#instead of arguing about which of the two rich assholes is worse

[swallowtail-ageha]

Why am i seeing depp vs heard trial posts in my dash i thought i blocked almost everyone in my immediate circle that talked about it

[silversatoru]

Can i regurst a gojo x reader smut where y/n is gojo’s ex girlfriend and also a strong jujutsu sorcerer and they get back together asdfghjkl 🥺😂? Tyy 🥺

hehhee yes ma’am here u are!!! i actually loved writing this one (i think i just have a thing for writing gojo lately lmao) anyway! i! hope! you! enjoy!

to heaven and back

gojo satoru x f! sorcerer!reader

synopsis: you and your ex, gojo satoru, beat the hell out of a few special grade curses and then head back to his house to rekindle an old (and kind of kinky) flame

tags/warnings: nsfw (18+), smut, handcuffs, blindfolding, little bit of oral sex, teasing, alcohol consumption, some fluff at the end? just a little

word count: 3.1k

You lifted your elegant glass of random wine that you could care less about knowing the name of, and took a long sip. All of these old rich bastards talked way too much about brand names, aging, and what cheese paired well with each wine. They were missing what was really important — which one would get you drunk the quickest. 

These kinds of formal events weren’t really your scene, and having to listen to a bunch of old, conservative, high-up jujutsu leaders was terribly boring — so why not take this opportunity to get a little tipsy? You deserved it for putting up with all of these assholes. After all, the only reason they invited you to this prestigious event was for protection. If that pesky band of special grade curses caught wind that all of the higher ups from both Kyoto and Tokyo were in the same place, they were sure to launch some kind of attack. The old, wrinkly douchebags couldn’t care less about your opinions of the jujutsu world and how you would change it, they only liked you for incredible cursed technique. 

And so here you were, spitefully wearing your most elegant dress and downing glasses of wine in an attempt to drown out all of the nonsense around you. There was only one thing that could make this event any worse and— 

“Hello everyone! The strongest jujutsu sorcerer has arrived — I know you were all looking forward to my appearance”. 

And there it was. There was that one thing that could make this event any worse. Gojo Satoru.

You dipped your head low, burying yourself in your glass of wine and praying to any god who would listen to not let this man see you. It’s been over two years since the two of you broke up, but he still wasn’t someone you enjoyed running into. 

Gojo was terribly notorious for having a long line of girls at his disposal, and with his incredible strength and annoyingly good-looks, it wasn’t hard to understand why. The two of you had never been in an officially committed relationship, and so technically Gojo was free to do as he pleased — but you were practically dating and your heart ached every time you caught wind of him being with another woman. And so two years ago you cut things off with him for good — you were tired of being the one he always ran back to at the end of the day. 

He’d looked at you with eyes full of pain that night, begging and pleading to stay with him. He showed you a vulnerable side to him that you had never seen before — and he swore to you that if you had asked to make things official, he would have committed himself to you fully. You declined however, because you felt like you shouldn’t have needed to ask for that kind of thing — but maybe that was just your ego getting in the way. 

“Hey, beautiful, I’ve never seen you around before, you must be from the Tokyo campus,” Some random assistant casually leaned against the counter you were sitting at and shook you out of your thoughts.

“If you’ve never seen me before then you must not be very important,” You shot him a distasteful glance, taking another sip of your wine. 

The man’s face lit up with panic — he must not have been expecting such retaliation to his pathetic attempt of flirting. 

“Are you bothering her?” A familiar voice came from behind you — a long, slender hand slapping down onto your shoulder, “Please don’t flirt with my wife”. 

“Ah- Wife? I’m so sorry, sir,” The man stumbled over his words, bowing his head to Gojo and scurrying away. 

Gojo wasted no time sliding into the seat next to you and pouring himself a glass of wine from the bottle you’d already been working on. 

“Really? You’re telling people I’m your wife now?” You gave him a deadpanned look. 

“It worked, didn’t it?” He shrugged his shoulders and took a sip from his glass. 

You rolled your eyes hard, “Why are you here, Satoru?” 

“Same reason as you. The old, conservative pussies are afraid those special grades might attack — so why not invite their two prized sorcerers to protect them?” 

“Fair,” You let out a heavy sigh, “Not sure that was their best move though — I don’t think either one of us is very motivated to save these fuckers”. 

“No, but I brought my students with me today. So, if anything does happen, make sure you put on a show for them,” He winked, already topping off his wine glass. 

You looked over to see a few kids sitting a couple tables away from the two of you, chatting amongst themselves and wondering why the fuck they had to be here. 

And so an hour or two went by, and to your surprise, you found yourself laughing hysterically alongside Gojo. The two of you had definitely drank a bit too much, and your personalities complimented each other a little too perfectly. You shared the same terrible sense of humor and he had quite the knack for bringing out this lighthearted side of you. You had missed moments like this these past two years. 

Neither of you were paying any attention to the current debate that was occurring between the higher ups when a loud crash sent broken pieces of glass flying through the grand hall. Sure enough, the curses had made their appearance and came flying into the building through a now broken window.

“It’s our time to shine, huh?” Gojo looked over at you, and you imagined that his icy blue eyes were swirling with excitement under that mask. 

“Yeah, let’s make this quick,” You found a warm ball of excitement churning in your own stomach — it’d been a long time since the two of you had fought together. 

Your technique revolved around the manipulation of cursed energy and converting it into light. You could wrap yourself in a shield of light, send curse-filled bursts of light at your enemies, and move at the speed of light as well — which was almost as efficient as Gojo’s teleportation abilities. You had a series of more advanced moves as well, but those required more energy output and therefore you used them a little less often.

The two of you were both able to move so fast that the curses really didn’t stand a chance. You found yourself laughing as you flipped through the air, hurling balls of light at the curses as Gojo worked closer in hand-to-hand combat. At one point, while the two of you were flying past each other, Gojo stuck out his hand and gave you a high five, both of you smiling like maniacs who enjoyed fighting a little too much. 

Between Gojo’s Limitless and your extreme agility and bursts of light, the curses were quickly forced to flee. Both of you were feeling much too drunk and much too lazy to chase after them, even with all of the higher ups begging you to do so. Gojo simply flipped them off and stuck out his tongue, saying that he did what they paid him to do — keep the curses away — and now that the curses had been scared off, he was no longer needed. 

“You want to come back with me, relieve more of our old memories together? I remember how much you loved sleeping in my king sized bed,” Gojo looked back at you, offering one of his large, slender hands. 

Maybe it was the alcohol or maybe it was your stupid, stupid heart, but you reached out and took his hand, “Fuck it, let’s go”. 

Gojo’s house on the outskirts of the Tokyo campus was just as you remembered — sleek black interior with modern furniture and extravagantly silky sheets on his bed — his same bed that you were currently sprawled out on, laying in nothing but your undergarments. 

Gojo joined you a couple minutes later, his bare skin warm and familiar against yours. He pressed a few sloppy kisses to your lips, both of you still incredibly tipsy and unable to stop the small giggles from leaking out between your lips while you kissed. 

“Take the blind fold off you weirdo,” You pulled at the back of the black fabric. 

“Mmm, okay,” He mumbled, undoing the knot and exposing his piercing blue eyes.

“So pretty,” You murmured under your breath — his eyes really were the most beautiful thing you’d ever seen in your life

His fluffy silver hair fell down messily over his face, a drunken smile stretched across his lips. His smile quickly turned into a devilish grin as he slipped the mask over your eyes instead, tying a tight not at the back of your head.

“This isn’t what I meant,” You droned, but you didn’t argue — you certainly weren’t opposed to being blindfolded.

“It looks good on you,” He slurred, his words messy and his lips even messier as he pressed them back against yours. 

The kisses seemed to last forever, and both of you were perfectly okay with that — your hands taking their time exploring each other’s bodies for the first time in far too long. 

Gojo’s hands worked their way up your back, tracing lines along your toned muscles until he finally reached the nape of your neck. His fingers entangled themselves in your hair, soft hums coming from his lips.

“I still have handcuffs, if you’re still into that sort of thing,” he mused, massaging his fingertips into your scalp. 

“Damn, I can’t believe you remember what I like. I thought my preferences would have gotten lost among the sea of other women you were pleasing,” You let the snarky remark roll off your tongue, though there was clearly no real spite in your words — you’re both adults and what happened then was in the past now.

“It wasn’t even that many,” He defended, “And you were the only one who ever mattered”. 

“I’m flattered,” You laughed, “Now, where are those handcuffs?” 

Gojo stifled a deep laugh, his hands leaving your hair as he lifted himself up and stood from the bed. When he returned a few moments later, there was cool metal wrapping around both of your wrists. He had two sets of handcuffs, putting one on each wrist and then hooking the other side to the bed posts. 

You were entirely at his disposal now, your hands secured over your head and your vision blocked off by the black mask. 

“I could tickle you right now and there’s nothing you could do,” Gojo observed aloud, pressing kisses up the side of your torso.

“Satoru, I would kick the living shit out of you,” You threaten, goosebumps growing under your skin. 

“Yeah, but you can’t touch me unless I let you,” He retaliated, his soft hands reaching underneath your bra to feel your breasts.

You groaned in response — his Limitless really did make him impossible.

He cupped each of his hands around your firm lumps, gently massaging them between his fingers. His cool fingertips then made their way down to your lower body, swiftly removing your remaining underwear. You were now completely exposed to him, chills running down your spine as you wondered what he would do next. 

You heard a shaky breath leave his lips, his hungry hands massaging circles into your thighs, “God, you’re so beautiful. I missed you so much, you know that?” 

“I’m sure you did,” You breathed, “I’m a wonderful person to be around”. 

Gojo let out a hearty laugh, and you heard what you assumed to be the sound of his own underwear getting thrown to the floor. A few seconds later he was straddling your torso, his warm thighs wrapped around your body. You couldn’t see it, but you knew his massive member had to be right in front of your face now. 

“Remind me what that pretty mouth can do,” He cooed, pressing the tip of his length gently to your lips. 

You graciously granted him access, parting your lips and taking the head of his cock into your mouth. You swirled your tongue around the sensitive tip, earning a few twitches from Gojo’s body. You began to bob your head back and forth as much as the handcuffs allowed, a few quiet moans leaving his throat in response. 

He began to move his hips against you, gingerly pushing his member deeper and deeper into your mouth until you were taking the full length down your throat. He groaned and let a few curse words slide from between his teeth — your mouth was wrapped so perfectly around him. Tears pricked at your eyes and a couple rough gags ripped through your throat, Gojo finally pulling away and allowing you to catch your breath. 

After that, you felt a single one of his long, slim fingers slide into your mouth, and you wasted no time wrapping it in your tongue and sucking hard. 

“Good girl,” He murmured, plucking his finger back out of your mouth and moving it down to your aching entrance. 

Between the saliva on his finger and the slick juices around your opening — his finger slid in effortlessly. He started moving in quick movements, curling his finger up into your g-spot each time. A few light moans left your lips, your fists clenching in the cuffs as your yearned for more. His finger felt good, but you wanted the real thing — you needed it.

“Satoru, please,” You practically whined his name, a tiny bit ashamed for how desperate you were for him right now. 

“Patience, love,” He clicked his tongue and your heart did somersaults at the endearing name. 

He removed his singular finger and intertwined it with a second one before sliding them back into your cavern. He picked up a steady pace again, your breath hitching in your throat. Two fingers was certainly better than one, but the continuous teasing was just making you even more desperate to feel his member inside of you. You mumbled his name over and over, small pleads and shameless whispers leaving your mouth as you bucked your hips against his hands.

“No ones fucked you as good as I used to, have they? You’re horribly desperate right now” He clicked his tongue again, removing his fingers and moving them up to your clit. He rubbed the smallest, softest circles against the small nub, your core growing warmer with desire. 

“I won’t make you wait any longer then,” He whispered, sitting back and positioning the head of his length against your throbbing cunt. 

“Please,” You mumbled fervently, any ego or pride that you once had was completely down the drain now. 

Your pleads were finally rewarded, Gojo pressing himself deep into your tight walls. The immediate feeling was complete bliss, your head rolling back in pleasure as you heard a throaty moan creep it’s way out of Gojo’s mouth. His moans were so pretty — god, you’d missed the sound of them.  

He moved in and out at a tantalizingly slow pace at first, your hips bucking and wiggling as you made fervent attempts to make him go faster.

“So eager…” He shook his head, continuing to move at a pace that was absolutely agonizing — you thought you might die if he didn’t rail the hell out of you soon. 

“Please, fuck,” You gasped, “Stop moving so goddamn slowly”. 

“Your whines are so pretty, baby. Say my name and maybe I’ll give you what you want,” He murmured, his voice low and husky. 

“Fucking hell,” You gritted your teeth, “Please Satoru, please fuck me already”. 

“Shit,” He mumbled under his breath, your words sending electricity coursing through his body. 

After hearing you say that, he was quick to give you what you wanted, picking up his pace and wrapping his hands firmly around your hips. Strangled combinations of moans, whimpers, and cries filled the air as they flew from your mouth. You didn’t care how loud or desperate you sounded, you wanted him to know how good he was making you feel. 

The two of you were an entangled mess of sweaty skin and throaty moans, Gojo filling your ears with praises and compliments the entire time. His lengthy member railed into you over and over, hitting that perfect pleasure point with each stroke and sending warm surges of ecstasy through your veins. 

Your bodies moved together in sync, your breaths aligning and your climaxes threatening to arrive simultaneously. After a few more firm strokes, you felt yourself drowning in pleasure — euphoria crashing through your body like waves. Gojo reached his end point just a few moments later, his loud cuss words and strangled moans filling your ears. 

The two of you rode out your orgasms together, and almost immediately afterwards Gojo collapsed next to you. He lazily reached up and uncuffed each of your hands, leaving the cuffs dangling from his bed posts just in case there was a round two in his future. He rolled the sticky condom off his member and tossed into a nearby trash bin, a relaxed sigh slipping between his parted lips. You peeled the black mask off of your eyes, finally able to meet his again. 

He was staring at you with eyes filled with all kinds of emotions — the emotions that he’d been too afraid to admit to the first time the two of you were together. But he wasn’t afraid of commitment anymore, he was absolutely certain about what he wanted, and it was you. 

“Stay with me,” He asked, his eyes pleading with you, “I’m ready this time, I promise. I’m all yours, if you’ll have me”. 

You found a small smile tugging at the edges of your lips as you looked deeper into his eyes, “Of course I’ll stay, as long as you still feel this way when you wake up sober tomorrow”. 

“I’ll feel this way forever,” He pressed his head into you and mumbled into your chest, “And I’ll remind you as many times as you need to hear it”. 

You wrapped your arms around him in response, the two of you fitting impeccably together. He placed a few gentle kisses to your skin before his breathes began to slow. You found your own breathing to be evening out, your cloudy thoughts pushing you closer and closer to sleep. The two of you slowly drifted off together, your heavy breaths falling perfectly in sync.

[missdawnandherdusk]

Slytherin!Muggleborn X Draco Extensive Dating Headcanons

requested by the ever lovely @mimsyisgianna​

A/n: Hi, this is super long and I’m in love with it.

oh this is going to be fun

As a muggle born you have absolutely no idea what’s going on 

But you guess magic is cool? And your parents said that you don’t have to stay at Hogwarts if you’d rather a muggle school and forget all of the magic stuff

Which quells your anxiety a bit

Then there’s this asshole

Draco Lucius Malfoy: arrogant asshole extraordinaire, even as an eleven year old

You’re over his entire personality in about 0.2 seconds and you haven’t even talked to him yet

So maybe this magic thing wasn’t for you, because good god these purebloods are awful

Then you’re in the same House as Draco and you really just want to go home, but you decide you can try it for a semester and you shouldn’t let some prissy rich boy ruin your fun

Because, well magic is a lot of fun--and you’re pretty good at it

There are a few other half-bloods and muggle born in Slytherin, not many, but enough that you don’t feel alone

And maybe you become best friends with a muggle born hufflepuff who lives up the road from you back home

Draco, on the other hand, has made it his personal mission to make sure that you know you don’t belong at Hogwarts and you definitely don’t belong in Slytherin

he tells you as much. in so many words. in front of the entire great hall

You’re not hurt, you’re livid

“You know what you’re right!” You snap back, “I’d rather be anywhere but here with your vain racist arrogant ass!”  

The entire Hall goes quiet and Snape breaks the two of you up

Now you both have detention together on Saturday 

Draco yells something about his father hearing about this and you roll your eyes and go back to your dorm, dinner forgotten

Detention with Snape could be worse. All you’re doing it organizing potions ingredients onto the shelves 

“That doesn’t go there,” You point to the misplaced vial of newt. “Yes it does,” Draco snaps, “Don’t tell me what to do little mudblood,” 

“Don’t call me mudblood, asshole. Newt goes over there,” You point to a different shelf. “With the rest of the reptile related ingredients,” 

You and Draco stare each other down, both convinced you’re right. You scoff and go back to your own ingredients letting him be wrong. It didn’t matter to you. 

Draco would never admit that you were right. But you were. 

You smirk at him when Snape points out the mistake

Since you’re Slytherin, it’s unavoidable that sometimes Draco is your partner in class

You mostly ignore him and try to focus on the professor, but sometimes he gets under your skin and you just want to deck him in his perfect face

“That’s not how...” “Good lord Draco how are you still alive...” Draco that’s not what the professor said...” “What in the world are you doing?” “I don’t think that’s how...” “He said 1354CE not 1435CE,” 

“I don’t need a mudblood telling me what to do,” He always snaps. 

“What about a Slytherin?” You fire back. He never has an answer to that. 

It’s the end of first year and late one night after exams and you’re alone in the Common Room, staring at the murky lake water outside the stained glass, well almost alone. 

You’re so lost in thought that you don’t hear him the first time he speaks to you

“Oi, Y/n,” He calls. It was the first time he ever used your name. It caught your attention. 

“I’m not really in the mood,” You hug your knees barely glancing at him. “I’m sure Hermione is somewhere in a library if you want a mudblood to taunt.” 

“I’m here as a Slytherin actually,” He leans against the wall adjacent to the window seat. “How were exams?” 

You shrug. “Fine. I guess.” Sighing you rest your head against the wall, closing your eyes. “Mom thinks I should go back home... go to a normal--muggle,” You mend, “school, and give up all this magic stuff,” 

“What?” He demands. “Why would you do something so... so stupid?” 

This time you do look at him, confused. Sure, he had called you a lot of things and mocked you more times than you could count but they had always been about your blood status, never about you inkling to leave this magical world. 

“It’s not stupid!” You argue back. “How--all year you’ve given me hell for not belonging and now that I might actually want to go, you’re telling me no!?” 

You don’t let him say a word, instead you rush down the hall and to your room, slamming the door shut and locking the door, confusing your roommate, but she sees the tears in your eyes and decides not to question it. 

Draco sort of hates himself for making you cry, but he can’t quite figure out why. He can’t figure out why the thought of you leaving for good bothered him so much. His friends couldn’t figure out why he cared so much. And neither could he. 

You’re not at the End Of Year feast, nor on the train back to King’s Cross, and Draco gets really worried that you have left for good. 

The more he thinks about it over the summer, the more he thinks that you weren’t so bad for a mudblood. And maybe sometimes you were actually brilliant. And maybe you’re the only one who can see right through him and yet you still help him when you can even though he’s stubborn about it. And maybe you did belong in the Wizarding world with him.

But he had to go and screw all of that up. 

He does a double take when he sees you September 1st with a few other Slytherins on the Hogwarts Express. 

“You came back,” He blurts out. “You can’t get rid of me that easy Malfoy,” You grin at him. 

You still snap at each other but now it’s more of an inside joke rather than malicious. It’s a game that you both like playing. 

“Happy now Y/l/n,” Draco grumbles after you correct him in front of the entire class. “Ever so more, now that you’re put off Malfoy,” You laugh. 

Boy does Draco freak out when he hears that mudb-muggle borns are the target when the chamber of secrets is opened

Now he’s constantly worried about you and still doesn’t know why. He chalks it up to “you’re a slytherin and slytherins take care of their own,” 

Not that he cares about any other slytherin muggle born, just you

Not that he admits that to himself either

So maybe he stalks you a bit in second year. You notice but shrug it off. Draco’s weird, that wasn’t new info to you. 

This year you go to Quidditch games, one because Draco mentioned he was the new Seeker, and two... well, why not? 

You go to one, then swear them off. Good lord they’re dangerous and give you unnecessary anxiety. Especially the amount of times people get hurt. Magic or not, you didn’t want to watch that. 

After the first match that Draco sees you there, he always looks for you in the crowd again, but never sees you. It throws off his focus more than he cared to admit

he liked showing off to you okay?

He finds you in the common room after one victory, enjoying the party with your friends. You wave at him and after a while congratulate him on catching the snitch. It’s blushing and awkward but then Pansy comes and draws Draco’s attention and you can barely get out goodbye

The fact that you’re a muggleborn hardly bothers him anymore. You’re just... you. 

After one particularly aggravating quidditch match you find him afterwards, sulking in the library. 

“Draco?” You ask, confusion in your voice. 

“Go away,” He grumbles, more or less hiding behind his book. 

“I heard about what happened today...” 

“And you’ve come to mock me, brilliant,” 

“No,” you offer a smile. “Though the thought is appealing... I was wondering if you were okay,” 

“I’m fine,” He snaps, taken aback that you came to check on him. No one did that. Ever. 

The summer still gives him anxiety because there’s always the possibility that you won’t come back to Hogwarts the next year. And Draco can’t have that

But his fears are put to rest when your in his train compartment that next year (you have the same friends after all--and Slytherins stick together)

You notice that Draco’s wearing his hair a bit different this year and maybe he’s a bit taller...

and you have no idea what feeling is in your chest because of it. was it nervousness? No... was different... but what was it?

You shrug mentally and the game is on again with Draco. 

“I was going to insult you but it seems like you’re doing just fine on your own,” You grin and Draco is livid. And it makes you laugh. He’s just so cute when he’s mad.

“I can see that you’re failing at attempting to mock me Y/l/n,” Draco smirks. “Oh you’re completely right,” You smile innocently, and Draco’s eyes widen because did you just say he was right?. “I’m not attempting, I’m succeeding at mocking you.” You giggle and make a face at him before heading down the hall with your friends. 

and maybe Draco’s heart skips a beat

Animosity between the Gryffindors and Slytherin is real and even though you’re a muggle born the self righteous golden children don’t seem to care

Hi Dracos protective of you

“You don’t have to defend me. I’m just fine on my own,” you huff one day after class. “Slytherin take care of their own,” Draco shrugs and walks off.

Did Draco just call you a Slytherin genuinely? Did he just call you one of his own?? What the f—

Okay but Buckbeak terrifies you?? Like sure horses you could do but this??

Draco laughs at your apprehension before he realizes what you really are terrified and ducking behind him and the other Slytherin.

Hagrid picks you to come forward and greet Buckbeak and you can’t seem to get out the words “no thank you”

Draco, being over dramatic and now protective goes forward instead (you know the scene) and despite your fear of Buckbeak you’re scolding Draco that he’s going to get hurt if he doesn’t do it properly

Then he does get hurt

“It’s killed me!” He cries and you have to laugh, crouching down beside him.

“You’re fine drama queen,” you help him up and take him to Pomfrey. “Thanks,” you whisper as his arm is getting wrapped.

“Sure, I save you from a bloody chicken and all I get is a thanks?” He grumbles.

You rest your hand on his and your eyes meet.

“Thank you,” you say softly and boy does Draco melt on the spot

He still scoffs and plays it off. “Whatever,”

The same thing happens again with the boggarts but this time the roles are switched. Draco is terrified to go up but you’re pretty brave and reckless for a Slytherin

But holy heck does this backfire

Because your Boggart is Draco...

“You don’t belong here and you never will! You filthy little mudblood! Just go home and don’t come back! No one wants you here!”

You can’t manage the spell—because honestly you didn’t expect it to be that—and Lupin has to rescue you and you rush out of the room, tears in your eyes and everyone is just staring at Draco.

As you can imagine, things get pretty bad. Draco avoids and ignores you to the best of his ability because he had no idea how scared you were of him... sure maybe a little bit... but to be your greatest fear? It didn’t sit well with him. 

And you figure out pretty quick why that was your boggart but you don’t know if you can admit it to anyone. 

Until Lupin pulls you aside after class one day to ask if you’re okay and if Malfoy is giving you any trouble about being a muggleborn. 

“I can give him detention,” Lupin offers. “Maybe it’ll straighten him out.” 

“Stars, no!” You gasp. “Professor, please, Draco’s never...” You can’t exactly say he’s never said that, because he did, in first year. “It’s not for the reason you think, but Draco really... it’s not...” You don’t know how to explain without telling Lupin the entire thing. 

“Alright,” Lupin appeases. “But if you have any trouble with anyone, you come to me you understand?” 

You nod and leave, accidentally running into Draco in the hall. He barely looks at you before rushing off again. 

“Draco, wait!” You call. “Please,” 

Apprehensively he pauses and turns to face you. He waits for there to be fear in your eyes, but all he can see is desperation and sadness. 

“I thought you were afraid of me,” He meant it as a snarky reply, but it comes out broken. 

“No,” You shake your head. Biting your lip you decide to tell him why he’s your boggart. “You’re... you’re the only one I... I trust enough to believe... if you told me I didn’t belong... It only scares me if it comes from you,” 

“What the bloody hell am I supposed to do with that!?” He demands. 

You shrug, sighing thinking about the same. “I don’t know... I’m sorry Draco,” You turn and walk down the hall. 

It’s gone from bad to worse because not the awkward tension between you two is tangible and about every Slytherin is over it. So are most of the other students but they don’t have to live with you two. 

Draco barely sleeps at night. He’s just thinking about how he actually said that to you in first year and how you still held onto his words. He never meant for them to hurt you that badly. At least now he didn’t mean it. 

Then there was the matter of what you had explained to him. That he was the only one who could hurt you with those words. Because you trust him? Why the hell would you trust him? Why was it him of all people? 

Maybe his thoughts shifted to the panic in your eyes the day with Buckbeak, or the smile when you helped him off the ground, or the gentle kindness in your eyes when you thanked him in the infirmary. 

Or maybe it was the determination in your eyes when you volunteered yourself to face the boggart so he didn’t have to. 

Or maybe it was every taunt and tease that had you both smiling and laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. Every name calling, every insult. 

Maybe it was the day he saw you at King’s Cross, telling him that he couldn’t get rid of you that easily and grinning at him like it was some sort of inside joke. 

Or maybe it was the soft apology you gave him for the mess you were in.

You didn’t really talk for the rest of the year, but the tension seemed to ease after Draco’s epiphany that night. You smile at him and he waves to you in the halls... it’s nice. It’s friends. 

Draco still thinks that this is finally the year that you don’t come back to Hogwarts and it really does crush him over the summer not being able to ask you or contact you at all. The disconnect between wizard and muggle was very irritating because he just wanted to talk to you. 

His fears are again quelled when you’re on the Hogwarts Express. He sits with you this year. 

Fourth year means the Durmstrang students are being hosted by the Slytherins and more than one has their eye on you and you just feel creeped out

Hi, Draco is jealous

Now he was your partner in every class, and constantly beside you in the halls, glaring down whichever guy dares to come near you. 

Not that you notice. Again, Draco was weird. It wasn’t news to you. Besides he’s cute when he’s grumpy

Until one day you’re irritable and Draco just happens to be the person closest to you when you’re pushed over the limit. 

“I don’t need you to protect me okay! I can handle guys just fine on my own thank you! God what is with you Draco!?” You scream at him during study hall and storm off. Against his better judgement, he gets up and follows you. 

He finds you in the library leaning against a bookshelf in the back, your eyes closed. 

“Go away Malfoy,” You sigh. 

“How did you know it was me?” 

“Because I know you,” You look over at him. “I’m sorry I yelled at you,” 

“I’m sorry if I made you feel...” He looks down. “I... You’re...” He turns a slight shade of pink and trails off. 

“It’s alright,” You offer a smile. “It’s actually kinda sweet,” 

Now you’re both blushing. 

You go to the first task together with the rest of the slytherins and Draco can barely watch the task because he’s watching your face light up at the sight of dragons, because your little muggle self has never seen a dragon before and it’s amusing and cute

Then Draco asks you to the Yule Ball for before any of the imbeciles from Durmstrang can in front of the entire Great Hall.

“Malfoy’s got himself a muggleborn girlfriend!” It’s some Gryffindor mocking you

You turn bright red and run off, finding yourself in the Forbidden Forest hiding behind a tree. You’re crying because you’re embarrassed and you’re mad that you’ve even crying, which makes you cry more.

You hear his voice calling your name and you pray to whatever god existed that Draco wouldn’t find you or see you cry. 

He does find you. 

“Go away Draco,” You beg, hiding your face in your hands. 

“Now where have I heard that before?” He teases softly. A silence falls again. 

“You never answered me,” His voice is soft and gentle. “Do you want to go to the Ball with me?” 

You dare to look at him, confused as hell. He sitting beside you, staring at the grass and tree roots beneath you. 

“Do you really mean that? Don’t give me that look. I know you don’t exactly hate my existence, and things are different... but asking me to the ball? I...” Shaking your head you rub your face. 

“I can’t blame you for questioning my motives, though a part of me thought... maybe hoped you wouldn’t, but I really do mean it. I know I was an ass to you in the beginning, and sometimes I still am, and I’m sorry for that. I really am trying.” He nervous and rambling and you know it. “But I really do want to take you to the ball, because you’re kind, and sweet, and a brilliant slytherin and an amazing witch-” 

He’s cut off because you pulled his tie and pressed your lips to his. 

of course it’s awkward and weird because you’re kissing him and... he’s kissing you back? 

You pull away, thoroughly confused, and you start to apologize, but he’s not having that, so with a bit more elegance, he pulls you in for another kiss. 

This one is softer and slower and it gives you both time to figure out what kissing is now that it’s a thing you’re actually doing. 

“Will you please go to the Ball with me?” He asks again, when the perfect kiss is ended. You nod and smiling giving him a “yes,” 

“And maybe go out with me?” 

You grin. “Whatever you want Malfoy,” 

maybe he kisses you again

You to eventually head back inside, hand in hand and all of the Slytherins sigh in relief because finally

You’re a nervous wreck because all you can hear is “Malfoy’s got himself a muggleborn girlfriend,” on repeat and you can’t help but feel wrong

“You’re thinking about it again,” Draco raises an eyebrow at you. 

“And you’re not?” You challenge. “It feels... wrong. How could a pureblood, a Malfoy no less, choose a muggleborn, a mudblood,” 

“Don’t you ever,” Draco gets dangerous with cold fury. “Don’t you ever call yourself that. You hear me?” He’s towering over you, his grey eyes trained on yours. “You are a Slytherin,” He cups your face, his demeanor softening, “You are a brilliant witch. Pureblood or not, you’re mine. You hear me?” 

You nod, and he wraps you into a hug, sighing. “I’m so sorry,” He whispers. 

Your dress for the Ball is a bit more muggle than wizard, and you’re nervous about what the others in your house will say, but all of the worry goes away when Draco stares at you, turning pink and stumbling over his words

Not that you’re faring much better, because good lord is he gorgeous

It’s awkward and weird to be officially dating, but soon you fall back into your familiar game but now it’s harmless banter and lowkey flirting

Because Draco is protective and jealous of the Durmstrang blokes gaping at you maybe he’s okay with holding you closer than strictly necessary, or kissing you in a way that not completely polite in the company of others. 

You roll your eyes at his antics, but allow it because you don’t like the way a few girls are staring at Draco. 

Boy is Draco a goner when you get jealous and just as protective. He’s a stammering blushing mess if he can even make a word out at all

At the moment, Draco’s parents don’t know about you--partly for your safety partly because neither you nor Draco are ready for that battle

Draco and you spend free nights acclimating each other with wizard or muggle culture. Some nights are fun and carefree, some not so much... 

Draco gives you a very strict rundown of the looming war and the threat of the Dark Lord and how very serious it is and how easily you can (and will) be killed for simply existing under Voldemort’s regime

Maybe once Draco agreed with his father that muggles shouldn’t exist and muggle born wizards were preposterous, but now? How could he look at you, your family, who welcomed him with open arms, and say that? How could anyone believe that? 

He says “I love you” first. It’s an accident but you’re studying kne night and your eyes light up—like they always do when you learn something magic related—and it just slips out.

You gawk at him for a bit. Draco turns bright red and stares down at the books in front of you trying to play it off.

“I... I love you too,” you finally get out.

His eyes flash back to yours and your homework is forgotten and you’re in your own little bubble of a world in the epiphany that you love each other

“Of course I love you Draco,” there are tears in your eyes as he pulls you into his arms and now you’re both crying and kissing and mumbling “I love you”s

This summer, now that Voldemort is back, Draco goes about insane thinking about you, sending you owls almost daily to make sure that you were alright as well as hiding you from his parents

Except his mother finds out. Well, more like she knows her son and can see that he’s changed and casually asks “who is she?”

It’s a quiet conversation held behind closed doors and silencing charms. Draco explains who you are to him, and what you mean to him and now Narcissa is on your side, to be your protector from his father and the Dark Lord 

I can throw Snape in there too right? Cuz he’s your head house as well as being close to the Malfoy’s and sees how much you mean to Draco. Yeah, sure, why not?

It’s harder for you as a Slytherin because no one outside of your house sees what kind of danger you’re truly in because they don’t want to take the time.

But you’re still fericely protective of the younger Slytherins who still get berated despite being eleven with no choice of a house

You and Draco as prefects?? Hello?? The CUTEST thing because you’re now the honorary parents of Slytherin younger years. And Draco seeing you take care of the first years does something weird and paternal to him. It’s the same for you.

Which means you might go toe to toe with Harry a few times because once after a quitting match when you’re waiting for Draco he says “how can you be with someone like him? You’re a muggle born. He’s a Malfoy, you don’t exactly belong,”

Cue you hexing Harry for saying that. Then Draco coming between you two. You explaining what Harry said and then Draco turns on Harry and then it becomes a muggle brawl and you have to drag Draco away from it before you get in trouble. By the end Harry has clearly got the message that yes you do belong, and no it’s never up for debate again

You both have detention again. But that’s fine, it’s just uninterrupted time you can spend with Draco and get some homework done

You are 100% over Umbridge and her rules. Especially when she gets between you and Draco with her eight inch rule but then again you’re slytherin and she seems to favor your house so she’s not as strict, especially with Draco as her golden boy

You don’t join the Inquisitional Squad, but you still look after your own house as a unofficial prefect as Draco works as part of the squad.

With the news of Draco’s father in jail, you comfort him that night, not leaving his side. He feels so conflicted because on the one hand it’s his father but on the other hand you’re safer with him locked away

Draco loathes that you leave him in the summer to go back home but he agrees it’s safer for you to be back in the muggle world. Until Voldemort starts to attack your muggle world and dementors hover over your town.

Draco writes to you, begging you to come and stay with him where it’s safer and you can use magic to defend yourself but you refuse because you won’t abandon your family

Draco takes the Dark Mark to keep you safe and to keep his facade up.

But he doesn’t tell you. Not for a long while. You know something is up because Draco looks like the embodiment of death but he won’t tell you why.

“Draco,” you confront him one night as you sit and watch the stars. “Please?” You don’t even have to ask the explicit question. There are tears in your eyes as you plead with him silently.

“I can’t,” he whispers hugging his knees, not daring to meet your eyes.

“Draco it’s me,” you lay a hand on his shoulder. “It’s just me. Whatever it is... I’ll always love you,”

“How can you... how can you love me when I became the one thing who’s truly meant to hate you?”

Your eyebrows furrow as you cup his face softly, his eyes meeting yours. “Do you love me?” Then mend. “Forget what you are... or what I am... or what should be. Look me in the eyes and tell me you love me,”

“I... I love you,” he gasps out, pulling you close. “Merlin of course I love you,” he’s sobbing into your arms and you hold him, letting him cry in peace and comfort.

You two sit in the quiet for a while, both lost in aimless thought.

“I’m sorry,” he finally says pulling away from you. “I’m so sorry,” he tugs up his shirt sleeve and you see the Dark Mark etched into his skin

“Draco,” your eyebrows furrow, your hand running over the mark. “Are you okay?”

“Why is that your first thought?” He laughs hopelessly, cupping your face delicately. “You never cease to amaze me,”

“Now what?” You ask softly after some time in silence. “What does it mean?”

“I don’t think anyone knows,” he admits. “It all became so complicated,”

You chuckle. “Oh the days when our biggest problem was my blood status,” you rest your head on his shoulder, tucked into his arms.

“I mean that’s still a relevant problem,” Draco points out, pulling you in tighter. “I don’t want to lose you. Not because of some stupid notion that pure bloods are better than muggle born,”

You smile at that and close your eyes, relaxing in his arms. “Did it hurt?” You asked after a while. “Like you wouldn’t believe,” there’s still pain in his voice.

You’ve become more protective of Draco now and he of you. It might go back to the core that Slytherins look out for their own, or maybe it was because your to loved another. All of the Slytherins seem to stick together lately.

In an attempt to protect Draco, Harry’s sectumsempra hits you instead

And stars above Draco would have killed Harry if he wasn’t so focused on keeping you alive until Snape arrived

Draco has the dark mark and you had dark magic scars all over your skin. That was a hard one to explain to your parents

If anything your scars make you more confident and self assured because they show the true nature of the precious “chosen one” and you’re not keen on letting Harry forget it from tank tops to shorts and skirts, you boldly show off your scars

Of course Draco takes his sweet and gentle time praising and adoring all of your scars. It leaves the ghost of his lips on your skin for days on end until he does it again

In all honesty you and Draco are a force to be reckoned with, both scarred by a war that hasn’t truly begun.

You’re beside Draco when he’s face to face with a dying Dumbledore. You’re gripping his other hand, a snarled look on your face because you saw his manipulative nature for what it was

Though you couldn’t bare to think of killing another, you didn’t stop Snape from doing the final action

You and Draco fled with the rest of the Death Eaters, both running into the Forbidden Forest before apparating away.

You share a desperate kiss at the Manor behind his locked bedroom door before you have to apparate back home, safe from Voldemort and his other Death Eaters

Now that both you and Draco can apparate legally, you have rendezvous points that you meet during the summer for a few hours a week. Sometimes it’s sunny afternoons in the countryside, sometimes it’s desperate nights in lavish hotels, sometimes it’s lazy mornings in comfortable beds

Seventh Year is hellish. On the one hand it’s great for the Slytherins, on the other hand it’s terrible for muggle borns. You escape a lot of the torture because of being with Draco but you can barely stomach watching it happen to others... especially first years.

“This is wrong Dray,” you whisper one night. “I... I can’t keep pretending like it’s okay. They’re just kids,” there are tears in your eyes.

It’s the first night that the room of requirement opens its doors to you letting you in on the renegade camp. Almost everyone is baffled to see you there.

“So...” Neville starts. “Yeah,” you nod looking around at all of the battered and bruised faces. Your heart breaks a little more.

You use whatever magic and muggle skills you have to help the younger years get patched up and feel safe again, soon becoming a co-leader along side Neville and Ginny.

The fact that you’re a Slytherin gets left at the door.

In fact after a while the room itself gets rid of all of the house banners and just becomes a communal space

You tell Draco where you are and what’s going on but despite how hard he tries, he can’t get into the room

Until one night, the night after Luna is kidnapped and he’s made to torture her, does he become desperate enough that the room opens for him and offers him a safe haven from the war as well

Boy was everyone shocked to see Draco stumble through the doors on the verge of tears.

Wordlessly you stand and go to him, wrapping him into a hug and pulling him to your cot, again letting him break down in peace and comfort

Soon more and more Slytherins start to trickle into the renegade room.

You move your parents far away from England and London while the war is happening with help from Narcissa and Draco

The day comes and the battle of Hogwarts arrives and the Slytherins stand with Hogwarts, knowing that family doesn’t start or end with blood.

You and Draco lead the Slytherins into battle against the Death Eaters with a furious vengeance

No one budged when Voldemort offered to reconcile after Harry was pronounced dead. You and Draco shared one last loving look and prepared to face death together

But then Voldemort is gone

You almost collapse in relief into Draco’s arms and he sinks to the floor unsure of the world himself.

Many lives are lost and many are wounded. You both go around healing and helping where you can, never far from the other

You break down crying when you see Lupin dead before you and Draco holds you tightly shedding a few tears of his own

You and Draco are both acquitted in the trials because most of Hogwarts comes to your defense in testamonies.

Your story makes headlines a few years later....

“Pureblood Ex-Death Eater Malfoy Proposes to Rebel Muggleborn Sweetheart”

It’s not happily ever after just yet, but maybe it’s a step in the right direction

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masterlist

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ko-fi

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[recurring-polynya]

Once again, I am thinking about the dubious claim that people make from time to time that Renji would have gotten better character development in the TYBW arc if Byakuya had died. The thing is, though, that Renji did get excellent character development in this arc, particularly with respect to his relationship to Byakuya, it was just very subtle and I want to talk about it.

So, the first thing I want to point out is that the captain-lieutenant relationships is one of the major themes of the TYBW. A lot of this is sort of weird and awkward, but this is perfect, actually, because captain-lieutenant relationships are, for the most part, weird and clunky and awkward. Take for example, the part that I always make fun of, where the captains are told not to go to bankai, and Hitsugaya, Komamura, Byakuya and Soi Fon immediately go to bankai-- but they all do this on the assumption that they are luring their opponent into a trap to see how this works, and that their lieutenant will somehow ??defeat them anyway?? (well, except Soi Fon who seems to think she can one-shot her Quincy). There’s Sasakibe’s funeral, where we find out that Yamamoto cared far more for him than we ever imagined. Kyouraku returns Nanao’s zanpakutou to her and stands behind her as she defeats an opponent he can't. Iba carries Komamura’s body off of the battlefield as he loses the last of his humanity. Isane struggles to keep her head above her grief because that’s the burden Unohana left her with. Rose avenging Kira. Hitsugaya and Matsumoto fighting and (sort of) dying together. The Zaraki-Yachiru thing. The Mayuri-Nemu thing. Momo and Shinji actually got to have a relatively normal one, which they each deserved, but at least they got to have normal one together. Anyway, that could be an entire essay, but as usual, I only want to talk about Renji and Byakuya.

Renji’s introduction as a character happens in stages. Initially, he sort of appears to be Byakuya’s sidekick-- he's here to do the dirty work during Rukia’s arrest, while Byakuya stands by and calls the shots, but even early on, it’s clear that Renji’s a little hung up on Byakuya. He’s trying to impress him, and gets more embarrassed and self-conscious as things go progressively pear-shaped. When Byakuya finally enters the action, Renji’s thought bubbles reveal that he’s watched Byakuya for a long time, that he knows all his moves. When we get the Renji backstory reveal a few issues later, we learn that Renji’s goal is to defeat Byakuya, which he seems to feel is necessary to seeing Rukia again, even though there has never been any sort of causal link revealed between these two things. Don’t get me wrong, if Young Academy Renji had tried to continue to be friends with Rukia, I think Byakuya would have kicked him out on his ass, but it’s clear that a lot of Renji’s hang-ups are internal-- he doesn’t want to face Rukia again until he can stand against Byakuya. I think the origin of this is that he simply wants what’s best for Rukia, and he can’t stomach the idea of asking her to leave her rich, noble family for him, unless, of course, he’s somehow better than Byakuya in some dimension, and the only thing Renji’s ever considered himself good at is fighting.

Even more interesting is that he’s chosen to go about this by... studying the man’s every move and becoming his lieutenant. But for as much energy as Renji has put into learning Byakuya’s favorite combat moves, he doesn’t actually know anything about him as a person. He’s shocked when Rukia predicts that Byakuya won’t lift a finger to help her, and then horrified when this actually comes to pass. A few chapters later, as he’s running Hinamori through, Aizen comments that “Adoration is the state furthest from understanding.” I would probably classify Renji’s feelings towards Byakuya more as admiration or idolization, rather than adoration, but I think this statement is also very true of Renji and Byakuya’s relationship. Unlike poor Momo, Renji gets a little more time and opportunity to do something with this information. With a little Ichigo-forced soul searching, he realizes that he’s not going to come out the hero of this story no matter what, but if he doesn’t do something, Rukia’s not going to come out of this story at all, and even if he’s not really ready, he’s spent 40 years trying to figure out how to beat Kuchiki Byakuya, let’s hope all that was good for something.

The Byakuya-Renji fight has no direct impact on the events of the Soul Society Arc. It makes Byakuya show up to Rukia’s execution 5 minutes late and without his scarf. Renji gets healed, so it really doesn’t matter all that much to him, either. You could argue that they both wasted a bunch of energy (that they could have used to fight Aizen later) but it’s primarily a character-driven moment of them both drawing lines in the sand about where they stand, vis a vis Rukia. Byakuya wins this fight, and he wins it handily, but he’s wrong, as he comes to realize a few issues later, when Ichigo kicks his ass and tells him he’s a bad brother, a lesson that Byakuya will take to heart for the rest of the manga. Byakuya claims that the difference between Renji and himself is class, but the real difference between is the heart, and in the long run, Renji is the real victor of this fight.

The hospital scene is an interesting footnote to this. Byakuya defeated Renji, but Byakuya was the asshole and everyone knows it. There’s an expectation that perhaps Renji will quit or perhaps Renji will give him an earful and perhaps even Rukia will choose to leave the family, either to go to the Living World or to be with Renji (and Byakuya would deserve this), but instead, both Renji and Rukia give Byakuya another chance, which is not, I think, a place Renji ever expected to be.

Rukia and Byakuya building up a sibling relationship after this is fairly straightforward (although I’m sure it had its weird moments), but Byakuya and Renji now have this profoundly awkward relationship where Byakuya is obviously in charge, but he sort of depends on Renji as a personal compass because he’s shit at dealing with people and he doesn’t want to screw stuff up with Rukia again. Take for example, the part of the Hueco Mundo arc where Orihime is kidnapped and Rukia and Renji desert their posts to come help rescue her. Kubo takes to the panel-space to tell us that Byakuya has tacitly approved this. As a clan head and a captain, a person who is entrenched in the hierarchy of Soul Society, Byakuya couldn’t possibly go to Hueco Mundo-- but he can turn a blind eye while his sister and lieutenant scurry out through the Kuchiki family senkaimon. Renji, for his part, tried to go to Hueco Mundo through official channels and got shot down. We don’t know what Renji would have done if Byakuya had explicitly forbidden him from going, but it doesn’t matter-- Byakuya enabled Renji to follow his heart here, because Byakuya can’t. Rukia would have gone to Hueco Mundo regardless. She cares about Byakuya, but she doesn’t depend on him for validation the way Renji does.

I said this was going to be about the TYBW, so let’s get to that. Early in the arc, we’re shown several scenes where it’s clear that Byakuya respects and values Renji as a lieutenant, but he’s also pretty damn patronizing to him. Renji is the first one to engage As Nodt, and when Byakuya shows up, he acts surprised that Renji hasn’t taken him out yet, but then proceeds to take over the fight (real, “stand back, fives, an eleven has arrived” energy). After Byakuya then loses his bankai like a doofus, Renji wants to take point so that Byakuya can figure out As Nodt’s attack and Byakuya won’t let him... and then proceeds to get thrashed.

This has to be one of the most emotionally charged fights in Bleach. Byakuya is losing, and Renji jumps in, absolutely incensed that As Nodt would use Senbonzakura against Byakuya. Renji isn’t doing great, but he’s not doing terrible when Byakuya gets up and tries to help Renji, even though he’s a big bloody mess. As Nodt reacts by shredding Byakuya into chunks, and Renji just loses it, and if Mask de Masculine hadn’t shown up and kicked him halfway across the Seireitei, I daresay Renji would have killed himself trying to take down As Nodt.

This is where I usually make the point that if Byakuya had died to here, it would have broken Renji into little pieces, but that’s not today’s essay. Instead, everyone goes to the Royal Realm, and by virtue of the fact that Byakuya is injured worse than everyone else, Renji has to go forward without him or his approval.

In typical Renji fashion, the thing that motivates Renji here is not glory or heroism, but the desire to accompany Ichigo, the need to be with his friends in their times of trial. In fact his companionship here is absolutely essential-- at Hikifune’s, Ichigo expresses deep doubts that he’s doing the right thing, and Renji reminds himself that if he wants to protect others, he has to take care of himself first.

At Nimaiya’s however, Renji and Ichigo are split up because they must follow their own paths. The other extremely interesting thing that happens here is that Renji’s sword is reforged. Byakuya shattered one of Hihio Zabimaru’s joints the very first time Renji used them in combat. Renji brushed it off at the time, saying that he could get by without it. Even though Byakuya has long been his motivating force and his mentor, he’s also been held back by his connection to him. And at this point, it’s gone.

I really wish we got to see where Renji and Rukia meet up again, but we don’t. Unlike with Ichigo, though, Rukia doesn’t seem to need anything from Renji. They travel together, fight together as equals, wear matching outfits, like you do. Oh. Wait. After all this time, in the 493 chapters between Needless Emotions and Blue Stripes, Renji can finally see himself as an equal to Rukia. They get. bankai. Together.

I want to emphasize that it’s not really anything about Rukia herself that allowed Renji to make bankai, it’s the fact that he’s finally managed to move past the feeling that he’s not enough. Defeating Byakuya would not actually have solved this problem, and having Byakuya dying in front of him wouldn’t have either. Renji gets criticized for losing a lot of his fights, but that’s such a key to his character. He’s not always the strongest, he doesn’t always win, but he keeps fighting for what he cares about. He struggles with his need for approval, for external validation, but Renji is at his best when he doesn’t have time to think about that, when he’s just fighting by his friends’ sides against impossible odds, doing what he knows in his heart is right.

I think people tend to make a little more than is strictly necessary of the line where he tells Mask that he’s “a villain”, I think he’s most just making fun of Mask’s own self-aggrandizement. On another level, though, this is just Renji being at ease with himself. Byakuya typically enters a fight bloviating about the honor of Soul Society and “how dare you raise your sword against me, the 28th Head of the Kuchiki” and even Ikkaku had the whole deal about telling people your name before you kill them, but Renji is more like “you beat up my friends, so I’m gonna break your face,” like there’s no ego in it, just you’re there, and he’s there, and then you’re lying on the ground and he’s taking a nap somewhere. This is so different than the insecure, posturing young man he was at the start of this series and I love this growth for him.

Even after he eventually meets up with Byakuya again, something has changed about their dynamic. The group gets split up and rejoined two or three times, and Renji and Rukia always stay together while Byakuya ends up fighting alongside others, Hisagi and later Hitsugaya and Zaraki. This is cemented in their last scene together, where Rukia and Renji try to stay with Byakuya and he sends them off to fight with Ichigo by saying “your help is not needed here.” In some ways, it’s an echo of Byakuya sending them off to Hueco Mundo, but in other ways, it’s acknowledging that they are their own people, not just an extension of him.

Hitsugaya follows it up with this:

There’s more here than meets the eye, though-- Byakuya and Renji have maintained a pretty strict superior-subordinate relationship, because that’s the easiest way for them to make sense of the world, but the fact is, they do care about each other and are important to one another.

I know there would be a certain narrative satisfaction in seeing Renji make captain at the end-- he’s one of the hardest working people in Bleach, and it frankly seems weird to see Iba get the haori when he doesn’t. But Renji has never wanted to be a captain. Renji becoming captain would, in some ways, be a failure. He spends years pre-canon chasing rank and prestige because that’s what he thinks will make him worthy, and it didn’t. Instead, he found worth in being himself, in loving his friends and being there for them, in learning things from Byakuya and teaching him things in return. Renji doesn’t need to be Byakuya’s lieutenant anymore, he just does it because he likes it. It makes him happy. What better character development is there than that?

[definitelyseven]

hurts so good | two

summary: growing up with Park Jinyoung was never easy and things are about to get worse when you’ve been asked to marry him

one | two | three | four | five | six | seven | eight | nine | ten | eleven | twelve - final |

“Excuse me sir, how much longer? I’m in a rush,” you asked as you nervously moved around in your seat inside the taxi.

“Ma’am as you can see there’s tons of traffic. I can’t go any faster than this,” he protested. 

“Can I get off here?” you asked him, kindly.

“Sure, but you still have 10 minutes by drive. It’ll be a long walk,” he warned.

“That’s alright. Thank you,” you said as you handed the fare to the driver. You picked up the trial of your dress and ran towards the venue where the charity ball was held. The driver was right, it’s a long way but you couldn’t afford to be late. You were sure your toes would blister tomorrow but that didn’t matter at least not to Jinyoung. 

“What the hell took you so long?” Jinyoung asked as he sees you running towards him. The charity ball was filled with rich people who were desperate to make connections with money. Jaebum and Jinyoung were no different.

“I’m sorry there was so much traffic,” you said out of breath. 

“I told you to leave the office earlier,” he blamed. 

“Now’s not the time to argue,” Jaebum warned, looking around. "Y/N, you’re injured. What happened?” he asked, worried.

You looked down at your hands and knees that were all scratched up. “I thought I was going to be late so I ran here and fell,” you explained to the both of them. 

“Let’s get you cleaned up,” he suggested, guiding you towards the back with less people.

“Wait. Where’s the auction item?” Jinyoung asked. You quickly handed it to him. He opens the box to reveal a shattered crystal pendant. “What the hell did you do?” he glared.

“Oh no...” you gasped. “I’m so sorry. It must’ve shattered when I fell.”

“Do you know how expensive this was?” he said angrily. You bit your lip - you did know but you didn’t do it on purpose. “What are we going to use to auction off?” You were left speechless; unsure of what to say or do. You knew you were clumsy but you didn’t expect this to happen. “You had one fucking job,” he whispered for only you and Jaebum to hear. 

“Jinyoung!” 

The three of you turned to look at whoever was calling Jinyoung. It was Mr. Kim and his beautiful daughter, Jisoo. Every year Jisoo and her dad would host a charity event. Jisoo loved doing charity work and she was very well known for making every event successful. Tonight would be no different.

Not only was Jisoo beautiful and kind, she was also Jinyoung’s best friend. They grew up together, just like you and Jinyoung did. They were close and he was always happy around her. One thing you knew for sure was Jinyoung always loved her. If she had loved him back, she would be Mrs. Park instead of you. 

Jinyoung’s expression changed immediately after seeing them. “Mr. Kim,” he greeted shaking his hand. “Jisoo,” he smiled widely. You could tell it was genuine by the way his eyes wrinkled with every smile.

“I’m glad you all could make it. Where’s Chaewon?” she asked Jaebum. 

“She’s sick so she’s resting at home. She sends her apologies,” Jaebum answered.

“I hope she feels better,” Jisoo smiled. Everything about her was perfect - the way she walked, smiled and acted was perfect. “What are you auctioning tonight?” 

The three of you remained quiet; unsure of what you could auction off. 

“If I remember correctly, we don’t necessarily need to auction off an item. We can auction off our skills, our time,” Jinyoung reminded.

“That’s correct. I’ll be auctioning off my time - golfing lessons,” she smiled sweetly. 

“Great! I’m auctioning her off,” Jinyoung suggested.

“What?” you and Jaebum said together making Jisoo giggle.

“You mean Y/N’s auctioning off her skills this time?” Jisoo clarified. But you don’t have any skills worth auctioning. 

“Yes she is,” Jinyoung decided. 

“Great I’ll put you on this list,” Jisoo said to you. You nodded slowly and unwillingly. 

“Jisoo, do you have something to clean her up?” Jinyoung asked. She looked at you, concerned with your injuries. 

“Yes let’s go clean that up,” she tells you, extending her hand out to you. You followed her into the back. “I’m so glad you came! It’ll be fun,” she said cheerfully. 

“I don’t really know what skill to auction,” you revealed as she handed you a band aide.

“Whatever it is, Jinyoung will definitely bid on you so you don’t have to worry.” You smiled nervously at her. She was right. Even if Jinyoung didn’t love you, he would still bid on you because he needed to show everyone how much he “loves” his wife. “Don’t be nervous. Jinyoung’s here remember,” Jisoo comforted. 

You smiled at her, “Thanks.”

She gave you another smile before walking onto the stage. 

“Our beautiful host tonight will be auctioning her time - golfing lessons. Starting bid is $10,000,” the auctioneer said. 

“$300,000,” Jinyoung called out.

“$500,000,” Mr. Kim called out immediately after Jinyoung. The both of them went back and forth until the bid was up to $1M. You watched from backstage at how Jinyoung nonchalantly bids on her; each time earning a smile from her. He was happy just by looking at her. $1M for this auction was way more than what the three of you had planned to spend as representatives for the company but Jinyoung didn’t seem like he cared. 

“$1.5 million,” Jinyoung called out again. Loud whispers and gasps filled the room - what’s their relationship, is she worth that much?

You knew Jinyoung would never do the same for you. She’s special to him.

“$1.6 million,” Mr. Kim called out. Of course, he was willing to spend as much as he needed on his daughter. There was no way he was going to let a married man bid on his daughter. 

“I appreciate both gentlemen showing interest in my time,” Jisoo interrupted. “The children at the orphanage thanks you both for your generosity. I’m willing to extend my offer to both gentlemen if they’re willing to each donate $1.5 million.”

“That’s no problem for me,” Jisoo’s father immediately agreed.

“No problem for me too,” Jinyoung agreed happily. There was no doubt that Jinyoung’s family was rich, but even though he was, $1.5 million for golfing lessons didn’t seem worth it to you. It didn’t seem worth it to Jaebum either. 

You watched from backstage as Jisoo’s father and Jinyoung walked on the stage to claim their “prize”. The reporters took pictures and they shook each other’s hand - all seemed innocent to people who didn’t know Jinyoung. But you knew your husband and you knew that he did this because he loved her and didn’t want her to spend time with any other men here. 

“Next up Mrs. Y/N Park,” the auctioneer announced. 

You nervously walked up on stage; reporters taking pictures of you as you stood there. You scanned the bottom of the stage and Jinyoung was nowhere to be found. Where was he? 

“Starting bid is $10,000,” the auctioneer said once again. Silence filled the room making you more and more nervous. Where the hell was Jinyoung? He was supposed to bid on you. “The starting bid for Mrs. Park is $10,000. Any takers?” the auctioneer repeated.

This was embarrassing. You picked at your fingers nervously, desperate to find Jinyoung in the sea of people but he was no longer in the room. How could he leave when he knew you were up next? Whispers filled the room as people wondered who would bid on you? You wondered the same. The auctioneer chuckled nervously, unsure of how to proceed next. This has probably never happened before. People always bided on the items. You looked down at the floor, embarrassed. 

“$100,000,” Jaebum called. You quickly looked up at him, relieved to hear a familiar voice.

“$100,000! Going once, twice, three times,” the auctioneer called out quickly, probably just as relieved as you. “Congratulations Mr. Im, please come up on stage.”  

“Thank you,” you whispered to Jaebum as he stood next to you to take the congratulatory picture.

“Don’t worry about it,” he comforts, slightly rubbing your back. “Smile for the picture.” 

You nodded and smiled at the reporters as they took your pictures. Jinyoung came back after your turn. He sat down next to you as if he nothing was wrong, as if he didn’t forget about you. He didn’t even realize that you had already gone on stage. Were you that insignificant to him?

“Stop right there,” Jaebum called as the three of you walked out of the charity event. 

You and Jinyoung stopped in your steps, turning around to face Jaebum. 

“What?” Jinyoung responded, annoyed. 

“What the hell was that in there?” Jaebum asked, furious. 

“What do you mean?” 

Jaebum chuckled in disbelief, “Let’s not even begin to talk about the fact that you spent $1.5M on Jisoo which was way more than we agreed on, but how could you leave Y/N stranded on stage by herself?” he questioned. 

“She wasn’t stranded and I was on an important call,” Jinyoung defended. “You were there to bid on her so why does it matter?” 

Jaebum grabs Jinyoung by the collar and shoves him against the wall. “She’s your fucking wife. How do you think she feels seeing you bid on another women and not on her?” he said through his teeth. “You embarrassed her.”

“Why do you care so much about my wife?” Jinyoung smirked. “She hasn’t even said anything.”

“You asshole,” he said raising his arm into a fist to throw a punch. You immediately reached for Jaebum’s hand, stopping him from hurting Jinyoung.

“Stop!” you screamed. “There are reporters everywhere.”

Jaebum shoves Jinyoung against the wall roughly again before letting him go. He straightens out his suit and turns to you. “He’s not worth defending,” he said to you before walking away.

The car ride home with Jinyoung was quiet. You were hurt that he wasn’t there to bid on you like you had thought he would. Everything Jaebum said was right. He embarrassed you and he didn’t even care. He didn’t even think about you. All he thought about was Jisoo and making sure she was taken care of.

“It really was an important call,” he repeated to you. You let out a small hum, acknowledging his words but you didn’t look at him. Your vision becomes blurry with tears as you stared straight ahead at the road. 

Were you that naive to think that things would actually change after you got married? Did you really think that he would love you just because your names were written on a piece of paper?

You stood underneath the shower head, letting the scorching hot water hit your skin. The water hit your face, merging your tears with the hot water but the taste of your salty tears was still there. The water stung the scratches on your hands and knees but this pain was nothing compared to how your heart hurt and ached. Every heart beat felt like a punch to your stomach, like someone had their hands around your throat. You were unable to breath or move and there was nothing you could do but allow yourself to get beat up every time. 

What could you have possibly done to make Jinyoung dislike you, his wife so much? Every memory you shared with Jinyoung ran through your mind daily. You couldn’t think of any reason for him to hate you. You were always nice to him. You always loved him.

“Louise, where’s Jinyoung?” you asked your housekeeper. 

“Young Mr. Park went out,” she responded.

“Did he say when he’ll be back?” 

“No ma’am,” she answered, returning back to work. You sighed. The least he could do was tell you he was heading out at this hour. Jinyoung hasn’t been coming home for several nights now. You can’t help but think about the pink lipstick on the collar of his suit. Could he be spending the night with her?

[jean-kayak]

Finally

Summary: A heated argument makes him accidentally confess his feelings

Pairing: Kuroo Tetsurou x black!gn!reader

Warnings: a HUGE amount of angst, but don’t worry there’s a happy ending, brief mentions of alcohol consumption, one (1) bad chem joke, and a lot of tears

Word Count: 2,629

A/N: Um, you could say this is to make up for the Gojou angst I wrote earlier lolol, and I wanted to write for Kuroo cause I hadn’t written a fic for him yet and this is what came out of it

Tags: @her-majesty-kiara​, @iwascrybaby​​

​​Kuroo groans when he hears his doorbell ring, wondering who's bothering him during his one-person movie night, and he haphazardly gets off the couch, pausing the movie before he walks to the door.

The annoyed, apathetic look on his face is quickly wiped off when he sees you standing on his porch, eyes red. He sighs, wordlessly stepping to the side to let you in, softly closing the door as he follows you back into the living room.

He sits back in his spot with a heavy sigh, and you follow, but you don't sit right next to him, which is normal behavior whenever you come to him like this. He throws an arm over the couch as you sniffle, your eyes on your lap. "So, what was it this time?"

He hates how he has to add that every time you show up at his door. He's lost count, and he hates that too. You wipe at your eye before you shrug. "He broke it off," is all you say, your voice not loud but not quiet either.

And he hates how it seems like you've just come to terms with this situation. Every time there's a new boyfriend, there's a new issue. Sometimes he wants to grab you by your shoulders and shake you, hoping that it'll make you see that it doesn't have to be this way for you.

Kuroo sighs again. "I'm sorry," he responds. "You wanna go get something to eat?"

You scoff as you shake your head, finally looking at him. "Go ahead and say it," you suddenly speak up, and it makes Kuroo frown at you.

"What are you talking about?" he asks, raising his eyebrows at your sudden outburst and change in demeanor.

"I can hear it in your voice, Kuroo. Just go ahead and say it." The anger in your voice, makes him sit up.

"What are you going about? I--"

"Just say I told you so and get it over with." He falls silent for a few seconds. He guesses after the same event happening over and over again, he got worse at hiding his true feelings. "You sound like that every single time. God, it's so annoying."

Now it's his turn to scoff. "I'm sorry? I've been telling you for a while now that they weren't good enough for you," he argues, your words rubbing him in the completely wrong way.

"And how are you supposed to know that? You've never liked any guy that I've dated, and it's like you just wait for me to get my heart broken just so you can rub it in my face that you were right."

"That sounds like a you problem, y/n. You think I'd do that to hurt you? You think I'd lie to you?" His voice is starting to rise, and he's never liked doing that, but you're pissing him off. How you let yourself get treated is pissing him off.

"God, you are such an asshole," you spit before you're standing, and he's quick to follow, grabbing your wrist.

"I'm the asshole? Oh, that's fucking rich." You snatch your wrist out of his grip before turning to face him.

"What is it, Kuroo?" you start, your voice now matching his. "Why is it that every single guy isn't good enough for me? Are you sure you're not trying to tell me that it's the other way around?"

He clenches his jaw. He has to choose his next words carefully before this hellhole of an argument really blows over. But he doesn't know what to say, and his silence spurs you on.

"If you thought I was that bad of a person to be dating then why would you let me go out with them anyway?" He feels the anger bubbling violently in his chest, the cap on the lid about to bust. "You just wanted me to think lowly of myself?"

"Because I FUCKING LOVE YOU, and I know that I could treat you better than any of those guys combined!" he screams, his voice booming through the house, making you flinch violently.

And he's trying to calm himself down, realizing what he said. The fucking cat that he's been trying to keep in the bag just leaped out with flying colors. He looks at you, your face completely different than it was before his accidental confession.

The silence is literally making his ears ring as he looks down at the floor. "Get out." He stops you when he knows you're about to say something.

"Kuroo--"

"Get the fuck out." He doesn't look up. He can't. But he doesn't know what to do. He doesn't want to lose you, but he just did. He couldn't keep his fucking mouth shut and now he's paying the price.

"Fine," he hears you say, the words bitter. And he hears your footsteps moving towards the door, and the door opening.

And he jumps when he hears it slam.

He lays in his bed for days. The pillows and sheets are stained with tears, his head pounding from the consistent crying. The more he replays the scene in his head, the harder he cries.

He could barely reach for his phone without crying because usually, the first thing he does when he reaches for his phone is think of you. He gets stupid drunk, but that only makes him cry worse, his headache making his head feel like it's being split open.

He wants to smash everything that has any memories of you tainted on it, but every time he goes to shatter a picture frame, he can't let it go.

How could you ever think about yourself that way? About him? The last thing he ever wanted you to think was that he thought you weren't good enough. But his annoyance was winning out.

He was tired of you boasting about a new guy you were potentially about to go on a date with. How you would tell him about all the dates you went on. And then you would come to him, crying because they broke your heart.

He was tired of being the guy that helps you fix your broken heart instead of being the one that got to hold it.

And he ruined it all. He had just been fucking content with being your friend then none of this would be happening. He wouldnt've lost the person he loved the most.

He wanted to call you his so bad. He wanted you to be the first thing to wake up to and the last thing to see before he went to sleep. He wanted to kiss you under the mistletoe like in those stupid cliche Christmas movies.

He wanted to dance with you in the kitchen, no music playing, just the two of you, relishing in each other's touch. He wanted to get down on one knee and tell you everything that he loved about you. That he had been in love with you from the moment he met you. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with you, but having the privilege of calling you his.

You were so close to him. Yet so, so far away.

But he put up with it. He watched you in a happy relationship, hoping it would get him to get over you. But it failed. No matter what he did, what he tried. It hurt to see you in a relationship, and it hurt to see you crying due to the relationship crumbling.

He calls Kenma, barely able to retell the story because of how bad his voice is breaking, the tears falling all over again as his body heaves with sobs. But he's never seen Kenma come over to his house so fast.

Kenma stays for nearly the whole day, Kuroo spending nearly two and half of the hours convincing Kenma that it was completely fine for him to go home.

He felt empty. Like his body had been hollowed out. He cleaned up his house, the gloomy feeling settling over him only lifting slightly, but he was proud of himself for making progress. Slowly but surely.

He pretty sure things are starting to go back to "normal." The word having a different meaning now that you're no longer here.

He's scrolling through his phone deciding on whether he should cook or get take out when the noise against his door makes his whole body freeze. He tells himself that he was imagining it, that it was nothing, but he can't stop himself from walking into the living room to make sure he told himself right.

He nearly drops his phone when he hears the familiar knock. The only one that you use. He finds himself conflicted, not knowing whether to run to the door and throw it open and hugging you or running to his room and not coming out until your gone.

You knock again, and he feels like his legs are going to give out as he slowly walks towards it. He stands in front of it, not making a move to unlock it, but picturing you standing on the other side.

"Open the door, Kuroo," you say, your voice muffled, but he can hear it clear as day, and he hasn't heard your voice in so long that it makes him realize how much his heart still aches, and it almost makes him open the door.

He knows that once his eyes land on you, he'll cry. He knows it.

"Please." And he feels himself crack. Might as well get this over with and finally move on.

His hands are shaking like crazy as he slowly unlocks the door, pausing for a moment before he turns the knob. He's not looking at you when he fully opens the door, opting to look at the floor. He's not ready, he doesn't think he'll ever be.

The tension is so thick he feels like he can't breathe. Or that could be because he's trying to keep himself calm. He brings himself to look at you, and he never thought in a million years that he would struggle with looking at you. Not when he's been doing it for so long.

He feels the tears forming before he even gets to your face. He sighs heavily when he finally meets your eyes, yours looking just as puffy and swollen as his were.

He doesn't know what to say or feel. He wants to say so much, but he can't. He doesn't want a repeat of last time.

"You can't love me."

He feels his barely mended heart fall apart again. He scoffs painfully as he wipes the tears that start falling, turning back around to walk into the house, and he has the urge to stop you when he hears you walk in behind him, closing the door.

"You can't love me," he slows to a stop when he hears your voice break. "Because." Your voice is wavering, and you stop again, letting out a quick sob. "Because I love you."

Kuroo feels his whole world shift as he feels more tears flood into his eyes. He pushes away that small moment of hope, huffing as he wipes his face. "y/n--"

"That's not how this works," you cut him off, but he doesn't turn around. "I'm the one that always falls and never gets caught."

Your lips are quivering so bad that the words are barely coming out. Kuroo slowly turns around, seeing that you have tears streaming down your face. He's looking for the lie, waiting for the part when he wakes up.

You take a careful step forward, and Kuroo doesn't have it in him to stop you. "It's--"

"I'll catch you." There's pain etched on both of your faces, but your eyes widen slightly in shock. "God, y/n, I will always catch you. I--"

He steps closer to you, and he reaches out to touch you, but he stops himself, not sure if it's the right move. "I can't believe you thought I would ever think that way about you."

"I know, and I'm so fucking sorry. I was upset, and I took it out on you. I didn't mean any of it," you explain, your sentence wavering off towards the end. "I was just--nothing ever worked out for me, and I thought that you would never feel the same, so I--"

You can't help it this time, not even biting your lip can muffle your cries, and Kuroo's pulling you into his chest, and you nearly cry as hard as you did on that awful day, and Kuroo holds you like you'll slip away from him at any moment as more tears fall down his face.

Your hands are holding on tight to his shirt that he feels it might rip, but he doesn't care. The only thing that he cares about is that he finally has you back in his arms.

"I'm sorry," he breathes, resting his face in your hair, and you lift your head up.

"You shouldn't be apologizing. I--"

"I said things that I shouldn't have said too," he says, cupping your face in his hands, rubbing over some of the dried tear tracks staining your brown skin. "I swear I didn't mean it."

You sniffle loudly as you bring your hands up to wipe the tears off of his face. "I love you, Tetsurou." The sound of his name sounds amazing coming from you, and he feels his heart swell as he smiles widely, feeling tears brimming his eyes again.

"And I love you." He does. With every single thing in his body. You huff softly as his finger rubs over your cheek. "Can I kiss you?"

You nod quickly, and he chuckles softly on the outside, but on the inside, he's bouncing off the walls. He doesn't delay any longer, moving in to connect his lips with yours. He feels a shock shoot up his spine, further fueling his love for you.

This is what he imagined. What he's been dreaming of, and it's happening. And he's not in the middle of a dream, even though that's what it feels like. His arms wrap around your waist as he deepens the kiss, pulling you closer to him, not even wanting an inch of space between the both of you.

He hopes that everything confession he's thought about making is being transferred through, wanting you to understand that he loves you to the next universe and back. He reluctantly pulls away, both of your lungs screaming for air, and he leans his head to rest against your forehead.

"Marry me," he breathes, and you huff softly as you look at him.

"Now?"

He nods eagerly. "Yes."

"Are you serious?" you ask, chuckling in disbelief as you move a hand to play with the strands of hair at the nape of his neck.

"As serious as inhaling hydrochloric acid," he jokes quickly, smiling when you laugh. "I'll do all of the formal stuff later. Just please say yes."

You laugh a little louder this time, and he can't help the pang of his heart at the sight, the sounding even more beautiful than music. "Yes, Tetsurou, I'll marry you."

If he thought he was already happy about his feelings being reciprocated, he was definitely through the roof happy now. He plants his lips back on yours, pulling you into an even deeper kiss, and he sighs in content.

He brings you into a hug, huffing in disbelief that you're actually standing here, that you want to marry him. And that your arms feel like home. Like paradise.

He doesn't even care how long it took.

All that matters is that he can finally call you his.

[amazingphanisnotonfire-imagines]

Riverdale//eyes bright, uptight, just girls

Request: Riverdale imagine the reader older sister who is a senior and is throwing a party and stuff and the reader parents want her to date this guy who she knows is no good and the reader doesn't want a boyfriend yet but her dad wants her to date the guy and stuff like that to call him son one day and stuff and the reader and her parents argue in the kitchen and the guy is trying to force her to and her older sister won't help at all and is being smug. U can think of an ending after that w. the core 4.

hey! trigger warning: parents not listening and a bitch of a sister, as well as a very rude boy. please don’t read if you think this may upset or trigger you. 

Parties have never really been your thing. They’re more more Sarah’s, if she isn’t attending one she’s throwing one, no matter if you’re parents have said she can or not. And because she’s the favourite, she always gets away with it and you’re stuck cleaning up. 

You think maybe it’s because your parents are big on parties, not high school ones, but just in general. They like any excuse to show off their perfect family and their perfect house and to parade you around their friends like show dogs. It’s their way of telling their friends that they’re better off than they are. 

Tonight however, it seems that luck isn’t on your sisters side. Because as soon as your parents walk through the front door, three days too early and are greeted with drunk kids spilling sticky beer all over the custom made rug, she is already scrambling to come up with an excuse as to why there are well over 150 teenagers all trying tarnish the family home. 

You watch Sarah practically jump over a sofa to stop them from walking in any further and the lively party soon dies as everyone watches Sarah and your parents have a staring competition. Sarah may have the edge because of how wide her eyes are. 

“Hiii, mom...dad.” She gulps and kicks a plastic cup underneath the sofa...as if that’s gonna convince them that the hasn’t invited most of the teenagers in Riverdale and let them run riot through the house.

You and Betty share a look and you feel her shuffle closer to you.

Despite it being your house, you still had to fight for a place on the couch, and when Betty turned up looking just as pleased as you were to be there, you gladly made a space for her. 

Betty had stayed by your side for the majority of the night, only getting up to get both of you drinks. She knows how much you hate parties, at least ones where your sisters in attendance which is most of them, and the two of you usually spend the night gossiping about the very large friendship group your sister has amassed. 

You watch your mom look around the living room and with each piece of beer stained furniture she see’s, her face falls more and more.

“Kitchen.” She stares straight at Sarah before pushing past her. 

“Now.” Your dad adds before following his wife.

Sarah follows your mom and dad into the kitchen, her head hung low as she shuffles through the crowd. They part for her, patting her shoulder and giving her sympathetic looks before the three of them disappear through the door. 

As soon as the kitchen door closes, the front one opens and the party spills out into the street. Drunk kids stumble back home, some laugh and some cry. Some stand at the bottom of the yard and puke while their friends rub their backs. A few of them have already passed out the grass in front of your house and you know as soon as your dads finished letting Sarah get away with murder, he’ll be turning the sprinklers on in order to get them to leave. 

Betty has already started to collect the rubbish strewn around her feet and you unenthusiastically join. The two of you don’t have to say anything, you’re always there to help the other clean up after yours sisters mess. Veronica and Archie soon join in and for a few minutes it’s actually surprisingly fun. 

There’s just you and your friends. Archie’s throwing rubbish at Veronica making her squeal and run away while you and Betty watch on in amusement. But every good thing has to come to an end and you hear the kitchen door creak before your dad’s head pops out around it. 

“Y/n, can you come here for a minute please.” He calls.

Betty grabs the rubbish you’ve collected and sends you a reassuring smile. You let out a loud sigh before accepting your fate and pushing the door open. 

Betty joins Veronica and Archie, all three of them watch the door swing a few times before shutting properly and they share a look. 

“Sarah’s an ass.” Archie mumbles and the two girls nod in agreement.

When you walk through the door, the room falls silent, and you feel the eyes of your entire family on you, watching you as you slowly walk towards them. 

Your mom rubs the side of her head, the migraine that made them come home early in the first place get stronger. And your dad rubs a hand over his face as he tries to figure out what to do and who to blame. 

“I told you, I did all of this so Y/n and Ben could get to know each other a bit better.” Sarah argues and your eyes widen. 

“What? I didn’t even know Ben was here.” You send her a glare and your parents look between the two of you. 

“Aw, that’s disappointing.” Somebody says behind you and you feel your skin crawl. Your shoulders hunch slightly and you swallow the lump in your throat before turning around and facing the green eyed boy. “Because I certainly noticed you.” He whispers and you have to stop yourself from puking. 

Ben.

Ben Anderson and his family are well known around Riverdale. Similar to the Blossom’s they’re crazy rich, crazy powerful and well versed in the world of criminal activity. At one point they owned half the town, but they’re slowly selling it off to private investors for a profit so they can go after Greendale next. 

His mom Sophia is ‘friends’ with basically everyone in town, however she is constantly bitching about them behind their back...including your own family. And it drives you mad to watch your mom bend over backwards in order to be invited into her very exclusive book club. 

And his dad, William is basically a carbon copy of your own. Business focused and a little bit absent. You only ever see William at parties, you’ve never once bumped into him at the grocery store which is very difficult to do in a town this small. 

But despite all their suspected crimes, Ben is by far the worst. 

Benjamin Alexander Anderson is the worst boy you have ever met. But for some reason he’s everybody’s favourite. He’s snobby, pretentious, creepy and a bully. But Sarah and her friends love him. And for some reason your parents also love him. It seems sometimes they love him more than they love you. 

It’s not uncommon for you to come home from hanging out with your friends and for him to be already sat at the dining room table with a grin too wide for his face while your parents motion for you to sit beside him. 

And thanks to Sarah constantly telling them how good it would be for the family if you and him were to get together, he seems to be around an awful lot more recently. 

‘think of the family’ 

‘think of your future’ 

‘think of how good it would look for us to be able to call an Anderson son one day and welcome him into the family.’ 

“I knew she wouldn’t agree to a date with him so I thought if I threw a party they could get to know each other a bit better in more of a natural environment. It’s just word got out and more and more people turned up and I couldn’t get them to leave. Nobody ever listens to me.” She says, her tone turning sickly sweet as she stares at your mom doe-eyed. 

Your mom sighs and her expression softens before she looks at her husband. Your dad looks between you, Sarah and Ben before also sighing. 

“Great.” You mutter. Another one won by Sarah. 

She sends you a sly smile and you glare in return but you’re soon interrupted by your dad coughing and the two of you turn your attention back to him. 

“Y/n.” He starts and by the tone of his voice you already know where this is going. This is his lecture tone, the one he uses when he’s trying to convince you that he’s helping but instead he actually just wants to help himself. “Why don’t you give Ben a chance. You could do a lot worse.” 

“Because I don’t want to. For the millionth time I don’t and I never will like him. I would genuinely rather stick a fork in a plug socket, be resuscitated and do it over and over again until I died a painful death, than spend more than two minutes with him.” 

“Y/n!” Your mom scolds. 

“Ouch.” Ben huffs and you send him a sarcastic smile. 

“Why can’t you just be more like your sister?” 

“What? And date anyone that gives her a hint of attention?”

“Y/n!” Your dad shouts.

“Mom!” Sarah practically screams. “Are you actually gonna let her talk to me like that.” 

“Calm down Sarah. Y/n, apologise to your sister.” 

“No.” 

“Y/n.” Your mom hisses and you huff at her loudly. 

“Fine...I’m sorry.” You say through gritted teeth. “Can I go to bed now?” 

“Not until we sort this out.” Your dad says. 

“I don’t and I never will want to date him.” 

“Come on. One date isn’t going to hurt. You never know, you actually might like me.” Ben says, and the smirk grows on his face as he sends you wink. 

“That’s very, very, very unlikely.” You deadpan and your mom tuts behind you. 

“Y/n, that’s rude.” 

“What’s rude is you trying to set me up with an asshole. I’ve told you before I don’t want a boyfriend. I’m only 17 and I have far more important things to focus on other than boys. So please just drop it.” You shout. 

“We just want what’s best for you.” Your mom pleads and you send a look to Sarah. 

She could stop all of this. She knows she could. She could convince them to think otherwise and they would. They’d drop it and you’d be able to go back to only mildly hating your family. 

But that’s not how Sarah works and so instead she just shrugs before sharing a smile with Ben. 

“No, you want what’s best for you.” 

“Y/n Y/l/n!” 

The kitchen door swings open and Veronica, followed awkwardly by Betty and Archie walk through it. Your mom opens her mouth, ready to argue some more but Veronica quickly interrupts before she can say anything rude. 

“Mr and Mrs Y/l/n. Has my dad told you about the latest deal he’s made?” Veronica cuts in. A bright smile on her face as she steps between you and your parents. Instantly your dad shuts up and his eyes lighten up as he and Veronica talk about the next dodgy dealing that Hiram Lodge is involved in.

You let out a breath of relief, and send a grateful smile towards Betty and Archie, who now both look a little more confident in their abilities to deescalate the situation. 

Archie directs his attention to Sarah and and Ben, both of whom looked like they’ve sucked on a lemon as they watch Veronica gracefully change the subject and bring your mom into her business conversation. 

“I think your brother’s waiting for you outside.” Archie tells Ben. “And if I were you, I’d leave with them.” His voice low as he takes a step towards him. Ben looks at Sarah, and then you before lastly at you parents. Sarah’s expression hardens as she shrugs at him and starts picking at her nails. 

You, Betty and Archie watch him leave, mumbling quietly under his breath, before Betty turns he attention to Sarah. 

“Hi Sarah!” Her tone seems happy, and if you didn’t know her you’d think that she was genuinely greeting a friend. However there’s something lurking just behind her eyes that seems more sinister and for the first time in a long time, Sarah actually seems a little scared. “Remember I’ve known you for a long time, and I know a few things that your mom wouldn’t be too pleased to find out. So why don’t you leave Y/n alone and I won’t tell anyone that you slept wit-” 

“Fine.” She says through gritted teeth. “Goodnight.” She says quickly before rushing out. 

“Hey, is it okay for Y/n to stay at mine tonight. My mom’s been asking about her for forever.” Veronica asks and your dad nods quickly. “Great! Y/n, let’s pack a bag.” She says before pushing you out of the door. Betty and Archie follow the two of you up the stairs, whispering to each other as they go.

You notice Sarah standing outside of her door but she disappears as you pass and a weight lifts off your shoulders. 

“Thanks guys.” You smile at your friends, happy to be in the comfort of you own room. “Betty? Who did Sarah sleep with?” 

“Oh, I have no idea. I just guessed that she’s done it with someone she shouldn’t have and I suppose I was right.” She grins making you laugh. “Now come on, let’s go sneak Archie into Veronica’s so we can all have a proper sleepover.” 

“It’s definitely not the first time she’s snuck him into her room.” 

“Shut up!” Veronica laughs and throws a pair of socks at you. “Why don’t we invite Jughead? Where is he?” 

“Do you honestly believe you’d see Jughead at a party, let alone a sleepover? He’s too busy writing or something.” Betty replies. 

“Yeah, but Veronica has a lot of spare rooms.” You wiggle your eyebrows and she pulls a face.

“Come on!” She huffs, pushing you gently. Archie dumps a load of clothes in your bag and quickly zips it up before throwing at you. You’ve never left your house quicker before, and as the four of you make your way down the street, Betty making a list of snacks to buy and Archie trying to convince Jughead to join you, you feel yourself smile properly for the first time in a long time. 

support my writing! if you want! 

[myheroacademiashorts]

i think i’m in love w his blog 🥺💞 (1) how about a scenario during UA where bakugou ends up coincidentally wearing a coat that looks almost identical to that of his fem!crush. she’s more nonchalant about it and like “hey! we’re matching!” with this adorable little grin on her face that makes him blush almost imperceptibly, which his friends tease him for mercilessly—

(2) sometimes they end up accidentally swapping coats and although he’d never admit it, seeing her in his slightly larger coat with a sheepish smile on her face is completely worth the embarrassment of his friends. he’d take this to the grave, but he may or may not leave his coat around on purpose from that point on just to see her in his clothes and pretend they were together. and tho she might not admit it, she likes the sweet smell that lingers bcuz she has a not-so-little crush on him too?

Hiya! Thanks for the request... Soooo I sorta needed to split it up. I have ideas for this fic. ;) ... And I also kind strayed from the original request. I’m sorry! /)-(\ Here is part one!

Title: One Size Too Big (Part 1)

Pairing: Bakugou x Reader

Rating: Fluff, sorta angst?

Words: 3,456

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You had never been a fan of the cold, and this was further proven as you were forced to trudge from class to the dorms. You groaned to yourself, shivering despite the jacket and other layers you had on as a particularly strong gust of wind swept by. “Wow, it’s pretty chilly!” Uraraka sounded happy, and you shot her a glare as she stared up at the gloomy sky with a smile, mittened hands cupped together. “I know, and I hate it.” You grumbled, only earning another bell-like laugh from your bubbly friend.

“Oh, it’s not that bad!”

“I can barely feel my fingertips.”

She rolled her eyes at you, tugging one of your cold hands from the pocket of your coat and enveloping it in her own. Somehow, she was warm, and before you could ask her what her secret was, she was dragging you across the frost-covered school grounds, her giggling rising up with every complaint that escaped from your lips. “If we run, we’ll get back faster!” She said, and you weren’t able to argue back due to the heavy chattering of your teeth.

However, she had been right, and a minute later you were standing in front of your dorm building. Uraraka looked unfazed, her smile still glued to her face, while you looked like you had gone through hell; your hair was a mess of tangles, cheeks red from the cold and running, and a slight shiver clinging to your body as you forced your way inside. “Ta-da! That wasn’t so bad, right?” You settled with a playful glare in your friend’s direction, deciding to stay silent.

Uraraka had wanted to study in the library after class, and like the good friend you were, you followed. You hadn’t expected the weather to become worse, and didn’t realize it had done so until the two of you had stepped outside after hours of studying. The rest of your classmates were already inside, most of them in the living room and kitchen where the heater worked the strongest. Even stepping inside you could feel the difference in temperature from outside, and quickly stripped of your jacket before becoming too warm. You let your eyes stray to them, from the few goofing off in the kitchen while making hot chocolate to the group planted in the other room, a video game screaming at them from the television screen. Bakugou was on the couch, arms stretched over the top cushions and a bored expression on his handsome face as he stared at his friends blankly. It was then that you noticed a familiar article of clothing on the blonde boy.

“Hey, we match!”

At the sound of your voice, Bakugou’s attention was immediately on you, not understanding who you were speaking to at first. Then, his eyes drifted from your bright (E/C) gaze and goofy grin down to your extended arms, where an eerily familiar jacket hung from your frame. His brows furrowed for a moment, before letting his eyes dart from his own body back to yours, mouth agape in surprise. “We’re like twins! Or couple-matching!” You continued, laughing slightly at the comparison between you and the hotheaded boy as two identical sweatshirts were on both of you; sliced right down the center, the left black and the right bright orange with an x-eyed happy face decorating the back of it. You even turned around to show it off further, and Bakugou nearly choked on his own air as the realization sat in. Holy crap, they were the same. Yours, of course, was just a bit tighter since your frame was smaller than his own, but that didn’t stop Bakugou from continuously letting his eyes rake over you.

Your other classmates swarmed you before you could add on any further, pulling you towards the kitchen as they begged you to make them your infamous hot cocoa, and with a short laugh you let them drag you. You stripped yourself of the sweatshirt first, setting it aside on a lone chair before getting to work. Bakugou’s attention on you, however, stayed steady even without you noticing, eyes wide and mouth still hanging open slightly. Your teasing replied in his mind, and finally he forced his jaw shut, teeth clenched as he fought the blush rising up his cheeks to no avail. His right-hand man noticed his expression, toothy grin already placed before he could speak. “What’s got you frazzled, bro?” Kiri asked, and Bakugou immediately controlled himself, instead shooting a glare towards his friend. “Shut the fuck up, Shitty Hair. I’m not frazzled.” He muttered, and he let his eyes stray back to the kitchen when your familiar laugh rose up. Kiri caught the look.

“Oooh, is Bakugou frazzled?” Mina’s voice floated in as she plopped into the empty space on the other side of Bakugou, a knowing grin on her face as she wiggled her eyebrows. At this point, all of Bakugou’s friends had their attention on him, and he felt his face redden. Not entirely from embarrassment, although part of it was, but also from frustration. “I’M NOT ‘FRAZZLED’, ASSHOLES!” As if to prove his point, he sat upright to yank the cursed sweatshirt up and off of his body, cheeks bright as he avoided their gazes.

A few beats of silence passed, his friends trying to smother their teasing giggles to not anger him further. Instead, Bakugou abruptly stood up, fists clenched as he stared down at his giggling friends coldly. “I’m going to bed.” He muttered, and none of his friends mentioned that it was only 6 o’clock in the evening as he stalked off upstairs. You popped your head from the kitchen, eyes finding the troublesome group in the living room with an innocent smile. “Everything okay?” You asked in a soft voice, missing the mischievous looks that Kaminari and Sero exchanged to one another.

Oh, they were going to have fun with this.

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The next day, you were found scurrying through the kitchen by none other than Kirishima himself.

He heard the clatter of pans first, then your frantic footsteps soon after. He peeked his head out from the bottom of the stairs, looking past the wall to see you scrambling for… well, something. He wasn’t quite sure what. “Hey, you alright?”

You jumped at the unexpected bright voice, but quickly relaxed after spotting the redhead as he emerged closed to you. “Kiri! Jeez, you almost scared the quirk out of me.” You pressed a hand to your heart as you laughed, an easy smile flitting to your lips. “I’m fine, but I forgot my sweater down here and can’t find it. Do you remember if you’ve seen it recently?”

Kiri’s brows rose, a strangely secretive smile on his lips as he recollected the actions of the night before. His friends had filled him in on their plans to shove you and Bakugou together, and he was more than happy to help. It was better than hearing Bakugou pretending to complain about you. “Actually, yeah!” He practically bounced to the couch, where Bakugou’s familiar sweatshirt still sat from the night before, long forgotten by the fiery blonde. He hoped you wouldn’t notice the faint scent of cologne and caramel lingering on the piece of clothing.

“Someone probably moved it, but here you go!” He thrusted it into your hands, and you sighed in relief as you grasped the sweatshirt. It was a bit cool from sitting out, but you didn’t pay attention to it as you instead shuffled it on, wiggling your arms into the sweater with a satisfied noise. The plush inside immediately calmed you, but there was something different about it… Were the sleeves always this long? And the hem? Maybe someone had accidentally stretched it out? And when did it start smelling like caramel?

You turned to grin at Kiri in thanks, picking up your backpack and swinging it over your shoulder. “You’re a lifesaver, Kiri. I was worried I’d have to freeze out there.”

“No problem! Want to head to class together?”

You and Kiri had always gotten along, both of your personalities being particularly bubbly and bright as you chatted during the short walk to class. However, he had broken off as soon as you found yourself standing in front of the 1-A door, mumbling something about an errand to run before turning and high-tailing it down the hallway.

You shoved the door open, grunting slightly at its heavy weight as you slid inside of the familiar classroom. The chatter continued as you sneaked in, Uraraka brightening when she noticed you. “Y/N!” Her melodic voice rang out, beckoning you forward as she stayed perched on top of her desk. “I still can’t forget about that hot chocolate from last night. It was so good!” Uraraka looked as if she were about to drool over the mere imagination of the rich beverage, moving her gaze to instead stare off at the wall mindlessly. You dropped your backpack onto the empty desk beside hers as she continued. “Man, if I could make hot chocolate like you, I’d make it all the time. I’d drink it every day! All year long!”

You laughed at her small obsession, and she seemed to want to continue monologuing before being cut off by the door slamming open. It banged against the wall, and in trudged the little gremlin everyone had become so accustomed to during their time at U.A. He kept his glare on the ground as he entered, muttering some curses under his breath for an unknown reason, before finally lifting his gaze upwards. “What the hell are you looking at-?”

And then Bakugou Katsuki’s eyes landed on you, and he froze.

Almost on instinct, you mimicked his action, eyes wide as you waited for his next move. In the short years you have attended the school with the blonde, he had never just… Stopped. And why was he staring at you so blankly?

Bakugou, however, had way too many things flitting through his mind to even think about doing anything else than just freezing mid-sentence. Holy fuck, is that my sweatshirt? I was wondering where the damned thing went. Why is she wearing it? God, it looks fucking hot on her. The last thought had a faint redness rising to his cheeks, more prominent on his ears as he tried to cover his expression with one hand and biting down on his lip to keep his jaw from dropping. Fuck. FuckfuckfuckfuckFUCK. The words were a mantra in his head, constantly repeating until he felt a soft hand wrap around the wrist hiding his embarrassed expression.

“Bakugou? Are you okay?” For a moment, he hated how soft and sweet your voice was. It just wanted to make the hard-headed boy melt to the floor. You were close enough that he could smell you; old and new books, perfume, even the faint scent of your shampoo. And you weren’t loosening your grip on him. Instead, you were tightening it, and tugging at his arm in a weak attempt for him to drop it from his flustered face. Meanwhile, the rest of the class was quiet, shocked at what they were seeing from the infamous, easily-riled pomeranian in front of them. You didn’t even seem to notice, instead leaving his arm to instead press your palm on the exposed skin of his forehead. He couldn’t see your expression, but based on how much he watched you without your knowledge, he could guess that you were frowning.

You were, by the way.

“Your face feels hot! Let’s go to Recovery Girl, maybe you have a fever?” Your voice held a slight edge of panic, not noticeable to most but making Uraraka quirk her brow in curiosity. Of course, she also knew about your not-so-little crush on the guy.

She waved her hand, breaking the awaiting tension that filled the air. “Go ahead and take him, Y/N! I’ll let Aizawa know what happened!” You didn’t look at your friend as you nodded and, grabbing Bakugou’s free arm - he was still covering his face with the other - you dutifully yanked him down the hallway and towards the healing Pro-Hero.

It wasn’t until the two of you had successfully left the immediate area that Aizawa, who had been secretly napping underneath his desk, finally crawled out of his sleeping back with a grumpy expression. He didn’t say anything -  just scanned the classroom knowingly - before huffing slightly and returning to the floor, waiting for the final bell to ring before beginning class. Luckily, he still had a handful of minutes left.

-----------------------------------------------

“You can drop your arm now, you know.” You grumbled, after walking in complete silence for a few steps too many. All you could think about was how he was acting like a girl from a damned shojo manga. He stayed quiet, keeping his large palm over his face dutifully, and you reached up to tug at the offending wrist until finally his hand landed at his side.

Then, you stared.

If you thought a quiet Bakugou was rare, nothing could prepare you for a blushing one; flawless skin erupting with a dark blush, ruby eyes lowered, and - was he biting his lip? Even his ears were scarlet. You stuttered for a moment, mind blanking on what you had been prepared to say, and instead stood there gaping like a fish out of water. His gaze shifted towards you, and your heart nearly stopped.

“What are you looking at? Dumbass…” Despite his harsh words, his tone was full of embarrassment, and he quickly shifted his attention elsewhere. You were still clutching to his arm and, as if it had become scalding hot, you dropped it. However, you didn’t move away. Instead, you chose to stand a little closer than you usually would to the hotheaded boy, peering up at him as if he were a quizzical math problem. It seemed to only redden his face more, if that were possible. “H-Hey, cut it out, weirdo!”

He reached an arm up to try pushing you back a few steps, but this only resulted in you stumbling further than anticipated. You could feel yourself lose your footing, and just as a gasp escaped your lips as you tensed your body to meet the hard linoleum floor, the same arm wrapped around your waist and hoisted you upright. The arm was warm, and the pads of his fingers had accidentally found their way to the bare skin peeking at your waist. The scent of caramel became stronger, overpowering all of your senses as you stared up at Bakugou with wide eyes and lips open, a flush rising to your cheeks. Your breathing was a bit labored, gaze searching the red, blank expression presented to you. “Mine.”

You blinked up at him. The hold he had on you tightened, and you felt your mouth go a bit dry. “H-huh?”

“That sweatshirt. It’s mine.”

Oh, the sweatshirt. For a moment there, you had thought… You gulped, pushing your thoughts to the farthest corner in your mind as the blonde released you from his grip. However, you could still feel the imprint of his warmth on your body, as if it had been tattooed onto your skin. Luckily you were able to stand up straight with your face stoic, although the bright red on your cheeks showed your true emotions all too clearly. It seemed you weren’t the only one who noticed, either, as Bakugou raised one brow upwards. Then smirked.

“What’re you getting so red for, huh?” He leaned in a bit closer than you would’ve thought he would, vermillion eyes blown wide and glinting mischievously at you. It was a bit cute to see him so cocky yet embarrassed, the blush just as prominent as before. “Got a fever or something?” As if to push it further, he placed his palm on your forehead. At that, you squeaked, causing that damn smirk to only widen further.

With every step he took forward, you took one back… Up until you were pressed against the wall, his hand still attached to your forehead as your cheeks darkened further. His free arm found its way next to you, palm flattened right beside your head, and the other soon followed until you were stuck in a kabedon position. And despite having no where else to go, he only seemed to inch closer.

His lips were hovering mere centimeters away from your own, ruby eyes staring into your own as you waited with bated breath on what was to happen next. There was a surge in the air, as if the two of you had just been zapped by Kaminari, but more tense. There wasn’t really a way to explain it. Was he playing with you? Was this just a joke? Was he going to kiss you like you thought? Like you hoped? The last thought made you suddenly suck in a deep breath as you squeezed your eyes shut.

And then the bell rang.

You nearly groaned at the sound, and opened your bright gaze just in time to see Bakugou move a step away from you; still close, but not as much as before. You stayed quiet, waiting for him to say something, anything. He wouldn’t just act like nothing happened… Right? Because something had happened, right?

Instead, he raked one hand through his spiked hair, the other burying itself in his pocket as he glanced away from you and back down the hallway, where the classroom was. The one you two had escaped from only a few minutes ago, although it felt like much longer. “We should get to class.” His rough voice came out more like a cough, and his eyes stayed away from you as he waited. You pursed your lips. So it looked like he was going to pretend nothing had happened. That just made your blood boil, and you didn’t even remember the reason as to why the two of you were out in the hallway to begin with as you shoved past him and made your way back to class. You didn’t get far, however, before stopping and twisting around, yanking the sweatshirt over your head roughly and throwing it in his direction. Then, you were back to storming down the hallway, hands balled into fists and frustration written all over your face.

Meanwhile, Bakugou stared at your retreating figure, eyes comically wide and a mixture of confusion and regular Bakugou-level anger on his features. “What the fuck was that about?” He mumbled to himself, the sweatshirt gripped in his hands as he frowned. He was just about to ask you on a date right after; not a date-date, of course, but out to that ramen place you wouldn’t stop yapping about with Round Face and Frog Girl. Did he do something wrong? Maybe he shouldn’t have shoved you against the wall so roughly… He saw it in an anime once, and the girl seemed to like it. Maybe he did it wrong? He hummed to himself, brows furrowing. He was a tad bit angry, but he was always angry, to some extent.

When he got back to the classroom, Aizawa had already passed out some worksheets and was dead asleep on the floor, per usual. Bakugou’s gaze first moved to you, and he was able to catch your gaze for only a second before you swiveled your attention elsewhere, your lips pressed into a firm, harsh line as you kept your face blank. From the corner of his eye, he could see Round Face glance at him in confusion. Yeah, me too!, he wanted to yell out, but was smart enough to grit his teeth and plop down in his chair. If he needed to, he’d find your friends later and ask them what the fuck was going on. You didn’t look like you’d be in the mood to talk to him for a while.

“Yo, Bakubro! What’s up with you?” Kirishima had an impish smile, but Bakugou didn’t question it. Instead, he shot his friend a harsh glare, cold enough to make even the bubbly redhead shrink back a bit, grin dropping down a level of its brightness.

“Nothing, Shitty Hair. I’m fucking fantastic.” Bakugou’s voice wasn’t its usual boom, instead barely a murmur, and Kiri almost strained to hear him. Well, that was an unexpected reaction. He glanced at Mina and the rest of the Bakubro group, who all met his gaze almost instantly. They all had a look of worry on their faces as they glanced at their mutual, usually hotheaded friend simultaneously, then towards your stiff figure. Something had definitely gone wrong in the last few minutes.

Crap. They needed to fix this, and fast.

... Is it that obvious that I read shoujo manga? And do i think Bakugou would read it and watch it too for romance advice? Fuck yes.

[mostly-megan]

I Read The Triple Frontier Early Draft Script

And I have several thoughts on it. @frannyzooey Told me to, so I’m going to go down the line of points I thought were interesting and notes on the characters. It’s all going to be below the cut so we don’t bother the people who don’t care.

It was clearly a very early draft, but I still think it’s interesting to see how the characters changed over time.

Important note: Everyone except for Benny and Tom is only referred to by their nicknames, no real names. So I keep that up to keep from getting confused. 

I do not link to the google doc with the script, but you can dm me if you want the link privately.

Warnings: Mentions of violence, suicide, and sex; mild gore; character death; racism

Story:

Pope during the drug raid learns from a teen in the gang where Lorea keeps his money

Redfly, Benny, and Cat are in North Carolina and keep turning down bs military mission

Pope shows up on Redfly’s stoop, stays with his family, and he tells him about the heist

Redfly seems to agree, but only because Pope is asking and not for the money

The “ You were shot 5 times for your country and can’t afford a new truck” scene is here bit for bit

They go meet Ironhead at one of his support group speeches to convince him to join. He begrudgingly agrees.

Cat and Redfly talk at the fight about the job and both reluctantly agree since the other will do it

Cut to South America running through surveillance, we learn that there are two gun towers, ground sensors, machine guns, and several guards

Pope’s informant is Lorea’s sugar baby(?), Yovanna, who gave him a pic of the money in the office a few weeks prior

The plan is to hide in one of the maid vans and make their way in and out with the money

Everyone is distrustful of his old intel, so they do their own surveillance 

Getting caught in rain on heist day, they wait in the jungle for the guard rotations to resume, almost catching hypothermia

The heist vibe is the same, but this time they find the money is not there instantly

Redfly and Cat try to call the mission, but Benny and Pope insist on getting the money

Benny gets shot(grazed?) in the face and wants to say fuck it, but Redfly reminds him it was his idea

Pope blackmails the guard in the video room and gets the tape before killing him

While Cat, Benny, and Redfly grab the money, Ironhead is shot badly and they have to tape his mouth to keep him quiet

This is when Redfly snaps and decides they go out blazing

Lorea’s guards are outside waiting for them, but the boys literally blow up the front of the house and make a run for the river behind the house with a raft waiting

Lorea’s personal guard shoots him

Kidnapping Yovanna from her apartment, they get her money, passport, and visa to her Redfly grills her and seriously debates killing her, but instructs her to get to Australia 

After essentially holding up the airstrip workers, they see the news of the break-in on TV and weigh 8 tons of money 

Cat argues it’s too much weight, but agrees it will probably be fine

During the flight, Ironhead dies from his wound

Helicopter crash is the same

Pope goes in solo to speak with the farmers and they actually almost kill him before Redfly shoots way too many of them

They get pack animals from the farmers, load up the money and Ironhead, and start climbing

At some point, Cat insists they bury Ironhead because taking a body with them is going to start causing way worse issues

They camp at the burial spot, Pope voices how he blames himself for the death

The trek up the mountain is the same, including dumping some of the money and memorizing the coordinates

Getting to a port town, Cat gets sick from exposure, so they rest a few days

The local gang leader figures out who they are and uses his gang of kids to confront them

They shoot their way out and grab with guns and the money backpack on the way to the car

Benny drives and they almost flip the truck

They literally ALL get shot, but still make it to the boat and get away

The boys all agree to donate all the money to charity, in honor of Ironhead, and almost literally head off to the sunset

Characters:

Redfly

All-American late 30′s white guy; genuiniely wants to be a good person, but seems too wrapped up in the Army life

He’s the main character and most of the story is his POV

He is still with Molly and the girls, and we actually get a nice scene with them in here

He legitimately snaps once Ironhead is shot and doesn’t come back until after they bury him

He seriously almost kills Yovanna and sounds like he regrets not doing so

Says the words to her “After you sucked him off? You were lying there, playing with him- And you asked ‘What’s your real name? Where are you from?’-What did he say?” and I disliked it

Yovanna tells him that Pope thought he was so honest and he hates knowing he is not that person anymore

Pope

Mid-30′s white guy; way more of an instigator and really manipulated his friends to join him 

They never give a reason why he wants to get rid of Lorea

His argument for committing a crime is that America was founded on crimes and it’s not different them the war crimes they committed under orders

Seems embarrassed about his relationship with Yovanna and it’s implied he actually told her his name, but he told her Redfly is the most honest guy he knows. 

Calls some indigenous South Americans “Indians” and says they “don’t even know what century it is”

When an informant runs late, he says it’s because they run on Latino Standard Time

He saved Ironhead’s life once in fire and that is how he convices him to come, so he blames himself solely for his death

He literally brought cigars with them for after the heist. They smoke them once they are in the boat

They made Pope the asshole we don’t like, which is understandable, but upsetting

Catfish

Laid-back mid-30′s white guy who now trains Benny and works as a Private Investigator

He still is the main joker and sarcasm, but they really make sure we remember how dark his past is

There is a scene played as a laugh where he gets annoyed waiting for a cheating couple to fuck, so he holds them at gunpoint, tells them to strip and kiss, take the picture, and then tells them he’s sorry, but they should just get a divorce. It comes off terrifying and gross.

He seems to really distrust Pope and is closest to Redfly

He barely speaks Spanish

The Special Forces Museum put up a statue of him, the only living operative to have one, and his wife tells him to retire then because there was no topping that

When they argue about the weight limit, Cat says “Oh, I’m sorry, I missed you going to flight school.” And I appreciate that line.

Benny

Early 30′s white fighter

He’s described as being all or nothing and prone to manic depressive behavior and “prone to pills”

Redfly thinks he’s too old to go pro in fighting and Benny is v offended

He’s the only one to cry over Ironhead’s death

He still uses his “fuck you” money for a fire

He seems to have the most med knowledge and is the one checking for hypothermia, gives the “reason” why Ironhead dies, helps nurse Cat when he’s sick

He’s mostly played for laughs and it’s sort of a waste

Ironhead

Grizzled, but generous 55 year old white vet

He is literally the father figure here and is called that often

He is not related to Benny, but he seems to have a very soft spot for him as the youngest

He somehow served under Redfly?

He gave up running and gunning to mediate and help newer retirees

In the support group, his speech details all of the horrible things that he’s seen and had happen to him, this is supposed to be the reason why the younger soldiers listen to him

One of the group admits to almost committing suicide the past night and Ironhead say he will not tell him not to do it, just that he will not do it tonight and they all recite not tonight, it’s actually touching to “see” them all taking heart in what he is saying

He only agrees to help Pope because Pope once saved his life in combat and he told him he owes him. This scene is described as a father sadden that he can’t get through to his son, but says yes to keep an eye on them

In the “what will you buy with your money” scene, he says he will donate it to charity. It’s quickly followed by Benny excitedly saying he wants a Ferrari and Ironhead affectionately looks at him and says, “That’s a nice car, Ben!” Which made my doubting heart melt...

He the entire time gives the boys reminders to preserve their humanity and is the one who tell Redfly it’s good he let Yovanna go

When he’s shot, they say that the wound was through, meaning that the bullet entered and exited. But, when he dies, Benny says the bullet must have shifted and nudged into his heart. And I’m really annoyed by that clear mistake....

I genuinely did like this version of the character, not more than OUR Will, but I liked him

Lorea

His intro to the movie is literally leading the police in a high-speed chase in his yellow Lambo

He brings a business partner to his mansion during the boys surveying his house and they see his personal guard shoot the partner and cut off his head so it fits in the trunk of the car

I had to learn that, so now so do you

He has a thing for exotic birds and has to bring in several shifts of maids to clean up after them

He comes off here as way more of a rich wimp

Yovanna

Lorea’s sugar baby/girlfriend who sleeps with Pope and gives him info

She used to be a beauty queen

The script says Redfly is her type and she says out-loud that she wants to watch Pope and Redfly fuck. 

She taught one of Lorea’s birds to say “Hello, Beautiful” and lets that bird get loose in the mansion so she can get the pic of the money for Pope

I genuinely liked her character, too

My Review

I prefer the actual plot and planning of the final movie. The plan and surveillance here slowly fell together smoothly, but ultimately made far less sense.

But, I think they felt like actual friends here. They interact with each other instead of around each other

But this version is racist and kind of gross, so I’d take kind of boring any day

4/10, please do not make me read again

Tagging because you guys seemed interested: @frannyzooey @mandoplease

@krissology @pedropasscals (thought you might like it)

[elsanna-shenanigans]

August Contest Submission #16: The Transfer Student

Words: ca. 2,000 Setting: Modern AU Lemon: No CW: Bullying, arranged marriage, mild angst, talk of suicide

Elsa was a new student on Arendelli High in Tokyo, Japan. Despite her constant reminders to her parents that she didn’t need their help picking school, they had persisted, Elsa had had to give in eventually. The school was what Elsa expected it would be, full of very antagonistic, rich, spoiled brat students. She quickly rose to popularity which she kind of expected. Not only was she the heir of a well-known, rich CEO and granddaughter of a corporate empire, she was also conventionally seen as attractive, which had both perks and cons. One of the cons was being constantly bombarded by the popular kids as they tried to get her into one of their ‘exclusive clubs’, which she had to persistently decline.

Which earned her the title of ‘Snow Queen’ in no time at all. “As usual,” she sighed. “It’s like some sort of a tradition.”

  This time she wasn’t going to just give up. She didn’t hate them, per se. She just couldn’t stand them. They were wildly immature, highly superficial if her overhearing their very loud gossip in the stall was any indication, back when she happened to be in one after helping to clean the bathroom. They also bullied the only person she actually wanted to get close to.

See, Elsa had a secret, just like everybody else, but this secret she cannot let anyone know. Not her parents nor her friends. Not if she can help it.

  She’s into the same sex,

swings the other way,

flower napper,

gay for girls,

  You get the idea.

  The girl named Anna was from her class too, she was really smart and got a scholarship to the school, so she wasn’t from money, as Elsa heard from one of the gossips. That was why a lot of the superficial ones bullied her. Elsa fancied that the real reason they were so harsh on Anna was that she was more beautiful than them and they felt threatened by her beauty, it might actually be true. Elsa once bumped into her ‘accidentally’ at lunch and was about to talk to her and maybe invite her to coffee but the redhead only apologized profusely and excused herself.

  Elsa felt guilty after that. She felt like she should be doing something to change this situation, she feared that the bullying might get to her one day. She wanted to do something for the girl so despite her hesitance she contacted someone she can even remotely consider her ‘friend.’

  “Yellow?” Elsa sneered as soon as she heard his voice.

“Oh, Elsa I can hear your sneer from here, if you need something from me then you would have to be a bit nicer.”

Elsa conceded and breathed in. “Fine. I need your help with something… and yes I can hear your grin reaching from ear to ear here too.”

“Oh, dear Elsa. What might this help be? Is it something your Mommy and Daddy cannot solve for you?” Hans replied.

Elsa snapped at that comment. “You bring up my parents and I hang up,” she threatened.

Hans knew that she meant it. “Alright Snow Queen, tell me what has got your ire this time.”

“It’s not a what, it’s a who.”

“Already? You just moved in the school.” “It’s not that!” Elsa said, flabbergasted the situation that she was in. “I…I want to court someone.”

“Oh, so it’s that,” Hans replied, seemingly reminiscent.

  Elsa doesn’t blame him. Sometime they forget that they’re more similar than they think, since Hans is gay too.

  See here: Hans and Elsa were to be betrothed, and so both of them had hired investigators to follow each other and find a reason to cancel the marriage. This was how they had discovered each other’s secret which, oddly enough, is what got them to keep the arrangement, since if it came to it, they’d let each have more leeway or even a chance to pick who they really love. They decided they are both fine with that kind of arrangement since eventually they’ll give in to their parents’ request and they would rather end up with someone they can negotiate with.

  “Can’t you just…I don’t know. Charm her or something, like talk about how you’re the daughter of great CEO and have a corporate empire or something?”

“Hans,” Elsa said, as she held the bridge of her nose, she’s just basically done. “I’m not like you, and it doesn’t work like that.”

“Hey, just throwing around ideas out here.” Hans defended himself. “Also it worked for me.”

“Well, I’m not like you. Prince Charming!” Elsa pointed out.

“Yeah, I wonder why? Miss Snow Queen!” Hans retorted. “Have you tried the ‘Accidental bump method?’”

“Yeah, and it didn’t work.” Elsa sighed, remembering how much it hadn’t worked. “It even kinda backfired.”

“Oof, a tough one huh. When did you get so picky?” Hans quipped.

Elsa sneered again. “I thought we’re here to, I dunno, help me court someone? Not judge my choices?”

“I know, I know. Sheesh…” Hans attempted to diffuse the situation. “Have you tried giving her a flower?”

“Ha Ha, that’s really stereotypical,” Elsa said.

Hans continued. “Look, Elsa. The goal here is to court someone, you kinda do need it to be stereotypical in a way or, if you prefer, predictable.”

“But it’s too obvious,” Elsa argued.

“That’s kind of the point.” Hans laughed. Then he was quiet for a while.

  Elsa thought about what Hans said. He did, kinda, have a really good point, Elsa had to admit. If only he used that brain of his to do good things instead of just goofing around and causing mischief then she might actually like him, not too much though, Elsa still for sure preferred girls.

  “Elsa, I gotta go,” Hans said a minute later. “Goodbye.”

  “Goodbye, and thank you,” Elsa replied. It was at these times that Elsa was happy that she let him stick around.

  Elsa followed Hans’ advice and went to buy flowers. She would have to be careful about this, else she might just be at the bullying end and she couldn’t help Anna that way. Though she does think there can be sort of a camaraderie in that, she prefers if it didn’t happen. Not if she can help it.

  What she decided to go with was yellow crocus flowers, as they were apparently a great symbol of hope and joyfulness. Which was definitely the message she was looking to send. Winter will indeed end, spring will come again and life will go on.

  She arranged them in a vase with water to keep it fresh and left it at Anna’s desk as they were going to class next morning.

  However, Elsa didn’t get quite the expected reaction. Yes, students were talking about it when they saw it but they had sort of a look of dread in their face instead of curiosity and intrigue which worried Elsa. That can’t be good but it’s not as if she can undo it now. She needs to know what’s wrong, then it came to her. It was sort of a slow realization.

“What if the culture around flowers here in Japan is vastly different compared to where I’m from?” she thought and the gears on her head started to turn. She leaned in a bit to the other table and calmed herself enough to listen in to their conversation.

  “Do you think the Gyaru girls did it?”

“No even they wouldn’t stoop this low.”

“What kind of asshole would tell someone to kill theirself?”

  That was the last straw for Elsa, she is still confused as to how this all worked it but if it was bad enough that even the gyaru girls won’t do it then she’s royally fucked. She was going to remove it now no matter what, reputation be damned. Then Anna walked in and headed directly to her table, on when she reached the table did Anna notice the flowers. It was like scalding hot water being poured on her when Elsa watched Anna’s expression shift from bad to worse.

  Anna went running out of the room. Elsa followed quickly after, determined to comfort her properly this time. Anna was fast walking and then running and Elsa almost couldn’t keep up with her. This was a very unfortunate day to wear heals. Elsa followed her to the rooftop expecting to see her sulking there, but what she saw was something else.

  Anna was on the edge of the school rooftop, she had her shoes off and she looked like she was about to… no… nooo… please don’t do it, please don’t jump.

  “Hey, don’t do it, please.” It just came out of Elsa’s mouth without her permission, but she was glad that it did.

“Let me be,” Anna replied, her voice full of resolution.

“It was me, I was the one who put the flower with the vase there. Whatever it meant, it was not my intention.” Anna looked at her like she had grown two heads but Elsa kept going, she had Anna’s attention now and that’s good. She’s also slowly getting closer to her as she spoke. To pull her away if needed.

  “I didn’t… I just wanted it to be your hope in this trying times. I wanted to be…”

  “You’re not just making this up to make me feel better?” Anna asked, still guarded.

  “If you want to, I can show you exactly where I purchased the flowers and the vase but I can’t really do that unless you get down from there first.” Anna seemed to realized she was still outside the protective fence of the rooftop, she seemed to blush at the realization. Must be from the height, Elsa thought. Anna finally moved to get to a safer location and Elsa helped her. After she was safe and sound, Anna grabbed at Elsa’s hand. For the first time since Elsa got to the roof, Anna finally met her gaze.

  “Then why didn’t you just tell me?”

Elsa looked into Anna’s eyes, she didn’t find any blame or sarcasm there, it was just genuine curiosity.

  “I tried and I failed the first time, I guess…I should have just tried again.” The situation of the earlier encounter was finally getting to Elsa, crashing down on her like huge waves on an unassuming shore, she holds on tighter to Anna’s hand “I’m just, I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s okay.” Anna traces soothing circles on Elsa’s hand.

“But I almost killed you,” Elsa says to Anna. Anna reaches for her to remove the tear that fell from Elsa’s eyes.

“I’m also being stupid, to be fair, I wasn’t in a great place but still it’s a stupid move. I’m not saying you’re off the hook, just saying it wasn’t just you.” Anna patted Elsa’s back and it worked wonders. She breathed as she hears that and despite herself, she felt a bit of relief.

  “What did it mean anyway? The flowers and the vase on the table?” Elsa asked after she had retrieved her handkerchief to clear her nose with. Her back turned to Anna as a polite gesture.

  “It means the whole class wants you to be dead. It’s like sending someone a coffin while they are still alive.” Anna replied.

  “Oh…that’s,” Elsa started to say, “kind of morbid.” she thought outloud and Anna nodded to her in agreement.

  “I think I should be more careful about this, culture difference and knowing the norms in this place.” Elsa concluded, still a bit guilt-ridden over what happened.

  “It’s fine, you were new so you didn’t know. Now you know what not to do next time.” Anna replied to Elsa, and then she flashed a smile to her direction, “Like I said, still not off the hook though,” she reminded her. “You still need to make it up to me.” Elsa didn’t get it at first but when she did, she blushed profusely. She didn’t want to misunderstand more things but she’ll be damned if she doesn’t take this opportunity “So uhh…coffee?”

  “Yeah, I wouldn’t pass on that, but I prefer hot chocolate.”

“Me too.”

[everydisneymovie]

Review #66: Miracle of the White Stallions

Post #71

12/8/2020

Next up is 1963′s Miracle of the White Stallions

Just a warning, this movie fucking sucks.

Enjoyment : [2]

This movie is one of the worst experiences I have had so far. It is 2 hours of some of the most boring shit you will ever see. You know that phrase ‘Polishing the silverware on the Titanic’? A phrase meant to mock people who prioritize the wrong things during an emergency? Imagine two whole hours of a dude polishing silverware while the Titanic sinks in the background. My god this movie is dull. Every single character without a doubt is a despicable piece of flaming garbage who don’t deserve our attention. There is almost nothing to enjoy about this movie and about 75% of it could be cut without any loss to the main plot. I mean that, the main conflict is resolved about 40 minutes into this 2 hour movie. There is so little conflict that they actually switch to an entirely new cast of characters who have almost nothing to do with the main plot for the final half hour. I hate this movie with every fiber of my being.

Quality : [3]

I will give the movie this, the actors are trying their hardest and the locations are very pretty. The writing is absolutely atrocious. Every line of dialogue sounds like a rich brat whining about ‘daddy only let me have TWO gold plated dune buggies this christmas!’ and I hate it. The pacing is also pathetic. Like I mentioned, the movie gives up trying to have a plot and throws in a pointless fight scene with brand new characters we care even less about in the final half hour.

Hold up : [2]

This movie has a single easily identifiable flaw. It is pathetically spineless at the core of it’s being. This movie takes place during WW2, and somehow decides to go with the moral ‘There were good and bad guys on both sides’ While also totally ignoring the holocaust happening literally just off screen. There is even a line where one character says “Oh yeah my husband got taken to a concentration camp” “Aw jeez that sucks” and then they move on like it is no big deal. This movie is about a bunch of rich assholes using money and supplies that could have been used to help refugees to instead transport their expensive horses to safety. Excuse me if this is a controversial opinion but, JEWISH LIVES WILL ALWAYS BE MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR FUCKING FANCY HORSES. This movie is utterly pathetic, since it thinks anyone will care about the safety of some vanity project for the 1% over actual victims of war and genocide.

Risk : [1]

This is without a doubt the least risky movie Disney has ever made. The stakes are literally “we might not have our super expensive dressage horses after the war! We can’t have that! Rich people like watching horses prance around! This must be our top priority right now!” Which I have to say bud, are stakes I do not care about. What is worse is how much it humanizes the Nazis in this movie. The main characters are for all intents and purposes Nazis. They aren’t actually Nazis, but they hang out with Nazis, obey the orders of Nazis, and get permission from Nazis. We keep getting these extended monologues about how war is the real enemy and Nazis are just caught in the middle. How dare you Disney, how dare you act like Nazis were some misunderstood tragedy. We even get an extended scene where all the Nazi characters we met throughout the movie get happy endings where they conveniently leave out ANY JEWISH VOICES. This movie is pathetic because it refuses to take a side... on the holocaust. Why the hell did they think this would be ok?

Extra Credit : [0]

This movie deserve no extra credit. I cannot think of a single moment I enjoyed or thought had creative effort put into.

Final thoughts:

This is the second worst movie I have seen so far. The simple fact is that there is no way to get even slightly invested in the plot unless you are a complete psychopath. Horse dressage is a pointless leisure activity for the ultra rich, and as hard as this movie tries to convince me it’s part of some great ‘cultural heritage’ I just can’t give a damn. If there was a fire in an art museum, I would be sad at the loss of such important cultural artifacts, but I wouldn’t try to save the paintings before I tried to save the people still inside. Human life will ALWAYS matter to me more than some stupid fucking horses. The characters come across as fucking insane, since they value these horses above everything else. At one point they threaten a mob of starving refugees with guns because ‘these horses bring hope to people!” (bring hope to who? the fucking rich elite?) At one point a train conductor is like “No dude we can’t put your horses on this train we have civilians to evacuate” and they like, passionately argue about how important these horses are to the country... AND THEY GET LET ON THE TRAIN! Innocent people probably straight up died because of their selfishness!  I cannot express how awful this movie is to watch. The only reason it isn’t ranked lower than A Light In the Forest is because that movie just seemed to ooze hatred towards minorities, while this movie just seems indifferent to the suffering of others. Call me crazy but I don’t care about Nazi horses even a little.

Total Score: 8/50

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[mysticalmusicwhispers]

HELLO... i am back

yes aditya gets a treat because otherwise indus is going to murder him and then transfer him far far away and never unground him ever and we can't do that to a baby. also i hope no actual murder of chickens occur in their plot thing but it could also be something Worse so Yikes!

i wish yao didn't know what a hickey is but. welp he would. actually this makes me propose a situation (nsfw-ish? implied nsfw?): nyo china buys encyclopedias for yao to read and one very old one has a section with a full diagram of sexual intercourse. it isn't porn, it's those diagrams where the skin is missing and serves as a view into the organs of the human body but just in a... position. so 8 year old yao reads all about sex and goes to nyo china being like "hey so sex is for making babies right? so if i want children i have to have sex right? there's no opting out of it?" and nyo china is like fuck it the kid might as well get his sex ed + introduction to adoption stuff now since he knows about it already. then the next day a teacher has a badly hidden hickey and yao is trying to figure out how the fuck that happened before he remembers that certain animals bite each other during sex and asks nyo china about it.. and then boom. (the encyclopedia part was unfortunately inspired by irl events 😔)

but anyway imagine yao mistranslating the code.. and being like "wtf why do you want to BITE people" and india + iran being like ??? and then they get an unfortunate sex ed that night (baby! yao's mildly inaccurate version: "sometimes weirdos like biting each other during sex many animals do this as well and this is called a hickey. sex is this thing that adults do for fun and sometimes to reproduce. but you should only bite other people and have sex with them if all of you are interested and not just because you want a baby, because there are other ways of getting one. if they try to have sex with you or bite you or touch you in Bad Touch areas you should -" "kill them? and get an adult later?" "yeah exactly" "how do you know this tho??") then yao probably tries to find the sex encyclopedia to bring to school to show india and iran but nyo china threw it out because it was 20 years out of date and said that pluto was a planet ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

also YES MISS VIETNAM DESTROY THE PROPERTY OF THE RICH... CUT HIM DOWN TO SIZE imagine getting 2 entire ass houses at 18 lol and there was actually a person who was going to get a mercedes in my class. apparently his parents were buying 2 and wanted him to pick the one with the colour he liked more as a gift at 18 and keep the other for themselves. he asked us which colour Mercedes was better, someone accused him of being a braggart, and then there was so much drama... i am glad i am no longer in that class. rich people.

also yeah miss vietnam is definitely one of those nice but strict teachers!! she'll definitely be kind to everyone but she won't tolerate bullshit and god knows yao is full of it. but also imagine vietnam teaching india's class and then yao pouting to india about the assignment he got a b on (a slight improvement from the c) only to be met with "what? she's so nice and smart lol you're just an asshole i kind of want to make friends with her tbh" and yao's like How Dare You Backstab Me Like This? but yes she really forces him to Think instead of just letting him be and that's very good for him!! and she gets an intellectual outlet too :D

also yeah like linh is going to struggle.. how do you write "he's a complete asshole but tolerable and intellectually fun after a while" in a GOOD manner?? this rec letter will probably be full of phrases like "a spirited personality given to debate" or something

This is also a late reply :’)

I wasn’t really thinking about anything specific for the plot; I was really just trying to find a word that was slightly similar to hickey and decided on a dead chicken lmao. But honestly, it would probably be something like “I’m going to bring a (dead) chicken to class for show and tell and you two need to act horrified and cause a ruckus because it would be fun and it would scare the other kids :)”. (this is probably bullying, so in an effort to make them slightly better kids, an alternative plot is that a stray cat has been coming to their school and in order to make friends with it, they feed it a whole-ass dead chicken Nyo China got from the butchers and was planning to cook for dinner. The teachers are horrified and confiscate Yao’s backpack for fear of germs and salmonella.)

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OH MY GOD nyo China, miss, please, he’s young. But the encyclopedia reading is so accurate o-o small and independent Yao + voracious reader + lots and lots of books about Everything + nyo China’s hands-off “it’s never too early to know” caretaking/parenting strategy = what other things has he been exposed to... (let’s face it he’s probably said the F-word or insulted someone in Mandarin without meaning to, but came off as a disrespectful little chaos ball) BUT THE BADLY HIDDEN HICKEY and the ANIMALS BITING EACH OTHER salk;fsdl;ksdjl way to unconsciously roast your teacher lmao. I love nyo China’s no-nonsense way of approaching Strange Questions Asked by Eight Year Olds but I do not know how to feel about her very direct answers 😭 Also, I am very sorry for your personal loss 😔.

Scene 3 is 100/10 canon now. “weirdos who bite each other during sex” Yao thinks hickeys are weird, and good for him. Also the little summary!! Of course Yao pass on everything he knows to India and Iran... at least it’s not a fucked up version of sex-ed, even if it may have some small inaccuracies. rip outdated encyclopedia. Also “ ‘kill them? And get an adult later?’ ‘yeah exactly’” GOOD nyo china thank you for doing at least one thing correctly

also your class is crazy??? A MERCEDES oh my god... how do his parents love him so much? My parents probably wouldn’t even trust me with a second hand from 2005 lmao. Also, wtf rich kid, why would you be crowdsourcing opinions for YOUR car? (ngl I kinda think he was bragging too 😂, but drama? Do all these people have nothing else to do besides gossip smh)

Vietnam has a blacklist of Confirmed Assholes she needs to keep an eye on and Yao got on the list in the first few days after being very tryhard and simultaneously arrogant, so he just assumes she’s naturally mean because he never saw the other side of her. But then he starts hearing reviews from his friends who all say she’s their favorite teacher so far and he’s all like “????? Excuse you???” Also yes go get her friendship Aditya hopefully it will mellow you out a little as well “A spirited personality given to debate” YES YES YES! That sounds like such a nice phrase but it’s just code for “loves to argue with me and that’s cool I guess”. The recommendation makes Yao glow (to admissions) despite how much Vietnam thinks it’s bad and also how much bs-ing she thought she did. Admissions officers think Yao’s amazing and contributes greatly to the classroom environment and Vietnam is like “yeah, in a way, as long as you don’t mind someone who thinks every word you say is somehow wrong and will fight you to prove it lol. just take him, I’m trying to get rid of him”

Since there’s essays involved I’m assuming she teaches either history or literature? Kinda on the fence because I feel like she’d be good at giving a no-nonsense version of history filled with interesting details and prompts that make you think (and also hosts monthly debates on controversial issues), but I also want Yao to be as un-confident as possible in his abilities in her class, and I feel like he would be less comfortable/sure of his answers and thoughts in a lit class than a history one. I’m not sure though

[outerjjbx]

Jiara July Jubilee

Day 5, 30th July- 5 + 1 day (but I’m doing 3 + 1 because this is my first time using this format)

words: 3.8k

One of the few things that JJ learnt at school was that anger was a secondary emotion. He didn’t even really learn it at school; he learnt it in the counsellor’s office after a particularly messy fight. He was the one that got in trouble, even though it was the other kid that pushed John B’s books from his hands.

JJ was an extremely protective person. He would throw himself in front of a train to protect his friends. He would do absolutely anything to assure their safety and happiness, and his rage commonly took over when that was at risk. He was particularly protective of Kiara, because he knew she hated violence and wouldn’t engage in it like the others. That would be okay, but she was unlucky enough to be the typical victim of Rafe Cameron’s constant bickering.

They were at the boneyard, JJ flirting with some Touron he wouldn’t remember the name of, and Kiara minding her business by the shore. She was standing with a plastic cup, taking occasional sips and letting the waves wash over her feet. She jumped when she felt an arm sling around her shoulder, scoffing with she noticed a grinning Rafe.

Kiara shoved him off. “Go bother some other girl. Or, better yet, none at all. The world could do a lot better without guys like you.”

Rafe raised an eyebrow and placed his arm back around her. “What’s that, Kie? Can’t hear you over the music.”

Kiara rolled her eyes and pushed him off again. “Seriously, Rafe. Your bullshit gets tiring. Go away.”

Rafe held a hand to his chest. “Oh, I’m hurt!” he looked around, studying a group of Pogues messing around nearby. “Why do you even hang out with them? You’re rich, you’re hot. You’re a kook. Why are you running around like some sort of Pogue princess?”

“Maybe it’s because you’re all misogynistic assholes?” She replied sarcastically.

“I miss having you around the house, Kie,” Rafe grinned. “The view was always nice.”

JJ had noticed the commotion by then. He made his way over, hands in his pockets to appear casual. He stopped in the middle, purposely putting distance between them. Rafe smirked when he arrived, looking proud of his ability to draw him over.

“What, so she’s fucking you but won’t give me a try?” Rafe scoffed. “You’re hot, Kiara. Get some standards.”

“Fuck off, Rafe,” JJ mumbled. “Aren’t you, like, nineteen? Get a life.”

The mentioned raised his arms in mock surrender. “Okay, okay!” he began to walk away, but not before brushing by Kiara so he could run his hand along her waist.

Kiara yelped, flinching away. Rafe winked and prepared to walk away, but JJ grabbed his wrist and punched him square in the face before you could move.

Rafe fell down onto the sand. “Jesus Christ, you psycho! What the fuck was that?”

JJ grabbed Kiara’s drink and downed it. “Sexual assault earns a punch, Cameron.”

“I didn’t do shit!” Rafe argued. He stood up to hit JJ back and pushed him, but it only made JJ angry.

Both of them had anger issues, and both of them knew that. Sometimes, when they were about to fight, JJ wondered what made Rafe such an angry person. He seemed like he had such a perfect life, but his actions reflected something else. JJ knew the source of his anger, he knew that it was because of his dad, but he couldn’t figure Rafe out. JJ often had to remind himself that anger was not an original emotion, meaning Rafe’s red face and twisted expression was caused by something else, something deep-rooted.

Their fight lasted for three or four punches each, resulting in a bloody nose and a split lip or two. JJ was already roughed up, as he always was, so the injuries weren’t anything new for him. That made seeing Rafe with a swollen eye and red blotches of forming bruises even more satisfying. He was always attacking, but he was never used to getting anything back.

Topper was tugging at his friend’s arm. “Come on, man. It’s not worth it,” he said, as if JJ had been the one that was acting like a dickhead.

Rafe muttered something under his breath and spat blood into the sand as he left, his fists clenched. JJ and Kiara both watch him go, Kiara pulling her jacket on as she did. She hated that he’d ruined her night, as he usually did, but there wasn’t much she could do about it. Terrorising here seemed to be one of his favourite hobbies.

“Thanks, JJ,” she mumbled as she zipped her hoodie up.

JJ nodded and looked down at his -or Kiara’s, technically- empty cup and nodded towards the keg. “Come on. Wanna get wasted?”

Kiara shrugged and followed him. They spent the rest of the night drinking and getting high, just enjoying each others’ company. They stayed at the party, but it was like they were in their own little world, sharing inside jokes and giggling to themselves. JJ made a promise to protect her that night, and Kiara returned it, unaware of the protecting he actually needed.

-

“Rafe, what the fuck motivates you so much that you have to be the single most annoying piece of shit I have ever come across?”

Rafe was annoying Kiara, as usual. She didn’t know what she did to attract such awful attention. Maybe she was a mass murderer in her last life, and Rafe Cameron’s existence was some sort of karma, his only purpose being frustrating the shit out of her. She couldn’t think of any other reasonable explanations.

Her friends were nowhere in sight, and Kiara was admittedly growing nervous. JJ was usually right by her side, ready to attack, consequences be damned, but she couldn’t even see him. She looked around for that familiar mop of sunbleached hair tucked beneath a stolen cap, but he was nowhere to be seen. She attempted to hide her nerves behind quick witted comments as Rafe slowly inched towards her.

She could practically feel his breath down her neck, whispering words she wasn’t processing. His hand was snaking around her shoulders, his touch sending a terrified chill down her spine. She wanted to push him off, but he was cornering her, and she feared angering him would result in dire consequences.

“I don’t understand what your problem is,” Rafe slurred. “I’m just as much of a dick as the rest of your Pogue friends. You just like pretending to be something you’re not.”

Kiara kept her face straight, refusing to show any emotion or reaction. “The difference is that they’re good people, actually. Kooks, especially ones like you, are rich, sexist assholes. I just prefer being around decent people.”

“Decent people?” Rafe repeated. “You mean broke criminals that have to steal to survive? You know my dad fired your buddy John B because he was stealing, right? Tell me, was the cheap dive worth it?”

Kiara scoffed. “You’re one to talk. Everyone knows about your coke, Rafe. I’m pretty sure selling cocaine is worse than shoplifting to stay above water.”

Rafe narrowed his eyes. He looked like he was about to say something, probably something angry and spiteful, but a voice interrupted them before he could.

“Is he bothering you again?”

Kiara let out a breath she didn’t realise she was holding as JJ approached her. He looked to her, silently asking if she was okay, and Kiara sent him an alarmed look. JJ nodded, understanding that she wanted him gone.

JJ grabbed Rafe’s arm. “Come on, Cameron. You know, you don’t have to be a dick all the time.”

The mentioned stepped back. “Watch your mouth, Maybank.”

“You’re right, you’re right,” JJ smiled slyly. “It’s in your DNA, you can’t control it.”

Rafe scoffed. “You’re one to talk about DNA.”

JJ stepped closer to him. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

Rafe grinned. “Girls like mommy issues, don’t they? And daddy issues. You’ve got it going for you, man.”

Everyone knew of the Maybank name, and everyone knew that it was associated with crime and rage. The whole island knew of Luke Maybank and his multiple arrests, of the wife that abandoned him and of his no-good son. Being a Maybank had resulted in a painful life, not just at home, but everywhere. The lingering looks from shopkeepers, the drug dealers and criminals that would threaten him to get to his dad. They didn’t know what went on behind closed doors, but they knew it wasn’t functional in the slightest.

JJ shoved him back. “You’re one to fucking talk.”

Rafe stumbled backwards and scowled. He lunged forwards, beginning a brawl between the two. Kiara sighed as they tumbled to the sand, running a hand through her hair as a crowd began to surround them.

JJ was on top of Rafe, messing up his face, when Kiara realised how quickly things were going South. Their fights were always messy, but they never usually got that bad. Rafe was barely fighting back anymore, and Kiara was beginning to get worried. She hated Rafe, and he deserved to repeatedly get his ass beaten, but she didn’t want JJ to get in trouble, and she knew he always felt bad after he hurt someone without getting equally hurt back.

John B, Pope, Kelce and Topper broke it up instead of joining in, which Kiara was eternally grateful for. She helped JJ up and handed him his red hat, which had fallen off. He mumbled out a thanks and touched his busted lip, wiping the blood on his already-ruined shirt. His face was red, bruises were definitely forming and his clothes were stretched, but he didn’t seem bothered. He glared at the Kooks helping Rafe, but his angry expression fell as soon as he turned back to Kiara.

She gently ran her fingers along his purple cheek. “You don’t always have to fight him. I’m grateful you for him away, sure, but shit doesn’t have to escalate so much.”

“I don’t know how else to protect you,” JJ admitted.

Kiara sighed. “That’s okay. Hey, come here.”

She pulled JJ into a hug, letting her hands move naturally to play with his hair. They were always affectionate, but there was something about their hugs, especially ones like that, that felt different. Kiara pushed down whatever she was feeling as she stepped away and cleared her throat. She couldn’t catch feelings for JJ. There was no Pogue-on-Pogue macking, which she had made very clear.

“Maybe we should just stop going to parties at the boneyard,” she suggested.

JJ shook his head and smooth his cap over his hair. “No, no. We can’t let them get their way again. This is our territory, Kie. They visit for parties, but we’re the ones in charge.”

Kiara patted him on the shoulder and nodded. “I guess. Thanks, J. You’ve always got my back, huh?”

JJ hummed, holding eye contact for just a second too long. “Yeah. Always.”

-

Kiara could swear she was on a bad luck spree.

Everywhere she went, some Kook was there, wasting her time. She was working at The Wreck, just trying to get through her shift, when a group of them entered obnoxiously, disturbing the customers and making Kiara want to scream and kick them out. She approached them, an obviously fake smile on her face, as they all sat down at a table.

She recognised them from a couple of her classes. She usually kept to herself at school, since she hated basically everyone there, and she prayed they wouldn’t notice who she was as she came up to them with an apron around her waist and a notebook in hand.

“What can I get you guys?” she asked, biting her cheek to hold back a snarky comment.

Mimi Jones, who was in Kiara’s math class, raised her eyebrow at the girl. “Hey, I know you.”

“You’re that bitch that busted Sarah’s party ‘cause you were jealous, aren’t you?” a raven-haired boy chimed in.

“No, I’m not, because I didn’t do that,” Kiara sighed. She did, really, but they didn’t need to know that. “Now, are you guys gonna order or get out?”

She hated serving people like them. The Wreck was usually full of tourists, which was annoying enough, but the occasional Kook would stop by just to personally torture her. She didn’t even understand why they’d want to eat there- sure, it was a nice restauarant, but they were rich. They could literally eat anywhere else.

“Can I get a burger with salad and fries? No dressing on the fries, and no tomato on the burger,” Mimi requested using a condescending tone.

The rest of the Kooks order equally difficult orders, purposefully changing their minds and complicating their meals. Kiara smiled as fakely as she could and went back to the kitchen, holding back a hate-filled rant as she saw her dad busily cooking. She gave him the order and helped him with a couple of meals, which he seemed to appreciate. It was a busy day and they were short on staff, so she had to do as much as she could to help out.

Returning the meals to the Kooks was even worse than the order. They kept claiming she had messed it up, snickering to themselves as if disrespecting servers was the funniest thing in the world. Kiara couldn’t help but wonder what their parents did wrong. She was rich, sure, but working had humbled her. The most work experience the majority of the Kooks had was bossing around their staff or organising parties.

Seeing them was a painful reminder of her Kook year. She hated to remember that she used to be just like them, and that she had enjoyed it. She turned her back on the Pogues and treated her friends like dirt, and she’d always regret it. She could hardly believe she ever wanted to be like the spoiled brats she was serving.

Her shift couldn’t have ended sooner. She threw off her apron and practically bolted to her car, making her way to the Chateau as quickly as possible. Her breathing was beginning to grow uneven, and she was gripping the steering wheel so hard her knuckles were paling. She didn’t know why she was freaking out so much, but there was something about her classmates that made guilt pool in her stomach every time she thought about them. Every time she thought about how she used to be them.

JJ was asleep on the pullout bed, in only a pair of board shorts. She would usually laugh at him being asleep so late, but she was struggling to form words. He opened his eyes and sat up groggily as she slammed the door shut, looking to her with a confused and then quickly concerned expression.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, running a hand across his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Kiara whispered, her eyes brimming with tears. “I treated you like shit, didn’t I? In my Kook year. I know I did. I’m so sorry.”

He held out his arms, motioning for her to join him. “Woah, no. No, Kie. It’s okay. I mean, you were kind of a dick, but we’re past that. I know that wasn’t you. You’re a pogue.”

Kiara sat down next to him and buried her head against his chest, letting him play with her hair. She was crying quietly, just little sniffles and hiccups. JJ trailed his fingers up and down her back, his touch admittedly calming. She could nearly feel herself falling asleep in his arms, but quickly stopped herself.

She sat up, her cheeks red from both crying and blushing. “Thanks, J. Sorry about this.”

JJ tucked an escape curl behind her ear. “It’s okay. You don’t have to apologise.”

Kiara nodded and avoided her friend’s eyes. “You know I love you, right?”

She could hear his smile when he spoke. “Yeah. I love you too.”

-

JJ always put out the impression that he didn’t need protecting. Kiara had believed it, for a while. He would recklessly throw himself into any fight or sticky situation, and he’d nearly always come out on top. The bruises that casually littered his skin hadn’t been a cause for concern until Kiara realised they weren’t all from Kooks.

It was a quiet evening at the Chateau, with Pope, John B and Kiara all playing cards. JJ hadn’t arrived yet, and John B seemed to be the only one worried about that. He was regularly glancing at the door and barely paying any attention to the game.

“He’ll be here soon,” Kiara told him. “Why are you freaking out?”

John B was staring at the front door, adjusting himself for a better view. “He went home.”

“So?” Pope shrugged. “You think something happened?”

John B looked back at his friends, hesitating about something. “He-” he paused and sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

Pope looked concerned now, too. “Maybe? Like what?”

“It’s hard to explain,” John B replied. “And not really my place to tell.”

“JB, are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?” Kiara asked.

Their cards game was forgotten as John B ran a hand through his hair. “It’s just- his dad’s kind of a dickhead.”

“We know,” Kiara said. “But you’re acting like he’s a lot worse than that.”

John B shot them each a look, and it was enough to make them understand. Kiara felt her chest tightened as she remembered every time she’d seen the signs, every time she’d ignored them. Every flinch, every nervous glance towards any adult male. The bruises with unreasonable backstories, the reason he was at the Chateau so much. There was so much, and she somehow hadn’t seen it.

Pope seemed to be having a similar revelation. John B glanced at the front door for a final time before standing up and waving his hand in Pope’s direction.

“Pope, you come with me,” he instructed. “Kiara, can you wait here in case he comes back?”

Kiara nodded, her eyes wide. She watched John B and Pope leave, and listened to the van’s engine starting up. She carded a hand through her hair and exhaled shakily, trying her best to remain calm. She was remembering similar situations, when John B would leave in a hurry and return with a bruised and battered JJ. They’d always say something about a fight, and Kiara would tell JJ off before giving him an icepack and helping him bandage any cuts or split lips. She hated herself for never realising what was going on.

The sound of an engine nearing the Chateau made her perk up. She hurried outside and felt her breathing restrict as JJ’s bike came into view and pulled to a stop in front of her. Kiara noticed every bruise, seeing them peeking out of his shirt and wrapping around neck, like some sort of deadly disease.

He was grinning. “Hey, Kie. Sorry I’m late, I-”

Kiara cut him off by engulfing him in a hug. He winced, and she pulled away immediately, her eyes wide and apologetic. She cupped his cheeks so she could study the injuries on his face.

“Are you okay?” she asked. “How bad is it? Here, come inside, I’ll get you an ice pack.”

JJ chuckled and let her lead him inside. “Why are you flipping out?”

She paused, quickly running over her choices. If she told him the truth, he could think John B betrayed him by telling. If she lied, though, she would have to continue to sit by while JJ suffered. There was more she could do to help him if she told him she knew, so she made a decision.

“I know about your dad.”

JJ’s smile dropped faster than she’d ever seen. “What?”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “John B was worried, and we- we figured it out. I’m so sorry I didn’t realise sooner, J, I’m-”

“It’s fine,” he interrupted. “Seriously, don’t worry about it. It’s an occasional hit when I fuck up, that’s it.”

Kiara motioned to his face. “An occasional hit? I’m not blind. This isn’t okay.”

JJ shook his head, beginning to blink rapidly. “No, it’s... just don’t worry about it, okay?”

He walked past her, heading to the kitchen, probably for a beer. Kiara took a deep breath to calm herself and pinched the bridge of her nose. She had to get through to him, so he knew that what his dad was doing wasn’t okay. He was being himself, and it was just like he always said; deny, deny, deny. That was what he was doing, and Kiara had no idea how to stop it.

Kiara reached into the freezer and pulled out a bag of peas. John B kept them in there as their designated ice bag, and he never planned on actually eating them. She wrapped it in a small towel and joined JJ, where he was sitting down on the couch, facing away from her.

She gently sat down beside him. “I don’t know how to tell you how bad this is,” she admitted, “and I don’t know how to make it better. You’re always the one that protects everyone else, I never... I never thought you’d need protecting, too.” she gently placed the ice pack on his cheek and ran her fingers through his hair when he flinched. “I’m sorry for that. But you don’t have to be afraid of being scared, or of admitting that you’re hurt. I’ll protect you from now on. I promise.”

JJ was visibly trembling. Kiara moved the peas out of the way and let him rest on her shoulder, her chin just above his head. He was crying, she could tell, but she didn’t say anything. She just whispered sweet nothings in his ear and played with his golden hair, doing her best to calm him down. She held him until his breathing evened out and she knew he’d fallen asleep, so she gently lay him down so she could see the damage.

She pulled his shirt up and held back tears at the sight. There wasn’t really snything she could do, so she just held the makeshift ice pack to the worse bruises and hoped it would help. He would wince in his sleep every time she moved, so she made sure to keep a hand in his hair or trailing gently along his skin. After a while, she heard the front door open, and John B and Pope entered. They paused when they saw her and JJ, their shoulders loosening as they realised he was relatively safe.

“Is he okay?” John B asked quietly.

Kiara shrugged. “Not really.”

Pope’s eyes were trained to JJ’s stomach, where his shirt and been pulled up to reveal the bruises. “Oh my God.”

John B studied JJ’s hands, sighing when he saw nothing. “He didn’t even fight back.”

John B looked like he wanted to punch something, and Pope looked like he was going to pass out. Kiara knew they felt just as helpless as she did. There weren’t many options, and there were none if JJ was in charge. Knowing him, he wouldn’t want anything to change. She didn’t understand how he could suffer so long and still manage to smile every time she saw him.

She smoothed back JJ’s hair. “You’re going to be okay,” she whispered. “I promise.”

[daniellesimagines]

❀❀ a list of lines from every single work-in-progress to be linked later when i actually post them just bc i’m bored ❀❀

ashton irwin

And I get that it may seem obviously to other people, but... I’m not watching this on TV and you’re not here and I don’t know what people are saying about me being my back

If she’s not back by sunset, I’m leaving camp to look for her. And if something happened to her, you’re dead

I don’t care about what everyone else will say -- I care about you and your safety, so you can either stay with me at my place until everything with him is sorted out or I can sleep on your couch, but I am not leaving you alone

She deserves better than that, Ashton! She deserves better than you!

I’m a burden on everybody! That’s why I’m here -- that’s why they threw me in a mental hospital and left!

Nothing ever means anything to you anyway

She’s still my ex! Just because she ‘needed help’ doesn’t make it less weird!

Remember how you said if I needed anything, you’d do it...? C-Can I just have a hug?

You fucking heard me. Stop the fucking car

I’m not dating your ex. I asked her out if that’s what you mean

Maybe you could argue that ‘just friends’ do that too, but it’s not ‘just friends’ when Ashton does it for you

I just... I can’t...handle losing someone right after I almost lost you

Are you tall enough to ride the merry-go-round at the fair by yourself?

I’m all for taking credit for my work, but I’m not taking credit for this because 1) I didn’t do it, and 2) it’s sloppy as hell

She clearly needs someone right now and unfortunately for me, she chose you

I’ve heard your friends talking... I know no one thinks he’s still alive

I may be desperate for money, but I’m not selling my body for some rich, entitled frat guys to jack off to!

If you want to be embarrassed, that’s fine, but I’m not going to stand here and listen to you berate yourself like this

Those spirits at the prison we investigated a couple weeks ago really liked you

awsten knight

What could possibly be so hard for her?! She’s a Princess, for Christ’s sake!

Can’t imagine keeping everything bottled up is any easier than letting someone in

calum hood

I know you don’t like her, but telling her she’s not allowed to hug me around you is fucking ridiculous

Do you make it a habit to spy on people or am I just today’s lucky winner?

You can’t lie just to get me there -- I would have gone anyway

I’m not lying to Calum; I’m just not telling him how I feel

You know how you said I should be falling in love instead of living in that house...? I’m glad it’s gonna be with you

How am I meant to have fun with him around?

You wouldn’t do the things you do if you really loved me

When you’re not here, it’s easier to pretend you still love me

I have a question -- why is that guy looking at his corn dog like that?

Please don’t make me say it again -- the first time was embarrassing enough

If he knew he was going to meet you, he never would have told her those things

I can guarantee you that baby’s not his

I never stopped wanting you either

He wouldn’t have dumped me if he was still in love with me

If you were getting tired of me, you could have just said so

Always knew I’d cry if I met you guys -- just didn’t think this would be the reason

I can’t just not pay you for watching my dog for 5 months

Will you at least let me know what it’s like to kiss you?

Do you know how weird it is to have feelings for your boss?

If they want nothing to do with you, then I want nothing to do with them

Secrets don’t stay that way forever; They all have to come out eventually

He keeps asking if he can call you Mummy

It’s heartbreaking in all the right places

I told you getting the blonde put into your hair was a bad idea

cody carson

The day you get something different from Starbucks is the day I let Pistol sleep in your bedroom

At least I’ve never lied when I told you I love you

Wait, someone tried to kidnap that little girl on your lap?

dacre montgomery

My worst nightmare is disappointing Steve Irwin

damien haas

Am I even on this show right now? Is this all just some freakishly realistic dream?

harry styles

Would you have apologized if your daughter hadn’t made you?

Daddy doesn’t love me anymore

Since when are you afraid of getting rejected? 

jamie follese

I can’t help when I disappear! The cake batter calls to me and I must answer her!

He asks if I love you all the time even though I always say yes

I think I could talk my way out of jail

louis tomlinson

Nothing’s ever scared me more than the thought of losing you

luke hemmings

If I’m feeling this bad about meeting his friends, I don’t know what I’m gonna do when he wants to tell the fans

We’re only here for a few days; You’re just going to have to deal with sharing a bed until we leave

We made a bet on which one of you would confess your feelings first

Even if it wasn’t what he wanted to hear, he still needed to

She closes the store alone tonight -- you didn’t hear it from me

How many strings did my husband have to pull for this?

She doesn’t even want him! She’s only with him because she knows I do!

You know I don’t like when you do this to yourself

I got my ass handed to me by an 11-year-old and her Pokemon master of an aunt

I have nightmares almost every night, but I only come in here when they’re about you

She’s a hostage in a bank robbery! Of course I care about her being in there!

You’re by yourself in the stables at 11pm with tears on your face. Don’t tell me nothing’s wrong

Don’t be mad just because your siblings love me more than they love you

You know that means nothing to me! Stop bragging about having colors!

Even I’m not heartless enough to leave you without a dance partner

marshall traver

Nobody is alone -- not even in this world

You’re only apologizing because I’m the Princess; You wouldn’t be if I were a nobody

maxx danziger

I told him you hate water; I told him and he decided to try and throw you in anyway

Too used to blowing me off on the phone, you forgot how to talk to me in person?

I think they deserve a teacher who wants to see them succeed

If she’s still wearing her ring, she’s clearly not ready to date other people

You’re staying even though my dad’s an idiot, right?

We’re gonna circle back to the fetish thing later because I don’t believe you don’t have one for a second

michael clifford

Wouldn’t want you to stay longer than you have to just because of me

If you never say ‘I love you’ back to me, that’s completely okay

You’ve been crying, kitten; I can tell

Is there any point when you’re not going to be useless to us?

You fired her because you’re in love with her?!

What can I say? His parents are raising him right

Don’t even think about touching my brother again

Hit me like you mean it

Last day of camp -- won’t be able to do this until next summer

I know you paid my rent

Nothing would piss off that asshole more than getting the girl he wants

Since when would he jump at the chance to defend me?

I know you’ve seen how different he is with me now

The first thing I heard when I woke up was ‘I wish that I could wake up with amnesia and forget about the stupid little things’ and I did 

Unlike the girls you sleep with, I actually like being with a guy who can make me cum

It can’t possibly get worse than the hell you’re living right now

I love Michael... Oh my God... Ashton, I’m in love with Michael

Please bless us with this work of art

The only good thing about this tie is that it’s blocking some of the brightness from how pale you are

Why do you even have this song on cassette in the first place?!

She’s safe -- that’s all I’m allowed to say

How did two 11-year-olds manage to pull off the biggest switch ever?

You know they’re not going to let you marry me

I’m not a stranger to staying with people who treat me poorly

If I can handle you, I think I’m prepared for pretty much anything

You make Mumma forget about him and be happy and I like when Mumma’s happy

You said you weren’t going to let go of me

Can you write a song telling your soulmate to be less depressing? It’s really starting to worry me

I’m not stupid; I’ve seen your face -- I know I’m not getting out of this alive

I can either push past you or you can let me go, but I am going to go kiss my wife whether I have your permission or not

Not the worst injury I’ve ever had and definitely won’t be the last

This is not who I expected to be kissing when I put this dress on

ryan follese

Best of luck with your engagement to the Princess

I can’t put myself in a relationship I know won’t last

spencer reid

I didn’t marry a profiler, Spencer! I married you!

Any of us would have gone in to save your daughter -- it just happened to be me this time

tom holland

I know you love me, Tom -- I know you do... But it hurts that you don’t want other people to know it too...

trevor collins

I kinda wanted to wait and see if you were actually real before I said anything...

You may not be irreplaceable to the company, but you’re irreplaceable to me

I know you’re not sick; I know you just said it because you wanted to leave work early

zach dewall

I told you they were gonna be angry when they said it...

[billhaderlovebot]

beep beep (2) - richie tozier

okay, mentions of sex, weed, and as usual, language that would make my grandmother disown me. some horror-typical blood stuff. enjoy.

@the-star-above-you @ceruleanrainblues

had it not been for richie's incredible, rugged good looks and sex appeal, as he had so tactfully put it, you were sure you would have tried to fucking murder the guy at least once, because he was infuriating at the best of times.

you'd never actually made an attempt on his life, of course, but now, as he tried to peel away from you and get out of the bed that wasn't a single but not quite big enough for two people, you almost killed him, hissing at him to lay the fuck back down right now we might die today i haven't seen you for like half my life you asshole cuddle me right now, richard.

richie, of course, as he hadn't ever been able to say no to you, smirked and shifted to lay back down, resuming the earlier position in which your limbs had become not unlike that thing where your headphones get all knotted in your bag and you can't figure out how to separate them.

"that's what i thought." you huffed, leaning up to press a kiss to the underside of his jaw.

this was almost surreal. being back here, and with the same man you left behind. it was like, the whole time you'd been apart, you'd only been half a person. and now you were back and he was holding you and you were one whole, functioning person again because he was your other half.

"i was just thinking, yknow." richie voiced, pressing a kiss of his own to your temple. "about, uh, your husband."

"i fucking hope not. that's not good bedroom etiquette, tozier, bedding a girl and then fantasising about her husband."

"shut up," he laughed. "no, i mean, you're... married." he noticeably recoiled at the word, and you visualised the nose-scrunch, because he was definitely scrunching his nose right now. god, you loved him so much.

"i noticed."

"yeah, but, babe, this isn't a very married thing to be doing, is it?" richie gestured to the bedclothes, which you were both very naked underneath, and also his shirt, which had ended up hanging from the door handle. there was underwear strewn about the place, and you literally did not know where your pajamas had gone. oh well.

"rich, when i made the decision to come here, i made the decision to leave there." it was true. you may not have known it at the time, but the moment you left that house you were never to return.

your husband might have been calling, and you'd be lying if you said you hadn't thought about him. but any calls he made would have come through in a stream of bubbles and a faint gurgling sound, what with your phone still being back home in your bathtub. being back here just proved that this was where you were always supposed to be. with him. you slid off your wedding ring, pressing it into his palm, and it was as if a weight had been lifted.

"it's always been you, richie."

and that was enough for him.

---

bill raised his eyebrows at last night's dark purple and red hickeys that littered your throat, courtesy of a one richard tozier, before joining you where you sat in the common area. you hadn't thought to pack a turtleneck, or a scarf, at that, and so you'd have to avoid everyone's inquisitive looks and make do.

when richie emerged from the kitchen, a cup of coffee in his hand and a matching set of hickeys, bill sighed.

"th-thought so." he said.

"huh?"

"thin w-w-walls, guys."

"it's not her fault im the best she's ever had." remarked richie, winking at bill and falling onto the couch beside you. he slung an arm over your shoulders and pulled you into him, sipping his coffee.

you shrugged. "yeah, billy, and it's not his fault he hasn't had a good lay since i dumped his ass in derry."

"hey! you didn't mean to dump my ass."

"ah, but i did, nonetheless."

"fuck you." richie teased, setting his coffee down on the table so he could pretend to argue with you properly.

"no, fuck you." you shot back.

"fuck both of you." a voice, eddie's, whined from the kitchen where richie had come from and interrupted your pretend dispute. "i mean, you kept me up all fucking night, fucking each other absolutely senseless in the room next to mine, you inconsiderate assholes."

"they haven't changed, eddie." bill groaned, rolling his shoulders and leaning back on the couch.

"i know that," said eddie "but i don't think i can deal with it, they're all fucking over each other!"

you supposed eddie was right.

richie, now realising you were here and he was with you and you were both within kissing distance of each other again after over two decades, he took every opportunity to shove you against a wall or a door or a sink or on a bed and kiss you hard. a lot. a lot. seriously, he'd sprung at least four impromtu heavy makeout sessions (with tongue) on you so far and it was only your first day here.

it was like you were teenagers again.

god, if only.

"w-we need to put a plan together." bill said firmly, clasping his hands together. you had noticed his stutter had been worse since you'd left the restaurant. not as bad as when you were kids, but still there. "w-w-we need everyone here, t-together, which doesn't include you two s-sneaking off to suck face."

"but she's got such a nice face." richie whined.

"she won't if you don't get your shit together." you heard the voice of ben hanscom (or, handsome, as richie now referred to him.) as he trudged down the stairs and joined you all in the living room. "so shut up and listen in case IT decides to tear it off her."

now, that had really freaked richie out, so he shrugged in defeat and pulled you tighter to him, kissing your forehead and holding you to his chest.

"good morning to you too, ben." you yawned, circling an arm around richie's waist and allowing him to just hold you.

what? he was fucking warm, ok.

"are you guys gonna be like this the whole time?" ben queried, gratefully accepting the cup of coffee eddie had just brought out for him.

"i think it's sweet." beverly was the next to come in, ruffling the back of her hair and rubbing sleep out of her eyes.

"yeah guys, we all got hot or married, and richie got less and less familiar with his fucking shower. we should be impressed he got anywhere near her." eddie chided. a chorus of laughter arose, all of you sat around the coffee table on plush couches, and you could pretend, just for a moment, that this was all you were here for. a reunion. but you weren't.

"m-mike's meeting us later." bill explained. "we have.... stuff to do."

---

the clubhouse was almost exactly how you remembered it (save for the inch-thick layer of dust and the smell of rot and the slight water damage from what must have been 27 years of rain leaks). you'd damn near punched richie in the fucking face when he pulled that "you'll float too" bullshit. his impressions were always impeccable, but now was not the time. he'd rectified his mistake by kissing you soundly and offering one to everyone else, to which they all refused.

"reckon we could still fit?" richie echoed your own thoughts as you both stared in at the dusty old hammock you'd spent so many hours on as teenagers, nostalgia coming over you in waves.

"how much you betting, trash-mouth?" you grinned, your tongue poking out from between your teeth.

"five bucks says we can."

you looked over the stretch of fabric that ben had pinned up between the boards on the ceiling all those years ago. you could barely fit on it when you were teenagers, so there wasn't much change of it happening 20-or-so years on. "i say we can't, so, ten bucks."

"done." he said, with an air of finality, and stuck his hand out for you to shake.

"nah," you shook your head. extending your little finger instead."handshakes are for businessmen and drug dealers. pinky swear."

richie hooked his pinky around yours and flashed you his signature shit-eating grin. "get ready to cough up."

a great deal of struggling later, (richie almost bringing the fucking roof down) you were considerably warmer and ten dollars poorer. the rest of the losers stared on in disappointment because the two of you were still absolutely insane. but you had done it.

granted, you'd had to twist very close around each other to fit on, and your leg was sticking out at an odd angle, but neither of you were terribly bothered.

"ten bucks, babe."

"can't i just have sex with you?" you groaned. you hadn't brought much money with you in the first place, and you really needed a coffee and a therapeutic shop for stationary.

"how about you give me ten bucks and then i have sex with you." he suggested, wiggling his eyebrows.

"i think that consistutes prostitution, actually, babe." you pointed out, kissing his lips and reluctantly pressing two folded fives into his hand. "but i do expect something by way of a sexual favour later on, provided we don't die."

"guys? important stuff is going on. yknow, like, if-we-don't-do-this-we'll get-fucking-murdered stuff." you'd forgotten that the rest of them were there, and eddie had rather pulled you both out of the bubble you were existing in.

"lighten up, eds. i just got my girl back." for once, richie wasn't joking around, and the sincerity in his voice almost made you cry. eddie didn't say anything more.

but mike did. "we have to split up to find our artefacts." he chimed in, reminding you all exactly what you were there for. "we have stan's, and i have mine. you'll know what they are when you see them."

you couldn't help but feel sorry for mike. he knew so much and had everything so planned out, but at what cost? he had been waiting alone for years and years and years, knowing full well the rest of derry depended on him not giving up, even if they didn't know it themselves.

"w-we can't split." bill interjected. "it's t-too dangerous. what if one of us d-d-d-d..." he inhaled deeply, calming himself and allowing mike to put a hand on his shoulder. "what if something happens. i won't forgive myself."

"im not letting this one out of my fucking sight, mikey." richie concurred, absently drumming his fingers where they rested on your waist. "no fucking way."

"you have to do this alone. all of you." mike continued, and you knew he was right.

ben and beverly knew it, too, and had begun making their way out of the clubhouse, the maggot-eaten wood of the ladder groaning in protest underneath their feet.

"right. a-are you s-sure, mike? really?"

"positive. this is how it has to be."

------

"okay, so if you die, we can't fuck later, and i would rather like to, so, maybe don't die, please." richie was trying to make light of possibly the worst moment of his life, but it wasn't working so well, because his hands were shaking so hard that he could barely keep ahold of you.

"i'll be fine, rich." you assured him, leaning against his chest and inhaling the scent of home.

"you don't know that, y-y-you don't-- t-there's no way you can-- y-y-you're-"

you cut him off by firmly pressing your lips to his, and it did seem to calm him. the act of holding you close and feeling the rise and fall of your chest and knowing he could touch you and you were still here. you thread your fingers through the soft hair at the nape of his neck and allowed him to deepen the kiss, knowing he needed it.

he had always needed reassurance when you were kids, because he'd always been insecure or scared about something he couldn't remember. he always went to you first, because the whole vulnerable thing wasn't really his scene, and you were the only person who saw it. and his nightmares, god, the fucking nightmares. you hadn't seen him cry before until he woke up shaking in your bed, searching around for something to grab onto because he couldn't tell what was real or not. he cried for what seemed like hours in your arms and all you could do was hold him.

"you're stuttering worse than billy." you murmured, close enough so your lips just barely touched. "ill be fine."

his eyes searched yours desperately for any sort of truth, but he could tell that you weren't sure. that you were just as shit-scared as he was and you were holding it together for the both of you.

"fuck." was all he said.

"fuck." you agreed.

---

1994

---

"baby." richie's voice was practically ecstatic down the phone. you grinned and reached over to your shelf to turn your record player, and the cure, down.

"yes?"

"i have, like, the best idea ever."

"and what would that be?"

"so, yknow, i have like, a shit ton of pot."

"uh huh."

"and i haven't seen you in like, uh, like two days. which is, fuckin, two days too long, yknow."

"yeah, of course."

"so, what say you and me get really really stoned and wait for your grandmother to leave for bingo and have a lot, and i mean a lot, of high sex."

"trash-mouth tozier, i may just take you up on that." you smirked, twirling the bright red phone cord in between your fingers.

"oh, good, cause im already here."

richie's voice was now coming from your actual window.

you whirled round to see him perched on the fire escape like a fucking curly haired pigeon with a high libido.

"god, you do know how to make an entrance, rich, fuck me."

"ask, and ye shall receive." richie smirked, dropping his legs through your window. in two strides he was in front of you, pupils dilated and partly concealed by his dark curls. his glasses were almost falling off his nose.

the phone receiver dropped from your hand and clattered to the ground as you reached up to take them off, and-

oh, and then his tongue was inside your mouth, so the glasses fell and landed alongside the phone by your bare feet.

no matter how many times you kissed richie tozier, it never failed to surprise you just how fucking good he was at it. you found yourself rather at his mercy whenever his lips were on yours, his hands on your face or in your hair or your back trouser pockets. he'd always make a point of tugging your bottom lip between his teeth and oh my fucking god. wow.

"well i can't fucking see you now, can i?" he whined, pulling away and blinking hard in an attempt to adjust to you having taken his actual sight away.

you responded by reaching your hand around to his back pocket where you knew his silver zippo would be.

"and here i thought you loved me."

richie stuck his bottom lip out in mock sadness, but grinned about two seconds after, reaching into his other pocket and handing you a small zip-lock baggie.

"you know that i love you." you smiled, kissing his lips and edging round him to get to your bed.

"you do?" he asked.

"more than anything."

----

2016

----

the zippo lighter was much heavier than you remembered it, you thought, as you turned it over and over in your hands.

you flicked it open, but no flame arose. not as though you expected it to.

god, those years were the happiest of your life. after IT. when richie and yourself could be happy and in love and kids.

just two stupid kids in love.

and your heart ached now as you thought of all the lost years. all that time you could have spent with him, watching him grow, and growing alongside him.

but you were together again, and it was alright. it was alright, now.

"beep beep, richie's girl."

the voice that came from behind you caused your heart to plummet, and you swore it could have fallen out of your ass.

"oh, fuck no. you fuck right off, right fucking now." you steadied the shaking of your hands. you were not afraid. i mean, yes, you were, very much so. but you weren't letting It see you weak.

clenching your fists, you slowly turned to look at the space near the window from which the voice had come.

oh, fuck.

it was richie.

or it would have been, if it were normal for richie to have a huge slice across his throat and a considerable amount of his left arm missing.

blood poured like a fucking faucet from the slash, forming grotesque patterns where it fell across its shirt.

"help me, baby." it choked, hands coming up to the wound, trying desperately to hold it together. it fell to its knees before you and pleaded with you to fucking help me, please and then it was crying and in that moment it's eyes looked so fucking much like his that you almost threw up.

"no, fuck no." you were seriously, seriously about to vomit right now, but you weren't about to embarrass yourself in front of a supernatural evil entity.

"please." blood came spluttering from its mouth, and you had to commend it on its honest to god phenomenal acting. it wasn't a pretty sight, honestly, because richie in any form of pain was enough to make you want to tear out your eyes, even a fake richie. but this wasn't him.

"you got it wrong." you flipped the lighter open and closed absently, hoping to whatever god would listen that the shake in your voice wasn't noticeable.

the mock expression of fear disappeared from not-richie's face.

"m not fucking scared of you. you'll only hurt me if i let you, right?" you hoped to god that you were right, because it'd be pretty embarrassing if after all that, you were torn to shreds anyway.

and then it was gone. leaving behind, scrawled in fake richie's fake blood on the wall:

beep beep, richie's girl.

you had to admire the theatrics, really.

---

richie hadn't wanted to talk about his artefact, or where he had got it, and you knew better than to push him.

he looked so fucking tense, tears in his eyes, that you just wanted to hold him and never let go ever until the earth stopped spinning. but that wasn't an option, so:

"nap?" you suggested, reaching up to thread your fingers through his hair.

his eyes fluttered shut and he leaned into your touch.

"yeah. nap."

"rich?"

"yeah?"

"i love you."

"i love you more."

"fuck you."

"no, fuck you."

[crossbows-and-moonshine]

Into My Web (Chapter 1)

New story, who dis? :')

Most of you knew this was coming, but I’ll explain anyway for those that don’t. My one-shot Princess has been one of my most popular requests and I really wanted to do more with it. But instead of continuing it, I wanted to use it as inspiration to make a new multichapter fic. Now if you’ve read the one-shot, the flashback of this one might seem familiar to you, but please don't skip it because I’ve changed a lot and it’s the only that part that seems similar.

The one-shot was obviously fast-paced since it had to be done in one chapter, and this one will be slower paced. They won't fuck in the first chapter, it's not very realistic in context with Daryl if you think about it, but when you write one-shots, sometimes you gotta push things along loool.

So I used Princess for inspiration to make a new OC. The way she and Daryl are with each other is heavily influenced by my own one-shot. I hope you enjoy this, if you're like me and you love the whole ‘they hate each other first’ trope, then take a fucking seat and enjoy the ride lolololol.

Won't be canon, just so you guys know.

The name of this fic was inspired by a song (surprise surprise), its; Into my Web by The Used.

Maybe I will be the only one who could leave her.

Should I lie and just pretend that I couldn't kill her?

Maybe I can just pretend,

As she flies into my web.

--------------------------------------------------

Arabella’s eyes rolled around behind her closed eyelids as she slept. Just as she always did when she was asleep, she dreamt of better times. Moments in her life that were full of laughter and fun. She had wanted for nothing in her younger years, her family well off and spoiling her rotten. She never took for granted the life she had lead and she certainly fucking missed it now. When she slept she could immerse herself back into that world. The one full of people who cared, full of lavish parties and dinners. A time when things were simpler and there most certainly wasn't any dead people roaming the earth.

She groaned to herself when she felt someone shaking her shoulder and her blue eyes fluttered open, landing on Daryl fucking Dixon of all people as he stood over her with his trademark scowl. When he saw her wake, he retracted his hand like she had burnt him with a simple touch and she squinted at him. Rubbing her sleepy eyes as her brain tried to catch back up with her and remember where she was. In a prison.

“The fuck you want Dixon?” she asked harshly, glaring up at his form that she could just make out with the darkness of the cell.

“Ya got five minutes to get yer ass outta bed and downstairs, ‘fore I leave ya behind princess,” he spat before turning on his heel and leaving swiftly. She sneered after his retreating form as she sat up with a yawn and stretched her sore limbs out. The 22-year-old felt like she was about 75 with the way her body ached.

She really didn't know why Daryl hated her so much other than the fact she used to have money. Ever since his group, now her group, stumbled onto the farm after Carl had been shot, the gruff redneck just hated her on sight. She had joined the farm just before Rick and his band of misfits. She was in the area for business, tagging along with her dad to keep up his image of a southern family man, despite the fact the two barely ever spoke. The world went to shit and she was the only one to get out of there alive. After walking around, somehow surviving the wilderness for who knows how long, she had found herself at Hershel's farm. Dehydrated, starved, and a gnarly cut on her arm she didn’t even remember doing.

She would always be indebted to the man she considered her adoptive father, the man that took her in and cared for her more than her own real father had ever done. When Rick's group arrived, she had helped tend to Carl, and she had tried to get to know the rest of the group as much as she could since they seemed intent on sticking around. Apart from Shane, she knew right off the bat the man had a few screws loose and she didn't believe his bullshit about Otis either. She couldn't say she was too surprised when Rick had announced he had to kill him because Shane was going to kill him first. She couldn't say she cared much either.

But Daryl fucking Dixon, what a fucking dick. The moment he first laid eyes on her, she had smiled politely, but he scowled at her like he wished she would burst into flames. She paid no mind at first, mainly because he looked at everyone that way, including his own group which was a strange thing indeed. She figured he couldn't be a bad man, not with how he was out looking for Carols daughter and even injured himself in the process. But with each passing day on the farm, she seemed to be the only one he couldn't stand to be around. She tried to change it at first, wondering if he actually took the time to talk to her he would realise she wasn't some asshole. But when she did try talking to him he would promptly tell her to leave him the fuck alone, and in the end, she gave up.

She couldn't remember just when the nickname princess appeared, but it was there just the same. It wasn't said sweetly like he thought she was a beautiful Disney princess. He spat the word like venom, making it clear he thought she was some prissy bitch. Things only got worse after Beth, in all her innocent sweetness, had sat around the campfire and gushed about her to the rest of the group. How they had the heiress to Jack Daniels living at the farm with them. She went on to tell them all the stories she had told her about fancy parties and dinners she had to attend. Sure she had embellished them a little to sound fancier, because she had told them only to Beth, and when she looked at her with her big hopeful eyes, she wanted to tell her whatever she wanted to hear to make her happy. She hoped her innocence would never fade from this world, it was needed in the darkness.

She had no clue Beth had told everyone else until the next day when Andrea said something to her. She had been mortified, she didn't really want anyone else to know. Yes, she was the heiress to the whiskey company, it had been in her family for generations. Yes, she did have a lot of money, money that in her wild teen years was spent on booze and drugs as she tried to cope with her life. From the outside people thought she had the perfect life, and in some respects she did. She wasn't going hungry, she had a huge roof over her head and if she wanted something, all she had to do was buy it. But all she ever wanted was to feel cared about by her parents, not dumped off on nannies every day and to be left to fend for herself. They hadn't even noticed her spiralling as a teenager until she got arrested at 18. And instead of her parents wondering why their seemingly perfect southern baby girl had done this, they had made her feel like a failure for letting the family down and embarrassing them. Her father had even threatened not to give her the company when it was time unless she cleaned up her act, and they shipped her off to a rehab facility.

After Beth's wonderful stories, Daryl seemed to hate her even more. Instead of not talking to her at all, he would give her cheap digs here and there about her being an uppity bitch who would die on her own. She never felt the need to argue with him about the fact she spent a lot of the time after the world fell apart on her own, how she hadn't been with the Greene’s long. Hershel had made out like she had been there from the start and Arabella couldn't find it in her to say otherwise. It wasn't until the prison when she actually started arguing back with the redneck asshole. He had been shocked at first when she told him to go fuck himself with one of his bolts, actually speechless that the girl who always just seemed to lay there and take his bullshit had the cheek to say something like that to him. The look on his face was the best thing she had ever witnessed and ever since that day, she had no issue with arguing with him whenever he opened his stupid fucking mouth. She liked to say shit just to get under his skin, like the day before when Rick had asked the pair to go on a run together. She loathed that stupid redneck and his stupid attitude. He assumed she was a preppy princess who had rich parents and a horse that shit rainbows, but he knew nothing about her at all. He was just a judgemental dickface in her opinion and if he wanted a war, she would damn well give him one.

Mostly the group seemed to try and keep them apart, knowing the animosity was there even if they didn't fully understand it. But when it came to runs, Rick needed them to pair up and do it together because they were two of the strongest they had, they never came back empty-handed. He just hated breaking it to them every time they were supposed to go out there together, knowing what was about to happen when he did.

~~

She glared at Daryl from across the table and he glared right back. If looks could kill they’d both be walkers by now. She wasn’t even paying attention to what Rick was saying as she was too busy trying to send telepathic insults to the asshole sat opposite her, and she was quite certain he was doing the same. They were both staring at each other, too stubborn to look away first, until Rick slammed his hands down onto the table. Arabella and Daryl jumped and snapped their heads towards Rick.

“What the fuck Rick?!” Daryl barked.

“You’re like a pair of school kids. I’ve been talking to you both for about ten minutes and I bet you didn’t hear a damn thing I said!” Rick scolded. She bit her lip and felt a little bad, she knew this between her and Daryl was getting on Ricks last nerve, and he was right, she had no clue what the fuck he was talking about.

“I’m sorry Rick. Whatever you need, we’ll do it,” she smiled at him, always one to help out no matter what it was.

“I want you to both go on a run for some clothes, it's getting warmer now and we need stuff for everyone,” he sighed, he just knew what was coming, it happened every time.

“Hell nah! I ain’t goin’ with this dumb bitch. She’ll just get me killed!” Daryl yelled, earning a dirty look from her.

“Shut your mouth asshole, you can’t even take one for the fucking team? Selfish prick,” she spat, knowing how to push his buttons, she had learnt in her time of standing up for herself just what to say that really got under his skin and would cause a reaction. He stood up that fast that his chair fell over.

“What d’ya just say to me, ya fuckin’ whore?!” he roared. She just sat there smirking smugly at him, knowing she worked him up.

“That’s enough!” Rick bellowed, causing them both to look at him sheepishly.

“You better deal with these issues and put them aside. We’re in the middle of a damn apocalypse for crying out loud, grow up!” with that he stood up and left the room, she and Daryl feeling like naughty children after a telling off. They’d be going, they always did, and around in circles they went.

~

Daryl sat in the driver's seat of the truck near the gates waiting on miss fucking uppity. If he had it his way he would be out there already and would have left her prissy ass in the dust, but he knew Rick would kill him. The only good thing about these runs was the fact Rick would put him in charge every time, it was the only chance he got to order her around and she had no choice but to listen. She could take care of herself, that he could reluctantly admit. Not to her though, just to himself. At first, he had thought she was a spoilt little princess who had never lifted a finger in her fucking life. But after the farm, she quickly proved to be pretty competent in the new world and it had shocked him a little. Beth had told him at one point how she had been out there on her own for a while and he hadn't believed it at first, not until he saw her actually taking out walkers like she’d done it a million times before. Still, she was a stuck up bitch and he fucking hated her.

He watched as she walked casually across the yard to the truck, taking her sweet time like he wasn't waiting on her and he knew she was doing it on purpose. His hands clenched around the steering wheel as he glared at her through the window of the truck, gritting his teeth. She had that look about her, one that screamed stupid dumb blonde, and before the world went to shit he probably would have taken her home and gave her a good fuck until she couldn't walk. Unless Merle got to her first. She was hardly a model, she wasn't stick thin, she had some curves in all the right places. But it was her face that always got to him. With her wide doe-like eyes and her plump lips, it just pissed him off more. The pretty rich girl. She wouldn't have given him the time of day before all of this and he knew that. She would have looked at him the way the rest of the rich folk did, with disgust and judgement in their stupid eyes.

When Arabella hopped into the truck, she shot him a glance, perturbed by the fact he hadn't shouted at her for taking her time. She just settled down in the seat though as he started the truck. He got like this sometimes and it always weirded her out. Most of the time he would spend his time shouting at her, berating her for every little thing she did wrong or just being a prick about her past at every chance he got. But other times he would remain silent, not talking to her or even looking her way at all. And although she should have enjoyed that silence, it bothered her even more than him calling her a stuck up bitch.

She was always quiet though when he was like this, like she somehow understood he needed space and for some reason, she allowed him that. It often confused Daryl why she didn't run her mouth off like usual when he was quiet. Why she would just sit there and leave him to it. He presumed it was because she didn’t want to fucking deal with him unless they were fighting. The ride there was thick with tension as the silence drowned them both but neither made the move to speak, and before long they had arrived. Daryl was agitated as always when he was around her and Arabella was just plain fed up by this point. She hopped out of the truck, knife in hand and a gun strapped to her side. She knew better than to use it unless it was an emergency though, so she hoped it would stay there.

They moved to the shop front by the door and Daryl knocked on the glass, his bow at the ready as they listened. There were the telltale signs of groans and they glanced to each other.

“Sounds like only a few,” she muttered, earning a grunt and nod in response. Despite how much they fought and disliked each other, they worked well as a team on these runs. With only each other to have their backs, for a brief moment they would shove their issues aside to make sure they were both safe. Daryl opened the door and it didn't take long for the pair to dispatch the walkers. Then they made quick work of packing up the empty duffels they had brought with them full of summer clothes for the group.

Arabella picked up a pretty black sundress and looked at it forlornly. When was the last time she had been able to wear something pretty? Instead of mud-stained jeans and an ill-fitting tank that felt like it was 2 sizes too small. She sighed to herself, hoping she would be the one to keep this. Maybe she would just stuff it in her own backpack and no one would be any wiser.

���S’wrong princess? Sad ‘cause it ain’t Gucci?” she heard Daryl sneer from behind her. She should have known his pensive silence wouldn’t last long, it never did.

“Surprised you know what Gucci is Dixon, didn't think they had that where you were from,” she spat back, shooting him a glare. He squinted, his right eye twitching in annoyance as he looked at her, resisting the urge to throttle her tiny little neck. She just stomped past him, giving him a little shove that didn't move him an inch as she made her way back outside.

They got all that they could so they made their way back to the prison, the silence once again uncomfortable. But this time she welcomed it. It was easy to forget how much he irritated her when he opened his stupid fucking mouth and she was growing tired of it. She was sick of the day to day battle of just being around him. She just wanted a day with no fighting. When they got back, Rick was waiting for them as she hopped out of the truck, grabbing the duffels full of women's clothes that she had packed. Ricks face lit up seeing the bags stuffed full as Daryl joined her.

“That's great you guys, I knew you would come through, you always do,” Rick grinned at them.

“No problem boss man, anything to help the fam out,” she snorted, grabbing her bags and tossing them over her shoulders carelessly. She was about to head inside when Rick started talking again.

“Before you go, I wanted to talk to you both about something,” he said, making the pair eye him warily. They didn't know what it would be but they had a feeling they wouldn't like it. He went over to near one of the tables outside and grabbed a bag, tossing it with a thud near Daryl's feet.

Daryl looked at it before looking back to Rick who just gestured to it. Daryl huffed, crouching as he unzipped the bag, getting out a small crossbow. He stood up, inspecting it as Arabella looked at it, unsure why she had to be here for this if Rick was giving Daryl a gift.

“It’s in good condition, damn near new. Too small for me though,” Daryl said gruffly, glancing to Rick.

“I know, that's why I thought that you wouldn't be the one to use it,” he said giving him a pointed look. Arabella blinked as the pieces clicked into place but before she could speak up, Daryl beat her to it.

“Fuck no!! Like hell I’m teachin’ her to use a damn bow!” he yelled, looking thoroughly offended at the mere notion of it. Arabella glared at him and rolled her eyes and Rick heaved a sigh.

“Look Daryl, I know you two have your issues, but we could use another hunter. We need more food. You told me yourself before now how light on her feet she is,” Rick protested, making Arabella’s eyes widen a fraction in shock as she looked to the hunter. She was shocked that something akin to a compliment had ever left his mouth about her.

“I don't give a damn if the bitch can fly, I ain't teachin’ her how to use the damn thing,” Daryl sneered, his anger flaring that Rick had just fucking said that right in front of her. She saw Ricks face fall and she hated it, Rick was a good man and he was trying his best here to keep shit together.

“It’s fine Rick, I’ll teach myself,” she smiled wearily at him. He looked relieved yet somewhat guilty, no doubt over Daryl being such a dick about the whole thing. Daryl stuffed the bow back in the bag and tossed it to her harshly, making her stumble as she caught it with how heavy it was. He didn't look sorry in the least though. She just shot Rick one last look before heading off inside.

“The hell was that about Daryl? She's a nice girl. Don't you think it's about time you got your head outta your ass about her past?” Rick frowned, looking at him like he was scolding a child. The whole thing set a fire inside Daryl as he fought to keep himself in check.

“Ya don't know shit, so how about ya keep ya damn nose out,” he snapped, harsher than he meant to but Rick didn't act surprised.

“This is for the group Daryl, we need this,” Rick sighed, looking at him imploringly.

“Fuck the group, I don't owe ya shit. Ya left Merle on that roof to rot, so I’ll be damned if I start bowin’ down to ya now,” Daryl sneered before storming off. Rick shook his head with a sigh. This Daryl wasn't who he had grown to love like a brother, this was the old Daryl, the one he hadn't seen in a very long time. He hadn't even mentioned the whole Merle incident in so long. He didn't know why he was behaving this way all of a sudden but he didn't like it.

Daryl fumed as he made his way inside. Like fuck he was teaching that uppity bitch to use a bow so she could come with him. Deep down he knew Rick was right, they could use another hunter in the group. But the thought of her in his space like that, out in the woods there with him, it got under his skin way too much. When he was out hunting, that was his time and his alone. A chance to escape from the family he had grown to care about without wanting to. Time to just be himself. He always felt at peace out there and he wasn't about to let that bitch ruin that for him, to take the only fucking thing he had left. Over my cold dead fuckin’ body...

---------------

This one’s so weird for me now already. I miss Flames. 

:( Anyone else miss Merle? looooool

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