#i got to ramble about all THREE of my bastards. amazing

[a-drama-addict]

dont know if my ask got eaten again but JUST IN CASE i will resend it. If it didnt and you were just keeping it for a later moment instead imagine me posing a little fruitily in your inbox and leaving or something. Emira for the worldstate ask game with 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 21, 25, 26!!!!

it didn't get eaten! But i will answer this one. YEAH EMIRA TIME!!!!!! [ask game]

2. are they skilled in The Grand Game?

NOPE! this girl has 0 political skill, it's a wonder she had allies at all during the Blight. She is a good smooth talker but GODS THE GAME WOULD KILL HER!!!

5. attitude towards the Chantry?

Positive-ish. She respects the chantry, she was raised Andrastian and has spent time reading every book on the subject. She's more critical of the chantry at time, but overall thinks it can serve a good purpose.

7. if they had to choose one person most important to them, who would that be?

Oh Leliana for sure. Emira 'Not to be a lesbian but oh my god' Tabris loves her wife to death. They are extremely fucking insufferable and i love them. Leli and Em have a really really strong bond, neither of them do relationships casually. And while Emira definitely has friends that mean a shit ton to her as well, no one really tops Leliana. (Leliana tops Emira if anything-- [gets shot])

8. who do they hate the most, and do they have an arch-nemesis?

Loghain was definitely her arch-nemesis, but the person she hates the most even far long after the fact is Vaughan. Don't think that needs an explanation. She'd kill him ten times over if she could.

9. what is their love language? 

Hmmm she is a sucker for physical touch. Casually leaning on someone, hugs, kisses, sex, she's pretty big on it. She likes being physically close to those she loves.

12. attitude towards Mabari?

BEST DOG BREED EVER FERELDEN FOREVER RAHHHH

13. their thoughts on the Grey Warden order?

Meh. It's fine, she doesn't like being a Warden, but she does feel good about what she's doing. She thinks it's a good order, just wishes she didn't have to be part of it.

14. who are they closest to from their family?

Shianni!!!!! The cousin ever!! they've been close since they were kids, and even get matching tattoos when older. they're very close. And they definitely are one of each other's best friends.

15. preferred weapon of choice?

DAGGERS!! SWISH SWISH KACHOW

17. what were they like as a child?

Pretty calm and well-behaved generally, but she definitely had a snark. She also really liked scrapping, she used to wrestle with Adaia a whole lot, and she definitely enjoyed being active. Active and calm kid generally

19. are they afraid of death?

No, but she is afraid of how she'd die. The calling terrifies her, the act of dying in battle terrifies her. Dying scares her, death itself doesn't.

21. what is their biggest regret?

Hm. Probably not being able to live the life she wanted to live. Part of her regrets the mere fact that she had to become a Warden, even if it ended up being a choice that led to meeting the best people she knows. She can't shake the feeling of wrongness from it at times.

25. what did they plan for their life to look like before the events of the game happened?

Emira thought she'd get married off to Nelaros, maybe have a child or two. (She's a lesbian but.. well she can do that if she must.) She'd probably just stay in the alienage with her family, raise a couple of kids, and just... live a pretty mundane life. She would've loved to get a dog though.

26. do they get a happy ending?

MAYBE. If she's found a cure to the calling, then yes. She'd live in lesbian heaven with her pope wife. Otherwise she's definitely dead in like DA:TV. OOPSIES

[komaedatulpa]

Some thoughts and ramblings about the recent Blue Lock chapter. Spoilers for ch.289 of blue lock, the latest chapter of Episode Nagi and all that. This is gonna be long so like bare with me.

OKAY, so I knew that not everyone was going to make it. While this series is a sports shonen series so it is easy to forget that "Oh right, this has killing game genre elements" so people get super comfortable of like who is expected to stay. For me though, I have been in the mindset of everyone is fair game. Some will last longer than others but who does all depends.

Like yeah yeah Isagi, Rin, Shidou, Barou, Bachira, and Chigiri were gonna make it this far. They are in the "They are going to make it until near the end" category in my brain. Kunigami making it was like a bittersweet surprise in the sense of "The hell he went through did make him survive longer but how much further can he go before both his mind and body give out" ticking time bomb of a character but also that little hope that maybe...things could be okayish...but my boy has been through it so it is what it is. Characters like Otoya, Karasu, Aiku, and Yukimiya I kind of knew were gonna make it since they were already great players but now have just gotten so much better. Aryu, Gagamaru, Niko, Kurona, and Zantetsu were pleasant surprises of "Oh damn, you are really pulling through. Good for y'all" especially my little yugioh boy Niko. Characters like Sendou, Raichi, Hiori, and Kiyora making it were the more surprising in the sense of they could have gone either direction but because of Blue Lock or in Raichi and Hior (especially Hiori)'s case Isagi's influence really pushed them to make themselves better at the game. Genuinely the most surprising ones that made the cut were Fukaku and Nanase. For Fukaku it is because I legit forgot who the fuck he was (we have three U20 players who made the cut which hey that's neat) and I don't think we really know anything about him. We might learn more idk. But Nanase making it is like fascinating. He is this polite sweet boy who by all accounts would not have made it based on what Blue Lock pushes...if it wasn't for Rin. Rin's training really made him a much better player and therefore increased his chances of survival. I could say something about how Igurashi's training and Nanase's training are parallels of each other's where no matter how hard you trained on what you were good at you just couldn't cut it (Igurashi) vs your hard training made you learn something new about yourself and therefore got better at it (Nanase). But I'll save that for another time maybe.

Characters like Igurashi and Tokimitsu not making it isn't surprising but a bit sad. Well for me when it comes to Igurashi. I know I am probably one of the only fans of my scrappy little bastard Igurashi but I genuinely did like that he did get as far as he did. In that sense he does remind me of a DR character that in most killing game series would die early but makes it to the end. Well except for this he didn't but alas. Thank you for you pragmatist service Igurashi, you would have done amazing if you were in DR.

BUT most people are talking about everything with Reo and Nagi for like understandable reasons but I wanted to get my other character thoughts out of the way. THIS...was inevitable. Like as I read both Blue Lock and Episode Nagi I knew that they were not making it together, that one of them will be cut before the other one follow suits eventually. I just didn't know when, I assumed it would be much later, but I was wrong in that. I know for some it would be easy to say Reo would go before Nagi because of what he was like early on with his clingy behavior towards Nagi. But during his time away from Nagi and being on Shidou's team he had to learn how to crawl his way through hell to survive. As the recent events unfolded it made me think back to why Shidou chose Reo,

"Humans who can't destroy themselves...can never make explosions."

Which did influence the dark path Kunigami went down but also...forced Reo to adapt. That he cannot rely on people, he has to be strong alone for himself. That even when things got better between him and Nagi...Reo has become more capable than before. He can do things on his own, with or without Nagi. He chooses to have Nagi in his life, to be part of his goal but he actually doesn't need him. However...Nagi relies on Reo.

In the beginning Nagi depended on Reo for motivation when it came to playing soccer. Reo is the reason Nagi began playing soccer, Reo is the reason he is in Blue Lock in the first place. When I look back on it all I see moments that seemed like Nagi would start becoming more independent and learn to play for himself and not have to rely on Reo. Like when he joined Isagi because he made him feel frustrated, an emotion he probably hasn't felt in a LONG time. Or how in the match between Rin and Isagi, Nagi told Bachira that his own reliance on Isagi (similar to his reliance on Reo) is holding him back. Gave these hints of Nagi growing and becoming stronger but now that I have looked back...it was just another relying on someone else. Nagi relied on his pure desire to beat Isagi that once he technically did...he had nothing else. He got what he wanted, what else was there left to do? What new goal did he have? And what did he do? Go back to Reo. Back to square one. He could not let go of his dependence on Reo, he never could. Karasu in Episode Nagi pointed out that Nagi's softness and nativity is going to plunge him into despair someday. I didn't think much of it at the time (clueless) until the recent chapter...it hit me like a brick to the face. Nagi's fatal flaw he just couldn't let go of completely clinging to Reo. Reo in a way was the death of him. His love for Reo did him in. That love and friendship dragged him down. By the time Nagi realized that he needed to fight and get stronger for himself it was too late. Bachira's harsh words called back to when Nagi did similar to him but Bachira, unlike Nagi, was able to let go of relying on Isagi. This recent chapter HURTS but a good kind of hurt in an odd way. The type of pain I WANT in a killing game. The unfairness, the tragedy, and despair of it all. These (ego) deaths are suppose to hurt and matter. This was a twisting of a knife that at this put could stop or keep going. Nagi is one of my many favorites in this series and his future is uncertain as I write this and whatever happens...happens.

[bluecatwriter]

I watched the Wildhorn/Black/Hampton Dracula rock opera!

Okay, okay, okay. As some of you know, one of the guys in my theater troupe got me comp tickets to see him in Dracula: The Musical. You guys. It was an EGREGIOUS adaptation that didn't even make narrative sense on its own terms. I also had a TOTAL BLAST. 

If you like the musical, no shade to you— please just keep scrolling and like what you like! However, I had so many thoughts about this that I had to word-vomit about it, and thought some of you might have fun reading my thoughts on the good, the bad, and ugly for 3,000 words.

TL:DR: Very fun experience, so glad I went, the play's narrative choices make me want to throw hands in a Denny's parking lot, much dunking/adaptation-hate ahead, my friends are amazing, I'm writing my own play now.

(CW discussion of rape, ableism, drug use, suicide)

-First of all, everyone take a moment to appreciate my eyeliner. I do not usually draw eyeliner that well so I was very proud of myself.

-I went with my sister, since we both knew people in the cast. (I thought we knew three, but we actually knew four: the actors who played Dracula, Mina, Lucy, and Quincey.) My sister didn't know anything about Dracula except what she'd picked up from my incoherent ramblings (which I generally keep to a minimum around her). 

-It was a black-box theater, which I didn't expect: six or so rows of chairs on each side of the theater, facing each other across the relatively small room, with the stage in the middle and a live orchestra (!!!) on one end. The set was a minimalist Gothic castle design, with windows, a freestanding moving wall, and a large platform that, throughout the play, served as Dracula's coffin, a table, Lucy's bed, Lucy's coffin, and just a general place to stand and sing in a badass way. I absolutely LOVE black box shows because they're so intimate: you can almost reach out and touch the actors, and you can see every minute facial expression and gesture, the light glittering in their eyes, and so on. (Acting in a black box theater is much more like movie acting because the audience can see what you're doing with your eyes in a way that regular theater doesn't allow, meaning that things like eye contact between characters is much more electric and effective.)

-The sound design and lighting effects were doing a lot of heavy lifting in this show, and they nailed it. Very spooky!

-The play began with the weird sisters, and they were consistently my favorite part of the play— the actresses killed it (ha), bringing an intense, spooky energy to the story, often serving as narrators, background singers, extras, special effects handlers (such as portraying the wreck of the Demeter), and the physical manifestation of Dracula's will/presence. They were AWESOME.

-I had decided in advance that this play was a fanfiction written by Dracula about himself, and nothing about the show dissuaded me from this idea. The guy who played Dracula served major cunt from the moment he stepped onstage, wearing leather pants with laces up the side and a big sweeping coat and a huge amount of eyeliner that really brought out his unnervingly blue eyes. ("All guys should wear eyeliner and leather pants," I joked to my sister after the show, and she responded, with the most haunted look I've ever seen, "I agree about the eyeliner, but not the pants. I lived in San Francisco for three years, and you know not what you speak of. There are things I cannot unsee.")

-Actually, to be honest I liked Dracula's characterization (until the end; see below); whether because of the director or the actor or both, this version really did not downplay what a bastard he is. He was incredibly ruthless, in all senses of the word: focused on a single goal and not caring who got mowed down in the process. Anytime his sung lines talked about him being lonely or sad or whatever, the actor played it off as him trying to garner sympathy from his listener, rather than expressing his true feelings, which was a directing/acting choice I really appreciated.

-When Jonathan came on stage (from the door just a few feet away) I nearly squealed with delight! He just RADIATED "biggest sweetheart you've ever met" energy: tall and lanky and with a scruffy lil beard and clothes that didn't quite fit. I was in love with him from the beginning. Also he got to mention his Kodak camera, and I remembered that I could not actually cheer at moments like that because that would be weird.

-The Dracula-Mina "romance" was introduced very early, which I appreciated; from a storytelling perspective, it was good to have that continuous thread. Dracula looks at a picture of Mina, mentions how young she is, asks Jonathan if she is "pure," and then decides that they're soulmates. It was SO PERVY. Once again, I loved the Dracula characterization. If only it had stayed one-sided…

-I was fortunately warned that in this version Jonathan takes the crucifix off so the weird sisters can continue attacking him, but I still had to suppress a "BOOOOO!" (I did whisper "NOT CANON!" to my sister, and later she said that when that happened in the play she was like, "Oh, okay, I don't care what happens to this guy now.") But I guess it did have the effect of making him less sympathetic, which served the story the play was trying to tell.

-I was pleased that there was a Drac-drinking-from-Jonathan scene, and consistent with the storytelling, Drac had a whole song about how he needs Jonathan's blood so he can be young and hot and go seduce Mina (which, again, fits with the story they were telling). They decided not to have any sexual tension between Dracula and Jonathan, so the blood-drinking scene was pretty brutal (complimentary)— Jonathan laid out on the platform with Drac just. gnawing on his neck while Jonathan writhed and convulsed. It was still kinda hot though not gonna lie

-Lucy's characterization at first was pretty interesting, because her song about the three suitors (and the directing/acting) made it seem like she was just kinda stuck with three mediocre choices, and chose the least offensive one (Arthur, who she describes as boring and can't even think of one nice thing to say about him) and tried to convince herself that she would be happy. This was honestly the biggest moment where I had to just squirm in my seat to keep from actively booing. Don't be so mean 2 my boy! From a storytelling perspective, it wasn't clear at all why she chose Arthur, because Quincey was the only one of the suitors who had any personality at all (even Jack was bland. JACK. WAS BLAND. YOU COULDN'T HAVE HIM SIT ON HIS HAT OR AT LEAST FIDDLE WITH HIS LANCET? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU???). Anyway, Arthur was actually totally fine after that song (and had some nice lines in the group songs).

-Meanwhile, Drac is creeping on Mina by entering her thoughts without her consent and being like, "We're soulmates," and she just…. goes along with it???? With literally no rhyme or reason to her decision???? I know some of this is that I hate the whole concept of soulmates, but I expected at least SOME justification for why she was interested in him. There was no indication she was unhappy with Jonathan; there was no hint of any emotional connection; there wasn't even some weird "reincarnated lover" story to try to soften how incredibly strange it felt that Mina was randomly in love with this guy's voice in her head. His baritone is sexy BUT IT IS NOT THAT SEXY. GIRL PLEASE.

-In this version Dracula bites Lucy because he's trying to call Mina to him and Lucy comes by accident and he's like, "Well, nothin' I can do about that. CHOMP." Which, again, I honestly liked this characterization because he's not apologetic about who he is; he is just destroying everyone in his way and not caring about them as people. He just has a goal and he'll do anything to reach it.

-Then of course Lucy's like, "Oooh that was actually so sexy and I never want to wake up from that dream of him chomping on my throat." The directly seemed to imply that being bitten by a vampire just. instantly turns you into something that's not yourself, so I could kinda excuse it if I squinted, but it was still pretty icky.

-Renfield got to stab Jack! My sister felt sorry for Jack (because all his unethical science got shaved off in this adaptation) and I was just like, "YESSS RENFIELD YOU GO!" 

-Jonathan shows up again, in a wheelchair (a really cool old-fashioned one), and Mina goes to marry him, and their marriage is paralleled with Lucy and Arthur's while Drac looms in the background. The double wedding was a nice staging choice, although the optics of Mina somewhat reluctantly marrying disabled Jonathan while abled Dracula is standing by being All Sexy was… uh, it was not great. But on the plus side, maybe it emphasizes the ableism that a lot of people have toward Jonathan's disabilities in the story, bringing them out into the open? (I am grasping at straws here.)

-Van Helsing was perfect! The actor had wild gray hair and forehead bumps and a tenor voice that could shatter your heart into a million pieces. He did a great job of having the "weird professor" vibes even though his lines were more coherent and to-the-point than they are in the book. 

-No blood transfusions, sadly, but I see why they cut that part.

-Lucy turning vamp was very well done. I think I should mention at this point that the actors who played Dracula and Lucy are actually married to each other in real life, and they had really crackling chemistry and it was clear in every scene they were together that they were having just the best time. "Life After Life" was my second-favorite song in the play because it's just Dracula sending Lucy out to eat people— and again, both actors were clearly having SO MUCH FUN performing this song together. At the end of the scene I was all pumped up, like, "Yeah Lucy! Go eat some people!!!"

-Intermission. I told my sister this was like the part in Rashomon where the rapist tells the court his point of view and is like, "Oh, she totally wanted it." My sister shook her head at me and chuckled.

-The graveyard/Bloofer Lady scene was genuinely horrifying; Lucy's actress did an AMAZING job of amping up the horror, beginning the scene by cradling a baby and singing it a lullaby, then just CHOMPING down on it, and throwing it down and hissing like an animal when the Crew of Light approached her. Mina and Jonathan were in that scene, too, and even though Mina didn't have any lines, seeing her reacting to it (rushing to grab the child, dodging out of Bloofer!Lucy's snapping jaws) gave the scene a lot of emotional intensity. 

-Both Bloofer!Lucy's death and Renfield's death were directed beautifully; they were both somewhat quiet, almost slow motion, focused not on the violence but on the emotional weight of both their lives ending.

-Jonathan and Arthur, while both being incredibly bland characters, have I think more dialogue in this play than they do in the book. Every time they spoke I was like, :D :D :D! My blorbos!!!

-Throughout Mina's whole song "Please Don't Make Me Love You" (sung, of course, to Dracula) I focused VERY HARD on my friend's amazing acting, her beautiful voice, the way she was playing this with absolute conviction, while in the back of my head I was screaming. Just a primal, Nazgul-like shriek. GIRL WHY (I think my sister was amused by how much I was squirming)

-Van Helsing has a nice little song about his dead wife, saying that it was a vampire that killed her and that's why he's a vampire hunter now. He was also shooting up with a comically large syringe during this song, but sure, yeah, that's fine. Like I said, his voice was SO BEAUTIFUL, so I was entranced. If only he had gotten a chance to find connection and family ties in order to continue that character arc HINT HINT

-Ah, then we get the Blood Baptism scene. Mina sings a song about how she doesn't want to run away (because of that sexy baritone voice I guess) so she invites Dracula into her room, he knocks out Jonathan, and then they make out over Jonathan's body. Le sigh. The funniest part of this scene is that they had her drink from his chest but they didn't use any fake blood, so he just unbuttons his shirt and she buries her face in his boobs, no context. I asked my sister afterward, "What did you think was going on in that scene?" and she said, "I figured she was drinking from his vampire-milk titties."

-Van Helsing and Dracula got an "I will take you down!"-style song that was actually really cool.

-Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, BOOK-CANON MINA SHOWS UP! She was in a wheelchair now (a great directing choice, I thought), and demanded that Van Helsing hypnotize her, insisted on them keeping the information from her so that Dracula can't get to it, makes them all vow to kill her, and figures out where Dracula is going based on the maps. I was like THERE SHE IS! THERE'S MY GIRL! …But unfortunately this characterization makes no sense in the story the musical is actually telling. Why is Mina leading them to him? Why is she taking such pains to make sure Dracula is not warned of their coming? It didn't fit with any of her characterization in the rest of the play (and especially not with the ending), so it felt really cobbled-together and odd.

-Also Jonathan vows to kill her and there's a whole song about how sad he is that he will have to do that. I was gritting my teeth the whole song being like It's a storytelling choice it's a storytelling choice it's a storytelling choice it's a storytelling choice it's a

-Okay. YOU GUYS. YOU GUYS. The song "Deep in the Darkest Night" WAS AMAZING. It's a song by the Crew of Light (and in this version, sung by all six of them, including Mina) about their quest, and how they must be points of light in the darkness. It was SO BEAUTIFUL and SO THEMATICALLY ON POINT and it was EVERYTHING I WANTED from a Dracula musical and it is a CRIME that the whole play was not built around these themes and motifs!! *chewing on the scenery* Also, holy cow, everyone in the cast could sing like nothing else. Full-body chills. Stunning, incredible, showstopping, no notes.

-In one of the hypnotic sessions, Dracula came to stand behind Mina and they sang a duet, a reprise of "Life After Life" (the song for Bloofer!Lucy), and that was an incredibly effective storytelling choice (also their voices just blended so. well. together that even in the songs I hated, I still got chills because their voices were SO DANG BEAUTIFUL TOGETHER). Again, I am haunted by what this play could've been if the Drac/Mina thing was one-sided.

-In this version, Quincey gives Mina his Bowie knife for protection, which I thought was sweet.

-Drac has a big sad-boy song about how he's actually in love with Mina now. BOOHOO MOTHERFUCKER. NO ONE CARES.

-Quincey got killed by trying to stake Dracula and Drac grabbing the stake and shoving it into his stomach. (My sister gasped and squeaked, "No!" when this happened.)

-Meanwhile, Van Helsing and Mina get separated, and Mina has a whole song about how she's made her final decision: she's gonna become a vampire and live with Dracula forever. At this point in the play I was like, Okay, girl, whatever, you do you…

-But then. BUT THEN. *frothing at the mouth*

-(Don Black and Christopher Hampton meet me in the Denny's parking lot I just want to talk)

-Drac's like, "Ooooh no actually I don't want you to be a vampire so you need to kill me now."

-Mina's like, "Nooooo this makes me so sad I have chosen to be a vampire and it is what I truly want!"

-Drac's like "Nobody cares what you want because the authors couldn't care less about your agency as a person"

-Mina's like "nooooooooo i'm so saaaaaad!"

-(Me: *still frothing at the mouth*)

-Finally, weeping, she takes Quincey's knife and places it over his heart.

-And then SHE DOESN'T EVEN FUCKING KILL HIM HE JUST GRABS HER HAND WITH THE KNIFE IN IT AND KILLS HIMSELF

-Like, I am just so mad that Mina doesn't even get the tiniest bit of agency here at the end. She is just blown about by the whims of the men, and at the end none of her narrative choices are respected in any way. A lot of this is, I'm sure, the directing for this particular performance: if I were trying to make this ending a bit more narratively satisfying, I would give Mina a moment where you can see her agreeing with him and deciding to kill him herself. This ending just felt… cheap. It didn't even form a satisfying closing even based on the rules of its own storytelling. It was so ridiculous that I actually had to cover my mouth to keep from laughing. 

-After the show we got to talk to all our friends who were in it and it was easy to sincerely compliment them because they all did an AMAZING job. I feel so honored to be friends with such amazingly talented people!

-We drove home in a lightning storm while blasting Blondie's song "One Way or Another" (my sister said she was thinking of this song all through the Drac/Mina story arc) and singing loudly along. "ONE WAY OR ANOTHER/I'M GONNA FIND YA/I'M GONNA GETCHA GETCHA GETCHA GETCHA!"

-I asked her which two characters she thought I shipped the most and she guessed Jonathan/Quincey. Not a bad guess.

-Got home, rambled to my very tired spouse, curled up in bed, turned to him and said, "I promise to never leave you for some random dude who speaks in my head and says we're soulmates," and he replied, "And I promise to never leave you for three sexy vampire ladies," and if that's not a wedding vow renewal I don't know what is.

-Laid awake for nearly two hours brainstorming a Dracula play (not a musical, I'm not that talented). And, uh… yeah. A script is gonna happen. I've written plenty of plays (and co-directed/co-produced a few times), so it's definitely in my wheelhouse, and my brain will not shut up with ideas. So! *tosses it onto list of creative projects*

----

(P.S. If you reblog, please don't tag this as the Dracula musical because I don't want any fans to be exposed to the hate. Thanks!)

[almostfoxglove]

sooo i’ve been seriously putting off sending in asks because i wanted, ideally, to give a whole breakdown of why i loved the most recent chapter of See You At Three and most recently The Prettiest, but the longer i wait the more i realize i am just… not regaining my spoons. which is devastating, because i want so badly to pick apart every little detail about why each story has me literally pinned to my phone until i’ve re-read each update twice, at minimum.

i’m low on energy and perpetually exhausted, but i need you to know that you are fucking killing it as always. you make me want to post more fics on my own, even, just by the sheer power of how much i enjoy and get lost in your writing. the ending scene of syat?? hello??? THE MOMENT WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR??? (trying not to spoil but oh my god, okay, i cannot BELIEVE you dropped it like that and left us i’m buzzing). and don’t even get my started on max, because we know that stupid bloodsucking bastard has such a hold on me. i’m sitting here with my jaw open bc holy shit, the down-bad vampire caught a break? and also might be having a panic attack in the process, congrats to him.

you’re doing amazing, that’s my point, and i’m even eying this angst-y yearn-y max wip i’ve been chipping away at for ages because of the pseudo-writer’s high i get from the immersion. i froth at the mouth when you update, and i’m sending you all my love.

also, the sheer amount of pedro content we’ve gotten lately?? din? clint? lucien? joel? more on the way. romcom pedro? REED RICHARDS?? head in hands, does that man ever sleep?

okay that’s enough, and probably all i’ve got rn. rooting for you always, and i hope you know you’re so so appreciated. thank you as always for sharing when you have no obligation to. mwah.

- that one long and rambling anon ♥️

you sweet soul angel on earth, hi hi sweet rambling anon <3 you would not believe the warm fuzzies this brought my heart. I know those spoon deficiencies are a bitch and a half, so I'm sending you a lot of love <3 I hope you're able to find little pockets of time to take care of yourself when you can - easier said than done etc etc but really I hope you're okay. it means so much that my goofy fics can bring you a little comfort when you're feeling not the best, and omg what an HONOR that they get you excited about writing too, like??? the highest praise. I could sob. maybe I will just for fun because that is so sweet and kfjhskgah I am so very grateful. HELL YEAH WRITE THAT ANGSTY YEARNY MAX you knowww I'm here for that. if you ever end up posting more and wanna drop me a link... there's 0 pressure, but I would *love* to read it. goodness knows you have a gift with words honey!!

also OH MY GOD truly that man must sleep in 20 minute intervals like??? incredible. he will be the death of me. I'm not going to survive materialists or fantastic four like freaky tales & the uninvited took me OUT he was so good in them. AH

I hope you know how much I appreciate you & your infinite kindness, I truly don't know what I did in a past life but it must've been something pretty good to get to meet someone as sweet as you :,) thank you so much for reading & coming to squeal about the blorbos with me. I LOVE U SO VERY MUCH, RAMBLING ANGEL!! and I'm sending you a big ol hug <3 <3

[alegocarmadein]

Okay, you’ve (reasonably) made it clear that you don’t like WWDITS S4 and 6. What about 5?

it's not. good.

It had a FEW good jokes but god, they lost that special sauce, whoever the writers were that knew how to do phenomenal timing, how to set up jokes and execute them well, like s4-6 just DONT HAVE THEM. ITS WHAT MADE WWDITS SOOOOO GOOD in the early seasons. Like in the early seasons Every. Single. Joke. Lands. and theres so many of them. And in five it like...gets back for a bit at the second half of the season but the TRUDGING THROUGH THE BAD JOKES.....takes energy out of me. I just. cant. I'm going to be honest I can't finish 6. It is physically painful to watch for me.

Like....(sorry im going to ramble more because i havent gotten a real chance to).... I'm very picky about my comedy. So much of it is like rude-crude or cringe comedy (like jokes you're supposed to literally CRINGE at) and I HATE it. It spikes something primal in me and I will almost writhe with how goddamn uncomfortable it is. And WWDITS was special. It had the OCCASIONAL joke like those but it was carefully chosen, right? Like the writers timed it so it hit well with the storylines, and even if it was *eurgh* in my head it was still funny because it was rare and THOUGHT ABOUT before they wrote it. They had soooo much care put into this show in the first three seasons. And then season 4 rolls around and they just....fail. IN every way. It's not thought about carefully, it's like....a fucking dart being thrown at a skeleton by a fourth grader. They don't CARE about it, the writers. I don't know if the previous writers got fired like I'm assuming or if they all gave up or WHAT, but the writers don't give a shit.

And then, my brother pointed out, they clearly got a bigger budget, which for any other show would be amazing and open up the possibilities for new and exciting jokes. But these bastards do like. dumb physical comedy instead. Not funny, not set up well. Cheap expensive comedy. Like the car flipping over. Or the glass breaking when nadja screams. Ten. Million. Fucking. Times.

Seriously, if this show had kept up the care and quality for the later half of the series this show could've been one for like....the history books. Like it could've been a CLASSIC for the ages. Something people watch in 40 years going "wow this looks remarkably good and funny for a 20s show."

But god, in s6 they go so cheap with their jokes, one of the big jokes of the first episode is. Colin. riding a mobility scooter. in a fat suit. It's like 00s humor in the worst way. No care was put into it. And s5 isn't different, it just has a few mildly funny things. the occasional chuckle here and there, but that comes at the cost of a trillion unfunny, honestly painful jokes.

sorry that ends my rant. I just....I fucken loved this show, right? Like it was GOOD. and SPECIAL. It was WEIRD and INTERESTING, I mean the premise!!??? fucking amazing! The characters are superb but they become so flat later on. ugh. sorry again.

[dynmghts]

wait are we gushing abt cameron ?? THE cameron ???? im jumping the bandwagon two months later as the bestie. firstly, you're amazing, ya know that right? my bestie of eleven years officially now. you've been with me through thick and thin, hell and highwater, and you still have always made me laugh when i'm feeling the worst. you're my best friend. my first real friend irl and here on tumblr. speaking of tumblr:

i've seen you through your entire tumblr career and you've always chosen the most angry mfers known to man. but the DEPTH HELLO ??? you give them such depth and bring to light other issues and themes others wouldn't have thought of. exbhihit a: achilles and patroclus as izuku and Akatsuki with them interchanging between the two ancient heroes. i've gotten all the ramblings but the relationship between these dorks is something you've always been passionate about since day one of the katsuki bakugo obsession. it's amazing to see you deep dive into him and his character, listening to you discuss him and answering any questions or thoughts i have regarding his character or mha in general. hell you dragged me into this fandom not once, not twice, but three fucking times now.

more gushing. your writing? hello? i've always always loved it. reading the passages on my dash is so nice and lovely, its my daily newspaper. regardless of the blog, i'm here DEVOURING everything i see. every bit of cute, angst, general energy. and of course our dynamics. no matter what universe we're in: our muses have some sort of bond. fucker u got me writing MITSUKI of all people!! AND TENYA IIDA ??? only you could get me doing that. bastard

also did you know i love you? my silly lil guy, my brother. my funky lil dude. that's YOU. the taurus to my gemini. the fact you saw me dressed as a vampire and went "i want that one" says a lot about us.

i love you, bestie. even when u annoy or anger me which is so fucking rare i love you. now back to anime goodbye

ps. i know you're either gonna make a noise or look at me. im literally in the room rn with u watching mha and talking abt iida. >:)

guys the fact she sent me this while we were busy being sad over the shie hassaikai arc oh my god .....................

aleera i adore you to pieces and i am so so glad to have u as my best friend and as my longest-lasting friendship. i would not trade it for a single damn thing. u are amazing and talented and u listen to every stupid ramble i ever go on, which is a lot because u get me so damn talkative + animated sometimes, and ?? words cannot describe just how thankful i am to have you in my corner

now hurry tf up (affectionate) we got a school festival arc to watch

[short-black-diamond]

Arabian nights! ...gone wrong?

This is just a little heads up to a special person, @princeasimdiya12 , who requested this amazing idea to me! So basically this is just an aladdin AU, with you and Deku being poor inhabitants of the city Agrabah and you two find out about some bad shit happening in the future, but will you two be able to stop it?

Warnings: angst, near death experience, everyone hates you and Deku :)

Word count:  2,751

...

“Quick, Izuku! They’re going to catch us because of you!“, you yelled, running as fast as you could through the slim streets and lanes of the city you and your best friend Izuku lived in. 

Currently, you two were not really on good terms with the guards, or with the baker whom you took a few pastries and bread from...or the coffee maker, whom you also have taken a liking to the small coffee-filled leather bottles...or the farmers, who have new vegetables and fruits, which Izuku had taken and put in your bag. 

...W-without paying...

“I’m running as fast as I can, Yira!“, he only huffed before heaving himself up to another house made out of dirt. Meanwhile, you were three houses ahead and about to jump onto the fourth one, when you heard Izuku’s cry for help. 

One glance back and you sprinted towards Izuku, who’s legs got taken by a young guard trainee. Katsuki Bakugo. “It’s about damn time that I get at least one of you thieves!”, he roared, pulling Izuku down with his strong and trained arms, but to his misfortune, you pulled Izuku up as quick as you could and with all your power. 

You managed to pull the scrawny boy up with Izuku yelping when he suddenly stood next to you and you threw some rocks at Katsuki. 

“Stop trying to catch us! We’re only trying to survive here!“, you cried, eyeing the priviledged bastard beneath you, who dodged most of them. 

He only scoffed before spitting on the ground. “By stealing food? Don’t you have any money? Or parents?“ 

“We...we don’t even have something that we can call a home. And you have everything, Bakugo, so leave us alone!“, Izuku yelled, throwing sand at the blonde who got some in his eyes and screamed. 

You and your best friend took it as a chance and ran off. 

...

In your little - from the city abandoned- house, you were running up and down in what could be called a living room. “We need to train more. Have better tactics. Be smarter, more efficient. We have to-“

“Yira?“, the freckled boy interrupted you, lifting his tanned left hand uowards like a pupil and looking at you with nothing but nervousness written on his face. 

You calmed down from your rambling and gave your attention to Izuku. “Yes? tell me what’s on your mind.”

He fiddled with his fingers before he stopped, closed his yes, took a deep breath and started to talk, still with his eyes closed. “I-I think that we could try a-again. By...trying to find work, you know?”

Your brows furrowed, and you were about to reason him about everything when he shushed you shyly and continued. 

“I-I-I know, that...we are not on best terms..with...anybody. In this city. But...what if...we, you know...leave?”, his voice went incredibly high and you couldn’t guess if it was from his nervousness or his voice crack. 

You sighed, rubbing your temples in preparation for the ongoing argument that would occur, and you started calmly. “Dear Izuku. You and I both know that we have tried. Many times. To get out of this goddamn-”

“Life? I know, Yira! I know! I-I just-I don’t know. I just...don’t want to live as a criminal anymore. I don’t like covering up my face at such high temperatures. I don’t like having to change my voice whenever different people start striking up conversations with me. I don’t like anything about myself at all. I -I don’t like anything here. Whatever I accomplished. It’s just-shit!“

You were silent for a few moments. “You...you think that I find it anymore different? You think I love sleeping in abandoned houses, wearing dirty clothes?”, you asked with a neutral voice and face, but Izuku knew that he’d fucked up. 

He knew you loved this city, despite everything trying to kill you, whether it’d be the weather, the people, or fate. He knew that you loved looking at the people going on and on about their day. You loved stealing as long as it meant to feed the starving, sick and weak. 

He adored that about you. You were perfect. But he was not made to live like that. He wanted to explore. To find new land to call his own. To become rich, and maybe...marry y-

“No. No. No, please Yira, I d-didn’t mean it like-“

Cue to your curtains closing from your room, signalling him to shut up. 

“-that.“

...

“Again? I trained you better, didn’t I, peasant?“, the head guardian, Enji Todoroki, but known by the folks and his enemies by ‘Endeavor‘, asked. He sneered down to Bakugo, who was still rubbing his eyes furiously. 

“Oi, stop calling me that,“, the brutish blonde spat, glaring at the man with his burning ruby eyes. But it was true. 

Katsuki Bakugo came from a family where his parents were designers who even got to the point of making the everyday clothes for the Iida family, also known as the royal- and leading family of his hometown. 

But, Endeavor didn’t spare a thought to the boy’s past and only scolded him and punished him for his actions or failure. Like right now. 

“You’re going to have the privilege of cleaning up after the horses for today and then clean the stalls. Every single one.“, Enji said before turning away to look after his youngest child who always hid away from his father.

When Bakugo was sure that Todoroki was out of his hearing shot, he let out a string of curses before grabbing a shovel and grumbling to the horses. 

...

Meanwhile, Tenya was fighting against his elder brother, Tensei, and lost again. “How...are you doing that?”, Tenya huffed as he sat on the ground to get some rest. Tensei only chuckled before answering: 

“It requires a lot of training for you to get to the same level as me, but always remember. Never use your strentgh, speed, or violent skills for any other reason than defending and protecting the weak.“

Tenya felt motivated by his brother’s words and quickly stood up, asking for another round.

...

After you calmed down -you went out and split up your treasure with the poorer people, who thanked you- you went over to your best friend’s room and knocked onto the wall. 

“Come in.“, you heard as you stepped in. There, you saw Izuku looking at maps and stolen books lying on the ground, dust already settling in. “What are you doing.“, you asked, eyeing the suspicious behaviour of Izuku. 

He only shrugged his shoulders before packing his things. “Guess I’ll have to go on my own then.”, he only answered to your demand before making his way over to you, to pass by and walk out the door when you grabbed his arm and pushed him against the walls. 

“Are you serious? You really plan on fucking off?“, your eyes were filling with tears and Izuku panicked. 

His plan and intuition was to get you to follow him. He thought that if he’d just act like he’d go, you would do something mundane like sighing or rolling your eyes before telling him to wait for you so you could pack some stuff of your own before accompanying him. 

What he didn’t expect was for you to start crying though. He quickly dried your tears with his thumbs and tried to comfort you. “No-I, Yira, I didn’t mean it like that! What if- What if we just go out of the city-for a short moment, hm? Then we’ll be back! I promise!”

You still sniffed and thought about his deal. “B-but we’ll only go a tiny bit further away from the city...Otherwise I won’t go.”, you mumbled, your face buried in his chest. He sighed. “Yes, thank you. Now, let’s pack your stuff and get going.”

What you guys had in your bags were actually just first eid kits (some medicine créme, gauze and band aids), food for the walk, and water. Plenty of water. 

...

“What do you mean, you couldn’t find them?“, Tensei asked, high on his nerves because his two least favourite criminals, you and Deku, slipped through Bakugo’s fingers. He groaned in frustration and Tenya was only shaking his head in dissappointment. 

The fiery blonde, who was embarrassed by his leader scolding him and him being not strong enough to grab Deku’s legs, only glared ahead stubbornly, while Enji Todoroki looked to the side, seemingly wanting to be everywhere more than in the palace of the Iida’s. 

It was already bad enough that their parents were abroad to clear some business and Tensei played the role as a king, even though he made a fairly good job. 

Bakugo was still in shock about how a fragile, weak girl like you had the sudden strentgh to take Izuku with your wobbling arms from a trained soldier like him. 

“The girl, Yira, she grabbed that damn Deku’s legs and lifted him up, then they...threw at me...with rocks.“, he grumbled, not wanting to meet Tenya’s glare. The latter one only sighed before motioning for the two guardians to follow him. Tenya followed, wanting to hear and learn everything his brother said or did. 

They stepped onto a big balcony which aloowed a breathtaking view of the majority of Agrabah, but...the slums...were nowhere to be seen. Bakugo furrowed his brows. Where were the poor people? Beggars?

“This is Agrabah. One day, I’m really going to rule over this city. And I want it to be without a high crime rate. Today, it could be just Yira and Deku, the well-known thief-duo. But what about tomorrow? Our arch nemesis, the Plague of Iblis (=League of Villains) could hunt down everything we call home.“ 

Tensei made a pause as he looked at the calm streets of his home fondly. But as he was about to start talking again, Bakugo beat him. “This city. It isn’t complete. You don’t see everything, your highness. Where are all the damn Beggars? Poor people? Thieves? Right now, we see none of it! Something’s not right here!”

Tensei only stared at Bakugo before looking at the scenery in front of him again. 

...

“This was a bad Idea. I told you it was a bad idea!“, you whisper-yelled when you found yourself in front of an eerie place, where it only reeked of evil and harm. 

He only pouted at you before pushing you back gently. Good thing that there wasn’t a forest in the endless desert you two lived in, because then you wouldn’t accidently step on a branch or twig and attract attention. 

Bad thing was that there wasn’t a forest in the endless desert you two lived in, because then you and Izuku could hide behind bushes, trees, or fallen trees, big rocks or high earth. 

Now, you heard laughter coming from the center of a tent to your guys’ right and you two were too nosy and curious as to what those people indise might be talking about. 

But one thing was clear. There was a majority of men inside that tent, with only a few women, one girlish voice peeped up now and then. “We will attack tomorrow, with the parents of our little to princies it won’t be a problem! These boys nowadays are spoiled rotten anyways!”, an elder voice echoed, followed by positive feedback and maliscious laughter. 

“Yes. we will attack. We will make Agrabah ours. But not tomorrow. What if their parents come back tomorrow?“, a male but hoarse voice asked into the round, and it was silent for a few short moments. 

Then, another male sounding voice answered. “We’ll simply keep eye on the business people near the ocean and sea. When we...ask...them, they’ll answer us for sure. And we could plan our attack based on when they will come back. We could give them a nice surprise by sitting on their thrones-”

“Their sons’ heads on silver plates!“, the girly voice cheered. Everybody cheered after that as well. 

You and Izuku looked at each other, completely mortified and you quickly got up to your knees, running as fast as you could towards the palace. 

...

“Ah, see! Our criminals are crawling here already! Are you ready to pay for all the plunder you two have committed?“, Tensei asked when you ans Izuku got pulled in by two guards. Kirishima and Tetsutetsu. The twins wew both strong as hell and you and Izuku couldn’t stand a chance to break free from their grip. 

You grunted before trying to pull away from the redhead behind you, but to no avail. “Agrabah is in big danger!”, you yelled, and Izuku continued. “We were just walking outside the city when we came across a big number of tents and overheard what the people in one of them said-”

“One stated that they would attack you guys before your parents arrive, and their people are keeping an eye on the business of the folks working by the sea and ocean! And when they ask some of the fishermen or other knowing people when your parents might return-“, you interrupted Izuku, but he finished your sentence,

“Then they’d sit on your mother’s and father’s thrones and have your two heads on silver plates!“, Izuku panted, breathing in and out. 

Tensei eyed you two for a short moment, but Bakugo and Endeavor broke the slince with loud laughter. Endeavor spoke first, giving you an Izuku a look full of disgust. 

“You don’t really believe these two...filthy bastards, who are hoarding all the food-“ 

“We are giving the food to the people who actually need nutritiens! The poor kids are living skeletons, the mothers can’t birth their children! The elder peoples’ bone begin to break by even the slightest gust of wind!“

Your voice still echoed after a long moment of silence. Tensei and Tenya eyed you with disbelief and horror. You felt your eyes sting when nobody opened their mouth to talk back to you.

“Ever since your parents left, or even before they left, this city has been seeked out by criminals from lands unknown to us! There are more people living on the streets than in the houses in Agrabah! Do something against it!

...Please...!“, you croaked before your knees hit the floor and you buried your face in your hands to hide your teary crying face. 

The men around you were uncomfortable with a woman crying around them, and there wasn’t anything they could really do. 

Tense and his younger brother didn’t want to touch you because you were a peasant and a woman, Bakugo didn’t touch you because you were a woman and Endeavor didn’t want to touch you because you might carry plenty of illnesses with you. 

But the only human in this hall was Izuku, who crashed into you to comfort you, to hug you. As you cried into his arms, Izuku glared at the four men looking down on him.  

Tensei and Tenya looked to the side, ashamed by the status of their hometown. Bakugo was surprised. He has never seen a woman scream, let alone for justice, or at the two princes he had to serve. He was impressed. 

But so was Endeavor. He didn’t know who you were, only ever thought of you as a selfish thief, but as you opened their eyes, he felt the need to apologize. 

“I apologize for my behaviour towards you two. We should take measures to this problem. And about the criminals who are about to attack us. My majesty, do you knew when the king and queen will return?”

Tensei thought for a short moment, but Tenya beat him to it, calling people with the most different jobs into his hall. “They aren’t going to show up for another half or whole year, I suppose, but the villains might attack us earlier. We have to be prepared! 

Guards, bring shelter to all homeless and weak in Agrabah! Workers, build big, strong houses! We need to make new homes! Healers, take a look at the women and children, as well as the elder people! Give the poor men a job they can do! Go, go, go! We have pretty much to do!“

When you heard Tenya give out orders, you looked up and didn’t see a spolied prince stand a few feet in front of you. You saw a ruler, who took his role seriously. You were glad.

Then, you looked at Izuku with a hopefull smile. “They are going to help us, right?”, you asked, and Izuku smiled down at you, who was nestled between his arms. “Yes, they are.”

You then hugged him. “I’m glad you made me come with you.”

...

Should I make another chapter?

[inkpens-coffee]

Maruki Week 2023 - Day 4 🍎

Trust / Regrets / Fantasies

It finally happened. Takuto was on a date with Rumi Chibana. He’s had a crush on her for so long but never had the courage to talk to her. Basically, Rumi did the asking; she snuck up on him after class and practically demanded a date. Takuto was startled but he said yes. In addition to his nice outfit, he brought a gorgeous bouquet of red tulips—they reminded him of Rumi's red hair. Takuto's heart skipped a beat when they met outside the school, Rumi looked amazing. Within seconds he was stumbling over his words but she just smiled and accepted the bouquet. Rumi seemed to have everything planned, so Takuto didn't think to ask if she had a license when they got into her car. Or if the car was even hers.

Now they’re at the beach, laying on the hood of the car while watching the sunset. Rumi was talking about an argument she got into with a teacher but all Takuto could think about was… why? Why would this firecracker of a girl chose him of all people? As far as he knew, Rumi’s never had any interest in boys—when guys flirt with her, she scares them off with threats of physical violence. Plus, Takuto’s barely said two words to her before tonight. So why now…?

“And of course I’m the one that gets in trouble and not that bastard for being a sexist prick,” Rumi was saying. “Ugh, all the teachers at our school are the worst.”

“… What are we doing here?”

“Ain’t that just life’s biggest question,”

“No, I mean… why did you ask me out?”

“Dude, I’ve seen you staring at me in class.” Leaning on her hand, Rumi looked down at Takuto. As she stared at him, he tensed up.

“O-Oh…”

“And you’re not a total dick like the rest of the guys in our class so I figured, why not?”

“Mhmm…”

“You don’t talk much, do you?”

“N-Not all the time,” Takuto chuckled, “actually my mothers say I talk too much but I don’t think I do it on purpose! Sometimes it’s too quiet and I don’t know what to do so I find something to talk about, you know? Like, uh… octopus facts!”

Rumi snickered. “What?”

“Octopus facts. Not everyone knows a lot of facts about octopuses. Did you know each tentacle has a mind of its own?”

“… For real?”

“Yeah. Octopus tentacles can do things completely on their own while the host does something else, like opening a shell while the octopus is checking out a cave. Scientists have observed severed tentacles flinching away in pain when they were pinched by tools during examinations. They’ve also got three hearts! Two pump blood and the other—oh, s-sorry, I’m rambling…”

“Well, shit, now I’m hooked! What’s the third heart do? I gotta know!” Rumi exclaimed.

“Really? Oh, uh, it keeps circulation flowing in the organs. The third heart actually stops beating when the octopus swims. That’s why they’re always crawling rather than swimming.”

“Wow. Octopuses are badass.”

Takuto stared at Rumi like she was a goddess. Apart from his mothers, nobody ever wants to listen to him talk about his interests or anything for that matter.

“Do you like any sea creatures?” He asked.

“Huh, I never thought about it. Hmm, I’d say jellyfish! They’re so cute!”

“Have you ever seen a jellyfish bloom?”

“That’s when there’s a bunch all together, right? Those are so pretty.”

“We should go to the aquarium sometime. I-If you want to that is! I guess it’s a little too early for me to be talking about a second date, haha,”

Rumi smiled softly, but it didn’t last as she sighed and slid off the hood. Sensing a change in her mood, Takuto followed behind. They walked quietly down the beach, Rumi stopping when they were close to the waves. She said nothing, silently staring out at the water.

“Are you ok?” Takuto muttered.

“Kind of,” Rumi dropped her hands at her sides. “I… got into fight with my parents. My older sisters are these perfect little princesses and I’m the menace that cut her hair and causes trouble so they got upset with me and I said some bad things…”

Tears sparkled in her eyes. She rubbed them away before they could fall.

“I needed a break from them pressuring me to study for college so I asked you out and… borrowed my big sis’s car.”

“I see… Are you regretting that decision now?”

“I was at first but…” Rumi looked at him with melancholy eyes. “I really like spending time with you, Takuto-Kun.”

Takuto didn’t need a mirror to know his entire face was turning red. The girl looked so beautiful, he wanted to pour his heart out to her right then and there. Don’t be weird, Maruki! He wanted to punch himself in the face. How could he show her he cared about her without making a complete fool of himself?

“It’s gonna be dark soon. I doubt I’ll be allowed out for a while after this. Maybe we should get going—“

“W-Wait!”

Without a second thought, Takuto grabbed Rumi’s hand. Time froze for a moment, his heart was beating out of his chest. Can she hear it? Swallowing the lump in his throat, Takuto spoke up.

“D-Do you regret cutting your hair?”

“Huh? Well… No. Guys used to pull it all the time and that sucked.” Rumi shrugged.

“Do you regret always speaking your mind?”

“Not in the slightest.” She shook her head.

“I-I can’t say I understand your situation perfectly because I’m an only child and my mothers don’t really care what I do—well, I never do anything reckless so they don’t have a reason, b-but that’s not the point! I like you, Rumi! I’m happy I’m here with you!”

Takuto willed himself to look her in the eye.

“So let’s not have any regrets!”

Rumi was stunned for a moment, cheeks turning pink. Then her eyes sparkled as she squeezed Takuto’s hand in hers.

“Do you trust me?” She said.

Takuto nodded eagerly. “More than anything!”

A big smile grew on her face. Rumi ran for the water, pulling Takuto along with her. He never realized how strong she was for her size. Rumi jumped at the water while laughing.

“NO REGRETS!”

They both went in with a splash. The impact surprised Takuto and he fell face first in the water. He came back up to see Rumi laughing her heart out, shaking water out her shining red hair like a dog. Her smile was brighter than the sunset. Their nice clothes were soaked with saltwater, and his mothers would scold him for it when he returned home but he didn’t care. Takuto started laughing too.

[nerdy-simp-7120]

hi! if you're comfortable writing this, could i ask for a scenario? this has been in the back of my head for a while.

what would be the reaction of the brothers + dateables of watching mc play resident evil in the dimitrescu castle? who would be down bad the most

thank you! feel free to ignore this if you don't want to write this ofc

I love this ask (stan tall vampire lady). The only thing is that I accidentally turned it into a “how they feel about the game.” I managed to add in some parts with MC playing as well to make up for it

Update: I literally finished the request yesterday but my wifi went down and I lost everything  😩 😩

I also wrote this in the middle of the night so sorry if there are any errors! Enjoy!

Warnings: cursing.

How the OM! characters would react to you playing Resident Evil (Dimitrescu Castle edition)

Lucifer

Will not care at first

"I hold no interest in such trivial simulations."

His weakness? Being a simp for you.

He decides to look into the game a bit more in private later on.

Will lowkey practice the game

If you ever catch him playing it, do not say anything because he will stop immediately, deny everything, and might not ever do it again

With time, however, Lucifer will come to master the game.

Here comes the showing off.

When you're rambling about the game with Levi, Lucifer will join the conversation and you two will be like "wow, boomer knows something for once--"

Or when you're struggling on a part of the game he will be like, "hand it over"

Before expertly getting through that part.

Can defeat Lady Dimitrescu if you ask him to but be careful cause he might make you beg

sadistic bastard

or you can be a badass and show him your skills

Will be a tad shocked at how easily you handled it but won't let it show (okay Elsa)

Also proud though

Lucifer's internal monologue: “That’s right- show them how it’s done, Y/n.”

Mammon

Scared.

Will watch you play and cover his eyes during every battle

"wHAT IS THAT?!" at everything you come across

I hope you're good at playing one-handed because you'll have to use the other hand to hold his throughout the entire thing

Admires you're bravery but would never admit it

"You were horrible! ...N-nice job beating the game, not that I c-care or anything. You sucked anyways!"

Not even 10 seconds later...

"Can I watch you play again?"

Comes to find that the faces you make are adorable: when you're concentrating on a battle, when you win, find a valuable item, etc

He loves being able to see how you're feeling up close.

If you catch him staring when you take a break or something he'll blush and either ask you if you have a staring problem or that you have something on your face

He may or may not buy cheap merch (a tiny key chain of Lady Dimitrescu or your favorite character) for you, all the while spewing lame excuses

Please bear with him- he's trying.

Leviathan

"YOU ALSO LIKE RESIDENT DEVIL?!?? Ah! I-I mean..."

Congrats, you just found yourself someone to discuss the game with

Is open to cosplay the characters with you

You two will have competitions to see who can beat the game faster.

You both also share theories with each other all the time

Or simply discuss the characters together

He purposefully stays quiet to hear you ramble on and on- dude finds it adorable

You two also sometimes argue debate over a character name or event in the game

Because while you have Resident Evil

He only knows Resident Devil

This is the equivalent of Devilgram and Instagram

I mean

They’re the same,

But a couple things were altered, y’know, to prevent copyright

So yes, there are definitely a few quarrels here and there

But all in all, it’s a fun gamer bud experience

Don’t tell him I told you but he thinks it’s hot when you show off your badass skills in a boss fight

Satan

He plays it on the lowkey.

Not because he’s embarrassed

But because he partially takes his anger out on the characters

During gory scenes, he imagines it’s him torturing Lucifer, fueling his determination to win

A calculated person, Satan is a smart player

But there are times when he’s particularly angry and he becomes a reckless one, jumping into fights impetuously

This is where you come in and beat the enemy for him

He may get angrier, thinking you are underestimating him

But, for the sake of the person he loves, he calms down knowing you didn’t mean to offend him

A small part in the back of his head also admires you for being able to handle the fight a ton better than he did

Congratulations, you just earned yourself the great Satan’s respect (resident evil-wise).

Asmodeus

“Oh my, I never knew you were into such gory games! Does this mean you’re into blood play, because I know many things about--”

He may look carefree on the outside

But on the inside?

Let’s take a look, shall we?

Holy shit

What the fu--

Jesus christ, can you pull a move like that in real life?

He needs to be careful to not piss you off.

If you can handle this, who knows what you could be capable of?

Hold on.

Wait, you look so concentrated

Eeep! How cute!

Anyways, it ends with him snapping a bunch of pictures 

Keeps them for himself and may brag to his brothers about how he got some “special” shots of you

Obviously never elaborates on what the special part means to keep his dear siblings on edge because, what the hell, they want to know what these special shots are

Would not play the game because there’s “tOo MuCh BlOoDsHeD”

We all know he’s most likely seen his fair share of bloodshed

“What if the adrenaline gives me acne?”

He’s probably just bad at the game--

Verdict: Asmo is a simp and not afraid to flaunt it.

Beel

...Are you okay?

Do you think about homicide--?

Oh, that lady looks nice.

Huh, she’s 9′6″??

What’s her name? Lady Dimitrescu?

Okay-- WAIT WHY IS SHE TURNING INTO THAT??

Not scared, just a tad bit concerned 

Poor Beel, concerned for Lady D :’)

Also, seeing the death’s of Bela, Daniela, and Cassandra hit different

Because he know what it’s like to lose a sibling.

Safe to say he understands Alcina’s pain when she raged about her children being dead.

Also concerned about how the gore could affect you

Because isn’t stuff like this supposed to traumatize humans?

Would support you regardless though

And thinks that you’re really brave for playing the game and still being able to stand strong

On another note, Beel decided to make small flower graves for the three sisters and Alcina because he’s adorable and kind like that

Belphegor

Likes the game but is too lazy to play himself

Regularly watches Satan play (or at least as much as he can before deciding it’s nap time)

I hope you enjoy Belphie using you as a body pillow and watching you play from now on 

Makes small comments here and there to help you out

“To your left... Oh, and open the window- yeah, that one.”

Will smirk, impressed, when you deal with the fights and win yourself without his comments.

“That’s my Y/n”

(Sorry I don’t know what else to put for him :’))

Diavolo

“Is this a human trend?” meme

Will watch excitedly and “oooo” whenever you do something cool

Be careful though, because the questions will not stop as you play

“What’s that? I see. What’s it for? How do you win the game? Who’s that character? Why can’t you do this? What about--?”

Diavolo, you’re awesome and all, but please

shush

On the inside, is also one that might be a tad concerned about your mental health because doesn’t that gore traumatize humans?

Wait, you do this for entertainment?

...

Another warning: he will shower you in merchandise from the game

I am not above the fact that this man has a game room 

And he will try to master the game

Casually pushes all his paperwork over to Lucifer so he can play Resident Evil

RIP Luci

Unfortunately, Diavolo will have trouble grasping the game and how it works

You will have to explain many things to him

Good luck- he’s a bit of a boomer (but willing to learn) and may or may not get distracted staring at you

But anyways, he enjoys engaging in the competitions you and Levi have

Whether it be playing as well or simply watching

He just loves to see you happy

Barbatos

Oh my, what’s this?

Will watch you play

and constantly criticize how filthy the Dimitrescu castle is

“Do they have any idea how many rats this can attract?”

Barbatos, your weakness is showing.

Seeing you so happy while playing the game helps him relax from his daily troubles tasks

He rewards you with a pat on the head any time you beat a foe

When Diavolo goes over to the HoL or when you come over to play in he silently cheers you on in the background.

Solomon

Yuh

Is educated on the game and knows his shit as the only other human 

Maybe knows a bit too much of the game

You will later come to find out that, somewhere in his mass tangle of shady connections, he knows a developer

Might give you tips and tricks to get on higher levels

But never, and I mean never, challenge him like you would with Levi to see who can beat the game faster

Because he will beat you by a seconds on purpose, just to piss you of

all the while doing that dark, shady chuckle

Asshole

But anyways, if you manage to finesse and beat him, he will be 

So confused

“I thought I did it all right, what went wrong...?” he thinks to himself.

On the outside, however, he’s smiling

Will hand over some praise to his little apprentice, but if you look carefully you will see a spark of annoyance

We get it Solomon, you’re a sore loser.

In the end, he will still leave somewhat impressed at your skillz

Simeon

w h a t

Is a little scared

“Is this one of them video games you kids play nowadays...? Just kidding. What are you playing-- oh my”

Might try to figure out how to play

But alas, 

Simeon is yet another boomer

So he will have quite some trouble even figuring out how to move

And why does he hold the controller like that what

If you’ve seen that one picture of him holding his phone sideways you know what I mean

On another note, if you look through his poem book, then you may or may not find a few poems describing how amazing and badass you looked hustling the entire game

Luke

about to bomb this master hill

No literally is considering bombing the computer or whatever you’re playing on because wHAT IS THAT

He is just

So 

So 

Scared

This will give him nightmares for weeks

Apparently Alcina reminds him of Lucifer so he kinda

Hates her

Says he will protect you

--as he runs out of the room in fear

Irrelevant but the one he hates the most is fetus baby

Michael have mercy on this poor boy--

[there-must-be-a-lock]

Blind Spot

Spencer Reid x (Gender Neutral) Reader

Word Count: 2640

Warnings: Hair pulling kink! Bucketloads of sexual tension but no actual sex. Gratuitous facts about bird nests. Dorks being oblivious. Lots of fluffy heart-eyed banter. Accusations of intercourse with fictional tree-beasts. 

A/N: I saw a gif that made me want to pull Spencer’s hair. That’s it. I have zero shame. 

For the “friends to lovers” square on my @cmbingo​ card! Proofread by @fangirlxwritesx67​ because she’s the best. 

“You look like you fucked an Ent,” you commented cheerfully, stealing sideways glances at Spencer while you waited for the light to change.  

“Thanks, that’s helpful.” He grimaced, trying to tug another burr out of a snarled curl. 

“Oh my god, you’re just making it worse! I’ll help you when we get back to your place. Leave it, you goober.” 

“Did you just call me a goober?” Spencer asked, trying not to laugh. 

“You’re like the dictionary definition of a goober,” you said fondly. 

“I have three PhDs!”  

“I really wish I’d gotten a video of that tumble, Doctor Goober.” 

Spencer was blushing, grinning down at his lap as he shredded a piece of leaf. It was hard not to stare at him when he smiled like that. 

He’d essentially face-planted into a burr bush earlier, somewhere in the Virginia woods — he’d been so excited about explaining some wonky bit of Star Trek physics theory to you that he just forgot to pay attention to his feet — and he’d floundered out with half a hedge stuck in his hair before picking up exactly where he’d left off. 

In other words, Doctor Spencer Reid was a ridiculous human being. You knew that, objectively. It didn’t stop you from having a massive crush on him. 

Either he was pretending not to notice, to spare your feelings, or he was socially oblivious; you tended to believe the former, considering how well you’d seen him read other people, but you appreciated it. There was a chance you’d make it out of this — if you could just get over it already — with your friendship intact. 

You cleared your throat and told him, “You look like the bastard child of Grandmother Willow and the Wizard of Oz scarecrow.” 

“Even if they were real, the anatomical —” 

“You didn’t mention that when I brought up the Ents. Something you want to tell me about you and Treebeard?” 

“You’re ridiculous,” he huffed, trying to sound exasperated, but he could barely keep a straight face for a second before he was laughing, that scratchy sunny childish giggle that only came out when he was really relaxed and carefree. 

“Close the window before a bird sees you and decides to take up residence.” 

“How about you watch the road?”

“What, no facts about bird nests?” 

“Is that a rhetorical question?” 

“Nope.” 

“Well in that case… gyrfalcon nests are frequently re-used and passed along for generations. The oldest one that’s been discovered was in Greenland, and it was actually estimated to be approximately 2,500 years old.” 

“Seriously?” 

“Yes! In fact…” 

You had to remind yourself, yet again, to stop staring. 

Maybe someday you’d get sick of hearing Spencer talk, but you couldn’t really understand the way most of your teammates reacted to his rambling. Even if you didn’t care about what he was saying, there was something amazing about the way his eyes lit up and his hands fluttered around to illustrate his point.

You parked in front of his building and followed him upstairs. His apartment had become comfortingly familiar — ever since you and Spencer bonded over a shared love of sci-fi, you’d taken to driving him home and, if it wasn’t too late, sticking around for an episode or two of Doctor Who.  

He got his ancient little DVD player up and running, and you settled on the couch, fluffing pillows and shoving aside his nest of colorful crocheted blankets, getting cozy. There was something about Spencer’s space that always felt like home; maybe it was the smell of books, or just the general Spencer-ness of the whole place. 

Just being around him had always kinda felt like home, too. Sometimes you forgot you’d only known him for six months. 

He disappeared into his room for a second and came back with a comb. It was cheap plastic, missing a couple teeth, and looked like it hadn’t been used in a while. You looked from him to the comb and back again. 

“That actually explains a lot,” you said, grinning. Spencer rolled his eyes and sat down on the floor in front of you, leaning back against your shins, and after a dismayed glance at his curls, you commented, “We could always just shave it all off.” 

“I’m not going to dignify that with an answer,” he said primly. 

You started with a couple of the less tangled pieces, finger-combing carefully through one soft lock at a time. You half-expected some comment about primates and social grooming, or at least a few facts about the quantum theory behind the TARDIS, but Spencer was uncharacteristically quiet and still, his eyes fixed on the TV. 

You separated out one of the worst knots, and he tilted his head to the side to give you better access. You were being as gentle as possible, but you knew you were hurting him at the first tug — he sucked in a breath, knuckles going white as his fingers clenched on his knees. 

“Sorry, I’m trying,” you sighed. 

With his head tilted like this, you could see the muscle clenching in his jaw and the way his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. 

“S’okay,” he whispered hoarsely. “It’s not — not your fault.” 

He sat there stiffly as you worked. His hair was silky, where it wasn’t hopelessly knotted, and you were close enough that you could smell whatever clean, sweet shampoo he used. Something about it made you want to hold your breath; it felt like you were too close. Spencer rarely let you inside his little bubble of personal space. 

Maybe that was why he seemed uncomfortable. He was usually so fidgety, tapping out a rhythm or twirling a pen between his long fingers, and it was strange to see him motionless like this. 

You ran your fingers through a de-tangled section, slow and careful, and Spencer shivered, his shoulders trembling for a moment before he went unnaturally still again. 

Spencer blurted out, “Maybe this isn’t a good idea.”

At the same time, you asked, “Are you cold?” 

You paused for a moment, surprised by the reaction, but after hesitating, Spencer just muttered, “Yeah. Cold.” 

You couldn’t shake the feeling that you were missing something. It was too warm, if anything; Spencer had a patchy flush crawling up his neck and over the sharp lines of his jaw and cheekbones. 

“Here you go, goober,” you said, awkwardly cheerful in an attempt to cover your uncertainty as you grabbed an afghan from the couch and draped it around his shoulders. 

“Thanks.” He pulled the blanket down onto his lap without looking at you. “But maybe I should just do this myself.” 

“You’re never gonna get this loose on your own, not without scissors,” you warned, plucking at the knot around the last burr in his hair. “I’ll just, um — I’ll try to be more gentle.” 

“Maybe just go for it,” he said. “Get it over with.” His voice had gone all high-pitched and strained, like he was on the verge of a panic attack. If this was how much he disliked physical contact, no wonder he always avoided hugging you. 

You tried to go quickly, figuring that one quick moment of pain was better than another ten minutes of making Spencer uncomfortable. In your nervousness, you ended up tugging the burr out much more abruptly than you’d intended, and Spencer let out this rough, low, choked-off sound. Before you could apologize, he was jerking away from you, curled in on himself with his shoulders up around his ears like he was worried you were going to hit him, and — 

“Sorry,” he said, voice cracking. 

— what? 

“Spence?” you said tentatively. “What—”

He was still just curled up on the floor in a ball of gangly limbs, but he half-turned to you, twisting around. He wouldn’t make eye contact, though; he was staring intently at the pillow that was on the couch next to you. It felt weird, looking down at him like this, so you slid down onto the floor, hoping it wouldn’t spook him. He shifted back slightly, but at least he didn’t flinch away. 

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I didn’t — this was a bad idea.” 

The profiler in you couldn’t help but notice a few details. He was blushing, for starters. His lower lip was red where he’d been biting it, and — this was the part that surprised you most — his pupils were huge. 

You knew what Spencer looked like when he was panicking, and this wasn’t it. 

“Oh,” you breathed. “Oh.” 

He looked down at his lap, frowning as he played with the loose thread in the cuff of his sweater. 

“Sorry,” he repeated. “I know you don’t feel the same way, I wasn’t trying to — I didn’t realize it would be like that, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, and—”

“Wait, what?” 

“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable! I shouldn’t have asked—”

“I don’t feel the same way about what?” 

“I know you’re not attracted to me,” Spencer said, barely audible. 

“You’re… you…what?” 

He looked up, at that, genuinely startled. There was something sweet and vulnerable shining in his eyes, and your heart was racing. You slid a little bit closer, so that your knees were almost touching Spencer’s as you faced each other, cross-legged. 

“I thought you knew.” His hushed, croaky voice broke on the last word. “I thought I was being obvious.” 

You gaped at him for a second before letting out a sharp, hysterical giggle. 

He ducked his head again, hiding behind a curtain of hair, but not before you saw the hurt expression that flashed across his features. 

“No, that’s not—” you blurted out. “Spence. Spencer.” 

“Forget it,” he said sharply, his body going tense like he was about to bolt. “Can we just forget this happened?” 

Before you could think better of it, you reached out and pushed a few curls back behind his ear, and then you grabbed, twisting your fingers in his hair to tug him forward. You cut off the startled noise he made with a clumsy, eager kiss. 

The angle was all wrong, both of you leaning forward awkwardly, but it felt like sparks all down your spine.

You pulled away just far enough to get the words out: “I thought I was being obvious.”  

Then Spencer was surging closer on his hands and knees, crowding into your space, until you had a lapful of rumpled doctor pressing you back against the couch. He cupped your jaw with gentle spidery fingers, gaze locked on your mouth, and leaned in slowly like he was still waiting for you to push him away. 

There was nothing awkward about it this time. If the first kiss was sparks, this was fireworks — it was such a goddamn cliche you wanted to kick yourself for thinking it, but it was true. Your head was spinning. Every pillowy press of his lips and soft slide of his tongue seemed to steal the breath from your lungs. 

By the time you broke apart you were panting, but at least you weren’t the only one. Spencer’s chest heaved as he pulled away. He was still staring at your mouth like he couldn’t help himself. Part of you wanted to kiss him again and maybe never stop, but another part of you was paralyzed, trying to process the fact that this was actually happening. 

You just wanted to put the world on pause so that you could memorize everything: the way he licked his lips, the smell of his laundry detergent, the barely-perceptible movement of his pulse — you’d never seen that before because you’d never been this close to him before. You wanted to hold onto it, even the less-than-perfect details — the soundtrack of buzzy Dalek screeching in the background — the way you were folded together on the floor, all too-long legs and bony elbows, which was going to get uncomfortable fast.  

Spencer seemed to feel the same way. He grazed the pad of his thumb over your lower lip, then followed the curve of your smile out to your temple and traced the shell of your ear with careful fingertips. When he brushed his curled-up fingers along the ridge of your cheekbone, you turned your head and kissed his knuckles.  

His hand came to rest on your shoulder, and you wrapped your fingers around his wrist, holding it in place, feeling the blood and bones shifting under the skin.  

“You really didn’t know?” you whispered. 

He shook his head shyly and gave you one of those incandescent smiles that always made your heart race. “No idea.” 

“I thought you were just ignoring it to spare my feelings,” you confessed. 

“I thought you were doing that.”  

“I thought you were good at your job!” you laughed. “Aren’t you supposed to be a genius or something?” 

“I think I have a blind spot, where you’re concerned.” He was blushing again. “But I was so distracted by you that I walked into a bush! How did you not —” 

“I’m the one who stares at you all the time like a creep.” 

“You thought you were being creepy?” he said sheepishly. “As soon as you started touching my hair — oh my god that’s embarrassing.” 

“That’s not the word I would’ve used.” 

You tangled your fingers in his curls, tugging experimentally. His breath hitched. 

Both of you were utterly still for a moment, watching each other, and the tension between you seemed to fill the air like a living thing. You were excruciatingly aware of all the places your bodies were touching.

You considered all the places you could touch. It would be so easy. You could tug him in, kiss him, melt into each other… there were so many possibilities, suddenly, and there was something incredible about that: the electricity, the excitement, the moment of pure potential in the pause between certainty and action. 

Spencer sighed, long and shaky, and you were so close that you could feel the current of exhaled air. 

“I couldn’t think straight,” he murmured, with a twitch of a smile. “That doesn’t happen to me often.” 

“So you didn’t know…” 

You scritched your fingernails down his scalp, marveling at the way he shivered and swayed closer like he was hypnotized. He curled his hand around the side of your neck, thumb slowly stroking the hinge of your jaw. 

“I knew I liked it,” he confessed. “But — within a certain context? Not out of nowhere like that. I didn’t think it would be... like that.” 

“Like what?”

“Intense.”  

“Yeah?” 

“But I think maybe it’s just you.” His eyes had gone all glassy and heavy-lidded, and you could barely breathe. “Maybe you drive me crazy no matter where you’re touching me.” 

“I can think of a few ways to test that hypothesis.” 

You caught a glimpse of his grin, but then he pressed his forehead to yours and his features went blurry, too close for you to focus.

“Never really thought I’d be into dirty talk, but if you’re going to start quoting the scientific method…” 

“Funny, most of the time you never shut up,” you said, giddy and overwhelmed. 

The tip of his nose brushed yours. There was maybe an inch of space between your mouths, and you wanted to close that gap so badly it felt like a physical ache. 

“I mean, if you want me to start rattling off statistics—” 

“Spencer.” You fisted both hands in his hair, tugging sharply, and he shuddered. “Take a hint.” 

“Blind spot, remember?” he whispered, lips brushing yours as they shaped the words, feather-light and maddening. 

“You know, for a genius—” you started, but he kissed you, hungry and sweet like he was making up for lost time, until you’d completely forgotten what you were going to say. 

.

.

There is now a sexy follow-up here! 

.

If you enjoyed this, please reblog or leave a message! 

[allronix]

Carth and Force Sensitivity (crossposted from Reddit r/kotor)

This is for @k-she-rambles:

Okay, so while we're shooting the bantha crap over on KOTOR fan theories, u/134340Goat mentioned my all time favorite "Have you been chewing spice?!" fan theory when it comes to KOTOR: Is Carth Force Sensitive?

So this one starts with a story. I mentioned my brother in law, who is pretty much Keeper of the Jedi Archives. Seriously, he's an English teacher and my sister is a librarian. They met at a sci fi convention and their first date was Phantom Menace. We're taking not just geeks, but geeks who can throw the damn bookshelf at you. Brother in law bought KOTOR on the day it launched and turned it into a week long binge watch at his house. And because brother in law is that kind of geek, he's translating the characters into the West End D6 system. I'm watching him do a playthrough, and he's got Canderous and Zaalbar at Ajunta Pal's tomb.

Allronix: Huh. That's odd. Why aren't commenting on anything when Ajunta is speaking?

Bro in law: Oh. They can't even see Ajunta. You have to be Force Sensitive to see a Force Ghost The stronger your Sensitivity, the better you can see it.

Allronix: Really? Then how come Carth can see it?

Bro in law (gets the "holy shit, I gotta confirm this" look): Really?! He just sees something out the corner of his eye or something?

Allronix: No, he sees Ajunta just fine. Understands what the dude's saying too.

Bro in law instantly rolls back to his last save, swaps Zaalbar for Carth, and sees the bit in question.

Bro in law: Oh. Dear. (Goes over to make some quick scribbles on Carth's character sheet)

Okay, so maybe that was a lore fail. I didn't really think about it too much until I hit that False Level Up glitch and ran around with Carth and Mission as Sentinels. Now, while I couldn't really see Mission as a Sensitive, that little bit with my bro in law nagged at me. And became a "once you see it you can't unsee it." Apologies to TV Tropes, where some of these were my additions to the Wild Mass Guess entry on this topic.

Any one of these on its own is pretty easy to blow off. After all, man is career military, and knows All this Shit is Weird. I also like to think of Sensitivity as a spectrum and not a switch. If all life is connected by the Force, then all life would be Sensitive to some degree or another. It’s just a matter of to what degree. It’s only as the list gets longer and longer does the case start looking damning...

What are the odds of surviving that attack on the Endar Spire, getting to the escape pods, sharing the last escape pod with the mindwiped Sith Lord, piloting through the chaos, landing in what passes for the "good" part of town, remaining uninjured, pulling the badly injured mindwiped Sith Lord from the wreck, evading Sith detection while all this is going on, and just happening to find a dump of an apartment where the landlord's not asking questions? That is one amazing string of coincidences and good luck. Get that many in Star Wars, and it's definitely The Force sticking its nose in things.

Piloting the escape pod to land in the Upper City, piloting the Hawk through the Sith Blockade of Taris, the random Sith patrols, the escape from the Leviathan, and the fleet around Lehon along with the crash landing that left the ship easily repairable. Now, compare to Atton who we know to be an excellent pilot and drawing on The Force who still manages to crash the ship at least three times.

He's a scary good judge of character if you're interacting with other NPCs. If you watch him with other NPC characters, he's got a pretty good compass as to which characters are being helpful and which ones are full of shit. The only one he calls incorrectly is Rukil, who is probably also an untrained Sensitive (the age, the "marked" comments) and half senile, which is probably throwing him.

Related to that, his distrust and wariness about something not adding up with the PC, the Jedi Council feeding the party a line of bull, that things just aren't adding up. And on all of it? Dead on. He's 100% right about the Player Character, he just expected something a little less crazy than "that's Darth freaking Revan."

If you play Female Revan, then Carth's the one who gets fried in the torture cages on the Leviathan. Saul comments how strange it is that Carth takes so much punishment and still remains conscious. Now, this is a low level thing, but in lore, Force Sensitives have drawn on it to keep them alive or conscious under duress. Explicitly, the first sign we got that Leia was a Sensitive when she withstood the Imperial torture droid.

Another of his scary ass judge of character feats? In the comics, Zayne (who is on the run from the Jedi, who framed him for the murder of his classmates) has a vision that Mandalorians are coming for Serroco. Saul? Laughs it off, throws Zayne in the brig. Zayne's own friends don't even believe him. Carth gets one of those creepy hunches and starts calling in "duck and cover" sirens as far as he can broadcast, which sends seventeen cities and millions of people heading for shelter. It saves their lives and Carth is called a hero for it. Armed with another hunch, he disobeys Saul (remember this is before Saul nukes Telos) and lets Zayne "escape" from custody. Mind you, not even the Jedi or his party members believed Zayne. Carth did.

Carth makes a lot of creepy weird offhand predictions about the future. He says he knows on some level he'll be there when Saul dies. That certainly pans out. He makes an offhand prediction that the Jedi have set the party up to take a fall. Right again. He tells a female PC that she'll have to make a choice soon, one she can't walk away from. And then we get the temple top. He even blurts out that "I sensed you would have to make a choice soon, and that was it*, I can feel it!"* If you specify a LS Female Revan, his recording for T3-M4 says he's had a hunch Revan would leave without warning. Again, spot on.

Specify a LS male Revan, and Carth will remark to Bastila that seeing the Exile reminds him "there are worse things to lose." The only other people who can see just how screwed up the Exile is are the Jedi Masters, Chodo Habat, and the Force Sensitive party members.

Specify a LS female Revan, and Carth will insist that he would know if Revan were dead (again, scary ass intuition) and that there's an "emptiness" where she used to be. Now, remember one of the things about a broken Force Bond? It would simply be "empty, a wound."

You know how your party members in KOTOR 2 feel upset or even horrified as they realize they feel compelled to protect Exile and can't being themselves to leave, even when said actions are kicking puppies? And how they swing wildly from being crazy, almost stalker level possessive of them to being scared out of their wits and clamming up when you try to pry anything out of them? And the more potent (and untapped) their Force Sensitivity, the more they get hammered with the effect? (Mira and Atton in particular) Yeah. Now, Carth's "I don't wanna talk" looks a bit different, doesn't it? It could also account for that romance arc, especially if you roll a DSF Revan and go for that "everyone dies" ending.

Again, Ajunta Pal. Seeing a Force Ghost? Yeah. Some degree of Sensitivity needed. Understanding what he's saying? Yeah. Takes a bit more than that. And Carth makes a weirdly insightful comment about the Dark Side on top of it.

Notice that this a wall o text argument already, and I'm now just getting to the "Yeah, his kid is able to throw around mid-level Dark Side powers and packing a red lightsaber." Given the jawline and the muleheaded attitude, no way Morgana was fooling around with the pizza delivery boy. That's definitely Carth's kid, and that's definitely Force Sensitivity. Now, while it can skip a generation (see Theron Shan), it tends to run pretty heavy in families.

Lastly? Gee. He comes from a planet settled by and heavily populated by descendants of Force Sensitives who failed their training. I'm also willing to bet some bastard children of Jedi get passed off as "foundlings" and "orphans" and dumped there, too. Jedi are forbidden attachments, but not sworn to celibacy, so...yeah, bastard kids are gonna happen. There's probably a Jedi or two in that family tree. It's circumstantial evidence at best, but it still supports the case.

Now, any arguments I missed? Counterarguments?

And the million credit question: If there's a character who gets to break this news to poor Flyboy, who do you think would actually take that on? How do you think Carth would take that kind of news? And what, if anything, would come of it?

I kinda figure Jolee might be the only one nuts enough to poke that with a stick...I also kinda figure "Sentinel" would fit best. Consular? Hell no. He hired Mical for that. Guardian works with the feats, but the whole "ferreting out deceit and injustice?" Yeah. That's Carth.

[star-trekkin-across-theuniverse]

5 minutes with Bucky

You’d been pinned down behind a crumbling wall for most of the fighting, unable to even attempt to pick off any of the enemy. The sniper covering you was unbelievable.

“Have you been hit?” Sam’s panicked voice came through your earpiece, and you shook your head before realizing he couldn’t see you.

“The sniper is up on the east tower is unrelenting. I can’t move. They even shot my boot,” you complained. “I need you to take them out. You know, in your spare time.”

Sam’s cackle reassured you. “Let me see if Redwing can take them out.” A few seconds later, the unmistakable sound of the drone exploding made your shoulders tense, and then release in defeat.

“I’m on it,” Bucky growled. Bucky was no fan of yours. He treated you like he found you a burden to the team, and was always short with you. You’d say he was cranky about you, but cranky was a description you reserved for toddlers. Your dislike for one another was mutual.

“Don’t put yourself out. I know I’m just deadweight to you, Barnes,” you growled back.

“Easier to get you to walk out than carry out your sorry ass,” he snarled. There was a grunt, and thud and the distinct rapport of his gun. “Sniper is dead. The sooner you contribute to this clusterfuck, the sooner we can leave.”

You scrabbled up to your knees and peered over the wall, and thankfully, no shots came from the east tower. You dashed between obstacles, keeping hidden, until you were back to the main action, and quickly picked off a few goons. You heard the enemy trying to sneak up on you, but weren’t fast enough to stop the blade that slipped into your back with enough force to prevent you from crying out. Thankfully, your instinct wasn’t to collapse, but shoot the bastard. He slumped at your feet behind you, pulling the blade from your back as he fell. Your tac jacket was tight enough that it compressed the wound, and you fought on until you were able to escape back to the extraction point.

XXX

When the helicopter arrived, you pushed yourself off the tree you were leaning against and dropped heavily onto the floor of the vehicle, grimacing.

“Get us out of here, Sam,” you groaned.

“Hard day’s work, princess?” Bucky rolled his eyes. You flipped him the finger and closed your eyes, trying to think about anything other than the pain in your back.

XXX

“Go hit the showers,” Sam suggested when you landed. You nodded and pushed yourself to your feet, stumbling across the helipad toward door to the stairs. You faltered a little on the top stair, but made your way down to your floor and into your room before you peeled off your uniform and headed toward the shower. You stunk, the mixed fragrance of sweat, blood and whatever chemicals had been in the plant clinging to your skin. 

You turned the shower on and stepped in, the heat making you dizzy. You slid down the wall, leaving a trail of blood behind you, and closed your eyes. Just a quick nap in the warmth of the shower, and you would feel tip-top again.

XXX

Bucky squinted in the mark on the floor inside the helicopter. There was a dark stain where you’d been laying. He reached down with his bare hand and rubbed his fingers across the sticky fluid, holding it up to his face. It smelled metallic. It only took a split second to realize it was blood. Your blood.

“Sam! She somehow got hit!” He took off at a run, skipping three and four stairs at a time as he vaulted down to your floor. Using his left side, he smashed through your door. He only paused long enough to hear the shower running, and notice the absence of your usual offkey singing before dashing toward the bathroom.

He pushed into the shower stall and found you. Your blood pooled around the drain, mixing with the water and you were pale. You looked so close to death, he didn’t even notice your nudity, scooping you up in his arms.

You roused just for a moment. “Bucky?”

“Why didn’t you say you’d been hit?” He growled, looking in the mirror to figure out where the blood was coming from. He pressed a towel against the wound and carried you out of your rooms, heading in the direction of the infirmary.

“Buck, I’m naked,” you mumbled.

“Yeah?”

“Why aren’t you? I bet you look amazing. All those muscles. Your abs especially. You should be naked if I’m naked. It’s only fair.” You were rambling. Bucky’s heart jerked, panicking. Rambling was bad.

“Sweetheart, you’re injured.” His voice vibrated against your chest and you leaned into him. 

“Just be gentle then,” you murmured before losing consciousness completely.

XXX

It was overwhelmingly bright, making you think maybe you were dead and in some cosmic waiting room. You opened one eye, and squinted against the brightness. You tried to reach up to rub your face, and got caught on something, a sharp quick pain to your hand making you flinch.

“Ow, fuck.”

“You gave us a scare, kid.” Sam’s voice was smooth and soothing.

“I got stabbed.”

“I know,” he laughed. “Hold tight, I’m gonna go get Bucky.”

“Why?” 

“Dude is over 100, and you scared another twenty years off him,” Sam laughed. “He’ll want to know you’re awake.”

You opened your eyes and took in the infirmary room. You found the controls on the bed and raised your head, squirming up a little so you weren’t so uncomfortable. You hadn’t noticed Sam leave until Bucky dashed in. 

When he saw you sitting up, he stopped and walked the rest of the way to the bedside slowly. He dropped into the seat Sam had vacated and stared you down.

“You should have told us.” His opening was on point.

“As if you care.” There was a cup full of ice chips on your overbed table, and you took a mouthful

“You’re a goddamn idiot, you know that?” he snapped. You choked on your ice, and he jumped up, leaning you forward to pound on your back. You pulled out of his hold, still coughing and threw the cup at him.

“Jesus, Barnes, if you hate me so fucking much, why are you even here?” You pushed him away and he fell back into the chair, looking surprised and hurt.

“Who said I hate you?” He asked, his voice quiet, and for the first time probably ever, gentle. 

“Every goddamn mission we go on, you treat me like I’m deadweight that you have to babysit. You’ve made it abundantly clear that you can’t stand me. What I can’t figure out is if it’s because I’m a woman, and you’re some oldtimey gentleman misogynist or if it’s something about me specifically,” you snapped. “You should leave, Barnes. I’m tired.”

Bucky shook his head and leaned forward. “I’m only going to say this once, so make sure you’re listening, princess.”

You closed your eyes, for some reason wanting to cry. “I don’t hate you. You take unnecessary risks in order to prove yourself when you really have nothing to prove, and that scares me. You’re more frustrating than Stevie was. You do crazy shit, and suddenly I can’t breathe because I think you’re going to die.”

You opened your eyes, narrowing them as he spoke.

“And maybe I am a backward old man? I don’t think I am? Nat’s probably the best assassin I’ve ever seen, and she’s a woman. And the Dora, the Dora are the best military unit in the world hands down. I think it’s just you. You bring it out in me -”

“I bring out your World War Two sexist dames are just for keeping at home shit?” You interrupted. Bucky laughed.

“No, princess, you don’t get it. I want to protect you. I want to make sure you come home,” he sighed.

“Why?”

“So that maybe someday I can tell you how much you mean to me,” he blurted out.

“And why would you tell me now?” Your voice was barely above a whisper.

“When I carried you here, you told me you wanted to see me naked. I figure, no one wants to see someone they hate naked, so maybe you have some complicated feelings too,” he shrugged. A single tear rolled down your cheek, and he reached over to wipe it away. “I was scared you might die. And I’d never told you. And you’re the first dame- first woman I’ve felt like this about since I can’t remember when, and -”

“Do you think there’s enough room in this bed for you to climb in?” you interrupted. He dropped his sweatshirt on the chair and kicked off his shoes. You wiggled a little trying to make space for you. He slid in beside you and tucked his arm up behind your neck, allowing you to curl into him.

“We’re idiots, Buck,” you murmured, laying a hand on his chest. He grasped the hand in his and brought it to his mouth, gently kissing your palm.

[karasunology]

⸙ ˚₊ ➷ NEKOMA WITH A SHY! ANXIOUS AND ASTHMATIC MANAGER ! ❞

✎ . . . hello since your requests are open may i request vbc teams (karasuno, nekoma and shiratorizawa) + shy manager with anxiety and asthma? i rlly am hungry for some team dynamics and your work is amazing so if you may? YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO IT IF YOU DON'T WANT TO DO IT THOUGH!

❝ ― submitted by @ nonnie <3 ❞

-ˏˋ ➶ character(s) ━ nekoma vbc <3

[ trigger warnings ━ none ]

✎ . . . TEAM MANAGER HEADCANONS.

[ other parts coming soon . . . ]

NEKOMA VBC.

➜ after finding out about karasuno having TWO managers now,

➜ like they  m u l t i p l i e d ✖➗➕➖

➜ and with taketora's failure of recruiting one,

➜ kuroo was PRACTICALLY BEGGING YOU to be their manager

➜ his reasons being and i quote; “ giving more motivation to the team ” and of course “ to show those bastards the sanctity of nekoma ”

➜ and rooster boi was a determined person, once he sets his mind to something ─ he will do everything to attain it

➜ you knew kuroo ever since you first started first year with him, the both of you quietly competing against each other on your collage preparatory class but soon grew closer to be called friends

➜ but he'd always call you his rival even though it was lowkey one-sided

➜ and after hearing that the club you joined in this year, just for the sake of joining; disbanded, and kuroo was UNASHAMED to ask of you to be the manager of their team

➜ it's been two ever since nekoma had a manager and he was TIRED™ of not having one and it was already his last year playing

➜ you having no other reasons to object, you agreed, but not without asking in a small voice to help you introduce yourself to the team

➜ you were shy to new people ─ hell, even after knowing him for three years you would still get shy around him

➜ and because of that, kuroo was already one step ahead of everything;

➜ talking to the reliable third years ─ kai and yaku, about looking out for you explaining your slight anxiety and asthma problems

➜ homeboy would have a team meeting just to discuss and announce about a new female manager

➜ YAMAMOTO DEAD ASS DROPPED ON HIS KNEES WITH TEARS ON HIS EYES AND PRAISED WHOEVER GAVE HIM THIS OPPORTUNITY

➜ the third years weren't shocked, since kuroo already had a word with them seperately

➜ LEV, BABY BOY WAS ECSTATIC, HE WAS ALWAYS IN FOR THE IDEA OF MEETING SOMEONE NEW

➜ kuroo knew that lev would be ALL UP ON HER FACE if he doesn't do anythibg about it, so he threatened on benching him if he ever does something to scare away this ONE CHANCE of having a real girl manager

➜ fukunaga was curious to say the least, he wondered how it would be like to have a girl manager helping them around since it's always him and yaku

➜ inuoka, being the bubbly boy he is, was excited to have a female manager, since it is his first year in the vbc

➜ kenma was just straight up vibin, he already knew alot about everything he needed to know about you because of kuroo

➜ but still listened as he played with his psp

➜ shibayama and tamahiko were neutral about it honestly, satisfied because their team needed a bit more motivation if they wanted to win nationals

➜ kuroo just wanted to make you feel comfortable and safe with the team

➜ genuinely, the team didn't know how it would honestly flow with actually meeting their manager

➜ scared of scaring her off, they remained uncharacteristically toned down abit right before they meet you

➜ kuroo opened the metal doors to the volleyball gym, while peaking your pretty little head out to see where the members where; you were shocked to see them straightening their backs the second they saw your head peaking out from behind kuroo

➜ it was . . silent, and it was weird since, you've once secretly dropped by on their practices and they were evidently chaotic just by the sounds of their voices which echoed around the gym

➜ your palpitations slowed down a bit as you fully showed yourself to the members before flusteredly bowing at them

“ I HOPE WE CAN GET ALONG ”

➜ it was quiet for a second, before you hear sobbing as you lifted your head up to see yamamoto trying not to cry

“ this, this is my first time having a female manager . . . ” with snot drooling from his nose

➜ being the worried sweet senpai manager you are, you hurriedly took out your unused napkin from your pocket which you packed for the sole purpose of avoiding smoke; offering the napkin to him as it only made him burst into TEARS streaming down his face

➜ like that scene where the third years and second years bursted in tears when kiyoko put up their banner?

➜ yeah that

➜ but it's just taketora LMAOO

➜ before their captain could tell him off, a small laugh came out of you and kuroo just looked at you like

➜ 👁👁

➜ kuroo : ma'AM DID YOU JUST ─

➜ cue kuroo also dying inside because YOU. RARELY. LAUGH.

➜ since you're more on the reserved side

➜ kai and yaku almost had to put their foot down because now you have broken their captain until you spoke out

“ i was honestly anxious when you guys were quiet, since i've never seen you guys as serious whenever i try and drop by to look. ”

➜ in the end of the meeting you've got acquaintaned yourself with shibayama and inouka, though the former seemed a bit flustered.

➜ you've also hold a small conversation with kenma, the both of you kinda clicked right away since both of you were a bit shy aswell. while you listened to lev rambling excitedly, not noticing your slight trembling figure

➜ bECAUSE MANS WAS A WHOLE ASS ONE FOOT TALLER THAN YOU

➜ after meeting them, the team had already attached themselves in your heart

➜ baby girl you are ATTACHED

➜ though it was subtle but you've noticed how the boys really cared about you ─ bruh even coach nekomata since he has noticed that you are a great asset to the team

➜ if not yaku, kai would always remind you of taking your meds for your asthma if you ever have been prescribed one

➜ kenma would always be the first one to notice if you were ever tensed up or your anxiety was acting up

➜ since he's very perceptive and observant

➜ he'd grow a soft spot for you and if he ever sees you stressed, he'd let you borrow his psp

➜ shibayama, inouka, fukunaga and tamahiko would ALWAYS help you carry stuff around because they don't want your asthma to act up or else tHEY WILL ACT UP

➜ fukunaga would always tell you his jokes since now he finally has someone to tell them to whenever he's in the sidelines watching the others play

➜ yamamoto would PROTECT you from any dangers, like literally, mans knew he was done for the day you gave him your napkin 👁👄👁

➜ you're literally one of the first girls he isn't shy to talk to and one of the first girls to not scurry away whenever he's near

➜ as i said, yaku would BE YOUR MOTHER, he'd one step ahead with having extra masks for you on his bag and an extra inhaler he borrowed from you in case you have forgotten yours

➜ LEV, KUROO & YAMAMOTO ARE YOUR BODY GUARDS AND THAT'S ON PERIODT😡💅

➜ period. periodt. periodism. periodic table.

➜ would not let any guy from other teams come your way and bother you while being the good manager you are

➜ and while doing so, shows you off as they are basically saying “ this is the sanctity of nekoma, you bastards wish you were us. ”

➜ these boys CARE FOR YOU like alot and they love it when you reciprocate their love

➜ whenever you surprise them every other day with their favourite snacks despite always being anxious of looking at the eyes of the guy on cash register,

➜ always having their towels and waterbottles ready for them to use after practice

➜ giving them clarity of mind before a match and whenever the non-regulars start to feel insecure

➜ overall, they'd be the sweetest boys of yours that would give and likely to give you the world to you as you would to them😡💝

-ˏˋ playing soleil's tape ˊˎ-

[ 📼 ] . . . i'm crying bubs, y'all had me at 200 last night ?? um okay i didn't even know people like me enought to even follow me 🥺 y'all cute or whateva😳✋ i'm not even DONE WITH MY LOVE LANGUAGE HEADCANONS FOR 100 FOLLOWERS HSJSJDJ but here's a manger headcanons mini series one of my nonnie's requested for to celebrate 200 of you guys !! <33

[ 📼 ] . . . I also know a bit of about asthma because i also had experience with it when i was young, and my little brother still has them while i've already grown out of it.

[pascalpanic]

Blood, Sweat, and Tears (Javier Peña x f!Reader)- Chapter Two

Summary: Javier Peña has been on your mind since your first chance meeting, and you’ve been on his. 

W/C: 2.2k

Warnings: language, Javi has dirty thoughts about reader but nothing is explicit

A/N: This chapter is kind of exposition heavy, so I’m going to post Chapter Three pretty quick after this! That’s where things start picking up.

previous chapter | next chapter

 Two nights later, you finish your shift at 2:04 A.M. once more. It was far from as bad as a few nights ago, the night the woman died from the gunshot. The night you met Javier. 

You had thought about the man a lot. He’d given you his business card, in case you ever needed American help, but you knew it was just for the phone on his desk in his office. It wouldn’t really connect you to him. 

He was handsome, and you had caught yourself daydreaming often over the next two days. Thinking about his eyes, his beautiful dark brown hair, the way his mustache worked perfectly on him. 

Finally, you caught Connie as she was walking in. You grabbed her arm quickly and gave her a smile. “Hey, Connie. Can we talk quick?” You ask, and she nods, confused. You pull her into the nurses’ break room and lock the door, and her brow furrows. 

“What’s up?” She asks, very confused. 

“I, uh… what do you know about Javier Peña?” You ask, letting go of her hand and standing a bit back from her. Your crush might be evident in your voice, you have to admit. 

Connie raises an eyebrow and those massive blue eyes grow slightly wider. “What about Javier? What do you know about him, did something happen? Please don’t tell me don’t tell me you’re in some kind of trouble-,”

“No, no, it’s nothing bad,” you ensure, a dopey smile on your face. “I met him the other night at the gym, actually,” you chuckle, tightening your ponytail. Your nervous giveaway. “He seems really nice, and we talked and we figured out that I know you and obviously you know him, and-“ you start to ramble.

Connie cuts you off, holding your forearm and leading you to the table, sitting down in a way that suggests you should too. “What do you know about him?” She asks again, concerned, but you give her a knowing look.

“We all know Steve isn’t a janitor, Connie. I was talking with Javier, I figured out he’s… DEA,” you say in a hushed tone. Connie’s eyes widen but you shake your head again quickly. “It’s okay, I promise I’m not working for Escobar or anything. I told him that too, as I guessed it, and he told me I was right. He’s really damn cute,” you laugh nervously, admitting. “Does he have a- is he… single? Available?”

The nerves fade as Connie realizes the reason you pulled her in here. “Honey, Javier is a total playboy. He sleeps with a lot of women around here,” she admits, making you warm inside from a light amount of embarrassment. “Like… a lot. He’s a really great guy though, and it’s funny that you ran into him like that,” she says, trying to put a positive spin on things, as her style is very much trademarked by. 

“So… you’re saying I shouldn’t really…”

Connie shrugs a little, blonde ponytail swinging behind her. “It’s not gonna be something serious,” she shakes her head, taking your hand in hers. “And I really want the best for you, and for Javier. You’re both two people I really like and want to be happy.” She smiles softly, leaving you smiling back. Her energy is infectious, no matter what mood it is. “Just keep that in mind if you happen to run into him again.” She gives your hand a gentle pat and stands. “Go on home, girl,” she says and waves you towards the door, unlocking and opening it. 

You nod, swinging your purse over one shoulder and your gym bag over the other. “Thanks, Connie. You’re amazing,” you say, patting her shoulder as you leave the room. 

Against her advice, you don’t go home. You want to see Javier again, want to risk it, and so you walk the opposite way: towards the gym. 

-

You had been on his mind lately too. You were beautiful, and so kind and innocent. Your excitement over seeing another American made him chuckle a little when he thought about it, usually earning some kind of tease from Murphy across the desk. 

Javier had casually asked about you, mentioning your name to Steve, but he said he’d never heard Connie mention that name. He brushed it off and said it was something he was looking into for that hit the other night- technically not a lie. 

He thought about your ass in those leggings, the way your chest jiggled in that tight top, your ponytail bobbing along. 

No, he couldn’t deny it, he found you incredibly attractive. It wasn’t just your body, though he did find that to be something else entirely. You seemed like such a good person, and he analyzed every word you said to him that night. How the hell could a person stay in a foreign nation after being dumped, especially in a place like Bogotá? You stayed because you helped the hospital, and the thought was novel. You must be really stupid or really kind, he thought to himself. Maybe both. 

He had stayed late at work for two nights, which was unsurprising considering his workload, but he had forced himself to go home around nightfall.

Tonight, however, was late, and he found himself thinking he’d just keep working and then he’d hit the gym on the way home. It was entirely for his health, not to see if he could run into you again. He knew nursing held odd hours, especially in a place like this, but he hoped that maybe he could catch you again. 

It wasn’t often that Javier takes on more work, but he even dares to take one or two of Steve’s files tonight. Out of the goodness of his heart, he tells himself, not so he can stick around until specifically the 2:00 hour rolls around. 

-

When you finally reach the gym, you lock yourself in the bathroom and change into a fresh pair of clothes for working out: leggings, an old tank top, and your running shoes. 

You hum to yourself as you lock your bag in the metal cubbies and find your way to the boombox, turning on the American station again. You don’t know if he’ll show up tonight, but it’s all you want. To see him again, to keep talking with him. He was fascinating when he finally opened up a little more last time. He talked about his favorite bar in town, his latest work assignment, what life was like growing up in Laredo. He was funny, too, sneaking sarcastic little remarks in between comments. It was nice to talk to someone who understood. Especially nice considering he spoke English. 

You hop on the treadmill with a little extra pep in your step, starting with a jog. 

The treadmill runs a thirty-minute period, and you sigh in relief and slowly walk as it makes you cool down after the intense workout. The sigh has an additional meaning: no Peña to be found. You head to the weight rack, hoping to bide additional time and maybe catch the man. No one has used the rack since him, you notice, or whoever did last uses the same weight. You get beneath it and give it a push: it’s not really too bad. He was grunting and groaning over this?

The door creaks and you look up, grinning as you spot a dark brown head of hair and a mustache to match. “You call this weightlifting?” You tease as he walks in. “I did this when I was like 13.”

The man smiles as he hears your voice. “I’m kind of out of shape,” he admits as he walks in, locking his bag in a cubby as well. “Trying to get back into things.”

“At 2:07?”

“You’re here too, are you not?”

“Touché,” you shrug, setting the bar down again. He groans as he gets on the treadmill, starting the machine up. A few moments pass, each of you doing your own thing. “Another tough night?” Javier shakes his head. “When isn’t it?” he groans, running a hand through that dark hair you’ve been thinking about far too much for comfort lately. You give a little nod, which he sees in the mirrored wall. “Lots of paperwork, no paper trail whatsoever. Escobar is a slippery bastard.”

You nod again, taking in his words. As much as you had been dreaming of this situation for the past days, you aren’t quite sure what to say now. To be honest, you’re exhausted from the long shift and from your full running session. The silence rests for a moment before your thoughts slip from your mouth before you can stop them. “Are you a field agent? Like, do you do stakeouts and stuff?”

The innocence and curiosity in your voice makes Javier smile a little. “I am, and you could say that. That kind of thing, follow up on warrants, gather information.” He bites his lip a little at the last bit- gather information. Yeah, that’s what he does, just… in an unconventional way. 

“Have you ever met Escobar? Like, I know he got put in La Catedral, did you meet him then or anything?” You ask, a little more excited and intrigued than you’re hoping to sound. It’s interesting, though. 

The man seems to humor you by answering. “No, we got close a couple of times, but I’ve never met him or seen him in person.” He keeps running, making his answers a little choppy from his heavy breathing. 

You nod at that. “Interesting.” You sit up, running a hand over your damp face. “I… I’d love to keep chatting, but I’m kind of exhausted. I did my whole workout before I got here, and I just worked a long shift, which means my back is kind of killing me…” you trail off, wishing you didn’t feel so close to falling asleep. He nods, understanding. “I did get to talk with Connie Murphy tonight though,” your mouth babbles, before you can catch it. 

“Oh, about what?” he asks, raising an eyebrow.

“I mentioned that I met you, that I thought it was funny we ran into each other.” “And what did she tell you about me?” he asks with a groan, knowing that Connie probably knew his bad habits better than Steve. Connie was better at observing, noticing one too many Jack Daniels bottles or a spare pair of panties left around his apartment. 

You shrug, not wanting to give your hand away quite yet. “Well, she thought we all still thought Steve was a janitor at the embassy. She tells people that, did you know that? We all know that’s bullshit,” you laugh and shake your head, grabbing your sweatshirt from your locker. “She also told me she thinks you and Steve are sleeping together,” you say, your face hidden from him and holding a sneaky smile.

“What?” Javier whips around, almost falling off the still-moving treadmill. “Why the fuck would she think that?” he exclaims, actually curious as to what would put the thought in her mind. 

You turn, barely holding in a fit of giggles, biting your lip to hold a smile. His confused and almost angry expression cracks into a smile and he shakes his head, causing you to finally let the laughter out. “Oh my god, the way you reacted, maybe you are,” you tease, unable to hold back the smile. “No, she didn’t say that,” you laugh as you pull the warm material over your cooling skin. “She didn’t say much,” you bluff. It’s different to see this man with the knowledge you do have, fully cognizant that his body count is probably very high- sexually, although he may have a high kill count too, you realize.

“Well, that’s good,” he chuckles and turns again. 

“Good, huh? You got some deep dark secret?” you ask, tossing your drawstring bag over you shoulder and folding your arms across your chest.

Javier rolls his eyes, but he’s still smiling. “Go home, you’re tired,” he tells you, hopping back onto the rolling track and jogging along to it.

“I’m taking that as a yes,” you call out behind you as you walk out of the gym, the night air hitting your sweaty skin and feeling wonderful. You let out a deep sigh, giggling to yourself as you walk along, your arms wrapped tight around yourself. You had made him laugh.

-

The man is smiling as you leave too, continuing to run for a minute or two more before stopping. He’s tired, and besides, the reason he came here just left. He lets out a soft chuckle as he remembers you teasing him, his face tingeing pink as he thinks of your sarcastic attitude. Javier leaves the gym about eight minutes after you, a similar smile gracing his face as he walks down the darkened streets of Bogotá, back to his apartment.

[natromanxoff]

14 - Ramblings...

Hi everybody Here's a quick few notes from a wintery Bondi. Did we all remember Live Aid? It's hard to believe it was 13 years ago, I can still remember the day like it was last week. I know I've babbled on about the show before so I won't go on again, but after the concert there was an official Live Aid party at a club in London called Legends, so of course we all rocked up to it. As we walked through the doors the first thing you heard and saw was Cliff Richard, playing an acoustic guitar and singing Bachelor Boy, or some other piece of rubbish. I suppose we can all be thankful he wasn't dancing. Anyway, the bash was a bit laid back so after about half hour we piled back into the limo's and headed back to Garden Lodge to celebrate properly, and proceeded to get legless.

Around 6am I decided it was time to go home, so I strolled out and jumped into a cab. As soon as we were moving the cabbie said, "Did you watch any of Live Aid today? I saw some of it and my two daughters are Queen fans and got me to sit down and watch them, they were amazing." He then just kept on and on about how good the band was, and this wasn't for my benefit 'cause I didn't get in outside Fred's place, and I didn't tell him I was there and what I did, so it was a genuine rave. We stopped the cab for a bit so I could get all the papers, and I couldn't help sniggering at the fact that I was on the front page of everyone of them sitting behind Charles and Di. When I finally got home I came clean with the cab driver about what I did for a living, and handed him a souvenir for his daughters, and I gave him Freddies Live Aid backstage pass, and do you know what, the bastard still made me pay and accepted a tip.

A few day's ago a Sydney radio station, Triple J, had a three hour Queen special on, complete with live stuff and interviews, and it was really quite good, although I didn't listen to all of it. I don't know if it was the red wine, but it suddenly seemed weird hearing Freddie's voice again so I sent a fax of to Phoebe, and whilst writing it, It's A Hard Life came on, and once again I had a flashback to the making of the video, which I did remind Phoebe of. We made the vid in Munich, in what was the newest studio in Europe, very hi-tech. Tim Pope was the director on this one, recommended by Roger because we used him on the Man On Fire video, and he was very good. But on his one, maybe because he had a bigger budget, I dunno, he became so slow and useless it was beyond belief. At one point he was doing a lighting change and was taking so long we just upped and went to the beer gardens and returned in much better moods. The night before the shoot we all went out to dinner, had a couple of bottles of plonk, and advised the band that in their best interest they should go to bed very early, and they took my advice.

That was too easy. So we took them back to the Hilton and Phoebe and me continued with our master plan of going out for a few drinks without them, starting at the Sugar Shack and then onto where ever. We were very naughty little boys, and as we fell back to the hotel at 7am we agreed that the first one up call the other. No problem. Phoebe went off to the PPP, and I off to the HH. Back in our respective rooms we booked wake up calls for 9am, confident at the fact we could wake. At least Mr Freestone answered his phone, but when Freddie went into his room to see where he was, he was wrapped in telephone cable, because he had picked the phone up and gone back to sleep and rolled over. Later in the day we were informed it was a rather amusing sight.

As for your's truly, I had a very rude awakening, with a certain drummer standing at the end of my bed yelling something like, "Oi, wake up, you're supposed to get me up you...(fill in what you like here). When Felix, Rogers eldest boy saw the finished video he said, "Why does Freddie look like a prawn?" From that day on, that red getup was known as 'The Prawn Outfit'. And to top it all, in mine, and quite a few other peoples opinion as well, the video is a pile of crap.

Finally, and this is only for people in Australia, a few years ago a friend of ours introduced us to her new boyfriend, and he had to be a roadie/tech, or whatever they call themselves these days. Anyway, we had a few little drinkies and told a few war stories, and it turned out he had been on tour in Europe with Tori Amos and he collects gig posters from the venues, and he said he had something for me but I couldn't have it until it was mounted. A couple of days later he turned up at my place with a wonderfully mounted poster from Bonn, Germany. It's dated 22.5.90 and it's The Cross live at the Biskuithalle, and it has The Mad, Bad and Dangerous To Know logo and a great photo of the guys. No disrespect to Roger or the band, but I have no use whatsoever for it, and it's been tucked away behind the washing machine for the last four years, so if anybody wants it send your name and address to Jacky at the fan club and she will send them onto me (please) I will then pick a person and send it on to whoever, that's if anyone replies, if I don't get a response in a week it goes in the bin. If there is more than one reply I'll give it to the person who comes up with the best reason to have it. For those who understand code. Farewell DMF, it was fun. Maybe that prat will disappear as well. Loadsa Luv

Crystal

[aceofspadegrass]

Do not take this that seriously but.....

Imagine, okay? That one day Hatter woke up at three in the morning, throwing a pillow at Aguni who fell asleep on the couch after a very tense game of I Spy, and then rambling about a very wonderful idea he had thanks to his brain simply being that feral.

" A beauty pageant!" He tells him, and Aguni is probably half asleep, but he hears Hatter anyways and it takes him twelve whole seconds to process the idea, and just goes right back to sleep.

..... Only to be smacked with a second pillow. And then an empty box of cookies.

Cue to the morning, where Hatter holds a meeting with the important squad, plus Arisu, Usagi, and Tatta ( Purely because Tatta is a treat and we're running on 'Tatta deserves a lot more than what he gets' rules) and tells them all about this very brilliant, very sexy idea.

Of course, there are mixed reviews on the idea, but Hatter is a convincing bastard, and two days later they're holding a pageant with the squad.

(Thanks to the fact that a good chunk of the actors are models of some type and have a fashion sense, they look absolutely amazing.)

Now, here's where the funny bit comes in. For absolutely zero reason at all, Hatter convinced them to do a sort of clothing swap section, where typically feminine-oriented outfits are worn by the men, and the masculine-oriented outfits are worn my the women.

So that means they may get to see Ann in a suit, which is great.

Mira probably showed up in like...... a suit with a top hat and cane. Why? Why not.

That also means, for literally no reason, they manage to wrestle a wedding dress and veil onto Last Boss. Why him? Because Chishiya hid the moment Hatter brought it up, and Niragi bit Aguni and was put in the naughty corner.

They could've put it on any of the others, but apparently Hatter wanted Arisu in more casual spring wear. Tatta got a summer dress and like.... one of those small light jackets. And a new hat.

Chishiya and Niragi still had to join in though. Just not in the wedding dress.

Kuzuryuu wasn't exempt from this either. Business style time.

Oh, and of course Hatter and Aguni joined in, Hatter wasn't gonna let this happen without also joining in.

They probably all had a bit of fun with it though. :D