#it's an advantage having seen a movie a lit already because then I can do stuff parallel to it

[melancholicvampires]

Valère, did you know that you have a fan club? 💛

Do I? I was not aware some would call themselves a fan of me. It is flattering, I must admit, however I am worried your judgement is too forgiving of the grave mistakes I committed. Your heart must be full of warmth and mercy, but another deserves it more than me. But it would be wrong not to say your kind words, made me smile. Thank you very much!

[sukirichi]

total opposites

You and Toge swap bodies after encountering a fairytale curse, and similar to its origin, it also takes a fairytale method to break it.

REQUEST. body swap au + best friends to lovers

CONTENT/WARNINGS. slight crack fic, some cursing, implications of nsfw but nothing explicit, just Toge being a not-so closet pervert, usual best friend bickering, reader is fem bodied, unedited story (I should stop saying this, everyone knows I don’t edit my stuff)

NOTES. I enjoyed writing this, tysm for the request anon, this was really cute! definitely this is shooting up in one of my fav works ever (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

You stretched your arms overhead, feeling great after sleeping in. It wasn’t common of you to sleep this late, but you and Toge had gone stargazing the night before. A smile made its way to your face as you reminisced him reciting rice ball ingredients, signing that he was telling poetry to ‘match the mood’ until you’d both fallen asleep on the soft blanket atop a hill.

You don’t remember how you made it back to your room, but figured that Toge had carried you back home before the sun rose. Making a mental note to thank your best friend later, you yawned as you padded out to your room, hands rubbing in circles at your stomach.

Hopefully breakfast would be amazing today.

The door next to you opened, revealing your younger classmate, and you frowned, because wasn’t Kugisaki your next door neighbour? Well, whatever, he, Yuuji, and Kugisaki might’ve taken advantage of the rare, peaceful weekend that they probably had a movie marathon the night before.

“Morning, Megumi!” you greeted, coughing a bit when you sounded off, throat a little horse and itchy. At the sound of your voice, Megumi stilled in his tracks, eyes wide at you. His comical expression had you barking in laughter, shooting finger guns his way as you wiggled your eyebrows. “Ey, be a good dog and bark for me, will you?”

Semi-visible sonic waves drifted like waves after one another out your mouth. Megumi scowled before he froze the next second, ears perked up and backside wagging in replacement of a tail. “Woof woof!”

“What the hell?” you reeled back in slight disgust, your underclassman’s cheeks burning red. Then, your lips grazed against a soft cloth, making you look down.

You blinked back once. Twice. You were definitely...built different today. Curiously, you tugged at the zipper peaking out from your black collar, the familiar zhoop sound of the zipper burned into your memory after hearing your best friend do it countless times before.

In front of you, Megumi screeched – the most noise he’d made ever since you met him – his jaw dropped open while you – or rather Toge stood at the end of the hallway, his hands squeezing at your breasts that were still under last night’s pyjamas. You blinked back once. Then twice, steam pouring from your nose when Toge, in your body, pointed at his body. 

“Oh, oh!” your scream bounced off the hallways hard enough that Panda slammed his door open, about to tell everyone to shut up when your voice let out a high-pitched scream.

“What are you doing in my body?!”

Looking down at where Toge was pointing, you were greeted by the sight of his dark uniform and sock clad feet, your chest replaced with hard muscles instead of the soft flesh. You turned to Toge with a stupefied look that mirrored his, both of you falling on the ground with fists pounding on the hardwood floor.

“I’m a fucking girl!” he cried out, whether out of happiness or frustration, it was hard to tell.

Meanwhile, you zipped his collar back up, tugging at his off-white hair as you forced yourself to remember his limited vocabulary. “BONITO FLAKES!”

Now you understood Toge’s frustration of being a cursed speech user. 

“Bonito Flakes” definitely did not hold the same fury as “FUCK” did.

“You and I need to set down some boundaries,” you signed to him, brows pulled together. Toge seemed to be enjoying this sudden body swap a lot more than you did since he hadn’t stopped posing in the mirror the moment you pushed him back to your room, locking it shut to get some privacy. “You are not, under any circumstances, allowed to shower, do you understand?”

Toge scowled at your words, sassy as ever with his hands placed on his hips, buttocks jutted out. You hated, absolutely hated that he used your body this way because this time you couldn’t even laugh – not when seeing your body felt this awkward.

“You would really rather me stink?”

“You can’t undress too! Ever! Or if you will, your eyes better be closed. No peeking too!”

“Y/N, you and I grew up together. I’ve already seen everything,” he rolled his eyes, earning him a hard slap from the arm. Considering he was a lot more muscular than you were, your hit came a lot harder. “Ow!” he protested, rubbing the sore spot that ached, only to laugh at the sounds emitting from his lips. “Wow, I have to admit that this is really fun though. I’m actually talking,” he announced, “Hey, say salmon for me.”

“Bonito flakes!” you shook your head, “The moment Principal Yaga is back, we’re going to talk to him, okay? I don’t want to be stuck in your body any longer!”

“Please, you’re lucky you get to feel me up,” he winked at you, taking your (his) hands to flatten it on his stomach. “Come on, come on, feel my abs!” Whack. “Would you please stop slapping me? Your body is a lot more delicate than mine and my hands are – stop slapping me!”

Feeling bad for your friend and not wanting to abuse your body too much, you raised your hands in surrender with a roll of your eyes. “I can’t take you seriously with that voice. You’re too cute.”

“Complimenting ourselves now, aren’t we?” he scoffed, “Well, whatever, you are cute, especially when you’re angry. Such a shame I can’t see you do that right now because my handsome face is looking back at me.”

“I won’t hesitate to choke you, my friend.”

“You wouldn’t. You adore your body too much,” contrary to his words, Toge pulled a defensive stance. You threw a pillow at him, to which he easily dodged, clutching at the hem of your pyjamas afterwards. “Speaking of bodies, I really need to pee.”

“Hold it!”

“Are you insane? I’m not holding it, you’re going to kill us both!”

“Fine, I’ll take you to the rest room then,” you tugged at the hood of your shirt, pushing him inside the communal female restroom. Toge stood in the middle shock still, evidently flustered at the stalls and lack of urinals. You flicked a finger on his forehead, finger pointed to a stall. “Go pee. That’s my body – I need to make sure you’re not going to do anything weird with it.”

“I thought you trusted me, friend. Why would you think I’d touch you that way?”

You gave him an ‘are you serious?’ look. “You jack off every fucking night, Toge. I can hear you even from the next hallway. Plus, you’re a horny teenage male, who’s to say you wouldn’t be curious and try to see what female masturbation feels like?”

His eyes lit up at the idea, fist coming down to bounce at the palm of his hand as he nodded. “That’s actually a good idea—”

“Don’t you even dare.”

“What?!” you and Toge both exclaimed. He faced you with utter horror written on his face and you gasped, slapping both palms over your lips.

“It is true,” Principal Yaga affirmed with a grim look on his face. He’d recently got back to fetch your troublesome Gojo-Sensei who’d been caught starting a ruckus in Roponggi while women flocked around him, leading to your principal to haul his ass back to the school grounds. “Some curses are manifested through daily objects, and sometimes even through nature. That shooting star you saw was an example of that.”

“But is kissing really necessary?” Toge queried with a wary gaze sent your way.

“It’s a fairytale curse. It can only be broken through a true love’s kiss.”

“But sir, Toge and I have never dated anyone before. How can we miraculously fall in love with someone to break this curse overnight?”

“It doesn’t have to happen overnight. Sometimes, a simple crush will do,” Principal Yaga sighed, scratching his bald head with his face pulled deep in thought. “Y/N, you have a crush on Gojo-Sensei right? I’m going to kill him if he actually kisses you – and knowing that damn brat he might if you ask him – but I think a kiss on the cheek will suffice. For now, you both just have to...broaden your relationships. Maybe go out on dates.”

“I don’t mind that. In fact, I’m going to have the time of my life,” Toge cheered, his mood dampening once he saw you stiffen. “But my body is...”

Knowing full well that he’d get insecure over his lack of speech again, you glared at him hard enough that your best friend straightened up, lips puckered out in a pout as if you hadn’t just caught him talking badly about himself again when you’ve told him countless times he was perfectly fine the way he was.

It made you sigh, feeling slightly bad that until now he still couldn’t see himself the way you saw him – not that you’d ever vocalize this; Toge would never shut up (in the best way he could) if he had the slightest idea what went inside your head.

“You’re lucky you have a pretty face. Otherwise, it’s going to be impossible for anyone to like you,” you teased instead, somewhat flustered at your indirect compliment.

Toge merely scoffed at you, his gaze burning and hard, contrasting the teasing little shit grin he wore. “Oh, please, if I wasn’t the cursed speech user, I would’ve banged—”

“Kids!” Principal Yaga threw his dolls at you hard, the both of you clutching at your heads in pain. How were those dolls as heavy as rocks? “Take your bickering back to your rooms please. No more of this mess and noise. It’s late.”

You frowned at the old man, face pleading as you signed, “Principal Yaga, can’t we really do anything else? Aren’t there any techniques to undo this?”

You and Toge knew that combination so well – pitch black eyes, jaw clenched, lips pursed and palms interlaced under his chin – one that meant his words were final and irrevocable. None of you could argue or suggest more solutions the moment the words left his lips like an ultimate decree. “The technique is the kiss. Now leave.”

You and Toge tried, you both really did. 

But following Principal Yaga’s suggestion of dating others had turned out to be a complete fail – even with your normal body and Toge’s physical charisma. 

It simply didn’t work; not when Megumi ran away from you every time you tried to get him to kiss you with your arms wide open, and Toge wasn’t helping either by pushing Gojo-Sensei away from you every time the cheeky eyed teacher announced his willingness to help.

Eventually, you and your best friend had retired in his room, the scent of him coated all over his pillows and his shirt that you wore. That felt comforting, at least, and you buried yourself in the crook of your body’s neck, bodies tangled with one another.

Who knew dating could be so tiring?

A wave of irritation flashed over you from today’s events, knowing full well that this could’ve been avoided long ago. Scowling, you cuddled Toge closer, lightly flicking your fingers on your body’s chest. “This is your damn fault, Toge.”

“You were the one who asked me to stargaze with you.”

“You don’t always have to say no to everything I ask of you, you know.”

“You’re really dumber than I thought if you think I could easily say no to you,” he snorted above you, his chin resting atop your head. “I don’t have a lot of weakness because I’m a strong sorcerer—” another flick, a harsher one this time around. “Okay, okay, I’m just kidding! But I mean it though – you’re my best friend and my weakness. Of course I’d do anything to make you happy, even if it’s something as stupid as stargazing.”

“Hey!” you made a sound of protest in your throat, looking back at him with a frown. “It wasn’t stupid, it was romantic.”

Hell yeah, it was romantic indeed – your heart still skipped a beat every time you remembered Toge’s starry eyes matching the night sky’s beauty, the words salmon and mustard leaf surprisingly sexy every time it came from him. It was stupid – so fucking stupid – that you groaned into his chest to hide your flushed face.

“Yeah, I suppose it was.”

The room fell silent, your syncopated breathing soothing during this stressful times. Taking advantage of your voice, Toge began to hum, singing the songs you both had always listened to in the privacy of your room during lazy days. It brought a smile to your face as you clutched to him tighter, heart pounding in your chest as you gazed up at him, tapping his chin to get his attention. “Toge, can I say something weird?”

“Please, nothing you say surprises me anymore. Shoot.”

Your mouth began to dry as you cleared your throat in an attempt to hide your awkwardness, gaze pointedly averted from his prying ones. “You and I...we’ve known each other for a long time and we love each other. As best friends, of course.”

“Sheesh, friendzone much?”

“Would you please shut up and listen to me seriously for once?” you huffed, making him snicker, but nodded at you anyway to continue. “As I was saying – why don’t we kiss? It could be true love’s kiss.”

Toge didn’t speak for a good minute, the pregnant pause filling in the gap filled with tension. You taped his cheek, waving his hand in front of his eyes when he dazed out. When his gaze focussed back on you, Toge was surprisingly calm – although beneath that composed exterior, his mind had simply short-circuited. “If this is your way to get to make out with me, I’m going to sock you in the face.”

“Toge, I’m serious! Let’s kiss!”

“I don’t want to!” he shook his head indignantly, hiding his face by hugging you close to his chest instead.

“Why not? Don’t you want to swap back to your original body? Both of us haven’t showered in two days and I’m sick of the way you smell. You’re lucky I love you though, otherwise I’m going to cry. Come on, Toge, what’s holding you back?” you tried to fight back from his grip, but he’d surprised you both when he only squeezed you tighter, both your erratic heart rates matching the other.

“I said no.”

“Toge, it’s just a damn kiss, what’re you so afraid of?”

“I’m afraid that if we don’t swap back, then that means you don’t love me the way I love you!” he finally admitted, breathing hard before continuing. “Principal Yaga said it must be a kiss between lovers and not just platonic friends okay?” you attempted to scramble away from his arms again, and this time he let you, though he’d closed his eyes, cheek squished on the pillows as he murmured, “I don’t want you to reject me... even though I messed up already.”

“Wait,” you snapped your fingers to make him open his eyes, hesitant as you signed, “You...you love me that way?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Why not?”

“Because my face is staring back at me and it’s fucking awkward – I wanted to see your face when I confessed!” he sat up with a frustrated groan, childishly kicking off the sheets of the bed as he clutched his head in his hands. “I had everything planned, okay? Nobara and Yuuji helped me think of everything because Megumi is shit when it comes to love. Listen, I was going to ask you on a candlelit date and then maybe kiss the life out of you – if you feel the same way—”

“Kiss me.” The body he possessed a victim of his own powers, Toge was left with no choice but to grab your face before his mouth pressed against yours, fingers entangled into the other’s hair. You were smiling into the kiss the whole time, barely able to recognize when Toge had shifted your bodies until you were under him, his hands running down your sides lovingly the whole time. 

Pulling away to get some air, you opened your eyes, unsurprised when Toge laid above you, his strong arms planted beside your head.

Both of you were breathing hard from the passionate kiss filled with so much sexual tension and longing, your tongue darting out to swipe at his taste on your lips. The laughter that bubbled out of you was pure, wholesome and swollen like your heart. “I love you too, idiot.”

“Salmon!” Toge peppered your cheeks with kisses, pulling out more gleeful laughter from you, his playful and loving attacks more of a gift than a punishment. Once you’d recovered from your happiness – although really, who could recover after that? – Toge unzipped his collar, his smile nothing but wicked when he commanded, “Kiss me again.”

[norangeyyy]

Late Night HCs

Bucci Gang Edition

TW: nothing too extreme, just a little bit of hurt/comfort stuff sprinkled right here and there.

Bruno Bucciarati

► Bucciarati typically doesn't stay up late at night, he has work and would squeeze all the amount of sleep he can get on his free time.

► Unless he has a lot of things in mind.

► It doesn't matter whether it's a work-related problem, his past, a random thought, or just generally his worries about his future. It will keep him up.

► He'll definitely need someone to be an outlet but if no one's available, he'll just stare at the night sky and distract himself with the moving clouds or finish some of his work until he's too tired to think of anything.

► If you happen to be in the same situation and same place that night though, then make sure that you take care of the trust he has for you when he was at most vulnerable and he will do same with you.

► I personally headcannon Bucciarati to be the type to like those kind of conversations since i highly doubt that he has been so vulnerable in front of anyone besides Abbachio ever since he joined the mafia.

► And even then, he's mostly the one who lifts the spirits up and not the other way around since he's the leader.

► So expect to hear things and words you wouldn't expect to come from the Bucciarati you see everyday come spilling out of his mouth, it'll be a lot.

► Pat his back or better yet, give him a hug and brush his hair while doing so. He needs it a lot since he hasn't really got one after his family fell apart.

► "I feel so much better now, thank you. I'll make sure not to forget about this night. "

Leone Abbachio

► The night owl of the gang.

► Staying up until 3AM is nothing new to this man, hell, he could even go on a whole day without sleep if he has a lot of things that's bothering him.

► He's the opposite of Bucciarati, he prefers to shoulder his intrusive thoughts alone. It'd take some great amount of effort and trust to make him talk and let it out.

► What he does during those times is either using his stand to replay certain memories that could either worsen his guilt or put him at ease, or just drink until he passes out but most of the time, he does both.

► He could also be listening to some music while he does so but if he's feeling guilty for making Bucciarati concerned about his frequent drinking, then he'll just listen to music and hope that he'll fall asleep and not just keep his eyes closed until the sun rises.

► It works, kind of, but even without alcohol driving him to sleep, he'll always be tired. His sleeping schedule is seriously messed up because he never really cared about it in the first place.

► Would sometimes go out for a walk. Leone is fond of the city's peacefulness when everyone is asleep, with the only thing keeping him accompany is the cold air and the dim light of the lampposts.

► Secretly still has his police uniform and would occasionally take it out just to stare at it or talk to it in a not-so-kind of way as he sees his younger self in it.

► Gets dragged in whatever shit Narancia and the others are up to if he gets spotted. Mostly it's just for a movie night behind Bucciarati's back but Abbachio knows better and expects the unexpected when it comes to the gang.

► Knows what everyone does in late night if they're still up and has seen a lot of ungodly sights.

► Whether it be seeing a sleepy Mista and the pistols chanting a weird prayer to a bowl of cereals or Fugo being dragged out of his room by Narancia, Leone knows it.

Pannacotta Fugo

► Just like Bucciarati, Fugo rarely stays up late at night and if he does, it's usually just because he's busy.

► Fugo has hobbies like painting and reading, everyone in the gang knows that. It's just that he gets carried way too far sometimes and loses track of time.

► Who could blame him though when the book he's reading is just too interesting or the painting he's currently working on is almost done, right?

► On extremely rare occasions where something unpleasant enough to keep Fugo up at night happens, he'll bundle himself in his fluffy blanket like a butterfly in its cocoon.

► He always does this back when he's still living with his parents, it makes him feel safe from anything that's haunting him.

► And if it's neither his hobbies or problems that's keeping him up, he'll just hear Narancia whispering outside his door or Mista throwing pebbles at his window.

► For the first few times the duo did this, Fugo was still able to resist until he just can't anymore knowing that they wouldn't leave him alone all night.

► "Well, this isn't so bad. "

► He says as he enthusiastically tosses a popcorn into his mouth with his eyes glued all over the lit screen of the TV.

► Movie nights, along with sneaking out to go the nearest convenience store, became a common thing between the Torture Dance Trio™ ever since then.

Narancia Ghirga

► The type to wake up in the middle of the night and think "Hmm... Everyone's asleep, let's commit robbery tonight!"

► Fugo's sleep paralysis demon.

► Would literally not hesitate to steal chocolate bars with Mista and probably does 3AM challenges with him too.

► Never runs out of ideas to keep himself up at night and is the one who comes up with everything but what he does still depends on his mood.

► If Narancia's feeling a little too lazy then he'll just sleep and most of the time, with music keeping him accompany. But unlike Abbachio, he purposely doesn't wear headphones just to annoy Fugo whose room is right next to his.

► If he's feeling like it, he'll straight up just invite the others to watch a movie or play videogames even though Bruno has already made it clear not to use the TV after 11PM.

► But just as he likes staying up at night doing crazy things with the boys, he also uses his energy left and free time to self-study, as surprising that may sound.

► He may hate reading but he takes advantage of the fact that his brain is much active at night and he doesn't want to depend on Fugo too much. After all, he dreams on going back to school and he's more than willing to be capable enough to do so alone and pass without the other teen's help.

► Will cuddle anything that's near him while he studies but if you give him a plushie, it'll be instantly his favorite and he would definitely use it as a study buddy.

Guido Mista

► Alright, let's be honest here, this dude wouldn't even stay up if it weren't for his bros.

► 5 seconds lying on the bed and he's already knocked out for a good 10 hours if there's no work he has to do for the day. Make it 8 at weekdays thanks to his mafia-related responsibilities.

► He sleeps like a log so only a combination of shaking him up awake with Fugo and Narancia can make him rise from what seems like a two year coma but is really just a normal tuesday night.

► Will pretty much join Narancia at anything he does but since his last three brain cells are obviously still as half asleep as him, he won't be able to remember that much the next day.

► And once he's out of the room and is already sitting on the couch with the guys, Mista's the type to fall asleep halfway through the movie.

► You can't blame him though, it's 12AM and it seems that Fugo got to choose what movie they'll watch since Narancia already got to choose the other night.

► Unless they're playing videogames or are going out then he won't be acting like a slow ass PVZ zombie with a fried brain. Actually, he'll be hella active if that's the case.

► Active at grabbing every snack each second, that is.

► Actually, it's the pistols who does that but oh well, it's not like Mista's innocent too.

► "I swear it's not me who ate all of our groceries for this month! Right, guys?! It's the pistols! "

► And that, everyone, is how Guido blew their little rendezvous without even trying.

Giorno Giovanna

► There's not much to be said about this boy since just like Mista, Giorno goes to bed early as he makes sure he still gets the proper amount of sleep.

► He already has a lot of things to deal with at day so of course, by the end of it, he'll be exhausted.

► Nights before exams are excluded because although he may seem like he skips class sometimes, Giorno still knows his priorities.

► Only when he became the head of the mafia did he really started to lose sleep as great power comes with great responsibilities.

► It took a LONG time for Giorno to adjust to a lot of things cause come on, he maybe resilient but he's still a 15 year old teen.

► Not only does he have towers after towers of work but i like to imagine that he still continued his education and used some of the things he learns in class in the mafia, specifically in classes like history or geography class since as a boss, he has to know every nook and cranny of Italy.

► Not to mention that emergencies happen and he always has to be ready to give out orders, even if it means being woken up at 1AM.

► God, help this child because all the things mentioned above are just an understatement of what happens on the first few months of being in charge of Passione.

► "So this is why Diavolo looks like he's about to explode whenever something goes wrong huh. "

[caffeineghostie]

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛 - 𝐁𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

Summary: You and Bucky enjoy a special movie night together

Warnings: pure teeth-rotting fluff; weird choice of movie snacks (don't come at me, I like it)

Word Count: 846ish

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(gif isn't mine)

One joy of the 21st century was the possibility to have basically everything at the tip of your fingertips, quite literally.

Technology had advanced so much since the 40s, and now you could buy something with a click and have it delivered in the matter of hours, or you could watch an infinite number of movies from the comfort of your house.

And Bucky intended to take full advantage of it, wishing to catch up on all the hundreds of movies he had missed during the decades of his imprisonment.

And that's why you agreed on having a movie night whenever it was possible. Of course, his occupation as an Avenger would mean that he was often on a mission, but it only made your dates more special and valuable. It was one of the few moments in which you both could relax and enjoy each other's presence, and you were grateful for it.

You liked movies, and had watched your fair share too, but you were always on the hunt for some good ones to show your boyfriend.

You had already gotten through the classics. When he found out that they had made movies out of The Hobbit he lit up, and you had watched the entire trilogy in a couple of days, on an uneventful weekend.

Then of course it was the turn of the whole Lord of the Rings series, which you had never seen, so it was nice to discover it with him.

You also convinced him to binge-watch basically all Disney movies, and you swear you saw him crying while watching Coco. But of course, he would never admit it, because if Sam found out, well, Bucky would never hear the end of it.

But tonight was a special night. It was your turn to choose what to watch, and you decided to show Bucky one of your all-time favorites: The Breakfast Club.

So, after a long and busy week, you were both home, in your small apartment, takeout already eaten, everything was ready. You only needed one thing.

Movie nights with Bucky also meant loads of movie snacks and junk food. And you absolutely loved it.

While Bucky was setting up the movie in the living room, you were in the kitchen, waiting for the last pop! of the popcorn in the microwave. But no matter how careful you were, you always managed to burn it a little, and this time wasn’t an exception. You discarded some of the burnt popped kernels, but couldn’t get them all while separating them into two bowls.

“Oh well,” you thought, “it adds to the flavor”. And with that, you went into the living room.

You plopped down on the couch next to Bucky, who snatched a handful of popcorn from your bowl.

“Hey! I made two because you begged me to, so you get yours,” you handed him his bowl, “and I get mine.”

“I still can’t understand how you can mix sweet and salty like that. It should be a crime”

In effect, during the years you had refined your culinary-movie-snack taste and had created the perfect concoction: popcorn sprinkled with M&M’s and some peanut butter Reese's. That way the warmth of the kernels would heat up the chocolate of the sweets, without melting it. It was perfect.

“Excuse me for having excellent taste, you’re the one wolfing down licorice. It’s basically dirt!” you defend yourself, while getting your cozy blanket and spreading it out to cover both of you.

“Ready?” he asked you, putting one arm around your shoulder and getting the remote.

Too busy stuffing your mouth with popcorn, you murmured a muffled “Mmh-mmh”, watching the movie start on the TV.

You snuggled yourself more next to Bucky, wrapped in his scent. You could never pick out exactly what he smelled like, but to you, he felt like home, in every way possible.

Watching the opening credits of the movie you reveled in your thoughts. You wanted this moment to never end because you felt at peace. Ever since Bucky entered your life, it has only gotten better. He brought a sense of calm and stability, and you cherished every moment with him.

“Hey, you aren’t falling asleep already, are you? He asked, peeking at you. It was a legit question. You were famous for falling asleep in the middle of a movie, but it wasn’t your fault, he was just too comfortable to doze off on.

“Mh? Oh no, no. I was just thinking.” you quickly respond, blushing,

"What's going on in that pretty head of yours, hm?"

"Nothing, I just love you so much" you confess, sweetly smiling at him.

"Oh baby I love you too," he replies getting closer to you "so, so much" he adds murmuring against your lips.

His kiss is soft and sweet, and it inebriates you. You could get drunk on this alone. The movie keeps playing in front of you, but it is long forgotten the moment Bucky lifts you up on his lap.

You wish you could stay like this forever.

-----

A/N: hii hope you liked this! sorry if the snack choices weirds you out lol; also sorry for any mistakes but English is not my first language, but I'm working on it!

Taglist:

EVERYTHING BUCKY

@bbl32

[herherteartear]

blanket kick

précis— Peter's not the suave man he would hope to be in front of his crush. instead, he's a blushing mess that haunts his memories and causes him to take out his frustrations on his blanket. luckily, you prefer cherry cheeks over smooth lines any day.

pairing— Peter Parker x enhanced!maximoff!reader

a/n— this is my first standalone written story and my first time writing for marvel! i hope you guys enjoy thisss<3 i'm also open to creating drabbles to continue this if anyone's interested????! pls enjoy and pls comment and let me know ur thoughts!!!

there are many ways to describe Peter Parker, but none could ever wholly capture the true essence of the boy

besides the obvious stuff,, his intelligence , his insanely good looks , his teenage awkwardness,,

it was a hard feat to string along words to describe the way he carries himself , the way he is with others , the way his heart loves with the same ability a sponge soaks up water and soap

Peter's had crushes before

perhaps more than he'd like to admit

(can't blame the boy, who gave Ty Lee the right be that cute!?)

but when he sees her, his heart begins to swell and suddenly, he forgets how to breathe..

or how to think... talk. y'know normal human stuff

in all honesty, Peter has tried his absolute hardest to block out their first meeting from his memories

he doesn't regret meeting her, of course not! never would he even repent that embarrassingly wonderful day

he only wishes it would've gone a little differently

let's set the scene, shall we?

the sun was shining brightly, the sky was a Carolina blue, the clouds were the prettiest porcelain color, rimmed with lace

Peter was riding in an awfully silent car that Happy was driving to the airport. despite being terrified of what's to come,, the fight Mr. Stark had recruited him for,, the boy was thoroughly enjoying this adventure.

the car came to a stop, which did little for Peter's nerves. he gathered his courage before stepping out, eyes squinting at the brightness of the yellow sun. once his eyes adjusted, they landed on the prettiest head of hair he had ever seen

(although he did think the same for Hermione Granger)

Peter had never been on a plane before that day. but even then, his sparkling eyes stayed trained on her,, completely ignoring the brilliant private jet behind her

"oh? Happy, i thought it was just us?" her voice made Peter's ears burn. he swallowed thickly. you blinked at Peter, curious but also intrigued , you smiled.

to which Peter choked. on air. your eyebrows furrowed in worry.

"a-are you okay?"

"god, kid, get ahold of yourself."

"i-i'm okay! it's– i'm– i'm fine!" Peter quickly stuttered out.

"well, Yn, this is– uh,, what's your name again?" Happy turned towards the boy who's cheeks were now redder than a firetruck.

"oh! i'm Peter– Peter Parker. it's nice to meet you- not that i don't know you. well i don't, y'know not personally. but like from the news.. not that i believe the news! they're awful to you, but i mean i guess i do sometimes– but never about what they say about you–"

"i'm Yn Maximoff. it's nice to meet you too, Peter." you cut him off before Happy strangled the cute boy. you had an amused smile

he was cute

finally getting on the plane, Peter had hoped he would be able to sit far away from you and wallow in his embarrassment,

maybe sneak a glance or two.. imagine a couple of scenarios where he wasn't a doofus,

but that's not quite what happened.

after witnessing just how much the new kids was able to ramble,, Happy was not about to spend a whole ass plane ride remotely close to him

so he took it upon himself to make the kiddies sit together.. much to Peter's dismay.

like!!? did Happy not see how Peter crashed and burned in font of you?!

you, on the other hand,, had the opposite reaction.

being the youngest avenger, you don't get to be around people your age too much,, which isn't something you're complaining about!!

you totally made the decision to be an avenger and you happily welcomed the consequences..

that didn't mean you didn't get lonely at times. especially now with the accords and the team breaking up., things got a whole lot more lonely

your sister, Wanda, had made her choice to leave the compound. you completely understood why, but a part of you had hoped she would've taken you with her

although, staying at the compound did ensure your safety.

it was a weird time for the avenger's , it felt wrong for you to say some of your teammates were criminals

it left a sour taste in your mouth

you glanced from the window seat to see Peter nervously wringing his fingers. you frowned.

"are you okay?" you asked, gently. Peter's eyes widened and his heart jumped to his throat. he wanted to say something, something cool or aloof, something that would make up for his ranting earlier

"i've never been on a plane before." Peter squeaked out. he dropped his shoulders, rolling his eyes at himself. that was the highest pitch he had ever heard his voice. you took in his clearly anxious posture.

"lets switch seats? maybe looking out the window will help you." you stated. before Peter could quickly shake his head, because how rude would it be of him to take your seat?, you were already stood up.

"oh god!" Peter breathed. he quickly shifted over to the seat you once occupied. he wanted to put up more of a fight, but the way you were swaying due to the turbulence, made his palms sweat in fear for your safety.

"you, like, swing from buildings and stuff, right?" you asked. he turned to you with a nod. "are you afraid of heights? or do you just not like planes?"

oh god. oh. no. you thought– you thought he was scared of being on the plane. Peter wanted to shrink in a hole and hide. you probably thought he was such a baby! that he could handle swinging from hundreds of feet in the air, but a plane is where he drew the line?

but what else is he supposed to say? 'oh, no! it's not the plane I'm scared of. it's just your beautiful smile and the way you smell like cocoa that gets me sweating'

wtf.

that was so wrong in so many ways.

"um, no, no. i'm okay, just– just a little nervous, is all." Peter tried to force out a chuckle. but it come out more like a cough. you mouth formed an 'o.'

"ohh, okay." you paused before your eyes lit up. "how about we play a game? to distract you?"

"o– okay.."

"can you talk with spiders?" Peter lifted his eyes from looking at his hands hovering above yours,; he let out a much more relaxed laugh than earlier.

you took advantage of his distraction to swiftly bring your palm from underneath his and slap the top of Peter's hand. he jumped.

"ouch!" he playfully pouted. you eyes glanced down at his lips. you giggled nervously. your hand went to hover over his, him now being the one to do the slapping. "of course i can't talk to spiders! i– i feel like i should probably be able to shape-shift into a spider in order for that to happen, y'know?"

you nodded thoughtfully. "that's true.. you didn't hear this from me, but i heard there's an Ant-Man going around." Peter looked at you with wide eyes.

"no way! that's crazy! does he like turn into an ant?" you bumped his hand with yours in order to get his attention back to the game. his hand burned at the feeling

"i don't know-" you said in a singsong tone. "it's just what's being said around the compound." you quickly slid your hands to avoid Peter's attack. he huffed.

"how are you so good at this?" he knitted his eyebrows to focus on how to attack quickly without hurting you.

"it's a game i used to play with my brother and sister." you answered. Peter finally took his chance to slap your hands, to which you squealed excitedly as you had tried to move in time. Peter and you fell into a fit of giggles.

you both leaned against your seats, still facing each other. your hands fell on top of Peter's.

the brown haired boy quickly slid his hand out from under yours, not because he didn't enjoy the contact, but because he was worried you'd feel how clammy his hands were

you frowned slightly at the loss of contact.

"a– are we really fighting your sister?" Peter wondered out loud, without a second thought.

you shifted uncomfortably. Peter quickly noticed; his heart sped up and he mentally scolded himself for being so inconsiderate.

"not because i think she's evil! i mean,, i know that's what the news says.. but they also think Spider-Man's like thirty. and i'm not thirty! its just everything's crazy right now.. with the accords., i can't even imagine how you're feeling! probably terrible.. oh, g od wait, not terrible, i'm s–"

you had been watching with an endearing look in your eye. you had come to find that you enjoy watching Peter ramble.

his eyes would become unsettled and shaky, his body would begin to become more and more animated, but his voice

gosh, his voice was something you wanted to listen to for the rest of your life

but you could tell he was getting more and more skittish. so you put him out of his misery

"terrible probably wouldn't be my go-to word, it's up there though.. at least i got to meet you." you smiled softly.

Peter's eyes ran over your soft features. night had fallen, so the windows of the plan displayed an almost picturesque display of the moon and stars. the light hue of color the moon provided painted your face in a way that clouded Peter's thoughts.

with your comment of being grateful to have met him, Peter wasn't in control of his mouth for much longer.

"so pretty." he breathed. both of you guys froze.

Peter's face quickly morphed from love-sick to mortified. you blushed violently.

deciding you didn't want Peter to fall into another rant-like apology (because if you got to listen to him talk for that long in this setting, you might just drop the 'L' word) , you said,

"let's watch a movie?"

the two of you sat, shoulder to shoulder, watching Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World, but being too hyper aware of their thighs pressed together and brushing hands to actually pay attention

upon arrival, both teenagers walked off the plane, sleep deprived , but with thumping hearts and dazed grins.

Peter threw himself on his hotel bed that night,, hiding under the covers

his thoughts replayed your interaction over and over (and over and over) in his head

the boy shoved his head, face first, into the stiff hotel pillow and let out a muffled groan

Peter flipped himself over, stared at the ceiling, before remembering his spouts of unnecessarily long explanations

he thrashed his body, kicking his poor blanket in frustration but most of all, out of embarrassment

he calmed himself down once his memories refreshed themselves over your gentle giggles and how soft your hands were

Peter fell asleep with cherry red cheeks and a blissful grin.

because despite those small mess ups, despite the futile way he beat his covers in humiliation, Peter treasures that day like no other.

[novawrights]

When Home Finds You

Plot- Reader remembers a darker time in her life before coming to Lady Dimitrescu's castle, Lady Dimitrescu shows her the home she's been searching for.

TRIGGER WARNING FOR PAST SELF HARM/DEPRESSION.

I sat in the library looking at the calendar on the wall. You would think a timeless vampire wouldn't need one but from what her daughters said, it was a recent thing when you had arrived a few months ago because they hadn't seen one before. So you took advantage of keeping track of each important date. Birthdays, special things they celebrated or treasured, even your birthday, all written in with flowing cursive writing. But one specific day was just a dot. They all shrugged when they saw it thinking it meant nothing but to you, it meant everything. My thumb subconsciously stroked my upper left thigh where thin scars crisscrossed across the fair skin. Most of my life I have felt alone, an apartment in the States that only held the essentials like clothes; basically a place to eat and sleep while I went to my job as a waitress and came home with no one to tell my day to, gossip with or have girls or friends nights. Early on I drifted apart from friends and the moment my so called accepting  family figured out I was were more into women they swiftly and cruelly disowned me. That's when I became best friends with a silver razor blade. Four years of cutting any piece of skin that could be hidden, becoming an expert in covering and tending to wounds, but three years ago, I forced myself to stop. I was then pulled from my thoughts when the big, oak doors opened and revealed Lady Dimitrescu. Or as I somehow got away with calling her, Alcina. Neither of you knew how it started or why she let's it be when the first moment a maid says it, her golden eyes flash with the fury of lightening in a thunderstorm.

"What are you doing in here all by your lonesome?" She asked, voice laced with concern that her eyes mirrored. I shrugged not taking my eyes off the calendar with today's date being the anniversary when you stopped cutting.

"Thinking about how I got here." I murmured. It wasn't a lie. Had I been left to my thoughts any longer I would have eventually made it to the day I showed up on her doorstep soaking wet and damn near hypothermic. She hummed as she sat in the chair next to me and placed a tray with two tea cups on it. Probably the one drink I had ever seen her drink without any blood in it.

"A strange day indeed. My daughter's usually devour any intruders immediately but for some reason they were definitely part of the argument to keep you alive." Her voice smooth with agreement with a hint of a smile and I chuckled in response.

"Oh yeah?" I teased as I looked over in her direction. While she was this tall, incredible and powerful woman, the soft spot she only had for her daughters, now extended to me. She met my gaze, golden irises meeting my steel gray with the softness only so few saw.

"I'm not one to believe in fate. I've lived far too long to really give it credit should anything good, or bad, come my way. But you took that belief and stomped all over it." She sighed as she turned her gaze into the fire I had long forgotten I lit. "Now I know I promised to give you privacy with your thoughts, but something is bothering you enough I can feel the storm cloud from my chambers across the castle." I sighed knowing she wasn't going to let this go. It was weird she had offered me who ended up agreeing to be a maid, privacy. Especially so soon.

"Several years ago things kind of fell apart. Family disowned me and friends drifted apart so I was literally coming home to an empty apartment every day after work." I started as I took the teacup from her hand and took a sip, letting the apple cinnamon flavor warm me. I could feel her eyes fall on me as she mirrored my action with her own tea. "When you get lonely, you don't always have the best coping mechanisms. Mine, was self destructive. Easy to conceal and no one would know since I never wore shorts or went out to the beach or wore dresses when I went to a club." I snorted before taking another sip. "Extremely glad I hadn't known you or the girls then." I added as a whisper as I turned my gaze to her. Her eyes darted across my face as if she was trying find the answer without me saying it. It was only until her eyes widened a moment later that I knew she figured it out. "You would have eaten me alive." She coughed. Not the best time to throw a suggestive joke like that but the line we danced across between attraction and a degree of softness reserved for lovers, was always front and center of my mind.

"We would have." She agreed softly. I looked at the calendar and gestured with my chin.

"That dot next to today's date, is the day I forced myself not to cut myself anymore. The day I threw out my razor blades."

"How long?"

"Three years self harm free." She didn't say anything and I heard the rustle of her white dress as she moved. I felt a twinge of fear squeeze my heart. Would she kick me out? Mock me? Strip me of my clothes and humiliate me that I wasn't strong enough? But to my surprise, a black glove and white sleeve entered my peripheral vision. I looked up and blinked away the tears that I hadn't realize were popping up.

"Come, my dear." She whispered. I wiped my eyes and took her hand as she led me from the library. It didn't take me long to realize she was leading me to her chambers.

"Al..." I murmured. She sent me a small smile as she opened the doors to her room, before leading me to the room where her bath was held. It always reminded me of a in ground pool for how big it was but also since it was indeed, in the ground surrounded by black tile.

"Get in." She gestured. I looked and saw it was already filled, the room smelled of lavender and the water still warm by the steam rising from it. I was thankful she turned away so I could have some modesty left since this was a boundary we hadn't come close to breaching. I stepped into the water and nearly moaned at the warm feel of it on my skin. When I got completely in I sat on the little ledge as she walked towards it.

"Tonight is about you. Because not only am I glad you had some impulse to travel, and travel here of all places and your car to break down in the middle of a storm, I'm also glad you've gotten over whatever life has thrown you. Even if there were a couple roadblocks in the way." I nearly teared up as she knelt on the tile and grabbed a purple bottle. She tapped my head as a non verbal cue to wet my hair, which I complied with, before resurfacing where my head my her hands with shampoo already lathered and ready to be coaxed into my brown hair. My eyes fluttered shut and a moan escaped me as I let myself relax and surrender to her fingers. Even when I felt like it was enough, she kept going.

"Times like this I wish I had my music. Even if you guy don't have electronics, most of my bands do vinyls still so a turntable would work." I sighed.

"I'll see what I can do, my sweet." The pet names were becoming more frequent these days, not that I was complaining. Another tap a few moments later for me to rinse out my hair of the sweet smelling shampoo and I couldn't help but enjoy the domestic intimacy between us. After rinsing my hair and feeling more relaxed than I had that day, I felt like my head was a little clearer and the storm cloud had gone away. She reached around and stroked my cheek.

"Dry off and meet me in my room." She whispered. I blinked as she practically glided out of the room before standing. I took one of the big fluffy towels she used and towel dried my hair as much as I could, and dried my body off. I noticed a pair of my old running shorts and a tank top waiting for me to change into. I ignored the blush creeping up my neck seeing a pair of underwear laying with it.

After changing I walked out of the room to see her in front of her fireplace with a silver goblet with her blood laced wine with another with plain red wine that I liked. I took a seat on the sinfully comfortable, crimson red couch next to her.

"I've felt this draw to you since you arrived. It's why the tasks I gave you kept you closer to me and report to me instead of anyone else. It's why I've done so much more for you as a maid compared to everyone else that has walked through these halls." She started. "If my instincts are correct, you feel the same or follow the same trail of thouught." Lady Alcina, the one who seems impossible to fluster or look unsure, cast this vulnerable air around her; and it surprised me. I swallowed knowing there was no way out of this conversation.

"I-I-I do." I stammered. I looked up at her and met teary eyes filled with love, adoration, compassion and genuine happiness.

"Fate does seem to come into play sometimes." She murmured before she leaned in where her wine red lips met mine. I'm not one to use cheesy movie clichés, but this kiss felt like I was home and complete in a way I thought was just a cruel joke for me. I felt her hand softly touch my thigh where the spandex had ridden up and a few scars where revealed. Pale lines that were almost invisible gleamed in the fire light. When she pulled away from the gentle kiss, her eyes flickered toward them, almost as if she knew my panicked trail of thought was going.

"You are so beautiful, my love. No scar, bruise, wound or anything will ever make me think otherwise." She assured me as her thumb caressed them much like mine had done just a while ago.

"But most of all," she continued, "You're home.

With me and my daughters. " I hadn't realized how much her words would mean to me until I felt tears falling in rapid succession that she brushed them away before pulling me towards her chest. There was one thing I had been hoping to find and I found it in the arms of Lady Alcina.

[ecliptsukki]

a turned spirit ❧ bakugou katsuki / ground zero

navigation | music

➣ genre: angst

➣ warnings: villian!baku, unrequited love

➣ request: bakugou Is fighting the reader and the reader Kiss him to distract him to escape ( Sidenote have you ever watch Jennifers body

➣ a/n: hi, anon! unfortunately, i’ve never watched jennifer’s body but i have seen a few scenes before. if your request is correlated to the movie, i’m so sorry if the fic doesn’t turn out the way you want :((( also! since bakubro’s birthday is today (in the us), i decided to write a fic for him and so i saw this request! i tried to post it yesterday, but i got occupied with homework :/// if the center of the fic sounds like word spew, it probably is because it spaced out in the middle of writing it lmao. i promise i will work on the other requests waiting in my inbox, i just need time. thank you and enjoy!!!

Sirens were going off throughout the city; dark clouds of smoke wafted in the air. Some citizens were being calmly evacuated to a safer location, whereas others were watching the pro heroes fight the villain. 

A loud boom echoed through the streets of the city, attracting everyone’s attention. A flash of orange flames lit up the sky, followed by a hoarse shout. 

You would’ve recognized that voice anywhere, be it in your sleep or in a loud, crowded room. 

Oh how you wished you had Deku with you as of now.

“Happy birthday, Bakugou!” You and your classmates jumped out of their hiding spots, surprising the hot-headed peer.

He gave the group of you an unimpressed stare, hands shoved in the pockets of his low-waisted pants. The blonde gave the decorated room a once over before grunting a quiet thanks of appreciation.

“No need to be such a tsundere, Baku-bro,” Kaminari chirped, nudging Bakugou with his shoulder.

“Fuck off, Pikachu,” the black-clothing-clad boy grumbled.

“Cheer up, Bakugou! It’s your birthday, and everyone here set this up for you!” Kirishima placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder.

Everyone else in the class had began to roam the snack table or dance with each other to Jirou’s live music. You, on the other hand, held a neatly wrapped gift in your arms, collecting the courage to approach and give Bakugou the gift yourself.

Watching as the blonde sat himself onto the plush cushions of the common room’s couch, your feet carried you over to him, forcing you into one reality.

“What do you want?” His gruff voice spoke, staring at your frozen figure.

Lips trembling, you decided your actions would speak louder than your words, at the moment. Your arm stuck out, handing the gift to Bakugou. He looked at you, then the gift, gently grabbing the box away from you.

“Thanks,” he mumbled.

Internally panicking, you simply nod and hum, eyes focused on your feet. You scurry away as soon as you could, attempting to hide the obvious blush on your cheeks.

Unbeknownst to you, Bakugou was watching your frantic figure gather some water to cool yourself down. 

Cute, he thought, looking down at the custom-made, Ground Zero wrapping paper you used for his gift.

The sound of explosions neared you and the other pro heroes. Some heroes were too injured to fight or were helping the police escort the citizens away faster. Coincidentally, you were the only one who could fight. Luckily, unlike the other heroes, you already had experience fighting the inevitable explosion man.

“Go! Take them as far from here as possible. I’ll try to hold him back,” you shouted at the escapees and your fellow heroes.

You ran forward, closing in on the sound of explosions. You caught a glimpse of the smoke and orange flames and moved to get in closer range of them.

Once you could see the muscular man shooting through the sky, you activated your quirk, attracting his attention to you.

“Well if it isn’t my least favorite UA girl,” his voice echoed down the street.

“Bakugou,” you spoke in a low tone.

“How’s it going, L/N? I see you’re one of the top pro heroes now,” he smirks, little sparks lighting from his palms.

“You could’ve been one too,” you responded, ignoring his question.

“Yeah, I could’ve, but why tie myself down to boring rules?” 

The two of you were walking in circles, neither one willing to turn their backs.

“What about your dream of being stronger and better than All Might?” You brought up his childhood dream, hoping to draw out more time.

“Can’t you see? I am better than All Might. My power is unlimited,” he cackled.

You gulped, frowning at the man ahead of you. His appearance didn’t change much in comparison to when he was a high schooler. Now, he was the shell of someone you had fallen for once.

Scoffing, he spoke, “As much as I’d like to let you stall more time, I’ve got some people to show my power to.”

Seeing as he was ready to boost himself away, you ran towards him, grabbing his arm and trying to pin him to the floor. You wrapped your legs around his waist, legs coming down from behind him, knocking his knees down. Since he was on his knees, you swung yourself around him and pushed him onto his chest, cheek squashed against the floor. You pulled both his arms back, trying to pry his grenade gauntlet off of him.

With you straddling his back, you could feel him chuckle from underneath you, “You really think you can take those off? They were designed so that only I could take them off on my own accord.”

You ignored him, straining to pull of the big and heavy items. It was like taking them off would release him from some imaginary spell you thought up in your mind, like it would liberate your chained heart and he would come back.

Bakugou could feel your efforts beginning to weaken and took the opportunity to his advantage. With a slight roll of his shoulder, he managed to use the gauntlet’s weight to escape your grasp.

With you stuck in a heartbroken haze, you were too late to realize the villain overpowering you until you were the one under him. You stared into his scintillating ruby eyes, searching for even a fraction of the classmate you had mourned over losing. Tears pricked your own E/C eyes, spilling down your flushed cheeks.

For a moment, the blonde’s aggressive façade had faltered, his eyes quivering at the sight of your tear-stained cheeks. It was only when he heard the sound of a building collapsing on its weak infrastructure did he warn you once more.

“I suggest you get out of here before I have to hurt you,” he growled lowly, dismissing the bitter taste the words had left in his mouth.

Your mind was telling your body to move, to get up and fight, but your heart was telling you to stay, forcing you to gaze at his complexion much too long.

“No,” you whimpered, unconsciously. Your head shook, hand grabbing onto one of the man’s large wrist that was pinning you down. “Come back. I can- We can help you.” 

You were at your wits end, fighting against a once potential number one pro hero and an unrequited love. 

He harshly ripped himself out of your grasp, spitting out, “I don’t need your help.”

That was enough for you to accept the reality of the situation. Bakugou Katsuki was long gone; Ground Zero was no longer a hero. You must protect this beloved city and its people.

Glancing at the big city hall clock, you realize you’d stalled just about the perfect amount of time for the citizens to escape, meaning all you needed to do was hold Ground Zero back a little longer to ensure he wouldn’t locate the safe house.

Running full speed at the man ahead of you, you dropped to your side, sliding between his legs and flipping up to kick him to the floor. You could hear him elicit a dark chuckle before turning over and firing his blast at you. Fortunately, you were able to hop off of him and put some distance between the two of you.

You knew both close combat and long-range combat wouldn’t work on him. He was fully equipped when it came to his quirk. You, on the other hand, preferred to depend on your combat skills, and unlike Deku, your quirk didn’t increase the amount of force or strength in your attacks.

While you were busy thinking up a plan of escape, you felt your phone vibrate in its compartment in your bodysuit. Bakugou must’ve noticed your relaxed disposition because he began to charge at you, attacking you on all sides, leaving you trapped dodging his explosions.

“I guess some measly pro hero could be a good reward to bring back in replace of their lives,” he shouted, hands bombarding your space.

Your state of mind was panicked. You didn’t know how you were going to beat him, let alone escape. Only one idea popped in your head at that moment, and oh, how you despised it. Your thoughts screamed: “It’s not going to work!” “That only works in cliches!” “Oh my god, are you stupid?” Nevertheless, you had no other plans, no other ideas.

Finding a convenient opening, you leaned in smashing your lips against his, causing him to immediately freeze in his spot. The pink, cracked lips pressed against yours felt like it was out of a fantasy. No, his lips weren’t perfect and soft like a prince in shining armor’s, but his were with meaning: a tragic story made of his life that led to that exact moment.

Pulling away, you spared him one last glance before running out of his sight. He didn’t chase after you. He couldn’t because he knew if he did, he wouldn’t want to leave your side ever again, but he didn’t want the tied down life of a “savior” or a “hero.” Besides, there’s no way he would be accepted as a hero and let roam freely after all the chaos and havoc he’d caused.

Once a villain, always a villain... at least that was what society believed.

The two of you had different destinies with the lines of dark and light. Alas, there was no in between for you to share and no way to turn back the tables called time.

[houseof-harry]

Christmas Miracle | G.D.

A/N - anddddddd I’m back! Idk why, but I thought it was necessary for us to have a cheesy ass, Hallmark ass one shot that is filled with all the fluff and cuteness. So I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday moment and you enjoy the disgusting fluff I’m offering up

Word Count - 7.4k

Summary - Christmas in New York can be seen in one of two ways. It’s the most magical time of the year, snow falling, lights glimmering, joy rampant in the air. Or, the influx of tourists and people trying to sell you things ruins the entire month of December. Y/n tends to lean towards the latter. That is, until she get’s her Christmas miracle.

***

Your friends were lucky you loved them.

When they had first brought up the idea of you showing them around New York City during one of the most popular times of the year for tourism, you shut them down immediately. The holidays were difficult enough without leading around a group of lost puppies who would be acting like they had never seen Christmas lights before.

But they were convincing people, and were quick to offer you the many ways in which they could brighten your few weeks at home and possibly even change your view of the last few weeks of the year.

So, as you balanced finals and all of your other responsibilities as the semester came to an end, you and your friends planned out a trip through NYC that could honestly make a pretty decent Hallmark movie. They even convinced you to spend New Years in Time Square, despite your continued protest. You never saw the appeal of being packed into small gated areas for hours with a bunch of strangers to watch a ball drop, but they claimed that it was necessary to get the full experience. You also bargained that you would get to pick where spring break was if you went through with all of their plans.

You never liked feeling like Scrooge, but the holidays never brought positive memories back for you. Everything felt somewhat fraudulent to you. Fake smiles, meaningless gifts, ignoring the happenings of the rest of the year to act as though family was more important than anything, everyone suddenly devout Christians. You were a big advocate of always being true to who you are, and how you feel, year round. Not just when it is socially expected to do so in some performative, public way that puts up the facade that your life couldn’t be better.

You hoped your friends were right, that they could change the way you felt about the holidays. That maybe it would somehow feel more genuine with them.

So far, they've had some almost successful attempts. You indulged in gingerbread cookies, wore your fluffy winter jacket as you walked around with them to shop for your secret santa. You could even feel a bit of excitement as you picked out the perfect gift for Gia. She’d always say how much she loved leather watches, that she hoped to be able to afford one after graduation to wear to her first job. The smooth brown band you picked out earlier in Saks sat safely in your bag as you led everyone to one of the main attractions of their visit.

Soon enough, the massive, lit up tree came into view.

“Welcome to Rockefeller Center,” you announce as you turn to face everyone, hands held out as you watch them marvel at the scene in front of them, a scene they’ve only seen through screens.

“Wow,” Colin mutters under his breath. You swear you can see the lights from behind you twinkling in their eyes, and you can understand better why they wanted to come on this trip. Maybe you had become a bit numb to the Christmas happenings of the city after so many years of being around it. The obvious wonder on everyone’s faces made you wish you could see the tree for the first time all over again.

You turn to walk forward, afraid of bumping into the swarms of people that stand between you and the tree. As you do so, you feel Gia’s arm wrap around your shoulder to fall in step next to you.

“I knew we’d be able to get a smile on your face,” she teases as her free hand comes to your face to squeeze your cheeks.

You chuckle, wrapping your arm around her waist to keep her close as you squeeze your way through the crowd to get closer to the tree. “Just because I hate the holidays, doesn’t mean I don’t like seeing you guys happy. Even if it’s for a stupid tree.”

“It’s not stupid and you know it.”

You let out a dramatic sigh, your rebuttal interrupted when you hear a squeal from behind you.

“We need a family picture in front of it!”

You turn around at Jo’s request to see her already getting her camera out from under her jacket.

“Here, I’ll take some,” you offer, holding your hand out.

“But then you won’t be in it,” she pouts.

“I have so many pictures of myself in front of this tree, I don’t need any more.”

She huffs, but knows you’re too stubborn to change your mind. She turns back to your group, who now stand in front of you, positioning everyone next to each other.

You bring the camera up to your face, making sure to get everyone in the frame, along with the tree. You start taking pictures of your friends, and you can’t stop the smile that spread across your face as you watch them genuinely enjoy the moment.

“I can take pictures of all of you if you want,” a gruff voice comes from your left, and your attention goes from the camera to the person standing close to you now.

Your eyes have to drag up from the man’s chest, him having a significant height advantage over you. He has a five o’clock shadow that covers his chin, a sharp jawline underneath. His smile shows off his white teeth, that same smile causing the corners of his eyes to wrinkle. Those same warm eyes are looking at you still, waiting for a response.

“Uh, I don’t-”

“Yes!” Jo responds for you, swinging her hand at the two of you standing there.

He holds his hands out, and you carefully place the expensive camera in his hands.

“Don’t drop it.”

He nods at your command as he inspects the buttons.

“Or steal it.”

This breaks his attention from the camera, his smile spreading wider as he chuckles. “I won’t.”

You let out a huff as you nod once, crossing your arms and turning to walk to your friends. You go to the end of the line, tucking yourself under Colin’s arm.

“Don’t drool all over me.”

You scoff, looking up at him. “What?”

“You’ve got heart eyes for our photographer, I’m surprised you couldn’t feel your jaw dragging on the floor as you came over here.”

“Shut up,” you mumble, hitting his chest as he laughs at you.

“Stop talking and smile!” Jo chastises, and you listen in the hopes of Colin dropping it.

You look back at the man who has the camera, and feel your cheeks blush as you make eye contact with him. You opt to look at the camera instead, trying to forget the fact that his eyes were undeniably on you.

He snaps a bunch of pictures of you guys, and as the mom friends Jo even made you do what she deems a “silly” one.

Once Jo is satisfied, she runs up to him, grabbing the camera with a quick and uninterested ‘thanks’ as she immediately starts scrolling through the pictures. Everyone gathers around, laughing and pointing at each other on the tiny screen.

“Thank you,” you say, standing next to him as you watch your friends leaning over Jo’s shoulder.

“No problem,” he smiles, also watching your group. “I hope they’re good enough for a Christmas card.”

You laugh, probably too loudly for how lame of a comment it was, but he seems to appreciate it.

You shake your head. “Knowing Jo, I’ll have an entire book of pictures by the end of this that she’ll insist I keep on my coffee table the rest of my life.”

He chuckles, his hands sliding into the pockets of his jacket. He’s got a beanie covering his ears, and you can’t help but notice he looks better in it than you ever could.

“It’s nice having friends that feel like family. I’m glad you get to have them around for the holidays.”

It’s weird how that comment seems to sit with you. He knows nothing about you, but he’s right. How he knew you needed to hear that, you don’t know.

“Yeah,” you nod, biting your lip as you take in a breath through your nose to ground yourself. “Thanks again, uh…”

“Grayson.” One of his hands leaves his pockets, hanging in the air between the two of you. You take it, letting his fingers fold around your own hand. His skin is warm against yours, a nice change to the cool winds that have been gusting around you the entire day.

He raises his brow at you, and for a second you don’t know what he wants. He keeps your hand engulfed in his, and it hits you that he’s waiting to hear your name.

“Y/N.”

“Y/N,” he says, almost testing it out as he lets your hand drop. “I like that.”

You giggle, your cheeks blushing as you realize the involuntary reactions he’s pulling from you. You’re not a giggler.

“Yo Gray!” Another deep voice comes from over your shoulder, and you turn to see someone who could be a clone of the man standing in front of you. “We gotta go.”

You’re not sure if you make up the sigh you think you hear come from his lips, hoping he was disappointed he had to leave, too.

“I hope you like the pictures.”

And as suddenly as he had appeared next to you, you were watching him jog over back to his own group of people as they disappeared behind the crowd.

“Don’t worry,” Colin’s grip was on your shoulder again as he stepped next to you. “Love is in the air this Christmas season. If it’s not him, it’s someone.”

“I’m Jewish.”

“And Christmas is barely about being Christian anymore. Everyone gets some Christmas joy.”

“Yeah, whatever,” you shake your head, leaning into him a bit. You appreciated his positivity, despite your pessimism. If Christmas miracles were real, your life would have played out very differently.

***

Cold.

That was all you could feel, think, see.

After your adventure at the tree, you planned to go ice skating. You had to, according to Jo. It would be a waste to be there and not go.

When you tried to get out of it, claiming to want to keep Kam company seeing as he had an ankle injury and couldn’t skate, everyone including Kam called you on your shit and made you get out on the ice.

Which you were pretty sure they were regretting now.

You’d never been confident on the ice, only skating a few times in your life. You couldn’t leave the edge, holding onto the side for dear life as you moved slowly around the rink. Your friends took shifts staying with you the rest skating at a more reasonable pace as they continued to lap you.

That is, until Colin and Gia start arguing about who’s better and decide to race, Jo trailing behind them to make sure they don’t knock any children down.

Despite your tight grip on the wall, without the help of your friends your balance fails you and before you knew what was happening, your feet were flailing beneath you. You’re surprised the ice didn’t crack as you fell, your body colliding with the cold, hard ice as your hand trailed down the wall.

You laid there a moment, partially in shame but mainly from the exhaustion of trying to keep yourself upright. You only open your eyes when you hear a chuckle from above you. When you do open them, however, you’re met with an unexpected sight.

“You alright?”

That same charming smile was looking down at you, Grayson’s hand held out in front of him in an offer to help you up.

You scramble to sit up, taking his hand, the other going to the ice as you start to slowly stand up. What you don’t expect is the amount of force he would use to help you, feeling the tug on your arm as he quickly gets you back to your feet.

It’s so quick that you can’t seem to get your footing, your skates scrambling on the slick ice again. Before you can take another tumble, though, his hand is leaving yours as you feel his grip on your waist. He manages to steady you, your palms resting on his chest to do your best to stay still for a moment. Your breathing is a bit jagged as you try to collect your thoughts, your brain jumbled from the events of the past minute, the close proximity to Grayson not helping.

“Uh.” Your mind is racing a mile a minute in order to catch up to where you were right now. Still against Grayson’s body, his face close to yours with a concerned look. His eyes seem to be tracking your own expressions as he tries to figure out if you’re hurt. “Yeah, think I’m good.”

You lean back against the wall, and he takes it as a sign to let go of you. Despite your multiple layers that separated your skin from his hands, you somehow feel a bit colder without him touching you.

“Bit of a hard fall there.”

“Yeah,” you chuckle, nodding your head as you flush, realizing he saw the whole thing happen. “I’m not the best skater.”

“Interested in a lesson?” He holds his hand out to you.

You raise your brow, not moving from the safety of the wall. “You want to teach me?”

“Yeah, Y/N.”

You’re not sure why hearing your name from his mouth unprompted affected you so much, but you felt almost as if you were in a trance. It was like you couldn’t control yourself anymore, your hand falling easily into his.

“Why?”

For the first time since you met him, Grayson seemed to be a bit flustered. “I, uh, think it’s important everyone knows how to skate. It’s definitely a life skill,” he justifies, nodding and pursing his lips. “Plus, I used to play hockey. So I know what I’m doing.”

“I’m not looking to learn how to body someone on ice.”

His laughter is loud as he leans forward a bit, his body closer to yours once again. His grip on your hand tightens, and it’s suddenly hard to believe you’ve gone your whole life without hearing him laugh. You can’t help your own laughter that falls from your lips in response to him, your eyes unable to leave his face.

“I’m just gonna teach you how to not fall,” he reassures through his smile. “I’ve seen people get seriously hurt falling.”

The reminder of possible injuries not only makes you aware of the dull ache you were feeling from your most recent fall, but also of the fact you were far away from the door of the rink.

Grayson notices the change in your attitude, his smile quickly fading. “Or I can just help you off the ice.”

His voice brings you back to reality as you take in a breath and look up at him. Despite the fear bubbling inside of you, the tendinitis in your joints screaming for you to stop, you can’t help but think about what Colin said before. Maybe this was your Christmas miracle.

“No, you’re right. It’s totally a life skill.”

The corners of his mouth turn up as nods before situating himself sideways next to you. “Alright, first things first you gotta remember to bend your knees.”

You uneasily push your body off the wall, your hand still gripping it. “Actually, first things first I have to turn the right direction.”

He chuckles and nods, standing there expectantly. You realize he’s waiting for you to do it yourself.

“I don’t know how.”

“Oh.” He switches his hands so you’re holding one farther from you. His now free arm reaches around your waist. “Can I?”

You nod, and you feel his firm grip on you once again. As soon as he starts to maneuver you, you squeal, tightening your hand on his as your other flies from the wall to cover his grip on your jacket.

“Sorry,” you mumble. “I’m not usually such a little bitch.”

He laughs, and that’s when you realize how close you are again. You can feel his warm breath on the side of your face, and you can’t bring yourself to look at him in fear of totally freezing from making eye contact. You can’t remember the last time someone made you feel so nervous yet so comfortable at the same time.

“You’re not a little bitch, you’re just getting used to the ice. You’ll be lapping me in no time.”

It’s your turn to laugh as you shake your head. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I’m pretty sure my only goal should be to not eat shit.”

“We got this, then.”

Surprisingly enough, you guys managed to stay standing the whole time. After your first lap around, and partially to your disappointment, you were able to skate without his arm around you, the only support you needed coming from holding his hand and the occasional grip of the wall. The only time you came close to falling was when he taught you how to pick up speed, but even then you managed to stay on your feet.

What caught you most off guard, however, was how easily being around him was. Somehow it felt like you had known each other for years, your comfort level increasing every minute you spent together. You were able to laugh together, never a dull or quiet moment as he continued to guide you around the rink. You lost track of where your friends even were, nevermind how the lights around the rink were seemingly getting brighter as the sun went down.

“So who was that guy from before that looked like you?”

“My twin brother Ethan.”

At this point you two were skating at a normal speed, staying close to the wall for your sanity, but the only support you needed was him holding your hand.

“You guys are close?”

“Oh my god,” he laughs, shaking his head. You look over at him, smiling as you watch him try and put into words what he wants to explain. “Probably too close. We do everything together.”

“That’s gotta be nice, though.”

“It is. It’s good to always have someone like that,” he agrees. “Do you have any siblings?”

You nod, looking forward again. “Yeah, two brothers.”

“So you already know how to body people, it was just the on ice part you struggled with.”

You laugh. “Exactly, you just caught me in my moment of weakness.”

“Oh, so you would have bodied me otherwise?”

You look back over at him, letting your gaze go up and down his body as if you’re sizing him up. “Totally.”

Before he can respond, your body is being jerked as you feel Gia’s arm fall over your shoulder. You grip Grayson’s hand hard to stay standing.

“As much as I hate to be the party pooper, I’ve gotta steal you away. Jo’s freaking about us being late for the dinner res.”

Both Grayson and Gia stop skating, but you move forward with the momentum you had built up. Stopping hadn’t been a part of the day's lesson.

You fall backwards between the grip they both had on you. You’re not even sure what your hands start reaching for as you flail around, expecting the cold of the ice under your body just like before.

Instead, you feel two strong arms under you. When you open your eyes, Grayson’s face is so close to yours you’re sure you would see any imperfections if he had them. His eyebrows are high on his forehead as he searches your face just like last time, looking for a status update.

“Oh my god, I’m totally ruining the Christmas miracle right now, aren’t I?”

Grayson does what he can to keep a straight face due to the concern he still had for you, but he can’t stop the snort that comes from him as you groan and cover your face in embarrassment from Gia’s comment.

“Giovannina, I swear on my life, I will literally-”

“I’m sorry!” Grayson stands you back up making sure you’re steady on your feet before letting go of you. “Jo’s got her murder eyes, you know the ones, and she’s been looking forward to this restaurant all week and we waited as long as possibly because-” she looks at Grayson. “You seem fabulous, truly. So cute. But,” she looks back at you, puppy dog eyes fully activated. “You know how Jo gets.”

You let out a sigh, nodding your head. “I do.”

She sheepishly holds her hands out for you, and you bregudgely take them, making sure you exaggerate your frustrations. It’s not Gia’s fault, or even Jo’s that your time with Grayson had to get cut short, but that doesn’t mean you won’t throw a fit about it.

“Thank you for finally teaching her how to skate. She’s a woman of many talents, but being on ice is not one of them,” Gia chuckles, her smile genuine but your annoyance only building. Gia’s intentions are always pure, but god damn she was a bad wingman.

Fortunately, Grayson smiles in agreement as he looks at you. “It was a rough beginning, but I think you’ve got potential.” He nudges your shoulder with his lightheartedly, but you tense in fear of falling over.

“Sure, lots of potential,” you mumble, letting Gia slowly start to pull you to the exit.

“Hey, is there any way I could-”

“Y/N!”

You all turn to see Jo standing in front of Colin and Kam, and you’re pretty sure you can also see the vein popping out of the side of her neck in distress as she tries to rush you along. You make a mental note to figure out who has her for secret santa to tell them to get her a voucher to a spa.

You turn back to look at Grayson, both of you standing there somewhat speechless, not sure what to say and not wanting to speak over the other.

“Thanks for looking out for her again!” Gia interrupts, tugging you along and forcing you to turn back around.

You let her pull you along in silence, disappointment quickly settling in the pit of your stomach.

This wasn’t you. You were very intentional with who you let in your life, and even more intentional with who you liked. You were notoriously single, always prioritizing everything and everyone before putting yourself in a position to get hurt. You let rationality rule, emotions only ever proving to cause pain and heartbreak.

So why the fuck were you so caught up in Grayson?

***

You did your best to not think about him, the illusive man you met one day two weeks ago. You had so much to distract yourself with, too. Between the Christmas celebration you guys did, the other activities Jo had planned around the city, and just spending time with people you loved, you should have been able to forget Grayson in a day, go back to how life was before he offered to take pictures for you.

Even Jo picked up on how you were off. You were going through with every stupid craft or activity she made you do, without a complaint. She knew something was up.

Which is why she conceded on one of her biggest wishes, one she knew you were not looking forward to.

“So I found us a house party for New Years.”

You look up from your phone at her declaration, brows furrowed. “What?”

“Instead of going out on the street for New Years, we’ll go to a party in one of the apartments nearby.” She’s got everyone's attention now, Kam pausing the show on the TV to listen. “We’ll still be able to see the ball drop, but we’ll be inside.”

“How’d you find a party? Those apartments are mad nice, only rich people live in them.”

“You know how my sister’s out in LA trying to be a model?”

You nod.

“Well, it’s kind of working. She’s gotten herself a group of influencer friends, successful ones. They’re here for New Year’s, so she got us on the list.”

“Holy shit,” Gia mutters.

“Is Madison Beer gonna be there?” Kam asks.

You laugh, shaking your head. “Dude, even if she is, there’s no way she’d fuck you.”

Kam scoffs, flipping you off. “Don’t be an ass just because your Christmas miracle was a fail. Some of us don’t hate the world.”

“There’s no such thing as Christmas miracles, Kam. Plus, it’s past Christmas.”

“Alright, alright,” Colin interrupts, holding his hands up between the two of you. “First off,” he points at you. “Christmas miracles are definitely real, you’re just a Grinch. And,” he turns to point at Kam. “Madison Beer is way out of your fucking league.”

“Ha!”

“However,” Colin cuts you off. “If she did fuck you, I would classify that as a Christmas miracle because it is still holiday time and therefore the rules of Christmas miracles still apply.”

You throw your hands up in confusion, but Jo beats you to it. “What are the rules of Christmas Miracles?”

“Oh jesus,” you mumble under your breath as Colin sits up straighter and clears his throat.

“The rules are as follows,” he holds up a finger. “If you can find a shitty, holiday themed movie on the Hallmark channel, it’s Christmas-time and therefore a Christmas miracle can happen. They usually run through New Years, so you both-” he points at you and Kam, “have the opportunity for your Christmas miracles.”

“I cannot believe-”

“Second,” he interrupts you, holding up a second finger. “Christmas miracles come to people who deserve them.”

“Oh, so that’s why Y/n’s didn’t work out?” Kam murmurs, and you flip him off.

“Kam, your already low odds of fucking Madison Beer are dwindling by the second.”

“Fine,” he holds his hands up in defeat. “Keep going.”

“Y/n is totally deserving of a Christmas miracle,” Gia defends you. “She puts so much time into making sure we’re happy. Just because she doesn’t like Christmas, doesn’t mean she’s not deserving.”

“Exactly G,” Colin nods in approval, before putting up a third finger. “And lastly, you have to believe you deserve the Christmas miracle.” It feels like he’s staring into your soul when he says that one.

You all sit there in silence, individually deciding how much you want to believe what Colin is saying.

Of course it sounds like a load of horse shit. But, it didn’t feel like horseshit when you were with Grayson.

“Whatever,” you declare, standing up. “I need more.” You swirl your now empty mug, walking over to the hot chocolate and peppermint vodka on the counter.

“A little joy never hurt anyone, Y/n,” Kam comments, holding his empty mug out to you as you walk by. You take it from him, putting them down on the counter once you reach it.

“You’d be surprised.”

***

You’re not sure how Gia convinced you that a skimpy outfit was the perfect idea to wear for New Years, yet here you were, shivering to the bone as you walked down the street.

You don’t even like wearing heels most of the time, out of fear of falling down. Gia claims you look confident when you wear them, which you reveal to her is fake. That’s always been your motto: ‘fake it ‘till you make it.’ That didn’t seem to sway her, though, so the stilettos that now dug into your pinky toes were what you committed to for the entirety of the evening.

Colin’s arm around your shoulder wasn’t helping to warm you any, your faux fur coat letting the cool breeze still brush against your skin. Your small black tank top tucked into your matching black jeans were not made to be worn in the 20 degree weather. You kept your body close to him, your arm wrapped around his waist with your free hand in Gia’s.

“We’re gonna have the best night!”

You smile at Gia’s excitement, her eyes seeming to sparkle with the lights that line the street. Other groups of partiers and New Year’s Eve celebrators make it hard to hear her over their loud screaming and excitement, and you can’t help but let that energy invigorate you a bit. You guys were getting closer to the end of your break, reality would be setting in soon, and you’d be buckling down with school again. You wanted to enjoy the time you had left with your friends.

“I’m so excited to see who’s there,” Kam agrees.

“You can’t be weird about it, though,” Jo warns. “My sister said we have to act like we’re supposed to be there. This is a private thing, they want to have a normal New Year’s Eve.”

“I promise I’ll be my normal self,” Kam holds his hands up in defense, a smirk on his lips.

“Yeah, that’s what I’m worried about,” she mumbles, causing Kam to give her a light shove as you continue to make your way down the street.

When you finally reach the entrance of the building Jo’s sister told you to come to, you’re all speechless. You could see the lobby of the building through the glass doors, and it was fancier than any hotel you’d ever stayed in before.

Jo makes the move first, opening the door and walking in. Kam grabs it from her, holding it for the rest of you as you file in behind her, like a group of ducklings following their mom blindly across the pond.

She speaks with the woman at the front desk, who points you to the hallways where you assume the elevators are. None of you speak as she walks you over and presses the button.

When an elevator finally arrives, there’s an attendant waiting for you inside. You’d had the opportunity to indulge in many extravagant things in life, and have taken those opportunities, but this was a whole other level of fancy.

Jo has a similar conversation with the attendant that she did with the woman at the front desk. He does something on his Ipad before smiling at you all and pressing a button that prompts the doors to close.

“Holy. Fuck,” Colin whispers in your ear, and all you can do is look at him with wide eyes and an open mouth.

When the doors open in front of you, the silence from the ride up in the elevator is immediately permeated by the bustle of the party in front of you.

“Have a good time!” The attendant says as you all slowly step across the gap in the floor and into one of the nicest apartments you think you had ever seen in your life.

There’s a few dozen people working their way around the room, no more than 50. You can appreciate the smaller crowd, knowing that being on the street would have been significantly more uncomfortable with the amount of people who gather there every year.

“Jojo!” Katherine’s high pitched voice breaks through the music as you see Jo’s bubbly sister make her way over to you guys.

“Hey Kath,” she murmurs, already being suffocated in a hug.

Katherine pulls away, keeping her hands on Jo’s shoulder in order to keep her close. “How are you? Haven’t seen you in forever!”

“I know,” Jo grimaces. “That’s what happens when you move across the country and rarely call anyone.”

Katherine almost misses a beat, but instead turns to the rest of you.

“It’s so of nice you guys could come! I can’t imagine what it would have been like...out there,” she trails off, looking towards the large windows that overlook Times Square.

Jo mutters ‘“authentic” under her breath as Gia cries out “cold!”

“Exactly!” Katherine turns back to you guys. “I knew I always liked you, Gigi.”

“It’s Gia.”

“Whatevs, Jojo. Go in and get cozy! And don’t embarrass me, please.” It’s scary the smile Katherine has on her face as she disappears back into the crowd. It would look genuine to the naked eye, but she almost looked dead inside when you took a closer look. But, in the wise words of Katherine herself, ‘whatevs.’

“I see the bar,” Colin nods his chin in the opposite direction that Katherine went, and you’re grateful you won’t have to see her so soon again.

“Please,” is all Jo squeaks out before making a beeline for the counter where the bartender stood.

You chuckle, following closely behind.

“The usual?”

You shake your head, stepping up next to Jo to order your own drink instead. “A moscow mule, please.”

You can feel all eyes on you, curiosity peaking at your change of heart. You never strayed from your normal order.

“What?” You ask defensibly, as you turn around to confront their questioning looks.

“Going rogue?” Kam asks.

“Trying out the holiday joy you suggested, Kam. Any objections?”

“Nope.” He pops the ‘p,’ his smile widening as he realizes you’re letting your walls down for once.

That doesn’t last long after your drink is in your hand, however.

There’s Grayson. Your Christmas miracle. Sitting on the couch, a girl in his lap and a smile on his face. He looks good in a turtleneck, you note, but that doesn’t stop the queasiness settling in your stomach. You knew Christmas miracles were horseshit, but this just felt like a cruel trick.

“What’s with the frown?” Kam asks, standing next to you as everyone else situates themselves with a drink.

“Don’t look right now, but behind you is my supposed Christmas miracle with a girl in his lap.”

Kam whips his head around, scanning the room.

“Dude are you kidding? I said don’t turn,” you grip his arm, forcing him to turn back, but not before he’s spotted the cozy couple. The look of pity on his face unsettles you.

“I’m sorry.”

You shake your head, taking a sip from your drink. “Don’t be, I knew him for an hour. I will, however, be calling Colin on his shit later.”

“What shit?” Colin asks, coming to stand next to you.

“Your Christmas miracle bullshit.”

A laugh bubbles up from his chest as he quirks a brow. “Oh really?” “Yeah, Grayson’s over there with a girl-”

“Damn, for how quickly obsessed you became with the kid, you really are forgetful.”

You give Colin a question look, waiting for him to continue.

“He has an identical twin. Your Christmas miracle is standing against the staircase. He’s been looking at you since we got to the bar.”

Your turn your head and sure enough, your eyes are locked with Grayson’s. He’s just as captivating as last time, his warm smile on his face once he realizes he’s been spotting. Unlike last time, however, instead of shying away from the eye contact, you can’t seem to stop looking.

“Remember, you have to believe you deserve the Christmas miracle,” Colin whispers in your ear before giving you a not so gentle shove in Grayson’s direction.

“You’re lucky I’m not a violent person,” you say over your shoulder, before making your way over to him. You can feel the excitement tingling in your fingertips that grip your drink as you do your best to be polite to the people you bump into on your way.

Once you’re close enough, Grayson pushes himself off the banister, creating a space for you to stand between the wooden sticks and his large body.

“Fancy seeing you here.”

His voice is deeper than you remember, more delicious if possible. It feels familiar hearing him speak, a comfort you didn’t know you had been missing.

“You’re supposed to say that when you expect to see someone, not when you’re actually surprised.”

He lets out a low laugh, nodding in defeat. “Okay, true. It’s a good surprise, though - at least for me.” He seems a bit less smooth than last time, too. You can feel the nerves coming off him, his confidence lower. You wonder if it’s got to do with the environment you’re in.

You smile up at him, licking your lips in order to drag out the unknown a bit longer. You can’t give it all up right away.

“Yeah,” you finally agree. “A real good surprise.”

“Good.”

“Although, you know I gotta ask it.”

His smile falters as he raises his brow. “I think I gotta ask the same thing.”

“You first,” you nod your chin at him, crossing your arms.

“Ethan and I are a friend of a friend to one of the host’s friends. We’re normally not in Jersey for New Year’s, so when they found out we’d be celebrating alone in our mom’s house, we got an invite.”

“A Jersey kid?” You feign disgust, making him laugh as he leans his arm over your head. He smells good, his scent overriding your thoughts for a moment.

“Is that a bad thing?”

You shrug. “Usually. I guess I’ll overlook it, though.”

“Don’t knock it ‘till you try it,” he answers cockily.

You giggle, shaking your head at the cheesy comment. “Are you offering me somewhat of a free trial?”

“More like endless coupons with no expiration date.”

This makes you fully laugh, him chuckling with you as you feel your cheeks heat up at the implication of his words.

“You barely know me,” you counter, still unable to look away from his eyes. “What makes you so sure about offering such a good deal to me?”

He shrugs. “Call it a gut feeling.”

You feel your own stomach go crazy at that, the confirmation that he was feeling what you were only heightening how his warmth seemed to radiate off him, everything Grayson flooding your senses.

“Your turn.”

“Hm?” You hum, bringing your drink to your lips.

“What’s gotten you into Madison Beer’s apartment?”

You choke on the liquid you intended on swallowing, coughing to clear your throat. His brows furrow as he brings his hand from above you to your back, rubbing it.

“Oh my god - sorry - I just,” you take in a big breath before standing up straight again, more confident in your lungs. “This is Madison Beer’s apartment?”

“Yeah,” he chuckles, looking around the room. “You didn’t know?”

You shake your head. “Jo’s sister -”

“Murder eyes Jo?”

“Exactly. She’s been out in LA modeling. When she heard we were gonna be in New York for New Year’s she got us in. This -” you gesture to the room, noticing the more familiar faces you’re seeing now that you’re paying attention. “Totally not my normal scene.”

“So you’re giving everything new a shot right before the year ends?”

“Mhm,” you bring your gaze back to him. “In case I want to take it back and act like it never happened.”

He laughs, licking over his teeth. “Sounds like a solid plan.”

***

It was stupid how well you got along. You didn’t even see any of your other friends the entire night, Grayson keeping you tucked in the corner. You hoped Kam had somehow ran into Madison at some point, but you weren’t inclined enough to leave Grayson to help him with it.

It felt like you guys were somehow meant to be there that night together. Maybe Colin was onto something, maybe this was your (belated) Christmas miracle.

“It was total fate, I’m telling you. The odds we were able to get Mando on our team in the first place, nevermind him being one of the most important people in our lives now.” Grayson shakes his head as he recalls the memories, a reminiscent smile on his face. “You believe in all that, right?”

“What?” You hum, admiring his positivity. Every story, every glimpse into his life he’s given you throughout the night, has all ended in a positive twist. He managed to see the bright side of every situation, despite the horrible shit that’s been thrown his way.

“Fate.”

You sit up a bit straighter, your elbows leaving where they rested on your thighs. Your knee was touching his, your proximity close on the couch due to the amount of people who were sitting there with you. You felt like you were in a bit of a bubble, though. Despite the loud chatter from all around you, the only thing you could pay attention to was Grayson.

“I’m not gonna lie to you,” you set your cup down before leaning back against the cushion. His arm that was resting on the top of that cushion drops, landing on your shoulder casually, but you can feel the warmth it immediately brings. “I never really did. I’ve always been the pessimist of the bunch. However,” your eyes find Colin, who’s sat to Grayson’s back. He gives you a wide smile and two thumbs up. You can’t help the smile that makes its way onto your own face as you look back at Grayson. “I’ve recently become a bit of a believer. Why?”

He shrugs. “I mean, what are the odds we not only had the same skate time at one of the most popular skating rinks in the world, but we also then end up at the same New Year’s Eve party?”

You huff, starting to think. “Well, statistically speaking -”

“No,” he laughs, nudging your leg with his own. “Fate isn’t about statistics, or probability. There’s nothing explainable about it.”

“My friend Colin is calling it a Christmas miracle,” you admit.

“So that’s what your friend meant when she interrupted us on the ice?”

“Oh god,” you groan, covering your face in the same manner as last time, shaking your head. “Don’t remind me.”

“Hey,” he chuckles, grabbing one of your wrists to expose your face to him again. “Don’t worry about it, it was funny.”

“It shouldn’t have been funny, though,” you whine, a pout forming on your lips.

He cocks his head to the side, a smirk settling on his face. “What should it have been?”

Before you can respond, the countdown from 60 begins, and suddenly everyone is standing and chanting around you, buzzing to start the new year.

58, 57, 56, 55

Grayson stands, holding a hand out for you to take. You place your hand in his, standing right next to him, there being little room for you two between the couch and the coffee table causing your chests to be pressed against one another. You look up at him, the same warm eyes he’s had for you meeting your gaze again.

“Romantic.”

“Huh?” He leans closer to you, his ear so close to your mouth that you were tempted to nip his earlobe.

“It should have been romantic.”

24, 23, 22, 21

He lifts his head so he can look at you again, close enough for his nose to brush against yours. One of his hands reaches around you, finding a resting spot on your lower back. His other hand comes to your cheek, his thumb rubbing the skin there. You grip his sweater at his sides, keeping him close to you.

“Ten, nine, eight,” Grayson starts counting down with the rest of the party, and you follow suit.

As everyone screams around you, celebrating the new year, you feel Grayson’s lips on yours. It feels like a movie, like the world is celebrating how amazing you guys feel right now as you finally physically connect with the person it feels like you were always meant to be with.

His lips are warm and smooth against yours, his every intention clear as he kisses you with a passion you’ve never experienced before. Your every nerve is on fire, your heart in flames as you keep yourself grounded by the grip you have on him.

He only pulls away as you feel champagne fall on the both of you, the confetti that was launched now sticking to you from the liquid. You can’t help the laugh that comes out of you at the craziness of it all, the fact that you just kissed the man in front of you, the man still in your grip, the man who still had his hands on you hard to comprehend.

Colin was right. Christmas miracles were most certainly real, and you deserved this one.

Grayson smirks down at you, leaning down to peck your lips once more before speaking. “Romantic enough for you?”

[squishy-mochi-is-bright-pink]

heyyy i hope you’re doing well <3 i have a requestt :) so like ushijima’s (and anyone else you would like to add) s/o comes home and is having bad day but he is also having a bad day and he comes to comfort them and once they’re calmed down a bit they start talking about their problems and then they saying praising him a lot saying stuff like he’s a best they’ve ever had and then starts going into how much they’re proud of him which kinda makes him start tearing up too and he might say some stuff back and they just end up comforting each other the whole night. i hope this makes sense....😭

Coming home to Ushijima when you’ve both had a bad day

Contains: Ushijima

CW: None, Gender neutral s/o

Genre: comfort / fluff

Word count: 1307

Summary: You come home to Ushijima and comfort each other after you’ve both had a long hard day

A/n: This makes perfect sense and its such a cute request. Thanks for giving me a distraction from school <3 Id honestly love any requests right now they make me so happy to know someone likes my writing enough to ask :D. I might end up doing a part 2 because this request was so much fun to write.

Today had been a long hard gruelling day for both you and your boyfriend Ushijima but in two very different ways. 

You had been tied up with back to back work whether it be confused people, dealing with problem costumers or running after your boss, no matter what you had been on your feet all day and hadn’t had a single break. By the time you got home, you were completely overwhelmed and exhausted.

Wakatoshi however, had an extremely difficult practice. For some reason today his spiked just weren’t landing as well as normal. It was rather subtle, so he doubts the most of his team even noticed, but he certainly did and it frustrated him. The more he spiked the more frustrated he got. This lead to him staying extra long for individual practice. By the time he got home, he was exhausted in a different way.

Wakatoshi had arrived home about an hour before you had and by the time you walked through the door with your shoulders slumped over he had only just managed to get dressed after getting out of a long bath. Unlike usual his bath had barely let him relax at all and he was patiently waiting on the sofa staring at the door to your apartment. Honestly, he reminded you of a puppy because the second you walked through the door his eyes lit up ever so slightly at the sight of his precious s/o. 

No matter how exhausted you are when you get home and Toshi is there you walk over to the couch and gently press a kiss to his forehead, he relaxes just a little at the contact, and then you walk to your shared room to change out of your uniform and shower.

When you and Wakatoshi first began dating you never expected just how touch starved he’d end up being. He was always so stern and severe that he just didn’t seem like the type but behind closed doors, he clings to you like a koala. When he’s tired, or in a mood, or just wants cuddles its almost impossible to pry your self away from him, not that you’d want to. That man is a literal space heater and he uses it to his advantage in order to receive maximum cuddles.

When you eventually finished with a scalding shower and changed into your fluffiest, comfiest pyjamas you could find and emerged from your room wrapped in a blanket. 

You silently walk to where he’s sitting on the couch with a movie already playing. You silently put your arms out straight, look at him with puppy eyes and make grabby hands until he opens up his arms and lets you lay on his chest. At this point, after all the stress of your day, you just started to cry softly into his chest.

You weren’t crying over anything specific just letting all your frustrations of the day out as your loving boyfriend rubs small circles and patterns on your back. After a while, he asked what was up and you recounted every small event between sniffles. He sat and listened to everything from the one Karen you had to talk all the way until everything just got too much. He didn’t really care if his spikes didn’t land as well today he had his baby in his arms.

Once you had eventually calmed down and stopped sniffling you asked him how his day went. Not wanting to pile anything else on you he gently tells you he’s fine. Obviously, you don’t buy it for a second, he looked like he was about to pass out from exhaustion when you walked in. “Toshi. Baby.” you start in a soothing tone, “we’ve been together since our last year of high school. I know when you arent alright, and I know when somethings wrong. Why don’t you just tell me about it now? I promise I feel better now”

That was when he gave in and told you. He told you about every failed spike, every joke or comment from his teammates, every extra drill he forced himself to do. How utterly exhausted he felt. He told you all about his insecurities. Was he even good enough to call himself the ace when he can’t land spikes?

You quietly listen while you took your turn to draw soft circles all over his upper arm and chest doing anything you can to soothe his nerves and insecurities physically. After about forty minutes he was all out of insecurities today brought up for him so you decided to start reassuring him. 

“Toshi, I love you. I love you so much” You start with again with as soothing a tone as you can. Then you decide to pick up his hands and lay a gentle kiss to each individual knuckle then his rough palm. “I’ve been following your volleyball since our first year of high school, and I know that you’re the best ace I’ve ever seen. I’ve never seen anyone spike in the same way you can.” You held him tight, trying to wrap your arms around him. “It’s not just spikes. You can read opponents and recognise their strengths and weaknesses. You can receive and you’ve managed to keep up the spirits of any team I’ve ever seen you play on. You inspire all of us to do better because if we don’t we wouldn’t be able to keep up.”

By now Ushijimas eyes were beginning to water, growing up hed rarely gotten this much genuine praise, especially from someone he loved this much. “And it’s not just volleyball either, you’re the best boyfriend I could ask for. You’re always there for me. It’s like you’re my rock. You’re steady and strong. And even when you’re exhausted you made me a priority I couldn’t ever ask for anything more.” You continued on your ramble about how absolutely perfect your boyfriend is, a rant you’ve gone on many times to your friends. 

By now tears have started to slightly roll down his cheeks, it was as if you had just gone into his heart and soul and surgically removed every insecurity. Even ones that he had never said out loud. You went quiet when you noticed and shuffled further up his chest, using your sweater paws from oversized PJs to wipe off the small trail of tears. He just wrapped his arms around you and pulled you back to his chest. Once you were there he laid a gentles kiss on the top of your head and just hold you.

After a very short amount of time, he started to whisper praises back to you. He told you all about how gorgeous you are, how smart you are, how you’ve lit up his life. He told you about how if he’s your rock then you’re his home. His safe space to return to and recharge at the end of each day. How he loves how patient and understanding you can be. He loves how small you are when compared to him. How his teammates, even all the way back to high school, had always been jealous of him. Especially on random days when you would randomly show up to practice with tasty snacks, you had made to surprise him, over time learning how to make them fit into his meal plan. How you did all of those tiny things without thinking. 

Eventually, you went to bed and fell asleep in each other’s arms. It was one of the best nights sleep either of you had ever gotten in your life. Tomorrow, his spikes were back to normal, if not better, and your job seemed just a little bit easier. You both remembered that no matter what you were never alone. although you knew that a reminder is always nice.

[woniepop]

girly girls

Pairing: Kang Taehyun x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 2.3K

Warnings: bullying, cursing

Genre: slice of life; fluff; angst

Summary: Three times a popular girl and a nerd were enemies, and one time where they weren’t

a/n: this fic was inspired by my all time favorite movie, Legally Blonde. I enjoyed writing this fic and I really hope you enjoy reading it :)

Y/N L/N has never been someone who liked to be cast in the shadows. Always being the center of attention, y/n has become one of the, if not the most, popular girls in her town. Homegirl is always dressed like an icon even when doing mundane tasks. Girls like her have never really been into anything “nerdy.” She associates herself with more of the bimbo kind, if you will. It was never really a secret, but she studies incredibly hard to get the chance to go to her dream school and become a great computer scientist. Being in such a large friend group of female fashion icons, there was never really anyone who wanted to talk about topics with math or computer science. 

Kang Taehyun, however, is this awkward and incredibly smart boy. Never really associated with popularity, he’s only had about four friends in his life and absolutely no dating experience. He’d always been one to shy away from attention. At most times, he found himself quietly observing others. All this, and he’s still what you would consider the teacher’s pet. He gets all his assignments done, A’s on every test, and raises his hand for every question. As a computer science enthusiast, he has worked his butt off his entire life, filling his schedule with robotics clubs, different languages of code, and coding camps. Senior year was his year. He had finally got into his dream school, TXT Tech, and had already created a very very detailed plan for the future.

Currently, Y/n’s mother was constantly trying to persuade her about fashion school. Having an incredibly fashionable mom wasn’t always the best for situations like these. TXT Tech results were coming out, and even though Y/n was confident she was getting in, there’s still the chance she might have not. Nervously waiting in front of her laptop, she sits impatiently refreshing the page for her results. Within one sentence she hops up from her chair in awe. Obviously attending the school was going to be a big turning point for her, and she was so excited to have been admitted to TXT Tech. 

As Y/n got settled on campus, she finds no one else that looks like her. Obviously, because she stands out, all attention is drawn to her. She’s confident, stylish, and hot. In a sea of gray and tan business outfits, Y/n wears a nice pink pantsuit. She’s relishing in all the attention, not seeming to mind that it’s not good, because she knew she looked good. 

Her first encounter with Taehyun couldn’t have gone worse. Walking to her class, pink drink in hand, she struts confidently to the lecture hall for her computer engineering class. Not paying attention to where she was going, she bumps into a tall figure. This clearly wasn’t the best way you could go about your first day, but all Y/n could do was apologize. 

“I’m so sorry, sir. I didn’t see where I was going and-” she rambled. Pausing in the middle of looking up, a very handsome and slightly awkward boy stands there, obviously pissed off and very annoyed. He scoffs and continues on his way to his next class.

Her second encounter with Taehyun was not great either. Clicking her high heels against the floor, she walks to her first class of the day. She had to get there early, she always had to sit in the front of the class. Taehyun on the other hand, nose buried deep in his book, walks directly to the middle. Despite loving programming, he could only handle so much attention. The class had started off well for Y/n, reviewing the class syllabus of “Principles of Programming Languages.” Taehyun, however, was pissed. He had not been called on once and was so frustrated. 

“Y/n, can you tell me the five most commonly used languages of code?” the professor asks smugly. Y/n knew what he was doing. She was being set up. She knew he thought she didn’t know and that lit a fire in her. 

“Python, Java, Javascript, C#, and C” she answers confidently. Hearing this, the professor nods his head. He wasn’t expecting that. 

Taehyun saw this as a perfect opportunity. His hand shoots up and he comments, “Sir, that’s actually incorrect. C++ is actually more popular because although C  has served as the foundation for writing languages like Python and Ruby, C++ is a newer language of code and therefore is compatible with more technology.” Taehyun confidently looks down to wear Y/n sits and smirks. Of course she wouldn’t know that. She’s only the popular rich girl that got in with Daddy’s money. She didn’t actually know anything, right?

It had been a few months since school had started, and finals were just about to come around. For this class’ final, they had to submit a partner project and code a simple game. At this point, it had been very blatantly established that Y/n and Taehyun were enemies. They despised each other. Always competing with each other in class, snickering when the other person got annoyed. It was a silent war between the two of them and everyone could feel the tension in the air. Obviously, it was no surprise they always came up at the top of the class, interchanging the first spot every test. What was surprising, however, was seeing their names together on the partner project roster. 

Taehyun was furious. College was supposed to be his bitch, but now he’s acting like Y/n’s bitch. He was so pissed off. Computer science was supposed to be where he had the upper hand. The one place he could feel himself. Where he was finally better than the stupid popular kids. And yet, he’s here, competing with one of them. It wasn’t fair. She was a girly girl, she wore bright colors everyday, she even had a sparkly notebook. How was she so smart? There was no way, it’s just the laws of the universe. You had to choose between looks and intelligence. That’s just what the gods above said. There’s no take backsies. 

It’s no secret that Y/n is a fashionable girl and having a female centric hobby isn’t really something applauded at this university. Knowing of Y/n’s insecurities, let’s talk about Taehyun’s. Having always worn non adventurous, boring, clothing, he’s known from the very beginning that Y/n’s beauty has helped her in life. Life is never fair, and it shows. Taehyun never ever got those advantages, and now here he is competing with someone just as smart as him. 

 As his jealousy grows in the back of his mind, he decides to use this time to take revenge. The next few days are spent typing away in the library, collaborating and researching for hours upon hours. Knowing that this project was worth 40% of their grade, they spent all their time trying to make this game perfect. 

The day of the presentation of their near perfect game rolls around and Y/n was confident. She had spent countless nights coding this with Taehyun and on her own. Starting the presentation off, Taehyun pulls up a game completely different to the one Y/n coded with him. “In this day and age, gaming has become a hobby more popular than it’s ever been. With platforms like twitch and youtube, all different types of games can catch the eyes of a wide audience. With this in mind, I’d like to present to you Jackbox Party Pack 8. Roleplay games have become the genre of choice for many gamers to play, and viewers to watch.” 

This was not the first person shooter Y/n had coded with him. What was he doing? Y/n stood there, not really knowing what to say. Opening and closing her mouth, she couldn’t form any words. She should have known this was a set up. “Ms. L/n, please continue.” The professor says. She couldn’t. She felt like she was frozen. She was so embarrassed and she should’ve seen it coming. With cheeks welling up in her eyes, she runs out of the classroom. 

With a smirk, Taehyun continued on, explaining how the game worked and how he had coded it. He had spent the past few nights coding it by himself and he was incredibly proud. Paying no mind to Y/n, he stood tall and smiled throughout his entire presentation. Obviously, like any normal person, guilt started growing quickly in the back of his mind. He finally realized he had fucked up. 

Running after Y/n, Taehyun felt incredibly guilty. He had taken the competition too far, and now he’d made someone innocent fail a required class. After running for what felt like hours, he found Y/n crying under a tree. He knelt down and offered her some tissues. Aggravated, she smacks the tissues away and tells him to leave.

Y/n, on the other hand, felt so angry. How could he do this to her? She hadn’t done anything wrong, and if he didn’t like the way she dressed or the way she conducted herself that was fine. All she needed was her to believe in herself and that got her into TXT Tech. While thinking about all the ways she could end Taehyun, she feels arms wrap around her. They’re 🤮Taehyun’s. Before she can rip his arms off, he speaks up. 

“Look Y/n, I’m really sorry about that whole thing I pulled back there. I’ll talk to the professor and give him the real project. I really took it too far and I’ll do anything to make it up to you.” He begs. 

“Um,, no? I don’t care? That was literally so embarrassing. If you really wanted to make it up to me you’d leave me alone.” Y/n pushes him off her harshly and storms off. How dare he? It probably took his two seconds to come up with that half assed apology. This was unbelievable. 

Y/n started trudging through the grass back to her dorm. All she wanted to do was take a warm shower and cry in her bed. She hated everyone. She wanted him to suffer just as much as she did, but she couldn’t do that. 

After two whole days of sobbing in her bed, she decided she was craving her signature pink drink. She really didn’t feel like going out, but delivering one drink would cost like $15. Y/n throws on a casual pink outfit. It’s very different from what she wore at the beginning of the school year, but the one thing that never changed was the color pink. Even in her depressive mood, she still wanted to dress up. She felt most comfortable wearing stylish clothing, that was her home. 

Stepping into the store, she sees Taehyun sitting at a table alone. You know when you see old people sitting along and you feel so bad for them you start tearing up? Like what if they lost their spouse or something :(((((. So anyway, Taehyun gives her lonely old people energy and regardless of what he did to her, she decides to keep him company. 

“Hey, um, can i sit here?” Y/n asks. Taehyun was so surprised. She wanted to sit with him? But he was so mean to her? He nodded his head and sat quietly. The past two days she could tell Taehyun had done a lot of thinking. She could tell he did it because he felt threatened. That wasn’t enough to forgive him, but at least she was being nice about it. 

Taehyun gets up and leaves. He comes back with a pink drink in hand, maybe as an apology. “I really want to apologize to you again, Y/n. Yesterday I don’t know if you saw, but the professor graded the actual project instead, and I had told him everything and that I’d deserve it if he failed me instead.” Y/n wanted to be happy but she wasn’t. She didn’t want him to fail after helping her code the game with her. Maybe she was so nice to him because she had matured, or maybe because she felt something different in Taehyun. Even so, a little embarrassment, she thought, wasn’t enough to cause a person to fail their whole class. Holding his hand on the table, she nods, a silent way she decided to forgive him. 

“Well, at least we’re not the worst team. I think group 7 coded a Niki Minaj roblox world.” Taehyun jokes. 

She laughs. “That’s so funny, what the heck? I guess we just have some hardcore barbs in this class.” People like Taehyun and people like Y/n were never meant to be friends in the first place, but maybe now they were starting to. Y/n, who was always challenging the term “girly girl.” Who always stressed that you have to believe in yourself when the rest of the world is against you. Y/n who became successful, without changing who she was. Y/n, who was feminine and wanted to show that was never a weakness. And Taehyun, who was always unadventurous. Who was never into fashion but still managed to pull off his nerdy outfits with his cute face. The passionate Taehyun whose only hobby seemed like studying. Gossiping for hours at the cafe, they realized this. They were starting to become friends. No one ever expected them to even be able to hold a friendly conversation, but here Y/n was, challenging everyone again. 

[emiliaclarkesdragons]

SECRETS: PETER PARKER X ADOPTED DAUGHTER!TONY (2)

« part one »

« part two »

Tony and Peter talked about the benefits of the internship, well it was more Tony talking and Peter listening. He looked a little gobsmacked as if this had come out of the blue and that's when I realised it probably had. I wondered what had caught Tony's eye, was he good with computers? Was he like Wanda?

"I've got some homework to do," I announced, leaving them at the table. I didn't really, I was going to go snooping. Tony didn't know this but I was able to access all the files he thought he had locked. I was somewhat good with that stuff, I think it was from spending a bit of time with Natasha before we found out who she was.

I woke up my computer and logged in, usually, I would use voice control but I couldn't risk Tony hearing me. He had a habit of sneaking up on me. A few taps on a keyboard and three access codes later, I had access to Tony's history. Every button he had pressed, every command he had spoken and everything he had done manually or through F.R.I.D.A.Y. I scrolled through and that's when I found the video. A boy dressed in a red suit swinging from the buildings and catching a car.

"What the fuck," I said quietly as I watched it over and over again. I knew this was why Peter was here. Tony was bringing together an army, a new avengers just to bring Steve down. I clicked off it and searched more. "What are you planning?" I asked aloud, there was a reason for Germany and I was going to find it.

It didn't take me long, and I knew what I would have to do next. I needed to reboot the queen jet it the garage but I needed to do it in a way Tony wouldn't know. And, that was going to be tricky. I was good at being invisible online but in reality...not so much.

I galloped down the stairs quickly and found Tony sitting on the sofa. "Where's Peter?" I asked.

"Calling his Aunt," he said and checked his watch. He stood up, "I have some business to attend, take out on me," he said practically running for the door.

"Hang on, what about Peter?" I asked, "I'm not babysitting!"

"Technically he would be babysitting you because he's older," Tony said. I stood with my hands on my hips and glared at him. He kissed the top of my head and said, "get whatever take out you want and I'll be back later on."

The door opened as his car pulled up outside. I watched him get in the car, grin and wave at me and speed off. I closed the door as I stepped back into the house. When I turned I saw Peter standing there with an old phone in his hand. "He'll be back in time for Germany," I said waving it off, "he does that a lot but good news is take out!"

Peter nodded. I wanted to ask him about his gift, but something stopped me and instead, I asked, "have you seen Tony's workshop? Has he given you a tour?"

Peter shook his head, "no, he only talked about Germany," Peter said though didn't expand further.

"He's a rubbish host," I tutted and encouraged him to follow me as I took him around the house showing off all of Tony's work. It was one of the reasons I never had friends round, there was too much to break, steal and take advantage of here, but Peter was different. Something about him was humble and I knew he wouldn't judge me. "And, now his work room," I said, opening to door, "I don't know what state he's left it in."

"Hello y/n and Peter," F.R.I.D.A.Y said.

I looked at peter with a delighted smile, "F.R.I.D.A.Y knows you already! Tony must have registered you on the system," I said. Then nudged him, "one step closer to avenger status," I joked and he laughed. His laugh was like listening to your favourite song and I made sure to make him laugh again.

"Do you want to try one on?" I asked.

Peter's face lit up, "really?" he asked, I nodded.

"Choose one, F.R.I.D.A.Y won't tell on us, will you?" I asked.

"Of course not, Miss Stark. Your secrets safe with me," F.R.I.D.A.Y said, lighting up the suits.

"I'll put one on if it makes you feel less awkward," I said, watching Peter as he walked in front of each suit. I could see he was trying to decide whether or not to put one on and then I could see him trying to decide which one.

"I can't," he said eventually, turning around. "It's not right."

I smiled, anyone else would have taken up that offer in a heartbeat, but I should have known Peter was different. "That's okay, F.R.I.D.A.Y wouldn't have allowed it anyway. She's a little tease," I said, holding out my hand for him to take. "Shall we watch a movie?" I asked as he took my hand.

We must have fallen asleep during the fifth film we were watching because when I woke, Peter was nowhere in the house. Instead, there was a note on the coffee table.

Thanks for everything, can we keep in touch?

And below there was a phone number followed by pp x. I folded it up and put it in my pocket, running down the stairs to my own workshop before setting out in the queen jet. Tony wasn't bringing Peter into his stupid fight without my say so. "F.R.I.D.A.Y? Play me something good," I said. F.R.I.D.A.Y said nothing, instead, Sabotage by Beastie Boys blasted through the speakers.

I know, it was a mad idea to fly to Germany, I didn't really know what I was getting into. Who knew what waited for me when I land, but as I flew closer I could see the fight was already happening. I landed in the field near the airport, locked up the queen jet and flicked my wrists which had bangles on them.

The bangles transformed to create my own green Iron suit. "Nice to see you again, y/n," F.R.I.D.A.Y said in my ear, activating flight mode for me. Wings pushed put from the back of the suit, lifting me in the air. I wasn't wasting any time and F.R.I.D.A.Y knew that.

I was a fair flyer, this was the fifth model Tony had made for me. I had always wanted to fly but I used to stress how much I wanted a suit with wings and not one like his. So, on my eighth birthday, I was given my first flying lesson with my own iron winged suit.

I performed a few turns and tricks as I reached closer to the fighting and their coms began filtering through. "What was that?" Sam said, "I saw something flying."

I spotted Tony immediately, he was fighting with Steve and so I dived down, knocking Steve down. "Hi, Steve. You doing alright?" I asked, standing over him, letting my helmet lift up so he could see my smile.

"Oi!" Tony yelled and I turned to him, "What are you doing here!"

"Helping!" I said, letting the helmet drop as I took off into the air as Falcon passed overhead.

"No, you get down here right now, young lady!" Tony shouted through the coms.

I flinched, "ouch! If you're going to continue to shout in my ear I'm muting you," I warned, letting a grin sneak on my face. I couldn't help but enjoy the chaos of the fight. I swooped down, tripping up Hawkeye as he made his way to Natasha. "Hi, Nat!" I said, waving as I passed.

Nat stopped mid-run and watched me flip and turn in the air. I watched from above until I spotted him. He had a new suit on but as F.R.I.D.A.Y picked up on his voice, I knew it was Peter.

I couldn't act on it as I saw Rhodes get hit by the abnormally large person. He was flying uncontrollably through the air, "guys, Rhodes! I need help, guys!" I panicked down the coms as I swung my zip tie around him and pulled back. It wasn't enough and I was being pulled along with him.

"I got it!" Peter responded and my heart fluttered, though I wasn't sure if that was through relief or something more.

I pulled back harder as I spotted Peter, he shot webs that wrapped around Rhodes. I dropped down so we were at the same height. Peter was pulled into the air and we both landed on the truck with a crash. But, we had stopped Rhodes from crashing and he flew back to the fight. I followed, knowing there was no time for small talk. "We need to take out the big one," I said.

"I got it, has anyone seen that really old film called Empire Strikes Back?" Peter said as he ran over the plane.

"Told you watching it would be useful," I said over the coms, after all, we had just watched it that night. I saw him slide to a stop and look over at me.

"y/n?" He questioned.

"Yeah, who else would it be," I laughed landing next to him, lifting my helmet and smiling at him, "let's get him," I said, holding out my hand. He held onto my arm and I gripped his. We were on the same page, and although he could swing around in the air, I would be able to give him more speed.

"Woooooooooo," He said and I could hear the grin on his face as I flew around the legs of the giant man.

Just as we thought out plan was unbreakable, the man began to fall and hit us with his hand sending up flying across the airport. I crashed to the floor, hearing the paint on my suit scrape off and Peter landed next to me. Before he hit the ground I used one of my wings to slow him down just a little bit.

"You two are done!" Tony scolded us both as he landed on his feet in front of us.

I let my helmet lift up as Peter took off his mask. After a moment I looked at him, "thanks for the note."

He made a whimper of noise and I took that as a 'no problem', but he sat up and inched towards me. "I really wish we had more time together," He said, I sat up.

"We do, we have all the time in the world," I said. I wasn't sure where this was coming from.

"But, what about your dad?" He asked.

"He doesn't have to know," I said. After all, Tony kept enough secrets from me these days, "it'll be our secret... if you want," I shrugged and looked after suddenly feeling exposed. I wasn't used to this. Feelings weren't my strongest suit.

He smiled and blushed, "I'd like that."

I nodded, looking away again and giggled. "Nice moves by the way," I said, referring back to the fight.

"Your not too bad yourself," He laughed, attempting to stretch his arms but he doubled over in pain.

an: thanks for reading :)

[imagine-a-life-like-this]

I Love You? (P.JM)

Warnings : none really, but this one is sad. hoseok gets heartbroken, i’m sorry

Word Count : 1936

Synopsis : in a world where you can only see colours if someone who loves you looks at you, she looks at her boyfriend with love but the colours she once saw, faded to black and white. after meeting her friend’s best friend, she can see the colours of the world again and moves on from the one who broke her heart ... or does she?

“Jimin.” I whispered as I looked into his eyes, begging in my mind for this to be a glitch. He smiled at me and tucked some hair behind my ears.

           “Yes, my love?” A tear slipped from my eye and he quickly wiped it away as concern took over his features. “What’s wrong?” He cupped my face, making me look at him as I told him I couldn’t see colours. He was speechless as he removed his hands and turned away from me.

           “Please tell me it’s a glitch!” I cried, reaching out for him. “Jimin, please.” He turned around to face me again, tears now filling his eyes. I could feel my heart breaking as he shook his head.

           “I’m sorry, Y/N.” I slung my purse over my shoulder and left his dorm without another word. I wish it was just as easy for me as it was for him to fall out of love.

 6 Months Later

                   At first I didn’t want to believe he had really fallen out of love with me, but with Taehyung, a guy I met in my photography class, by my side, things got easier. When I see Jimin around, I avoid looking at him, not wanting him to see the colours I miss so dearly.

           “Are you still coming with me to Hoseok’s performance tonight?” Tae asked me, sliding into the seat across from me, making me look up from my books.

           “I wouldn’t miss it.” Soon after getting close to Taehyung, he introduced me to his best friend, Jung Hoseok, a dance major. Him and I seemed to click immediately and the 3 of us became an inseparable group.

           Taehyung picked me up from my dorm like the gentleman he is and the two of us headed to the dance building. Butterflies started picking up when we entered the doors, memories hitting me in the face. All the times I skipped through these doors, flowers in my hands to give to my dancer boyfriend. All the times I would sneak into his practices because I loved watching him dance. All the times he would model for me for my projects. It call came flooding back the second I stepped foot through those doors.

           “You okay?” Taehyung placed his hand on my lower back as he looked at me with concern. I nodded with a smile. “Let’s go grab our seats then.” He didn’t press the issue further, and for that I’m so thankful.

           I looked at the stage in awe as Hoseok danced, absolutely taking my breath away. As he bowed to the applause, he scanned the crowd and his eyes met mine and for the brief second they met, I could swear the world lit up with colours. It wasn’t until Tae was grabbing my hand and pulling me out of my seat and dragging me backstage that I snapped out of my trance.

           “Hobi!” I yelled as I ran into his arms and congratulated him. He chuckled and wrapped his arms around me tightly. When we pulled away and our eyes met, I could see the pretty blue his shirt was. My heart picked up pace as I stared at him, a smile tugging at my lips. I couldn’t help myself as I quickly pressed my lips to his, taking him by surprise.

           “Whoa! When was this a thing?” Tae chuckled from behind me. Hoseok’s cheeks blushed a pretty pink.

           “Right now.” He said, his eyes not leaving mine and I just nodded. It’s like we were in our own little world until someone called his name as they clapped him on his shoulder.

           “You killed it out there, hyung.” My eyes met those of the man I’ve been avoiding since our breakup 6 months ago. I could see as his eyes widened at the realization that not only was I there, but I was still absolutely, irrevocably in love with him. We both looked away as if it was a crime to even look at each other.

           “Hoseok, we have reservations we can’t miss.” Tae spoke up, his eyes not leaving Jimin who was slowly walking away. Hoseok seemed confused but obliged nonetheless and followed Tae and I out of the dance building. “So now that you two are dating, does that mean I’m going to be third wheeling all the time?” Hoseok and I both chuckled.

           “Please, we all know I’m the true third wheel when it comes to you two.” I countered, slipping my hand into Hoseok’s. He looked down at me with a smile.

 One Year Later

           “Y/N! Hurry up!” I chuckled to myself as I grabbed the tray of snacks I put together and headed into the living room of my apartment. I placed the tray on the table and took a seat next to Hoseok.

           “What are we watching?” I asked as I shoved some popcorn into my mouth.

           “The Conjuring!” Jimin exclaimed. It was hard at first to let him into our little friend group, but the longer I was with Hoseok, the less I could avoid Jimin so him joining us happened naturally. Tae was the most opposed at first, being the one who held me as I sobbed, but he seems to fit in with us so well.

           “Oh come on, you know how scared Hobi gets.” I whined, earning a playful slap from my boyfriend. Tae and Jimin burst out laughing as Hobi angrily pouted at me. “I’m sorry, baby.” I kissed his cute pout as Tae pressed play.

           After the movie ended, I got up to get more drinks before we started the second movie. Jimin got up as well to help me grab drinks. I grabbed the drinks from the fridge and passed them back to him. “That should do.” I said, standing up straight and turning around. My eyes met Jimin’s, and the black and white world seemed to fade slightly. I could see the slight blush of his cheeks and the red stripes on his shirt. The world seemed to stop as we stood silently in the kitchen. I quickly snapped out of it, grabbing a couple of the drinks, and rushing back into the living room.

           The next day, Hobi and I went out to celebrate our one-year anniversary. We both got dressed up and headed out for the reservations he had made. His smile was just as bright and beautiful as usual, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what last night meant.

           It wasn’t until we were sitting in his car outside of my apartment after dinner that I spoke up. “I know, Hobi.” Tears welled up in my eyes.

           “What are you talking about?” I turned my head to look at him, taking in all the colours of his face and the world behind him.

           “What colour is my dress?” I could see the realization flash in his eyes. “I tried; you know. I really did. You’re so handsome and amazing. So sweet even if I don’t deserve it. How could I not love you?” I faced forward again as the tears fell.

           “I thought if I convinced you I could see colours with you, I could make you fall in love with me.” His voice was so soft. It was so jarring compared to the lively, loud Hobi I’m used to.

           “You’re going to meet a girl who won’t need convincing. She’s just going to love you and you’ll be able to see all the beautiful colours you’ve allowed me to see.” I turned to look at him again, reaching up to wipe a tear that was falling. “I wish I could always see colours when I look at you because you’re like the sunshine, lighting up my dark world. But that’s selfish of me.” I went to open the door to leave, but he asked a question that stopped me before I could.

           “It’s always going to be Jimin, isn’t it? Even though he fell out of love with you and broke you, he’s always going to be the one you love, right?” I knew he already knew the answer, I could tell by the look on his face.

           “I’m sorry.” Was all I could say before I got out of his car.

           The days seemed to go by slower without Hoseok by my side. Taehyung tried to juggle his time between us, but I sent him to Hoseok. He needed a friend more than I did. He’s the one who fell in love with a girl who couldn’t move on from heartbreak.

           “I haven’t seen you in the dance building lately.” Jimin plopped down in the seat across from me. “You also haven’t been with Hoseok or Taehyung lately.” I looked up from my books and met Jimin’s eyes, expecting to see black and white, but I was shocked to see the faded colours again.

           “Hoseok and I broke up.” Was all I said before going back to studying. From that day, Jimin made it his mission to make sure I wasn’t alone. He walked me to class and made me laugh when I was sad. We partied together on the weekends and ate out a lot during the week. He spent a lot of nights crashed on my couch. So many in fact that he started leaving things around. It brought me back to the days we were in love.

           “Please come to my performance!” Jimin whined, looking at me with his puppy dog eyes that I just couldn’t say no to. My heart was so confused with the faded colours I saw whenever I looked at him. I knew he knew I was still in love with him. I used my love for him to my advantage though. He could see colours I couldn’t and helped me with my projects. I’m so grateful I let him back in.

           “Okay fine!”

           The night came for his performance, and I found myself in a flower shop, asking for the same bouquet I used to always get him. I met Tae inside who softly smiled at me, asking if I’d like a seat buddy. Before the show started, he asked a million questions about Jimin and I. “I can’t believe you still love him.” He chuckled as he shook his head.

           “I can’t believe it either.” I said as the lights dimmed, and the show began. I could feel the hearts in my eyes as Jimin danced around the stage like an angel. Our eyes met, and the colours seemed a bit brighter than before, but still were still faded. It wasn’t until Hoseok took the stage and broke the hearts of every audience member with his emotional dance that I saw the colours in all their intensity. I could see his sad smile when he bowed, his eyes on me.

           I followed Tae backstage, but this time he called out for Hoseok while I made my way to Jimin who’s back was turned to me. “Got some time for your biggest fan?” I joked, holding the flowers out as he turned around and met my eyes. In that moment I could see the pale blue ribbon tying the colourful bouquet together. I could see the pink blush painting his cheeks. I could see the pale pink of his lips. In that moment, I could see all the colours in all of their intensity just like when we were dating.

           “For you, always.” He practically whispered as he cupped my face and kissed me with the same amount of love and passion we used to have. In that moment he fell in love with me again.

[onzeziggy]

Maybe right now, Robbe and Sander are watching a movie together. They discussed for about ten minutes which Christmas classic they should choose, but at the end it was Robbe who won the discussion after convincing Sander, using his dark brown puppy eyes. Robbe knew which effect his eyes could have on his boyfriend and he’d gladly take advantage of that at moments like these. Because of said reason, the two boys were in the middle of watching Love Actually right now. Although it was Robbe who had pushed Sander to watch this movie, he was the one lying with his head on Sander’s lap right now. Eyes closed, enjoying his boyfriend’s hand playing with his curled hair.

Time passed, Robbe opened his eyes from time to time at moments when Sander’s hands stopped moving around, even if it wasn’t for more than a few seconds. They stayed like this for a while, doing nothing else but enjoying each other’s presence. Until Robbe got up, while telling Sander he was thirsty and he would go get a bottle of water. The younger boy pressed a kiss on Sander’s forehead and headed to to kitchen.

...

When Robbe came back, he wasn’t holding the bottle of water he was supposed to be getting. Instead, he had something way bigger in between his hands. Sander almost couldn’t see his boyfriend standing in front of him anymore. Only his legs, dark brown eyes and fluffy hair were to be seen behind the big papers Robbe was carrying with him. The moment the hidden boy’s eyes and his boyfriend’s green ones met each other, Robbe dropped the first one of the many papers to the floor. Sander started reading, the falling papers following up each other, every drop with a few seconds in between them.

My sweetest San

You know we just arrived at my favorite part of the movie

And even I must admit Keira Knightley was looking hot in that scene

But still, I’d rather look at you while I’m doing this

This year sucked for so many reasons

Being apart from you for a long time, to which I don’t even want to think back right now, definitely was the most painful reason

But look at us now. We came out of it even stronger than before

Robbe lowered the papers a little bit and offered the boy who was watching him a soft smile. The same smile appeared on Sander’s face and just when he was about to say something, the next paper already shoved out of Robbe’s hands.

I know that a lot of people would say they hated 2020 and don’t want to do anything else but erase it completely out of their memory

But I am going to remember this as the best year of my life

The first one of the 💯 we’re going to spend together

I already can’t wait to start this new year together with you

Hopefully not with someone telling us what to do anymore, so we can do and visit what we want, whenever we want

And being able to do all of this minute by minute

I love you so much Sander

Robbe didn’t let the last paper slide to the floor. Instead of that, he carefully placed it on the chair behind him. The moment Robbe turned back around, his boyfriend was already standing in front of him. Before he could even properly realize that, Sander took him at his legs and lifted him up from the floor for the biggest hug he could give the boy. Sander’s left hand was holding one of the smaller boy’s thighs while the other one was pressing his head as close as possible against his neck.

After some minutes of just standing like this, enjoying each other’s grip, Sander turned around and moved back to the couch. He took a seat, with Robbe sitting in his lap, so they were sitting face to face with each other right now. The older boy didn’t just look into the dark brown eyes this time. He was adoring them while a spark appeared into his own green ones. Sander couldn’t wait any longer and leaned in to close the seemingly infinite gap between their lips.

Robbe’s mouth was only inches away when he suddenly moved back. He looked at his watch and held it in front of Sander’s face afterwards. 23:59. “First the countdown and afterwards you’re getting your kiss, mister”. Sander frowned. “Seriously?” “Dead serious” the younger boy replied while taking his boyfriend’s hands and pulling him out of the couch. “This is me taking life minute by minute, San. I want to start the first minute of 2021 with starting to kiss you. I can’t imagine a more perfect way to kick this new year off like that.” Sander took Robbe’s wrist in response and brought the watch in front of his eyes again. “Then you’d better be ready to start kissing me soon, Robin. 8” “Wait, what?”, the younger boy stuttered. “7, 6”’ the older boy continued. While Sander kept counting down, Robbe took his hands, looked into his eyes and the moment they were desperately waiting for to happen, finally arrived. The final seconds, it wasn’t only Sander counting down anymore. His boyfriend’s voice softly blended together with his own deeper sound and both of them echoed in the room.

3, 2, 1

Before Robbe could wish Sander a happy new year, their lips were connected already. The only difference was that Robbe didn’t pull back this time. He was living in this exact moment, enjoying it the fullest. Every kiss between them was like magic, but this one didn’t compare to the usual firework on New Year’s Eve. Their kiss was the firework being lit in that exact moment, lighting up the whole room. Robbe was right, there didn’t exist a better way to start 2021 than like this.

[sadoeuphemist]

GHOST STORIES

“We can get some great establishing shots in the foyer,” says the ghost in Bransen’s body, pacing out the creaking floorboards, framing the clouded windows with his fingers. “Real spooky. Very atmospheric. But I’m telling ya, we gotta mic the attic.” It turns his head to the ceiling, as if sensing some invisible current, like a shark following its prey, and then turns his head to me, wearing his smile. “That’s where they died. That’s where all the ghosts are.”

I give him the thumbs up and I try to smile back.

It’s been three weeks since Missouri.

---

The footage is good. No, the footage is fantastic. Lately everything we try is pure fire. Bransen’s on the screen, lit an eerie green from night vision, his pupils luminous. He is speaking as he ducks under the rafters, his voice hushed, breathless, mesmerizing. The attic is filled with shapes, shadows that shift as I follow Bransen deeper in, utterly and unmistakably haunted. I turn up the background audio.

It’s nothing at first, static. But the longer I listen I start to hear whispers, voices formed by ambient noise. Feet creaking. Muffled shrieks. Sounds so soft you might almost manage to convince yourself you were imagining things. The words of ghosts, saying everything and nothing. Rorschach blots of white noise. Hissing. Screaming. Weeping. Mourning.

A hand touches my shoulder.

“See?” says the ghost in Bransen’s body. “What’d I tell you?”

---

“So,” says Dev, “what happened with the two of you in Missouri?”

Dev is Bransen’s boyfriend. Bransen’s been insisting that we socialize more outside of work, and so here we are making small talk in his apartment while Bransen’s gone to fetch the dessert. “He, uh, he hasn’t told you anything about it?” I say, hoping to probe for more details. “You, uh, haven’t seen the footage?”

“He’s been very vague,” says Dev, rolling his eyes. “Playing coy. ‘I just decided to start appreciating what I have,’ he says. Which is nice, but, y’know. There’s got to be more to it than that.” Dev drains his glass. “And the footage, no offense, but it’s all the same, ha ha. I’ve told him that myself. The two of you wandering around in the dark, bumbling, some noise happens off-camera and then you jerk around and nobody sees anything.” He leans over, smiling. “Just tell me the two of you didn’t have a torrid affair out there, and now he’s overcompensating out of guilt.”

“I -” I’d dropped the camera when it happened. Of course. The one time something undeniably supernatural had happened, and I’d panicked and blown it. “Trust me, it’s definitely not that.”

Dev laughs, and that’s when the lights go out. Bransen enters carrying a tray of Baked Alaska, blue flames dancing eerily on its surface. “Ta-da!”

“Oh my god!” says Dev, delighted. “You are too much!”

“Gotta get in my practice,” says the ghost in Bransen’s body, grinning, supremely pleased. He sets the Baked Alaska down and Dev stands and embraces him, and I want to say, Your boyfriend’s been possessed. There’s a spirit living in his body, puppeting him, wearing him like a glove. The person you loved isn’t in there anymore.

But they are both laughing, looking in each other’s eyes, and in that moment I don’t know if it would be the truth.

---

Our newest video is trending, over half a million hits on YouTube and counting. My inbox is blowing up. I’m shaking. We’ve never done anything half this big before in all the years we’ve been doing this. Everything we’ve dreamed of when we first started out is coming true.

This is how deals with the devil work, I think. You give up your soul, and you get everything you’ve ever wanted.

I go into the bathroom to wash my face, stare at myself in the mirror, and when I come out Bransen is standing over my laptop, looking at the tab I had open on exorcisms.

“Hey,” the ghost in Bransen’s body says, and clicks back over to our YouTube page. “Not bad, huh? Ya know, buddy, I think we might finally be getting somewhere.”

I take a breath and swallow. “Is he still alive in there?” I say.

The ghost in Bransen’s body smiles, shrugs, rubs the back of his head. “Alive, dead, kinda fuzzy categories, don’t you think? That’s kinda the premise of our little peep show, isn’t it?” It casually begins to walk towards me. “Nothing ever really dies. Nothing ever really ends.”

“You can’t -” I say. Missouri. The Auden Estate. Bransen writhing on the floor, eyes rolled up into his head, a thousand tongues shrieking from his mouth. The screaming. Screaming. Screaming. “He was a person! He -”

“I was a person,” the ghost interrupts. It looks up at me with Bransen’s eyes. “And let’s face it, I’m doing better with his life than he ever did.”

“He was ...” Fuck, why is this even a debate? Why did I never think to rehearse my arguments? “Okay, he used to be a jerk, sure,” I say, my voice shaky. “But he had it rough! This whole ghost hunter channel, this was his dream, and he put so much time and effort into it, and - and we just weren’t getting any viewers, and -“

“Weren’t getting any viewers,” the ghost in Bransen’s body says, glancing back at my laptop. “That little phase in our career is over know, thanks to me. Ya know what I think his problem was? Entitlement.” It spreads Bransen’s arms, boxing me in. “Just because he was alive he thought he deserved to be happy. Deserved to be successful. Waa-waa, just because my parents didn’t love me. Just because my career choices didn’t work out. I think that entitles me to be a sullen asshole, to yell at my partner, to stew in my own misery and be a generally awful person to be around!

“Everyone in the whole damn world is suffering!” says the ghost in Bransen’s body. “ Ya gotta have a Positive Mental Attitude!  Appreciate what you’ve got! Treat each day like a new opportunity!” It leans in and I can feel its cold breath on my cheek. “Ya know what?” it says. “Life is fuckin’ wasted on the living.”

I am shaking, my knees unsteady underneath me, and it finally backs off, still smiling Bransen’s smile, and gently slaps me on the cheek. “Buddy, buddy, buddy. Keep your spirits up! We gotta upload something new, strike while the iron’s hot, take advantage of this momentum! C’mon, grab your camera. I’ve already scouted out our next location.”

It glances at my laptop as it leaves. “Oh, and that Latin shit? Sicut déficit fumus defíciant; sicut fluit cera a fácie ígnis?” It shakes Bransen’s head and laughs. “Nah, you gotta do better than that.”

---

“In 1926,” says the ghost in Bransen’s body, “all five members of the Coyder family were found murdered in their beds, all of them hacked apart with a butcher knife.” We are livestreaming, the abandoned farmstead behind him looming in the yellow grass, its windows dark, its face gray. He walks forward and I follow, the shot swaying with my footsteps like the opening to a horror movie, and I glance down at our viewer count and we are well into the thousands by now, and still rising. “Their killer was never found.”

He touches the doorknob and it creaks open into an empty house.  “This is where they died,” the ghost in Bransen’s body says, and on his cue I pan across the dusty boards, the cobwebs, the empty bed frames as if they were still dripping red with blood, thousands of eyes upon us as if decades had not passed and the Coyders were dying still, screaming still, staggering with their guts hacked out; as if all the world was full of ghosts, watching and wanting and eternal.

[remmushound]

Curse of the Clans part 13! @scentedcandlecryptid @selfindulgenz

Leonardo kept his promise. The jet lag from his normal, nocturnal lifestyle proved to be an advantage to the plan he had Usagi had set out. In the night, when Usagi and Nuriyuki would rest, Leonardo was awake and rested enough to pull them along through the dark. Come morning, Usagi was an early riser and he would take over while Leonardo slept through the warmth of day. Together, they were making exceptional progress. After three days into nonstop walking over the harsh, frozen ground, Leonardo wasn’t sure how much more of it he could take. The snow and the rough terrain had burned calluses into his feet and hands, and staying awake through the cold was proving more difficult with each passing night. But moving would be warmer than staying still, he figured, and he had no intention of breaking his promise to Usagi or being late to meeting his brothers.

He was desperate to rest. Not desperate enough to stop, but enough to slow. Enough to cry, but only when he was sure Usagi wasn’t listening. He barely let himself cry, not in front of anyone that wasn't family— barely even in front of them! The fun guy shouldn’t be seen crying or be seen giving up because he wasn’t giving up! He was just tired and sore and burning, too much so to even entertain himself with his usual commentary. This was the type of stuff that builds character, right? He wondered bitterly when that would start to take hold.

His mouth was dry. He stuck out his tongue to catch falling snow on it, hoping that could quench his thirst, but it was too little too slow. He knew it wouldn’t cost him much time to simply stop and get a bottle of water out of the cart, but he knew that if he stopped he wouldn’t be able to start again. He knew his muscles would give out on him, and he knew he’d end up falling asleep if he rested for more than a few seconds. He didn't know why they needed to take the cart with them in the first place when it was so damn heavy—

Leonardo stopped the cart. He cursed himself the minute he realized he had, but it was too late. His aching muscles were already screaming their praise and encouragement at him to just lay down and sleep. His eyelids became heavy like cinder blocks trying to weigh him down. Then he heard the sound again that had stopped him in the first place and the conscious and animal sides of his brain were both at war; the conscious side won, and he started to look around.

This night was darker than the night he was used to back home, but he had the advantage of a lit lantern on each side of the harness to light the path and guide him like some twisted version of Rudolph and Santa’s sleigh. Beyond the circle of light that offered him shelter, the trees were dark and ominous, and the sky a beautiful shade of dark purple with a few twinkling stars poking through the clouds. If Leonardo had ears, they would have been pricked at attention. There was only one thing that noise could be: footsteps.

From the corner of his peripherals, Leonardo could see Usagi sit straight up in the cart like Dracula out of his coffin, his eyes searching around the darkness for any sign of movement. Once he was sure there was no immediate danger, he hopped out of the cart and went to Leonardo’s side, providing him with his Odachi.

“Stay here with Nuriyuki.”

“What?” Leonardo gawked, “Come on! I can help!”

“I’m sure you can.” Usagi whispered back to him, his ears and eyes still on a constant swivel. “But I need you to stay here with Nuriyuki. You know what is at stake. They’re after him, not me.”

“But—” Leonardo tried with a soft whimper in his voice.

“I’ll be back. Just please, keep him safe.” For the first time, Usagi forsook his eyes! wandering search to let them settle on Leonardo. There was nothing but genuine trust in the rabbit samurai’s eyes, watering but not quite crying. “Please.”

Leonardo found himself unable to reject the eyes that held so much emotion in them, and his response came with an awkward bow that he hadn’t quite mastered the art of yet. He never had to do such a thing for most of his life, and the only reason he knew so much about it was from the Lou Jitsu movies! Usagi’s lips curled into a smile before he ran off into the darkness, and into a fight that Leonardo could hear but not see.

Nuriyuki still hadn’t woke and Leonardo was glad for it. He climbed back into the cart, the exhaustion leaking out of him and leaving him tense and unsure. He hated feeling this way. He didn't belong on the sidelines, listening to the yells and shouts of strain and pain as Usagi fought who knew how many in the surrounding darkness. But Leonardo sat there and held Nuriyuki for as long as it took for Usagi to send the offenders fleeing.

The next night it was the same. The noise, Usagi waking. Leonardo being left with Nuriyuki, hugging him through the fight and hoping he wouldn’t wake. Nuriyuki gave a soft grunt at the strange texture of Leonardo’s thick skin and the residual cold from the turtle walking in the snow, but he eventually snuggled up to the mutant for the comfort of his presence.

The next night and the next were the same. Leonardo was growing angry and frustrated, Every time Usagi came back from the fight, he was covered in scratches or missing fur or bruises. Once he had even come back with a claw broken down to the nail bed, bleeding profusely into the snow until Leonardo figured out a way to clean and bandage it. Leonardo was always glad to play medic, even if he wanted to be out there protecting Usagi from the new ninja that stalked them every night. Night four was different.

The fight went on for longer than usual, and this time Nuriyuki woke up. The sounds of cries and shouts and flesh striking against flesh. Metal against flesh. He whimpered and clung tighter to Leonardo’s shell, his short arms not quite able to reach around the length of the plastron, but it was enough for comfort. Leonardo wrapped his arms around Nuriyuki, squishing him in a comforting embrace. Silence reigned for the longest time. Then came a rustle of bushes getting closer and closer to them.

“Usagi?” Leonardo called out to the forest, to no reply. Still hugging the badger cub, Leonardo clambered out of the cart and into the grass. He tried to see past the shadows of the trees, hoping to catch a glimpse of the familiar, floppy eared samurai.

“Lenado, I’m scared…” Nuriyuki whimpered; he still hadn’t quite gotten the hang of Leonardo’s name.

“It’s okay…” Leonardo caught the glimpse of a figure just before it ducked down out of sight. It was close; too close for his comfort. Definitely not Usagi. “Okay… okay. Hang on.”

Leonardo felt he had no choice but to run, and the moment he started sprinting, Nuriyuki in his arms and the cart forgotten, the bushes exploded with life. Life that was a threat and gaining on them fast. Leonardo crushed Nuriyuki tighter to his chest, squinting his eyes against the stinging buffer of wind. He was the fastest of his brothers— surely the fastest in New York, even when compared with the other mutants! But he was nothing compared to this.

Already he could see the silhouettes at both sides of him. Leonardo’s heart skipped several beats when he witnessed the kappa running after him; like some weird hybrid between a turtle and a duck, the dark green skin and the shell entirely terrapin, despite the ducks Bill on their faces.

Leonardo stopped with such a suddenness that he fell flat on his back, still holding Nuriyuki tightly and absorbing most of the impact so the only thing the badger got was a sudden jolt. Still, that was enough to make him start crying. Leonardo grabbed his odachi, forcing Nuriyuki behind him as he held the blade out to the enemies that had made their way in front of him. Each of them wore a long bonnet over their heads, covering their water dishes to prevent leakage; at least, that was Leonardo’s fleeting theory.

“You don’t wanna do this.” Leonardo said with a smile. “My sword? Waaaaay bigger than yours!”

The creatures exchanged curious looks, their breaks crinkling in laughter at the smaller turtle's decree.

They started to advance. Leonardo really didn't feel up to fighting. He was holding his odachi so tightly that the sores on his hand burst open again and started to bleed, but the pain was hardly felt. His focus was entirely on the enemy, eyes searching for advantages even at the distance. One was favoring their right leg, but only slightly; enough to cause a limp, with no clear wound or distress. An old childhood injury maybe. Another seemed skinny, muscles there but not as defined as one would expect for an experienced soldier, and with eyes wide and bright. A rookie. The third one was harder to read, but Leonardo didn't need to. He gave his odachi a twist and ran into battle.

[jngles]

Thoughts You Definitely All Asked For on ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 2 Finale!!

These are in chronological order for the show.

One of my biggest fears about them reintroducing Boba Fett was that by removing some of his mystery, they would make him less cool. Thank god that has not been the case. He’s still an aloof and nasty piece of work but with dimensions added.

We all know the Empire is most often a metaphor for America right? At least when it’s not being Nazi Germany? The Imperial pilot talking about destroying an entire planet (of peaceful weaponless civilians no less) to stop terrorism hits a little too close to home of the nuclear bombs the US has dropped and the endless destruction of the Middle East in the “war against terror.” And of course we frame all our wars in similar language like “our troops died to keep our country safe,” which hasn’t really been true since WWII.

I do think it’s worth noting that this is the first time SW has had someone acknowledge the human losses of the Death Star blasts. Usually it’s framed as a loss in construction time, strategical advantage, and power. The Empire proved time and time again that the lives of its soldiers were utterly expendable, which always made me question why people remained loyal outside of fear. Through this pilot’s phrasing, you can see the propaganda Imperial superiors used to twist the truth to their followers, always blaming those deaths on Rebel aggression instead of prideful Imperial neglect (I.e. not abandoning ship when there was still time) or even direct Imperial aggression like Operation Cinder where they fired on thousands of their own (discussed in S2E7.)

You can’t tell me Din wasn’t into it when Cara shot that asshole pilot. That cold faced revenge shot? 100% Mandalorian style, and also very very hot.

I appreciate that it was a pretty equal match between Boba and Koska Reeves. So much of Boba’s advantage comes from his suit, but since she also has one, it’s a battle of wits on how to use it, and they even out. This both maintains his legendary badassery and also that of highly trained Mandalorian warriors, and hopefully avoids asshole chauvinist SW fans on the internet complaining abujt “pandering to feminism” (fuck off @ all of them, especially since Mercedes Vernado who plays Reeves is a WWE champ and could kick all of your asses.)

Din point blank asked how many Death Troopers there are and Dr. Pershing never answered, and that annoys me.

Why is no one suspicious why Dr. Pershing is being so helpful and revealing so much information? He totally did not have to tell them about the Dark Troopers or any of the specifics of locations on the ship. He’s still with the empire post-fall, implying he’s a loyalist, so... wtf on his part (since no tricks come of it), and “be smarter” on the part of everyone else. Unless he’s been captive as a clone engineer all this time. But couldn’t he have made his escape back in Season 1 when Din killed everyone at that lab to get the kid back?

Bo Katan really could’ve just told them how the retrieval of the dark saber needs to work in the flight before the mission instead of being vague about “he belongs to me.”

Boba Fett’s usage of “Princess” and “don’t worry about me” are a good throwback to Han Solo and the culture they both grew up in. You can never quite tell if it’s based in misogyny or resentment for upper classes, but both of them seem to use it as a shield for begrudging respect they hold for a woman they think is brave but following a fool’s errand (the Rebellion and retaking Mandalore).

The Comms Officer (Katy O’Brian) assisting Moff Gideon will forever and always look like Ilana Glazer to me, and then I get swept up imagining what would happen if the Broad City cast accidentally got transported to Star Wars.

The launch tube sequence has some amazing cinematography.

The second I saw Boba was cut off from the pack, I really thought they were going to kill him again and make his return bittersweet. Glad they didn’t.

God this team of Bo Katan, Koska Reeves, Fennec Shand, and Cara Dune is SO BADASS. I’m just obsessed with all these characters and their various motivations to get shit done. I honestly didn’t even think about the fact it’s all women until my re-watch, showing that the writers made it feel natural, the way women deserve to have their representation done. You can bet I am SO EXCITED for my future daughter and the wealth of possibilities she’s going to have of characters to play pretend as, action figures she can relate to, Halloween costumes to wear, etc. It’s so validating that we’ve gone from only Princess Leia as a female main character to all these women + Rey, Jyn Erso, Ahsoka, etc. etc.

Can’t wait for the trap remix of the Dark Trooper activation noises. (And the transition from that to the minimalist flute theme is perfect.)

The spy movie version of the main theme music is sick.

The Dark Trooper droid faces have a lot of similarity to Darth Vader’s mask. That callback is especially apparent when the one is literally lit from the inside with fire. He was already a martyr/legend to the Imperial remnants, Kylo Ren didn’t start the trend of ignoring his redemption.

Cara’s “excuse me” right before shooting up Stormtroopers is hilarious. Literally “can’t talk rn, doing hot girl shit and murdering space Nazis.”

Finally an Imperial ship got some frickin security cameras. Truly- the amount of times people just wander down hallways they’re not supposed to be in with no one being able to find them throughout the course of Star Wars is ridiculous when you think about the degree of surveillance our real life society carries out. I also love that this means The Mandalorian characters have also seen The Mandalorian.

The storytelling does such a service to Pedro Pascal and his already heroic efforts to portray emotion through a helmet. For example: Din easily could’ve killed the one stormtrooper outside Grogu’s cell much more efficiently, but instead, to show his absolute rage, they wrote in Din choking him out with a spear.

Moff Gideon would have been the BIGGEST pain in the ass in philosophy class. “Assume I know everything” my ass. I want to hear about his backstory (he would’ve been “coming of age” at the time of the Clone Wars) mostly just to hear about him getting bullied at school.

Smart move honestly, to try to tempt Din with the Mandalorian throne, given the Mandalorian power struggles of the past. Proud of our boy for keeping his priorities straight.

So has the blood from Grogu been transferred out of the ship and back to the remnant empire already, or do they have to find a new “donor” to help with building Snoke and Palpatine’s clones? Will they continue to go after him with Luke?

Lmao Din being so annoyed by Bo Katan being stringent about the tradition of winning the Dark Saber through combat is HILARIOUS, coming from a man who up until like a day ago hadn’t shown his face to a living being in decades.

The dark troopers can punch in blast doors but NOT Din’s helmet?? That’s a wild testament to beskar. Somehow that’s the comparison that sticks out to me, more even than its resistance to lightsabers.

This show works because of the cynicism of so many characters adding contrast to the moments of heart. Cara Dune is not a “fan” the way Rey was (for the record I love Rey, don’t come at her, it’s just different). Cara doesn’t see an X-Wing and go OMG THE REBELLION I LOVE THEM. She’s been through too much to believe in the magic saviourism of the “good guys,” and is instead thinking strategically when she, the one Rebel present, brushes off the usefulness of “one X-Wing.” The only positive things she seems to feel in battle situations are moments of relief and brief satisfaction in hurting the empire, with a dark knowledge that it will never make up for the hurt they did to her.

How do you keep a cloak hood on while fighting? Both from a technical standpoint (my hats fall off without me even having to move- is he expending force energy just to keep it on and look cool lol?) and also because idk, maybe it’s just me, but peripheral vision is helpful when surrounded by killer robots on a thin bridge above oblivion. I know his first lesson was to “see” through the force, but every resource helps, right?

Now that she has the ship, I wonder if Bo Katan can reprogram any salvageable Dark Troopers to help with retaking Mandalore?

There is nothing like seeing Luke’s fighting style, with its efficient choppiness and twinge of darkness. I always wonder how much is natural and how much is influenced by his first fights with Vader (that Skywalker diva flair). I love how they’ve advanced his technique but also kept him extremely “grey” here- like to straight up COMBUST a Dark Trooper takes some violent energy lol.

How tf is Moff Gideon alive after threatening Grogu’s life twice directly? That’s a wild testament to Din’s regard for Cara.

I love how seeing Luke slice through a bunch of murder droids like butter probably was a huge point in his favor for Din actually letting Grogu go with him. Like he will only send his child to boarding preschool if he knows the teacher will be a certified killing machine.

Oh my god they finally brought in some OG Star Wars theme music for Luke to take his hood off to 😭 It felt weird seeing him fight to different music, so the emotional payoff is huge when his themes come back for the face reveal.

Whoever added the digital young Mark Hamill face NAILED those classic shining Luke eyes and the earnest eyebrow lift.

Whoever shines the glass of Baby Yoda’s lil puppet eyeballs each day deserves a raise. The light caught in those babies is devastating.

Din is shaking as he takes off his helmet. This is the most enormous show of love he could give him, and possibly the last he’ll be able to for a long time. He only just got Grogu back and is desperate for a moment of real connection before letting him go once again.

This is the first time anyone has touched Din’s face since... likely his parents as a child.

Whoever wrote this scene clearly actually has kids. Anyone who’s ever had to leave a young child even just to go out for a bit or to drop them off somewhere knows that heartbreak of seeing them look in your eyes and hold on to your leg, trying to keep you with them. Especially when they can sense your mutual separation anxiety. The one thing that starts to make them feel better is something fun like a new toy or friend who can be their guide in the new environment, and R2’s friendly introduction is exactly that (since digital Luke isn’t being particularly emotive or child friendly... I hope that’s just because he’s reaching into Grogu’s mind while also keeping an eye on the multiple people with guns trained on him, not because he’s going to be totally unfeeling raising this kid.)

I love that Grogu and R2 are immediately buddies in contrast to Episode 5 when R2 was like “fuck this guy” @ Yoda stealing food and hitting him with a walking stick lol. I would imagine Luke must be reminded of that first introduction too and entertained by this display of playfulness in a *positive* light between R2 and mini-Yoda.

I need to know if Luke and Ahsoka have met- it is KILLING ME.

Does this mean Grogu will get killed by Kylo Ren when he fucks up Luke’s academy??? I will reincarnate Ben just to kill him again if that’s the case.

How does Luke not even fully SMILE at Grogu?? An adorable little baby version of his beloved master Yoda, and you’re telling me he doesn’t have the same heart stopping gasp we all did when we first saw him?? Maybe he did when they first connected through the force. He has a bit of bemusement on his face, and also wonder in his eyes, but I want a grin of recognition and welcome, dammit.

I really wish Luke had somehow acknowledged Cara Dune. Everyone else seems to see the tear drop Rebel sign and know it means Alderaan. He could’ve been like yo I have a badass warrior sister from your planet that you should meet. Or just “thank you for your service.” (I know this actually wouldn’t have been cinematically good but my heart wants it.)

Luke didn’t tell Din his name?? Or ask for any details about the kid and his care?? I could literally never let my kid go with someone, regardless of how worthy, and not be like, “Excuse me sir who are you and where tf are you taking my tiny beloved green goblin in case I need to find him? Here is my contact info. He likes to eat frogs and eggs, and he can have macarons as a treat. He’s 50 years old and his favorite toy is still a ball. Bedtime is 8pm and he’s allergic to dairy.”

Another reason I wish Luke had identified himself would be to see the mishmash of reactions that would ensue. Cara would be like DAMN IT’S THAT GUY WHO BLEW UP THE DEATH STAR AND KILLED THE EMPEROR, ACT COOL (and she would indeed act cool). Fennec would be like ugh it’s that guy who helped kill my best paying client Jabba the Hutt and then fucked over my boss Boba, I helped save the kid for THIS? And I would LOVE to know how Bo Katan feels about him, assuming she’s heard of him, and especially if she knows he’s Anakin Skywalker’s son. That confusion is probably the reason WHY the writers didn’t have him reveal himself- they didn’t want to break the emotion of the scene.

Let‘s all be real I’m just being needy about wanting things from Luke because of what he meant to me as a kid and my resulting innate need to have more canon of him, whatever it is, whenever I can get it. Especially in this form that’s so similar to ROTJ, a movie I watched on endless repeat. Even getting this was incredible though. Who else could we trust this lil heart-stealing green bean with so fully? Yet who would be so arrogant as to try to train a baby yodling (see: Ahsoka’s wise refusal)?

R2 is reckless as hell lmao. Not that we don’t already know that, but for him to just head on in, effectively abandoning Luke’s ship (how can they know if there are more troopers or not who might blow it up?) and also putting himself in the path of the ridiculously deadly Dark Troopers is NUTS. I’m usually on his side but he absolutely deserves a scolding by C3PO for this one.

I wonder if Grogu has any memories of R2 or vice versa since they did occupy the Jedi Temple at the same time. Can Grogu understand droids? They could swap stories about mutual acquaintances.

Does Din pretty much have to go with Bo Katan now since a) he’s shown his face and may not be able to go back to the Watch, and b) because he has the darksaber and has to figure out how to get it back to her without dying?

How in the hell did Bib Fortuna (whose chins age was not kind to) go from being butler to being boss? Were all the henchmen just like, “Fuck yeah, no Hutt parents no rules, let’s do what we want!!” And then they’ve spent the last ten years living off of whatever money they could salvage from Jabba’s non-banked wealth? Why has no one challenged them for that prime real estate and loot? I would love to hear that story.

Fennec Shand says “respect sex workers” so you better fuckin’ do it.

Idk dude Bib Fortuna really was a good butler, and he seemed pretty willing to comply with whoever’s in power. Did he screw Boba over in his attempt to return from the dead and earn that killing shot somehow? Or was this to make sure there was no one left who would have a claim to loyalty? Or maybe Boba just really wanted to sit in that chair.

Does “The Book of Boba Fett” mean we’re not on Din Djarin’s story anymore? Or is it a new show? I would much prefer the latter. I want to see Din help retake Mandalore or at least get a hug.