#i know i know she's a new character plus they don't want to step on the show's toes

[loquaciousquark]

you have been my #1 favorite fanfic author of all time for like 7-8 years now for your fenhawke and ive always thought "god i would give anything for quark to write solavellan" but i respected that it wasnt your thing. so imagine the pure unbridled euphoria of checking in on your blog this week to see that he finally got to you. i actually screamed. whatever you come up with i know it is going to absolutely change my life and i am so excited <3

i’m so. sad. i'm SO sad. i was so happy for a decade just being mildly annoyed every time he crossed my dash and now i am having feelings and opinions and i don’t WANT THEM and the only way to get rid of them is to write them out of me, this is why i don’t love fenris or astarion at all anymore obviously

and like, I still don’t love Solas! I still think some things he does and some goals he has are really, really stupid! but this character I created to love him really loves him, and I really love her and want her to be happy even though she lives only inside my head, and that means I need to lay down some structure around her romance to get the shape of it, to build something I can make sense of. I may not love him, but I like him much more than I did, and I certainly understand him better than I did the first time around.

And to be honest, there’s a part of me glad I’m coming to it as late as I have. I don’t think I’ve ever read a single Solavellan fic in my life (I actually had to pause here to check the spelling). I have NO idea what tropes are popular with him or what interpretations are the biggest. I have a lot of opinions on how his personality and identity work in a romance with this particular character I’ve created, but because I’ve been so siloed I have no idea if I’m bucking the grain or not, which is fine by me.

Plus, it helps I’m not going to have ten years to build up a lot of personal headcanons and jossable thoughts before playing the new game. I’m not someone who easily ignores canon when it clashes with my imagination for the major things, so I think this will (hopefully) keep me from major disappointments.

It's kinda funny; earlier today I was going back through my DAI tag and reminding myself of all my impressions from the first time I played the game. Some of them I definitely still stand by; others have completely changed. I even said twice that a Lavellan/Solas romance would be my next playthrough, which was true if ten years late.

But it's things like: apparently the first time through I loved Solas and Sera, both of which certainly were not true going into this replay. (I barely even have a memory of Solas and Priory ever being in the party together, though the historical records say I took him to Adamant.) I apparently had a lot of hopes Gideon Emery would be voicing Fenris. I originally thought Priory was going to romance Bull, which is very ?????? after all this time. (I did still, even then, know Here Lies the Abyss completely broke her as a character, and ten years on I never could fix her for good.)

I really did not expect to change my mind on Solas going into this replay, I guess is the point. I replayed because knowing the story of DAI and Solas, I felt it was a story most personalized to elves and specifically a Solas-romancing Lavellan, and that was the worldstate I wanted to take into the new game. I played it out because that's the kind of person I am (I can't just invent characters wholesale in my head) but I really thought it was going to be a perfunctory playthrough as a stepping stone to a different game and a different PC and (presumably) a different romance. I didn't expect to love this character as much as I do, and even if I don't have ten years to write her out the way I did Hawke, I feel like I still owe it to her & her doomed romance to give her a little time in the spotlight. Lucky girl!

[mixelation]

i read through part 2. spoilers i guess. also, again, if you can't handle reading critique of a professionally published book, don't read

so the reviews on storygraphs indicate a lot of people were frustrated with part 1 because zetian is basically confined to a room the whole time. i do think this whole section could have been condensed by a lot because it was pretty repetitive and filled with a lot of characters just explaining "laborism" (communism, basically) to each other and also with the nuance and vocabulary of the average twitter user, but i don't actually think it was a bad writing choice. it lets the breakneck speed of the previous book take a break and lets zetian orient herself to the next step in her... whatever her plan is. she is a uneducated 18 year old whose only talent is having a lot of qi, suddenly being handed a crown and betrothed to an emperor deadset on revolutionizing society. seeing her learn to navigate this new type of life is genuinely an interesting concept

so what is zetian's plan? one of my big criticisms of this series in general is that what Zetian is even trying to do at any given moment is frequently completely unclear. if you read my Iron Widow review, I said that the later ~2/3s of the book feel really unfocused because Zetian doesn't have a real goal or driving force. things just happen because the plot requires them to happen. Heavenly Tyrant is..... a little better about this. Zetian wants to kill the "gods" and get Shimin back. Qin Zheng, the emperor, also wants to kill the gods. This part is solid and the plotting revolving around making this happen while the gods can see their every move is easy to follow with clear action -> consequence.

but then there's zetian's other goals about making society better, especially for women. she doesn't seem to have.... any sort of real plan here? she has very few specific goals for improving the lives of women, and when she does come up with a goal (like getting more female pilots), it's often unclear how exactly she thinks her actions will lead to the outcome she wants or what the outcome will look like. then some outcome happens and it feels more like we just hit that part of the story outline rather than an organic consequence of characters' actions. and "zetian keeps doing shit despite being bad at planning" is a fine character trait, don't get me wrong, but the writing is not good enough to make this feel like it's what's happening instead of just a bunch of "just trust me bro" moments

another complaint i had about Iron Widow is that we get told all these worldbuilding details for qi and how the mechs work, but none of it is actually used to be plot relevant. this.... also gets a little better. but not a lot better. mostly we just see Zetian struggling in battle a lot, even though she should theoretically be more experienced and have all this special training from Qin Zheng, which made me wonder why she's the empress at all. she's bad at politics and she keeps flubbing her robot battles. oh, plus-- the fights are not written super well. i know Zetian can pull the tails off her nine tailed fox mech and form them into lances, but i still don't really know what a hundun looks like??? also what happens to the lances she drops? and they just gone? what's happening

we do slowly see her get better at politics in part 2, but it's slow going and also largely boring. the "laborism" theory as presented feels juvenile and a lot of the societal problems are just "telling" and not "showing." there's a few scenes where we actually get to see problems illustrated, but they're few and far between, and there's so much boring internal monologues and poorly written dialogue spaced between them.

and guys.... the dialogue. it's so bad. everyone speaks with the exact same voice, and that one voice does not adequately mimic how real humans speak. there's a line where "and/or" literally appears in the dialogue.* every other spoken sentence ends with an exclamation mark. i grew up reading fanfiction so more exclamations mark than usual seems fine to me, but it's SO MANY. plus a lot of descriptions are written like the writer is unsure of what things are actually called? i don't know how to describe this feeling but i don't like it. it's like a watered down version of when fanfics will say stuff like "an oven-like device"

*yes i KNOW some people say this irl. i say this sometimes. do you think an ancient emperor who speaks with a cockney accent** says this???

**I'M NOT MAKING THIS UP

i don't think i really talked about this in my Iron Widow review, but this series has a lot of characters that are there for structural support and nothing else. an example in Iron Widow would be Sima Yi, who's there because a strategist character is needed, but barely has a personality and zero interesting things about him. there's no point to him except that this specific type of role needs to be played by someone. and that's fine in small doses. some characters are just there to be the usher at the theatre. Heavenly Tyrant is better at making its side characters actual characters (like Wan'er and Taiping), but then there's still more and more named characters you have to keep track of who are barely characters. like in part 2, Qin Zheng has to go into quarantine for... almost all of part 2, so Zetian needs a new copilot and recruits two prisoners. one of them is basically not there, and the other is a guy named Di Renjie whose narrative job is to be there and occasionally lecture other people about prison reform to remind you that he is a person. he's barely present at all and has no emotional or narrative impact, so it doesn't feel like much when he dies. there's not enough room in the novel to flesh him out (it's not impossible to communicate a character quickly, but this book doesn't seem to be good enough at character writing to do this) or to explore the absolutely horrific situation zetian forced him into, even though this seems like it definitely should be explored because it's what happened to her. he's just there because the plot needs her to have a copilot who's not qin zheng. zetian does spare a few thoughts of guilt about di renjie, but he's very much a non-character

as for the quarantine thing..... qin zheng gets confined to a single "sterile" room because his 200 year old body supposedly has no immunity to modern pathogens. my educated scientific opinion was "that is bullshit evolutionary biology" so (SPOILERS) i was relieved when it turned out to be a lie. however i need you to understand that that is the tone of this book. i read a completely bullshit explanation, knew it was bullshit, but everything is so overexplained yet immature that I was just like "yeah, seems like that's real for this world"

i will say the Fake Quarantine Reveal briefly had me excited. but i have read the first couple chapters of part 3 and it's just about sex. these two do not have enough chemistry to make this interesting or spicy, and you guys know i love characters who hate each other so much they simply must have sex about it. nope, these two just regular hate each other and their interactions are largely unpleasant. please bring back the plot

their safeword is "private property" and once again i am choosing to believe this is a joke for my own sanity

i've been reading heavenly tyrant (the sequel to iron widow by xiran jay zhao). thoughts after finishing the first part below the cut.

note my impression is mostly critical so far, and so clicking will reveal negativity. i assume most people have control over their own ability to gauge if they can handle this or not, but i've been proved wrong before

bullet points:

i feel the writing has improved on a structural level, but frequently veers into strange twitter-esque rants about the evils of capitalism? and often there are very first draft vibes to descriptions

there is a scene-- i shit you not-- where zetian accuses qin zheng (a legendary emperor who was frozen for 200 years that zetian woke up) of treating her like he owns her, and then makes a quip about how a guy who's against private property shouldn't be like that. qin zheng then replies-- i shit you not-- by explaining the difference between private and personal property. then he says something like "i have to go reform the education system" and leaves. i choose to believe this is a joke for my own sanity, but it is genuinely unclear

one of my complaints about iron widow is that the last 2/3-ish of the book seem to lack focus because zetian doesn't really have a specific goal, she's just doing stuff. in the first third of this installment, she spends 85% of her time confined to a single room. so now she doesn't seem to have much of a goal (she keeps talking about learning how qin zheng became powerful, taking that power, and killing him... but it's unclear why she wants to do this or what she thinks will happen if she succeeds) AND she's not even doing stuff.

i do like qin zheng more than shimin or yizhi. probably because he is the only one in this book making any sort of decisions. that being said, his ~toxic situationmance~ with zetian isn't... like... fun? they just don't like each other

if you liked yizhi or shimin then bad news!!!! they're barely here!!!! i didn't really care so i'm having fun with this new guy. how are you going to uplift the common man but live in a palace, new guy? hmm?

also zetian has gone from "ridiculous but fun to watch break things" to just like. unlikeable. it's to the point where it's hard to feel bad for her because some of her problems really do feel like they wouldn't exist if she was just, like, polite.

ANOTHER complaint i had about iron widow was that there was too much telling instead of showing. i felt this had improved a little with heavenly tyrant, as we see zetian actually attempting positive interactions with women (one of her repeatedly stated goals in the first book was wanting to help girls, and yet we barely saw her give a shit about any individual woman) and the narrative actually gives itself enough room to have zetian and qin zheng interact. however qin zheng keeps giving speeches about new policies he's going to use to fix society and folks, we have not been shown all these societal problems. like at all. there's medical debt? educational debt? no named character has these problems. i did not know these problems existed in this society before this speech.

also his big plans really do read like a 16 year old on tumblr making up an imaginary government based on some posts they read and 0 real world experience. slay

a lot of the reviews on storygraph complain it's too slow but honestly i read the first ten chapters really quickly because like. what is happening here. we'll see if anything manages to happen in the next part

[tremendouskoalachild]

considering Viess was an adult when we first met her and an active combatant over 150 years later... it seems reasonable that Vernestra, a child 200 years before the prequels and a jedi, could live to the movie timeline. and the fact that a jedi as important as her hasn't been mentioned as a current or recent member in anything after the show, even recent material, is juuust a little bit scary to me.

[deansbeer]

where the waves rest easy ⎯⎯ DEAN WINCHESTER.

⎯⎯ you and dean take the kids to the beach, where he opens up about his past, his love for you, and the life you've built together after leaving hunting behind.

♡ KARI YAPS! @deanswidow also contributed a tiny lil idea 4 this so dedicating this 2 her <3 ur dean's babygirl bc it felt right 🤍 love u pooks !!!!!

♡ WARNING(S) fluff | angst | family bonding | mentions of past violence | major character death (pls dont hate me I’ll cry) | grief. mdni ♱ 18 plus. adult content.

📖 JACKLES library.

IT'S BEEN TWO YEARS SINCE DEAN QUIT HUNTING.

two years since he put the colt and his sawed-off shotgun away for good. since he walked away from the life that had defined him for so long. since he said goodbye to the monsters, the blood, and the constant weight of death hanging over him.

two years since sam died.

god, you still catch him looking at the horizon sometimes, his jaw tight, his hands clenched into fists like he's bracing himself for something—like he's expecting the next apocalypse to come knocking at your front door. but it never does.

because dean walked away.

he walked away for you. for your family. for SAMMY, the little boy with his brother's name and his father's stubbornness. for JEMMA, the baby girl who's only been on this earth eight months and already has DEAN WINCHESTER wrapped around her tiny fingers. he walked away because he couldn't do it anymore—because burying his brother nearly killed him, and he knew if he didn't stop, he'd be burying you next. or the kids. or himself.

and you know sam would've wanted this for him. he would've wanted dean to have what they'd always dreamed about when they were kids: a home, a family, a life that wasn't overshadowed by death and duty.

so dean quit.

he got a job as a firefighter, of all things—because of course he did. being a firefighter lets him save people without the baggage of what came with hunting. it's hard work, but it's honest work, and it keeps his hands busy. it keeps his mind busy, too, most of the time. and you? you're a kindergarten teacher, which means your days are filled with crayons, storytime, and glue-sticked chaos.

it's not the life he ever thought he'd have—hell, it's not the life he ever thought he deserved—but he loves it. he loves you. he loves his kids. and even on the hard days, when the itch to hunt creeps up on him, or when he sees something on the news that makes his instincts scream at him to grab his gun, he reminds himself why he stopped. why he has to stay.

because this is worth it.

you and the kids are worth it.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

it's a friday when DEAN suggests going to the beach.

you both decided to take a day off—something rare, since your lives are usually so busy between work and the kids. but today, the sun is shining, the weather's perfect, and dean woke up with that lopsided grin you love so much, the one that makes him look ten years younger.

"whaddya think?" he asks as he pours you a cup of coffee, jemma balanced on his hip like she's always belonged there. "a beach day? sammy's been talking about it all week, and i think the squirt here could use her first dip in the ocean, don't you?"

you laugh, taking the coffee from him and leaning up to kiss his cheek. "sounds perfect."

so you pack up BABY with towels, sunscreen, a cooler full of snacks, and all the other million things you need when you have two kids under three. sammy's bouncing with excitement the entire drive, and jemma babbles happily from her car seat, her chubby hands reaching for DEAN every time he glances back to check on her. what a daddy's girl.

when you finally get to the beach, the first thing you notice is how peaceful it is. it's not too crowded—just a few families scattered along the sand, kids building castles and couples lounging under umbrellas.

and you can tell the moment DEAN steps onto the sand that this place means something to him.

you've been here before, of course—this is where he proposed to you. but there's something about the way he looks at the water, the way he takes a deep breath like he's letting go of something heavy, that makes you realize just how much this spot actually means to him.

"you okay, baby?" you ask softly, slipping your hand into his.

he turns to you, and for a moment, the smile he gives you is so FULL of love it makes your chest ache. "yeah, sweetheart," he says. "just… this place. it kinda reminds me why i'm here, y'know?"

you nod, squeezing his hand. and then sammy tugs on his leg, demanding to go play in the water, and DEAN laughs, scooping him up and spinning him around before setting him down and chasing after him.

you watch them run toward the waves, and your heart feels so full it might burst.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

a little while later, you're walking along the shore with him, jemma cradled in his arms. sammy's still splashing in the water, his laughter carried on the breeze, and you can't help but smile as you watch him. he really is a miniature version of DEAN—same green eyes, same freckles, same mischievous grin.

"he's got your stubbornness, too," you say, nudging DEAN with your shoulder.

he chuckles. "yeah, well, he gets that from both of us, sweetheart. don't kid yourself."

you laugh, leaning your head against his bicep as you walk. the sand is warm beneath your feet, the waves lapping gently at the shore, and for a moment, everything feels perfect.

"you remember why i proposed to you here?" he asks suddenly, his voice soft.

you look up at him, surprised. "of course i do. but i wouldn't mind hearing it again."

he smiles, his eyes distant for a moment as he looks out at the water. "it was right after we found out sammy was on the way," he says. "i was scared out of my fucking mind, if i'm being honest. not about you—about being a dad. about screwing it all up. but then we came here, and you were sitting right there"—he nods toward a spot near the water—"and you just looked so… happy. like you weren't worried about anything. and i realized that if i was gonna do this—if i was gonna have a family, a real life—it had to be with you. because you make everything better, y'know? even when it's scary. especially when it's scary."

his voice cracks a little at the end, and you blink back tears, reaching up to cup his face. "baby…"

"i mean it," he says, his voice rough. "you saved me, sweetheart. you and the kids—you're the reason i'm still here. the reason i didn't just… give up after sam."

you kiss him then, pouring everything you feel into it. he kisses you back, jemma squirming a little between you but not enough to break the moment.

when you finally pull away, you're both smiling, and for the first time in a long time, you see nothing but peace in his eyes.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

the rest of the day is spent soaking up the sun, building sandcastles, and chasing sammy around the beach. DEAN lets him bury him in the sand at one point, laughing as both SAMMY and JEMMA work together to pile sand on top of him.

"i think they're plotting against me," he says, grinning up at you from his sandy grave.

"probably," you reply, laughing as jemma pats a handful of sand onto his chest.

as the sun starts to set, dean takes both kids down to the water to look for crabs. sammy's eyes light up every time he spots one, and jemma claps her hands excitedly, even though you're pretty sure she doesn't know what's going on.

you watch them from a distance, your hand resting on your stomach. it's still early—you haven't told DEAN yet—but you know he'll be just as thrilled as you are when he finds out you're expecting again.

watching him with SAMMY and JEMMA, seeing the way he lights up around them, there's no doubt in your mind that he was meant to be a dad.

and as you sit there, watching the man you love with the family you've built together, you realize that this is what happiness looks like.

it's not perfect—it's messy and chaotic and sometimes downright exhausting—but it's yours.

and you wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

later that night, after the kids are asleep and the house is quiet, DEAN pulls you into his arms.

"thank you," he whispers, his voice barely audible in the darkness.

"for what?" you ask, resting your head against his chest.

"for this," he says, his hand moving to rest over your stomach. "for giving me a reason to keep going. for giving me a family."

you smile, tears pricking at your eyes again. "you don't have to thank me for that, my love. you've given me just as much."

he presses a kiss to your forehead, holding you close. and as you drift off to sleep, you can't help but think about how far you've both come—how far he's come.

because DEAN WINCHESTER may have walked away from hunting, but he's still a hero.

he's YOUR hero.

and he always will be.

♡ SPECIAL TAGS. @beausling @a1ecmcdowell @jasvtsc @titsout4nicholas @aileenunfiltered @frosttbitessam @bluestrd @archiveofvirtue @ultravi0lence14 @rubyvhs @ohsc . . . ૮ ․ ․ ྀིა

[daddysfangirls-marvel]

Cereal

Bucky Barnes x Single Mom! Reader

The Boy looks upon the many shelves of cereal. Some are bland, some are sugary, and others are healthy. Some have cartoon characters on the box, and many have real-life heroes. With all these heroes, he still couldn't find his. The boy sighed, his lips quivering. He wipes his eyes before his tears even begin to slip.

"Honey?" his mother called for him.

"He's not here," His voice shakes and tears spilling over.

"What do you mean?" she asked as she gently moved him to the side out of the way of after customers.

"H-he doesn't have o-one." He points to the shelves as he begins to cry. She tucks his face into her stomach as she takes a look at the shelves for herself. And her boy was right, his hero was not amongst those on the shelve.

"I'm sorry," she tried to rub his back, providing some comfort. " We'll look at different stores. Don't worry."

"No," he cried. This was the third store in a week, and they still hadn't found it. He was tired, and he knew they weren't going to find it. Frustratedly, he snatched off his prosthetic arm and tossed it down the aisle. ( Moments like this made her grateful she bought plastic).

"Absolutely not. We don't throw things." The round of gasps and how quickly the aisle emptied told her all she needed to know. They would not be making any purchases here today.

Wiping his tears, she stood up to retrieve the arm, only to find a man holding it.

"Excuse me, that's my son's." He was a tall, big man in a baseball cap, thick coat, and leather gloves. And in those gloved hands was her son's prosthetic.

He hands it to her, and she gives him a small thanks.

"How'd he lose it? If- If you don't mind me asking?"

She took a deep breath. This was going to go one of two ways. The educational route and she'd possibly teach this man something new or bashing route, and this man would get disrespectful, and she'd probably have to call security or the police.

"He didn't lose it. He was born without." She moved to her son, tucking him into her side. His cries had stopped, but his tears were still streaming.

"I ....there was an accident and lost mine." The man said, massaging his left hand. She didn't understand why he was telling them this. But she did appreciate him sharing a piece of him. " Why is he crying?"

"He has a favorite hero. He's like him, and we were trying to find his cereal or his snack or... just anything with him on it. We can't seem to find him anywhere."

"May I?" the man asked, motioning to her son, asking permission to approach him. She granted it and watched as he kneeled in front of her son, who was still tucked into her side. His tears had dried, and he seemed to be in ...awe?

It wasn't until the man removed his gloves, then cap, that she realized who he was, and she felt like an idiot. She had been researching this man with every free moment she had ever since her son declared him to be his favorite and just like him. And she couldn't tell the difference between him on stage and him in a baseball cap.

Embarrassing.

"Hi, my name is Bucky, what's yours?"

Her son whispered his name as he blushed. " That's a cool arm you got their bud."

"I have another one that's cooler. It has space on it," he said as his mother kneeled, putting it back on his elbow.

"That does sound cooler. Mine doesn't really have anything on it." Bucky said, pulling up his sleeve to show off his metal appendage. The son gasped in amazement as he stepped forward, his little fingers reaching and tracing the gold and black plates. The man watched him carefully as he touched and stayed very still.

She would have corrected her son's rude behavior any other time, but right now, with the awe on his face and the smile on Mr. Barnes's face, she didn't want to interrupt. Plus, she was as in awe as the fluorescent lights made it shine—both the arm and his smile.

"A friend made it for me. It's made of a special metal called vibranum."

"Like your friend's shield?" He whispered as he pulled away.

"Exactly," he whispered in return as he stood up. She stood up as well.

"Thank you, Mr. Barnes. That was very kind of you, and we really appreciate it."

Bucky is fine, Mrs?" he said.

"(Y/n), (Y/n) (L/n). No, Mrs. No husband," she regretted the words as soon as they came out of her mouth. But that didn't shut her up. " There is no one else. Just me. Just us."

Bucky gave a soft smile and nodded. " I'm sorry to hear that." He didn't look or sound sorry. "Listen, Um, I volunteer at this rehab for kids, and they have a lot of programs there, so if your son wanted, he could come join." Bucky pulled out a flyer from his pocket, unfolded it, and handed it over to her. It looked to be a place for physically disabled children.

"This looks nice, actually. Thank you."

"Yeah, no problem. My number is on the back if you need any help with the program or stuff. or just ... Want to hang out ." Bucky cringed on how that came, but she just smiled and laughed. She turned the flyer over to see his number was indeed on the back.

"Oh"

"Hopefully, I'll see you two there."

"Definitely, I mean, yes. We'll be there, won't we, buddy."

"Will you be there?" The boy asked.

"As long as the world doesn't need saving, I'm there every other afternoon."

"Hopefully, the world doesn't need saving when we come by." she teased.

"Even if it did, I'm sure the others could handle it on their own. I wouldn't leave a doll like you waiting."

Doll.

Doll. She didn't know how, but with a single word, the man nearly put her on her knees. Suddenly, her heart had quickened, and her legs were shaky. And the way he bit his lips after and looked her up and down. Was he trying to devour her with such a stare? When did the atmosphere change?

A little squeak brought them both back to reality and reminded them of their little audience. No flirting in front of the babies.

"We'll be there, Mr. B...Bucky. We'll be there." Taking her son's hand, she turned to leave before stopping and saying, " I'll call."

"I'm looking forward to it."

"Bye-bye," the boy waved to his hero with a big grin on his face. As he watched them walk away. His cereal crisis was long forgotten.

[yaut-jaknowit]

Morally ambiguous corpo scientist gets transfered to a "exciting new project" only to find it's a Predator breeding program.

Breeding Program

Character: T'a'yta (Male Yautja) x AFAB!Reader

Warnings: I'M WARNING YOU NOW, I WENT FERAL BADLY. Rape/Non con contents. Sex pollen, SMUT, very rough sex, knotting, breeding. Read at your own risk, seriously.

Word Count: 3159

Summary: As a scientist, the ability to move up in the world was amazing. To surpass people you thought were the top dogs in your program and placed in a new section. A new program. You hadn't been briefed but the pay was phenomena. Nothing to complain about there. You met up with Amelia, the head of the program, at the facility and get a tour. At the end, she takes you down a hallway, opens a door to a pitch black room. Then shoves you in.

Author Note: I'm warning you all. This seriously might be the darkest thing I've ever wrote. I don't know why my brain went this route, but it did. Please, I'm warning you. If you don't like it, don't read it.

Masterlist

Ao3

After the years to finally work underneath this team of scientist, you were astonished to find they had referred you higher up the chain. To a new exciting project that could change the world. The opening letter they gave you easily hyped you up. Before you knew it, you were accepting the new position. Your items were going to be transferred over at a later date.

The new team wanted to meet you so bad. That’s what they told you. That’s what you believed. You found yourself at the new building that had just been finished. This was nerve racking but exciting at the same time. All new equipment and gear to test out. State of the art equipment has been entrusted to you. Out of all the people, you’ve been promoted to such a position. This was destiny!

Smiles greeted you when you first walked through the doors. The team lead was here in person to greet you the moment you stepped onto the new grounds.

Amelia says your name with a soft smile that complimented her features. “It’s so good to see you! We’ve been waiting for you to finally arrive. I hope the travel wasn’t bad?” She guides you towards the elevator and presses the button. The doors open and welcome you aboard. You step in after Amelia, nearly bouncing off of the ground with each step. A dream becoming reality.

“No,” you shake your head. “It wasn’t bad. The flight was beautiful though. Being that high up.” The memory of all the gorgeous clouds that covered the sky. Then, seeing as far as the eye could see. All of the land that went on and on. You loved it. “I’m so excited to be here too. It’s been my dream to work in an environment like this. When do I get to meet the rest of the team?”

There weren’t much for details about the project besides how cool it would be for you to join the team. Of course, you couldn’t say no. Not when a job like this could be the last one you would ever need. Plus, the pay was… wow. Amazing!

The elevator’s doors slid open to reveal a long hallway with black tile floors and grey walls. Little décor filled the empty space. You didn’t mind it. The place was still new. Maybe they hadn’t gotten around to fully furnishing the space.

Both of you walked out. Amelia laughed. “Oh, they’re around. They just didn’t want to crowd you and overwhelm you on your introduction day. Today is just meant to show you around, learn the space before the people, you know?” You nodded along, agreeing with everything she said. You already felt on the verge of being overwhelmed with a different workspace and people.

“Aw, alright. If you can, tell them I can’t wait to meet them, please?” you asked of her. All you wanted to do was impress the team more than you already have. To show them that you have a passion for science. It’s your livelihood.

“I sure can do that for you.” Amelia took the closet right down the hallway from the elevator. Her steps were precise with black two-inch heels. “They’ll be happy to know you’re thinking about them.”

A long, rectangular glass window was built into the wall. Amelia stops and motions towards the glass. Where you see tables of equipment just sitting there, ready for use. They are brand new, still shiny and lacking even fingerprints. Your eyes sparkle, hands twitching desperate to touch everything. But, you tamper down the feeling.

“This is amazing already, Amelia. I can’t wait to see the rest of the building.” When she smiles at you again, it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “When will be my first day? I hadn’t gotten any emails about it.” You were concerned that maybe something as wrong with your emails. You needed to get everything right. This was your dream job. Over your dead body will you let this go.

She waves her hand like she’s brushing it off. “We’ve been having a little issue with our emails lately. Currently, we have you starting as soon as possible. Whenever you are ready.” Seriously?! That meant you could probably start today!

The tour continued down the same hall, taking a right. “Really? Is it possible I could start today? I would love to get my hands on the tools as soon as possible.” Hopefully you don’t overdo it with your passion to work. At least in this field.

“Of course. I’m glad because we were planning for your first day to start right now.” She shows you to another room similar to room before with a more open space. This side looked like it dealt with more chemicals than biology. “The team isn’t here today. But I’m more than happy to let you roam after the tour, get to know the place.”

This possibly couldn’t be happening! God, you were in heaven. No one could smack the smile off of your face. No matter how hard they tried.

“Thank you. I’m so glad I can start today. I promise not to let you down.” Another room is showed to you. “I’ve had a passion for science since I was little. I know I’m going to be a great fit for the team.”

“I know you won’t let us down.” The two of your continue further down a different hall. The doors become less welcoming and more… prison like. As if they’re trying to keep something in. In the heat of the moment, you silence the alarm going off in your head. “I know you will be a great fit. Very great fit to our team.”

There’s something in the way she said that nearly threw you off. Your brows furrowed for only a second before she stopped in front of a door. This one looked even more heavily modified than any of the others you’ve seen. It’s at the end of a hallway, furthest from the rest of the facility.

“Ah, here we are. I can’t believe the tour already has come to an end.” She almost sounded genuinely sad to end the tour. Amelia places her hand on a screen next to the entrance. “This is where I leave you to your work, doctor.”

The metal slab slid into a hidden pocket and revealed a dark, pitch black room. You tilted your head and peered inside. Maybe the lights will turn on by motion. You turn towards her. “Hey the lights-“

Hands shoved at you from behind. A scream left your lips as you stumble forward before falling to your hands and knees. The darkness instantly crowds you, trying to suck you into its being. You whipped your head around to find Amelia standing at the entrance with an evil grin. A shudder ran its course through your body. Your breathing started to increase.

“Have fun with our new… project.” Then, the door snapped close and sealed you in the pitch blackness that threatened to consume you whole.

Your heart thundered in your ears. Blindly, you stood on unsteadily legs with your arms out to feel around. One step forward almost sent you back to the ground. The shakiness of your entire being was throwing you off. You took another step of faith only to be blinded by white light that sent you back on your butt.

Pain stung at your sensitive eyes. The change didn’t take you long to peel them open and see the room you’ve been thrown into.

And the beast who watched with rapt attention.

Terror gripped at your heart. You didn’t move, didn’t blink, didn’t even breathe. It’s bright, vibrant eyes that nearly glowed were pinned on your trembling form. It’s barrel chest heaved with each deep intake of air it took. Never did it look away from you.

Something about it made you feel like prey in the sight of a predator. It just needed to sink its claws into your fragile flesh.

“You might be wondering what this thing is and why we’ve brought you here?” Amelia’s voice broke the tension in the air coming from a speaker system. You yelped at the sudden sound and scrambled backwards. The humanoid creature observed every move you made. The moment you moved, it roared with a piercing sound and lunged at you.

Heavy chains secured it to the wall. They creaked under its strength as its wild eyes looked at you. Its arm clawed at the air as if it could pull you closer. Your back smacked against the nearest wall as you stared at the creature. Fear evident in your eyes. You watched as the beast cried and spat spittle with each attempt to get to you. But, thankfully the chains held.

“This is the project we’ve raved about. Meet… a Yautja. An alien from outer space,” Amelia lets the words settle for a dramatic pause. In the mean time, the creature has finally calmed down once it realized it couldn’t get to you for the moment. “Well, we needed someone to test something out for us. Of course, I didn’t want to use any of our wonderful staff here. So, I choose you. Our new test subject.”

Test subject?! “For what!?” you screamed at her, hoping she could hear you. Hear the anger that wiggled through the terror.

“For our breeding program.” You blinked once. Twice. Three times. Then, the words finally sunk in completely. “We’ve captured this Yautja when he landed in LA. We gave him an aphrodisiac. Now, he’s become a mindless, breeding male. And you, our dear test subject, will be the first. We hope you survive.”

Silence entered the air afterwards. The speakers no longer buzzed with energy. Her words flew wildly inside of your mind, bouncing around every corner. You tried to make sense, come to terms with what she’s put you into. But it… you couldn’t settle. They’re using you for a breeding program with an alien. An alien that looked ready to tear you apart rather then- you stopped the thoughts. You swallowed thickly and weakly stood on shaky legs.

In horror, you observed the chains clicking open. Once the last one was released, there wasn’t even time to register the brown, humanoid shape flash across the room. Strong, massive hands snatched your throat and the front of your shirt. The fabric was torn from your form and discarded without any regard. Next, your pants and underwear were taken care of in the same matter.

You screamed and tried to kick and punch the mindless beast. All of your strikes hit. Yet none of them deterred him. It seemed like they didn’t even tickle him. It forced you face down, ass up underneath it. The entire palm of his hand gripped the side of your head, keeping you pinned in a primed position.

It leaned down and covered you with its entire body. Heat radiated off of it like a firepit. Flames flickering to lick at your clammy skin. You shuttered at the difference of temperature. It’s free hand reached between your legs but paused for a moment.

“I-I ca-an’t stop,” a throaty, croaky voice whispered into your ear. You tensed up underneath the beast before jerking at the touch of its fingers. They glided through your slit, gathering what slick had pooled. Your body betraying you at the knowledge of a monster getting ahold of you.

That almost… sounded like an apology of some kind. The scientists have turned this alien into a mindless, breeding machine with the aphrodisiac. The poor thing couldn’t control its actions. All it could do was follow instinct, despite the difference of species.

A whine surged past your lips when the wet pad of its finger rubbed around your hardening nub. At least, he was trying to make it bearable. You felt something blazing hot and throbbing slide between your open legs, rubbing against your slit. A moan left your lips before you could stop yourself. You didn’t stop struggling but your attempts were weakening.

The tip was tapered by the feeling of it. You felt it nudge against your entrance. He paused for a moment, as if fighting the drugs that filled his system. Then, his hips snapped forward and full sheathed his cock into you. You cried out against the dirty, concrete floor and clawed for escape. The beast added more weight to pin you down and began a pace you couldn’t comprehend. All before you had a chance to make sense of what’s up and what’s down.  

Each thrust nearly sent you flying towards the wall. If it wasn’t for his hand on your head, you would’ve been smooshed against it. Your eyes were clenched shut. “Fuck! S-slow… slow down!” you begged for relief, even for a moment. The beast deepened a growl and quickened his thrusts somehow. The pain only increased with pleasure. You were barely able to breath as he thrusted into you sent the air out of your lungs.

His other hand not holding your head gripped your hip in a bruising hold. Sharp talons punctured your flesh. Beads of red pooling to the surface then dripping down your belly and onto the cold, unforgiving floor. There was nothing you could do to stop him. All you were able to do was hold on for the unrelenting ride.

To ease some of the ache, you reached between your legs and circled two digits around your puffy clit. The stretch of his massive, thick cock pressed against every little nerve you had. At the touch, you mewled and quickened the speed almost to match his.

Your bottom lip was pinched between dull teeth, trying to hold in your noises. It was embarrassing. To take enjoyment out of this. But, fuck. The creature took up every inch of available space inside of you then some more. You could feel the way your stomach distended each time he sheathed himself to the hilt. There was something expanding at the base of him as well. It would catch each time he pushed in and out.

Thick fingers gripped the strands of your hair and yanked your head back. One arm slapped against the smooth concrete floors. You squealed and released the hold on your lip, forced to let everyone know how you were feeling.

The pleasure building in your stomach was amounting to something. Despite the ache and pains this gave you, you were feeling the coil tightening. You rewetted your fingers with your own juices before going back to work. The way they easily slid over your puffy clit had you seeing stars.

It continued to build and build. He lets go of your hair, letting your upper torso to lie back on the ground. You almost curled into yourself, confused about the nearing end, and panted heavily. “Oh, fuck. H-how?!” you muttered to yourself.

White flashed across your vision. Your walls clamped down on his thick shaft, trying to suck him in deeper. A weak, pathetic squeak escaped your vocal cords, the only sound you could make. Your entire body tensing up and rode out the waves of the overwhelming pleasure.

Amidst your orgasm, the beast growled in victory then pushed his hips flush with yours. A loud, deafening roar tore from his throat. You felt his cock swell inside of you, the base locking him inside of you. The ball of flesh pressed against the sensitive bundle of nerves just on the inside of your cunt. You trembled and shook underneath him. The ecstasy far too much for you to handle.

As the last of the pleasure started to fade away, you slumped weakly onto the floor, hips still held up by his hand. The feeling of the thick, swollen flesh boarded uncomfortable. You trembled and attempted to pull your hips away from his.

The creature snarled threateningly and ensnared your entire waist with an arm. You fearfully tensed up. But, he calmed down afterwards and buried his face into the crook of your neck.

Deadly fangs grazed across your flesh, pebbling the skin with goosebumps. Vibrations ran down from your spine. Barely a sound made. He rubbed his face against your skin, coating you with his scent.

You were thankful for that to be over. For the most part. He was still lodged deep inside of you with no way of pulling out. He wouldn’t let you. You took in deep, lungsful of air, and tried to regulate your breathing.

Some time past when you felt him start to deflate inside of you. With a grunt, the creature jerked his hips back. The ball of flesh popped free from your stretched entrance. He pulled away. Fresh air flushed over you and made you shiver at the coolness of the air.

Yet, you weren’t cold for long. The same heat from before prodded at your entrance. Your exhausted state immediately drained away. You jerked up and attempted to get on your hands. A massive hand slammed you back onto the ground. The alien snarled another warning to you then sunk all the way to the base inside of you again.

It wasn’t as painful as before. The earlier treatment had you stretched out beyond your limits. You still keened at the feeling and squirmed. He rewrapped his arm around your waist and pulled your hips flush with his.

“Again?” you asked with a cry. The first round was punishing enough. You didn’t know if you could survive another go with him.

He pulled his hips back until the tip was still sitting just inside of you. With a growl, the beast plowed back into you without any mercy.

The aphrodisiac was a powerful drug on him. It forced him to go on. All the way till you reached the verge of blacking out. Either from exhaustion or the amount of orgasms he pulled from you. You swore he went until his balls had been emptied inside of you, filling you with his seed. The inside of your legs coated with it. With a small puddle pooling between your trembling legs.

Finally, the creature collapsed to the side and pulled you with him. His knot was still lodged inside of you, keeping the contents of his last orgasm deep inside of you. You had no energy to fight. You let him take you, unable to barely keep your eyes open enough to see. They were filled with blurry tears.

His arm tightened around your waist, keeping you locked to him. You groaned, deep from your chest, eyes shut at this point.

“If you can hear me… I am sorry for my actions,” he muttered lowly into your ear. Only for you hear. You didn’t have the energy to answer. Just lying there, in his arms, letting sleep take you away. “I promise you. I’ll get us out of here.”

Hope fluttered to life in your chest.

[ablobwhowrites]

Im starting back my yandere poppy playtime. (Chapter 4 fucking broke me dude also kinda spoilers of chapter 4 so he warned)

(I'm not continuing the you can't leave, poppy playtime series. So I may start a new one but I don't know really)

yandere poppy playtime idea but this one is more platonic yanderes. Cause imagine a y/n who was kid who escaped the orphanage one day but ended up coming back as adult and coming back into the factory. And y/n being remembered by the toys and they don't want to hurt y/n buy know the prototype may find out y/n is in the factory and would try to hurt them so but y/n doesn't remember them well as it was a long time ago but bro imagine the angst as mommy long legs being reminded of happier times and seeing y/n all grown up and wants to keep them with her because she can protect them, she can is what she thinks but when y/n gets away that's when the prototype finds out that they are back in the factory.

Plus y/n saves dog day and he helps y/n to go safer ways around the factory but sometimes wishes that the other smiling critters could have seen how y/n grown and wishing catnap was normal again, but he wants to protect them as the factory in the lower levels are not safe anymore and knowing it'll get harder from here and he'll try everything he can go help them and keep them safe. Catnap remembers y/n clearly and always favored y/n over the other kids he has known as they never were loud or constantly pulling or stepping on his tail or yelling him out of his naps and the other smiling critters and many of the toys in the factory liked y/n as they were the favorite kid. And of course sometimes giving the toys some heart attacks after wandering off somewhere after being busy with other things and somehow end up in the strangest places. Catnap thinks that the prototype will accept y/n and will be able to be in the prototypes graceful imagine.

Poppy does regret having to trap y/n in the factory but she sees them as a way to defeat the prototype. She does try to check in with y/n from time to time and sees how the hope that y/n has doesn't disappear even if they get hurt they still fight but poppy knows what would have happened if y/n never made it out of the playtime co when they were a kid because of not then everything would be worse and maybe become even more than nightmare.

Doey remembers y/n clearly and remembers how nice they were to him and with dog day being alive and the stories of them surviving so many things in the factory has him hoping that maybe just maybe y/n could save them and stop the doctor and prototype. He likes having y/n around as he was friends with them for a while and keeps him calm with them trying to help as much as they can even sometimes finding some boxes of canned food (but was badly injured by the Nightmare critters) so he is protective like dog day but he gets frustrated when poppy has y/n keep going out even if they are clearly injured and need rest so he kinda gets mad but and almost loses his temper but collects himself because he has people to take care of and now y/n.

(that's all for my yapping session rn but if you want more please don't be shy and request any ideas for fics or y/n's plus I might do two series and au where is ex employee y/n and just keeps the poppy playtime characters in their house after escaping the factory and thank God they have a big house for this but the smiling critters like to sleep in the same room so the living room is where they sleep and other stuff for this au idea. But the second will be a hard reboot for the 'You can't leave' series and might come out soon hopefully. But for now please stay safe and drink water!)

[natriae]

Dad!haikyuu is everything! I imagine Omi being your fake date to a family gathering and he swoons at your interaction with the kids until an auntie shoves a baby in his arms and he’s like UHHHHH 🧍🏻”don’tcrushthisbaby don’tcrushthisbaby” And now everyone including yourself can’t take their eyes off him 😭😭😭😭

STOP I LOVE THIS

warnings: fake dating, fluff, cue flustered kiyoomi

One month ago Sakusa Kiyoomi took you aside during one of your usual hangouts with Atsumu to ask if you could pretend to be his girlfriend. Your brain told you over and over that this is a terrible idea, but you couldn't help yourself and said yes. Plus, it was one night at his mom's house. You already knew his family it wouldn't be to shocking to see you by Kiyoomi's side.

That's the thing. Your heart strings started to be pulled on the moment the two of you walked through the door and Kiyoomi let out a short, quiet "we're dating now." His mom's only response was to pull you into a hug and explain how she's been waiting forever for this. After greeting the two of you she told everyone the good news.

You felt terribly guilty for lying to her but Sakusa seemed unbothered. Maybe you were just being dramatic about the whole situation.

Somehow mid-way through the night you ended up spending most of your time with Kiyoomi's sister's kids. She was your favorite Sakusa. She also was the only one who knew you had a crush on her brother since middle school. She would help you get pretty for him, but it never worked. She claimed it did, but you never saw any progress. You and the children were in the basement playing with toys while a random kids TV show played in the background. The characters would sing and save the day successfully holding the attention of the youngest Sakusa. She isn't even one yet, but she has the whole family whipped except Kiyoomi of course. For some reason he tries to stay away from her leading you to never actually meeting the little one til today. She was adorable. She'd bounce her arms up and down while babbling to the song. In front of you was her older brother, and Kiyoomi's first nephew. He had toy trucks and a few random characters from animes you know and some you don't. You were helping zoom the cars around the basement, crawling on your knees still you looked up to see Kiyoomi has finally decided to spend time with you. You could have swore you saw his lip twitch before he stepped pass you and sat on the couch switching the TV channel.

Kaia, the youngest, immediately started crying when she couldn't hear the joy of a few cartoon pups saving the day. Quickly you ran over to her picking her up to help calm her down. You lightly bounced her on your hip while giving small shushes to the baby. You walked away from Kiyoomi because your pretty convinced by his actions that he doesn't like children. Which tears a bit of you heart knowing that you always imagined what having kids with him would be like. What a great dad he would be, but that's all in your imagination. The little girl begins to quiet down as you lift her up so she can stuff her head into your neck.

From across the room Kiyoomi watches you calm the baby with a red face. How are you so good at this? He's never seen you with a baby and from what he knows your not an aunt of any sort, unless you count Atsumu's dogs. He finally lets out a small smile as he watches you bring the baby up so she can snuggle into your neck, but as if the gods are against him. You turn around to see him watching you, and you tell the baby with a slight smirk, "baby I think your uncle Kiy wants to apologize," you walk over still holding the baby like a natural. Finally setting her down to crawl over to him on the couch. The older man trys to hold the baby like a puppy. He's never done this before and he's never felt embarrassed in his life. You giggle softly at his nervous face and tell him, "Kiyoomi that's not how you hold a baby," he can barely focus on your words when your giggles are enough for him to worship the group you walk on. He swears he enters heaven the moment he hears that sound. "it's good that your holding her butt but i think she wants to be facing you," You say as you scoot closer and reach to try and show him the proper way.

Kiyoomi leaned back on the couch and attempted to correctly hold the baby on his chest. One hand on her back and the other holding her butt up. As if Kiyoomi was a sleeping pill the little girl immediately closed her eyes and fell asleep on the tall man. "see it's not hard. Do you wanna take her to her momma? She seems sleepy," you said with small smile on your face. Not forgetting the little boy playing behind the couch you glanced over to make sure he was okay. God, Kiyoomi could help but want to ask if you wanted to be a mom right now.

Unmoving Kiyoomi stiffly shakes his head no at the though of having to hold this baby while moving. You srunch your eyebrows together in thought trying to understand why he's so stiff. noticing your confusion he squeaks out, "What if I break her?" and at first you thought he was joking but there was genuine panic in his features. He thought he was this cool collected guy, but you could honestly read him like a book.

"i'll be right here, okay? You're not going to break her," You nodded your head while you spoke to him in the calmest voice you could muster. Slowly he stood up and you redirected his hand so that it held up some of her head too along with her back. "you need to keep her head up. Baby's head's are weak," he nodded his head at your words like they were the gospel. Anything you said he would take it as the truth. If you said it, it was right. Cautiously walking up the steps to the family room. His whole family seems shocked to see the large man holding such a delicate baby. He takes a deep breath while he tries to pass the sleeping girl to his sister.

"whoa, what did you do to her? She never sleeps this heavy." His sister said in shock, "Kiyoomi you need to hold her more often," she continued. Then did you finally take in how red his face was. He was so flustered it was adorable. Quickly you took your phone out and snapped a picture of the boy without his knowledge.

bonus:

It was late and about everyone at the gathering had left except for Kiyoomi's immediate family. The baby girl was back in your and Kiyoomi's lap trying to decide who she wants to get attention from. You and Kiyoomi were shoulder to shoulder and at one point he brought his arm over to hold you even closer. After falling a few times on Kiyoomi and then gripping his shirt like a life line the little girl turned and crawled into your lap. You let a small Ha at Kiyoomi for her ultimately choosing you, but you take it back once the little girl tried pulling the top of you dress down to get to your boob. Kiyoomi quickly grabs the little girl and she starts crying sad that she didn't get fed. If you heard correctly you swore you heard him tell the little one that you would have milk soon but not now.

[lover-of-mine]

Okay, I've been meaning to make this post and I never make it, but I'm rewatching s1 and the thoughts are in my head so, what better time than now. Like, I made this point before but I never went into detail.

The thing with 911 and love interests and the way none of Buck and Eddie's love interests ever stood a chance, is because in order for you to make a relationship work on a tv show, you need to make sure your audience cares about both parts. Obviously, getting 2 mains together, madney or bathena, works very easily because both characters exist on their own, so you're already invested in all parties involved, it's a lot easier to make the relationship work because you don't need to spend time making people care about anyone individually, you're just making them care about the relationship. But then you have the issue of making people care about a relationship when one of the parties is only there to be a love interest.

So let's take Henren. For all intents and purposes, Karen only exists to be Hen's wife, so if they didn't put in the work Karen would be very whatever, because as viewers, our loyalty in most cases will be biased towards the character we see the most. And considering we are introduced to Henren already established, they are already married with a child, which another thing that makes people be less invested, not seeing how it happened, the odds are stacked against Karen, which is bad if the show ever decides to use the character more heavily. But the show introduces her in a perfect way to avoid that happening. For starters, we meet Eva first. And we meet Eva while Hen is making up problems that aren't really there because of the ghost of Eva. We have Athena state how bad for Hen Eva is, we have the conflict Hen herself is feeling, we have her lying by omission. And yes, the whole thing leads to something a lot of people view as unforgivable, cheating, but during that whole storyline, we are siding against Hen, because she is letting this idea of rescuing Eva is making her step out on her family, so we are taking Karen's pain, we are taking Karen's side, and that makes us care about Karen, and therefore we end up invested on them together. And something else is how this all happens while we are still getting to know Hen, so there aren't any preconceived notions of how a relationship for Hen should go.

And the show knows how to work that concept in, but when we are talking about love interests for both Buck and Eddie, is that every relationship is introduced with something that's gonna make us side with them and ignore the other person. Shannon never stood a chance because she was written to be fridged, but leaving Chris is an unforgivable act, Ali isn't around and she fundamentally can't handle who Buck is, Taylor is introduced as willing to hurt Buck's family, Ana isn't around and Eddie is literally panicking about that relationship and even before that, the Christopher of it all, him getting hurt, not wanting Eddie to date, makes it so we're not the biggest fans, Natalia was only interested in Buck's death and since we were watching the damage his death did to everyone, it makes it hard to root for them, Marisol just didn't exist for the audience at all, and Tommy's past plus the circumstances they get together aka Buck hurting Eddie makes it very 😬.

And all of these happened while Buck and Eddie's partnership is continuously shown as getting stronger, so the relationships are fighting against two main characters who have a strong relationship, so it is really hard to establish something that will replace the idea of Buck and Eddie because they're fighting against 7 seasons of partnership. The thing that makes buddie is time. It's everything that happened to them (I mean, the actual thing that makes them it is Christopher but that's a different post). So for a relationship to actually replace them, you need to separate them and then give the new relationship at least half the time buddie had to establish themselves. Audiences generally don't get invested in relationships they didn't see happening, and usually when it's this far into a show and there is another option of paring 2 main characters, it's really hard to make a character likable enough to replace that. People just generally don't end up caring for a character that only exists to be a love interest.

The show knows that, see the way Karen was introduced, so that makes the way they handle Buck, Eddie, and love interests that more pointed.

[helloalycia]

𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 [𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄] — 𝐒𝐊𝐘𝐄 𝐑𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐘

one / two / masterlist / wattpad

summary: when someone asks you out, things get tense between you and Skye and you aren’t sure how to deal with it.

warning/s: the usual warnings that have come with this fic lol.

author's note: and here's the last part! this was a fun one to write, and it's always fun to write for naomi since there aren't many characters of hers i can write for!! (still salty terra nova was cancelled 😭). So yeah, hope you guys like it 🥰

Skye was recording some bits at a studio in the city and we were supposed to hang out after, but I didn't have much else to do and ended up arriving early. As she finished up, I hung around to let her finish, snooping around the building and chatting with some of the staff there.

As I was, I ended up getting caught in some conversation with one of the production assistants, Anna. It was always nice to get to know new people, but I didn't realise it was more than that until she started to flirt with me. Maybe she always was and I was too dumb to notice, but I was awkwardly flattered.

Still, she was interesting and we seemed to get on, getting lost in conversation for about ten minutes. Only when Skye finally finished in the studio and left to find me did the conversation end.

"There you are," she said with a smile when she saw me, before noticing Anna. "Oh, hello."

"You're Skye Riley," Anna noticed with an amazed smile, before glancing at me. "You know, I thought you were playing me when you said she was your friend."

I exhaled with amusement, shaking my head. "Not playing."

She gave me a surprised look before looking to Skye politely. "Sorry, how rude of me. I'm Anna. I work here. Big fan of your music."

"Nice to meet you, Anna," Skye greeted with an easygoing smile.

"You done?" I asked Skye, referring to her work.

"Done," she confirmed.

I nodded, before offering a friendly nod to Anna. "It was great meeting you, Anna. I should go. Skye and I have plans."

Anna nodded. "Of course, yeah, you mentioned..." She paused, hesitating as she glanced shyly at Skye before meeting my gaze. "Did you wanna, maybe, hang out some time?"

I raised an eyebrow, hoping my surprise wasn't too obvious. Skye swallowed awkwardly when she realised what was happening.

"Sorry, I'll give you guys a moment," she mumbled before leaving to wait down the hall.

I didn't know what to think as I looked back to Anna, seeing her waiting hopefully. "I– sure."

Anna breathed out, relieved, as she pulled out her phone. "Great. You wanna put your number in here and I'll text you so you have mine?"

I nodded, body working on autopilot as we exchanged numbers. It wasn't that she wasn't lovely – she really was – but I wasn't used to someone actually outright flirting with me like she had been. Plus, I was always awkward when it came to pretty girls.

"Got it," I said when my phone dinged with a text from her.

"Awesome," she said with a bright smile. "I'm expecting a message," she added jokingly.

"Sure," I said with a nervous smile.

She chuckled before straightening up. "Right, I'll let you go. See you soon, Y/N. Hopefully."

"See you," I said as I watched her leave, still surprised at how someone as pretty as her actually wanted a date with me. And so confidently too.

Shaking my head, I rejoined Skye who was lurking at the end of the hallway, watching the whole encounter as much as she tried to pretend she wasn't.

"Hey," she said when I stopped by her side. "Ready?"

I hummed as I fell onto step with her, the two of us going to the lift.

"So, who was that?" she asked whilst we waited inside. "You got a date?"

I shrugged, still replaying the encounter in my mind. "We just got to talking and I wasn't expecting her to be interested in me, but... yeah. She gave me her number."

Skye nodded, eyebrows raised slightly. "Cool... so are you interested?"

I glanced at her, unsure. "I don't know. I just wasn't expecting it. You know I get talking to people when I'm bored."

She smiled slightly. "Yeah, I do. It's so annoying how social you are sometimes."

I rolled my eyes playfully and continued, "I'm not sure if I'll text her."

She hummed, looking to the lift doors as they opened, and stepped out. Her lack of advice was disorienting me.

"Do you think I should?" I asked, falling back into step with her.

"What?" she asked, glancing over at me with an unreadable expression.

I quirked a brow, wondering if she was even listening. "Text her back?"

She nodded slowly. "Well, do you want to?"

I felt my cheeks grow warm as I looked away, smiling nervously. "I don't know."

"It can't hurt, can it? It might be nice."

I chewed on my lip, pondering her words. I wasn't even sure why I was overthinking it. It was just a date.

"Just take it easy though," she said nonchalantly as we walked out the building and down the street. "You don't wanna lead her on or anything."

"True," I agreed. "Might be worth a shot though. We did get on. The spark was there."

"Just don't get attached," she warned, glancing sideways at me. "You tend to do that."

It took a moment for her words to digest, and when they did, I grew offended. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"What? You do," she said lightheartedly, but it did nothing to put me at ease. Probably noticing my expression, she tried to amend her words. "Sorry, what I meant was– you go all in, y'know? I just don't want to see you get hurt."

I blinked, looking ahead. "Wow. Thanks."

"No, I didn't mean it as an insult," she said quickly, hand wrapping around my arm as if to get my attention. "I'm just looking out for you, Y/N."

I didn't know why her words stung, but they did. Was that seriously how she viewed me? As someone who got overly attached?

It made sense, in some way, especially after everything that happened with us. But it still hurt coming from her, probably because deep down I knew she was right. Except, the only person I'd ever gotten attached to was her. My mistake, I was well aware.

Suddenly, she stopped in front of me, facing me with a guilty frown on her lips. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. It wasn't nice of me to say."

I looked down. "Doesn't matter."

"It does," she said firmly, squeezing my arm. "Really. I'm so sorry."

A little embarrassed, the familiarity of the situation creeping in, I shook my head. "It's fine. Let's just go find somewhere to eat."

To my relief, she gave in and we both continued walking to find somewhere. Admittedly, the tension was still present on my side, my feelings stewing with each step. It was disheartening, knowing she thought of me like that, joke or not.

We ate in an awkward silence, and Skye made attempts at conversation but I couldn't force myself to entertain them.

"How's your burger?" she asked, nodding to my plate. "Food here's nice, isn't it?"

I hummed halfheartedly, picking at my fries.

She sighed softly, losing her smile. "Y/N, I didn't mean what I said before."

"It's fine," I told her once more.

Her eyes flickered between mine knowingly. "You're upset."

I merely shrugged, looking down to my plate, only making her sigh again.

"You should go out with her," she said, as if that was what I wanted to hear and would make up for what she'd said. It only made me feel worse.

I ignored her, instead responding, "Let's just talk about something else. How's your tour prep going?"

She frowned slightly, clearing her throat. "Erm, fine, I suppose... Not long left now. I'm just finalising outfits and..."

As she talked a little about it, my previous anger and hurt had long faded into disheartenment. It was frustrating to admit to myself, but Skye's reaction wasn't one I'd hoped for. I wanted her to tell me not to go out with Anna, that she didn't like the idea. And that's when I knew I was delusional.

And definitely not over my best friend.

After paying for our food, Skye and I left the restaurant, awkwardly lingering outside.

"I should go," I spoke before she could. "I've got some work to do."

She nodded, sensing my mood and not saying anything else. I hesitated, noticing the discomfort in her expression, before pulling her in for a hug. It wasnt her fault I was so conflicted – she couldn't have known anything about where my head was at and taking it out on her wasn't fair.

She returned my hug, relieved. "Talk later?"

I nodded as I pulled back, offering her a small smile, hopefully letting her know that I wasn't upset. At least, not at her.

She returned it, grateful, before squeezing my arm gently and letting me go. Meanwhile, I knew I needed to fix whatever was wrong with me before it got worse.

—

I did end up texting Anna back and we'd arranged a date a week later. Part of me thought it could be good to put myself back out there with someone lovely like Anna, but the other part of me also used it as a fast track to get over whatever feelings I had for Skye.

Despite our brief argument, Skye was supportive when I told her, being a typical best friend who wanted to know all the details when she could. I believed that if I played the part hard enough, it would feel real and I'd get over her. But no matter how much I tried, I just couldn't.

The date was great. Not a thing I could fault and yet I still returned home feeling deflated and hollow. Anna was the perfect date and we had a lovely time bowling, but all I could think about was Skye and how much I wanted it to be her. It was awful, from that perspective, and definitely made my scrambled head worse.

As I took a moment to collect myself on the couch as soon as I entered my apartment, my phone rang. Speaking of the devil...

"Hey, Skye," I answered tiredly.

"Is your date done? I wanna know everything!" she said excitedly.

I sighed, massaging my head. "Yes, but–"

"Awesome! I just finished some boring photo shoot and am on my way back, but I thought I may as well stop by yours, that cool?"

I scrunched my face up in disagreement, her face being the last I needed to see right now. "I'm actually kind of tired, Skye."

She laughed, sending shivers down my spine. "Oh, grow up, baby. See you soon!"

Before I could protest, she'd hung up, leaving me to drag out a long groan as I leaned back in irritation. So much for self-deprecating for the rest of the evening. 

By the time I'd gotten into my pyjamas and freshened up, there was a knock at my door. Reluctantly, I went to answer it, seeing Skye on the other side.

Her smile faded when she noticed my expression. "Oh, no, how did it go?"

I turned around, flopping down on the couch, face-first. "Average."

The door closed and she approached the couch. "No wow factor?"

I shook my head as she took a seat beside my head, resting her hand in my hair and stroking it gently which did nothing to help with my racing heart.

"It's okay," she said softly. "At least you tried."

I exhaled into the couch cushion before sitting up, facing her as I leaned against the back.

"What wasn't great?" she asked sympathetically, leaning her elbow on the back cushion and watching me carefully.

I shook my head, unable to hold her gaze and instead focusing on the loose thread from the cushion. "It was fine. Anna was lovely. But I just... yeah."

She hummed in understanding. "Sorry."

All I could do was shrug.

After a moment, she lifted her arm out, extending it. "Come here."

I hesitated, unsure if this was the best next move. But I felt like crap and Skye was my best friend first and foremost. So, I crawled over to her and let her pull me in for a hug against her chest. She stroked my hair again, kissing the top of my head and making me sigh with comfort.

"You wanna talk about it?" she asked, voice mumbled as her lips were still pressed to the top of my head.

I shook my head gently.

"Alright." She continued to stroke my hair soothingly. "Wanna get your mind off it? We could watch a movie."

I swallowed thickly, not in the mood for anything right now.

"Or I can leave and give you some space," she continued, seeming to notice my mood.

As much as I hadn't wanted her here, I now didn't want her to leave. Shaking my head, I sat upright. "No, you can stay. We'll watch something."

She searched my eyes with a hint of concern. "You sure?"

I nodded, rubbing my face with my hands. "Yeah. I just need to pee. Pick a film, I'll be back."

She nodded and I got up to go to the bathroom, using it as a chance to splash some cold water on my face too. I sighed deeply, pushing away my conflicted thoughts for the time being and returning to the couch.

As I took a seat, I noticed some snacks on the table, but the weirdest assortment of them. There were cookies, some carrot sticks, hummus and a bowl of nuts.

"Er... what is this?" I asked Skye with confusion, glancing over at her as she returned from the kitchen with two glasses of juice.

"It's all I could find," she answered, before shooting me a disapproving look. "You really need to go shopping."

I cracked a small smile as she set the glasses on the table and took a seat beside me.

"Hey, there's that smile!" she exclaimed with a satisfactory gun.

I rolled my eyes lightheartedly, stifling my smile, and instead distracted myself with eating some carrot sticks. She grabbed a handful of nuts and got comfortable, pulling her legs up on the couch.

"Thanks," I said softly, gratefully.

"You don't need to thank me," she retorted, glancing at me, but I couldn't look at her without feeling strange.

I leaned back and got comfortable, and Skye started up a film on the TV. It was easy enough to settle in and the film was a well-needed distraction from everything. But naturally, I was falling asleep halfway through it. It didn't help that it was late, I was already pretty tired and Skye was extremely comfortable.

By the time the film ended, I was half out of it, in that weird in between state of awake but asleep. My eyes were closed and I was barely paying attention until Skye sighed from beside me.

"That wasn't that bad, y'know," she decided. "I thought it would be worse given the ratings."

I hummed quietly, acknowledging her words but not really listening.

"You didn't even watch it, did you?"

"I did," I mumbled as convincingly as I could.

She chuckled, her shoulders moving and waking me up in the process. "Liar."

A yawn escaped my lips as I forced myself to sit upright, off her shoulder. She was watching me with amusement.

"Comfy?" she teased.

Too sleepy to care, I answered, "I'd apologise, but it's kind of expected if you let me lay on you."

She laughed wholeheartedly, brightening up the whole night for a moment. "You're lucky I find you comfy too."

I sighed tiredly, sitting on my side and leaning on my elbow, propped up against the back of the couch.

"You feel any better?" she asked, and I looked up at her through my eyelashes.

"A bit," I mumbled. "Thanks."

"Stop thanking me," she said with a soft smile, making me scrunch my face slightly.

"Sorry."

She rolled her eyes playfully, stifling a laugh, and I yawned again as I watched her. It could have been my fatigue-induced state, or the fact that I was hopelessly in love with my best friend, but I couldn't stop admiring how beautiful she looked before me. No makeup, messy hair, sparkling brown eyes, cute smile.

It was wrong of me to stare, wrong of my eyes to trace the arch of her brows, the slope of her nose, the curve of her lips... I'd imagined kissing her many times before, but I'd never wanted to actually do it as much as I did now.

She smiled, oblivious to my daydreams, and mimicked my pose, leaning on her elbow on the back of the couch, way too close to my expression. "Whatcha thinking, huh?" she asked playfully.

My breath hitched as my eyes lowered to her lips, only inches from mine. Time stood still. All it would take is a second, but could I?

No, I couldn't. I couldn't ruin everything because of a silly desire.

Swallowing thickly, I moved back and looked away, acting as nonchalant as I could. "Just tired."

She fell quiet as she sat up straight, and I wondered if she knew what I'd wanted to do. Maybe I'd messed it up anyway. It certainly hadn't helped with my conflicted thoughts.

"I should go," she realised. "You should sleep."

I nodded, unsure what to say, and then I saw her making a move to clear up the snacks on the coffee table.

"it's fine, I'll sort it," I said awkwardly, standing up.

She glanced at me. "You sure?"

I couldn't meet her eyes, too hot with shame. "Yeah."

"Okay," she said softly, before going to the door to pull on her shoes.

I lingered awkwardly until she opened the door, glancing at me briefly.

"Goodnight," she said.

"Night," I muttered.

She left and I closed the door behind her, releasing a deep breath. How had I messed things up so easily? All I could hope was I hadn't made her uncomfortable, but it was impossible. Even staring had overstepped, and it was just like she'd said to me a year ago – it was written all over my face. How utterly embarrassing.

—

That evening haunted me long after, it replaying in my mind over and over like a bad dream. So much that I couldn't bring it in myself to face Skye, not whilst my thoughts were a jumbled mess.

Two weeks passed and I kept our contact to the bare minimum whilst I tried to figure my feelings out. I wasn't sure if I could be her friend anymore, as much as I wanted to be. But it wasn't fair on her if I still had feelings for her.

She messaged me, but I kept my responses vague. My only relief was that she was leaving for her tour in a week, so maybe it would be easier not seeing her as much. Maybe it would've been easier to stop being her friend if I distanced myself long enough.

But it was stupid to think that, not when we'd just reconciled and I thought she wouldn't notice my absence.

I was at my apartment one afternoon when I got an unexpected visit from her. As soon as I opened the door, I raised my brows with surprise.

"Skye? What are you doing here?"

Her eyes met mine sternly. "You're avoiding me."

"What?"

She pushed past me gently to let herself in, leaving me no choice but to close the door after her and spin around.

"At first, I thought you were still upset because of your date with Anna," she started, making me wince, "but then you kept being distance and I just– I don't know what I've done!"

I sighed, feeling stupid for thinking I could get away with it. "You haven't–"

"Don't bullshit me," she snapped, fixing me with a glare. "I'm not stupid."

Her hurt expression forced me to look away, the guilt sinking in.

She took a deep breath before asking in a gentler tone, "What is it? Talk to me."

I tensed my jaw uncomfortably. "Nothing."

"Stop lying," she ordered, before taking my chin and turning my face towards her. Worried eyes found mine. "What is it?"

I pulled back in a knee-jerk reaction, feeling a lump form in my throat. "Don't."

She frowned, confused. "What? Did I do something wrong?"

I sighed deeply, avoiding her gaze. "I can't do this... I'm sorry."

"Do what?"

I swallowed thickly, struggling to find the courage but knowing it needed to be done. "I can't be friends with you anymore."

She paused, taken aback, and her voice broke my heart when she finally spoke. "What? What are you talking about?"

I shook my head, looking down at the floor.

"What?" she repeated, growing impatient, and it only made the whole situation worse.

"I can't..."

"Look at me."

I forced myself to look up, the guilt pressing on my chest when I saw her wounded expression.

"What the hell are you saying?" she asked carefully, searching my gaze. "Is this because of what happened the night of your date? The last time I was here?"

I grimaced at her bluntness, making her tense her jaw. So she'd noticed then.

"It is," she realised.

"You were fucking right, okay?" I spoke abruptly. "A year ago, when we argued and you– you said what you did."

"I was fucking high all the time," she interrupted angrily. "I didn't mean any of it."

"But you did," I retorted, frowning, forcing myself to hold her stare otherwise this was all for nothing. "Deep down, a part of you did and, fuck, it hurt so much because you were right, okay? I– I was fucking in love with you. And I know it was foolish of me, but it was true."

Her eyes widened slightly, stunned, but I couldn't seem to stop now that I'd started.

"It was horrible and it ruined everything and that's why I can't be friends with you. Because I thought I was over it but I'm fucking not, okay? And– and the other night, I didn't mean to make things weird. But my head is a mess and I don't know what to do because all I wanted to do was fucking kiss you, and I know that's wrong, it is. And I'm sorry, but I can't keep being friends with you and put you in this position again. Especially not now."

I was shaking by the time I'd finished, heart racing too fast for me to keep track of. After almost a decade, I'd finally told her the truth. And it didn't feel any more liberating than it should have.

She swallowed hard, looking down with furrowed brows as if trying to digest my admission. I'd been so focused on getting it out of me that I hadn't even had time to anticipate how she could react.

"You were in love with me?" she finally spoke, looking to me with questioning eyes. "You're in love with me?"

I almost scoffed, eyes watering. "Like you didn't know? You said it yourself, Skye..."

She frowned regretfully. "What I said to you that day was awful. It wasn't fair of me. And yes, maybe I did know, but it– I wasn't uncomfortable... I..." She hesitated, before admitting, "I was in love with you too. I just– you deserved better than me. You still do."

I blinked back my tears as I studied her closely, with confusion. There was no way that was true. How could she have thought such a thing?

She stepped forward, slowly lifting her hand to touch my face, gauging my reaction. When I didn't push her away or step back, she cupped my cheek, thumb stroking my cheekbone, and my whole body felt like it was on fire.

"I wanted you to kiss me," she said softly, eyes flickering between mine. "Last time, I– I thought you were going to."

I blinked, taken aback. "What?"

She frowned, looking down momentarily as she said, "I didn't want you to go on that fucking date. But I wasn't going to be selfish and stop you. I just– I care about you a lot, Y/N. You mean the world to me. You always have."

Rendered speechless, I didn't know what to think or say. She'd reacted in a way that I'd never anticipated – never dreamed of – nor thought was possible.

Her dark eyes found mine once more, too close to be anything but a blur of golden flecks.

"I don't want to be friends either," she murmured, before pressing her lips to mine.

My eyes widened with surprise and then she tugged me closer and I instinctively relaxed into her, eyes fluttering close. Her lips were warm and tasted like berries, moving against mine in a perfect rhythm. My hands fell to her hips, goosebumps dancing all over my skin, and I couldn't seem to remember a single thing prior to this.

When we pulled apart for air, every part of my body felt aflame. My lips were tingling and she was still so close, too close for me to find words.

"Maybe things would've been different if I'd been honest in the first place," she spoke softly, breath tickling my lips, only reminding me of the feeling of hers against them.

I didn't know what to say, too stunned by the truth of her feelings.

"I missed you," she admitted, hand lowering from my cheek and to my chest. "It was only two weeks, but I thought I'd ruined everything."

"I'm sorry," I managed to get out, not intending to hurt her.

She shook her head. "Don't be," she assured me, before hugging me tightly.

I let out a quiet breath and wrapped my arms around her, sinking into her embrace. It was still a lot to accept – that she'd loved me too. That she did, even now.

"You haven't said much," she noticed, pulling back with a stifled concern.

"It's just a surprise," I shared, not wanting her to second guess anything. "I really thought... I thought you only ever saw me as a friend. Still trying to process it."

She smiled a little, understanding. "Yeah... I wanted to tell you sooner. Years ago. I almost did. Many times. But everything got bad and it just..." She sighed regretfully. "I didn't want to pull you down with me. That version of me wasn't good enough for you."

I frowned, looking between her eyes. "That's not true."

"It is," she said knowingly. "But it's okay. I want to be better than that girl."

"You are," I said sincerely, taking her hand in mine and squeezing it gently.

Her eyes twinkled as she smiled hopefully. "I hope so. For your sake."

I couldn't help but smile too, touched by how much she cared.

"My tour kicks off at the end of the week, but I'd really like to take you out on a proper date before then," she said, taking my other hand in hers.

"It can wait," I reassured her, "I know it's full on for the next few days–"

"No, no, just one," she cut me off eagerly, squeezing my hands. "Before I have to go and won't see you for ages."

I stifled the urge to laugh. "Okay, but if it's too much, Skye, I can wait until–"

Before I could finish, she leaned forward and kissed me, surprising me for the second time. I was too taken aback to react, and then she pulled away and I felt my cheeks heating up with embarrassment.

"That's got to be my new favourite way of shutting you up," she said with a satisfied grin.

I groaned quietly, flustered, and she laughed at my dismay. I suppose there could have been worse ways.

[hello-nichya-here]

Did Sia insult topic of autism somehow?

Oh honey, it's sooooooooo much worse than that.

Sia wanted to make a movie about an autistic girl that manages to connect to people/feel safe and confident through music. So far, nothing outrageous, just a simple concept that would obviously put Sia's music front and center while doing something nice and educating people on autism.

There was controversy about her not casting an autistic actress as it would have been nice representation, but she could have totally gotten away with that since, come on, hollywood hasn't even figured out Rain Man isn't exactly true to life, they're not ready to have an autistic person playing an autistic character. Baby steps.

The real problem started when Sia started promoting the "charity/support group" that was helping "educate" her on the topic to make the movie. The "charity" in question was Autism Speaks - which is absolutely HATED by the autistic community for things like:

1 - Spreading the myth that autism is a mental illness that one can develop/catch like the freaking flue and potentially be cured of, instead of a neurotype, aka something starts in the woomb and cannot be "cured" because to do that you'd need to replace someone's entire nervous system, which is impossible.

2 - Using that myth to get outrageous amounts of money from people so they "search for a cure" - that doesn't exist and will never exist because curing autism is biologically impossible, AND despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of autistic people don't even want to be "cured" (plus, since said "cure" would essentially mean giving the person a new brain, it leads to the question of "Would I even be the same person, or would that just kill and replace me?")

3 - Using the myth of "We don't know what causes autism" (we do, it's genetic) to, of course, get MORE money from people so they can "do research to find the missing puzzle piece" (if you ever see autistic people complaining about a puzzle piece being used to represent the condition, that's why, it was started by Autism Speak's massive disinformation campains).

4 - Falsely "confirming" things like soy milk cause autism with one of the world's most ridiculous "research", losing only to "vaccines totally make kids autistic, buy MY vaccine instead, guys, I am totally not an unbelievably biased person, it's ALL the other doctors/scientists lying to you. GIVE ME MONEY!"

5 - Pushing the narrative of "autism is inherently a tragedy" to distract from the fact that all the money they waste on stupid shit could be used to help autistic people and their families. Instead, they focus on creating more and more panic, making parents in particular despair even more - to the point that one of their "awareness videos" includes a mother talking about how she wants to murder her autistic daughter and then kill herself... while sitting right next to said daughter.

6 - Promoting ABA "therapy" - which was created by the same guy responsible for the attrocity that is gay conversion "therapy." Both have led to unbelievably high rates of confirmed PTSD and suicidal ideation in patients (victims), and ABA in particular has been compared to literal dog training. Very fitting since it was created by a guy who famously did not believe autistic people truly counted as thinking, feeling human beings, and said as much several times. Despite that, it is still praised by some utter bastards because "it makes the patients act less autistic when they're not crying in the corner or trying to jump out a window"

So yeah, working with these guys is a genuinely horrible thing to do since they're basically a scam/hate group pretending to be a charity - and people were STILL willing to give Sia the benefit of the doubt, since Autism Speak uses all their resources to make sure they're the first thing people see when looking up how to help autistic people.

Lots of Sia's fans, both autistic and allistic, warned her repeatedly, politely, that she needed to supporting them IMMEDIATELY as their goal was the exact opposite of the one she claimed to have - aka raise awareness through an accurate portrail of autism. People were even kind enough to name organizations like ASAN as replacements to help her fix any damage done to the project.

And instead of being a decent human being, Sia decided to cry on twitter about how the mean retar-I mean, autistics were bullying her even when she was so kindly using them for her vanity project.

Because yes, that's how the movie turned out. An unwatcheable piece of garbage, with the autistic "character" being so fucking bad even the people who actively use "autistic" as insulted being offended on our behalf - and of course, she was used just a prop to show how awesome Sia's character was.

Seriously, it was so bad the actress playing the autistic girl was sobbing in between scenes because she knew how it was horrible and she didn't want to insult anyone, but Sia is literally her godmother and helped her career by putting her in nearly all her music videos so she felt obligated to go along with it.

So yeah, fuck Sia and fuck Autism Speaks.

[chouettecrivaine]

Ah, Young Love! [Our Life: Now & Forever]

Fandom: Our Life: Now & Forever

Characters: Qiu Lin, Tamarack Baumann

Notes: takes place during Step 1, so he/him is used for Qiu as that is how he identifies at this point in the story!

So anyway I'm obsessed with how everybody wants Qiu but Qiu only has eyes for MC once they meet so I'm thinking about his silly little boyhood crush. And then I couldn't leave best girl Tamarack out of the love fest so here's just a few little things I was thinking about with them having childhood crushes on u <3

Note that only the demo is publicly available and I am not currently a patron so anything here that is proven true is coincidence and anything proven false is just me having a little fun

Qiu Lin

So like. I've seen Qiu call you pretty twice in the demo. Once when you meet him if you choose to call him pretty first, and again towards the end of what's available in the demo when he's listing off reasons why you should be allowed to join the club..

I just think that whenever he talks about you he always has to let it slip that he thinks you're cute. "They had on a really nice hair clip today!" "Their hair looked so cute when they took off their hat at school." "When I picked them up to walk to school, I was so surprised at how pretty they looked!"

When he told his parents about you he probably said "this really pretty kid surprised me in our yard and we went on a miniature adventure!"

Also (and note that my MC uses she/her so im gonna quote him using gendered terms but only for this one instance) When he's introducing you to one of his friends, he starts off with your name and says "she's a girl!" (Or whatever terms you have set)

So I just think he says the most basic facts about you with so much awe and wonder 🥺 like you wore overalls to school? He talks like you invented denim. You had a funny comment or joke? It's like he's never heard one before in his life when he retells it.

I feel like…the first thing that makes him interested in you is that you're new. Not only does this make you fun to mess with, but it makes you far more interesting than the people he's known his whole life. Plus you, unlike Tamarack, don't immediately brush off the cool things he wants to show you or do with you if it isn't immediately your cup of tea.

Darren and Baxter are sick and tired of hearing your name !! If you're not around Qiu wonders aloud at least once if he should or should've invite(d) you. If he did invite you and you had to decline, then he wonders what you're doing.

The type of kid to skip out on his weekend chores at home and go to your house to help you unpack instead

Ok so MC says they used to live in an apartment, right? Probably in the city? And MC was only allowed to play on their own because Golden Grove is "a safe neighborhood?" What if MC doesn't know how to ride a bike. What if Qiu teaches them…

Whether you get a hang of it or not, he daydreams about doing that thing where he rides the bike and you sit backwards on the seat or on the handlebars or something

When he finds out you can't ride a bike, he definitely shows off by riding around without his hands on the handlebars.

Will teach you how to jump off the swing set too, then will have competitions over who can swing the highest and leap the farthest

I feel like Golden Grove has a cute little main street with a bunch of locally owned shops. If you're interested, he'll show you every. single. business. Even if most of them are "granny shops" he isn't interested in. He'll let you poke around for a bit :)

He has a special page in his notebook for all the little notes and doodles about you

If you look closely at the note he gives you after class, you can see the remnants of a few tiny little hearts that he erased!!

Going back to him offering you to ride on his bike: he probably got you in trouble once because you were on your front lawn and he rode up asking you to go on an adventure with him on his bike. You're expecting a fun little 20 min ride through the walkable path in the woods that'll have you back home by dinner. Instead he takes you to town and buys you ice cream and the two of you have to struggle your way back up the hill on foot and it takes like an hour and a half to get back and your mom was worried SICK

Buys a pack of pens with one/some of your favorite color(s) and writes you notes exclusively in that/those ink(s)

If you and your mom go somewhere and he knocks on your door while you're out, you will come home to see him sitting on the steps to your front porch and waiting for you

Before class starts, he always gives you a funny face or a wave. If you come in late because of a doctor's appointment or something, naturally a lot of the kids turn to look at your entrance, and he immediately waves at you. Maybe even says hi to you out loud if he knows Mrs. Murray is in a good mood / he can get away with it.

If he finishes his work early or something, he'll turn around in his seat and just watch you from across the room with major heart eyes. He smiles wider and waves when you notice.

Anything you compliment him on, he immediately draws attention to around others. Say his hair looks good today? He'll hit you with a "oh but not every other day?" but then tell his seatmates about what you said.

Buys extra portions of his little snack bags of chips and candy or whatever he likes when he can so that he can give them to you during lunch.

Gets on a kick and will pester you about having a secret handshake until you let him come up with one. He likes having special things just you and him 🥺

Probably invites you to his hideout at a specific time and day every week and he gets soooooo excited for that time to roll around.

Tries extra hard in your favorite subject, even if it's one he hates. He's not trying to be top of the class, but he doesn't want you to think he doesn't care about something you care about!

If you like a class he's terrible at, he'll ask for your help! Or, if you struggle in a class he's good at, he'll volunteer to help you out even though he HATES the concept of doing extra schoolwork. That's how much he likes u

He'll do this with any windows but especially if one of your bedroom windows faces his: he will definitely pull a Taylor Swift in "You Belong With Me" and write notes for you guys to read to each other

Since he can't sit with you, he'll write you notes or make you doodles and then pretend he has to get up to sharpen his pencil so he can pass your desk and slip it to you

Tamarack Baumann

Tamarack will straight up just stare at you 👁👁

She follows you around like a lost puppy and visibly brightens up when you're around

Looks forward to school because she gets to sit next to you all day! Like she'll skip happily along the path with you and Qiu and you'll ask her if she's looking forward to all these things and she'll just go "No!" and when you finally give up and ask why she says "because I get to spend the whole day next to you!"

When she goes to play in the woods, sometimes she'll spend a while in the shallower end of the tree line waiting to see if you'll come outside and play with her

Has definitely thrown sticks and pebbles at your back door to lure you out before she gets bored

Likes to go around and pick up the coolest rock, the prettiest flower, the biggest piece of tree bark, a leaf the size of her head…then before she goes home for the night, she stops by your house and gives what she picked up to you!!

If you're not home then she leaves it on your porch with a note, usually held down by a rock if it's not something heavy 

She'll be over the moon if you give her cool rocks and stuff you found. Even if you're literally giving her trash, like if you ONLY give her bottle caps or pop tabs you find on the sidewalk, she cherishes them. Would make jewelry out of them tbh

Ok so quick tangent but there's a book I read in about 4th grade called Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, and in it the love interest girl is the quirky type. One thing she has is a little decorative cart on her dresser which she puts rocks in every time she's happy and takes rocks out when she's sad. When the protag goes to her house and finds out, she explains how she has put the most rocks in it since meeting him. They kiss sometime after that and she puts another rock in and tells him about it. I think Tamarack would have a jar or a doll house bathtub and she would do the same thing, putting rocks in it when she's happy! So what I'm saying is give her plenty of rocks so she can exclusively use MC rocks for that 

Also will make matching jewelry for the two of you without even stopping to think if you even wear what she's making. She'll buy kits to make special rings and headbands, braid a million friendship bracelets out of multicolored string, use acorns she found to make earrings…anything! She is just as happy if you wear it then she is if you buy a jewelry display stand and show them off in your room. Eventually she adds keychains into the mix for some variety

Doesn't mean to spend a lot of her time waiting on you but she does. On weekends, instead of going directly into the woods, she'll just lie on her back in her yard and stare up at the clouds, completely still, daydreaming (about you) until she hears your door opening. Then she runs to you.

If any of your windows are open, particularly your bedroom window, she'll send a bunch of paper airplanes your way. Most of them make it! However, you've learned that if you find even one paper airplane inside, you're going to have to check that side of the house for more scattered on the ground

Grips onto your arms or your clothes whenever she can. You two are connected.

Makes a BIG effort to like anything that you like as much as you do! And when she follows you around, it doesn't really matter if you're doing something she doesn't care about. She just wants to spend time with you! It does make her whole week if you follow her into the woods, though.

She doesn't take notes in class, but you leave a writing implement out for her and sometimes she'll reach over and doodle a cute bear or something on your paper :)

If you say you're cold, she'll give you her scarf, no questions asked. Is also down to share but don't let her do that while you're walking because it WILL end badly 

Has wrapped the scarf around the two of you and tied you guys together before and yes it was the best recess of her life 

When walking, she tends to lean into you which sometimes almost turns into pushing you and Qiu into the road if you're not careful

Likes to drag you around places and pretty quickly invites you to her house. She doesn't tell her grandparents that she's inviting you over, so they're surprised by you almost every time, but they don't mind! She's dragging you up the stairs to her room too quickly for them to say anything anyway

[realbubonicsword]

An Analysis of Shelly

I know what you're thinking. "But Toffee, you only ever post Goob-related content! What's with this sudden Shelly craze?"

Now, my one and only favorite character is and always will be Goob, but I have started to take an interest in Shelly's character lately. And hoooo boy, it has been one HELL of a rabbit hole. Plus, I haven't seen anyone else actively point this out, so I'm doing it myself.

Are you ready?

Let's begin.

(analysis below cut)

The first thing about Shelly that struck me as odd in the new update was her design.

Now, there is absolutely nothing bad about her design-I find it very good, actually!-but when I saw that she was a MAIN CHARACTER TOON (I wasn't keeping up with update news), I was shocked. Everything about her design, from the clothing she wears to the colors made her look like a more...out of the way character. A character meant to have one singular purpose, and then be brushed aside and forgotten. The fact that she was one of the main toons was....strange.

I mean, look at her compared to Teagan!

If you knew about Dandy's World, but didn't know about the update, which one would you guess was the main toon?

I found this...interesting.

Then, I looked into her dialogue on the wiki.

Average stuff, for the most part. She didn't really have anything that jumped out at me. In fact, she didn't show too much unique personality at all. The only thing she was really doing was helping others, or occasionally asking for things from others. Nothing else, really.

Although, there was one strange piece of dialogue that caught my eye, that actually showed a hint of what kind of person Shelly is.

Odd, but ok...

And then, I read the description for her twisted form after finally getting 50%....

And it all made sense.

See it yet?

Let me highlight it for you.

"The blatant ignorance of her existence by everyone around her has enraged her."

At first I thought that this had to be an exaggeration. Surely this friendly and helpful toon couldn't just be ignored like tha-

Oh.

They're right.

Every single bit of dialogue she has is either her helping someone or her asking for something. It's sort of like that person at a job you like being around, but you never really get to know. That's Shelly with basically EVERYONE.

Seriously, name ONE genuine friend that she has currently IN THE GAME (not counting Sprout) that she has had an actual conversation with where they bond and get to know each other as people.

The only time she had some sort of conversation was with Teagan, when she mentioned she was doing ok..."sorta-ish". That line in itself is interesting as well, as it shows how she feels about all of this. But still, they don't really seem to be friends.

We're dipping into a bit of headcanon territory here, but I believe it's rooted enough into Canon to include.

Shelly is someone who craves human (or in this case, toon) connection. She wants to be dependable, to be the one people can fall back on when they're feeling down, to be the one people rely on, and she has that, in a sense. However, no matter how much she does for others, no matter how much she helps them and supports them...

People only see her as..someone to ask for help on occasion. Uh oh, I dropped something, better get that fossil girl to help, since she's always so useful. And that is a part of what Shelly wants!

But that's it.

Useful.

A tool to use and then toss aside for the next person until they need her again.

That's all there is to almost every relationship she has.

And part of it is her fault.

You see, Shelly is so focused on helping people that she forgets to take that next step to forge true friendships, and unfortunately, nobody seems to ever catch on that she wants to take that step to forge genuine bonds with others.

She's non-confrontational by nature, and she doesn't want to ruin her perception of being useful, because then people might forget about her entirely, so she waits and hopes that someone will hear something that she will never say herself.

A good example of this is the strange dialogue I mentioned earlier between Shelly and Vee.

Vee asks if she's busy after they're done with going down the elevator. Shelly initially doesn't believe that anyone would ever ask HER of all people to...possibly hang out...and talk..like friends...

So she gets excited. She asks what they're going to do together (although notably phrasing it in a way so it seems like she is offering to help), and...

It was...just moving some supplies. More work. More reasons to be useful. This isn't a bad thing! It means that people care about her! That they have need for her, so they'll never forget about her! It's not like she hoped that someone actually wanted to take time out of their day to hang out with her, nope! She'd never tell Vee any of that! And besides, she's totally fine with this!

So why does it hurt so badly?

Shelly's greatest fear has been happening to her for years, and she refuses to agknowledge it. To her, it could be so much worse if she stopped helping people. As long as she's useful, people will like her. They would never even think to toss her aside and forget about her, right?

Except they have been for a long time now.

When people talk to her, she either has to initiate by asking for something, or they initiate only because they need something from her. She wants to tell them so badly, to ask them why they never seen to pay any attention to her, or attempt to even have a real conversation with her, but she will never be that bold.

Even with the cardboard cutouts on one of the maps, she's hidden in the back-present, but barely noticed by those around her. (this is more obvious in game)

No matter how much she tries, no matter how friendly or helpful or dependable she is, people never seem to see her as a person. Why don't they see her?! She's right here! She's here and she's endlessly waiting for connections that will never come to pass! It's fine though, really!

Keep being friendly, and people will like you more.

Keep being helpful, and people will have a reason to talk to you.

Keep being dependable, and people will have a reason to come back. They won't ever leave you alone. Right..?

Keep being friendly.

Keep being helpful.

Keep being dependable.

(That's all you'll ever be.)

Ironic that a fossils greatest fear is being forgotten.

[darknight3904]

Waiting For You

𝕊𝕦𝕞𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕪: ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜ ᴏᴠᴇʀ ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴇxᴛ ɢᴇɴᴇʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴡɪᴛʜ ꜱᴀᴛᴏʀᴜ ᴀɴᴅ ɴᴀɴᴀᴍɪ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʀʏ ᴛᴏ ᴋᴇᴇᴘ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ᴀʟʟ ꜱᴀꜰᴇ.

𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤: ᴍᴀᴊᴏʀ ᴊᴊᴋ ꜱᴇᴀꜱᴏɴ 2 ꜱᴘᴏɪʟᴇʀꜱ. ᴄᴜʀꜱɪɴɢ. ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ/ᴋɪʟʟɪɴɢ. ɴᴀᴏʙɪᴛᴏ ᴢᴇɴɪɴ. ꜰᴀᴛ ꜱʜᴀᴍɪɴɢ. ᴏᴜᴛᴅᴀᴛᴇᴅ ᴢᴇɴɪɴ ᴄʟᴀɴ ɪᴅᴇᴀʟꜱ

ɪᴛꜱ ꜱʜɪʙᴜʏᴀ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ;)

ɢᴏᴊᴏ x ᴢᴇɴɪɴ!ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ: 8.4ᴋ (ɪ'ᴍ ʟᴏᴏꜱɪɴɢ ᴍʏ ᴍᴀʀʙʟᴇꜱ)

ᴀʟꜱᴏ, ꜱᴏʀʀʏ ᴛᴏ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴏɴᴇ ɪɴ ᴀᴅᴠᴀɴᴄᴇ. ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴏɴᴇ'ꜱ ꜱᴀᴅ ʜᴇʜᴇ.

ᴘʀᴇᴠɪᴏᴜꜱ ᴘᴀʀᴛ / ꜱᴇʀɪᴇꜱ ᴍᴀꜱᴛᴇʀʟɪꜱᴛ /ᴍʏ ᴍᴀꜱᴛᴇʀʟɪꜱᴛ

2018

June

"You have to be kidding me." You sigh as you let your boys into the house.

"I'd never. I'm always serious when it comes to you. Megumi, call Shoko. She can patch you up." Gojo smiles waving the boy off

"Are you okay? I can call her. Satoru's overpowered self doesn't know what real pain feels like." You glare at your boyfriend

"I'm fine. Just watch over Itadori." Megumi says slowly walking off in the direction of his room he hasn't been inside for months since moving into the dorms at Jujutsu High

"So this... pink-haired, normal kid ate Sukuna's finger?" You ask in disbelief as you watch Megumi walk off.

"Yup. I think he's even got potential as a vessel." Gojo says motioning to the unconscious child he's holding like a sack of potatoes.

"Satoru, a finger is one thing. Twenty is a whole different story." You warn

"Did I mention he can swap with Sukuna at will?" Gojo asks

"What?" You stop in your tracks

"Cool, right? I asked him to give me ten seconds with the King of Curses and ten seconds later, Itadori here was back in control of his body." Gojo explains

"And Sukuna is okay with this?" You ask

"Oh, I doubt it. There's something special about this kid for sure though. Plus he seems like he'd be a great friend to Megumi. Seriously, that kid's so quiet sometimes I swear he's a statue or something." Gojo points out

"I'll ignore what you just said about Megumi for now. But, you realize what the higher-ups will say about your master plan to get Megumi a new best friend." You remind Gojo.

"Yeah, yeah...according to regulations he should be executed. Didn't know you were such a fan of theirs." Gojo teases

"I'm not and I know you're not either. Which is what makes your decisions so dangerous. Running around doing whatever you please will get someone hurt." You remind him

"Damn, you're a buzzkill. Too much time with Nanamin will do that to you though. We'll have to have a date night soon so I can remind you how cool I am." Gojo smiles

"Right, super cool, that's definitely why we're together." You roll your eyes, "Has it ever occurred to you that I genuinely like spending time with Nanami?"

"Well, that's just a bonus. The real reason is obviously my good looks." Gojo grins, pulling at his blindfold to wink at you.

"Wuzz happinin?" A gurgled voice sounds as Itadori struggles out of Gojo's grip and lands on the soft living room rug you had picked out with Tsumiki years ago.

"Oppsie...can't have you waking up yet." Gojo laughs before flicking Itadori's head and watching him fall asleep again

"Well, I'm off to talk to the higher-ups about him. Make sure Megumi actually calls Shoko. He tried going toe to toe with Sukuna before I got there." Gojo smiles

"I can't believe you let Megumi of all people get beat up by Sukuna." You groan walking towards the steps.

"Getting beat up builds character." Gojo reasons as he scoops Itadori back up

"Says the man who has Infinity and can teleport."

"Having him around won't be that bad." You assure the dark-haired boy beside you.

"You're kidding, right? We are talking about the same person right? Because last I checked you just said Itadori would be coming to school here." Megumi asks

"Of course we are. Besides you need friends your own age." You push

"I do have friends," Megumi said sitting down on his bed beside you

"I don't count." You smile "Also, why are you acting so cool all of a sudden? Satoru told me that you didn't want Itadori to die." You smile

"Yeah, I didn't want him to die. I didn't say I wanted him to join the school I went to." He clarifies

"Well, too bad. Satoru got what he wanted and now Itadori is officially a vessel. Of course, his threatening of the higher-ups probably influenced their decision. After all, no one's ever going to be able to beat him so arguing immediately becomes pointless." You say

"Aww talking about me with such fondness in your voice? My heart is warmed." Gojo suddenly cuts in, slowly opening Megumi's dorm door

"What do you want?" Megumi asked

"I'm here to drop off your new best friend." Gojo grins, pushing the door open fully to reveal Itadori, this time conscious.

"Hey, Fushiguro." He smiles with a save

"You had to put his room right next to mine?" Megumi asked

"Of course." You laugh standing up and crossing the room to Gojo and the newest student of Jujutsu High.

"Oh, hello, Zenin-san." Itadori greets

"Hello, Itadori. I hope Satoru has told you everything you need to know about this school." You smile

"Yeah, he was great at explaining everything." Itadori nodded

He definitely missed a bunch of stuff.

"That's great. We'll leave you two to talk. Megumi you should help Itadori unpack his stuff, you'll get to know each other better." You suggest, linking your arm around Gojo's.

"Wow a girl's close to me! I think I'm blushing!" Gojo declares stupidly beside you as he lets you pull him out Megumi's room and down the hallway.

"Is there something wrong with you? Seriously, the more I spend time with you the more I think you were dropped on your head as a baby or something." You groan in annoyance

Itadori watches his new teacher and the good-looking woman disappear down the hall, bickering like an old couple the further away they get. He swears he even hears one of them mention toenails.

"Hey, Fushiguro, they're kinda strange together don't you think?" Itadori asks

"Trust me, you haven't even seen the half of it." Megumi sighs

July

The soft beeping of Satoru's alarm is what greets you most mornings. Normally you'd lie in bed while he showered and then drag yourself downstairs and eat breakfast with him. Instead today, you're greeted with strong arms wrapped around your waist and a barrage of kisses down your neck.

"Good morning," Satoru says, his voice is deep with sleep and his white hair is a mess atop his head

"Mmm...morning." You groan, trying to wiggle away from him so you can stretch.

"Don't leave." Satoru groans

"I won't. I just need to stretch my leg feels funny." You promise

"Fine." He relents, letting go and opening his pretty eyes

"Woah, jumpscare." He says "What the hell happened to you?"

"Shut up. It's all your fault anyway!" You groan, grabbing your pillow to try and suffocate him

Satoru laughs under the pillow and easily pushes you away.

"Sorry, sorry. Guess I got carried away with the hickies last night. It won't happen again." He laughs

"You're a terrible liar." You sigh, reaching across him and snatching up his phone from the nightstand when it dings

"Who is it? Is it our little blessing telling us to stop PDAing in the hallways when you visit the school?" He asks

"You really need to stop calling him a little blessing, even if his name literally means it." You laugh "It's actually Itadori. Apparently, He, Nobara, and Megumi are going out shopping and to a movie later. They wanna know if you wanna tag along." You say

ding!

Bring Zenin-san if she's free too!

"And my presence has also been requested." You smile and tap out a reply

We'll be there at 1!

"They just want me to pay for everything." Gojo scowled

"What's the matter, rich boy? Are your pockets hurting supporting all these teens? You're the one who brings 'em home like they're lost kittens." You tease

"So mean to me! And after I gave you three orgasms last night!" Satoru laughs

"Oh please, I know we're not dating because of my stellar people skills." You remind him, poking at his face as you lie back down next to him, hoping for some cuddling before you have to get up and shower.

"You're right...It's probably your awesome tits that have kept me around for so long."

"Satoru Gojo!"

"I'm sorry but they're really great! It's like one of the first things I noticed about you!"

"Domain Expansion!."

"Wait, I was just joking!! It's also your awesome personality! What're you doing with that pillow? Stay back, demon!!"

"Where the hell are they?" Nobara groans

"Gojo is always late. I don't know why you bothered inviting him." Megumi says, his face still buried in his phone

"Yeah, but I thought since we invited Zenin-san he'd be more punctual." Itadori groans

"Trust me, when those two are together, they're anything but punctual," Megumi warns

"You sure seem to know a lot about them, Fushiguro. What aren't you telling us?" Nobara smirks, nudging her classmate

"Yeah, c'mon Fushiguro, spill the beans. That's the whole reason we invited both of them here. We wanna know what kind of a relationship they have!" Itadori says

"Why does it matter? They're both idiots. Gojo more so but still..." Megumi says

"I happen to think Zenin-san is a very respectable woman who would never stoop so low as to be romantically entwined with Gojo. I mean have you seen him?" Nobara asks

"Yeah, but have you ever seen Gojo without his blindfold? I did one time and he's totally hot! What if Zenin couldn't resist a pretty face?" Itadori countered

"I think she's stronger than that. Besides it'd be kind of crazy if two special-grade sorcerers were dating. They'd be the definition of a power couple!" Nobara says

"Yeah, but wouldn't that make them cooler than they already are?" Itadori asks

"Whatever, I just hope Gojo pays for everyone's snacks at the movie theater." Nobara says

"I'm not a walking ATM machine you know."

"Gojo!" Itadori smiles "Oh and Zenin-san is here! Perfect timing."

"You guys can just ignore him, he'll definitely pay for everyone's food." You smile

"Why are you two always so late?" Megumi asks

"You've known us for how many years Megumi? You should know that Satoru is chronically late." You say

"Wait...how many years have you known him, Zenin-san?" Nobara asks, her detective skills are on point today...

"Huh? Oh, I've known Megumi since he was six." You say as if its obvious

"What?" Nobara asks, clearly shocked

"Yeah, so has Satoru. He's actually the one who met Megumi before me. Brought him back like a little homeless kitten." You say, thinking of the day you met Megumi for the first time.

"You remember Toji Zenin, right?" Gojo asks, the phone crackling slightly as you listen to him

"I mean...vaguely. I think I might've seen him a few times around the clan's estate when I was little." You say

"Right, well he's got these kids..." Gojo trailed off

"So?" You ask, wondering if he could hear your eye roll through the phone

"I'll be there soon. Don't keep me waiting!" Gojo sings before hanging up

You groan, wondering what nonsense he was cooking up this time. Without Geto around Gojo had become a bit of a pain in everyone else's asses. Perhaps he was just lonely without his friend or maybe he really was just that annoying. All you knew was that when Geto was still here, Gojo bothered you a lot less than he did now.

"What the hell is this?" You ask twenty minutes later staring at Gojo and then at the two small kids who are next to him, a boy and a girl

"The kids I was just talking about, duh. Don't you listen? No wonder you have to study so much." Gojo taunts, pushing you out of the way and into your dorm, the kids following close behind. They reminded you of little ducklings following their mom.

If their mom was an 18-year-old white-haired freak of nature that is.

"Where the hell did they come from? You didn't steal them did you?" You ask

"You want a baby-making lesson? How bold, Zenin. I'd rather wait til' marriage though." Gojo laughs

"Can we play with that?" a small voice interjects, Gojo's crass words flying over young minds

You follow the boy's pointing hand to where your Wii console sits in front of your TV.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, knock yourself out." You say "The games are in a bin under my bed."

"They're Toji Zenin's kids. The boy is Megumi and the girl is Tsumiki." Gojo says as he watches them load Mario Kart up on the TV, bickering about who was going to get to play as Yoshi.

"You stole a dead man's children? What the hell is wrong with you?" You groan. These kids should be with the clan leader if they're orphans, not with Gojo.

"I didn't steal them. He basically gave them to me." Gojo defends

"He's dead, Gojo. He can't give anything anymore. Besides you can't just hand kids off like they're watermelons." You say

"Well he was originally going to sell them off to your clan so I'm doing them and him a favor," Gojo says

He's right, he is doing them a favor by keeping them away from the clan. Even now at 17, you can't escape how it ruins your life, just being a Zenin is terrible, especially for the girls.

"Alright well, what're they doing here in my dorm?" You ask

"I was hoping you could help me with them. I don't really know much about kids. Plus you guys are related so at least they'll know one of their relatives this way." Gojo explains

"You're joking, right? Gojo we can't just raise two random kids together." You say "Take them to some government program or something. They shouldn't grow up with sorcerers looking after them."

"Yeah about that...Megumi has the-" Gojo is cut off by a scream of frustration from the TV where the kids are playing

"You can't just let them out whenever you lose! That's not good sportsmanship! " Tsumiki shrieks tossing a pillow at what looks like two puppies that sit next to Megumi

"Holy shit..." You say, your eyes ready to pop out of your head

"Yup. Megumi here's one talented kid. He's got the Ten Shadows Technique. Something your clan is itching to get its hands on." Gojo smiles

You can hear the smugness in his voice as you begrudgingly make up your mind.

"Fine. I'll help. But only for a few years." You say casting a glance at Gojo who just continues to smile

"Why don't you ever tell us anything, Fushiguro?!" Itadori groans "You grew up with two super cool people raising you and didn't say anything?"

"I didn't think you guys would care," Megumi says

"Alright, so you guys are just what? Co-workers who raised Megumi together then?" Nobara asks

"What? No. Well, I guess it technically started that way but now..." You trail off looking at Satoru who tosses an arm around your shoulders

"We're a couple! She couldn't resist my charms!" Gojo says

"I told you, Kugisaki!" Itadori shouts in victory

"Shut up, you idiot!" Nobara groans

You laugh at the first years as they bicker while Megumi watches them in silence.

"Mmm. You're so pretty when you smile like that." Gojo says, his lips tickling your ear as he whispers to you.

"Stop it..." You say, turning away from him

Gojo laughs before pulling you so your back is pressed to his chest. He leans down and gently places a kiss on your ear, then behind it, and then another on the nape of your neck.

"Could you two keep it PG for once in your lives?" Megumi asks, his face is red with embarrassment.

"Sorry, I know you said no more PDA. Can you blame me? She's just so gorgeous. I have to remind her regularly." Gojo smiles

"I think it's kind of cute," Itadori says

"Yeah, Fushiguro stop hating on them....hey what's that on your neck, Zenin-san?" Nobara asks

Shit...the foundation that was covering the marks from last night must've smeared...

"Gross!" Megumi declares getting ready to walk away

"Hey, it's natural! How do you think you came into this world?!" Gojo defends

"Gojo, we didn't create Megumi." You remind him, watching as Nobara and Itadori chase after Megumi.

"You're telling me. No kid of mine would have an attitude like that!" Gojo scoffs

"Yeah, you're right, they'd probably be worse."

August

"You're sure keeping him here isn't going to get anyone else killed?" You ask watching as Itadori messes with Yaga's cursed corpse bear.

"Nah, I had Shoko keep his resurrection off the record. Sukuna sure is unpredictable though." Gojo says

"What about Megumi?" You ask, "He seemed really broken up about Itadori's 'death'. So did Nobara."

"They'll be fine. They didn't know him that long anyway." Gojo waves you off

"Satoru, you of all people should know that it doesn't matter how long you spend with a person. The memories existing are more than enough even if much time hasn't passed." You say, referring to Geto.

"They'll be okay, this isn't permanent. Just til' he gets a bit stronger." Gojo says

Right, getting stronger, is a constant goal for a sorcerer. You look over at Itadori who's just been punched by the bear.

"He has a lot of work cut out for himself. You sigh watching as the bear dances in victory.

"That reminds me...could you give Nanamin a call for me? I wanted to tell him about Yuji myself but he blocked me after I sent him too many memes last year." Gojo says

September

"Utahime-san, we can cut through here. I bet the kids are...who the hell is that?" You ask stopping your pace.

A skinny blonde boy is about 30 feet away, a shiny sword in one hand. His long hair is pulled back and strange pink triangles adorn his under eyes.

"He's human," Utahime warns

"Women! And they're pretty too!" He smiles, the sword in his hand glitters in the light

"Get out of the way." You say, not interested in talking, "I'm busy."

"Wahhh, so mean! That's okay though...."

A flash of blonde hair meets your eyes as he swings at your head.

"Damn, you're slow." You taunt as you move easily out of the way, Utahime close on your tail.

You have to be mindful of her. She's not one for actual fights, she's best with support. Plus, you don't want to find out if there are any more special-grade curses like that tree thing lurking behind any of these buildings. Fighting something like that didn't interest you, especially if it meant you'd have to look after another while doing so.

Maybe you could just annoy this guy into leaving you alone so you could go find the students.

"I don't think you're worth my time. Look at you you're not even clothed properly." You taunt

"You're so fast!" I thought I cut at least one of you!" He smiles

You roll your eyes, whoever this guy is he probably won't just give up. He must not be aware that he's clearly outclassed by you.

"I don't think I should even bother activating my technique to defeat you. You're like a flea on a lion's back, completely invisible." You grin before quickly closing the distance between you and him, delivering a solid right hook to his face.

Ponytail goes flying and lands on the ground, hard.

"Who said you were allowed to hit that hard?" He groaned, holding his injured face.

"I did. When I decided you weren't worth my technique. Now come back over here, I want to hit you again." You say motioning to him

"What kind of person says that?!"

Before you can get another hit in, the veil has been lifted. You squint up at the sky to see Gojo there, clearly surveying what's happening.

"It hasn't even been thirty minutes yet!" Ponytail whines "I guess I'll see you later..."

"Huh?" You turn to the guy only to see him sprinting off. "Hey! Where the hell do you think you're going-"

"Just leave him, He's not worth it, you said it yourself. Besides we should clear the area." Utahime says looking up at Gojo. "I have a feeling that that idiot is about to do something to get rid of that special grade that was in the forest."

October 5, 2018

"Do I really have to be here?" Nanami asked with a tired sigh

"Of course you do. It'll be fun you'll see." You smile at the blonde

"Last time we all went out didn't Gojo throw up on you, Nanami?" Shoko asked

"Yes. That is one of the reasons I don't want to be here." He confirms, his eyes remain fixed on you

"Oh, would you relax...besides Satoru isn't even here right now." You point out.

You wish he'd stop doing that. Nanami was always watching, it kind of felt like if you dud anything embarrassing he'd catch you and tease you for it. Not that he had ever done that...yet.

"Where is he? I thought we all agreed on meeting here at six." Mei Mei says

"Oh, he was given an extra mission today. He shouldn't be too much longer." You say

"If that were me I would've asked for extra pay. Especially if I wasn't given an advanced notice." She says

"I doubt he needs any more money at his disposal." You laugh

"You never know, what if I'm actually broke?" Gojo chimes in as he makes his way towards the table

"Well, then who's been paying all the bills for the past ten years at our place?" You tease as he sits down next to you.

"Megumi. He's got his Shikigami robbing banks for him." Gojo grins

"Yeah, okay." You laugh, shoving at his shoulder.

"Hey wanna play a drinking game? We could all name the things we love about Satoru Gojo!" He suggests like he always does when alcohol is on the table

"No!" Everyone groans in unison.

"Thanks, Nanami." You huff as you slam the passenger side door, effectively trapping Gojo in the car

"Are you sure you'll be able to get him in the house by yourself?" Nanami asks, eyeing the drunk sorcerer who has his entire face pressed up against the window

"I'll be okay...I think. Megumi is at the house with Itadori, they're having a sleepover... Not sure why they couldn't just do that at the dorms. Anyway, I'll just have them help out if I need to." You say

"Alright. I'll see you later then. Goodnight." Nanami says

He's as polite as ever as he walks down the sidewalk to his own car. Somehow you swear Nanami came into the world with good manners and matching clothes on. Seriously, how do all of his outfits always look good?

You turn your back and miss the way Nanami's eyes follow you, wishing you had taken him up on his suggestion for help. Yes, even if it meant dealing with Gojo, he'd do it for you.

"Who knew he was this heavy?" Itadori laughed as he supported Gojo's legs

"It's all those sweets he eats. He's probably secretly 900lbs or something." You groan, "Megumi are you even supporting your side?"

"Of course I am." He says, "Just walk faster, my arm is cramping"

It's an entire ordeal to get Gojo into the house. Megumi and Yuji help you toss him onto the couch before bidding you goodnight. You have a feeling they're just going to lock themselves in Megumi's room and watch horror movies for hours. But hey, what else would you do on a Friday night at 15?

"Nghhh."

Damn, you were hoping he was out for the night.

"Satoru?" You ask, crouching down to be eye level with him as he lays on his side on the couch

"Nanamin?" He asks

"Nope. Guess again." You smile

"Shoko?" He asks

"Wrong." You laugh

"I give up, tell me." He groans, his eyes remained closed as he lay there.

"It's your girlfriend." You say

"Suguru?"

Now you don't know if you should feel insulted or feel bad for him.

"Whatever. Let's get you out of your clothes and put something more comfortable on." You say, pulling his zip up off and reaching for the t-shirt he had underneath.

"Hey!" He suddenly gasps, shooting up so he's sitting upright

"What's wrong?" You ask, concerned

"I'm taken. Besides you can't just strip me without my consent. I'll call the police." He says, holding his hands across his chest like he was a woman, "No means no."

"Satoru, I'm the one you're dating. Now let's go put our pyjamas on." You say, maybe he could follow you so he could dress himself upstairs

"You want me to follow you after you just tried violating me! What kind of sick pervert are you?!" He asks, his hands remaining over his chest

"The sickest there is." You joke, "By the way you don't have boobs to cover up, stop sitting like that."

"I'm in a vulnerable situation!" He defends

You didn't have the energy to do this and drunk Satoru was driving you nuts,

"Right vulnerable..."You sigh before walking over to the bottom of the steps "Megumi! I need help with him!"

"Can I use a Shikigami this time?" The boy calls back

"Sure!" You say

A half second passes before Megumi and Itadori clamor down the steps to reappear in the living room to take in the "violated" 28-year-old manchild who remained set on remaining modest with his hands on his chest.

"Um...Zenin-san what's he doing?" Itadori asks

"He thinks he's got tits to hide or something." You sigh, too tired and a bit drunk to deal with all this.

"Rabbit escape," Megumi says, and before you know it the living room is filled with little white rabbits.

"Woah, Fushiguro these guys are super cute!" Itadori says, picking one of them up and petting it.

"Right? I was so excited when he showed them to me for the first time." You smile

"Carry him," Megumi says to the rabbits, ignoring the two of you.

The rabbits move in sync and surround Gojo before pushing him off the couch and onto their many backs so they can carry him up the steps.

"It's kind of like he's crowd surfing," Itadori observes

"Ha!" You laugh as you watch Satoru slowly make his way up the steps by rabbit back.

"Should they put him on the bed?" Megumi asked

You think about it for a moment. Drunk Satoru was always cuddly but he often vomited and you didn't want to clean that up.

"Just...leave him on the floor at the foot of our bed." You suggest

"Heh, like a puppy dog." Itadori laughs

October 31, 2018,

7:14 pm Jujutsu High

"What do you mean they're asking for Satoru specifically?" You ask looking at Ijichi, bewildered that normal people would know who your boyfriend is.

"Apparently they're calling for him. But we think it has to do with the veil that's been lowered that's holding them there." He explains

"I'm famous." Gojo declares, standing up with a grin.

"Famously stupid." You roll your eyes and Nanami lets out a hum of amusement

"She's right about that." He agrees

"You worried or something? I'll be fine." Gojo smiles, resting his elbow on your shoulder

"I'm always worried about you." You mumble

"What was that?" He asks

"Nothing." You say

"Mmmhm...welp, I'll be off to Shibuya then. I'll see you two later." Gojo smiles, leaning down for a kiss.

"I need a kiss, for encouragement." He says

You lean forward and gently place a chaste one on his lips, aware that poor Ijichi and Nanami are a few feet away.

"A real one!" Gojo groans

"All our kisses are real you fool!" You defend pushing his face away from yours

"Fine! I'll just get a kiss from whatever curse is making that barrier. I bet it'll be better than yours anyway!" Gojo taunts before walking off

You let out a sigh of relief as he disappears down the hall. Satoru was exhausting sometimes.

"How do you willingly put up with that?" Nanami genuinely asks

"I wish I knew." You reply

8:14 pm, Shibuya, Restaurant Avenue.

"You're getting fat. My son doesn't want a fat bride." A voice calls

Damn...of all places why here? You wanted to go home, shower, and watch bad reality TV with Satoru.

"Hey! What'd you just say?! Zenin-san is a special-grade sorcerer! You can't just say-"

"It's alright, Nobara. This old fool is probably so senile and drunk he doesn't know what he's saying." You say, turning to see Nabito Zenin, clan leader, and your future father-in-law standing before you.

"Naoya won't have kids with a fat woman. Lay off the noodles." Naobito scolded

"I need to buy new pants again. You have to stop feeding me all your leftovers, I'm getting fat!" You groan in front of the mirror

"You're not fat! Besides, even if you've gained a little, it just means there's more to love!" Satoru beams, wrapping his arms around you from behind, "You're as beautiful as ever, sweetheart. Besides I like curves, they're attractive! "

"Oh, fuck off. I don't plan on reproducing with Naoya anyway." You say

"Well, that'll be news to him," Naobito says shaking his head"Maki, I can't believe I'm supposed to be assessing your promotion. I plan to make sure you don't get it, by the way."

If this were a cartoon, you're sure Nobara's ears would be blowing smoke out of them by now. She's positively red with anger and honestly, it's a bit comical. You're used to Naobito's insults, and so is Maki, neither of you is going to let him get under your skin tonight.

"And how'd that work out last time you tried doing that?" Maki asks, looking at you

Naobito's face droops into a scowl. He's not happy to be reminded of his failure to prevent your promotions over the years.

"That was different. The higher-ups like that she's got a technique. You're just a brat who's good with a few cursed tools and a fancy pair of glasses." He explains

"And yet she's a higher rank than your own son is. Naoya is a Special Grade One right? Oh wait, so are you! That must be embarrassing. Last time I checked special grade is higher than Special Grade One, right?" Maki laughs

Nobara lets out a snicker but stops it from becoming too loud by slapping her hand over her mouth.

"You insolent little bi-"

Alright, that's enough. Naobito's hand that flies, ready to smack Maki, is fast but you're faster. You easily catch the old man's wrinkled wrist.

"You're getting slow. Perhaps it's all the booze you like you guzzle." You say

"Whatever. You're lucky that you're actually useful, otherwise I would've killed you years ago." He scowls, "Ungrateful bitch,"

"Mmhm, sure." You say, "Raise a hand to either of these girls tonight and you'll be sent back to the Zenin Estate in pieces. I've gotten faster and don't mind demonstrating why I'm a Special Grade, so watch it, old man."

"You've become overconfident. I think you're spending too much time with that white-haired fool." Naobito smiles

"Perhaps. Do you really want to find out though? I wonder if Naoya or any of his brothers will be concerned when the dear clan leader turns up dead." You reply

9:05pm,

"The second curtain is down!" Nobara declares

"Good. We'll move in then. Inumaki is handling evacuations so focus on any curses or curse users." You say "Our main goal is to assist Satoru in whatever way possible and get as many normal people safely out of his way."

"Got it." Maki says

"Yes ma'am." Nobara smiles

"I'm the elder here! Shouldn't I give the orders?!" Naobito yells

"Fine. What do you want to do then, oh dear clan leader?" You mock

...

"Just do whatever she said!" Naobito relents, ignoring you.

Heh. What a loser.

9:26 pm, the basement of Shibuya Station

What was this? A fake? No....he was here!

Suguru Geto was standing in front of him, healthy as ever.

"Who are you?"

"Don't you remember, Satoru? I'm Suguru Geto. Did you forget? How sad!" The imposter mocks him, and Suguru.

"Your body, your cursed energy, everything my six eyes see tells me you're Suguru Geto..."

They're wrong. Every bit of information his body is screaming at him to acknowledge is wrong. The instincts he had relied on for so many years were wrong, This wasn't Suguru. No, Suguru was gone, whatever was in front of him was no friend, and the way he mockingly said Gojo's name was perfect proof.

You can't imitate love.

"But my heart and my soul know otherwise! Who the hell are you?!"

"How'd you know?"

The stitches on the imposter's face are removed as the imposter reveals himself.

"My technique allows me to hop bodies by switching brains. I coveted this man's curse manipulation of course." The monster in front of him mocks

"Goodnight, Satoru Gojo. We'll meet again, in the new world." It bids him goodbye

"How long are you going to let it keep using you, Suguru?" He calls out to his best friend for the first time in nearly a year.

"HA!" The monster grins as Suguru fights him, amused by the struggle from Suguru's instincts.

I'm always worried about you.

Looks like you were right. You always were, one way or another.

Heh, next time Satoru Gojo might listen to you. After all, look how he's ended up.

"Gate, close."

10:20 pm, Inokashira line

Satoru Gojo has been sealed.

At least that's what you heard through assistant directors who have been feeding information the best they can.

How the hell did he get himself captured? He was untouchable, so what did he see that rattled him that badly?

"Why don't you cut loose. I'm sure you could level the playing field against these curses easily, Miss Special Grade." Naobito taunted

"Shut up!" You yell, cutting through another low-level curse

Letting loose, what a funny idea. Creating too many duplicates was bad, especially in a high-stress situation like this. What was once a support mission had just become a rescue mission.

"You know she can't." Maki defends you

"Whatever. All I hear is how special you are yet I've never seen your full technique. Kind of a waste don't you think?" He asks

He's baiting you. It won't work.

"Once we rescue Satoru, I'll show you my full technique. Perhaps one of my duplicates will kill you for me." You say

"I doubt it." He grins

"Zenin-san!" A oh so familiar voice calls out to you

"Nanami!" You greet, Thank god you're here to save me from this old man."

"Are you alright?" He asked

Always so overly concerned.

It was sweet though, you'd have to have lunch with him soon, you wanted to catch up with him, it had been too long. Perhaps you could go to a diner, Nanami had always enjoyed a good sandwich.

"I'm fine." You brush him off

"I overheard his taunts. Don't let your technique out fully unless there's no choice." Nanami reminds

"Duh, I'm not crazy." You say you say gently punching his arm.

Nanami shakes his head but falls into pace with all of you.

"You ought to turn back. Grade One is the minimum for the next battles, Maki." He warns

He's right. You had noticed that the deeper you went into the station, the stronger the curses were. You hadn't been sure what you were going to say to the girl but you were glad Nanami spoke up for you

"I'll be fine." She said

"He's right, Maki. I don't want you getting hurt." You say

"How am I going to advance if I don't challenge myself," Maki said

"Dying isn't challenging yourself." You say

"You should listen to your elders, girl." Naobito laughs

"Like I'd listen to a drunkard. I'm staying." Maki declares

When the hell was he drinking?! You swore he didn't have any booze on him.

"Were you seriously drinking?" Nanami judges

"I'm drinking for myself!" Naobito declares shamelessly.

What an asshole.

You follow Nanami down the steps, happy as a clam that there's an adult you actually like here. Sure Maki was great company and you loved her dearly but her stubbornness drove you nuts sometimes.

"Stop." Nanami commands, putting an arm out in front of you.

Then you sense it, something much stronger than the last curses is here.

"Maki, go back up those steps now." You order, making eye contact with a red and white curse.

"Hell, no, I told you I'm-"

"Quit your arguing." Naobito commands suddenly

He's stepped away from your little group and has gotten a hand on the curse

"You guys are too slow."

"Naobito wait!" You call, sensing something is wrong. The curse that put out such a strong aura just seconds ago wasn't putting it out anymore. It was letting Naobito get close to it.

Your words fall on deaf ears as he sends a punch to the curse. It flies back and spits out thousands of human bones.

How disgusting.

It's a little surprising what happens next. You watch as the little red curse crawls away from Naobito, calling out for it's comrades' names.

"What the hell is it doing? Forget it...let's kill it now." You say as you begin to walk towards it.

"How dare you kill Hanami?" It asks before beginning to shake

Oh boy...this couldn't be good.

A bright light flashes and the small red curse that once seemed wildly weak had transformed into a winged creature of sorts.

"I am Dagon." It declares

"Do you know how many frames there are in a second of animation?" Naobito asks

Great...he's going to blab about his technique now.

"If you're going to run your mouth, then you can fight it alone." You declare, not interested in assisting him

"Fine by me," Noabito says

Your focus recenters on Maki. This curse's transfigured form could be dangerous. She'd be the first to die if it really wanted to go all out so you'll have to keep a close eye on her.

You'd never admit it but Naobito's technique was impressive. Being able to break down an enemy's moves was certainly valuable. You watch carefully as Naobito punches and kicks away at Dagon who seems unable to get a decent hit on the old Zenin leader. You made no move to stop Maki as she swung at the curse, after all you knew Dagon would focus on the ones who could deal heavier damage.

"Don't you plan on helping?" Nanami called

"Yeah, yeah. I was kind of hoping Naobito would get beat up a little more though." You sigh, unsheathing your sword.

Eight of them. Eight phantoms is the number that you can control easily. Any more and they break away from your main mindset. By creating too many they gain their own willpower and goals, something like that can be deadly.

For example, if 25 Phantoms are created, only eight at a time will listen to your main body's orders. The others will access and act on what's going on around them at their own whims. If they become too free and learn to use their techniques, they can infinitely multiply and there'd be nothing you could do to stop them.

"Guess I'll start with three tonight. Let's see what you got, Dagon."

You'll start with 3 duplicates for now.

"Surround it. Hold it down." Your commands are instantly carried out as they each draw their swords to match you and begin moving towards Dagon.

"No!" Dagon calls as he takes a hard blow from Noabito

Suddenly the scenery changes from the station to a sunny beach. Damn it, this must be its domain.

Suddenly, two of your duplicates are cut down, they melt away and the last one remains to your right, awaiting orders. A nasty cut on its leg bleeds but it isn't anything fatal so it remains intact.

"Zenin-san!" Nanami's voice calls for you

A sharp pain fills your body as warm blood begins to trickle down your torso. Shit, did he just cut your intestines?

The harsher your wounds, the harder it would be to create a strong duplicate.

A barrage of different creatures are flying towards you now, almost like they're in slow motion.

Nanami said not to go all out...very well, you'll just have to push yourself to the limit of your control. There's no reason not to create 8 duplicates, even if they're hard to control.

"Get me to him." You order four of them

"The rest of you protect Maki." You say

She'll be the first to fall if you all stay in the domain for too long. Naobito's technique was protecting him and you were sure Nanami had enough strength to hold out until you were able to deal the finishing blow. Your duplicates were weaker than normal, and you sent the weaker ones to watch over Maki, you'd have to finish this fast and then get to Shoko, the bleeding from your stomach hadn't stopped yet.

"You're the weakest." Dagon declared, ignoring your charge and rushing Maki

Shit. This damn stomach injury was slowing you down. Without it, you're sure you would've been able to kill him by now.

"Maki!" A voice calls from the ocean

Megumi! Wasn't he with Itadori?

You grin as you see that Megumi has brought Maki her special-grade cursed tool. Good, with her safe that means you can make your attempt again.

With four duplicates left, Dagon is moving toward Megumi who seems to be trying to break the domain open. Those creatures Dagon likes are the perfect path to him.

Your stomach burns as you slice down a creature in your way. Nanami has moved to protect Megumi.

Heh, Megumi's going to break a hole in the domain at this rate. Maki and Noabito are behind you, ready for a quick escape. It's true none of you stand a chance like this.

Shit if only you had dodged when Nanami called to you. Three of your duplicates are dead and one remains as you call her to your side, ready to slip through the hole.

A gurgle sounds and before anyone can make a move a flash of white meets your eyes and a dead man enters the domain.

Toji Zenin is alive and well as he enters with a sinister-sounding laugh.

You watch wide-eyed as Toji uses Maki's cursed tool to attack Dagon.

"Who is that?" Maki asks

You're too shocked to answer as you watch the ghost easily overpower Dagon.

Satoru didn't let him go right? No...this was something different.

"Noabito how's he here?" You ask

"I don't know. He's been dead for years." Noabito says

Great, always so helpful.

"He's our best bet right now," Nanami says

Damnit. What kind of special-grade sorcerer were you? Getting injured and relying on some ghost to finish off a curse for you. If only you had infinity like Satoru then you wouldn't have to worry about cuts.

"It's alright. You'll have another chance to prove yourself." Nanami says, "Focus on keeping pressure on your stomach."

You glance down to see your normally dark clothes even darker with your blood.

"I'll help you get to Shoko," Nanami says, wrapping a big arm under your shoulders for support

Shit when did he get so muscular? Damn male puberty, you wished you had gotten to grow that big!

"Speak for yourself, You look just as bad as me." You say, watching as Toji sets himself up for a finishing move.

"Thanks, I love getting nice compliments from you" Nanami smiles

Before you can blink or comprehend Nanami's mood change, you're released from the domain, Dagon's body is slowly disappearing and Toji stands victorious over it.

Noabito looks ready to call out to the ghost, hopefully, to see how the hell he's alive again. You let your weight slump against Nanami, glad he's there to hold you up, even if he's badly injured himself.

It's like it happens in slow motion before your eyes. Toji crosses the room and his fist whirls back to slam into an unsuspecting Megumi. Glass shatters as Nanami holds you from running after them.

"You'd lose. We have to heal you first." He says, "Megumi will be fine."

You hate that he's right.

"Fine then lets get to Shoko and-"

The scent of singed flesh hits your nose and cuts you off, before you know it Nanami is shoving you away from him.

"It's alright." He says when he sees the fear in your eyes

Your eyes find his as your last duplicate moves in front of you to protect you. The last thing you see is the fire that covers your last close friend from your teenage years.

The hot blaze from the fire dries the tears that threaten to fall from your eyes as your head hits the floor, your duplicate is there, you'll have to leave everything to her.

May 2005

"Did you hear about the new student that's joining us? They're from the Zenin clan." Haibara asks as they walk toward their classroom

"Yes, I was there when the announcement was made." Nanami reminds

"Yeah, I know, I'm just excited. I hope they can get along with the second years. It would suck if we all had to stop hanging out together." Haibara says

"I dunno. Seeing Gojo less actually sounds appealing." Nanami says

"Yeah but wouldn't you miss Geto-san?" Haibara asks

"Maybe. He's better than Gojo." Nanami admits as he takes his usual seat, casting a glance at the new desk that has been added to the room

Yaga enters soon after and behind him a small form follows, practically hiding itself behind their muscular teacher.

"Introduce yourself," Yaga says

Nanami watches as the figure stops its hiding and introduces herself. Pretty hair catches his eye as she sits down next to him.

"Hello."

It's in this moment that Nanami knows you are going to be at the center of his attention from now until forever.

July 2006

"Is it possible to die from lack of ice cream?" You groan from your spot on the floor

"It would certainly be a new way to die," Nanami says, as sweat trickles down the back of his neck.

"What the hell is taking Haibara so long? The corner store is only 10 minutes away!" You whine covering your face with a towel that had been wet with cool water.

Nanami is equally uncomfortable and overheated as you but for a slightly different reason. It was the hottest day of the year, of course, you were entitled to wear a tank top and shorts, he'd never want to limit what you dressed yourself in. After all it was your body, not his.

The big issue was that the amount of skin you were showing was hypnotizing to the 16-year-old boy. It's not like he was trying to only focus on the way your body looked, it's just that his eyes kept drifting over there!

"Sorry, it took so long! I dropped my wallet on the way there!" Haibara greeted as he pushed your dorm room's door open

"Next time send a text. I thought I was going to die." You say, immediately reaching for your ice cream

"Are you alright, Nanami you look a little red..."Haibara observes

"I'm fine." He lied, keeping his eyes away from you.

August 2007

Nanami isn't sure what to do. You called him here probably so you didn't have to be alone but what should he say? He felt frozen as he took in your appearance.

To keep it short, you were a mess. Used tissues were on your overflowing nightstand and you were wrapped up under your blankets. Were you even aware he had entered the room?

"Hey..." He said quietly

"Nanami." You greet, turning over to face him from your blanket mountain

"How are you?" He asked awkwardly as he sat down on the floor next to you so his face was even with yours as you lay in bed.

"Terrible." You say quietly

"Me too." He agrees

"You look better than me." You observe

"I got most of my tears out already." He explains, thinking back to the long shower he had taken

You let out a soft hum of acknowledgment and your hand appears from your blanket burrito. Without thinking Nanami takes it in his bigger one.

"It sounds stupid to say but he's in a better place now." Nanami assures

He hated when Geto said that to him earlier but now it was the only thing he could find in his muddled brain.

"It still hurts though." You say

"...I know."

September 2007

The sun was setting when he finally caught up to you. He was worried when you ran off after he read the report about Geto to you. A warm breeze fills his lungs as he watches the scene in front of him unfold.

You hand Gojo a lollipop and settle down next to him on the stairs. It's inappropriate but jealousy burns hot in his stomach as he watches Gojo rest his head on your shoulder.

"I'm sure you'll see him again. Even if it's not for a long time, you'll talk to each other again." You say

"Yeah, I hope so," Gojo responds

Nanami watches as your eyes remain fixed on the saddened white-haired sorcerer. He understands now, Kento Nanami understands that no matter how he chases after you, your eyes will always be fixed on something far up ahead. Satoru Gojo has won you from him and there's nothing he can do to stop it.

February 2015

Nanami isn't sure why he agrees to babysitting the kids you and Gojo took in. Perhaps its because they're fun to be around, not that he'd ever admit it.

"Can we watch a fun movie tonight?" Tsumiki asks

"Yes. If you finish your dinner." He responds as he drives, "And all your vegetables."

"Can we watch Hotel Transylvania?" Megumi asks

"No!" Tsumiki groans

Nanami tunes out the Fushiguro siblings as they launch into a debate about what movies are good and which ones aren't. Apparently, Hotel Transylvania has been dubbed dumb by Tsumiki.

His mind wanders to you and how you smiled and thanked him for helping out tonight. He said it was no problem and reminded you they were welcome any time at his house so that you and Gojo could get some alone time.

He doesn't know why he said that, especially since he easily figured out what kind of night you had planned judging by the racey dress you had on when you walked the kids out. Seriously he thought he'd be feeling some sort of jealousy but instead, he was just enamored with you.

Maybe he just wants to feel useful to you. Afterall, your recent promotion to Special Grade Sorcerer has left him feeling rather weak compared to you, like he wouldn't really be of use if you were ever in real danger. Because if you couldn't win a fight, how would he? Being a rank lower than you it would be impossible.

As he drives Nanami decides that if there were ever real danger, he'd hope that he would be able to keep you safe from harm, even if it were just for a second. Yes, he'd be satisfied with something as small as that.

11:14 pm- Dogenzaka, in front of Shibuya 109

He feels a sense of accomplishment as doom looks him in the face. The curse in front of him doesn't scare him, even as he understands that this will be it.

You had been perfectly unharmed when he woke up before he walked all the way down here. Your duplicate must've taken the fire from the curse that had touched him. She had done her job well and Nanami wished he could thank her. Of course, it never would've occurred if he hadn't pushed you away from him. For once he was glad he let you go. After all, there were so many times from before that he hadn't.

One day he'll meet you again. Perhaps then he'll tell you his true feelings until then though you'd have to wait. It was only fair, considering how long he had waited for you.

"Itadori, you've got it from here."

Next Part

Series Masterlist

Guys, I swear this is still a Gojo fic, not a Nanami one.

Taglist

@polarbvnny @r0ckst4rjk @dann-acalle @bakedpotato12 @my-xoxoxox @desideriumlove @starlight5cat

[wekiaam]

2D NEWSIES: What I would change

I just realised I've been making fake concept art for a nonexistent animated Newsies adaptation for four years now. Over time, I've been getting so many ideas for this adaptation if it ever became real, I thought I would share them with you guys! This includes story changes, cut and additional songs and ideas for characters and style. I would love to know your thoughts on these!

When I started making concept art for "2dsies" as I came to be called, I intended for it to be based on the Broadway version and the Broadway version only. However, stories on stage differ a lot from stories told on screen, it just doesn't work the same way. I do still prefer the storyline of Broadway Newsies, but I think the best version would be a combination of the best parts of all different versions, plus some necessary changes. I would want Newsies to be a love letter to every production we've had, to everyone who made happen and every theatre kid who's been geeking out over it since 1992, while also being its own standalone movie that can be enjoyed by anybody. I am in no way an adequate screenwriter, these are just a few suggestions I have for a better story!

Story

Like I said, the story will be based mainly on the Broadway storyline, meaning we still have Artist Jack, Katherine, and most elements from the show that aren't in the movie. It will, however, be quite different from the show and the movie, and maybe add some more of the real events from the newsboy strike. There are still some details and scenes I would like to add and some I would remove completely.

- I like the history lesson opening from the movie, it gives people just enough background information on the real historical events the story is based on. I don't know if it should be Racetrack or Jack narrating, though.

- In Santa Fe (prologue), Crutchie mentions he's afraid the other boys will find out about his bad leg, even though they all literally know him as Crutchie, and it seems to be the first time Jack tells him about his dream of going to Santa Fe, even though they've clearly been best friends for a long time. It feels off, UNLESS they only just met, which is why I love @raggedy-albert 's theory so much. I would have the scene start off with them as kids, and have them grow up throughout the song.

- I want to add a scene in the beginning of Katherine at the New York Sun to establish her character and motivations, and possibly a little foreshadowing. Just an idea for a scene; she goes to the editor to let him read her story covering the trolley strike, but he reminds her of "her place" and that she's lucky enough to be in the position she's in and that she should go review a vaudeville or something. This would not only give her a similar motivation to the newsies, but also, if we're gonna bring the women's rights movement into the story let's do it right!

- Of course I'd also like to add more romantic interactions between Jack and Katherine, to make their relationship more believable. However, I don't think they should be a couple immediately after the finale, I was more thinking of an open ending to their relationship where Jack takes his first step to staying in New York by finally asking her out.

- Maybe add the actual scene where Jack and Davey visit Brooklyn instead of having them tell the other newsies what Spot said right before Seize the Day. Show don't tell, you know?

- A scene where Jack visits Crutchie at the refuge, similar to the one in the movie, but with the sadness Jack describes it with in the show. Again, show, don't tell. Show me how Jack visits the place of his nightmares again only to find his best friend in a worse state than ever and being unable to save him.

- Katherine punches Jack after the rally. Give it to me.

- Additional scene after Jack and Katherine's song after the rally where Jack formally apologizes to the newsies. Because in the show it just cuts from "omg he's a sellout *spits on the floor*" to "yay captain Jack is back" and it just doesn't sit right with me.

Songs

- There should be an entirely new Pulitzer song. The Bottom Line is good but by far the most skippable song on the cast recording, and The News Is Getting Better (the off broadway cut song) is a little Better but not quite the evil capitalist song we need.

- Swap Something to Believe In for When I See You Again. It's such a sweet song and I think it suits Jack and Katherine a lot better. It's much more "Neither of us know what tomorrow brings but when I'm with you I know we can change things for the better, even if it's scary but for now let's be here together and forget the world for a bit" instead of "I love you but I'm still gonna chase my cowboy dreams"

- Cut Letter From The Refuge, since my idea was to have this be a scene instead.

- Some lyric changes!

In Santa Fe: "Crutchie's callin' me, he's fine, just too damn slow"

In Once And For All: add this lyric from the movie, "Better to die than to crawl".

In Seize the Day: "Friends of the friendless seize the day, raise up the torch and light the way", not in the song but in the reprise where all the working children of the city gather before the finale.

Additional: "Still it seems like the dream of a boy, not a man", from The Truth About The Moon, a cut song from the movie that was supposed to be sung by Sarah. I don't know where I would put this lyric, but it could be said or sung by Jack as he realises what he's really looking for is not actually Santa Fe.

Characters:

- I want to add more girls to the background newsies, first of all.

- Sarah still won't do anything for the plot, but Davey and Les could mention that they have a sister. She's still canon to me.

- Speaking of Les, let's make him more likeable and also more helpful.

- Snyder has two scary dogs with him at all times.

- Just and idea, maybe Denton could still be a character if we replace Darcy with him, or maybe combine the two. Have him be Katherine's chaperone and friend formally, but also her reporter bestie. They could be a fun journalist duo!

Style

- The movie will still include the iconic choreography, which means it couldn't be fully 2D, but rather a mix between hand drawn and CGI.

-I would love for the backgrounds in the movie to be similar to impressionist and romantic art styles from the 19th century, to really sell how it's a story told from Jack's perspective. Especially his dream-like imaginations of Santa Fe would be brilliant in this style.

- I want to include a lot of weather foreshadowing. Rain right before Seize The Day and the sun breaking through when Davey starts singing. Mist surrounding Snyder and sudden darkness whenever he's near. A beautiful sunset when Jack and Katherine are alone on the rooftop. And of course, partly cloudy, clear by evening. It's such a cool way of visual storytelling when you have a plot that has no magic involved, like in most Disney movies.

- The real people characters' designs (Pulitzer, Hearst, Roosevelt) can be based on political cartoon caricature versions of themselves.

And lastly, quotes from the movie I liked that could be inspiring for the animated movie:

-"When I created the World..." "🙄" and "Where was I?" "You created the World, chief?"

- "No, we'll be just a bunch of angry kids with no money"

-"What, you couldn't stay away?" "Well I guess I can't be something I ain't." "A scab?" "No, smart."

Many of these ideas are still in development. Some might work, some may not, but I will be basing any future work I'll post on here on these ideas. I would love to see you guys  discuss and add on to these!

[mikobeautifulheart]

☆Master list☆

Because my other one is gross and apparently not doing its job. Plus its fully updated.

Rules and about me here

Link to og master list here if u want it ig but its not that different. ML

♧Megumi♧

Drunk Megumi's over due confession

Synopsis: Megumi gets unknowingly drunk on his birthday and spills a secret.

Yuji's little sister

Synopsis: You join Jujutsu high with your older brother yuji, meeting Megumi as well.

The same.

Synopsis: Yuji dies and the weight falls on your shoulders, the only way you thought to take it of was but hurting yourself.

Crying over Megumi

Synopsis: Megumi find you in your dorm after your mission avoiding him.

Pervy Megumi (Thoughts)

Synopsis: Not a fic more just like general ideas of him.

When he finds out you harm yourself

Synopsis: Usually you don't get into much danger when you harm yourself, but his time Megumi found you.

Megumi head cannons (the start of dating

Heired as a secretary

Synopsis: You go for the job for secretary without fully knowing what you got yourself into.

MEGUMI SERIES

Synopsis: Gojo watches as his son grows and is there every step of the way (even if Megumi dosen't know it)

Megumi and get caught up in the moment (And on Gojo's phone)

Synopsis: Megumi gives up on his mind and follows his instincts. And Gojo bares witness.

You and Megumi have your first official date

Synopsis: You and Megumi sneak out at night only for you to be pleasantly surprised by your fist date.

Bed bugs

Synopsis: He could care less about the marks he leaves.

☆Yuji☆

Yuji being horrible at comforting you and getting jealous over a 'guy'

Synopsis: Yuji hears you crying uncontrollably but after he fails to console you Gojo interrupts. which pretty much dose the trick.

Perv Yuji

Synopsis: Just some thoughts, like the Megumi one but *Sweeter* or so I tried to make it.

Toxic bf Yuji head cannons

♡Yuta♡

Nothing yet...which is kinda weird because he's my favorite character.

There is a bit of him in the various fics tho.

♤Toge♤

Nothing yet...

~Gojo~

7 Minutes in panic (College AU) 1700 words EXACTLY.

Synopsis: You go to a party for the first time and run into your Chemistry partner. As luck would have it the night goes wrong when your drink turns out to be spiked and your stuck with him in your closet.

Mafia Gojo needs to go to work but you could care less.

Synopsis: Really short less then 100 words. Gojo has to go to work but you convince him not to.

Assassin partner Gojo tries to make up for his mistakes.

Synopsis: Gojo's made a few mistakes in his job when it comes to you but in the end he knows you weren't one of them.

When you are replaced.

Synopsis: A new transfer teacher comes to Tokyo jujutsu high and she seems a bit to friendly.

He cheats but he still loves you

Synopsis: Yandere Gojo, his pleasure is cheating but that dosen't mean he dosen't love you.

•Geto•

Taken

Synopsis: after moving on you thought the past was behind you. That was until Geto showed up with no warning and kidnapped you.

OR Look at the various or go to the series section for '5 satges of greif'

¤ Nanami ¤

Teen Nanami and the random trampoline

Synopsis: Nanami just feels like a happy kid.

Teen Nanami winning cards.

Synopsis: In a game of cards, Nanami competes for the first prize which you gladly give him.

Jealous of the cat

Synopsis: He comes home after work only to find that there is another burden in your home.

Attempted

Synopsis: after coming back from work Nanami finds you and you dangerously close suicide attempt.

▪︎Sukuna▪︎

Sukuna switching with Yuji when your both asleep.

Synopsis: Sukuna wants a feel of what Yuji gets.

Intervention

Synopsis: You were going to go get married off to the Gojo clans strongest, how ever you disappear when you marriage was announced. The only clue anyone has to your disappearance is the monster lurking in the woods.

Choso

He gets jealous of your new pet cat.

Synopsis: You find a stray cat and Choso is not a cat person.

-Series-

5 stages of grief

1 Denial, Megumi Fushiguro

Synopsis: After Megumi's death you start seeing him everywhere, but every time your reminded that he is dead.

2 Anger, Suguru Geto

Synopsis: After his death you cut yourself off and busy your life with work, however when your called into Shibuya you can't bring yourself to kill him, until he assures you that its okay.

3 Bargaining, Satoru Gojo

Synopsis: After Gojo's death you try everything you can for years but nothing will bring him back.

4 depression, Nanami Kento

Synopsis: In an attempt to be reunited with your dead lover you take the ultimate self sacrifice.

Various JJK men and scenarios:

-Pretending to be your boyfriend and saving you from creeps:

Synopsis: Creep approaches, their there to save you.

Megumi and Yuji

Gojo and Geto

Nanami and Toji

Sukuna and Choso (Coming soon)

-When you forget your umbrella:

-Synopsis: You forget your umbrella but they find solutions.

Yuji and Megumi

Teen Gojo and Office worker Nanami

-When the train is crowded

Synopsis: The train goes thorough rush hour and you guys got stuck in it.

Yuji, Megumi and Yuta

-When the secretly hear you sing

Synopsis: You don't like singing infront of other people, but they want you to sing around them.

Megumi and Yuji

-When they accidently fall on you and vice versa

Synopsis: Its exactly what it sounds like.

Yuta and Yuji

-When you go to your first festival with them

Synopsis: You go to the festival for the first time with

Megumi, Yuji and Yuta

-When you turn delusional

Synopsis: From sleep deprivation to blood loss.

Yuji and Toge

-When you think they would hurt you.

Synopsis: When arguments bring your instincts back, they almost drop everything to love you again.

Yuji and Megumi

Yuta and Gojo

-Movie date but things get heated.

Synopsis: A simple movie in an almost empty cinema is good enough. (Not smut but suggestive)

Gojo and Megumi

-When they eat the last donut

Gojo and Yuji/Sukuna

-When they have an older GF

Yuji and Yuta (Aged upish, nothing illegal okay)

-Their morning voice

Megumi and Yuji

-When someone breaks into your house

Megumi and Yuji

-Touching your weak spot

Yuji and Yuta

-Touching THEIR weak spot

Yuji and Megumi

Gogo, Geto and Nanami

*If you want me to write anything again or with some one else or something new entirely

PLEASE SEND ME REQUSTS

I LOVE THOSE THINGS