#my one gripe with her is one time she complained about me asking to put subtitles on a movie

[codgod]

honestly that anon reminds me of my teacher from highschool, she was always rlly cool and supportive of my interests and i still think of her very fondly

[flowerfan2]

Steve falls hard, is the thing.  At least, he does this time.  He knows it’s crazy, that Eddie has only been out of the hospital for a few weeks, that Steve has only really known him for a few days more than that. But he knows more than most people that life is full of cliffs and dangers and if there’s happiness to be had, he’s ready to take it.

It happens so quickly that he speeds right past any potential sexuality crisis, doesn’t pass go, just realizes one evening while he’s tucking a blanket around Eddie’s feet when he dozes off on the couch that he’s in love.   He knows it’s real, because Eddie’s feet are frankly stinky since it’s still hard for him to get around, and yet Steve’s content to curl up with Eddie’s feet in his lap and make sure they stay toasty warm.

He tells Robin that night, and once she’s finished swatting him with a nearby magazine and then hugging him until his ribs squeak, she asks him what he’s going to do about it.  “Tell him,” Steve answers, and Robin stares at him as if he’s grown two heads (he hasn’t, he checked).  “Just like that?” she asks, eyes wide.

“Know any good reason to wait?” Steve asks, and when Robin shakes her head no, he smiles.

The next day Steve puts on a clean pair of khakis and his favorite striped polo.  He ever so briefly considers wearing something not so preppy, but he doesn’t think Eddie would appreciate anything less than the truth.  The real Steve, polo shirts and all.  Begin as you mean to continue, and all that.

When he arrives at the trailer the next day (yes, that same goddamned trailer, flimsy and broken but in somewhat better shape than it was a few weeks ago), Steve takes a deep breath and knocks on the door, then remembers he’s supposed to use his key so that Eddie doesn’t have to get up off the couch too often.  He juggles the grocery bag in his arms and finds the key, glad to see when he gets the door open that Eddie hasn’t been disturbed.  In fact, it looks like he’s fast asleep.

Steve puts the groceries away and settles at the end of the couch like he always does, pulling Eddie’s feet onto his lap, and paging through a comic book.  A little while later Eddie stirs, blinking his eyes open and smiling at Steve.

They decide to watch a movie, but after a few minutes Eddie complains that his neck hurts from lying in the same position all day.  Steve helps him switch around so that his head is at the other end of the couch, and Eddie continues to gripe, but he’s smiling the whole time.  Steve can tell he likes the attention, likes when Steve slides an arm around his back and gently rearranges his limbs.  Steve likes it too.

Steve fetches some snacks from the kitchen and returns to find Eddie shuffling himself around again, claiming that the new position isn’t working either.  Soon they’re sitting next to each other, legs stretched out on a pillow on the coffee table, the television directly in front of them.  Steve is getting a suspicious feeling about the whole thing, and it only intensifies when Eddie gives a little sigh and rests his head on Steve’s shoulder.  “Thanks,” Eddie says softly.  “This is perfect.”

Steve’s not sure how much time goes by – time is weird when you’re practically holding your breath – but when he tilts his head to look at Eddie, Eddie’s looking right at him.  

“Eds?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m falling for you, you know.”

Eddie bites his lip and smiles, his nose crinkling adorably.  “Yeah, I figured.”  He turns back to the television and snuggles in closer against Steve’s side.  “It’s good, ‘cause, you know.  Me too.”

______

You can read all of my Steddie ficlets in one place on A03 here.

[mixelation]

itachi lying about getting his mangekyou from thinking he saw tori die is such a concept omg. Like truly gaslighting everyone.

team 4 really is gaslight gatekeep girlbossing their way through life :)

here's some dialogue lol

“It’s become apparent we need to be better at communicating,” Itachi said, standing in front of them like he was reporting to the Hokage. “We need to have a better understanding of each other’s limits and foreknowledge.”

Itachi did have his mangekyou. Tori had not needed to jump off a bird. 

“But did you want Kushina-sensei to know you have it?” Deidara asked, confused. 

Itachi stared thoughtfully at the wall behind Tori’s bed. 

“I suppose not,” Itachi said finally. 

“Then you’re welcome,” Tori replied dryly. “Does anyone know you have it?”

“No,” Itachi said flatly. 

“....do we need to fake a reason you have it?” Tori said cautiously, and Deidara immediately opened his mouth to ask what that meant.

“That would be… convenient,” Itachi said slowly, ignoring Deidara’s questions. 

“Okay, you can’t just announce we need to be better at communicating and refuse to communicate, yeah,” Deidara complained. 

Itachi stared at him. Tori let out an exaggerated sigh. 

“A regular sharingan evolves to a mangekyou under extreme emotional distress,” she told Deidara. “Like, extreme distress. Kill-someone-you-love distress.”

“Oh,” Deidara said, sounding taken aback, a rare emotion for him. After a beat, he asked, “Is that why you killed your family?”

“....No,” Itachi said. 

They stared at each other. Deidara’s eye started twitching. 

“That is a whole conversation we don’t have time for right now,” Tori said. “Although, Itachi, we should have a conversation eventually.”

“I know,” Itachi said, finally pulling his eyes away from Deidara.

Tori decided to change the direction of the conversation and turned to Deidara, sitting next to her on her bed. She kicked the side of his leg. 

“What about you? Still got a seal in your chest?”

“Not yet,” Deidara said, hand automatically going for the mouth in his chest. “I didn’t need it until puberty.”

Apparently, at some point during his growth spurt when most people’s chakra reserves naturally expanded, his chakra had gone haywire. Deidara was born with crazy large reserves; puberty had expanded them to levels he’d been unable to control. Iwa had sealed a bunch of it away out of fear of him blowing himself up. It was rare but not unheard of in people with Explosion Release. 

“That possibility is something you should have mentioned months ago,” Itachi said. “Kushina-sensei could–” 

“I might be able to control it this time,” Deidara cut him off. “The seal they do is permanent. I don’t want it unless it’s necessary, yeah.”

“I’m sure Konoha’s multiple fuinjutsu masters–” Itachi started. 

“I can take any seal off,” Tori interrupted before Itachi implied Konoha would be inherently better at managing Iwa’s bloodline limit than Iwa and Deidara started yelling. “But don’t you dare put me in a position where I have to make one up on the spot because you’re on the brink of exploding. Go tell Kushina-sensei they told you you’d need one when you were a kid, or Kurotsuchi mentioned it or something.”

“Fine,” Deidara griped and then solved half a croissant into his mouth. Then he glared at Tori. “And what ‘bout you?” he asked through a mouthful of bread. “What can you even do?”

“Uh,” Tori replied. 

Tori was not even sure she could die. 

“You can’t, like, tell?” Deidara asked. 

“No,” Tori replied. “I think I’d have to talk to the Shinigami to find out, and that’s not an experiment I’m prepared to repeat casually.”

“It would be convenient,” Itachi said, scratching his chin like he was having some sort of idea. “If you died temporarily, that would explain my mangekyou…”

As touching as it was that Itachi considered her a friend, Tori refused to do this unless Tsunade herself was immediately on hand. She definitely didn’t want to discover she was mortal now and actually die. And if she lived, she didn’t want to permanently damage herself. 

“My fuuinjutsu is probably on par with what it was before,” she said, changing the subject. “In theory I have more options because I can use chakra now, but I haven’t explored those much yet.”

“And you can melt people now, yeah,” Deidara said, then kicked her leg back. “You don’t have any other insane medical techniques you just forgot could have combat uses, do you?”

Tori stared down at her coffee cup, thinking this question over. She’d never gotten very good at the chakra scalpel technique. Could she use basic healing techniques for anything…?

“I hate that you have to think that hard, yeah,” Deidara told her.

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Between the Lines 2

Warnings: non/dubcon, Lee is rude, customer service triggers. and other dark elements. My username actually says you never asked for any of this.

Characters:Lee Bodecker

Part of the Bookstore AU

My warnings are not exhaustive but be aware this is a dark fic and may include potentially triggering topics. Please use your common sense when consuming content. I am not responsible for your decisions.

As usual, I would appreciate any and all feedback. I’m happy to once more go on this adventure with all of you! Thank you in advance for your comments and for reblogging.

Another day, another shift. It starts off less than ideal. Traffic is a slog and there’s customers outside waiting for open as you walk up. You have to escape them like a zombie horde to get inside. This time of year, they tend to resemble extras in The Walking Dead.

You put your things in the back and punch in. You help Giselle with the opening list as her lashes droop precariously. She’s never very awake on her morning shifts. As you balance the till, she yawns and checks her phone.

“That old lady is out again. Something about her back,” she pops a piece of gum in her mouth and starts chewing noisily. “Not like she could do much more than wring her hands.”

“Oh, that’s too bad,” you login and look across the store. You prefer being on the floor but you won’t get to stretch your legs until after noon.

“Eh, whatever. Not many seasonals this year,” she drones, “good, I don’t have to put up with children.”

You glance at her. She’s not much older than the high school students who come in to work the holiday sales. She’s just into her sophomore year and has the false sense of authority that often replaces the freshman fear.

You won’t mention that you have a masters and you’re still standing in the same place as her. Albeit, you’re full time and a pay grade higher. Still, it’s not that steep a gap between you.

The first customers are let in and swiftly fan out in their missions. A man comes up to ask about Tom Clancy’s novels and you point him in the right direction, telling him that Colton will be there to help out. He thanks you and shuffles away.

The morning drags by as you ring through the early birds. It’s that time of day where everyone is still waking up and seems to have something to complain about. You’ve suggested complementary coffee in hopes that it might quell their gripes.

Around eleven, you lean on the counter, the store effectively empty, and your headset crackles. Your name is called over the line to go to the operations room. You look at Giselle but she’s transfixed on her phone. She doesn’t even hear you say you’ll be right back.

The assistant manager, Colin, greets you in the operations room, one desk empty as he sits in another and wiggles a pen. You hover by the door as he keeps his focus on the monitor. For people who work in a bookstore, they do prefer the digital to the hard copy.

“Alright, let’s not waste time,” he leans back, finally tearing his attention from the computer, “got a complaint about you.”

“What?” You frown.

“Doing customer surveys, the online ones. This one’s particularly glowing,” he squints at the monitor again, “‘extremely dismissive and condescending. Kept trying to walk away’.”

“I never… are you sure it’s me?”

“They got your name. I went over the tape and it tracks. This guy, cop it looks like, you walked away twice. Why?” Colin points the pen at you derisively.

“Um, well, he told me to but changed his mind,” your eyes flutter as your nerves wind up. God, it has to be that jerk officer. “I did help him but he didn’t seem to want it.”

“Not what he says and he is a customer,” Colin sighs, “going to have to write you up, sweetie.”

You blink and hold your eyes shut. This is bullshit. You know better than to voice that thought.

“A write-up?”

“Relax, you got three before we do anything,” he pulls a paper over the desk and turns it towards you, “take the slap on the wrist and get back out there. It’s books. Just… smile a bit more and…” he pauses, his gaze dipping beneath your face, “maybe push your shoulders back. Posture’s important.”

You sniff back your disgust. You know what he means. Shoulders back; chest out. Gross. You cross the room and take the pen, reading over the write-up and the comments copy-pasted from the survey. Wow, what a jackass. You sign. Despite being a corporate peon, Colin’s right. It’s easier to just take the mark on your record.

“Thanks, sweetie,” he slides the paper away, “get back on the till.”

You nod and back out of the office. You shake your head as you stride through the store. This is so stupid and where the hell is Mr. Pine? He would’ve at least heard you out and overridden this nonsense decision. He’s been elusive lately and it shows.

You get back to cash as Giselle pops her gum noisily, “where were you, I gotta pee.”

“Go,” you wave her off as you step up behind the machine, “dead in here anyway.”

🚓

The day ends in the furor of after-work shoppers. You finally get free of the rush and into the lot. The air is crisp and whispers of the coming snows. Not quite cold enough as only a cold mist flecks down and has the tarmac shining black.

You go to your car and fish out your keys. As you do, someone rolls up behind your bumper and stops, exhaust puffing up in a stink. You shove the key in the door and glance over as someone gets out, staring at you over the roof of the cruiser. What the hell?

“Finished for the day?” The officer asks, the very same blight you had the pleasure of meeting the other day.

“Yes, officer.”

“Don’t sound so happy,” he comments, “nasty weather, huh?”

“Mhmm,” you nod and open your door, throwing your bag across to the passenger side.

“You’re being shifty… you nervous around cops?” He challenges as he rounds the hood of his car, nonchalantly idling in the lane.

“No,” you shrug, “I’m just headed home. Worked a long day, sir.”

“Oh yeah? You work so hard, don’t ya?” He scoffs, “smiles all worn out, ain’t it?”

He looms close, putting his hand on the roof of your car as his other comes up to touch your chin. You step back to look at him, crowded against the open door. You gape at him, heart pumping wildly.

“Officer, can I help you with something?”

“Sheriff,” he taps the star emblazoned on his coat, just under the fleecy collar, “I’m not lookin’ for your help, don’t you worry, but you look like you got a load on ya so I’m just doing my duty here and checkin’ in.”

You set your jaw. You’re not working, you have no obligation to pander. You’re parked between the lines, your insurance is up to date, and you’re tired as fuck.

“I’m good, sir. Thanks for asking. I gotta get home.”

He smiles, his hand falling to your scarf. He fixes the fabric as you fidget, resisting the voice that hollers at you to push him away. Assault on an officer is the last thing you need.

“Get home and cozy, huh?” He smirks, his blue eyes sparkling, “got someone special waitin’ on ya?”

“Sir?” You frown.

“Dangerous livin’ alone. I’m just makin’ sure you’re safe.”

You clamp your lips tight. He wrote a whole essay about you’re disservice to him, so why is he bothering you now? This is quite the power trip.

“Fine, sir. My cat will be hungry, so uh…”

“Ah, one of those,” he snorts and pulls away.

“One of…” your voice trails back.

“Don’t need no man,” he tuts, “you got your cat. They all say that before they know what’s what.” He wags his fingers as he backs away, “there’s only so much you can learn from books, you’ll see.”

You stare, frozen in place. Is that a threat? Is this all because you tried to help him? Because you didn’t just take his entitlement and swallow it like cherry pie? As absurd as it seems, it’s still scary as hell.

[theladycarpathia]

Billy Hargrove’s rules for mix tapes (and the one exception)

Prompt: Mix tapes

Steve Harrington brings mix tapes into his car.

That’s not even the worst thing

It’s the fact that Billy actually fucking allows it.

He fucking sits in the driver’s seat, watching Harrington shove tape after tape into his car and all of it fucking sucks. He knows full well that if Max or Heather tried that shit in his car, he’d leave them on the side of the road. Argyle brought a Weird Al tape once and Billy had given him a Chinese burn until he swore never to do it again.

Not that Max’s music is all that bad. But he’s never going to tell her that. If he tells her that, she’ll think she can bring anything into his car. 

The problem is that she’s about to start thinking that anyway.

“Why does Steve get to sit in front?” Max gripes, reaching for her seat-belt and Billy levels a glare at her through the rear-view mirror. She glares back with equal venom.

“Because, Maxine, children sit in the back,” he retorts sweetly and scowls at her when she kicks the back of his chair.

“I think sisters should have priority,” she mutters, folding her arms across her chest. Dustin just blinks at her. He looks happy enough just to come along. He and Billy don’t know each other all that well, despite he’s Max’s friend and Steve’s favorite…well, Steve’s favorite. 

“I think children should be seen and not heard,” Billy counters, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. Jesus fucking christ, how the hell did the munchkins invite themselves along? Steve had suggested they get pizza and Max had bulldozed her way into coming. 

“I think you should watch what you hide under your bed,” Max says archly, and he whirls around in his seat. Unfortunately, she’s too fast and whips her legs away in time, out of Billy’s reach.

“You shut your goddamn mouth,” Billy hisses, keeping a careful eye out for Steve, who’s busy locking up the Harrington mansion. Fucking hell, he thought that hiding his scant few mags in the loose slats under his bed meant that they’d be safe. If Neil ever finds out, Billy will probably need more stitches.

But Max just raises her eyebrows. 

“Well, think about that before you tell someone that they can borrow your tennis racket,” she points out. Billy thumps back into his seat. He’s not sure why he’s embarrassed about it, because Max knows…but Jesus, his sister knowing he has porn is all kinds of gross. 

“How the hell did you find it?” he asks quickly, because Steve is ambling down the drive towards them. 

“Slat’s too loose,” Max says quietly. There’s a slight flush to her face and Billy wonders how much she looked before she put them back. Billy leaves the less graphic girly mags out in plain view to keep his dad satisfied that his son isn’t queer. But those aren’t going to be the ones that have Max’s cheeks turning as red as her hair. “It fell on my head.”

Billy remembers the third occupant of the car just in time, glaring at the Henderson kid until he mimes zipping his lips.

“I heard nothing!” he says hurriedly. “Not a word.”

“What didn’t you hear?” Steve says, dropping into the passenger seat and Billy likes how it looks. Like he belongs there. 

“Nothing,” Billy says, wanting the conversation over. Max smirks a little and says nothing until Steve pulls a tape out of his bag.

“Why the hell does he get to put tapes in?” she asks, outraged, sliding forward in her seat as far as her seatbelt will let her. 

“Because he can,” Billy says, suddenly very sorry that he has a sister at all. She’s too mouthy and he has approximately five seconds before she puts it all together. “Shut up, Max.”

He turns the key in the ignition, hoping that she’ll get the hint and drop it.

But his sister is a fucking rottweiler and she never learnt to drop anything.

“You never let me bring tapes in here!” she complains, and the torture only gets worse when the tape goes in to play something bouncy and catchy that Billy wouldn’t be caught dead listening to.

“Borrowed it from Nancy,” Steve says, with a shrug, catching Billy’s eye. “Wanted to see what it was like.”

“You can play music in your own car,” Billy gripes, reversing down Steve’s driveway. Steve shrugs, unbothered.

“Yeah, I could,” he says and there’s an unusual expression on his face that Billy can’t quite name. They’ve been friends a while now and Billy’s gotten pretty used to the fact that Steve’s an open book. He never really needed to learn to mask his every feeling, like Billy does. 

But every so often, Billy thinks that Steve’s hiding something from him.

“Why are you letting Steve play Cindy Lauper in your car?” Max demands, her fingers an annoying flutter on Billy’s shoulder. He doesn’t look as he tells her to sit back in her seat. “Billy, why don’t I get to play music in your car?” Billy tries not to react. But it’s there, the answer held in the tiny clench in his jaw.

She sees.

“Huh,” Max says, the word like a lead weight on Billy’s chest, and she catches Billy’s eye in the mirror. Billy shakes his head ever so slightly.

“Can we all shut up now?” Billy says, adjusting his grip on the wheel. His palms are beginning to sweat. Max lets go of his chair and slides back into her seat. Billy can’t even be satisfied that she’s quiet for now, not with the nerves tap-dancing on his abdomen. “Or I will turn the car around.”

“What happened, what did I miss?” Dustin asks Max quietly, leaning over to whisper in her ear. 

“Steve’s special,” Max answers with obvious glee and while it’s not exactly the truth, it’s close enough that Billy’s heart skips a beat.

But when he looks to the right, Steve just smiles, something bright and satisfied. Like he knows that it’s true, maybe has always known that he’s the exception to Billy’s rules. 

“If you want me to stop, just say so,” Steve whispers. Billy dares to flick his eyes up to Steve’s and hopes he’s not wrong by what he sees there. Admitting that it’s true is as good as admitting…everything else.

“You’re good,” Billy croaks, mouth dry. Steve settles back into his seat, pleasure washing across his face. He reaches out and ejects the tape in a quick motion, the music cut off dead.

“Why’d you take it out?” Billy asks, a little confused. Steve shrugs and shoves the tape back in his pocket.

“I don’t think I need it anymore,” he says easily and the glitter in his dark eyes makes Billy want to kiss him. 

But something about Max’s amused face and Steve fiddling with the radio makes him think that there might be time for that later.

[ameliagiovanna0]

Feel Your Kiss On Me

Title from For You by Liam Payne and RIta Ora

Requested by @whiskeyloverbae ​ , thank you! 💕

“Tim has a hickey and he thinks it’s hidden by his collar but Angela calls him out on it. “

“Lucy!” Tim called from the bathroom.

“What?” Lucy returned, coming around the corner from her bedroom.

He couldn’t help but rake his eyes over her in the kimono and sleep shorts she wore, her hair wound messily on top of her head.

He grumbled, remembering he was trying to be pissed at her, and gestured to his neck and the purplish mark forming there.

“Oops,” she posited, but the mischievous grin that spread across her features betrayed her.

“Lucy, we have work today! What am I supposed to do with this?”

“I’ll go put a spoon in the freezer,” she tucked her lips between her teeth, trying to suppress her laughter.

Lucy rounded the corner once again, wrapping her arms around his waist as he dragged a razor through the shaving cream on his face.

She pressed her lips to his bare back, “You adding to the mess you’ve created?”

She smiled against his skin, “I wasn’t planning on it, but now that you mention it,” she chortled as she nipped at his shoulder.

“Luce!” he tried not to laugh, trying desperately to be mad at her, “We share a locker room!”

“Oh, like it’s the first time one of you’s had a mark.”

“It’s a hickey, Luce. I have a reputation.”

He tapped the razor in the sink before turning around in her arms to her raised eyebrow, “We both know that went out the window when you met me.”

“You’re impossible,” he said as his hand found the sides of her face. 

Tim wore a collared shirt into the station, forgoing his usual henley in hopes of hiding the mark his girlfriend left the night before, the frozen spoon not doing much to dull the offensive color. He put his white undershirt on and then uniform top on as fast as humanly possible, hoping none of the other officers noticed. He adjusted the collar in the mirror on the inside of his locker door and hoped it would stay in place all day.

“I should’ve starched these,” he complained to himself.

He left the locker room, seemingly unscathed. Angela asked him to see her when he came in for the day, so he made his way to her desk with two cups of coffee.

“Ange,” he set her cup in front of her.

“Hey, she greeted, “Thanks. The name Dennis Rand ring any bells?”

“Jesus,” he groaned as he balanced his arm on his duty belt.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes?’”

“I’ve arrested him maybe ten times over the years. Why?”

“He managed to get invol–”

Tim turned his head at the sound of glass shattering on the other side of the bullpen.

“Damnit, Smitty!” Angela barked before he even made it into her field of view.

“I’m sorry! It just slipped out of my hands!”

“Clean it up! That’s the third one this week!” she finally braved a glance at the mess of broken porcelain and coffee on the floor. 

Angela looked up, Tim’s head still pulled in the direction of Smitty dejectedly slinking toward the janitor’s closet.

“Timothy…”

His body stiffened as she stood up. It was never good when she used his full name.

He turned toward her, “Yes, Angela?”

She pinched the collar of his shirt, pulling it away from his body and laughing like a maniac. He rolled his eyes at her antics.

“Tim,” she managed to get out between snorts, “Is that a hickey?”

“I’m going to kill her,” he griped.

Angela simply laughed harder, nearly doubling over, having to brace herself with a hand on the edge of her desk.

“Are you done?” he asked when she managed to stand up straight again.

“Oh, no. Not even close.” 

“You two have fun last night?” She giggled again, “Oh, lemme guess. You bet on who could list the most penal codes in sixty seconds, and this was your punishment for losing?”

“No, wait! Lucy decided that she’d had enough of other women hitting on you, so she finally decided to do something about it?”

Tim blushed. This is not the conversation he’d envisioned for his Monday morning.

“No, no, I got it. Were you misbehaving?”

“I have work to do,” he turned to walk away.

“No, Tim, wait!” she tried not to laugh again. 

He turned around only long enough to flip her the bird.

“Your life would be so boring without me!”

He shook his head, a reluctantly amused smile on his face as he made his way to his office. He kind of hated her for it, but it was just Angela’s way of showing affection.

Sitting behind his own desk, Tim placed his coffee down when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

A: Dennis Rand, asshole. I needed info

T: Maybe you shouldn’t have made fun of me then 

A: whatever, I’ll just ask Lucy. Among other things 😁

T: I hate you both

A: You love us

Tim shot a text off to the woman in question.

T: in case you didn’t hear the cackling coming from the bullpen, Angela found the monstrosity you left on my neck 

T: Maybe I should return the favor tonight

L: don’t threaten me with a good time bradford 

He chuckled, setting his phone down. 

This was going to be a long day.

[chaotic-on-main]

Skyyyyy!! I am so excited for this event! I ran to your ask box.

I’m craving Pralines and Cream for me today. Ima pick Kitchen Sink. I want something about me getting jealous and him reassuring me that we are secure with one another, maybe the first time he says I love you?? Possibly. But def pre-established relationship. Maybe 4th year in school(That makes us 18?19?) I don’t remember. Let me be that young again 😂😂😂 anyway love you so much my little bean (i legit call all my close friends that ignore me) ❤️❤️❤️. Or college AU if you don’t want to do canon!

Off to request one with Levi now 😂. But you don’t have to do both!

Order up!! One pralines and cream with all the works for Bee!!

Sky's Summer and 250 Follower Event!

☾ Pairings ➼ Megumi Fushiguro x gn!Reader

☾ Content/Warnings ➼ fluff, jealous reader, canonverse, love confession

☾ Author's Note ➼ Hi Bee!! This one was a little fun. I always picture Nobara and Yuji as the goofiest little shits so it's nice to have a character that balances the team out by being like Megumi lol. I hope this okay! I'm not very familiar with his character like the others so this has been great practice. Also I realized this is more dialogue heavy than I'm used to, so that was interesting to work on! Thank you for the request!! Ilysm!! (also I love being called a bean, never stop) 💕

☾ Word Count ➼ ~1.5k

Ever since you had met those idiots you called friends so long ago, there never seemed to be any peace for you. Outwardly complaining about them was your favorite pastime, though anyone could tell that you really did love them despite the cutting tone. Nobara and Yuji were two sides of the same coin and you couldn’t have asked for a better set of dummies. Fortunately for you, you had Megumi to help balance out their stupidity. You and him actually bonded early on from the back and forth banter about how annoying they were, yet it was again obvious how much you both adored them.

All of this to say that whenever you hear your name being yelled from across the street, you couldn’t help but groan at the incoming trouble headed your way.

You shut the book you had been enjoying at the outdoor café where you like to get your favorite daily cup of tea. It was small and never overly-crowded, which was one of the best things about it. When you look over to the source of yelling, you’re not surprised to see it is indeed Nobara and Yuji barreling their way towards you.

“What do you idiots want? It’s too early for this nonsense.” You gripe back, scowling over to them.

“Fushiguro is getting hit on!” They yell at the same, both looking over to each other and frowning.

“Idiot, I said I would tell her.” Your orange-haired friend punches Yuji in the arm.

“Ow! I forgot!” He swats at her.

“What do you mean, ‘Fushiguro is getting hit on’?” You raise an eyebrow.

“I mean just what I said.” Nobara says quickly.

“And he’s really into it. I saw him waving his arms around and all that.” Yuji starts flapping his arms in a way to recreate what he saw. He accidentally slaps Nobara in the face in the process. Before she can retaliate, you raise your arms to get their attention.

“Are you sure this was Megumi Fushiguro? Broody, black spikey hair?” You chuckle nervously. “Pffft okay, sure… Regardless, he can take care of himself.” You pick at an imaginary hair on your shirt.

“Well, we know how you feel about him, don’t you wan-“ Your eyes shoot up into Nobara’s nonchalant gaze.

“You don’t know anything.” You scowl again, folding your arms across your chest.

“Keep telling yourself that, but we’re going back to watch this train wreck. You can join if you want!” And then they’re already off. In a huff, you gather your things and follow them. You really hope they’re just blind and got the wrong person. It wasn’t Megumi. It couldn’t be.

.

When they finally stop running, you are completely out of breath. You’re not that out of shape considering the regiment your school puts you through, but you didn’t realize they would be taking you so far away. How they ran to you in the first place is mind boggling. What’s even worse is that as you make it to the concrete stairs leading down to a landing, you definitely spot your friend Megumi - still chatting away with another girl.

The sinking feeling in your chest comes instantly. How stupid of you to not have said how you felt about him sooner. Now here are the consequences of your actions. He points at something, which makes the stranger laugh loud enough that it trickles up the staircase and into your ears. Your legs are flying down the stairs before you even realize what’s happening.

 “There you are, Megumi!” You yell, pulling your lips back into a fake smile.

He jumps at the sudden loudness, whipping around at the sound of your voice. The girl he’s talking to smiles at you and waves.

“What’s going on here?” You ask, your voice coming out a little higher than planned.

“This is-“ You cut Megumi off by grabbing his arm and tugging on it.

“Oh that’s great, it’s nice to meet you. Actually, if you don’t mind I’d love to steal him away from you if that’s okay?” And with that you start walking, pulling him away.

“O-okay! Thank you for your help!” You hear her yell from behind. You don’t give her a second glance as you pull him around the corner.

“Hey, what the fuck was that?” Megumi stops abruptly, grabbing your hand and making you stop as well.

“I’m not sure what you mean?” You face him and smile sweetly. Your cheeks hurt from the forced effort.

“Don’t play dumb with me. That wasn’t like you at all.” His eyes cut into yours and you can’t help but look away.

“I just thought you needed help getting out of being hit on.” You shrug your shoulders, still refusing to meet his glare. Your smile fades slowly.

“I wasn’t being hit on, dumbass. She was asking for directions because she’s new around here and then started asking for recommendations.” Megumi’s glare feels red-hot against your face. Or was it the embarrassed flush that comes with being so completely wrong?

“In my defense, Nobara and Yuji-“

“I’m sure they said something dumb. I just can’t believe you would listen. And why does it matter if I’m having a good time or not?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“You didn’t answer my question.“ You narrow your eyes down to your sneakers that you found yourself staring at instead of what was right in front of you.

“Just forget it.” You throw your hands up in the air and turn to leave.

Megumi mutters your name, soft. Low. Curious.

“Were you... jealous?”

“Pfft, jealous?? Of what?” You throw a glare over your shoulder as you walk, only to have your steps falter at the look in Megumi’s eyes. What was that?

“I don’t know. You tell me.” He mumbles, taking a few steps closer to you.

“There’s nothing to be jealous about.” You face him again, folding your arms across your chest in defiance.

“You’re right, there’s nothing to be jealous about.” He agrees. He takes another step to you, leaving about 4 feet between you two.

“I love you, so. Why would I want anyone else.” He mumbles under his breath, rubbing the back of his neck with one of his hands as he looks away awkwardly.

 “Yeah. I mean, you do kinda suc- what? What did you say?” Your arms fall to your sides as you attempt to process what he just said.

“Why would I want anyone else?” Megumi repeats, this time louder.

“No, the other part.” Your heart feels like it’s about to beat out of your chest. You will it to calm down as the blood pumping in your ears makes it hard to hear.

“I said I love you.” He looks up at you, dark blue eyes boring into yours. Sincerity mixed in with apprehension reflects back at you.

“I- Megumi. That’s-“ You stutter. You bite the inside of your cheek nervously.

“You don’t have to say anything. I just thought you should know so I don’t freak you out like that again.” He starts to turn away, but you close the gap and wrap your fingers around his wrist to stop him.

“Megumi, wait.” He plants his feet but doesn’t turn to face you.

“Since when?” You continue.

“Since what?”

“How long have you loved me?”

There’s a deafening silence as you wait for his response. A couple of cars pass by – the rush of air blowing your hair every which way. Slowly, Megumi rounds on you. He eyes you with anxiety, a signature downturn of his lips ever present. His wrist is still enclosed in your grasp.

“Since the end of our first year.” He mumbles.

“That long?” Your eyes are wide in shock as you process how long that had really been. That would make it a little less than 3 years that he’s liked you. No, not liked. Loved. And currently still.

“Why haven’t you said anything?” It’s your turn to frown back, lips pursed in a small pout.

“There was never a good time. It’s hard when we’re always on the verge of being murdered.” He says dryly with an eye roll.

“That’s a fair point, I suppose.” You laugh at that. You all rarely get a break from world ending obstacles. You both stare at each other, the tiny bit of tension from earlier now quashed.  

“Hey, ‘Gumi.” You whisper, closing the small space between you and him and continuing, “I love you too.” You lean in and kiss him delicately on the cheek, noting the softness of his skin against your lips. When you pull away, a shit-eating grin crawls up your face. He’s watching you stunned, a bright pink dusting his cheeks. After a few seconds, the apprehension that clouded his aura was now gone as a small smile replaced his shock.  

“So… if you love me so much, what are you buying me for lunch?” You ask. And then that frown is back like it never left.

“You’re so stupid sometimes. Let’s go find the idiots and-“

“Let them get their own food. I want you all to myself this time.” You release your grip from his wrist and place your hand into his, closing your fingers and squeezing. Before he can say anything, you whisk him away and towards your favorite restaurant.

I don't really have a taglist for anything outside of AoT so if anyone wants to be put on a list for any future JJK writing, let me know in the comments??

[slunch]

There had been a storm one morning that overloaded a couple of the windmills, so I was up on their platforms going through them one by one to check the blades and make sure the motors weren’t damaged. By the afternoon, the clouds had mostly broken up and the air was sharp and clear. The ring of brown smog that surrounded the city was absent for the first time in years, and I took deep breaths of the salty air. Seabirds called as they flew over the harbor, and the yellow bases and white blades of the wind turbines were brilliant where the sun caught them.

My phone rang, with the ringtone I’d set to be only for her.

“Hello?” I said, and hung the phone on one of the safety tether hooks on the platform where I was crouched.

“Hey,” came her voice through the speaker. “You’re on one of the windmills, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Do you see me?”

I straightened up from the panel I was working on and looked around, somehow assuming she was on another windmill or standing on the beach somewhere. Then the whine of the engine reached me, and I turned to look out over the ocean to see her colors racing across the waves towards me. A red stripe accent over white and black. In the depths of the black, there was a tiny highlight of electric blue.

“I see you,” I said.

She was in a new ship for this year, but the colors were always the same. And they had marked off a section of the open water for a qualifying course. She had gotten here a day before everyone else.

“I’m calling this one Hammerhead,” she said. “The rules say we have to put the stabilizers really far up on the nose this time.”

I pulled out my binoculars and traced her ship as she cut a white line over the waves, a long arc across the ocean as if she were described by the hand on a clock. The maglift racer was always some variant on an elongated triangle (a frame for the massive engine cylinder with a pilot seat and some fins bolted on) but this year’s design had stabilizers extending forward from the nose, just in front of where she sat.

“Better than Great White?” I asked, remembering her gripes about the heavy ships the regulations forced the teams to pilot two years before.

“Anything would be,” came the reply.

She always named hers after sharks. The press loved her for it. She was obsessed with them when we were young, and still loved telling me facts about them. Back when you could swim in the water, she always had her little hand in mine and was scanning the horizon to see if she could see any fins. But the sharks were long gone, and we ran down the concrete ramp into the waves together.

“Hey,” she said, and I could hear the smile in her voice. “This one’s for you.”

In the background noise of the call, I could hear a clunk as she rammed a lever forward and the pitch of the engine changed. In my binoculars, her ship straightened out of its curve and accelerated across my field of vision, leaving a faint trail of brown exhaust as the engine powered up. A white skirt of water vapor condensed around its midsection, then as the ship reached the pivotal speed point, the cloud blew out past the tailfins and disappeared.

A few seconds later, the sonic boom hit me across the water.

“I heard that!” she laughed through the phone. “I can never hear it from inside the cabin.”

“Your race tech is gonna give you hell,” I said, watching the airbrakes flip up and catch the sun as she decelerated back to a civil speed.

“Yeah, well,” she said. “What else is new.”

I couldn’t remember any other times she’d complained about her team yelling at her. There was so much in her life I didn’t know anymore. The racing ship curved again, this time turning away to go further offshore in the direction it had come.

“We’ll be doing qualifying in the city segment tomorrow,” she said as she sped away, into the shadows of the clouds floating off the coast. “You gonna come watch?”

“I have to work,” I said, turning back to the panel. “I don’t have any days off until next month.”

[pure-garbage]

Training Commences! Play The Straw Game

"Wrong."

Thwack!

"Ow!"

"Straighten your neck, engage your core and try again."

Sweat dripped down Lana's neck as she balanced on her hands. The ship rocked gently on the rolling ocean waves, sending her toppling to the deck with a shout. At her side, Zoro held the same pose. Without losing his balance or even so much as wobbling, he raised one hand and flicked her arm with a piece of straw in reprimand.

Thwack!

"Wrong. Try again."

"I almost had it that time," Lana grumbled, settling back onto her hands and rising once more.

"Good form. Now... 1,121, 1,122, 1,123..."

Zoro's posture was perfect as he raised and lowered his body in a brutal routine of vertical pushups. Lana grunted as she struggled to match his pace. He'd made it up to a thousand before she even managed to find enough balance to copy his pose. Now, she only made it up to twenty-three before Zoro made another correction.

"Wrong."

He thwacked her again.

"Ow!"

"Keep your legs straight."

"They are straight!" Lana snapped.

"They're not and it's making you unbalanced."

Zoro poked her in the side with his index finger. She toppled again with a cry and gazed up at him, huffing. She meant to frown, but staring up at his toned figure, the expression became a blush instead.

'Pathetic,' she scolded herself. 'Have a little dignity. Get ahold of yourself and focus.'

She exerted herself one more time, muscling through the exhaustion. She needed to keep training.

"Wrong!"

Thwack!

"Zoro! Whack me again and I'll take that twig and-"

Thwack!

"Argh!"

"I thought you were gonna do something about it," he teased.

"Oh, I will!"

Thwack!

"Like what? With your terrible balance, you couldn't take anything from me even if I stayed upside down and you got back on your feet," he mocked.

"Oh yeah? Sounds like a challenge."

"Care to make it interesting?" Zoro grinned, tucking the straw between his teeth.

"Interesting how?" Lana asked, cautious and curious at once.

"With a bet. If I keep the straw, you owe me a barrel of booze."

"Hm. And if I take the straw away from you?"

"You won't."

"Ok, but what if I do?"

"You really won't," Zoro smirked smugly.

"If you're so confident, you should put something good on the table as my impossible prize," Lana griped.

"Sure. What do you want?"

"I... want..."

Possibilities swam through Lana's head, some of them on the fantastical and provocative side. She knew she should have killed her blossoming, intimate desire for her crewmate in its cradle, but sh'd botched that assassination horribly. Her eyes glazed over a little as her imagination ran away with the lustful sapling whose roots now reached too deep within her heart for her to yank them out easily.

"Ah!"

Lana fell back to reality quite literally, losing her balance and crashing to the deck.

'Serves you right! You're just as bad as Sanji!' she berated herself. She shook her head to clear it of the lewd thoughts. Zoro wanted booze. Her request couldn't be any more demanding than his.

"I'll... uh, I'll just stick with booze. Booze is good. Yup. Booze."

"Alright then, shall we begin?"

"Right."

Competitive spirit cleared Lana's head completely. She lunged for Zoro, who evaded easily. True to his word, he stayed upside down. Lana pursued him doggedly, but without tact, her frustration growing each time she missed him. After a minute, Zoro yawned.

"We should have set a time limit," he complained. "This is boring."

"I'll show you boring!" Lana growled.

She got creative, feinting left. Zoro dodged right and Lana pivoted quickly, planting her hands on the deck and using her momentum to launch herself into a handstand just like the ones she'd spent all day practicing. She swung her legs hard, satisfaction filling her as they connected with Zoro's torso.

"Hey!"

Zoro's surprise faded quickly.

"Hey, not bad," he admitted. " You anticipated I would dodge and used that to your advantage."

"And now you're going down!" Lana cheered. She twisted further, but Zoro didn't tip over as she'd thought he would. "Hey, what..."

She tried harder, grunting as she wrapped both legs around him and strained to bring him down.

"How... are you... so strong?!" she panted. "Move, damn it!"

"If you want me to move, you'll have to make me," Zoro smirked.

Lana put all her strength into the twist, but Zoro still didn't budge. Instead, Lana managed to pull herself up at a perfect right angle from Zoro's body.

"Wow, you're getting stronger too," he noted. "If you were a little heavier, you might actually be able to move me."

"Well I've got you now," Lana reasoned. "You can't escape, so it's only a matter of time before I win!"

She kept her legs locked around him and relaxed her waist, grasping fingers searching for the key to her victory. Zoro chuckled, shifted their combined weight to his right hand and raised his left, using it to fend off Lana's hands.

"Hey, what the- not fair!"

"Why? I'm not breaking any rules," he laughed. He warded her hands off for a few minutes before Lana suddenly found herself unable to move them. With a single hand, Zoro had managed to restrain both her wrists behind her back.

"Come on, Lana, give it up," he urged.

Upside down, legs wrapped around Zoro's body, unable to free her wrists from his iron grip, Lana remained resolute.

"I'm not losing to you at such a dumb game," she announced, face to face with him.

"Doesn't seem like you have much choice in the matter," he crowed, rolling the straw triumphantly between his teeth. Lana grinned, baring her own teeth at him. She grabbed the straw with them, snatching it away from him in an instant.

Zoro gaped at her, blinking slowly in disbelief.

"You were saying?" she sang tauntingly.

"Huh."

Zoro's grin returned.

"I gotta hand it to you, you always find a way to surprise me," he said, sounding pleased despite his defeat.

"Um... what exactly is it you two are doing?"

Usopp's confused voice startled Lana. She released Zoro from her leg-lock and plunked down onto the deck. Zoro cleared his throat, relaxed his hold on her wrists and dropped slowly out of his pose. He stretched, yawned and closed his eyes on the spot, leaving the explanation entirely up to Lana.

"Just training," she offered sheepishly.

"Riiiight. Training. Sure. Well, I guess I'll leave you to it then," Usopp snickered. He retreated into the Merry's cabin, barely holding back his amused chortles.

Lana sighed, but let him go without another word. The sun began to drop low in the sky as Zoro snored. Lana let herself linger a while, watching his chest rise and fall in the golden light of dusk. She sighed once more, this time with a mix of contentment and ennui. She was happy to have won, but something bothered her about their game that had nothing to do with training or booze.

'He doesn't care at all about letting me touch his bare skin while we train. Any other man would have made it sexual by now for sure. There's only one explanation that makes sense.'

Lana began to foster the creeping suspicion that her sparring partner was, in fact, gay as the day was long.

________________________________________________

<== Previous Chapter

Next Chapter ==>

== First Chapter ==

[lfthinkerwrites]

A Lesson in Power

Edward gives Ellen and a few up-and-coming mobsters a lesson in what power looks like.

Rating: T

"I don't know why I agreed to this," Dad said for the fifth time since they'd left the house. "Taking you along to a mob meeting. I feel like a bad father."

In the car's front passenger seat, Ellen resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Dad, would you just relax? This probably isn't going to be the most dangerous thing I've done this month."

Dad just let out another dramatic groan. "Ellen sweetheart, have mercy on your poor father's blood pressure, and don't remind me of all the other nonsense you've gotten up to!" He shook his head. "Subway surfing. I should have boxed Cain's ears for that!"

Ellen was barely able to stifle a laugh. Yeah, good luck with that, Old Man. She tuned out her father's griping and focused on their surroundings. They'd entered the old shipyards. Ellen practically felt herself buzzing with excitement. After weeks, and weeks of cajoling, Dad had finally decided to bring her along to a meet. He was finally starting to accept that her vigilante career wasn't a phase. He still complained about it every chance he got though.

He drove down to the edge of the old pier so that they were parallel to an old cannery plant. Dad stopped the car and let out one last dramatic sigh. "For the last time, are you sure you want to come in?"

"Kind of late to back out now, don't you think?" Ellen asked. "What else am I gonna do, sit in the car and throw shit at the seagulls?"

"Language, Ellen! And excuse me for wanting to keep my only child out of harm's way!"

Ellen forced herself to take a deep breath before she fired off some choice words. It's not about you, not really, her inner voice said. It's his anxiety talking. Be patient with him. Calm him down. He can't go talk to these assholes if he's already raging about something. "Dad," she said gently. "I know you're trying to look out for me, but I'll be alright. I'm an adult. I've done stuff like this before." Her Dad's face darkened. "And I want to look out for you too," she added quickly. "Query and Echo aren't here and you need more backup than just your rank and file goons."

"Informants, not goons. I don't use goons anymore, remember?" Dad let out a long sigh. "You and your overdeveloped sense of filial piety. Alright. Let's go. Put your mask on." Ellen reached into her knapsack and quickly tied her purple cloth mask around her eyes. "Do you have everything?"

"Yeah," Ellen said, pulling her custom tonfa out. She had a few smoke pellets as well as a flashbang in her belt. She hadn't checked, but she was also 99% certain that either she or Dad had a tracker somewhere on their person. The Bats said that they wouldn't interfere in the meet, but she was sure that if she looked, she'd find one of them somewhere on the rooftops surrounding them.

"Before we go in," her father said, "Pop quiz: who are the players?"

Ellen recited the names from memory, as her father had drilled into her over the past few days. "Carlos Francesco, former low-level enforcer for the now defunct Falcone criminal organization, and his nephew...Paris Franz." She and Steph had laughed themselves silly over that name. "The past few months, Francesco and Franz have been pulling armed robberies on banks and storefronts in the Bowery, trying to raise capital to form their own gang." Even after everything, the Bowery was still Cobblepot's turf, hence why Dad had gotten involved. "They'll be here with about a dozen guys, basically, their whole group."

Dad nodded in approval. "Very good. And what is our goal tonight?"

"You're going to be telling them to back off the Bowery. Basically, this is their only chance to get out before Cobblepot unleashes Holy Hellfire on them." Ellen frowned. "So what am I doing exactly?"

"Nothing," Dad said. "You'll be standing back and observing." Ellen had opened her mouth to protest when her father gave her a harsh look. "Don't argue with me, Ellen. Francesco's an idiot, but Franz is a young punk with a chip on his shoulder and something to prove. He's probably going to do or say something to get a rise out of us, but do not take the bait. Don't move a muscle until or unless he raises a hand to you first. If you don't do what I say, this will be the last time you come with me to something like this. Understand?" Ellen glared but nodded. "Good girl." He gave her a pat on the shoulder before opening his car door and getting out. Ellen quickly followed. "I know it might be frustrating, but just stand back and watch your old man work. Learn from what you see tonight. Then if Franz is just as dumb as his uncle, you can show him what you're capable of. Can you do that?"

"I'm your huckleberry," Ellen drawled, giving her tonfa a twirl. "That's just my game."

Dad snorted. "Come on then, Holliday." Ellen followed her father towards the cannery.

As they walked, Ellen took quick glances of their surroundings. There were ten other cars parked up and down the pier. Francesco's guys and Dad's. She peered up towards the rooftops. She couldn't see anyone, but that didn't mean they weren't there.

Finally, she turned her attention toward her father. She'd never match Cass in terms of reading body language, but she could see her father's attitude shifting the further they walked from the car. His strides were becoming longer, and his chest was puffing out a bit. He was psyching himself up for the meet. Ellen wondered how much of the old Riddler would come out to play tonight.

Her father opened the back door to the cannery wide, immediately catching the attention of everyone gathered around a table on the ground floor. The group of men and women closest to them Ellen quickly recognized as some of her Dad's people. It was the smaller group clustered on the other side of the table that she focused on, and one slimy-looking motherfucker in particular.

Sitting in a chair was a young man, maybe a few years older than Ellen herself, with slicked-back black hair, reptilian eyes, a black leather jacket, and a white dress shirt unbuttoned almost to his navel. Paris Franz, or as Steph had called him, Gaston minus the everything. A smirk came over his face as he watched Ellen and her father approach. Ellen didn't miss him taking a closer look at her and her chest. By the way Dad's eye twitched, he'd caught it too.

"Yo! Eddie!" Franz greeted as Dad sat down in the chair facing him. Franz nodded at Ellen. "Who's your new hench wench?"

"Paris," Dad said in a cool, controlled voice. The voice he used when he was restraining himself from jumping the table and beating the crap out of someone. He nodded to the group of men surrounding Franz and Ellen took the time to stare each of them down. They were all Franz's age. Weird. She thought Francesco's crew would be closer to his own age. Speaking of which, where was Francesco?

"I was under the impression that this was your uncle's meeting," Dad said. "Is Carlo unwell?"

Franz's smirk grew wider. "Let's just say that there's been a leadership change." Well, fuck. Francesco was probably at the bottom of Gotham Bay right now. "Uncle Carlo's stuck in the past. His time is over, and so's yours, old man." Ellen watched Dad raise an eyebrow. "You Rogues are done," Franz continued. "It's time for a new class of criminals to take over. You can tell Cobblepot that I'm not going anywhere. I'll be ruling the Bowery while he sits his fat ass in the Iceberg Lounge." How many times had he practiced this speech in his bathroom mirror?

Dad just chuckled. "Ah, the bravado of youth. You're how old now Paris? 22? No, 23. And so far, you've held up two banks and six storefronts. All in all you've absconded with about $200,000. Well done." Then something in Dad's eyes changed. "When I was your age," he said in a low tone, "I'd already robbed Gotham banks and museums out of a cool $2 million. And I didn't need to use someone else's leftovers to do it." Ellen had to stop herself from laughing at how quickly Franz's jaw dropped. "Don't forget just who you're speaking to, little boy."

Franz's face reddened and Ellen's hand instinctively moved to her belt. A quick look from Dad stilled her movements. "Excuse me?" Franz said. "'Little boy'? Just who the fuck dod you think you are!? You think you can talk to me like that? I will fucking bury you old man!"

"Oh, will you?" Dad taunted. "And how exactly are you going to do that with no crew?"

Franz's expression went from angry to confused. "What are you talking about?" Ellen was also curious. She knew Dad had been up to something, now she got to find out what it was.

Dad laughed again. "Your little friends here were easy to find. In the twenty-four hours before this meeting, I found their names, addresses, their mothers' addresses, and most importantly, their bank accounts. Or rather, my bank accounts." The guys behind Franz began to shout. Dad raised a gloved hand. "Let me finish. Their money is now my money. And it will continue to be my money as long as they keep indulging your ridiculous whims. And frankly from what I've seen, they don't get paid enough for your nonsense. They can make twice as much working for Cobblepot and actually have health insurance. Which, trust me, they're going to need if they continue down this path. The time of the Rogues may very well be over, but the time of the Batman is still going strong." Some of the young guys scoffed, but more than one also looked queasy.

"And before any of you fine upstanding gentlemen get any ideas about retaliating," Dad continued. "I should tell you that Oswald Cobblepot is expecting a phone call from me. If he doesn't get it, he will send fifty men here to storm the cannery and kill all of you." Ellen forced herself not to let on her surprise. Dad might be telling the truth but if he was bluffing, she couldn't let that on. "Oswald's been quite patient with you so far," Dad said. "More patient than the Red Hood would have been if you tried this stupidity in the Narrows. He's sent me to give you this final offer. Leave the Bowery now, and he won't hunt you down. He'll even let you keep your ill gotten goods. I can also be persuaded to release your friends' assets." Dad leaned forward. "If you continue on this path, however, I can't guarantee your continued good health, Paris." Dad looked up and nodded at Franz's crew. "What say you, boys? Will you go down with the ship, or would you like to be able to pay your rent this month?"

Franz's gang took one look at him, then at her Dad, before they shook their heads. "Paris," one man said. "Let's just go. We can try again in Sionis' old turf, or Crime Alley."

Franz said nothing, but pushed his chair back. Ellen watched him reach for something in his jacket and in a split second, grabbed her tonfa from her right loop on her belt. Before anyone in Franz's gang could even shout a warning, she'd jumped onto the table, swung her arm back and connected hard dead center in Franz's face. He fell to the ground screaming, blood gushing from his face and mouth. His gang stared at her, eyes wide.

Ellen quickly hopped off the table and went back to her Dad's side. He seemed rather pleased by this turn of events. "I can get her to do that on command, you know," he quipped at the whimpering man on the floor. "She can draw a weapon faster than almost anyone I've ever seen. You should be thankful she doesn't carry guns. If she did, you'd be dead." He then got up out of his chair and tipped his hat to the now-terrified and soon-to-be-defunct Franz gang. "Gentlemen." He turned on his heel and walked towards the back door.

Ellen stayed long enough to watch one of the young would-be gangsters help Franz up. "Fuckin' bitch," he choked out at her. "I'm comin' for you. You hear me!? I'm gonna get you!"

Ellen pulled her second tonfa from her left belt loop and twirled both of them at once, smiling as he and his little posse flinched "You're a daisy if you do," she mocked. As she expected, none of them made a move toward her. She walked backwards towards the door just the same, until she'd reached the cover of her Dad's informants. Once there, she turned around and quickly dashed to her Dad, basking in the smiles and thumbs ups, the informants were sending her way.

Once she and Dad had made it outside, Ellen exhaled. "Holy shit," she said. "That was something."

"Language!" Dad scolded. Ellen let out an incredulous laugh. It never failed to amaze her just how quickly he could shift from being the Riddler to being her fussy Dad. "Let's go report back to Oswald. I wasn't bluffing about that phone call."

Ellen nodded, then put her tonfa back into her belt loops. "I didn't jump the gun smacking him, did I?"

Dad stopped mid-step and gave her a side hug. "No," he said instantly. "Sweetheart, you did exactly what you needed to do. You saw that he was reaching for a weapon and you protected us, just like you've been trained to do. And as an added bonus, you, a young woman only 5'3, kicked his ass in front of his associates and mine. Word will get out about what happened here tonight. No matter what he does in the future, he's going to be remembered as the young punk who got beaten by Enigma. His reputation will never recover from it."

Dad stepped back to look her in the eyes. "There's more than one kind of power, Ellen. I was able to disband his gang with a few clicks of a keyboard and you stopped him from getting any further ideas with a swing of your tonfa. If you can harness both of these types of power, you'll be damn near unstoppable." He huffed. "And I'll never get a good night's sleep again."

Ellen just smiled.

[randomszzz]

Non-exhaustive list of games I’ve played trying to recover from The World Ends With You Obsession

((Play harvestella))

Rune Factory 5: I don’t love Rune factory 4 quite as much as okami or twewy, but it’s definitely one of the closest games, and I was over the moon when rf5 was announced.  But running around the coziness of rf4s, it did seem unlikely that rf5 could equal that, and reviews panning its performance also put a damper on my expectations.  I still found some enjoyment in rf5, but rf4 ran circles around it.  Biggest offenses for me: talking to everyone in the village both takes longer (so many loading screens, being 3d is so not worth this) and less rewarding than rf4 (It felt like  an entire year before villagers start recycling dialogue in rf4; it’s one of its greatest strengths.  Rf5 characters are repeating themselves within a week.).  Actually, that kinda encapsulates a lot of rf5′s problems, longer for less, with excessively long days and low drop rates.  The post game dungeon was also far shorter than I was expecting and supremely disappointing.  My biggest gripe, however, was locking the flower seller to close to the end of the game.  The last character you unlock in rf4 upgrades spells, something totally optionally and easily (and frequently) ignored.  But no flower seeds? abs - ol -ut -ly CRIMININAL.  That means heavily gimped chemistry; and no non rng sources of wettable powder.  I wanted to take my time with the game, do a bunch of farming and social elements, not just rush through main story.  And like, I did, but it left me completely at the mercy of typhoons.  Even dragging my feet as much as I did, I still beat the story before completing a single year, and that always rubbed me the wrong way.  It was over 70 hrs so I can’t really complain it’s too short, but, blegh.  Other minor annoyances: the festival music became intolerably grating after hearing it for the first 5 hours, cute sea horse bosses I so looked forward to taming are untameable, the travesty.  I do really hope its just the kinks of coming back to the series after so long and working with 3d and future rf games are a step up. 

Harvestella PLAY THIS GAME PLAY THIS GAME IT HAS UNICORN OF THE CRYPTIDS WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED?!?!  Ahem.  I really had a tough time gauging this game.  Saw in the nintendo direct, went sold, this looks awesome gimme.  I didn’t play the demo, as I didn’t want to start playing and then have to wait a couple months to play the rest, but asked my sister her thoughts about it.  She really wasn’t enthusiastic, but she’s less keen on rune factory than I am, it’s fine.  Reviews came out and were thoroughly middling so mmm, maybe it’s not exactly awesome.  But being better than rf5 - or even just as good - isn’t a high bar so I’m looking forward to it.  I started playing it, and I have plenty of gripes - but I also really couldn’t stop playing.  It’s certainly a different rhythm than rf, pretty much all interaction with villagers is exclusively done through quests and there’s not much point in talking to anyone outside of those.  However, said quests are also pretty good, and you wouldn’t want to talk to everyone every day, you could spend all day running to various npcs and probably not reach all of them in one day.  I do really miss rf’s skill and crafting system (harvestella has crafting but outside of accessory synthesis it has 0 customization) and monster catching.  At first it was charming for the sos throwback ‘just buy (not) cows and (not) chickens, but I definitely miss having more things to look forward to.  And once Harvestella’s quests are completed, there’s not much point in continuing to play.  I didn’t much care about the lack of festivals when I started Harvestella, but now on the other side it’s what I think it needs most.  Common complaints about harvestella are the lack of voice acting and extremely limited character creation options but really that’s not where I’d put extra resources too.   Anyways, the music and world in this game are just breathtaking; I’ve been totally immersed since christmas. Totaku and unicorn’s designs are A++++.  I was worried it would be a fairly short affair, and predictably I dragged my feet going through it, savoring every second of that world, but it turned out to be a much more substantial world than I expected.  The ending stretch of the game continued to confound my gaugings, the story by turns being disappointing “I wish you thought through this more” and exciting, I downright wanted to dance in the actually-last dungeon.  Game’s a total treasure, especially if you enjoy melancholy vibes. 

Monster Hunter Stories 2 Did I play MHS 1? No.  Have I played any MH? No.  But I played the demo for this and rise.  Rise was entertaining, but not enough to part with scarce cash for.  I put close to ten hours on the demo for this game though, clearly they were doing something right.  That ‘something’ is not the story, despite the title.  Even trying my best to indulge it, there’s just no getting invested in ‘the power of kinship!’ they keep trying to push, and they really don’t do enough to develop a relationship with ratha.  I suppose they did sidestep a couple eye-rolling cliches I was anticipating (others still abound though), and there is occasional charm.  I understand the minimalist approach to music, but it really would’ve been nice to have some music for the however many, many, many hours spent hunting for rare eggs postgame.  ‘I probably missed something by not playing pokemon’ is the sort of revelation this game brought me.  Lackluster story and nonexistant bgm?  Who cares, there’s cool monsters to find and battle and catch and customize, I was flat out addicted for a month.  Sadly I tried the demo for the first game on the 3ds, and already having a familiarity with the mh bestiary did suck a lot of the novelty and joy from the experience.  Um, pokemon recommendations that go hard on presentation and customization? 

Radiant Historia Is there a better ds game than twewy?  I’m honestly hard pressed to think of any genuine competitors, and consulting the internet this game came up a lot.  Radiant Historia is really good.  Of the games I’ve played since neo, it has the best cast.  There was one chapter midgame that had me on the edge of my seat, and I was thinking, oh, if it just keeps escalating from here it really will be special!! but things kinda just evened out after that.  I went back and forth on my feelings about the villain, at first being disappointed at the reveal but by the time the credits rolled I think it worked out pretty well.  I played the 3ds remaster, the voice acting was excellent, and while I get why some preferred the old portraits, overall I think new ones are better - except for Eruca oh my god why did you do that to her character design?!?! Criminal!  I did get kind of stuck, however, polishing everything off for the true ending.  After spending hours without looking anything up online, I’m pretty loathe to give in and do it now.  But replaying chapter after chapter looking for the needle in the haystack I’m missing has lost its luster.  A hearty f u to aht’s dancing companion.  Presumably with enough work I could give everyone a happy ending, so I’ll just presume a happier ending.  One day maybe I’ll be more patient. 

Ni no Kuni I said radiant historia had the better cast, but also, ester and oliver are my precious children.  The single best thing about ni no kuni is the wizard’s companion.  It’s beautiful and informative!  I love how easy it is to keep track and find things in the game *cough cough cough*.  It also scratches the cool monsters! itch.  By far the worst thing about ni no kuni is that it had a stealth section. Why?  Who thought that was a good idea?  Who even thinks those are fun?  banging my head against a wall.  A slightly negative thing about it is that I really would prefer if it was just flat out turn based instead of realtime.  Give me full control of my companions, please. I will say I, uh, wildly misjudged drippy.  My deepest apologies. 

Final Fantasy Type 0 I like ensemble casts, okay?  At first my curiousity was such that I was just going to watch a playthrough, but it’s opening was strong enough that I actually wanted to play it myself.  So I did.  It has a strong beginning and a stronger ending.  The middle, however, is a great big yawn.  That last chapter though.  If only the entire game was like that.  Idk, this game has a lot of flaws but I like the underlying concepts.  It probably says something that while I was willing to play many hours of radiant historia postgame, I just rushed online to find the type 0 lore and missing bits rather than slogging through any of it again.  Though I do kinda want to bounce around some of its later dungeons... but I have to play through so much bleh to get anywhere. 

Persona Strikers I haven’t actually finished the game yet - haven’t touched it since playing harvestella - and maybe wouldn’t even bother mentioning but I wanna complain.  The stupid ferris wheel event, they were like ‘hey you can hang out with ryuji and yusuke’ and I was like, cool, not something so date coded yaaaay.  Only for ryuji and morgana to bemoan ‘oh this could’ve been a romantic date wow lame’.  It really soured me.  At least yusuke tried to enjoy himself.  It’s not a bad diversion otherwise, although the difficulty is a bit wonky.  Some early game game bosses/events stumped me for hour(s), but after a bit more familiarity it evened out, only for me to gain such an overflow of healing/sp items nothing’s really a threat anymore.

Ori and the blind forest I still don’t know what a blind forest is :(  Still really enjoyed this, although it’s also more difficult in the beginning than end type of game.  Just the design and presentation of this is whole vibe, and one of these days I’ll play will o wisps... one of these days...

13 sentinels People seemed to think highly of this game, my curiosity was piqued, I started to watch a playthrough but really blanched at the one-by-one approach.  Poking around I saw the game had a fair degree of flexibility in following the various stories, plus its own encyclopedia, and yeah this was a game where I needed to be in control.  Besides, playthoughs are frequently watched at 1.5 or 2x speed and this was just too dense to really process like that.  Props to them for making a game’s story really be better as a game.  I was going to say ‘a vn you should play instead of just watch’ but the combat was waaay more fun than I anticipated and perfect palette cleanser/break from the story segments.  Still, I did wind up feeling a bit cold on the story/characters.  It’s impressive it manages so many elements in a cohesive manner, but that’s the best I can say.  Mystery’s fun, but nothing never seen before.  Characters range from ‘meh’ to ‘rather likeable’ but the game’s insistence everyone needs a love interest weighed it down.  Megumi at least had interesting dynamics despite not really being a ‘likeable’ character and the end of her story is probably what I’ll remember the most.  Nenji, Usami, and Keitarou were all pretty enjoyable though.  I did appreciate how the game wound up dealing with its larger conflict and antagonistic forces.  Something about how everyone gets a happy ending I found really refreshing.

There are others too but hmm I’ve slid into playing neo from the start for a third time.  trying to do a run without eating and crying a little on the inside.  Twewy tells me to expand my world and try different things but it hasn’t actually brought me relief.  Woe is me.  At least harvestella has delectable vibes.

[lazyrabbit755]

Ok so I finished Wednesday...

So first of all I wanna start by saying I really liked the series. I'm gonna go into detail about what I liked and didn't like and what I want to see improved in later seasons (assuming there are any). But overall no matter my criticisms overall I really liked the show as a whole! You might be asking yourself why I'm not just writing a review on IMDB or something? To which my reasoning is that this is my little blog and I am going to exercise my right to rant about my stupid little obsessions on the internet as much as I want!

Just a heads up I am going to go into spoilers so I would highly encourage you to watch the show first and come to your own decisions before reading what some rando on the internet has to say about it. Now with that out of the way, let's get into it...

The Good:

Obviously the art direction is great, I mean it's Tim Burton directing an Addams Family reboot, that's a match made in heaven! The characters were wonderful, I honestly think they carried the show imo. Eugene and Thing were some standouts to me although of course Bianca, Enid and Wednesday were my favorites. I just really feel like Eugene was like the MVP and like was consistently one of the nicest characters both to Wednesday and the other characters (although the scene where he barfs all over the pilgrim bullies was kinda dated, really felt like I was watching an early 2000s movie making fat jokes in poor taste) The music score was lovely it really sold the whole "Goth Girl Hogwarts" vibe which I don't mean as a jab towards Goths cause I'm obviously here for that or I wouldn't be writing about this show.

The not so good:

Tbh the whole teen romance subplot wasn't doing it for me. I mean I get why they wrote it in but it felt kinda forced at times ngl. Like having Wednesday go back and forth between Tyler and Xavier, (the two most boring "straight guy" names of all time btw) after a while it felt like writers ran out of excuses on why Wednesday would be leaving one of the boys hanging while pursuing the other. Yes a lot of people have complained about how boring in general Xavier and Tyler were as characters and I agree! You had on one had an artsy loner boyfriend who has psychic abilities and the power to LITERALLY MAKE HIS DRAWINGS COME TO LIFE and they managed to make him uninteresting and kinda unlikable (that last one being more subjective to myself but you get the point). And on the other hand a literal serial killer boyfriend who turns into a 10ft tall monster with a mommy kink. And like just saying the whole idea that Laurel controls Tyler because she told him the truth about his mother also being a Hyde was kinda weak. Like just say the kid has mommy issues!

In all honesty the main gripe that I have with the show is actually about Wednesday herself. She didn't really get that much character development throughout the season. YES her relationship with Enid was very cute and I love Enid...BUT...the show even acknowledges that Wednesday is kinda a jerk to her friends. Enid straight up tells her to her face that she doesn't like the way she treats her, bringing her along to dangerous investigations and tricking her with the promise of a girls night out. And before we knew that Tyler was the real killer he was in the same boat. I mean she leads him on prioritizing herself first and her investigation and uses him to get what she wants. Same with Xavier who REALLY got the short end of the stick getting PUT IN FUCKING JAIL (even if it was only for a night or so). It felt like towards the second half of the season that Wednesday was going through a series of selfish decisions and having characters highlight them to her face so that she could reflect on her bad actions and grow as a character. But instead of giving us that payoff she literally doesn't grow OR APOLOGIZE to basically anyone! And when she does apologize it's weak as hell! Instead most of the characters she treats like crap come to her and apologize or attempt to rekindle their relationship. I MEAN FOR GOD'S SAKE Enid literally tells Wednesday TO HER FACE, that she is the one making most of the effort in their friendship and instead of apologizing, Wednesday just tells her she doesn't need friends and that she's a gigachad alpha. And Enid just comes back like an episode later and has a change of heart. And her "apology" to Xavier was just pathetic. He just sorta forgave her for everything after being justifiably pissed the fuck off at her for ruining his life and then suddenly forgives her for everything because she took an arrow to the shoulder for him.

Like it feels like the writers ran out of time or something, like they wanted her relationship with Enid and the other characters to have more depth. Like most of the other side characters have at least decent character development arcs, like Enid and Bianca standing up to their Mothers. The thing is I like Wednesday as a character, contrary to what you might have just read I want to root for her! But the writers made it a bit hard towards the end. I know they wanted to sell the whole Goth girl, raven from teen titans, attitude but it's ok guys you can make her a little more likable.

Conclusions:

You may think that I have been a bit harsh or nitpicky about the show. Or perhaps you're thinking "Why the hell did this loser nobody write several paragraphs about some dumb teen drama Netflix show" to which my response is why are you still reading? YES I'm probably a bit harsh on this series or nitpicky but that's because I like it so much! When something that you enjoy is so close to being "perfect" (or at least really well done) it's all the more disappointing when it just barely falls short. If your favorite sports team loses by one point right before the final whistle you're even more crushed that you would've been if they had lost by 8 points.

To conclude despite the cheesy teen romance plot lines and boring ass love interests, I enjoyed my time with this show and if there are more seasons to come (which it's looking like there will be considering the success of the show) I want to see the show do better and improve upon it's previous seasons.

If you read all that borderline incomprehensible word vomit here's a gold star 🌟 you deserve it. 👍 And hey, Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a great rest of your day/night and if you watched the show lemme know if you agreed with some stuff I said or you think I'm fucking insane for caring so much and writing all this. Either way it's just a show at the end of the day. :)

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Ask on Army-Multi Behaviours and K-pop Fan Archetypes Related to ARMYs and BTS (Repost)

Anonymous: Bpp, I don't understand people who call themselves fans but instinctively reach for the least charitable interpretation when something comes up about their supposed faves. They remind me of one American friend who thinks it's a personality trait to complain all the time. Even about the most harmless things. And my Republican step-grandma who only comments on anything to criticize it. I wonder what their state of mind is like on a normal day, because their first reaction every single time is negative. And it's not just 'unpopular opinions' but just weirdly glossing over easy, accessible, and plausible realities that would explain something before coming here to complain, again. Does it strike you as weird when you see things like this?

It's weird to choose to remain in a space you cannot stop criticizing, a space you refuse to see anything good about, and a space you make no effort to partake in positively. It's not even critical inquiry because half their takes are uninformed. Their 'hot takes' are entertaining to read but at the same time they seem so sad. I mean who does that? The person I saw doing that this afternoon stans another kpop group and doesn't put nearly the same scrutiny as she puts on BTS and armys on her real favorite group that she comments on only to talk about shipping and it's like, don't they see it's obvious what they are?

**

Hi Anon,

You’re going to have to give me more to work with because I don’t traffic in indirects. But in any case, I guess welcome to the world and seeing how some people do things. As I’ve said in another post, if you’re a critical person, k-pop is the perfect genre for you cause you’ll never run out of things to be critical about, and you’ll always have a willing audience to affirm your gripes. No other genre elevates the opinions of random fans like k-pop lmao. I’m not American but even where I live I know people who like being contrarian. I don’t mind it because multiple perspectives are usually a good thing, so long as everyone gets their say and all aspects are considered fairly. This doesn’t happen often on the internet because nobody changes their minds here, but it’s typically a good sign to see people civilly conveying they think.

For example, I like that people are able to point out they find it excessive when fans freak out about COVID announcements because it’s true some behaviors border on irrational (even if you’re upset about it what good does crying all day do?), and I like it when other people can explain why they’re legitimately as worried as they feel. It’s called conversation. Or as close as one can get to that on Tumblr.

The rest of what you described just sounds like a regular k-poppie or multi as relates to BTS. It’s not about whether they listen to more than one artist. In fact, usually these sorts of people don’t really listen to music that much at all. It’s that they have a group they actually stan that’s not BTS, and usually use BTS and/or ARMYs as the crutch to comment on all they find wrong with k-pop, of which the group they actually stan of course has it’s own examples of. In my experience, those other groups/fandoms even have it worse than BTS or ARMYs, but again, in k-pop, nobody is actually concerned about the underlying issues. It’s about the subject. Normally I’d say BTS is the most prominent social phenomenon right now so of course everyone and their momma will be talking about them in every context, but this is a pattern I’ve observed with k-pop stans even before BTS became really famous. Like being hypercritical of BTS / ARMYs is the most consistent feature of a k-pop stan and it’s been like this for as long as I can remember loool.

It’s just what it is and I’m so used to it I hardly even notice it these days. I suggest you get used to it too because this is one thing that will definitely not change.

Originally posted: March 29th, 2022 9:32am

[mariaurore]

On Monday I bought 2 new DLC Kits, the First Fits Kit and the Incheon Arrivals Kit;

I put them on my Wishlist for a while, debating if I should...

"Should I?" turned into "I did" really quickly 😅

You'll notice in my Hitsu Household v4 post that I already posted the Hitsu fam wearing some of these outfits. I couldn't wait to update their wardrobe 😄

After buying these DLCs, my friend asked if I could show her some of the outfits that came with it and just basically me playing around in CAS. Of course! I'll show some here, but I won't spam this post like I did Discord 🙃

👆🏻 This outfit here is probably the #1 reason I bought the Incheon Kit and I didn't even put any of my sims in it. It doesn't canonically fit Hitsu's character, and as a family we wear "Snowboard attire" for our Cold Weather outfits (though I actually swapped them to something a little more formal this time). This is still "too light" for snow. I loooooove it though 😭

I also didn't give it to Mari for her "Everyday attire" because I gave her something else more fitting to her character. She's my OC from FFXIV (Red Mage main) and there's quite literally an under-shirt with a Shawl-type Robe-looking outfit that fits her perfectly. Looks to be from Realm of Magic DLC. And there's matching earrings!

It's not (new) from the DLCs I just got, but it's new in the sense that I hadn't noticed it until now.

Now we come back to Hitsu and this...

My first comment was: "Wooly Mammoth" 🤣

I'm sorry, I have this tendency to mock or tease the men I love when I dress them 😂🤣

It's totally out of endearment, I swear 💗💓💝 (maybe it's some weird form of flirting and I suck at it, Lol)

Not that one Love, just not that one. That's a pass 😂

Now this... this is perfect 👌🏻💓 (OOC: He even wears something insanely close to this in Canon/Anime)

I didn't really change Mari or Hitsu's shoes into the new ones. They were nice, don't get me wrong, but they didn't match any of their outfits 🤷🏻‍♀️

I am hoping and planning to use a lot of these Incheon outfits for Takashi when he eventually reaches the age to use them.

Next we move onto Takashi and his new clothes!

The nice thing about getting new DLCs is that when you go into CAS the next time, the new apparel appears at the top of the list with stars next to it- showing you "Hey! These are new things!" So, immediately I was able to see the new stuff Takashi had waiting for him. But then just as annoyingly, the moment I clicked away from something they all dropped to their respective spot in the list and I was like "Hey?!!? Where'd you go?!!?" 😶

He has so many cute things. I was super spamming Discord at this point. I also found a gripe that I was kind of complaining about too.

It's right here, allow me to repeat my complaint:

OOC: /rant Someone explain to me WHY would I put my CHILD in a towel for everyday clothes??? Only a towel. Whoever deemed this acceptable is a sick person. 😠💢 /endrant

That's genuinely not ok.

But moving on...

The cute clothes in this pack~ 💝

I love the matching exercise set! And the bomber jackets are so cute~

(OOC: I only recently learned how much I love the bomber type jackets, having just got one myself irl 😅)

There's one (or more?) bomber jackets that are super cute, that come with the base game as well. Was heavily considering giving Takashi one of those but the Camo jacket won out in the end. He's been targeted by bullies way too many times 😓. He needs all the extra strategic defenses he can get.

[valleyrunearchives]

Binary

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Fandom: Boku No Hero Academia/My Hero Academia Pairings: Aizawa Shouta/Yamada Hizashi Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence

Chapter 21/?

“Binary code is a series of zeroes and ones strung together in a specific sequence. On paper, it’s useless. Annoying. Worthless. But put that same string of zeroes and ones into a computer, and suddenly it’s a language far more complex than the human mind can comprehend. I was the same way. The world decided I wasn’t good enough in the physical plane, so I went digital. That’s why I chose the name Binary. And you should be very,” He smirks at the underground hero on the screen, “Very afraid of the reach I have here. Aizawa Shouta.”

Or

Midoriya Izuku is tired of the world treating him like nothing. So he decides to becoming a hacker to show the world that nothing can be anything.

Featuring Midoriya Izuku as the Genius Hacker Aizawa Shouta as the problem child wrangler Yamada Hizashi as the moral support to his husband Tsukauchi Naomasa as the man who needs a long vacation PLEASE Shinsou Hitoshi as the intentionally adopted one Toga Himiko as the unintentionally adopted one Dabi as the really didn’t want to be adopted one but he guesses this is his life now and Nedzu as the Rat God of UA

Previous | First | Next

Click here to Read on AO3!

“Today’s the day!” Himiko cries out happily, skipping ahead of her family on the sidewalk, “Today’s the day of UA’s entrance exams! I’m super excited! And nervous! But mostly excited!”

“It’s too early for that level of excitement at all…” Hitoshi gripes as he follows along with a mug of coffee clutched tightly in his hands. 

Izuku is quiet as they walk, busy working with CATRA on his phone to double check a few things about his creations. It’s highly important that they not fail him on such an important day. It’s not like you can retake the UA entrance exam if you don’t like your score. They soon reach the gates where several other middle school hopefuls are milling in. The family of four stand and stare for a moment before the younger ones turn to Dabi when he clears his throat.

"Alright you three, be good and do your best. I'm going to be proud of you guys no matter what happens but still try to kick some ass," he tells them in his most mature adult voice. It was Iwai’s idea to mention that he'll be proud of them no matter what. 

"You wound me! Trust me, Dabi-nii, the next time you see UA will be on our letters of acceptance here!" Izuku grins sharply before softening it into a smile, "Do you have an interview today?"

The older male shakes his head, "No. I have one tomorrow. They wanted to do it today but I told them that my siblings were taking their entrance exams today and I wanted to be on standby in case you needed me."

"Oh where's it for?!" Himiko asks excitedly.

"A hero agency. They need, like… a secretary for their top hero but needed someone more like me to keep them in line. They said they really liked my application though, even without prior work experience."

"Oh yay… you get to be a hero babysitter…" Hitoshi snarks sarcastically before downing the rest of his coffee. Dabi reaches out and shoves Hitoshi’s head. The teen snickers as Dabi scowls at him in mock annoyance. Then he smiles ever so slightly, "Get out of here, you three. You've got an exam to take."

"Group hug for luck!" Himiko shouts, snagging one of Izuku and Hitoshi's sleeves each to drag them into a hug with Dabi. Hitoshi complains a bit but doesn't fight her too hard to cling to their older brother in a barely there embrace. Izuku wraps his arms around Dabi's waist tightly and squeezes him as Himiko does the same. Dabi winds his long arms around all three of them and gives them a short hug. He pats each of their backs and they all let go. They turn and head through the school’s gates as Dabi shouts after them, “Cause some chaos!”

“We will!” Himiko calls back, turning to walk backwards while waving both arms at him. She turns back around when he waves back and starts conversing quietly with Izuku. Well it was more at Izuku. He was so focused on his phone all he gave was noises that either signaled an agreement or a disagreement with what she was saying.

Hitoshi whips his head around a second later. "Himiko, on our six," he says coldly. She also turns her head sharply at that before shoving Izuku to the other side of Hitoshi. Izuku stumbles and when he manages to right himself to see Hitoshi and Himiko standing like a wall in front of him. He peeks over their shoulders to see Bakugou walking past. He tenses as Himiko growls lowly at him. 

He doesn't react to them though. Just walks by with a blank look on his face. They all watch him tensely. He doesn't do anything beyond that either. Didn't even look at them.  "Weird," Hitoshi mutters.

"Very…" Izuku agrees, "I don't trust it though. Be vigilant around him." The other two agree with him. They then resume walking to the front of the building. Registration went smoothly for them. The person signing Izuku up did try to put him in the General Studies test but he quickly corrected her that he was going for the Hero Course. It got him a weird look as she rechecked his quirk status but then she shook her head and muttered something under her breath before changing him to the correct testing choice. 

Izuku notes all the cameras along the hallways towards their testing room. Nedzu's doing, he's sure. He then checks to see if there’s anyone in the hallway with them. Thankfully there’s not. He taps twice on his phone's touch screen and a message from CATRA pops up that she understands. A second later the red lights on the cameras shut off. Perfect. He reaches out and snags both of his siblings’ arms, causing them to stop walking. 

"Really quick before we go in, I have something for you guys," he tells them. He reaches into his backpack as they make questioning noises. He pulls out his little “gift” and gives it to them. They’re the same thing. Small in size and slender; Able to easily be kept in a pocket without it being spotted. 

“What is it?” Himiko says, turning it over several times in her hand. 

Izuku pulls out his own and shows it to them, “It’s a mini taser. I designed them for us to use against some of the robots; Right after I finished the conduits. I made it sleek enough to be able to slip it into the testing sites in our gym clothes’ pockets but powerful enough to knock out even the three pointers. They won’t handle the zero pointers when UA releases them, but they’ll work everywhere else.”

He presses the button on the side of it, causing the end to light up in sparks. He releases it after a moment, “Easy and simple to use. It needs a minute or two to recharge before you can use it again though. So be careful not to get caught out by another robot while it is.”

“Cool…” Himiko whispers, thumb rubbing over the button reverently, “This’ll be so helpful!”

“It will give us an edge against them along with our hand to hand training,” Hitoshi adds before pocketing it. Himiko also puts hers in her pocket. No other words are spoken, they all just simply continue on their way into the examination room. They all sit down in one of the seats, all next to each other. Izuku’s grateful there wasn’t any kind of assigned seating based on last name. A proctor, possibly a teacher at the esteemed high school, passes the three of them a packet of exams. Izuku pulls out his pencils as Hitoshi and Himiko do the same. He takes a deep breath then cracks his knuckles. This is the easy part, he thinks to himself. With that, he’s off and his pencil is flying across the answers. 

Multiple choice, essay, equations; Nothing can stop him. He can vaguely hear the scratching of his brother and sister’s writing. They’re working steadily. Not at his speed of course, but steadily enough to know that they’re not having any issues with the exam questions. Time blurs to him. He doesn’t know how much of it has passed. He doesn’t care. All he can see and focus on is the questions in front of him. Eventually, he puts a period at the end of the most recent essay questions and flips to the next page… only to find it blank. Izuku shakes his head and picks up the packet, turning it over. Is he done? He flips through it. All questions are answered; Circled, bubbled, filled in. He’s done… He’s really done. 

He lets out a sigh then glances at the clock. Huh. Only took him about an hour and a half. He puts his pencils away calmly, not noticing that several other examinees behind him are staring at him in wonder as he slides the packet to the edge of the desk. Himiko glances over at him and mouths, ‘Done?’ He nods and she grins with a thumbs up before returning to her exam packet. 

The proctor passes by and moves in front of him when she notices he’s not moving. She leans down and whispers, “You okay? Do you need a break?”

“No,” he says back quietly, shaking his head, “I’m done.”

She blinks before picking up his packet. Just like he did, she flips through it to check. When she gets to the end, she blinks again before setting it back down. “Very impressive,” she tells him, “I’ll have to keep an eye on you during the practical. What’s your name?”

“Midoriya Izuku,” He’s only slightly hesitant to answer her, somewhat fearful of all the attention that may be on him if he does. 

“I’ll keep an eye out then,” she smiles before patting his test as a farewell. 

He keeps quiet and to himself during the rest of the testing period. After it’s over, all the tests are collected by the proctor and she heads out of the room. Present Mic replaces her after a few moments. Izuku’s heart skips a beat at seeing the Voice Hero, recalling his stint being the man’s personal dispatcher for that fire all those months ago. He takes a small breath through his nose, reminding himself that Present Mic doesn’t know who he is and won’t be able to find out. At least not right now. 

Pamphlets are passed out to everyone. Most people look confused to see the robots listed on it. Izuku is not. Neither are Hitoshi and Himiko. But that’s because they knew about them before. They don’t make a show of knowing that they knew. Less suspicion, of course. Present Mic is also going on to explain how the exam works but since he already knows, Izuku isn’t paying attention.

“Why robots?” he’s muttering to himself, with a finger over his lips, “I’d get it for the more combat oriented quirks but it causings quirks that aren’t that overly combative but are still good for hero work, like Hitoshi’s and Himiko’s, to be overlooked. That seems like a negative point in favor of keeping the test the same every year. Besides that, you risk the safety of minors with a test like this since robots don’t have a kind of failsafe to ensure they stop before anyone is harmed unlike people. Overall it just seems overly complex and not worth it-”

“YOU WITH THE GREEN HAIR!” Izuku jumps and turns wide eyed to another boy with dark blue hair and glasses pointing directly at him. “You’re incessant mumbling is distracting everyone around you! Please cease it at once!” 

Izuku shrinks into himself, blushing harshly at having his habit called out. Oh God, this is the worst.

“Nobody asked you! People with anxiety deal with it differently, suck it up!” Hitoshi shouts back harshly.

“Yeah!” Himiko yells out, slamming her hands down on the table to stand up, “He wasn’t bothering anybody with it and you just made it worse by calling him out in front of everyone like that! So just shut up, glasses!” 

The glasses boy seems to flinch at that. Izuku reaches out and taps Himiko’s hip, causing her to sit down in a huff with her arms crossed. She keeps glaring at the boy out of the corner of her eye. Present Mic is a bit awkward after that bout of tension but quickly gets back on track, explaining the zero pointer - That Izuku and his siblings once again already knew about - to the group of UA hopefuls. After he’s finished, their assigned testing groups are passed out to them all. They’re cards with their names and group letters on them. Izuku reads his card before turning to his siblings.

“Group C,” Izuku tells them.

“Same,” Hitoshi says, holding up his assignment card to show it off.

“Aw man! I’m in group E!” Himiko also holds up her card in dispondance. 

Hitoshi scowls, “How the hell did that happen? We were all sitting together… If Izuku and I are in the same testing group, that means you should be too right?”  

“Not if the pooling parameters are different,” Izuku theorizes, “The groups aren’t randomly assigned based on seating location, they’re carefully picked when we sign up for the tests. They might be pooling the groups together based on quirk efficiency. Hitoshi and I are basically on the same level with him having a mental quirk and me being quirkless but yours is at least a little more suited to some type of combat with the ability it gives you. It means they have different expectations for you. It could be a good thing in helping you get in!” 

“I guess…” She still sounds quite sad. 

“Chin up, nee-chan,” Hitoshi consoles, “At least this way they can’t accuse all of us of cheating if we’re not all in the same testing arena.” She mumbles something of an acquiesce before Hitoshi asks her, “You got that vial of my blood on you right?” 

“Right here,” she confirms while patting her pocket where both the taser and the vial are.

“Good. Give ‘em Hell, Himiko!” He smirks at her. Izuku also gives her a blinding smile and two thumbs up. She grins back at them, fangs glinting in the light. She then turns to head for the changing rooms to get ready for her test with group E. He and Hitoshi stand there for a moment before looking at each other. Izuku grins ferally at him, “Time to go make Dabi-nii proud. Let’s go give them our own form of Hell, Toshi.” 

“Right behind you, Zu,” Hitoshi grins back just as ferally.

[stratiotis-nth]

Ever since Cas came back and turned human, it would seem he’s stopped giving a shit about literally everything. When Dean noticed this new aspect of Cas’ colorful personality, he had made himself paranoid that Cas would suddenly start flirting with him on the regular now that his big confession was out in the open.

So while Dean was scared shitless, he was confusingly disappointed when Cas didn’t do that at all.

No. The first thing the ex-angel did after surviving another encounter with death was start a Shotgun war with Sam.

And no, not the bang bang kinda shotgun.

“Shotgun!” Cas practically bellowed down the corridor as the three of them were getting ready to get dinner.

“That’s not fair, Cas! I’m in the bathroom!” Sam complained through the closed door. Cas ignored him completely as he strode past and ducked into the passenger seat of the Impala. Dean, who had been desperately trying to stay out of this war, just gave Cas a sideways smile.

“Y’know, the rules are you can’t call shotgun until you actually see the car, Cas.” He told him, his lips tugging up in amusement and…just happiness that Cas was close.

“Until Sam demands to implement this rule, I will abuse his ignorance.” Cas replied, smiling softly. Once again, every time Cas won the passenger seat, Dean wanted to ask what was with his sudden obsession with it. It wasn’t like Cas hadn’t been stubborn enough to claim it before he became human. He wondered what changed, why Cas suddenly cared about seating arrangements. But, as he had been doing ever since they got Cas back (again), Dean bit his tongue. He didn’t want to overwhelm the newly human with the tsunami of questions he had.

Sam griped the entire way to the diner, grumbling about being squished even though Dean knew there was more than enough space. Cas sat next to Dean, watching the trees amble by with a serene, totally unaffected smile on his face. Pleased as a pickle. Dean was fighting his own internal battle between his burning questions and undying amusement at Sam’s plight.

At the diner, Cas sat next to Dean. That much was hardly anything new. The two just naturally gravitated towards each other, and after Dean caught himself drifting mindlessly towards Cas more times than he could count, he stopped giving him grief about personal space.

Cas’ thigh brushed up against his almost the entire meal. Dean pretended not to notice, but internally, he was melting into a puddle of bi panic.

In the parking lot, Sam was quick to call shotgun when Cas got distracted by their waitress catching up to him and giving him her phone number. Dean was too busy bristling and snapping at Cas to hurry up to even notice Sam was sitting next to him.

Cas sulked the entire ride home, the waitress’ number stuffed into one of his pockets. Dean tried not to think that maybe Cas was saving her number for another time.

On Saturday, it was Dean’s turn to go on a food run. Sam was busy working a ghoul case with Eileen, so when Cas wanted to come along there was no yelling match over the front. He ducked into the passenger seat and just about blinded Dean’s poor weak heart with a smile that crinkled his nose.

They fought over eggs for about twenty minutes in the diary aisle. Dean win by threatening to give Sam exclusive access to shotgun. Cas relented with a glower that could have smote demons if he still had his grace.

Eventually, Sam did implement the rule about only calling shotgun with the car in sight, and as the weeks went by and Dean’s silent journey is self realization unfolded, the war at escalated. Now, neither of them could call shotgun without all three of them being in sights of the car. It had gotten bad enough that Sam and Cas waited impatiently for Dean in the garage, staring expectantly for him to round the corner so they could have their yelling match.

Cas nearly blew Dean’s eardrums out, bellowing “SHOTGUN!” loud enough to drown out Sam. He angrily opened his mouth to argue when his phone started ringing.

“It’s Eileen.” He said, his back snapping straight and immediately answering the video call. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Can you give me a ride?” Dean could hear Eileen’s voice over the tinny speakers. “My car broke down and the nearest shop is two hours away.”

“Where are you?”

“An hour away from you? It was supposed to be a surprise.”

Dean saw Sam’s face soften, the tension of worry falling away. He butted in, sticking his face in view of the camera so Eileen could read his lips.

“Just tow it here. I can patch your ride.” He said. “Sam can take the tow truck.”

“Are you sure?” Eileen asked.

“Course. ‘Sides, those guys won’t give you a fair price anyway.” Dean flapped his hand dismissively.

“Thanks, Dean.” Eileen beamed, and oh, Dean knew that smile. Mischievous and damnit, she had planned this from the start, hadn’t she? Just to get a free repair out of him. Dean squinted suspiciously at her, and Eileen just wiggled her eyebrows.

“Cas and I can pick up the curse box and meet you two back here in a few hours.” Dean said. He saw Cas immediately brighten, having secured the passenger seat.

Cas was looking particularly triumphant as they drove, his knees rocking back and forth in a content, mindless sort of way. Finally, Dean couldn’t hold back the question anymore.

He had done his work accepting the fact that he wasn’t as straight as he thought, that it wasn’t very heterosexual to stare at Cas’ lips or pop an awkward boner seeing him all cleaned up after Purgatory, or completely shutting down every time he died or getting all prickly when waitresses give him her phone number. He was gay for Cas, and he had just gotten around to accepting this. Cas said he loved him, right? so Dean shouldn’t be afraid or rejection or anything. Yeah, no he was terrified.

“Hey, Cas?”

“Yes, Dean?” He turned to him with that soft smile that Dean wanted all to himself.

“I gotta ask, man,” Dean chuckled a little awkwardly and kept his eyes firmly on the road. “Why are you so determined about sitting shotgun? You’ve never been before.”

“Ah.” Cas hummed, turning back to the road too. “I suppose now I have the freedom to pursue the things I want. Chuck is gone and my deal with the Empty is null in void. I have time to…focus my attentions on other things.”

“The things you want? What, you got a better view up here or something?”

“Well yes, the windshield does allow more viewing space.” Cas agreed. “But it’s not my main goal in doing all this.”

“Then…what is?”

“Dean.” Cas said in that ever patient, you’re-being-dumb-about-this voice. “I enjoy being up here because it allows me to be closer to you. You are the view I most admire, Dean. I’m always so helplessly drawn to you.”

Dean’s mouth had gone a little dry and his grip on the wheel was suddenly sweaty. The silence that fell was deafening. Cas didn’t even look concerned. He just sat there waiting the road as if he hadn’t just said something so…so…soft to Dean.

Helplessly drawn. Like Cas couldn’t bear being away from him. Like Dean was this perfect, magnetic thing that Cas was enchanted by, something worth having around.

With a jerk of the wheel, Dean was pulling over on the side of the empty highway in the middle of bumfuck nowhere. He threw Baby into park before twisting around and staring at Cas.

He didn’t even look vaguely concerned, the fucker. He just gave Dean a patient look.

Dean opened his mouth, and closed it. Did it again, ready to tell Cas everything. Snapped his jaw shut.

Cas watched in cool amusement. Dean felt his cheeks get hot.

“Screw this.” He grumbled to himself, before lunging across the bench, grabbing Cas’ face with both hands, and kissing him square on the lips.

He felt Cas freeze for a moment, probably in total shock, before he started moving.

Dean nearly choked on a gasp as the chapped, warm lips started pushing and devouring, Cas was suddenly the one taking charge, shoving Dean back against his window as he clambered across the seats to get on top of him.

Twelve years of pent up emotions came crashing out in a sudden burst of unstoppable passion. And as soon as it started, it seemed to have stopped. They both were panting, Dean’s jeans were tight and his entire body screamed to have Cas against him again. But Cas had made to move away, putting space between him as he looked at Dean with wide eyes.

He didn’t get very far. Dean grabbed ahold of his jacket lapels and held on tight with an iron grip, keeping Cas hovering inches above him, basically sharing air.

“Wanna hear a secret?” He whispered between heavy breathes. Cas just blinked at him. “I’ve always rooted for you getting shotgun.”

Cas’ kiss swollen lips split into a dazzling smile, and he rewarded Dean with another intense make out session. When they pulled away, Dean found the words spilling out of his mouth.

“I love you too, Cas. You can have me. God, you have had me, for years you have. Can’t believe it took me so long, I’m sorry I made you think you couldn’t have me, I’m sorry it took me so long—“

Cas shut him up with another kiss, and Dean’s ramble faded into a helpless whimper that too was swallowed up by Cas.

“Does this mean I get exclusive shotgun privileges?” Cas asked a few hours later than they finally took the curse box off the poor shopkeeper’s hands. They had arrived nearly an hour late, not that Dean (or his dick for that matter) particularly cared.

“Honestly? Play it up to Sam and he might let you get away with it for a while.” Dean chuckled. Without even thinking too hard about it, his free hand slithered over the bench, grabbing Cas’ and entwining their fingers. Something so small and simple, yet made Dean light up like a sun.

If Cas didn’t manage to convince Sam, Dean sure as hell would.