then, “oh!” You say snapping your fingers and pointing at the blonde, “Your Vash the Stampede!” Your statement shocked everyone into silence, you laughed at their wide eye looks. “Man, I can’t tell you how many wanted posters we print of you.” You are surprised you didn’t recognize him sooner! 

Vash looks at you with wide eyes, but smiles “nice to meet you!” He says this with a laugh, Meryl grabs your arm forcing you to look at her, “you’re not going to say anything right?” She looks up at you with wide eyes as you shake your head. 

“Of course not, if he’s with you guys then there must be a reason, I trust you.” You answer honestly, and everyone lets out a sigh of relief. You smirk your gaze meeting Vash’s “And besides your much cuter in person.” You tease, watching his entire face go red. Meryl groans beside you releasing your arm in the process, while Roberto mutters something about getting a drink. 

You continue your talk with the three, continuing to sneak some glances at Vash, who seemed to be doing the same to you. He really was cuter in person; you certainly wouldn’t mind getting to know the Humanoid Typhoon.

You are happy that you were able to provide at least some information for the group, before parting ways you turn to Vash "If you want I can mess up the printing machine a bit, make it so they aren't printing so many of your wanted posters." and you mean, Vash rubs the back of his neck sheepishly, "Man I would really appreciate it!"

You smirk then, "Of course, but could you sign one of them for me? I mean I have to keep one of the posters now after meeting you in person." you give him a wink, watching with glee as his entire face goes red and he turns into a stuttering mess. It really is endearing, and he does promise to sign one for you! So you figure its a win.

[fatuismooches]

Hellow :3 Hope you're doing well! I had this random thought and i can't help but share my brainstorm.

So. Tsaritsa. The Cryo Archon. The leader of the Fatui. The Goddess of Love with heart colder than ice, with no love left for her people. Or is she?

Childe confirms that Tsaritsa is far too gentle in his voiceline. Venti says that she and him were close 500 year ago, but then she cut all ties with him. These statements combined, i tend to think that after the Cataclysm, Tsaritsa has become cold due to the horrors and injustice she experienced (there is a theory regarding the book "Pale Princess and the Six Pygmies" which could elaborate on that but it's far too long to explain it here 😅). However, the Goddess of Love is still there, even if hidden deep within her.

Pehaps common folk of Snezhnaya can't see her as sweet, loving and benevolent Archon due to Fatui's dirty way of doing things. That being said, Tsaritsa could also be aware of her terrible reputation among the people which makes her embarrassed and disappointed that she couldn't follow her ideals and be a loving Goddess of Love she was supposed to be. However, if you asked the Harbingers, she is a sweetheart energy embodiment. The Eleven are her most loyal group of followers, i feel like she trust them, so she dotes on them quite a lot.

Now picture this. Tsaritsa arrives to Dottore's lab for whatever business she had to sort out with him. While the two are talking, poor Fragile!Reader stumbles into the room to sleepily announce that they are hungry and ask for Zandik to make some food, but then- oh heck. Is that the Tsaritsa? Bad timing... Terrible timing, in fact...

Or was it? Tsaritsa is confused but extremely curious. Whatever they have been discussing before is no longer important. She immediately asks Dottie who is this and poor blueberry (yeah, that's what i call him affectionately 😊) has nowhere else to go but explain himself. Fragile!Reader is just as shocked to have a sudden encounter, but for their surprise - Tsaritsa shows not a hint of hostility, anger or general disagreement. Before the reader and Zandik knows it, there is an ocean of questions leaving Archon's lips.

What's your name? How old are you? Where are you from? What do you like/dislike? How have you met Dottore? When have you met? What happened? How long have you been suffering from this mysterious illness? How is the cure creation process going? How are you feeling now? How-

For some such behavior may appear annoying and perhaps even suspicious. However, Tsaritsa's excitement to meet and get to know her 2nd lieutenant's significant other is as pure as freshly fallen snow. If there are any intentions behind her questions - it's only the good ones. How could the Goddess of Love wish harm to her Harbinger and his lover? Especially when they're such a cute couple?

Let's just say Cryo Archon took GREAT liking into Fragile!Reader. Blizzards in Snezhnaya haven't been as horrifying ever since and Fragile!Reader got to enjoy the nice afternoon walks with their lover, appreciating the beautiful scenery of endless plains of snow as far as the eye can see. Goddess of Love is well aware that couples need their privacy, so she tends to not interfere too much. However, with each visit she pays Dottore, be it for Fatui work matters or casual, she also politely asks to visit the reader. She is almost like a doting, caring mother and always reassures reader that it's gonna be okay. Dottore is her best scientist, after all! He will find a cure soon enough!

Bonus: i feel like she'd sometimes go CloudRetainer mode and tell stories of younger Zandik, when he recently joined the Harbingers (let's assume the reader was in comatose during that time).

In conclusion, the meeting was sudden, but fateful. Zandik's and Reader's relationship was blessed by the Goddess of Love herself. The bond they share is far more stronger than one may first anticipate - so strong that even Tsaritsa expressed her recognition. There was no mistaking: if they ever need guidance, she got their backs.

- 🐺

🐺 ANON I AM ABSOLUTELY REVELING IN THIS CONCEPT OH MY GOSHHHH. I completely agree with your take on the Tsaritsa I've spoken about it before about I think she was kind but had to change herself after what she experienced and also to accomplish her goals. BUT OMG. YOU WENT SO GOOD INTO HER CHARACTER. To think that she knows she has to be cold for the sake of her plan but hurting inside that she can't be the loving archon her people deserve hits HARD. Though she is quite grateful for her Harbingers, though no one could ever completely understand her pain they are the closest people to her and understand her more than anyone. New Fatui members are always surprised to see the Tsaritsa herself going to visit her Harbingers. It doesn't seem like something an Archon such as herself would do. But she does anyway.

MOVING ON OH MY MY I AM LOVING THESE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN TSARITSA AND FRAGILE READER. You always held a grudge against the Gods for being cursed with this illness. But the Tsaritsa was an exception. There was just something about her that was comforting. And relatable somehow. Even with these feelings, you would be so awkward and even a bit scared at first because all of your knowledge of her comes from Dottore. You try to excuse yourself quickly but there's no escaping at this point since the Tsaritsa's gaze is fixed on you now.

Dottore never thought he'd have to explain this to Her Majesty and for once is a bit unsure of how to phrase it but goes with the simplest explanation: "[Name] is my lover." You're sweating at this point because you've had bad experiences with Gods before but to your surprise and relief, the Tsaritsa is now rattling off questions about you to both you and Zandik. Your head is spinning by the end of it but thankfully Dottore answers most of the questions for you.

You actually feel very happy and appreciated by the Archon's genuine interest. When was the last time someone besides Zandik ever doted on you? You loved him but it got lonely sometimes. The Tsaritsa is only upset she didn't know about you sooner! At some point she shushes Dottore up and only wants you to answer her. Her sheer adoration makes you feel a bit hot and embarrassed but in a good way.

AH YESSS TSARITSA MAKING THE SNOWSTORM LESS SEVERE FOR READER 💖 Takes me back to when i did a piece like that a few months ago, because she would do that for her dear Harbinger ❤️ It makes her content to think about how you and your husband are able to enjoy her country together much more. Only thing is that the Tsaritsa's drastic change in weather makes the other Harbingers question why this is happening so Dottore should keep you hidden as best as possible from his nosy co-workers ehehe unless he wants to deal with their pestering too.

I think the Tsaritsa is really good at soothing and easing others' worry considering she is probably the Goddess of Love so she can easily see through your worries. You don't know how but when she talks you can't help but believe her. Omg not her telling on young Zandik 😭 You keep this secret to yourself considering Zandik won't tell you those stories himself. I just know she has excellent memories when it comes to the people she cares about. I can see her remembering everything and anything because she knows how easily something she loves can be stolen from her.

Gosh i love this. Most people may think that your relationship is not one of true love, perhaps fake or forced considering the kind of man Dottore is. But the Tsaritsa can easily see true love. And she'll see to it that you two stick together.

[auspicioustidings]

Lost Boys

4. Little Den

Summary: Preacher does the day shift and meets the supposed monster.

Words: 2.1k

CWs: Nothing major, but as with this whole series it skews darker than what I usually write

Christ, she had been unaware you could get DOMs from a threesome but here it was. She had been sore yesterday sure, but maybe the food and beer had been masking it because today she was in pain. No more pleasant aches and hazey horniness, something that was being sorely missed. Still, it wasn’t like bills would wait and she really wanted to actually do this place up, that would require funds and funds would require working.

Definitely the day shift, another night with those two maniacs and she’d be on bed rest for a bloody month. So she dragged herself up, showered and threw on jeans and a flannel that she could take off and tie around her waist if it got too hot. 

The way Alex had reacted to seeing her was odd, very odd. She knew plenty of people would drift through, pick up a shift and then move on, but his surprise that she was back was genuinely like he had been 100% positive he would never see her again. Had she come off as that flakey? She had told him that first day that she had moved here hadn’t she? Odd, very odd.

“If you don’t need me I can ask around.”

“No! No no, you can take the day shift. Opening is in 45 minutes.”

He was eyeing her neck, the bruising not really hideable. Ah, maybe he was weary about having someone working a ride that, for lack of a better term, was a ride. Understandable, people often underestimated how important the operator was on these things. There wasn’t really enough regulation and if whoever was managing the staff didn’t make sure they were decent it became wildly unsafe. One bad accident was awful for business. She’d need to make sure she was shit hot at her job today.

Alex felt like he was seeing a spectre. The girl in front of him shouldn’t be alive. He wouldn’t say he was disappointed as such, instead his initial disbelief was rapidly converting into mounting excitement. Were they keeping her? Some sort of pet? He thought they might have their hands full if that was the plan, this one was tough. There had only ever been one person before now that hadn’t been vanished and that was because Alex had practically begged for her not to be when Gaz had taken a passing interest in her. Not that she had appreciated it, was a hunter now, determined to ‘save him from himself’. He didn’t need saving, being a thrall to the 141 was a good gig, way better than falling in with the Shadows or the side show or God forbid the surfers.

“Ok, thanks. Are the people from the side show about? I was going to go by and say hi but it’s still kind of early huh?”

“I’d steer clear, not the kind of friends you want to have.”

That was weird. Alex was being so serious about it, genuinely like he cared who she was friends with. This place must be way more political than Coney Island and that was saying something. 

“Uh huh. Look Alex, can you just tell me what the deal is here? I am telling you now I am a good worker, but I need to understand how this place works so I don’t screw up.”

Oh yeah, they would definitely have their hands full with this one. 

“The only people worth talking to are the 141. You met a few of them the other day, the bike you left on was with them. The freaks butt heads with them pretty often. They can’t control that big monster of theirs, so stay clear. Graves and his Shadows run all the games, tight knit group, don’t really entertain outsiders.”

“Surfers?”

“Don’t get into the water with them unless you enjoy drowning.”

She laughed, and then laughed harder when she saw that Alex was deadass serious about all this. He acted as if she was working on a Boardwalk with a bunch of warring factions made up of fantastical creatures rather than a bunch of petty gossips who would get into petty fights.

“Sure thing boss man. I’ll be back in time for my shift.”

Yeah she would not be making friends with those 3 from the 141. Fantastic sex only did so much to make up for them being the kind of unsettling that meant she was flirting with danger in the unfun way, in the going to become part of the statistic in this city way. It was really her duty as an upstanding citizen to knock their egos down a bit anyway. Next time they tried it on she’d turn them down hard and fast, make sure they knew that she had as little respect for them as they had for her.

–

“It’s König right? Am I saying that right?”

If it was true that the side show workers and the 141 did not get along, then she would be making friends with the side show workers. Horangi had been decent to her and honestly she thought it was pretty shitty of Alex to comment about the big guy and call him a monster to be controlled. Not his fault he was huge. He was still sat where he had been before, the only one around this early in the day. 

“Perfectly maus. Come closer.”

He had a manic note to his voice that was admittedly a little unsettling, but she supposed that was part of the job. She chuckled a little at how he had purred to come closer, probably worked wonders with tourists. She knew the moment she got within distance he would lunge at her, try to make her jump out of the range of his chains and so she crept forward anyway and controlled her instinct to flinch. Instead she just grinned at him when he lunged, an offt of breath leaving her when he barrelled into her and crushed her tight against his chest. 

“Careful big man, you catch one of the hassled housewives like this and she’s going to fall in love with you.”

König drank her defiance of the fear she should feel like a fine wine. He knew it from when he had first seen her, that she wasn’t scared of him. Even when she had jumped that first time she had smiled at him after, as if in approval. And now that he held her she only trembled from laughter. How delicious a thing for him, soft little princess to make worship at his altar. He’d keep her in his cage with him, bully his cock into her until she took every inch, until she was screaming from the stretch of taking his knot. He’d take care of her, envelop her in him after and let her cosy up in their little den. Keep her warm and satiated and full of his pups. Maybe he’d allow for some tiger cubs once or twice. 

He wasn’t really letting go. And she could feel that he was hard, difficult not to with the size of it pressing against her stomach. Didn’t really think much of it to be honest, he couldn’t have just gotten hard from touching her as much as that would do wonders for her ego, probably just morning wood. Poor guy, there was no way he had ever found anyone to fit around that. She could feel herself getting wet on instinct, her body panicking and trying to prepare for an absolute railing that her logical brain knew wasn’t actually happening. As much as it would be a fantastic blow to the pride of the 141 to get under this man, her body was still sore and she reckoned it might be an idea to stick to pleasing herself for now rather than getting her back completely blown out. 

“Ooook. Going to need you to ease off now.”

König growled. It wouldn’t do for her to be such a bratty thing so early on. She should enjoy being held close to him shouldn’t she? Ah but she was only human. He forgot sometimes how fragile and delicate they were, how they liked to have independence. No matter, he could be patient. He could act like a human man, court her according to their customs until she realised how much she loved him. Then she wouldn’t ever want to get away. Better to wait until the marks on her had faded anyway, if he took her now he wouldn’t be able to control himself when he tried to cover them with his own.

“Sorry maus, many people flinch away from me. It is pleasant to hold you” he said, forcing his tone into something soft and appealing as he loosened his hold and let her take a step back.

“That sucks man, sorry. Make sure you get to just be you without the mask and the chains on your days off, I know it’s rough to be the monster in one of these shows,” she said with a sympathetic smile. 

She had worked a sideshow for a while. They had been desperate and she could do some basic contortion, nothing that impressive but they would take a decent back bend if it meant at least having something to fill out their little space. She remembered feeling dreadful with the way the more unusual looking performers were treated. It wasn’t so much that she had gotten fired for getting into a fight with someone over how they were talking to the bearded lady, but they had not asked for her to perform with them again.

So yes, she could appreciate that for someone like him it was a given he’d be a little messed up. But he had let her go and apologised plus Horangi seemed to like him so all in all, he seemed like a decent guy.

“Is Horangi about? I was going to say hi to him before work.”

“He will be happy you thought of it, but he is asleep. He is most of the time, very lazy cat.”

She grinned, thinking that she had found him similar to a cat yesterday as well with how he had nuzzled her. 

“Well it was nice to officially meet you König, I’d better be off but I’m sure we’ll see each other around!”

Of course they would, he would make sure of that. 

–

She wanted to pop into the video store before her shift but found it closed. Opening hours were only for the evening which seemed sort of odd, but maybe there wasn’t really enough foot traffic during the day. So instead she just floated back to the carousel and lingered until it opened, finding that the change of pace from the night shift was welcome today. It was hot and too bright but there was less of that dark mania about it in the light.

Rudy appeared at the carousel a few hours in, hair damp and salty and skin smelling of sunshine and seawater. He was delighted to see her in more or less one piece. Interesting though, that she had definitely been fed on but was still breathing. He didn’t sense the aura of a thrall about her either, so they weren’t in complete control of her yet. Johnny and him did like to play games sometimes, maybe this was one. He waited for her to step off for a moment to get the next group on, grinning at her. 

“Looking for a ride?”

“Not on a horse, but if you are offering one…”

She rolled her eyes with a groan, had walked right into that one. 

“Unfortunately I’m working, what a shame.”

She turned to go back on and he banded an arm around her waist to stop her, her back pinned to his chest. The people around here sure were handsy, but she was generally a touchy feely person so it wasn’t entirely unwelcome.

“I would treat you much better than they did cariño, make love to you in the ocean until the stars came out.”

With that whispered little promise he let her go and just left. Just fucking left. Preacher was usually more suave than this. She swore she was good at flirting. But Jesus fucking Christ what was she supposed to do with that? 

Next time she saw Keegan the jury was out on whether she was going to kiss him or punch him for sending her here.

[shuamorollss]

THE WORST Secret Santa! — StucoPres!yjw x gn!reader

you never knew that a peculiar game of switched class secret santa would draw you and jungwon together

fluff, comedy, featuring various of idols, jungwon is clumsy if u squint warnings— not proofread, errors ahead, unsuree but there might be scenes where reader gets identified as she/her, 8.4k wc (i got carried away omfg) + reblogs are greatly appreciated!

taglist— @jangwonie @jungwonize @luhvlyuna @w3bqrl @ineedaherosavemeenow

note— I know i said i'd post this on valentines (it's feb 17 now..) BUT i rlly didn't hv time to open tumblr bc of the packing homeworks school is alr giving us TT but here it is!!! I'm sorry if it looks rushed in a way.. And i wanted to give out like a serendipity feel to it anyway that's it and I'm sorry for delaying this fic <//3 Was also thinking of making a part two for this one cause I haven't done justice on their love story Omg

you along with your classmates didn't know what drew your adviser to host a game of secret santa, but with other classes.

Although at the same time you think it's a cute way to get to know the people from the other class, the thing is.. what do they even want as a present? you possibly can't just approach them and ask them what present they want to receive.

yeah, this game will definitely suck.

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"I can't believeee the principal approved of this switched class secret santa or whatchamacallit." Your deskmate, Hanni Pham, whined, slouching forward, irritatingly slamming her cheeks on your shared desk. "Hey, It sounds kinda fun. I mean, the concept is pretty unique." Sim Jayoon replied who was sitting on the desk in front, turned her gaze to the both of you.

In all honesty, you were pretty neutral about the idea. Moreso on Yoon's side; she was right, it does sound a bit exciting, with such a different concept for secret santa and being a school transferee, you'll finally get to know other students in your school this way.

Yoon and Hanni’s gazes transferred to you, wanting to hear your perspective of the said exchange gift event for your annual christmas party. You started with a half shrug, “I sort of agree with Yoon, things like these do sound exciting.“ you let out a short and nervous laugh.

“See? Two versus one Hanni.” Yoon lets out a smug face as if it was a competition to feel triumphant on. Hanni only groaned as she glared at the girl with bangs, then moving her head to the other side.

“But how will this whole secret santa work? Like which class are we all gonna get paired to?” Hanni grumbled, still protesting for this concept of secret santa to move forward (even though choices were already made by school authority).

Before you and Yoon could answer her question, Naoi Rei came into the picture. cheerfully letting out a “ Hey guys! “ as she sits beside her seatmate, Yoon. You all greeted her back with the same yet idle “hey!”

Hanni finally raises her head up to check the girl in front of her. The curve on Rei’s lips never seemed to fade, figuring that she might have some things to say that would pique you and the girl's interest.

“I overheard Mrs. Jeon and Mrs. Yoon earlier talking about the secret santa thing…” Rei started, all of your ears perked up as if it was activated, ready to listen to everything that will come out next. Stories that involve advisers (especially your class’s adviser, Mrs. Jeon) are already intriguing to hear and you all thank Rei for being a part of your friend group and for having such a good source of gossip.

Rei slightly leaned forwards in which you three mirrored her move, waiting a few seconds for your friend to process her words.

“So.. okay. I heard our class, and their class are gonna be paired for the secret santa.” Yoon gasped at Rei’s statement while Hanni’s eyes only widened, and you? utterly confused.

How is this news? You thought to yourself, what is so shocking about these two classes colliding for the secret santa?

Yoon was repeatedly slapping your desk in excitement while Hanni was just frozen in place “I’m gonna see our class so desperate to get his name.” she lets out; and Rei was just giggling… but why? and who's he?

The three eventually noticed your clueless state, realizing you probably do not know anything about Mrs. Yoon’s class. Rei gave you a question regarding that class, shaking your head as a response.

“Girl.. Yang Jungwon is in that class.” Yoon replied, gently holding your arm as it rests on your desk.

“Yang Jung- who?” you raised a brow.

“Mister student council president.” Hanni lets out a short chuckle, glancing at Rei. You can only breathe out a long oh in response, even so, still unfamiliar with the boy mentioned.

Since your friends have talked about it like they were fangirls, he must be extremely popular… being the student council president after all.

Before your conversation escalates, you four immediately shifted your attention to the font noticing a sudden thud on the front door, knowing that your Teacher had already entered your classroom.

All of you stood up to welcome and greet your adviser, officially starting the homeroom hour for the day.

Much to you and your friends surprise, the news Rei announced about the classes to be paired with from secret santa were correct, hearing the mention of Mrs. Yoon's class later on. You were startled when some of your girl classmates gasped about the news, you swore that their excitement could almost be heard even outside your classroom, reaching the long corridors,

You didn’t know why you had only found out about his popularity today, even if you were friends with the student council secretary (Hanni Pham), you seem to not hear her, or any of your friends for that matter, mentioning the name Yang Jungwon until now.

You turn your head to your seatmate only to see her rolling her eyes and groaning at the fangirling session your class has started after the mention of Jungwon's name.

Your old school has popular students too, similar to this Jungwon person, although they had never made this kind of impact on a class before… This was completely new to you especially how can some normal students still get a whole hoard of students swooning over them?

“This school is weird.” You muttered at the thought. Hanni unknowingly catches your whispers, replying “Right.” which quickly caught you off guard.

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You all were instructed to write your names on a small piece of paper and a wishlist on what you want to receive as a present. Your adviser gave you a good 5 minutes to write everything out and you were baffled to find the part where you write your wishlist to be difficult. You tap your pen at the surface of your desk, forming a rhythm as you intently gather your thoughts about things you want to receive as a present, although not one thing comes to mind.

You want to buy the things you desire with your own money, you wish to write something that isn’t too much of a hassle for the other to buy… and still none pops up in your mind.

You take small peaks at Hanni’s paper, she was writing something alright, and pretty focused too. You envy your seatmate for already knowing what she desires to get in 2 weeks, while you’re still stuck on a piece of paper that only has your name written on it.

You were too drowned in your thoughts only to see that the time had run up. It was time to fold your papers and place it on a tupperware box in order to finally switch with the other class.

You swiftly scribbled on your paper before your teacher passed by your desk; and to your relief you made it. Folding the paper and dropping it in the box at the same time as Hanni.

As your adviser leaves the class to pass the box, you, Hanni, and the two other girls seated in front of you let out their own sigh of relief. Yoon and Rei turn around to ask what you two wrote in your own wishlists.

“I just wanted a new set of highlighters and a computer mouse, what about you Y/n?”

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“Surprise me,” Jungwon read out loud, “and nothing else.” He added, earning a perplexed face from Wonyoung. As if she hadn't heard the male right.

“There’s no way that person wrote that in their wishlist.” Wonyoung snatched the paper out of Jungwon's grip, squinting her eyes as if she’s gonna find anything else written in the paper.

“Yeah, good luck with that.” She intensely placed the paper back on the man’s desk, Jungwon only rolling his eyes at the girl sitting in front of him.

Wonyoung gasped at the attitude her friend just showed, “Look won, no one would want to trade secret santa’s with you with that wishlist.”

“I'm not willing to trade it anyway. I don't mind it to be honest.”

“Why not? Won’t it be hard for you?” she raised a brow.

“Might be difficult when I start to look for a present, although I don’t think I’m the only one who’s gonna find difficulties in finding me a present.”

Wonyoung only stared at the other, forehead creasing, “What do you mean— Won, what did you write on your wishlist?”

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“Wow Y/n you got Jungwon?!” Hanni exclaimed, you immediately grip on her shoulders in an attempt to shut her up (it was reflex). Thankfully the two girls in front of you were the only ones who heard Hanni’s loud mouth and not your other classmates who were gushing about how desperately they would want to pick Jungwon's paper up. quickly turning their heads to you with a scheming grin on their faces.

“Jungwon?! Oh my god!” Yoon whisper shouted, placing her palm in front of you, quietly asking you to hand her the paper you had picked up from the box. You then absentmindedly placed the paper on her palm as your other hand was still tightly gripping your seatmate's shoulder. Yoon reading the paper in an instant, plastering a wide O expression being that it indeed has Jungwon’s name written.

Rei leaned her head beside her seatmate to take a look at the paper in Yoon’s grasp, both of them dropping an ambiguous reaction just for a small piece of paper with only the man's name written on it.

“Is there nothing else on here?” Rei quickly snatched the small paper from Yoon, eyeing the paper closer as if anything would pop up.

“Dumbass, of course there’s nothing. Do you see anything else besides his name?” Yoon retorts, flicking her forehead in an attempt for Rei's grip to loosen on the paper, immediately taking it back.

“That’s surprising… kind of,” Hanni joins in when you finally calmed down, letting go of your grasp on her shoulder. She idly placed her hands to her cheeks with her elbows resting on the desk. “Jungwon is known as someone who actually knows what he wants… Kinda shocking to see his paper being empty but his name though, I seem to give no care about it, good luck though.”

“Thanks… I mean, He’s probably not the only one who left his wishlist empty too.” You commented.

“What do you mean? You didn’t put anything in your wishlist either?” Rei tilted her head to the side, interested to hear your answer. “Technically I did, but it was just a simple surprise me.” you anxiously curl up the edges of your lips, a slight chuckle escaping beneath your breath. Hanni shrugged it off, it was expected for you to be unsure of what you want, especially having to think about it in a really short amount of time only to end up with absolutely nothing.

“Whoever got you to be their secret santa is in one hell of a ride…” Yoon uttered thrillingly.

“I think the same for myself too.” you remarked. You were internally inquisitively desperate in knowing who might have picked up the paper that has your name written on it, and also wonder what gift you’ll be receiving for the party that is now set in two weeks.

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First week has already passed, meaning Jungwon is already preparing for a gift as your secret santa.

He underestimated it, assuming this would be easy; however, the thought of your reaction to anything Jungwon decides to give you started to bother him.

He is completely unfamiliar with you, he doesn't know you nor have seen you physically, having the verge of dying from impatiently waiting a week from now.

Jungwon remained alone in the student council office, since there were no requirements to submit, everyone stayed with their group of friends within the school.

He liked the fresh lone air of the office, he cherishes it so he never complains being alone.

Also, this is the best time to whine about anything and everything, especially what gift to give you for the upcoming party without anyone's judgment. Wonyoung is too dubious about the whole 'surprise me' Y/n paper and probably wouldn't help him settle for a decent gift.

This idea of secret santa sure is downright ass.

Jungwon continued to groan and complain, frustratingly pondering on whatever gifts to buy as he attentively notes all of his ideas on a spare page of his notebook.

Unbeknownst to him a Hanni Pham remains in her stand right beside the door as she watches the student council president fumingly write on a notebook with a fuming face.

"Uhh… president?" The soft voice coming from the girl startled Jungwon, gazing up to her figure in a heartbeat. He felt like he was caught doing something he wasn't supposed to, even though he was just writing.

Jungwon escaped a relieving sigh, halting himself from what he was doing. Hanni felt the sudden awkward air and wished she would've entered any time that isn't now. Oh how she wished to turn back time and be able to change her mind from opening this very door and backing him out of his trance.

"Yes, Hanni?" He calmly voiced out, acting as if he wasn't panicking 2 seconds ago.

"Can I hang out here?"

"Oh, sure. You didn't have to ask that."

Hanni slowly walled and took a seat a distance beside Jungwon, then idly slouched on the uncluttered table.

"What made you come here? You don't normally hang here in the student council office." Jungwon strikes up a conversation, attempting to tone down the fiddly atmosphere that was built a few minutes ago.

Hanni shrugged, "Eh, Yoon didn't show up to class, Rei and Y/n are cramming for homework that's due later so I decided to leave for them to focus on that… Basically I'm bored and friendless at the moment. I'm striving for interactions, Jungwon." From lightheadedness to being desperate in a matter of a few words shook Jungwon. He knew Hanni wasn't a huge extrovert, though she likes to chit chat especially with prople she's close with, so why is she approaching him?

"Why don't you just talk to your classmates then?"

"Because! I don't like any of my classmates except for Yoon, Rei, and Y/n! If I ever talk to any one of them they're just gonna start asking me about you, I mean— we're not even close?!"

Jungwon could only laugh in response, fond of the other's carefree and extremely straightforward personality.

"Not close? that's true and all but why did it kinda hurt." Jungwon jokes, placing his palm on his chest acting like his heart has pounded too hard to break at Hanni's rant.

"Oh you know I don't always hang around here except when it's important," Hanni crosses both of her fingers up "Bros always comes first."

The name Y/n had only just hit hard inside Jungwon's spindling brain, subtly reaching out for air as he internally debates with himself if asking you what to give Y/n was the best Idea. Jungwon really wanted you to cherish whatever he's gonna give, and he'll make sure of that.

"Anyway, enough about me. What're you doing? You seemed tense earlier when I walked in." Hanni leaned at the side, attempting to peek at the male's notebook she had caught him writing so focused on.

Jungwon felt a sweat dropping from his forehead, even though he looked completely flawless and unbothered in the other's view. Slowly moving his notebook out of Hanni's vision, causing her to let out a short groan.

"Come on, what is that?"

"Just… secret Santa stuff."

"Oh! You started picking gifts already? Who did you get? Wait, don't say it's me!"

"It's not you."

"Oh phew… I didn't get you either so you can say it to me."

That swift confession made Jungwon lose his thick walls, wanting to open up to Hanni about who he had picked for the event. Considering they're close friends, and also the person who's in the class who got paired with in his class. Maybe she would know what to buy for you that'll have you smiling for the rest of the night.

"So Hanni… don't tell anyone, okay?"

"Of course, My lips are sealed shut!"

Jungwon took a few seconds to process his choices, finalizing with the decision of seeking Hanni's help.

He held a deep breath, "I picked up Y/n's."

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"Y/n… there's only 2 more days before the party and you still haven't thought about what gift to buy Jungwon?" Rei's eyebrows rose, Watching you stress out along with your two other friends.

"I keep telling her to finally start buying one but she always say It's too early." Hanni mocks your tone of voice, causing you to shoot a glare in her way.

"Look, after school we'll help you pick something for him so that you won't stress yourself sick anymore, sounds good?" Yoon offered. "No!—" you declined almost immediately after Yoon spoke, earning a few wide eyes from your three friends.

"I'm sorry— guys, I just prefer making my own decisions for this one." you reasoned, lowering your head as you huff out to ease your stressful state a bit.

"Wow Y/n, didn’t know you’d be taking this too seriously." Rei responds.

“Rei please, I think we all took it equally seriously, we don’t even know those people in the other class except for Jungwon.” Yoon boasted to her seatmate.

You huffed exasperatingly, "Of course I am Rei! I'm buying someone who I have completely no idea about; a gift!?" you lowered your head against your desk, escaping a whiny groan, feeling the heat of your breath fanning from the polished wooden surface of your desk.

"That’s fair. If you don't want our help, good luck then!" Hanni rooted, raising her fists above showing her support. “Oh and by the way, Jungwon likes jackets so do what you want to do with that information.” Hanni added, her hands gently transferring to patting your back.

You let out a “Thanks.” to at least show gratitude for their encouragement, a part inside you is dubious to be able to buy a gift before 2 days, you never even planned about what to give him.

After school would be a great challenge between you and your indecisiveness.

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Jungwon finds himself wandering various stores in the mall while he indecisively asks vendors questions about a price of a certain product he won’t even end up purchasing.

He wasn’t seeking a present to give you, he had already bought you a week ago after gaining Hanni’s assistance with gift ideas. So why now, does he feel the need to add more to what he’s originally going to hand you in two days? Surely you might want more than a new year’s planner, right?

Right.

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Truth be told, you did feel sort of regretted your bitterness denial after you have told them to back down with the help. Finding yourself internally panicking while roaming around the mall, a few minutes have passed after tentatively buying a hoodie. (taking note of what Hanni said, considering they knew each other.) The hoodie didn't feel as complete, not feeling the slightest satisfaction of giving it to him alone, and ought to give him more than that… and you will give more than that.

You searched around the entire mall and only ended up with more things than you expected, and much to your surprise, you haven’t spent a lot of your money.

Knowing that he is in the student council, you reckon he might want things more essential, similar to a set of colored pens, highlighters, new notebooks, the hoodie, and a few jewelry. It felt like it was too much albeit the budget wasted on; these purchases didn’t leave you satisfied, only having the man’s reaction to bother you for mornings and evenings up until the exact day of the party

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“Jungwon! Our ride’s here!” Wonyoung yelled downstairs, Jungwon flabbergasted, inhaling the fact her voice can still be heard even at a far set of stairs. He quickly prepared himself before returning downstairs to take off with his friend, seeing Wonyoung already standing impatiently by their front door.

“Let’s go.” Jungwon breathed out, nodding intensely at the girl in front of him.

“Whatever, I would’ve left without you.” The girl scoffs, idly exiting Jungwon’s home walking to their ride which was the car of Jungwon’s sweet sister.

Wonyoung turned around to the male, “Oh and your sister said to lock the door.”

“I don’t have any keys with me— oh.” His eyes widened with his fast reflex when Wonyoung threw the keys at him out of nowhere. “Nice.” Wonyoung remarked, then turned back to board their ride that was parked in front of his house.

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“Thanks for helping me out with preparing the room Y/n!” Yoon cheerfully thanked with a wide smile plastered on her face, her eyes smiling in the process. You mirrored her jolly expression as you handed her another wide lace of garland, which Yoon took in an instant and carefully placed it at the front ceiling.

“No problem, class treasurer.” You teased, a smirk ghosting your lips. Yoon only laughed in response as you then handed her a large ribbon. “Rei and Hanni are taking a while to come by, no?” You asked, genuine cluelessness in your tone.

“Oh please, they’re probably having an outfit crisis.”

“Just for a class party? Well, that doesn’t seem so surprising now.” You both let out a soft giggle, silence taking over the both of you to focus on the decorating.

A few minutes passed by, you, Yoon, and a few of your classmates had already finished decorating the room, and the time left before the actual party started was farther than you expected. Satisfied with the finished result of the newly festive decorated classroom, you then took a seat on a random desk at the side to check on your gift that you hid under the compartment, thankfully it remained there.

It wasn’t a huge bag, it was averagely small, having the jacket folded neatly and all the other gifts fitted in that paper bag. You could feel your anxiousness crawling up to your system, giving you dazed thoughts. Now’s the day you get to give him your gift, you don’t know what he’s like, you never asked Hanni about his everyday demeanor since that never gathered in your thoughts for the last two weeks, and most importantly you don’t know what he wants as a present. (excluding the hoodie.)

You spent a few minutes trapped in your thoughts, unaware that some of your classmates had already arrived.

“Y/n!” Rei gleefully greeted, sitting beside you and completely backing you out of your trance. You only hummed absentmindedly as you process the current state of your class.

Everyone is already here.

“What’s that? Wait let me guess… Jungwon’s?”

“Yeah, Jungwon’s.” you let out, Rei noticed the discomposure lingering in your voice while you fiddle the handle of the paper bag you were holding, causing a state of worry to enter her.

“Hey, I’m sure he’s gonna love whatever it is in there,” Rei pouted, shifting her hand around your shoulder in order for you to lessen your build up tension.

“I don’t think he’d show a nasty reaction to it, I bet he has a kind heart.”

You were sincerely grateful for Rei’s words, her intention of calming your heartbeat actually worked. Though another thought had hit you, about why Rei and the others didn’t feel the same nervousness you were feeling right at this moment.

"Thanks Rei, but that's not the only thing I'm worried about…"

Rei tilted her head for a better view of your state, "Okay yeah, our classmates may get jealous but don't worry about them."

"Rei…"

"Okay sorry. What is it that's also bothering you?"

"I know nothing about him."

"Oh pfft— we all don't know who the person we got. You're not the only one bothered by that thought." Rei laughed, transferring her hand on top of you, patting your head. "Don't let that anxiousness take a toll on this fun day, you don't want to go home with just this gift thing overtaking your head, right?" Rei added, slowly taking the paper bag then placing it on the compartment under the desk you both were sitting on.

You raise your chin to see Yoon and Hanni preparing to MC the party, meeting gazes with Yoon, the girl at a distance beaming endearingly waving the both of you to walk towards them.

Your eyes softened by the quick gentle hit of realization; all thanks to your best friend slash classmate Naoi Rei.

"You're right," You jumped out of your seat, causing Rei to do the same. "Let's go!" You sang, jogging your way to Yoon and Hanni.

Rei was right, why would you be extremely stressed about a secret santa gift? Is it because Jungwon is basically a high demand in your school? Maybe. But he's a human being, you can worry about his reaction later. What matters right now is to have fun for yourself.

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"Come on guys! 7 members in 2 groups, who dares to participate!" Wonyoung cheerfully asked through the mic, almost all of your classmates raising their hands, making her eyes widened in surprise. Jungwon only laughed in response, discussing shortly with her co-MC that he'll pick the members for the second group while hers is the 1st group.

Their Christmas party was going smoothly and actually started to be more enjoyable. Jungwon had a nice relationship with all of his classmates, causing all of them to get along so well, feeling as if everyone were close friends. Maybe this is what made it cherishing, the chemistry of the class, the relationship to one another. Jungwon's eyes sparkled as Wonyoung, now leading and hosting the first game for today's party, without the need of Jungwon’s hosting, he proceeded to sit by the side watching chaos unfold at the center of the classroom.

"Hey Jungwon, is this yours?" his classmate, Kim Sheon asked while holding a large paper bag with a cute valentines teddy bear printed on it.

"Oh yeah that's mine," Jungwon continuously nodded as the girl handed him the paper bag. "thank you Sheon!"

"You should watch where you put things next time, president." the girl advised before taking a few steps away towards the other end of the room, returning to her group of friends.

He stares at her with delight, his mind completely going back to reality knowing that the paper bag she had handed him was your christmas present. His mind suddenly hazed to a frenzy as he quickly searched the inside of the paper bag and much to his relief, everything were still there.

His thoughts then switched about the gift giving later on. It's a shame that he has to shout your name out loud in order to find you by the time your classes collide to give each other gifts. He has done it a lot before (shouting at delinquents) but doing it to someone who's technically a total stranger to him and probably harmless felt hilariously strange.

He gets to brush this thought later on, reckon that he might just be thinking anything to make him more anxious than he was a few hours ago before leaving his home. Besides, you are considered best friends with Hanni (her words), and he didn't want to underestimate that. With Hanni's adorably bubbly approach would make him assume you might just be the same as her.

Then again, everything's only an assumption.

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People were already feasting on the homemade goodies your classmates had prepared or bought for everyone to eat. You ate with Rei, Sullyoon and Ni-ki since the other two were too busy organizing the event and the class exchange gift collision soon. The merry festive set of the classroom had made you giddy and so was interacting with your classmates, all of them feeling much the same.

You were chatting with Rei, Sullyoon and Ni-ki until you felt a grumble on your stomach that made you want to excuse yourself for a while.

Thankfully your friends didn't mind, so you stormed off hoping that this isn't an internal attack you expect it to be.

After a few minutes in the comfort room, you walked out, clashing a rough figure bumping into you, flinching at the hard feeling of meeting his body.

"Oh I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" He instantaneously apologized, you subtly move your head up and down, eyes glued on the man swiftly bowing at you.

You waved your hands frantically, showing a nervous expression, telling him that it was okay.

"No, it's not your fault. You wouldn't see me coming at all!" He stammered, you could see from his expression that he felt sort of resentment.

"Well, you didn't see me coming out of the bathroom either, so don't feel so bad now…"

You didn't even have any injuries from that, so it was quite adorable to see him continuously apologizing as if what he did was downright unlawful.

"Anyway, I should probably go back to my party now, I'm sorry again!" You waved at him once more, tracing the smile on your eyes as you walked away towards your classroom, your destination wasn't a far distance so the man could still see your figure entering the said room.

The moment your figure disappeared, was when Jungwon suddenly wondered why he was out walking in the first place. Completely forgetting his task by the time he bumped into you.

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You, Sullyoon, and Ni-ki were having a common interest conversation while Rei excused herself after getting called by your other classmates.

You turn your head to check the whole classroom and how everyone is getting along so well, including with people you unexpectedly enjoyed interacting with such as the people you're talking to right now.

You see Yoon and Hanni talking to your class president, Kim Siyoon, at the very side of the classroom, just beside the door, Your president who might be asking them to announce something, since it's been minutes since everyone had already finished consuming the party goods

By the time your gaze goes back to Ni-ki and Sullyoon, a "Hello everyone!" from Yoon.

Everyone went quiet as their attention transferred to the three people beside the door asking if everyone already finished their meals.

Everyone shouted a loud YES!! (including you) and you felt your heart melt as you saw Yoon's gummy smile plastered on her face by the energetic response.

"So that officially concludes the party… but before that! Let's all get our Christmas presents and it's time to exchange gifts!! After you get your presents, you can all freely enter Mrs. Yoon's classroom, two classrooms down the hall on the right, at room 2-1."

Everyone rapidly made their way to pick up their respective gifts and immediately walked out of the classroom, alongside Sullyoon and Ni-ki who you're sure were just beside you moments before.

Yoon's figure walks near your seat. "You really can't tell if they wanted to see Jungwon or the people they got for secret santa." The woman in front of you chuckled, placing her hand under the desk compartment you were sitting on in order to find the gift she had hid there.

"Aha!" Yoon lets out, grasping a cute, medium-sized, yellow wrapped box.

"Come on Y/n, let's go," Your brows narrowed, questioningly staring at the girl due to her invitation.

"Hanni and Rei already made their way there, so come on."

tilting your head to the side seeing only nothing but an empty space, excluding you and Yoon.

You took off your seat hoisting up the rope handle of the paper bag filled with gifts.

Yoon nodded at you, silently asking if you were ready to go; and before you could respond to her a sudden pst came from Siyoon who opened the door.

"Good thing you guys are still here, can one of you help me bring something to the faculty?" Siyoon asked timidly, her worried expression impulsively pulled you to volunteer on assisting your class president. Telling Yoon to go on without her which she obliged, leaving the room the same as you do, heading in the opposite direction on the hall.

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Jungwon’s eyes set to their crowded classroom, everyone mingling and interacting all so joyfully, however everyone was already occupied giving gifts to the people they have gotten. It was chaos yet everyone seemed to get along considering this is the first time these two classes collided like this. Jungwon's eyes sparkled as he saw the classroom more alive than ever, an ecstatic Wonyoung jumping beside him backed him out of his mesmerized eyes.

"Look what my secret Santa got me," Shimmying as she wore a fur blaser, holding a leopard print purse, "It's so cute dont'cha think?" She squealed, darting off, not even bothered to wait for her best friend to answer her question. Jungwon only stared into a void, dumbfounded by what had just happened.

Jungwon didn't bother to shout your name since people were already leaving the classroom to go home or hang out outside school grounds, which was reasonable though what concerned Jungwon was your absence. He decided to wait a bit in the classroom in hopes of someone showing up with a clueless face similar to him, though a few minutes felt like hours when Jungwon slowly witnessed half of the students that bustled their classroom slowly leaving one-by-one.

He had an urge to ask your friend, Hanni, who was talking to two other girls(Yoon and Rei) in a circle. Though Jungwon slid the idea off and kept waiting, although unaware, Hanni already was giving secret glances at his lonely figure whilst his point finger held a paper bag for what she assumed to be his christmas present. Hanni excused herself for a moment to approach him, leaning backwards on the desk he was sitting on.

"Is Y/n not here yet? Yoon said she helped Siyoon— our class president by the way, in the faculty, she might still be there." The girl explained, causing a tedious reaction on the boy.

Realizing that he was stuck in a trance, Hanni didn't hesitate on gripping his shoulders, shaking him back to reality, which worked.

"Huh?— what?!— huh?!" Jungwon lifted his head, eyes widening when greeted by the girl who had just returned to his state of mind in the real world.

"Three words: Y/n. Faculty. Go." Were Hanni's last words before returning back to her circle of friends, eventually exiting the classroom.

Jungwon took a few seconds to process Hanni's words before storming out, heading to the very room the girl had mentioned to him directly a few minutes back.

Sensing his impatience was unlikely, he reckons himself to be very patient yet he felt irritated having to wait that long. Though he couldn't possibly blame you, you only wanted to help your class president, so then again, he slides these feelings off.

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"Thanks girls, have a nice Christmas vacation!" One of the faculty members sweetly reminded the both of you, after that you two bid your farewells and as the door closes from the faculty, the both of you sprinted to Mrs. Yoon's classroom like the tomorrow is about to br erased. In a race to finally hand out their presents.

When both of you arrived at the classroom, there were only two people waiting, and none of them was waiting for you.

One of them being Siyoon's secret santa and one of them being the ones to have her as their secret santa.

You quietly watched them exchange their gifts, eyes furrowed at the three people who were only left at Mrs Yoon's classroom and no one else.

You only assumed that one of them is this Jungwon person, it really bums you for being the only person who's unfamiliarized with the person you're handing out your present to.

"Hey guys can I ask where Yang Jungwon is?" You reluctantly took a few steps towards the three, though much to your dismay, they had no idea where Jungwon went, confirming for you that one of them is not jungwon.

You only breathed out an "Oh okay." in response, nodding vigorously before setting yourself to get some fresh air as you lean backwards on a desk that was placed to the side of the room. You grasp your phone, unfortunately having 5% battery, you only dared to check your messages to see anything new, and seeing a notification pop up on your group chat with the four girls saying that they all were just at a 7/11 across the street and will be waiting for you there and replied with a like emoji, turning it off after doing so.

A few minutes had passed, the three students (Siyoon included) had already left the classroom, which now leaves you the only person inside, waiting to hand out your present.

Your paper bag felt heavy, you were dying to give this to him already and get out, you don't even care about receiving yours anymore, you just wanted to get this present out of your grasp.

A few minutes and for what it felt like hours of waiting, you couldn't stop yourself from dozing, having no more control on keeping your heavy eyelids up anymore, you wanted to keep awake, though you couldn't.

A part of you already accepted the fact that Jungwon might not be showing up, you originally wanted to just get this over with yet right now you just want to meet your friends outside already.

And so that is what you did.

Indolently making steps towards the door, reluctantly gripping on the cold metal handle, pulling the door then swiftly taking a huge step beyond the door only for someone to suddenly clash onto you to the point you fell down hard to the ground, groaning by the bruised feeling that stinged your bottom.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry— " The man stopped, blinking as he continued to examine your figure. You only looked up at him, having the inability to get yourself up.

"again. I am so sorry again." He guiltily uttered, crouching down, his arms tightly holding your wrist in order to assist you to stand.

Your eyes still glued to his face as he helps you up, attempting to remember his familiar features and a few seconds is what finally hits you.

He was the person who previously bumped onto you… What are the odds for the same thing to happen again?

"It's alright.." It wasn't. It was honestly, excruciatingly painful, knowing that he bumped onto you whilst he was sprinting rapidly towards you and having to heavily meet your frame at the exact same coordinate at the exact same time.

"I should really start being careful whenever I exit a room." You joked, wanting to end the awkward air about to build up between you and the man you had just bumped into.

"Yeah, sorry again… I was just searching for this person so that I can finally give my present to them, her friend told me they were in the faculty but when I got there Mrs. Yoon already said they were gone, and now I'm back here." the man stated, your eyes suddenly feeling awake at the other's words.

"Oh, I was just at the faculty… Who did you get?"

"Uhm… Y/n."

You escape a long sigh, in a relief to have finally found your secret santa. You would've figured it out the second you have bumped onto, "I'm Y/n!"

Jungwon's eyes sparkled, exhaling the same air though slightly tired from the running earlier, considering the faculty was 3 more floors more up, an exceptionally understandable state.

"Oh thank god finally… here you go." He handed out a cute printed paper bag, in which you slowly transferred to your grasp, dubious if you were going to open it now or open it when you leave.

You examined his tired figure head to chest, uncertain of what to do next.

"Can we go inside for you to open your present?"

"Oh, you want me to open my present in front of you..?"

"Yeah, since you didn't add a wish list and all. I wanted to see if you're surprised," He grinned,

"Also I need to sit down, I feel like passing out anytime soon." He added, you could still see his chest pounding from the tiring run.

It would be out of place to open gifts here in the hallway anyway, so you happily obliged, taking a few steps back returning to their classroom.

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you and the other seated at a desk beside the window, having the sunlight ray refract through the transparent window of the 3rd floor classroom. The conspicuous sight of the buildings and the school field alluring a smile to creep up on Jungwon's face.

He admires the view behind him as you gently rummage through the paper bag. "Wow." You remarked, shocked about the amount of things he had bought you.

Your grip was on a cotton fabric cloth folded inside, pulling out of the bag and expanding it widely to reveal a funky white and blue jacket with a few sticker designs. It was adorable and it fits your taste. Jungwon's attention darted to you when he heard a breathy gasp coming from you, witnessing your eyes sparkling as you gaze at the jacket for too long.

"So… Do you like it?" Jungwon's brows knit as he sees your baffled state, you couldn't speak your happiness out just yet so you silently nod as you examine the jacket more.

"Yang Jungwon, you have such a nice taste in terms of designs. This is amazing!" You praised, earning a bashful laugh from the man.

When you were done admiring the jacket, you then folded it and gently put it on your side to check more things inside the paper bag.

"Wow, you bought me a lot— Oh my god! " You joyfully yell in surprise as your eyes lay on a planner journal. "I was planning on buying this after new years?!"

"I didn't feel content with giving you just the planner so I bought you… some school supplies, a jacket, and that planner."

You felt your heart giddy up from the man's statement, noticing the curve on your lips that wouldn't fade anytime soon. You couldn't tell if you find his visage absolutely adorable or the fact that he's shy about his gifts.

"Are you saying that you never originally planned on getting me that freakishly cute jacket?!"

"Yeah…"

The said gifts were simple, yes. Though very essential to your everyday school life; 2 sets of colored pens, 3 notebook journals with amazing paper quality, and a jacket that is an absolute eye candy.

"Still don't know what I got though." The other sighed, shifting your view on his somewhat upsetting state. Your eyes softed alongside the curve on your lips that were slowly dropping. You suddenly remembered your Christmas present that hasn't been handed out yet, already reaching to the assumption that the man beside you has you as his secret santa.

It has almost been for what you felt like an hour since you waited in a classroom that wasn't even yours, meaning everyone must have already sent and received their respective gifts including your three friends that are currently (and hopefully patiently) waiting for you outside school territory.

After thanking the man merrily, you then handed your paper bag. Jungwon only darted his gaze cluelessly to you and back to the bag.

"I'm assuming you're Yang Jungwon?" you raised a brow, forming a grin having a confident gut feeling deep inside that you might actually be his secret Santa.

Jungwon almost jumped from the desk you two were sitting on, almost grumbling you out of it.

Well, he is indeed, Yang Jungwon.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?!" His eyes twinkled when he made contact with the paper surface of the bag. His heart was pounding due to the rush of excitement overtaking his system.

"I didn't know who you were so I just kinda… kept it, until now of course." You bashfully stated, Jungwon felt a sudden shock when he heard it right that You were never familiarized with him. Considering the amount of admirers he has from your class, this was something he was sort of surprised about.

Jungwon glanced at you before darting to his goodies. Feeling the same cloth inside the bag, he pulled it out, expanded to see an oversized mocha hoodie that absolutely fit to his taste.

"So pretty.." He lets out subconsciously, his eyes drowning in absolute awe as the hoodie lays before him, causing your cheeks to heat up by the indirect compliment.

Putting the hoodie beside him, he rummages deeply in the bag knowing there was more than just the hoodie.

"Same as your gift idea, I bought something for comfort and school supplies. But those are sets of highlighters and cute notebooks I found at a stationary store… It's not much but it's what fitted in my budget so—"

"I love all of these," You raise your head, your eyes meeting the beaming Yang Jungwon. There was a sudden pang! that penetrated your chest, his smile was indescribable… way more above the word adorable.

"Thank you."

Your eyes locked onto each other, the smile forming on his eyes kept you from viewing more of the galaxy that illuminated his hues.

The same would be said in Jungwon's view. He was starstruck. Apprehended by how the sunlight could perfectly catch the best part of your face.

You were probably the last best view Jungwon had to witness before the end of this year.

"Thank you too… At Least I got something that I can use." You chuckled, placing back all of your received gifts in the paper bag, Jungwon copying your actions.

After neating yourselves, you wanted more to talk with the man, considering you two were the only ones left in the classroom, probably no more company waiting outside, and you magically got attached to him, having to understand why he's so famous amongst the entirety of the school.

As you were about to open your mouth to speak, a girl suddenly barges in the door. "Y/n!— Oh, hey Jungwon…" Hanni's tone pitched down as she saw you beside the male, completely changing her demeanor. "Sorry if I'm interrupting anything, though Y/n really needs to go like, now."

"Oh yeah uhm!— we just finished actually… opening up our gifts," Jungwon nervously blurted, "And I needed to go now too anyway… Too bad we didn't talk that much."

"Then maybe we should!" You ecstatically advised, earning a surprised beam from the male.

"Then we will… So let's hang out once classes start again." He whispered, not reaching your friend's medium.

"Would love to." You muttered, sucking your lip in an attempt to conceal a wide smile.

Jungwon only nodded in response, taking a few steps towards the door, meeting Hanni's figure. He waved her goodbye, Hanni then obligingly moved aside for Jungwon to have a space to walk out on. You only watched him disappear, slightly upset that your interaction with him didn't last long. Though he did say you two would talk again, so hopefully he sticks to his words since it has already sticked yours like glue.

As Jungwon walked past their room, Hanni then turned to look at you with a wide smile on her face, and you have completely read her mind.

"Don't ask anything." You started, sluggishly walking towards her with a visible grin plastered on your face. It was evident that your mind was filled with Jungwon, even if you were denying it.

Hanni is definitely expecting something to happen between you and Jungwon, though that's something you both should figure out yourselves.

You exit school grounds with Hanni, proceeding to meet up with the rest of your friends to spend the rest of the day with each other before Christmas break starts.

⊹₊┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ୨୧ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈₊⊹

BONUS:

Student Council Office, 2:32 PM

Treasurer, Sim Jaeyun, Secretary, Pham Hanni, Vice President, Jeon Somi, and President, Yang Jungwon all gathered in the student council office for an unexpected paperwork. It wasn't much of a hassle to do since it was only a few papers each member had to examine and sign although it still left the president clueless on why it was required to have everyone here when 2 people can still nail the job with no problem.

Besides that now, while doing their busy tasks, Hanni, who was sitting beside the president, catched her eye on the same hoodie Jungwon is wearing, noticing how he has it on almost everyday.

"Jungwon." Hanni sternly called out, Jungwon hummed in response, eyes glued to the papers though his attention paid on Hanni.

"Is that the hoodie Y/n got you a month ago before christmas break?"

"You mean Christmas party?"

"Yeah."

"Then yeah, it is."

Hanni's forehead creased, eyes squinting at the man a distance beside as he continued with his tasks. Her mind trailed off as to why he's so attached to it so much, might be because of how she overheard your warm conversation with the man while you two hung out and gushed about your presents inside Mrs. Yoon's classroom after the Christmas party.

Hanni thought it was adorable that you two got along, although… By the time classes resumed you and Jungwon had been majorly closer than before.

Eating lunch together more frequently, you had to straightforwardly excuse yourself to Yoon, Rei, and her saying you planned on eating lunch with Jungwon for like 4 executive days.

The girls didn't have a problem with the beginning of your love story arc, they think it's cute that you finally step out of your shell and hang out with someone more trustworthy as Yang Jungwon.

Though it does get pretty tiring always having no time to hang out with you anymore…

Hoisting herself back to the cluttered office, everyone quietly working and the aroma of coffee fills the whole room. Her eyes lay on the busy president once again.

"You've been wearing that for a week." Hanni recalled. Yes. He has been wearing that ever since classes resumed, having a nasty assumption about the supposedly 'neat' Yang Jungwon.

"Yes..?" Jungwon's gaze darted to the secretary, forehead creasing irritatingly due to the eerie behavior the other was giving out.

"Of course if you're wearing Y/n's gift, Y/n is wearing yours too at the same time. Literally."

Jungwon could sense the side eyes coming from their seniors in the room, glancing at their Vice president, Somi who was smirking as she signed her papers.

"We both just like the jacket, It doesn't have to mean anything—"

A phone suddenly rang aloud. Jungwon hitting the realization that it was his phone that had just made an extremely loud noise, he hoisted it in his grasp in a heartbeat, checking if his hunch of a notification was correct.

The noticeable transition of his expression from dull to a grinning mess as he saw the message caught Hanni's attention, more especially when Jungwon excused himself for a minute to fetch something in which the girl did not buy.

"Where are you going?"

"To… Y/n— Look— I just need to give them something, they're waiting outside right now so I better get going. I'll get back soon I promise!"

That is when everyone in that damn room knew that you both are definitely at the first stage of falling in love.

© seungiepup 2023. please do not modify, edit, copy or reproduce any of the works published.

[inverted-flowers]

More hermits as deities!

I got very stuck on Impulse because I was so determined to do his... But well uh... yeah...

Bdubs: God of The Day

Good nights rest

Sunrise

Daytime

Horses

Enjoyable travel

Healing through rest

Safety at night

Symbolism:

Moss

Clocks

The sun

Horses

Sleep caps

Offerings:

Clocks, either working ones like pocket watches or fake art pieces

Blankets

Medicinal herbs

Lavender and other herbs associated/for calming and sleep

Notes: Followers would place shines in areas where they could get lots of sunshine. The most traditional spot would be in a bedroom window that gets lots of light.

Gem:

Feminine strength and power

Honesty

Self defense

Cottage life

Note: I only recently started watching her and honestly my poor health and lack of wifi is preventing me from watching most rn.. poor timing but I really wanted to include her because she's wonderful. Also she's rather Athena coded. Athena is a greek goddess of war who's also a patron goddess of craftsmen. I rest my case do I not?

Impulse:

Impulsiveness

Symbolism:

Yellow, gold, and black

Lower case i

Offerings:

Gold

Scar: God of The Trade

Trades and deals

Manipulation and verbal trickery

Facades

Aesthetic gardening

Beautiful trees

Symbolism:

Fae and vexes

Offerings:

Money

Snacks

Gardens and landscaping work

Notes: His typical worshippers could be traders, but especially those who work the land. Garden and field workers under the wealthy could be a particularly big group. Since typically fae are known for their twisting of words and also incredibly nature based, it's only right to include them.

Joel: God of Pride

Pride and bravado

Self awareness, shame, and false bravado

Sarcasm

Symbolism:

Lighting (I had to ok?)

Ogres

Offerings:

Notes: His followers are totally ubber secretive. Also I imagine that he's sort of a two sides to a coin type. In art maybe he's depicted as both an ogre and a man with green antenna. Which is used indicates which "side of the coin" is at play. I think there's a lot more to be included in his list too.

Tango: God of Ambition

Distractions

Intense focus

Mechinisms

Ambition

Passion, excitement, rage, and drive

Symbolism:

Red, icy blues for certain periods

Fire

Offerings:

Notes: Can I just jokingly say he's the god of adhd? Lord he was just about Impulse all over again in this process.

Xisuma: God of Music

Music and expression through it

Guidance

Community

Commitment (correct me, I'm not what you'd call an avid fan)

————

Overall notes:

I assume Cleo would be referred to as a diety instead of a god or goddess. When I inevitably start watching her content because oh my god a person who also uses they/them and another pronoun maybe I'll try to revisit this but I dunno if I'll remember lol. So if any who's a fan of their's had ideas please please share! I'm very curious of them!

I've also kinda broken it up into categories and I have more to add to this topic so I'm looking to do a post where I talk more about it! Feel free to join in when I do.

And just like last time, I'd love to hear other's ideas with this. If there's any gaps I left or people I haven't included, I welcome you to toss in your input. Even if you're just adding onto something that I didn't leave blank! I read all the ones people shared with the original post and it was lovely. Honestly I might explode because I still can't come up with much for Impulse so input would be greatly appreciated.

(Also I cannot believe I didn't include bdubs in the first post so I'm added him in here. How the heck did I not notice? He's the one I started with!)

Edit: it took me an embarrassingly long time to notice I didn't put the handful of ideas I had for Impulse down.

[lilbittymonster]

What important relationships changed or developed throughout Dawntrail?

:3c mostly snooping on their vacation but tbh there were other characters in Dawntrail who weren't Kitali and husbands so I GUESS if you want to talk about them hehehe

Well, the vacation has mostly just been the three of them (two once Estinien dips to head north) being Regular Guys. Most of their relationship mending happened during the 6.x patches when Estinien finally brought himself to return to Ishgard and to Borel manor specifically.

I think the most significant development there is Aymeric getting to see a new side of his wife that he only has so far heard about from her recounting. For the past several [UNITS OF TIME] he's been actually living the adventurer life with her and it's new and exciting and dangerous and refreshing for him. He hasn't seen this much sun in his entire life! This is great! He only got heat stroke twice!

As for non-husband NPCs, I think the biggest change would be between Kitali and Erenville. As the straight man of the group she would be gravitating towards him bc he tends to hang back and not get Involved(tm) in the proceedings as much as the twins and Krile are. She appreciates that he doesn't seem to be very impressed with her status as world hero and he is surprised at just how shrewd and pragmatic she can be when the situation calls for it. Congrats, Erenville, you have also fallen for the facade! The boat ride would have taken some time and I like to think they would have exchanged stories about adventuring and gleaning. They take you weird places and you get to see some cool stuff!

I was genuinely so excited when he offered (offered!! Initiated!!!) to travel with Kitali and Aymeric to Xak Tural. They were originally planning to go with Estinien, and the the kidnapping happened and so they decided to stay with the group as backup while Estinien went ahead. So they were glad to have a guide and someone who was. Well. An adultier adult sorry Krile to spend time with and to show them around.

Kitali was very concerned for him the entire Yyasulani/Heritage Found/Living Memory arc. She has her own baggage with family and mothers and neglect and the way that Iyaate spoke about his mother really did not do Cahciua any favours. Also the whole deadnaming thing absolutely did Not fly with her. She would have gotten in people's faces about it.

I'm still trying to sort out if she is a good person to try and offer him support in Living Memory. She has the fact that she won't offer platitudes like the rest of the group does going for her, but I don't think "hey your mom sounds like she kinda sucked, going off and leaving you like that" is exactly what Erenville needs to hear. On the other hand, Kitali also has "I lost a parent too early" to also offer so. Idk. She's very concerned for him especially when he goes off on his own for the third terminal shut down and then has his big blowout confrontation. He is in the soup. I hope she can be normal about all this.

In less tense developments, she is weaning the twins off of her support bit by bit by letting them handle the rites by themselves. Especially the Hanuhanu chain (which I am glad I did first) since that was where I felt the most redundant. Urqopacha left room to be a little more worldwise and lead by example. But Alisaie and Alphinaud have really come into their own since Endwalker so it's been nice letting them be confident in their own abilities as the story progresses and she is so so so so SOOO proud of them.

And you know what, even I was surprised at how chill Kitali was with G'raha being around. I wouldn't call their "relationship" important, they are Coworkers At Best, but they were actually really just mellow with each other the whole time. That entire canal town arc was probably meant to be for the shippers, and I can totally see how it could be construed as such, but I didn't feel any overt ~romance~ tones to it. It was two coworkers doing normal(?) Scion(?) business. So I think, while I am still holding out for a possible Y'shtola redemption arc, Kitali and G'raha have finally reached an understanding with each other.

Thanks so much for the ask @elizabethrobertajones this got very rambly.

22 Dawntrail Asks

[got-into-worm-by-mistake]

Gestation 1.1 Live Reactions

(This is me, writing reactions as I read, because why the fuck not. They're not complete, mature thoughts taken after I sit back and evaluate what I've read. Consider them as such)

He was animated, clearly excited about what he was talking about, and for once, the class was listening.  He was the sort of teacher who tried to be friends with his students, the sort who went by “Mr. G” instead of Mr. Gladly.  He liked to end class a little earlier than usual and chat with the popular kids, gave lots of group work so others could hang out with their friends in class, and had ‘fun’ assignments like mock trials. He struck me as one of the ‘popular’ kids who had become a teacher.  He probably thought he was everyone’s favorite.  I wondered how he’d react if he heard my opinion on the subject.  Would it shatter his self image or would he shrug it off as an anomaly from the gloomy girl that never spoke up in class?

Well, certainly does a good job of making it clear what sort of character we're starting with, and what sort of character they're looking at.

Knowing where it goes, knowing how it ends.

Sure is a start, isn't it?

“Let me wrap up here,” Mr. Gladly said, “Sorry, guys, but there is homework for the weekend.  Think about capes and how they’ve impacted the world around you.  Make a list if you want, but it’s not mandatory.  On Monday we’ll break up into groups of four and see what group has the best list.  I’ll buy the winning group treats from the vending machine.”

Jesus Christ.

Though, I'm not sure if High School me would have found Mr. Gladly insufferable or not. I would have liked the lack of real homework, maybe. Hard to say. I wasn't a popular kid he'd have liked tho, and plenty nerdy and I didn't hate homework (for subjects I liked). Also, while I was bullied sometimes, hardly to the extent some people could be, let alone Taylor, so... very different perspectives.

I didn’t deck myself out in bright colors like a bird showing off its plumage

A very... odd phrasing, IMO. Maybe it felt less odd in 2011, or within a specific space of reading/writing. Or maybe I'm just reacting weird at this line because I had untoasted bread with jam for breakfast or what. Who the fuck knows? It stands out for some reason though.

The only book in my bag that I hadn’t already read was called ‘Triumvirate’, a biography of the leading three members of the Protectorate.  I was thinking I would spend as long as I could on Mr. Gladly’s assignment before reading, because I wasn’t enjoying the book.  Biographies weren’t my thing, and they were especially not my thing when I was suspicious it was all made up.

Obviously it's a little different reading the story when you know what things are, then when you go into it not knowing who the Triumvirate are, or the Protectorate or what a 'Cape' is (hasn't actually been explained quite yet). But I do. Still, trying to appreciate it cold, I do like the way the worldbuilding starts. The capital letters and the context makes it clear it's important in-universe, the reference to 'suspicious it was all made up' does as much worldbuilding by reference as mentioning the Triumvirate's existence. It's certainly nicely done.

I do wonder, obviously at some point this made it to Space Battles and got put up all over TV tropes, but how did it first start finding an audience? Where did Wildbow talk about it/share it/etc to first start to get traction?

Like, from what I gather, he was not prepared for the way Worm took off, and got so popular, and he sure wasn't prepared for the fandom he got, but I'm curious what he had been expecting when he started?

I could taste it as it ran down to my nose and mouth.  Cranberry juice.

I've heard about the juice incident and had it referenced in enough fics, etc, to know a lot about it, but no one, to my knowledge, ever said it was cranberry juice. Is there a reason Wildbow picked that? Or just because he needed to pick which juice and he picked it partially or totally at random? If there was a reason, how complex was it?

I'm definitely overthinking, more than I usually do when reading shit, but fuck it, why not?

Still. Odd that the detail of it being cranberry has literally never made it into any fic or reference to this event in discussions, etc, that I've seen.

Sophia and Emma were the types of girls that fit the ‘prom queen’ image.  Sophia was dark skinned, with a slender, athletic build she’d developed as a runner on the school track team.  Red-headed Emma, by contrast, had all the curves the guys wanted.  She was good looking enough to get occasional jobs as a amateur model for the catalogs that the local department stores and malls put out.  

I have to admit, while I don't really have a strong mental image of 'prom queen' anyway, 'slender, athletic runner's build' is not what I associate with prom queen. The way Emma is described seems to fit better.

“What the fuck!?” I screamed to nobody in particular, my voice echoing in the bathroom.  There were tears in the corners of my eyes. “The hell am I supposed to do!?”  I wanted to hit something, break something.  To retaliate against the unfairness of the world.  I almost struck the mirror, but I held back.  It was such a small thing that it felt like it would make me feel more insignificant instead of venting my frustration. I’d been enduring this from the very first day of high school, a year and a half ago.  The bathroom had been the closest thing I could find to refuge.  It had been lonely and undignified, but it had been a place I could retreat to, a place where I was off their radar.  Now I didn’t even have that.

ooooof. Just.

Ooof.

The buzzing at the edge of my consciousness was getting worse.  My hands shook as I bent over and gripped the edge of the sink, let out a long, slow breath, and let my defenses drop.  For three months, I’d held back.  Right now?  I didn’t care anymore. I shut my eyes and felt the buzzing crystallize into concrete information.  As numerous as stars in the night sky, tiny knots of intricate data filled the area around me.  I could focus on each one in turn, pick out details.  The clusters of data had been reflexively drifting towards me since I was first splashed in the face.  They responded to my subconscious thoughts and emotions, as much of a reflection of my frustration, my anger, my hatred for those three girls as my pounding heart and trembling hands were.  I could make them stop or direct them to move almost without thinking about it, the same way I could raise an arm or twitch a finger. I opened my eyes.  I could feel adrenaline thrumming through my body, blood coursing in my veins.  I shivered in response to the chilled soft drinks and juices the trio had poured over me, with anticipation and with just a little fear.  On every surface of the bathroom were bugs; Flies, ants, spiders, centipedes, millipedes, earwigs, beetles, wasps and bees.  With every passing second, more streamed in through the open window and the various openings in the bathroom, moving with surprising speed.  Some crawled in through a gap where the sink drain entered the wall while others emerged from the triangular hole in the ceiling where a section of foam tile had broken off, or from the opened window with peeling paint and cigarette butts squished out in the recesses.  They gathered around me and spread out over every available surface; primitive bundles of signals and responses, waiting for further instruction.

I do like the slow build up to the reveal that she's controlling bugs.

No one (well, no, not no-one, I've seen the claims that Wildbow is a hack but I've never believed they were correct, my other opinions on his character based on his reddit comments notwithstanding) ever said Wildbow was a bad writer.

Its not the most innovative of choices, revealing information the way he is, very tried and true techniques and tactics, but hardly makes them either bad, or tired or not do the job well.

It would be so easy, so easy to just go Carrie on the school.  To give the trio their just desserts and make them regret what they had put me through: the vicious e-mails, the trash they’d upended over my desk, the flute –my mother’s flute– they’d stolen from my locker.  It wasn’t just them either.  Other girls and a small handful of boys had joined in, ‘accidentally’ skipping over me when passing out assignment handouts, adding their own voices to the taunts and the flood of nasty emails, to get the favor and attention of three of the prettier and more popular girls in our grade. I was all too aware that I’d get caught and arrested if I attacked my fellow students.  There were three teams of superheroes and any number of solo heroes in the city.  I didn’t really care.  The thought of my father seeing the aftermath on the news, his disappointment in me, his shame?  That was more daunting, but it still didn’t outweigh the anger and frustration. Except I was better than that.

Yeah, I don't think I'd have Taylor's self-control.

Like, maybe not full Carrie, fear of getting caught might stop me, but using my powers to make them suffer? Absolutely would give in to that temptation, hard.

I was going to be a superhero.  That was the goal I used to calm myself down at moments like these.  It was what I used to make myself get out of bed on a school day.  It was a crazy dream that made things tolerable.  It was something to look forward to, something to work towards.  It made it possible to keep from dwelling on the fact that Emma Barnes, leader of the trio, had once been my best friend.

A powerful chapter ending, but also one that almost feels like it implies Emma will end up being more important, long-term, to the story.

On the other hand, for all that work is 'one work', it's really not. 1.6 Million Words is not one book. It's a whole series.

It's not so simple as each arc being it's own book, conceptually, I'm sure, but equally -

:thinking_face:

[thesupreme316]

Hey, this is my first request ever. So i’ll get straight to it. Could you do a HOOK fic/drabble/headcanon(you can pick) of him finding out you are a 2nd gen wrestler kid of HBK, Ted DiBiase or anyone else

I am HONORED that you chose me for your first request, hopefully, I did your idea justice

Reunited (And It Feels So Good): Hook X Reader

Genre: Fluff Headcanon, I don’t wanna spoil it but strangers/childhood friends to lovers???

Summary: Hook finds out a not-so-very-secret secret about you.

Word Count: 719

Supreme Speaks: tbh, i might do a fic based on this later on next month. thank you to the anon who requested this and I hope they (and everyone else) like it. i also wish everyone is doing well and remember you are loved and appreciated. Happy New Year!!

Warnings: None really, I TRIED MY BEST, I used gender-neutral terms to appeal to everyone

Taglist (DM if you want to be added): @hooks-martin @triscillal @diabloguapos @wwenhlimagines @sheinthatfandom

AEW has many second-generation wrestlers such as Brian Pillman Jr., Brock Anderson, The Gunn Boys, and Hook

Hook didn’t really “get along” with the others 

He just wasn’t that interested in talking with them

Or with anyone outside his friend group

That was until you arrived on AEW’s scene

Many people, fans and wrestlers alike, were excited to see you in AEW

You have made a name for yourself all around the world for your wrestling skills, storytelling abilities, charisma, and attractiveness

And slightly because you are Shawn Michaels’ child

Yeah, that’s right. Mr. Wrestlemania, The Heartbreak Kid is your dad

Even though it was a blessing to have him as your dad and mentor, you wanted to become a wrestling legend by yourself 

So your ring name was completely different from his and you barely mentioned him in promos/interviews (essentially keeping your personal life very private)

But everyone can see the resemblance when you step in the ring, especially when you went against Natalya or Charlotte Flair

Anyways back to Hook

He was completely “hooked” when he saw you for the first time, to the extent that he actually started to talk to you first

It surprised many people backstage as they know Hook to be cold to others

And as you were seen as an untouchable person (being the child of one of the most prominent figures of professional wrestling)

As he started to talk to you more, he couldn’t help but admire you, your accomplishments, and your personality, and vice versa

However, he felt more familiar with you. Like he already met you before or something. But he just passed it off as the butterflies in his stomach growing

After being in AEW for about a month, you and Hook started to date

Many people started to notice Hook being happier and slightly more friendly (not too much) to others, including his dad, Taz

While his son was telling him about his significant other, Taz couldn’t help but smile and laugh

“It’s so nice to see you two reconnecting after all these years.”

“Reconnecting? What do you mean?”

Taz then opened a little book of memories of his career and flipped to a random page before showing it to his son

“The number of times Shawn and I had to meet up at the park or backstage for your little playdates-“

Hook blocked out his dad as he analyzed the picture of a younger him and what seemed like a younger you smiling at each other, while Taz and Shawn were in the background

"You two were very close until they went to live with their mom full-time while Shawn was on the road. Y'all just went separate ways and sort of forgot about each other."

Everything started to click in his head as he picked up his phone and dialed your number

It made sense why you two got along so easily, how you had the same opinions on different topics, how it felt like you two went through the same experiences

He vaguely remembered you, but he didn’t know it was you

As soon as you picked up he said, “You’re Shawn Michaels’ kid?”

“Yeah…I thought you knew.”

Now he felt like an idiot…

“It's like I knew, but I didn't know it was you. It's complicated-”

“I thought it was a fact that everyone chooses not to discuss like how you’re Taz’s son.”

After explaining why you didn't bring up your dad (mainly because everyone talks about him or associates you with him), Hook said he wasn't mad but just surprised and completely understood your reasoning

"But this also explains why I felt so vulnerable with you. I'm happy we were able to find each other again"

After getting off the phone, Hook sent you the picture

A couple of moments, he was notified that you posted on Instagram

It was the picture of you two and then a more recent picture with the caption "day 1 🤍"

He found himself smiling at the post, also happy that he found you again