#people who can't mask didn't get a sign that said 'I can't help it' and become bullying exempt I promise you

[mythicalcoolkid]

You don't want to be more ill or more visibly ill. You want it to be easier

[bohnsky]

So I was listening to The Moment I Knew by Taylor Swift and couldn't help but make it pre-TGM Hangster. Jake is celebrating his birthday with all of their friends, so naturally Javy and Natasha are there, but Bradley doesn't show up. Jake being Jake tries to just shrug it off. Thinking that he'll be here later.

Hours pass and still no sign of Bradley, no call, nothing, not even a message. Jake still smiles, chatting with his friends and family but he keeps looking at the door and checking his phone. Nothing.

It's getting late and people are starting to leave. Jake can't keep up the act anymore and flees to the bathroom. The door opens and Javy and Nat, who have been aware that Jake's been keeping up a mask all night, come in. Jake turns away. He can't let them see how hurt he is. Javy hugs him from behind, while Nat stands by the door looking guilty. She's Bradley's best friend after all. Of course she's noticed that he hasn't showed up. At this point Jake just tries not to fall apart. He said he'd be here.

The next morning Bradley calls. I'm sorry I didn't make it. Jake hasn't talked to Bradley or Natasha ever since. He's not mad at her, she was there for him when Bradley wasn't, but she's picked a side.

[thaisibir]

SEES members react to getting anesthesia: headcanons from a real anesthetist

(Go here for post on Phantom Thieves react to getting anesthesia)

Makoto: the guy who secretly smokes weed, chews through roc every 15 minutes, needs over 1.5 MAC maintenance sevo. (Laymans terms translation: smokes weed so he burns through a ton of muscle paralytic agent (rocuronium) and anesthetic gas (sevoflurane) needed to keep him relaxed and deeply asleep)

Yukari: had her hair and nails done the day before surgery, wakes up from anesthesia asking if she said anything dumb and apologizing if she did. (Complimenting patients on their nice nails is part of my small talk to attempt calming nerves when they're rolled into the OR)

Junpei: would try to fight anesthesia and count past 10 seconds, tries to cheat by counting fast (he loses anyway) (It's so amusing when patients try to challenge anesthesia. Some put up a good fight, but in the end, anesthesia always wins.)

Mitsuru: takes 300 mg of propofol on anesthetic induction, scares the shit out of OR staff when she still reaches for the airway device as the anesthetist tries to insert it. (Redheads tend to need more anesthetic than average. For context, the induction/knock-you-out dose for propofol is about 2 mg/kg. For frail old people, I halve that dose. Most people don't need more than a single 20 ml syringe/200 mg of propofol. I push 200 mg for big tall football/basketball guys. I've seen redheads take at least 2, even 3 syringes. Mitsuru would be a tough one to knock out.)

Akihiko: the extremely athletic ASA 1 guy with baseline bradycardia bordering on need for anticholinergics. Will most definitely wake up swinging fists and knocking out teeth and trying to jump out of the bed if he didn't get enough sedative on board beforehand. (Healthy athletic young patients (HAY patients, I call them) tend to wake up violently and delirious from anesthetic gas. To mitigate this, there's a sedative called precedex that helps smooth out emergence from anesthesia. Good to give for little kids, teenage girls, and big strong-looking guys. As soon as I see I'll be getting an Akihiko/HAY type patient for an upcoming case, I already know to draw up and dilute precedex to have at the ready.)

Fuuka: actually a very pleasant and compliant patient, but has family history of malignant hyperthermia and allergies to practically everything, apologizes for all the trouble. (Malignant hyperthermia is a very rare, but very deadly anesthetic complication if not treated promptly. Many anesthesia providers go through their entire careers without ever seeing MH, but we're trained to know what to do if it ever happens. Anesthetic gases and a muscle paralytic agent called succinylcholine are MH triggers. The anesthesia machine must be completely removed of the gas canisters and flushed through with high flow oxygen for an hour or so, to really make sure none of that stuff is exposed to an MH patient. I like the idea of Fuuka turning out to be a patient requiring an extensive anesthetic plan when she totally wouldn't mean to)

Ken: the rare kid who's cool with getting an IV in preop. (Pediatric patients typically do not get an IV placed before being rolled back to the OR, as most kids are terrified of needles. Induction of anesthesia in the OR must instead be achieved by delivering high flow anesthetic gas through a mask. Once the kid is unconscious from the gas, then an IV can be placed to give medications throughout a case intravenously. Amada seems like the type to be fine with getting an IV placed when he's awake because that's what adults have to do.)

Aigis: is a robot, physically can't process anesthesia. (Probably goes without saying)

Koromaru: Mitsuru or Akihiko, as the oldest members of SEES, act as guardians to sign anesthesia consent forms. Holds out his front leg and rolls over to offer his chest so staff can put on the blood pressure cuff and EKG stickers. Adored by the vet and vet techs for being so smart and adorable.

Shinjiro: the guy you think would smoke weed and drink a lot but actually has a history of post-operative nausea and vomiting (PONV) and prolonged emergence from general anesthesia. (Somehow I like the idea of Shinjiro turning out to be a delicate flower when it comes to anesthetic requirements)

[twistedwriting]

Azul Ashengrotto Character Analysis

I have many thoughts of Azul, yet not a single word comes to mind when I try to write them down but I will try my best.

There are certainly a few topics that are questionable or even judged upon the fandom, some also seem to forget that Azul is more than his contracts and his shady ass business. Some view him as manipulative while I believe he just saw stupidity in humanity and took this weakness of mankind and turned it against those who were foolish enough to not ask questions. Azul has never lied in his contracts, not a single time. He provided what he had offered and taken what he was entitled to take. Let's take the main issue of Book 3: The contract Ace, Deuce, Grim and many others had signed: Offering their magic for a study guide - If they'd make it to the top 50, they'd get their magic back. If not, they become the Sea anemones that are to follow Azuls every order. He provided the guide and it helped everyone who has gotten their hands on it - Did he lie? He didn't. All he did was *exactly* what people had asked - Nothing less and nothing *more*. And that is the exact point: He didn't give information if he wasn't asked for it. Or Yuus contract: He took Ramshakle, he provided what the Freshmen needed - He didn't lie. In fact, he offered more than he had to: The Potion. The twins interfered but was it against the contract? It wasn't. As I see it, Azuls contracts are much like the wish of a genie: If you wish, be most specific or live with the consequences. You don't want anyone interfering with your stealing? Should've said so, simple as that.

What Azul made the "Villain" was the naivety of those who signed their name on the contract.

But there's more of Azul than this. I think it's justified of what he does. People are stupid, people are naive but most importantly: People are cruel. Especially kids are worse than any demon from hell. If you're being bullied as a child or even up to being a teenager, you'll be emotionally fucked for a long time, if not forever. You'll become insecure of whatever you've been bullied of for something that'll feel like eternity. You want to avoid this very thing, no matter how important it is supposed to be in your life. It'll cause you to break down at some point just for you to pretend like nothing happened afterwards - Especially if you've built up the very picture of someone who's got it all together like Azul did. While he pretends there's no issue, I refuse to believe that he doesn't have an Eating Disorder. Being bullied for your weight as a child (which is - in his case - not even really justified since you basically compare an octopus to a fish. A comparison that is found in every sense of the equation) leaves a mark. A deep, burning mark. Avoiding mirrors, pictures, tight clothes or being seen by anyone without your clothes. You can't tell me he's willing to get rid of his childhood and not have an eating disorder, that he wants to pretend the little healthy octopus child didn't exist and that he can look in the mirror without suffering. It's Canon that he's strictly taking care of his weight - But it's also Canon that his favorite food is fried chicken, possibly the worst choice for strictly keeping your weight. A diet is all good and stuff but strictly starving your body of certain things will only cause mental distress.

I can see he's a sensitive soul, trying to hide behind the mask of sheer confidence and superiority. His only friends are the two weird guys who didn't leave him alone - Sure, they're not the best choice but having two eels by your side is better than being alone. Whether the relation between these three is toxic or not, they depend on each other - especially Azul depends on Jade and Floyd and by the way the twins reacted to Azuls overblot, I'm confident to say that they also depend on him. After all, they might "Can't stand" each other as they'd say, they still stuck around even though there are many reasons to be "like the others" and turn away.

There was something else I had in mind but it just won't come to me right now, so I'll leave it at that for now. All I'm gonna add is that I'd really like to hug Baby Azul and tell him that he's perfect the way he is. To be his friend and let him know that it doesn't matter how he looks like because no matter how much you Weight, if your nose is crooked or if you're labeled "ugly" by modern society, it's your heart and soul that is meant to be you; not your mortal vessel.

[crazylittlejester]

Okayokay, so at the time this au takes place, it's been about 5 years since the War of Eras and he has been promoted to the rank of General (like Impa I think) and is like a cool uncle figure to the knights in training.

Like most characterisations of hw Link (I'll call him 'Captain' because he would hate being so directly associated with the War), my guy has a shit ton of trauma that he's working through. For now I'm going to talk about the physical injuries he's had. Basically, at the start yk how Volga beats up this kid? Yeah, that's left a lot worse scarring. Like, Zuko from atla level scarring on his face, and it extends down onto his chest and the entirety of his right arm. As a result, the areas are either numb or he can't stand the feeling of anything rubbing against it (basing it on my own burn scar but anyways). Oh, and he's also got a massive scar across his throat from a messy attempted assassination. He only survived because of a fairy. Impa gifted him the scarf because he didn't want anyone to see the hero as someone that could be killed or scratched (completely ignoring the burn scars but he's a Link, he doesn't hold the triforce of wisdom).

Another thing is that when people found out that the War started over Cia wanting the Linkussy (I'm sorry) many harassed him and blamed everything on him, like to the point where people only ever saw him on the battlefield or sprinting back to his tent. Eventually it devolved into people saying the war wasn't worth fighting because he wasn't even beautiful (they said this because of his scars). At one point some soldiers managed to drug him until he was basically comatose and they snuck out in the middle of the night to deliver him to Cia and hopefully end the war.

He refuses to talk about what happened there. When he was eventually rescued, both of his legs were broken and he had Cia's name engraved in his back. Since then, touch has been difficult for him to accept.

Even after all that, he refused to turn bitter and still helped his teammates, even if they hated him, because he figured that if he was the hero then he needed to act like it before he was left to rot for being useless, or in case they decided they didn't need a hero.

How does toon Link and young oot Link play into this? They fought alongside everyone else, and were unofficially adopted as younger brothers by Captain. They were the only ones other than Impa and Sheik/Zelda allowed in his tent. He only took off the Hero mask around them because he refuses to lose who he was to who people expect him to be.

When the War finally ended, Captain slept for a week and woke up in the royal infirmary. He's lived in the Castle under royal protection ever since, because during the war somehow his home was destroyed and his family killed by monsters. This was retaliation after he was rescued from Cia.

Needless to say, Zelda got his twink ass in therapy. It's helped a lot, and now he can actually appear in front of people and take care of himself. He's still got a way to go, but now he can actually see a future for himself. Now he still works in the Hyrulean Military, but I don't know much about military stuff and it doesn't seem that interesting so cannot provide many details. But he's good friends with both Impa and Zelda and hopes to be a good influence on new recruits.

When my au happens, he's still depressed but he's functioning, and he serves as a lighthouse of sorts for the other Links. A person to talk to, someone to inspire them to keep going. The person he wishes he had when he was at his worst. He still refuses touch, but he shows love in other ways. Only Mask and Sailor really knows how it is a sign of just how much better he's gotten since the War, and they will stab anyone who badmouths him.

Side note: he's the only one who can get Mask to actually speak in this au.

Also, he isn't perfect. On his worst days, he can't stand the idea of anyone perceiving him and will have a full blown panic attack if touched by anything or he sees any eyes on him. Sometimes he accidentally lashes out at the other Links when they do something that unintentionally triggers him, and he believes they may betray him.

Anyway, I can't think of much more, sorry for the ungodly amount of text !!

(sorry i didn’t answer sooner i wanted to make sure i had the time read the whole thing)

I don’t think any of us are capable of giving this man a good time we all give him the worst life ever. DAMN. THIS POOR GUY (i say as if i treat him any better)

OUGH. im glad he got therapy 🥺

[tanzalatazaa]

I'm really sorry for any mistake, English is not my first language. I hope you enjoy it.

Summary: Bakugou overheard you (oc: Akira) defending him.

Maybe

Akira has been sitting on her bed for quite some time, feeling sick to her stomach. The memories vivid on her head, repeating over and over again.

It is almost midnight. The Sport Festival ended hours ago, and nobody seemed bothered, but for some reason she cannot stop thinking about Bakugou.

Every time she closes her eyes, all she can see is Bakugou's terrified look as he is tied to a post, with a fucking muzzle on top of him. She remembers looking around in horror, he was scared and humiliated, forced to be in the public eye of millions of people, and all they all did was laugh. How is it possible that no one can help him, how can no teacher do anything?! He's a 16 year old kid treated like a fucking animal in the middle of a full stadium, and no one does anything.

Bakugou has always been a tough guy, Akira didn't know him very well, but everyone noticed from the first day of class. He behaved with superiority and rudeness, and as the weeks went by, everyone realized that Bakugou was not an easy person to deal with. He showed no signs of weakness, and it was clear that he didn't want friends, Akira knew this since she tried and failed in the attempt, with only Kirishima being able to break through his walls and consider himself something close to a friend. But Akira knew that was a facade, Bakugou couldn't be that tough, no one can. She was sure there was something else under that mask. 

At some point people gave up, 'if he wants to be alone, let him be alone', that's what they said. So she knew their classmates didn't like him very much, but she never thought they could laugh at him, at this vulnerable and bound Bakugou, who was clearly asking for help.

When she looked up at him from her spot, she could have sworn she saw a single, thin tear roll down his cheek, and felt many more roll down her own. She couldn't take it anymore and ran out of the stadium, feeling like she was going to throw up. 

She locked herself in her dorm room at the academy. She was mad, mad at whoever thought it was a good idea to do that; mad at every person, every pro-hero teacher, who did nothing; she was mad at her classmates for enjoying that, and laughing; she was mad at every person in the stadium; and fuck! She was mad at herself for just running, she was studying to be a hero, and she couldn't do anything to even try to save him.

Those are the thoughts that run through her mind, still sitting on her bed. She wipes a last tear while she stands up, she won’t stand idly by. She will step up for him, even if he doesn’t like her, she will.

Akira rides the elevator down to the kitchen, she knows she can't do anything at the moment, because it's after midnight. She just wanted to make herself a cup of tea before going to sleep, while she thinks about exactly what she will do or say in the morning. With the cup in her hand she goes to sit on a sofa in the living room. Akira stands there quietly, alone with her thoughts and enjoying her tea, until she hears someone outside. Curiosity gets the better of her and she goes out to see who is sitting on the bench just outside the dormitories, to her surprise, she can see Aizawa sensei.

She doesn't know if it's instinct or the rage still coursing through her veins, but before she can think twice about it, her body heads over to speak. "Aizawa sensei" her tone is neutral. The pro hero looks at her with confusion written all over his face. "Nishimura, what are you doing up so late?". Akira sits down next to him without even asking. "I couldn't sleep" That's all she can answer as she takes a sip of her tea. "And why is that?" Akira can't contain the wry laugh that comes out of her mouth. "And why is that?" she repeats sarcastically, and before Aizawa can say anything, she speaks again "Maybe because I can't believe in this institution" Akira looks at him for the first time.

Aizawa doesn't seem to follow her "What exactly do you mean?" Akira sighs "Bakugou" she explains herself. "What happened to him?" he has the audacity to ask, Akira thinks. "What happened?" Akira is now furious, how is it possible that no one can see what's wrong. "What happened Mr. Aizawa is that you 'pro-heroes' thought it was a good idea to treat a 16 years old boy like a wild animal, that's what happened" 

The impassive look on Aizawa's face only makes her angrier "They tied him up, and gagged him in the middle of an event that is televised for all of Japan. Yeah, I know Bakugou can be difficult to handle, but that's not a valid reason to humiliate him in front of the whole world" She hates that her voice is shaking "If you feel you have the power to do that, then you are no better than the villains"

Akira is screwing up, she knows it from the blank stare Aizawa gives her, but now she can't stop, it's like her mouth is running on its own.

"I don't really know him, I'm not his friend, and even I could feel his fear, even if he never admits it, he was terrified. Being exposed and ridiculed by thousands of people, and not being able to do anything to escape, must be terrifying" Aizawa now seems to understand Akira's point, but she doesn't give him a chance to speak before continuing.

"His emotions are valid, no matter if they are wild, or if he doesn't know how to handle them. He was frustrated, and what he needed was support, good advice from the people he admires, not to be mocked by them. Because if it had been anyone else, everyone would be there helping and supporting, and saying how shitty it was, but because it was Bakugou, then all of a sudden it's funny..." 

Akira is now standing in front of Aizawa "No it's not, it's not funny, he deserves as much respect as anyone else, and the fact that none of you realize that, makes me doubt if you all deserve your title of ' pro hero'" Aizawa stands there speechless, he knows she's right, and now he feels embarrassed that his student is teaching him such a lesson. 

Akira doesn't give him room to say anything before going back inside. Only when she closes the door does she realize what she has just done.

Oh. My. God.

Fuck.

Fuck!

FUCK!

Has she gone too far? Now she's going to be expelled, and all her dreams will come crashing down, and her mother, what's she going to say when...?

"Hey" A voice interrupts her thoughts. She freezes, because it's not just any voice, it's...

Bakugou.

“Oh- ah, hey” She manages to say “Shouldn’t you be sleeping? it is way out of your usual bedtime” Akira tries to act normal, maybe he didn’t hear anything, right? “I woke up thirsty, I came here for a glass of water, but then I heard my name” He explains himself.

 Fuck, she thinks. 

“I- uh I’m-” Akira doesn't even know what to say.

She looks up at Bakugou, and he turns his head in an attempt to hide the tint of red that’s painting his cheeks. As he scratches the back of his neck he faces her again, his cheeks still a little rosy, now as he stares at Akira, struggling to find the words that could express what he wants “That was… wow” It's all he can come up with. Akira now feels her face burn “I just..” She’s been interrupted “What you said was… just wow” He waves his hands as he speaks.

"No, it was just something that needed to be said. It was terrible what they did to you, I couldn't just stand idly by" Bakugou is quiet, processing her words. He feels a small pressure in his chest, almost as if his lungs are having a hard time breathing. He wants to say something, anything, but he can't. Never in his life has anyone ever done what she just did, no one has ever defended him, not once. He knows how he is, so he never really expected anyone to care enough about him to stand up for him, and the way Akira just did, without hesitation, and despite his attitude towards everyone. She didn't care, and did it anyway. 

He knew what they had done to him was wrong, and she was right, he did feel scared, embarrassed, frustrated and unseen. But that's how he always feels, that's how it is to be Bakugou Katsuki. It's not new to him, he's used to it, to being alone and misunderstood, he doesn't mind it anymore, now he actually likes it, it's better this way. But what he's not used to, is to be seen by someone, and not only that, but also understood, and if that wasn't enough, he certainly wasn't used to being cared for, sort of.

As he overheard the conversation, for the first time he felt like he deserved it. Like anyone else, he deserved to be treated well. Ever since he was little he had been treated like a little monster that no one was allowed to be around, so he ended up believing it and making it his own. If they said he was a monster, then he would show them how much of a monster he could be. That followed him so far into his high school days, so it was no surprise to him to be treated like a wild animal at The Sports Festival, it sucked, but that's what he deserved, he thought. Well, that was until he heard her say ''His emotions are valid, it doesn't matter if they're wild, or if he doesn't know how to handle them'' and ''he deserves as much respect as anyone else'. Hearing that made his heart flutter and, even if he didn't realize it, made him truly smile for the first time in a long time. Someone was standing up for him.

“Uh, well I think I’m- I think I’m going back to my dorm” Akira speaks, waking him from his daydream. “No, wait” Bakugou says “Thank you” And that’s the first time Akira hears him so sincere, and genuine “Your welcome, Bakug-” 

"Katsuki" He interrupts "Call me Katsuki, please. You've earned it" They clash their gazes. As they say, the eyes are the gates to the soul, and for the first time Akira thinks she can see through him, she even thinks he looks vulnerable. Right there, she knows she's been right all along. Bakugou Katsuki is not what he shows people, he is more, and she is more than happy to find out who he really is.

"You're welcome, Katsuki" Akira gives her one last smile, before leaving to her bedroom, with a new feeling growing inside her, without even knowing it.

That left a lonely Katsuki lying on the couch thinking that maybe, he wasn't a monster; and just maybe, he didn't have to push people away; because maybe, not everyone wanted to hurt him; and in fact maybe it wasn't so bad to take the risk of getting hurt if it meant getting to know someone who could see him for who he really is, and not what he shows people to protect himself.

Who would've thought that a simple interaction would do so much for the two teenagers who had trouble falling asleep that night, because maybe there was a person on their minds.

And maybe this is not the end of this story. 

[lacyscabinet]

Ghostface Natalie!!!

Angsty, cause I can't think of to much fluff rn:

1. She ends up stabbing R (reader) instead of the victim. And immediately crumbles grabbing onto them and falling to the floor sobbing she removes her mask begging for help from the others but their all to scared of her, as she panics trying to stop the bleeding. I don't like R death but just having Nat panic and feel bad is ❤️

2. Since people like sister Nat from you (with your beautiful writing!) Let me get this out of the way, she's like Sam Carpenter. Older, half sister. Her dad was a killer before her and she just lost it and started killing. But one night at a costume party, she's dragging some asshole of a dude away in the crowd of drunk teens with loud music. And just after she stabs him, right in front of everyone but no one seems to notice, the guy pulls her mask off, she looks up only to see her little sister caught her. (Gonna be an awkward discussion at home ngl 🏃) can also be like non sister, I just know people like her as such.

3. Natalie was staying in your room, she always had to sneak in through the window. She left her lover R, to go with her partner in crime (you pick) to "take care of something" anyway long story short she ends up stumbling and falling through your window on her way back, she was stabbed. Her mask in hand the only person she could think to seek refuge with was her girlfriend/partner/lover, but now you have to face the fact not only is she bleeding on perfectly good carpet, but she's killed people. Your friend's (mostly assholes let's be honest) but you don't want her to die.

Also could I ask for an emoji? To just sign with? I think I'm gonna end up sending a lot of things 😭 (if that's ok!) I love your writing!

A/N: OMG I WANNA WRITE EVERY SINGLE ONE (AND I WILL MAYBE 🤭), but I think I'm gonna start with your first idea!! Actually now that I think about it I might create a little section just for ghostface!au requests. And you can totally have an emoji!!! Just let me know what you picked! <3

Not proofreaddddd

MASTERLIST

Scream

"Natalie!" You happily squealed as soon as you saw your girlfriend walking into the room.

You were at Jackie's house for a sleepover with the whole team and a couple of mutual friends.

Natalie smiled, dropping a heavy backpack on the floor and instantly opening her arms for you "Hi baby" she mumbled while kissing the top of your head. You and the girls planned a fun and quiet night, but what you didn't know was that you currently stood in the arms of the mysterious cold blood murder Ghostface, and you also didn't know that one of Jackie's friends, Matt had a reputation to be a bit of a fuck boy.

And Nat couldn't stand him.

So as soon as everybody arrived at the party, she started targeting him from far away, monitoring his moves.

"Nat! Nat! Stop! Don't tickle me!" You said in between laughs, the two of you were cuddling on the couch "Okay okay I'll stop babe, actually, I forgot to tell you I need to go home earlier" Natalie said with an apologetic look "My mom...I need to check on her" she knew that you were very empathetic of her family situation, and she also knew that if she pulled that card you would let her leave without further questions.

That leads us to this moment, Nat changing outside of the house, from her grungy clothes to black coat and mask in hand along with a sharp knife.

Sneaking back inside, she could hear all of you messing around in the living room, a movie playing combined with soft music.

Nat peeped from the almost closed door, you sat near Lottie and Matt "Pretty" she thought when you smiled at one of Van's jokes "focus nat".

The lights were dimmed and you were distracted, so it was easy for her to sneak in and hide behind the bookshelf.

That's when she decided to attack.

Revealing herself, all the people in the room started screaming and running as far as they could, the adrenaline pumped in Nat's veins, and then she stabbed.

But in the chaos she didn't realize who she stabbed.

At least not until she heard you scream, scream like you never screamed before, it wasn't fear, it was gut wrenching pain.

Your body fell on the floor, blood, lots of blood splashed everywhere and Natalie's eyes widened

"no no no" she mumbled in panic while getting closer causing you to scream more, at that she instantly took off her mask "No no no baby it's me, it's just me I didn't mean to... I...let me help please, please baby..."

At that you could believe your eyes, your beautiful, kind and loving girl was ghostface? Like THE ghostface, a murderer!?

And just like you, everyone in the room was shocked, so when Nat asked, or more like begged them to help her they all just stared at her paralyzed.

You were so weak and the blood wasn't stopping, she cradled you in her arms for a while, until you passed out, and she cried and cried terrified that she just lost you forever.

You woke up in a hospital bed, beeping of machines and the smell of sanitizer lingered in the air, your mind was blurry and the memories of the night scattered in your head, but you did remember one single thing clearly

Natalie was the ghostface.

And you didn't know where she was now, if she was arrested or if she ran away, either way, you stared at the white ceiling, thinking of everything that happened and everything that changed in the moment ghostface pointed her knife at you.

[akairawrites]

Not Your Gwen Stacy pt.1

It was quite the only sound coming from the honking of car horns in the distance and the clicking of a clock on the wall. The peaceful silence was interrupted by the blaring of an alarm which caused a woman to awake from her sleep. She was in a rather uncomfortable position, her back was slouched against the arm of the couch with a blanket only covering her lap with a book dangling off the side of the couch but when she moved it slid off and onto the floor with a thud. She reached over the end table tapping the alarm on her phone. She looked at the battery percentage and cursed It only had 20% left. She cursed to herself for forgetting to put the phone on the charger last night or turn the battery saver on.

She reached over and picked the book up from the floor and placed it on the coffee table next to her unfinished, coffee cup. Though before doing anything else she stood and stretched cracking a few bones in the process. She shuffled over to her bedroom and looked through her closet. She pulled her pajamas off and shrugged on a white blouse and a short black bodycon skirt. She did her hair and made a cup of coffee before slipping on her flats, grabbing her phone, and heading out the door.

Once she stepped out of her tiny apartment the New York City air filled her nose. The noise of cars and people talking on the phone filled the atmosphere. She began walking she looked down at her phone now only at 15% she signed tucking her phone into her pocket. She walked about a block before waving a taxi over. She hopped in buckling her seat belt then turned to the driver “The Daily Bugle please.” she said.

The driver said a faint you got it and took off. The peaceful drive only lasted a few minutes before another car slammed into the taxi the impact caused her to hit her head on the window she was a bit dazed but she shook it off she looked at the driver to see what was going on but he had already taken off

“You asshole you can't just leave me in here!”

She took a moment a looked at her surroundings she was on the bridge the car was pinned between the railing and another car. The door was jammed so she unbuckled the seat belt and tried the other side but of course, it was jammed she was gonna try the other door again but another impact hit the car making it brake the railing and lean off the side of the bridge she screamed looking down at the water below.

She closed her eye and prayed to whatever god there was. The second she opened them the car tilted again and eventually over the side of the bridge. She let out a blood-curdling scream but before she could reach the water her body jerked as if something had caught her. She opened her eyes to see SpiderMan dangling from the edge with another web. She looked down as the car plummeted into the water with the windshield now completely gone.

“Hang on! I got you.” He said pulling the web upward

She couldn’t help but stare at the masked hero who now had his arm wrapped around her waist and before she knew it she was briefly swinging through the air. She was a bit surprised that Spiderman was saving her life despite the news of him being less remorseful. Once her feet touched the ground she looked up and confusion laced her expression.

He safely dropped her off that the Daily Bugle.

“But how did you-?” once she turned around he was gone and she didn't even get to thank him.

---

It's been almost two months since The Amazing Spider-Man saved your life. The specifics of what happened that day were just a blur to you. You only remember almost falling to your death and then being saved by Red and Blue. But that wasn't the only thing that stood out to you the most it, was the fact that after he saved you he knew exactly where to take you, and last you checked spiders weren't telepathic. It wasn't just that it was the fact that he saved your life. Recently Spiderman was all over the news instead of saving lives he was taking them

“Y/n!” The sound of your name made you jump the sound of buzzing around the office and phones ringing came back to you. “You've been staring at the copying machine for a while now are you okay?”

You turned around “Y-Yeah I'm fine Ned.” You remembered what you were doing and grabbed the papers you were copying “Just had a rough week is all.”

Ned nodded “Right..how about you take a break from work? Umm...grab lunch with me maybe next Friday?” He walked up next to you and propped himself up on the copying machine his blue eyes looking anywhere but at yours. You gave him the most polite smile you could muster up “Sure I wouldn't mind.”

Ned's eyes lit up as he stood up straight again “Cool..Well um I better get back to work or Jameson is gonna be on my ass later.” he said pushing his blond hair out of his eyes. He pushed his hands into his pockets and walked out of the break room.

“Right..” you simply replied. You grabbed the rest of the papers from the machine and left the room as well. You placed the papers that were on your arms onto the desk with a loud thud “Here are those papers you asked for sir.”

“Good what took you so long?” Jameson asked pulling the cigar from his mouth and picking up one of the papers from the stack. It was a news column something about Spider-Man being a menace as usual but this time it seemed to be true.

“There was a problem-” he cut you off

“With you or the machine?”

You rolled your eyes and huffed “The machine sir.” you said through you're gritted teeth

He just looked up at you as if he didn't believe you and sat back in his chair and put the cigar back in his mouth. “Parker get over here.” he straightened out the paper in his hands and propped his legs on his desk.

A guy walked over he made eye contact with you and quickly looked away and focused his attention back on Jameson. There was something about him that looked familiar but why haven’t you noticed before? It’s like he’s been invisible to you until now.

Jameson looked at the two of you standing awkwardly next to each other he cleared his throat and sat up in his chair and placed his cigar in the ashtray “I want the two of you to publish a page in the New York Times.” You raised an eyebrow you didn’t know if you heard him correctly but based on the look Peter was giving him you must’ve. “Peter is the only one around here who seems to be able to take a decent photo of Spiderman and Y/n you are the best writer I got so I need the two of you to work together starting tomorrow.” It didn't necessarily seem like he was asking.

Although this was a big opportunity for you you were a bit hesitant to work with Parker just because he seemed a bit off-putting, like he wanted nothing to do with you. That Parker guy couldn't help but run across your mind of course. The fact that you hadn't realized he worked at the Daily Bugle along with you bothered you for some reason.

Later that evening you grabbed your bag from your seat at your desk and headed towards the elevator. You looked up and saw Peter stepping inside. Earlier you tried talking to him but it seemed as though he was ignoring you. You thought now was the perfect time.

You shuffled your feet faster trying to catch the elevator before it closed “Hey! Wait up!” you called Peter noticed you and pressed the button in the elevator faster trying to get it close. But lucky for you, you got through in time.

It was silent the only sound coming from the awkward elevator music. You cleared your throat and your eyes darted over to him and then down at his skateboard.

“Umm..cool skateboard.”

“Thanks.”

“So..how long have you been working at the Daily Bugle?” You asked hoping to finally get an answer to your burning question.

Peter Swallowed hard “Almost two years now.”

Your jaw almost dropped he had been working here just as long as you have and you'd never noticed him.

“How come I've never noticed you before?” You shifted your weight onto one foot in anticipation.

Peter just looked at you and shrugged but it looked like he was holding something back like he wanted to tell you something. “Well...I look forward to working with you,” you said All he did was smile and nod It must've been a relief for him when the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. You didn't even have time to say goodbye because once the doors opened he took off. You sighed in defeat and stepped out of the elevator as well making your way home to your tiny apartment.

Once inside you dropped your bag onto the floor next to the door. After changing your clothes and taking a shower you brewed yourself a cup of coffee and turned on your futile Roomba. You plopped on your couch almost immediately regretting your decision because you almost spilled your hot coffee. You picked up your book and opened it to where you last left off and began reading while occasionally taking small sips of your coffee.

You didn't know how long you've been reading. You seemed to lose track of time but it didn't matter though because a knock on your door pulled you away from your book.

You answered the door your eyes went wide but a bit of confusion washed over you. “Peter?” you asked

“Oh..hey.” he wasn't expecting you to be on the other side of the door either if he did he probably wouldn't come knocking

“What are you doing here?” you scratched your head genuinely confused.

He tapped his feet against the floor and looked up at you “Umm...I live under you and I'm trying to study but your Roomba is driving me insane.” he stated

You raised your eyebrow “My Roomba?”

“Yeah, the thing that's ramming into your furniture over there.” he pointed behind you you turned around, and sure enough your Roomba was smashing into your coffee table you had completely forgotten about it. Usually, you’d only turn it on when you were reading.

You turned back around and mouth ‘oh’ “Yeah it's pretty loud I can hear it through the floor.”

You chuckled “Sorry about that...I didn't realize I still had it on.”

“Uh it's fine just...try to keep it down.” he gave you an awkward smile that followed a bit of awkward silence which to his relief you broke.

“How long have you been staying in this building?” Your eyebrow knitted together realizing he just said he lived under you.

“For about a year and a half.”

First, you didn't notice he worked with you for two years now you haven't noticed he'd been living under you for a year and a half. It's like you disappeared because some alien Titan snapped his fingers or something.

You blinked “Well I guess that’s a bit convenient for us right? Since we’re gonna be working together..”

He nodded and formed his lips into a thin line “Yeah I guess so.”

You nodded and forced an awkward smile “Well I guess I’ll see you tomorrow and don’t worry I’ll try to keep it down.”

“Thank you.” That was all he said before he walked away. You closed the door and let your smile recede you didn't understand why he was so distant from you you just hoped he’d warm up to you sooner or later.

Pt.2 Pt.3 Pt.4 Pt.5

Add yourself to my taglist here

[naavispider]

Hey the protective Quaritch hc (more specifically the jacket one) got me thinking about, how does Quaritch (and the other recoms) feels about his son which, last time he checked, was a toddler, being a 6ft tall athletic teenager running around a base full of adults half naked.

I feel he (Quaritch) would be like really wary around the scientist and soldiers. The recoms too but on a smaller degree most of the time.

Spider is probably clueless.

Spider is totally clueless!

"Spider!" Quaritch shouted, his voice rising too loudly around the mess, causing a blanket of silence to fall awkwardly over the crowd of breakfasting soldiers.

Heads turned, but most were wise enough to just avert their eyes and eavesdrop instead. After all, in the quiet buzz inside the ship, the recoms were hardly difficult to hear. Most of the time, Quaritch felt like an exhibit in a museum walking around base, and he was sure the rest of the squad did too. Luckily for them, they enjoyed it. Spider, however, did not have that luxury.

"Get your ass back here!" He hissed through above the now silent crowd.

"But I'm hungry!" Spider called - oblivious to the fact that the hundred or so humans eating breakfast were listening to their every word.

Quaritch sighed deeply, quickening his pace to cross the room and catch up with the kid. As he neared Spider, he caught sight of a couple of the dumber science guys smirking at each other, looking Spider up and down.

"You got a goddamn problem?" he demanded, leaning down over them threateningly. His increased height for once was coming in useful inside the base.

The guys' smug expressions fell off their faces like sand as soon as Quaritch spoke.

"No..." one of the guys said quietly when Quaritch stared them down for an answer.

"Good," Quaritch replied, turning back to Spider, who was helping himself to cereal. It was moments like this when Quaritch wished Spider would accept the clothes he'd been offered. The kid had no idea what went through some peoples' minds, and the knowledge that his teenager was running around a military base close to naked was enough to send a chill down Quaritch's spine. He'd have to talk to the kid.

"Get what you want, we're going back on deck," he said quietly as he approached Spider.

Spider frowned, confused and full of objections. "But why? I can't eat out there!"

Damn. Quaritch forgot about the mask. He sighed. "Okay, fine, but we're still outta here." He cast another glance around the crowd to check for any signs of disrespect. Most of the humans had gone back to eating, and the quiet hum of chatter had resumed.

"Sheesh!" Spider complained, but he didn't raise any more objections as he took his bowl and spoon, and let Quaritch's hand on his back guide him out of the mess.

"You've got to put on some damn clothes," Quaritch started as soon as they were out of the room and away from the soldiers.

Spider's brow furrowed deeply. "Huh? Why?" His tone changed, becoming defensive and defiant. "I told you already, I'm not dressing like a Sky Person. You can't fucking make me."

Quaritch brought a hand up to his brow, and rubbed the stress lines out of his forehead. "Jesus, that's not why-" He stopped himself, unsure how to phrase this. Spider was so young. He forgot how young sometimes. "Look, the guys on base aren't used to seeing someone without clothes on."

Spider scoffed, but Quaritch persevered.

"You don't wanna wear clothes? Fine." Spider looked up at him, calculating Quaritch's angle. "But you're not going back inside, at least in crowded spaces, without something covering you."

"That's crazy."

"No, it's not. You're a kid, and a human. Humans don't wear loincloths."

"So, you're worried what people will think?"

Quaritch had had enough. He wasn't gonna be accused of projecting some kind of self-esteem bullcrap. There was no way he was explaining this now. Even if he knew how, Spider wasn't receptive at the moment. "That's the end of it, do you understand me?"

Spider looked confused at the shut down. He stretched his jaw, trying to work out how to play it. "Okay, calm down..." he finally relented.

He hadn't managed to explain what he wanted to, but for now, Quaritch was satisfied. That talk could wait, if indeed it ever needed to come.

[fluffy-little-demon]

Fade Away

Poly!Sinclair Brothers x Hinge!Reader

This was inspired by the song Shapeshifting by Taylor Acorn I have used some lines from the song for the dialogue spoken by the reader (in italics) Bold is sign language

She/her pronouns, nicknames darlin, baby, babygirl, sweetheart and sweet pea are used

Just to be clear you are dating all three sinclairs and all three sinclairs are dating you but the brothers are NOT dating each other which would make you the hinge of this poly relationship

Tagging @rottent33th and the people who voted for this story thank you 💕 @slutforguts @sketchy-rosewitch @the-cannibal @vincent-sinclair-deserved-better @bric-a-brac-brooke @cordelium @heyhowareyaxd

If I fade away will they miss me

This was all you've been thinking about, it was all you could think about. Would any of them notice if you had gone? If they did they would most likely think you had just ran away. Surely they wouldn't care enough to actually go looking for you. Nobody from your old life did. They all think you're dead, right?

You had finished all the housework a lot earlier than normal, since you couldn't sleep last night. You were now sitting by the window still watching the rain come down. You've always loved the rain, finding peace in the noise, smell and feel on your skin. You were hoping the rain would at least try to make you feel better but all you felt was pure emptiness. Wondering if going outside to be in the rain might help, except you can't find the energy to move your body so you just sit there as the thoughts take hold of your mind once again.

Bo had noticed something was off about you. He couldn't quite tell what it was and he didn't know how to talk to you about it so he was just waiting until you came to him. He wondered if either of his brothers could tell there was something off too, he's sure Vincent does. Bo heads down into the basement to see if you've told him anything.

"Hey Vince, have you noticed Y/N acting... strange lately?"

Vincent nodded slightly, I don't know what's wrong with her, she hasn't really been coming into the basement a lot lately.

"Oh, ok thanks" turning around, going back to the house Bo gets out his phone calling Lester to ask the same question. Lester tells him that when he asked if you wanted to go on a ride in the truck with him you declined while looking weight down, you just told him you were very tired. Bo thanks his brother and hangs up. Now he's even more worried about you, Bo walks up to your bedroom gently knocking the door. "Hey Y/N you alright darlin?" When you don't answer, Bo opens the door to find you sitting on the floor looking out the window, your legs up to your chest with arms wrapped around them.

Bo walks up to you slowly sitting on the floor next to you. Your eyes fixed on watching the rain, refusing to meet his eyes knowing as soon as you look at him you will shatter.

"Baby" Bo started in the softest voice you've ever heard him use. "Baby, hey can you tell me what's wrong"

Vincent and Lester had come into the bedroom joining you and Bo on the floor. Vincent reached out slowly rubbing your back. "Y/N, we're here for ya. We just wanna help" Lester said trying to get you to talk.

"I just wanna make sense of it all" you said almost in a whisper

"Need to make sense of what darlin?" Lester said

"How was I supposed to know I'd feel nothing in my bones. Been putting on a show for everybody but me" you spoke so quietly Bo almost would have preferred you to be yelling and screaming at him. He could handle that. None of the brothers are very good with emotions. None of them really knew what to do. They just hoped that being there and talking, offering comfort would be enough.

Bo pulled you into a hug, you didn't move to wrap your arms around him like you normally would but as soon as your head hit his shoulder everything built up inside you just exploded. Your body racked with sobs, you hands came up grabbing ahold of Bo's shirt. Vincent took off his mask, wrapped his arms around your middle from behind and pressed his forehead into your neck trying to give some skin to skin comfort since he couldn't use words. Lester joined the hug as well "it's ok sweet pea, it's gonna be ok"

"Breathe sweetheart it's alright, we got you" Bo trying to calm you down.

Once the tears slowed down, Vincent signed what's going on in that pretty head of yours?

In a shaky voice you replied "I don't think I can do this anymore. Lyin' awake another night, wondering why I'm still here? I'm not special, there's nothing even remotely interesting about me. I'm just a burden. Would you even miss me? I'm not pretty, I know that. There were other girls in the group that I came here with that were so much more gorgeous than me yet they're all wax and I'm still breathing. Most nights, I feel like I'm dying fast and living low at least that's how it feels when I can't sleep"

The three men stayed silent for a moment as you wiped your eyes with your sleeve trying to stop stray tears rolling down your face.

Vincent reached up to cup the side of your face, running his thumb across your cheek. Removing his hand he signed Y/N you are not a burden. We all love you so much.

"Vincent's right, you've made our lives so much better." Lester assured you

"Babygirl" Bo gently grabbed hold of your chin so you were looking directly at him. "You are the most interesting and gorgeous person I, we have ever met. There's also a shit ton of special things about you. So don't you dare even for a second think that we would be better off without you." He was trying to hold a stern expression but you could see his eyes were beginning to tear up.

You could feel your own eyes begin to water, only single tears rolling down your face as your body was too tired to cry anymore. Vincent carefully scooped you up, walking across the room placing you on the bed. He laid down on his side beside you kissing your cheek before resting his head on your chest and wrapping his arm around your middle. Bo joined in doing the same as Vincent lying on his side beside you kissing your cheek before lying his head on your chest and arm around your waist. Lester kissed your forehead then very carefully positioned himself to lie on your belly.

"We need you sweetheart. Of course we would miss you"

You run a hand through Lester's curls then wrap an arm around each twin. You smile as you kiss them.

Been puttin' on a show shapeshiftin'

First fic after not writing anything for about four and a half months also first one of 2023!

I don't know how I feel about the ending I had no clue how to do it 😅

Reblogs and comments are extremely appreciated 💕

[c0tards--s0luti0n]

the spine spg autism/masking allegory mini essay but i just ramble incoherently the whole time . the second ^_^

the spine shows multiple multiple signs and symptoms of autism throughout various concerts, songs, and various other canon material.

One of these signs is his hyperfixation/special interest in cowboys and dinosaurs. His cowboy special interest is a decently big part of his character, he has a repeating bit in live concerts where he pretends he and the other automatons (to my knowledge it only happens in the MK III era? so rabbit and hatchworth) are in the wild west, in a rex marksley live performance hatchworth says the spine has been "so excited to come down here and sing his western songs, hes been talking about it for months" (the spine's also always the one to start rex marksley or suggest they play it), most of his solo songs are at least influenced by country/western music (i.e: hot on the trail, bad days on the horizon, me and my baby (saturday nights), automatonic electronic harmonics). And more but I'm kinda rambling now. He shares a dinosaur interest with zer0, there's a running gag where they get in fights over their dinosaur figures. He has a video on the band's youtube channel called Fun Facts with The Spine, which is. Fun Dinosaur Facts. with The Spine. He also roasts the viewer's gaming computer.

He has a ton of gags in live concerts where he shows various signs of autism but that'd just turn into rambling. This essay's going to focus on his masking themes.

For backstory, The Spine accepted an upgrade in the 50s. The upgrade was to change his design from more robot-like to look more like a human. Upgrade on the left, before (and after) on the right.

A few years later, he switched back to his before design, symbolizing his narrative of learning how to let himself stop pretending.

The next thing I'll talk about are the songs Cellophane, Wired Wrong, and Hot on the Trail.

The song Cellophane is a cover, the original song is by Sia. The chorus, "Can't you see I'm wrapped in cellophane / Watch the blood pump through my veins / Electricity floods my brain / Can't hide the pain, can't hide the pain / When you're wrapped in cellophane" is about him worrying about people seeing who he really is. When you've spent your whole life pretending it's hard to see what's you and what isn't. It being a cover adds to his narrative, it wouldn't be repression if it was his own words.

Wired Wrong is a song from the album MK III. The song starts with the lyrics, "My brain is wired all wrong / And they'll agree because it's easier to say I am gone / It's time to face the truth in a song / I've always told myself that it was never true / Was never true / Was never ever ever true / It can't be true / It can't be true / It must not be true" and reprises that with "Sometimes I think that I am the only one / Who's been built poor in the way that he runs / But how can that be? / Am I really that flawed? / I am not the only one" It's very easy to see how that would be a neurodivergence allegory. It's a bitter questioning-acceptance song. David Bennett said that he wrote the song about his experiences with mental issues.

Hot on the Trail is a song from the album 1896. I interpret the song as a rage-ish-acceptance song (about a semi-abusive relationship?). It's a faster and more emotional song than the rest of The Spine's songs. The lyrics "Well, you don't like that way that I am / It's not the way that you want and the way you understand / But I can't help being the way that I am / It's just the way that it is and what I know, so sorry about / All of these things that I be and I know / It's all me and not you, but this ain't how I wish it to be / For you and your way and I know it's all me / Just know that I know, I know it's all on me" "All the little pieces make up so much sense in the distance" "So sorry about all of these things that you didn't sign up for / And I don't wish the pain on you, it's so sore / But I've been honest to fault, but it doesn't help / I know that it hurts, and it hurts, and it keeps on hurting" "And I didn't know what, what to do / I told myself the truth, the truth / And I could understand and you could understand / But how could we stand when there was nowhere to stand?" " And you don't like what it is (you don't like what it is) / And you don't know what it is (you don't know what it is) / And I can't sum it up easily / But I know what it is that I plainly see / Yeah, who could have liked what it was? / It caused such a fuss" are very autism coded. "all the little pieces make up so much sense in the distance" "I told myself the truth, the truth" are very relatable to me and how I felt realizing I was autistic, "I told myself the truth, the truth" also connects to "its time to face the truth in a song // it cant be true / it cant be true / it must not be true" from Wired Wrong.

In conclusion of my shitty little essay, The Spine is an autism allegory. His narrative is objectively based on masking and pretending/trying to be something you're not and never will be.

[thecreativeforge]

Closed Starter | Dark Path AU - Roy Harper | @therebetterbepie

BEEEEEeeeeeeeeeep...

Ugh. How long was he out for? And who the fuck was banging on his window?

"Hey, you can't park here. Sir? HEY, SIR! YOU CAN'T PARK HERE!"

Lifting his head up from the horn and turning to his left, his head so woozy that he felt like he was swimming, Roy inhaled a sharp breath and tried to recollect his thoughts. The face he met on the other end of the window was angry alright, adorned with a yellow hard hat and a safety jacket to match. His mouth felt like cotton, his vision just a little blurred. He wasn't injured or hurt, which was... A good sign. Right?

Reaching over, he pressed the button to roll down the window, only to be met with a sour expression of an elderly man, the air of impatience too obvious to ignore.

"Can I... um... help you?" Roy asked, his speech just a little slurred. It's been a bit since he last drank anything, which probably showed in how pathetic he assumed he looked since he just woke up from a drunken nap, so he couldn't be that bad.

"You can't park here, sir."

Sigh. "I'm sorry. Do you, um..." Roy inhaled sharply, reaching up to rub one of his eyes tiredly. God, his head was starting to hurt again. "Do you know what, uh... what time is it?"

"It's 3:18 in the morning." Oh yeah, this guy was definitely pissed.

Wait. Was it 3:18 am already? Shit.

"Are... are you sure?"

"Sir, you're wasting my time and I would really like to go back to watching the game now. Please move your car before I call the cops." The man, whom Roy could only assume to be the inspector of the building site he parked outside of by the hat and the pompous tone of his voice, clearly wasn't going to cooperate any longer.

"Right, right. sorry." Roy put both hands on the wheel and blinked a few times, trying to regain his composure. Come on, Harper, get it together.

"You got something stuck on your wipers, too. Throw it before you drive." The inspector pointed out as Roy started his car, causing the redhead to look up and notice the envelope sitting right where the inspector said it was. Bingo.

"Drunken idiot..." Roy could hear the older man mumbling under his breath as he clumsily outstretched his arm around to try and reach for it without getting out, with, unfortunately, no success. Stumbling outside like the drunken idiot he was, he finally grabbed it, noting the familiar handwriting and got back into the car, finally pulling out of the construction site.

Time to head to work.

--

The instructions were clear. Find the guy, get a stolen item, get paid. It was supposed to be an easy job, given that he was going to be dealing with a guy who didn't seem anything more than a simple civilian gone on a bad streak of vandalism, and whether it was by choice or by accident didn't matter to Roy. He was told the man was related to a few breakin incidents over the last few weeks, but since no one was hurt, the police didn't continue the investigations properly and the cases dropped relatively quickly due to lack of evidence. The only weird thing was strange symbols left in the houses he broke into, but other than that? Nothing else other than stolen property. Among them was an amulet he was tasked with retrieving to his employeer, whom he... Well, met at a bar.

It was how he found his contacts most of these days. Word to mouth, people just found him more than he found others. He was a former vigilante, after all; who wouldn't want to be able to hire this kind of a guy to do their dirty work, right? Right. Not that Roy cared anymore, really. He left his mask behind what felt like a long while ago.

He was given the details with the man's address and a picture of the amulet inside an envelope last night. Well, technically it was morning, but time sort of blurred together when you didn't pay attention to it. Technically, he was also supposed to get the envelope directly from the guy himself and be informed of when he'll get his payment, but... Well, he drank a little too much after taking some painkillers again, and fell asleep while waiting. Eh, he has the guy's number, it'll be fine.

So, equipped with some essential arsenal for the task, Roy headed to the address the following night. Parking just around the corner, in a good spot to spy on the house from afar, Roy fished the binoculars out of his duffle bag and took a look. No car parked outside, the lights were turned off, no apparent movement... Either the guy was sleeping, or he was out. Either way, it was the perfect moment for Roy.

He made his way towards the house quickly through the backyard. Scaling the fence, he waddled his way carefully through an overgrown garden and sneaked to the backdoor. Peeking through one of the windows, he didn't see any movement inside; to be honest, he could barely see anything, but he only had the street lights from the main street to guide him. Getting his toolkit out of his pocket, he fully expected to make quick work of whatever lock was in place, but the door was unlocked. Ok, that's... odd?

Could be a safer neighborhood than he thought, or the guy was just forgetful. But upon opening the door, a waft of foul, decaying odor reached his nose.

He quickly turned from the opening door, covering his mouth and nose with his shirt. Holy shit, he was going to vomit. He tried not to tear up as he did his best to peek inside, see through the darkness; it was as if a screen of pitch black haze was blocking the view inside.

All he could see were old, scratched floorboards, and a dark liquid smeared across the hallway's walls...

[attorneys-against-court-violence]

I love Luke Atmey's thought process for how utterly deranged yet brilliant it is.

You could not write a more obvious "smart but neglected" character architype if you tried so I'm not even going to bother pointing that out. His name literally is "Look At Me!" (or "I Want Love!" in the Japanese version) and Phoenix guesses that he was something of a chronic attention seeker as a kid, we can take a hint. He's an Ace Detective, sure, but even the life of an eccentric private eye didn't draw enough public eyes to him. He needed MORE.

Enter Mask DeMasque; an equally eccentric thief who Atmey could have very easily caught on the first go. He knew it was Ron Delite from the first heist and getting a valuable gem back would get him some attention.

Buuuuuuuuuut... what's more exciting? A one-off defeat with no sign of a return? Or an epic battle of the minds between the so-called Phantom Thief and the Ace Detective?!

Atmey being Atmey, he chose the option that would net him the most attention. It's no good if he just leaves it to chance, of course - he may suffer a humiliating defeat or win just a little too soon to milk the dynamic for all it's worth... Wait. He knows who Mask DeMasque is. Atmey holds a key bit of leverage over Ron here. What if he were to blackmail him into following a set script and disguise it as a grand battle of law and larceney?

And thus the great rivalry was born. Atmey had full control over not just what heists Ron pulled, but also whether he won or lost the intellectual battles since Ron was told to leave the treasures with his blackmailer. He did have to pay Ron as an incentive, though it was always pretty low compared to the actual value of the items he stole. Not that Ron cared, he just wanted to make his wife happy, nor did Atmey - the man seems pretty well-off himself. It was never about the money after all. It was about the theatrics. The adoration and attention from people who wouldn't give this proboscis monkey a second glance otherwise.

Enter Kane Bullard. He seems to think Luke Atmey is the true mastermind behind the Phantom Thief - not that he was blackmailing Mask DeMasque, but that Atmey WAS said larsonist.

Can you imagine? Luke Atmey, Ace Detective, was the great theif he did battle with all along? That would be ridiculous! A ludicrous twist of fate! A scandal the likes of which no man thought he'd ever see!

See... See.......

See, this what I mean by "deranged yet brilliant". Luke Atmey saw someone threatening to undo his whole scheme and at least one of the thoughts that entered his head was:

"Holy shit I'd be so famous if it were true"

The pieces were all in-place; he had full leverage over Ron as his blackmailer, a new treasure in the form of Ami's urn was making its debut, and he had an idea or two about who it is that's threatening his entire scheme.

And he did it purely because he was so infatuated by the idea the man who was blackmailing him had inadvertandly presented. He wanted to be found guilty of being Mask DeMasque, not just to exploit the Double Jeopardy laws and get off scott-free with killing Bullard, but to also cement his legacy as a living legend of both law and larceney. Theft of a dingy urn wouldn't even be that serious a crime to be charged with, especially compared to murder. He'd happily take some jail time and endless press coverage over being found out as a blackmailer and a killer.

The scary part is? It almost WORKED! The only thing that caught him out at the end was an unfortunate slip of the tongue not even brought out not by Phoenix himself. Otherwise his innocence in Bullard's murder was iron-clad from a legal perspective (or at least from the perspective of whatever the fuck's happening in Ace Attorney's legal system). I've heard it said that his plan was Gant-tier foresight and I can't help but agree. The man goes way too hard for a second case villain, debatably only being matched by SoJ's second case villain long afterwards.

All for the sake of whatever fanfiction bullshit he wrote in his head about himself. Based purely on a misunderstanding from his BLACKMAILER of all people. Just because it would net him the most attention humanly possible given the circumstances.

How easy would it have been to send Ron to face the consequences of Bullard's snooping in his stead? Would it have been worth the risk of Ron revealing that he had been recieving blackmail of his own? But that's the thing. It wouldn't be a fitting end to the great rivalry for some schmuck like Bullard to defeat either man out of the blue like this. Atmey would've fallen into obscurity, either because he'd lost his greatest gimmick or because he'd be found a blackmailer.

He made the best out of a bad situation in a way that only someone as batshit insane as the one and only Ace Detective would ever think to do. He is ridiculous and I absolutely love him.

Jury is out on whether he'd remain an Ace Detective after the fact. I don't think he thought about his job security when coming up with his scheme.

[1-khxna-1]

¡! ❞The Shadow of Mars¡! ❞

Pearl x gem reader ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚⋆ ˚ words: 888 google docs pages: 2

part: 3/4

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

After your walk, you went back inside the temple. Steven was in his bed, sound asleep as usual. Dreaming to his heart’s content. Pearl was watching him sleep until you walked in then her cheeks turned a light blue,” do you know how to knock!?” but then she calmed down after she saw it was you. In fact, she calmed down so much to shoot you with a dirty look before turning away and walking downstairs.” welcome back pearl! I thought you lost yourself outside there.” you said sarcastically. She rolled her eyes, trying to mask her annoyance at your comment. She knew you were just trying to be annoying, but her dry tone was a clear indication that she was not amused. She crossed her arms,” Ha ha very funny.” you grabbed a cup and filled it up with water, even though you didn't need to eat or drink or sleep or really do anything, Steven got you used to it. you signed and looked at Pearl,” Look. I can forgive you. I suppose… But I can never forget something like that” Her face was full of shock, “what… What about what happened on the beach?”

You cocked your head to the side and raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Yeah, what about it?" you asked, wanting to know what she was so shocked about. She continued to stare at you like you had grown five more heads, which you hadn't. You squinted your eyes and furrowed your brow, trying to figure out why she was so taken aback. After a few moments of silence, she finally spoke up. "It's just… I didn't expect you to forgive me..”

“I'm mainly forgiving you for Steven.”Her expression changed in an instant, faster than Steven could pull out his shield to protect himself. "So then I didn't earn it," she said, her voice firm and determined. "I can't just be forgiven just because of Steven. I need to show that I earned it." now it was your turn to look at her in shock as if she had grown five heads. It was a strange thing for her to say, but you could tell that she meant it. She was determined to prove her worth, for who knows at this point these crystal gems are strange people.

“Alright just don't overdo it I guess,” you said not really wanting her to but you knew she was going to overdo it.

And that she did, whenever they had a battle you would be the first person to protect. Even though you could protect yourself just fine. Each day she protected you, you felt like a diamond at this point. It was difficult to witness a pearl making a considerable effort to seek forgiveness from you. Whenever you left to fetch some water, she would persistently hold her spear in a defensive stance as if anticipating an attack.

But then the real challenge came when dealing with Jasper and Peridot. They had come down in a green hand ship..? When they came down each crystal gem was there, even Steven which you thought was stupid, of course, Pearl was in front of you holding her spear out ready to attack. your weapon, gotten from your gem was a blade. the battle was short-lived with the crystal gems and you sadly losing. all of you had gotten poofed and placed in holding cells, yours being right next to Pearl.

“We could have won if you weren't busy protecting me,” you said, you were perfectly fine with protecting yourself.

“I just wanna earn your forgiveness. I can't live knowing that you just forgave me because of Steven, it isn't right,” she said.

“Well you will live and you have earned it”, your eyes were glued to the ground as you spoke to Pearl through the wall, “You do not need to defend me when I'm perfectly fine to do it myself pearl, its stupid and now we're going to homeworld to probably be shattered.” as if on queue steven ran up to the cells and helped you both out. You, Steven, Pearl, and Amethyst ran to the control room .peridot was there but that ended with her getting on an escape pod and fleeing, the ship was turned around and gotten back to earth in pieces. Once everyone was grouped Jasper and Lapis had fused but was pulled into the ocean…

“Yeah that's enough for me.” you picked up Steven and walked back into the house.

“Wa-wait we can't just leave Lapis in the ocean with Jasper!” Steven said as he wiggled out of your hold.

“She’ll be fine we’ll go looking for them in the morning.” Steven signed and climbed into his bed.

“Goodnight Steven.”

“Night tanzanite!”

He said as he fell fast asleep. you walked outside and saw Pearl just staring into the ocean.” Don't overthink it we’ll look in the morning Pearl.” you placed your hand on her shoulder. Her hands had balled up” It's not that simple. I put all of us in danger just.. Just cause..” she had stopped talking..? You looked at your arms tangled around her in a hug.” it's not your fault pearl.” a glow had emerged from both of your gems..? Before you knew it, the two of you had fused.

[bnhaobservation]

What did Enji mean when he said he had to put on airs to keep that ugly heart of his from falling to pieces? Idk if it's just me or the translation, but I really struggled to understand what he meant exactly 😭

Well, I'm not Horikoshi but I can try to help here...

The scene you're talking about is this one...

The exact quote is:

'Kojishite inakereba tamotenu teido no minikui kokoro wo’ 「誇示していなければ保てぬ程度の醜い心を」 “If you're not showing off/making a display (of strenght)/putting on airs you can’t keep/preserve/sustain your ugly/unsightly heart/mind/core whole”

Let's now put the sentence into its context.

The sentence is said in the contest of discussing of Enji's weakness.

I've theorised in another post that Enji's problem/weakness, which put him in stark contrast with All Might and Midoriya is that he doesn't have an instinct that spurred him to action when a Hero was needed.

Midoriya, weak and helpless, jumped in action when he saw Bakugo being captured by the sludge Villain and All Might basically said this was the sign he could become a Hero.

We know All Might too, despite being Quirkless, at the beginning went around trying to deal with Villains.

Enji instead is shown watching the scene when his father get killed as the text complains about him being indecisive.

'Omae no seirai no yowasa wo abaki dashi miru ni taenai guzu e to hikizuri oroshita’ 「おまえの生来の弱さを曝き出し見るに堪えない愚図へと引きずり下ろした」 “Your innate/natural weaknesses was exposed and I can’t bear to look at how you were dragged down into an indecisive person.”

So, I think the idea is that Enji view his heart ('kokoro' 心 which can also mean "mind/core") is ugly because he's undecisive (and therefore didn't jump into action showing he didn't have an inborn Hero spirit), he's envious of who has it, and feels inferior.

He basically had the same fear Kirishima had, only he never truly overcome it in a healthy positive way like instead Kirishima was able to make (see chap 144). Kirishima decides to live a life in which he will have no regrets. He accepts he felt fear, that he might feel fear again but works on continuing to act in such a way that won't make him feel regrets because feeling regrets is worse than dying.

Enji just rages against himself. He can't accept he didn't act, that he felt fear, he hides it to himself and the others and therefore, put on airs, and therefore never truly overcomes his own weakness and continue to be plagued by it.

There's to say Kirishima's indeciveness didn't lead anyone to die and he could apologize to the people he didn't help, never mentioning hearing Crimson Riot, his idol, speaking about how he too fails, how he too feels fear but overcame it, helped him to realize things, while Enji lost his father and the girl his father was trying to save died as well and might not have had anyone helping him to cope with such feelings so he might have never overcome that whole thing.

Enji reached his position through effort (Endeavor) not natural born talent/Hero instinct and tried to excuse his own weakness by saying it was a matter of physical strength, that who's strong wouldn't be indecisive, hence his pursuit of strength.

So why he has to show off/make a display/put on airs?

Psychologically speaking that's a mechanism many people who feel inferior use. By putting on a mask and acting as if they feel superior of others, they think they hide how they feel indeed inferior.

A confident person doesn't need to put on airs, they know they are strong, brave, whatever or, anyway, think they're right the way they are. They're okay with themselves.

But who feels inferior and hates it might not want others (and, in a way, himself) to realize and so he tries to hide it by acting as if they weren't.

So basically the sentence you're asking about, in my opinion means that he's putting on airs to hide from others the fact he doesn't perceive himself as strong and brave as All Might.

Of course I might be wrong, I'm not Horikoshi and my knowledge of Japanese is risible so take all this with a huge grain of salt.

Still I hope it'll help! Thank you for your ask!

[artilespema]

(Some of the words are bad written because English is not my first language and I had to use Google translate)

Since I can't post the fully chapters here because for some reason Tumblr keeps cutting them

The full story will be in Ao3

Here's chapter 1

The boy at the station

"..."

The boy remained silent... He didn't say anything, he was sitting on the bench at the bus station, with his hoodie covering his head from the rain... It was a winter night in a new city, Ticci Toby He was waiting for a bus to go to his next stop, where a future victim was waiting for him.

'Damn it, the bus isn't coming' he thought, because the poor guy had stayed on foot, maybe if he hadn't bothered Masky so much, now he himself would be meeting with them and not waiting for a stupid bus.

The 534 arrived, but that bus wasn't... none of them were... How frustrating, he saw people coming and going from bus to bus, none of them even bothered to look at his face, none of them even bothered to say a simple word. ; "good night."

While he was being absorbed in his thoughts, suddenly someone bumped into him, it was so sudden, but it was a girl who was in a hurry, she accidentally fell on him, making him fall too, she was holding some papers... Maybe she was late from school

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry!" She said panicking, quickly helping Toby up "I'm so sorry Sir!" She said. Her voice was fast and tired. She had clearly run here.

'Sir? Do I have the face of a Sir?' Toby frowned a little, He wasn't a gentleman... Or well, that's what I thought. In his mind he was still that young man who joined the tall faceless man years ago.

The boy remained silent even after being hit, the girl saw that he had a serious look on his face, but he did not show any signs of anger.

"...Okay, okay." It was the only thing he said in her voice, his tone was a little monotone, but he had some kindness in it.

The girl began to pick up the things that had fallen from her, she did not look at his face, but then, she picked up his muzzle and then handed it to him... Seeing his face and his gaping mouth which was horrible, showing his teeth and gums... Usually people would have been scared by that... But the girl didn't even flinch "Here you go, I think it's yours...?" The young woman said as she handed him the mask.

As she looked at him he could see her face, she was young, that was for sure, she had brown eyes, a button-shaped nose, red heart-shaped lips, her nose was a little red, clearly from the cold of the night

Just seeing her made him feel warm…

He grabs his mask and covers his mouth with it again, her beauty immediately caught his interest...he noticed that she had red cheeks and a button-shaped nose, and who had very red lips. He immediately fell in love with her, found her very cute and she was the first person who didn't act terrified around him...

-Thank you.- The boy said, his voice sounded calm and monotonous, while he stared at her.

Ticcy Toby had just found his new obsession.

And what for him was 'Eureka'... For her it was going to become her misery

But let's not get ahead of ourselves... okay?

"Uhm... Excuse me, do you know if the bus to the central station has yet to arrive or if it has already passed?" She asks him quietly as she puts the papers in her ring binder.

"It hasn't happened yet" he replied, his voice and tone were a little different this time, and not to mention that this time he was smiling, although she couldn't see it thanks to his muzzle, but his smile showed its teeth and his scars. He looked at her with curiosity and wonder, he felt comfortable with her for some reason.

"Oh that's good..." She said as she sighs in relief "I have to take it... It's my last bus, you know...?" she said laughing to herself, she was doing it all herself now... Being so... Social? With him? Toby usually doesn't know someone so sociable or maybe he doesn't pay attention to many people at all, usually just to kill them... But she was a bit talkative, which made him feel warm, no one ever bothered to stop and talk to him so much, not when they saw his tics... They usually saw him as a crazy guy on the corner... Which wasn't completely incorrect.

Toby realized that she hadn't even introduced herself properly, so he wanted to ask her what her name was, but then for some reason he felt a little shy about it, probably because he hadn't talked so much to another person before. But the feeling of knowing about her was more and more intense, he needed to know who she was.

"Your name?" he asked as he looked into her eyes.

She paused for a second before letting out a small gasp. "Oh, right! How rude of me..." she said, he could quickly guess that she was a rather nice and warm girl, quite energetic... But It was a normal thing for extroverted people. "I'm Aura Maria." She said raising her hand for a handshake... She wasn't afraid of touching a strange looking stranger at all it seemed.

Most people would have found it quite strange to touch him, he took her hand and shook it, he tried to keep calm and his emotions under control, but looking at her made them go out of control.

"Toby... My name is Toby" he said a little nervously, as he felt his heartbeat speed up and the sensation of his throat getting dry.

'What's the matter? She is a Girl, not something extraordinary. You kill people, there's no point in being nervous. This is shameful. Calm down now Tobias.' His brain scolded him

'But she's a pretty girl, she's nice, what am I going to eat? Wait what?' He got off topic.

"Oh-!" she said, well his handshake was quite strong "Heh, you have a strong grip" she jokes a little "anyway... Toby hmm? that's a cute name..." she says... Then she looks at around, she still held some papers and a folder in her hands, she also had a white backpack on her back, she was probably heading home.

"Well, your name sounds really nice too... T-Those letters and that backpack are school things?" he asked, still trying to stay calm and not let his nerves take control of his mind. He really wanted to know more... To talk to her, but he had to act calmly so as not to scare her.

She looks at him and nods with a small moan of boredom. “Ah- yeah… You know, boring stuff.”

"I have to bring this all the time and it's horrible since I live three hours from my school" she says rolling her eyes, she didn't really care about telling her problems to someone she just met fifteen minutes ago.

"Three hours?" he says he... he was surprised by this "I guess from this that you live quite far away... No?" He said in a soft tone, he just wanted to talk to her more just to stay with her, maybe try to hold her hand while they talked. But he didn't...he was becoming more and more obsessed with her, she was adorable, cute and charming, all the feelings of love, desire, obsession and adoration ran through his body every time he looked at her.

"Yes, I live in the suburbs..." she said as she let out another sigh. "There aren't that many schools there, so I have to travel quite a bit."

"That must be exhausting."

"How about you?"

"Well..." he looked at her for a moment before answering "I live pretty far from the bus station... A good 30 miles... I'm usually home, which is why I haven't really gone that far..."

"Oh, that's good...and what school are you in?" she asks innocently, thinking that he's probably her age or something.

Her eyes darted away from her, he didn't want to lie to her but he also didn't want to give her his personal information... After all she was quite sincere "I don't really go to school... I'm 21, you know." He Said

Her eyebrows raise. “Really?!” she said surprised "Hah, you look younger! I thought you were 19 or something well, you're lucky, you don't have to worry about this" she said referring to school.

"Yes..." he said a little awkwardly, his expression was shy as he looked at her again, his heart was beating so fast, he felt extremely nervous and shy around her, something he had never seen before. sense. "Um...do you mind if I ask about your age? I wonder how old you are to go home alone after school" he finally asked, something he wanted to ask since before but she stopped himself.

'You don't ask ladies how old they are' is something his mother would say.

"I'm eighteen" Aura María answered

Toby raised his eyebrows, she was quite young compared to him, a slight age difference... But he didn't really care at this point, she was cute and charming, and he really liked her so... He looked at her. for a few seconds, and said calmly while looking into her eyes "You're young..."

"Hehe, yeah, we're four years apart, huh?" She said as she sat on the bench, she was feeling a little tired, after all she ran to the station only for the bus to be late.

It was true that the age difference was a little big, but at least she was technically a legal adult.

Toby watched her sit up, the expression on her face was really soft and kind, he was looking at her with a little blush on her cheeks that luckily was covered by his muzzle. He was enjoying her conversation, it was really different from him when he normally talked to someone. When she sat on the bench and he looked at her, he wanted to do the same but got shy. "Can I sit with you?" The young proxy asked

Aura María let out a small laugh. "No," she said, but it was obvious that she was playing with him. "Of course you can, it's a public bench." She moved to one side of her to make room for him.

The sudden response amused him a little, he understood that she was joking, but for a few seconds he seriously thought that she would not let him sit with her until she made room for him. His face was all red and little tics were present, he couldn't believe he was approaching her like that "Thank you" he said, he sat close to her, his body language was that of someone shy, although usually he was someone confident, manipulative and really annoying (Masky's words).

"Ugh... this damn bus is always late..." Aura María sighs "Ha. Just wait until I get a car and I'll say hello to those motherf- I mean" she stops cursing the moment she remembers that She's not alone, she turns to look at him a little embarrassed "heh- I'm sorry."

Toby noticed how quickly she turned red and that she was trying to hold back her bad words... It was really funny, she was trying to be polite in front of him. He chuckled "It's okay" he said with a shrug.

She laughs embarrassedly before looking away, trying to see if the bus was coming, her gaze wanders to some posters on the bulletin boards "Oh... Look at that..." she said with a bit of sadness "Another murder ..." she says while reading the news ad... If only she knew she was sitting next to the person who committed those crimes

He also read the announcement about the murder for a few seconds.... The thought of what her reaction would be if she knew that he was a serial killer was something that occurred to him.

he looked at the crime photo better and sighed in relief.

The signature was "Go to Sleep" Jeff's signature phrase, at least this corpse wasn't on him... As if that made it better

"You know, my father is on that case" She said

'Oh fuck' was the phrase that reached his brain the fastest. Was her father a police officer? Oh.

Toby's mouth was open for a second and his eyes were the same. "...Is your father a police officer?" He asked immediately, his look still one of surprise... Upon realizing who her father was he knew that he had to be careful with this girl, if he revealed the truth to her, she could easily run away or, worse yet, turn him over to the police. ..but he wanted to talk to her even more... He just decided he was going to be careful.

"Heh, yeah... Although this is his last case, he's retiring next week... but he really hopes to find the killer before he does" she said and shrugged her shoulders "I really don't think they'll find the killer so soon... But... You know what? It's important to him and I try to support him" she said while swinging her feet back and forth gently

"I hope so too..." he said, still acting like he cared about all this... "It must be hard for him... to retire as a police officer without finishing his job..."

"Yeah...he really loves his work...Oh look!" She said as she gets up and picks up her things, the bus arrived.

"Finally...the bus is here..." He also stood up, walked towards the bus with her, they both got on the bus together

"Come sit with me," she offered kindly, as she chose a spot near the window and patted the seat.

Toby's eyes flashed with excitement and he quickly nodded, sitting down next to her.

After the bus started moving, Aura Maria did most of the talking, she was a very chatty person but nothing that Toby could hate... At least someone was talking, and it was a good way to avoid the awkward silence.

"Oh, look, do you like them?..." she said taking a sketchbook, it was a thick and chubby sketchbook, it had a lot of papers and stickers... Each page was full of colors and sketches.

Toby looked at his drawings... He was surprised, they looked amazing! He noticed the use of colors, the designs, and the way everything was drawn... He was looking at her artwork, looking at every part of it... He was amazed at how good her drawings were.. Maybe they weren't anything out of this world but the only one who could sincerely criticize her would be Bloody Painter.

"You are very good... Artist" he said finally after reviewing almost all the pages. When he finished he closed the book gently, he didn't want to damage it in any way.

“Heh, thanks…” she said, putting the notebook away again.

After a while in silence Toby felt something on his shoulder, Aura María had fallen asleep on his shoulder.

Toby remained silent and looked at her... he came a little closer, smelling her perfume... his hand traveled to his pocket and took out a small blade, he brought it to the young woman's hair and cut a lock of hair, a small memory of the beautiful lady. .

Then he put the lock in his pocket. After a few hours the bus arrived at the final destination.

“Hey… we're here” He said as he moved her slowly.

Aura María opened her eyes and looked at him "Oh! Wow... God, how late it is" she said as she picked up her things and got off the bus "Well, thank goodness he's here haha..." she said while then turning to look at him "It was a pleasure to meet you, Toby" she smiled "I hope to see you again another day" she said and then approached him, she gave him a kiss on the cheeks to Say bye, not because of anything special, just a habit.

Toby stood still at that... And his eyes stayed fixed on her as he watched her walk away from her into the night, he smiled under his muzzle.

"See you..." he whispered as he removed his muzzle and touched his cheeks.

He stood still for a long time until he heard someone talking to him.

"Tobias." A masculine voice spoke loudly and suddenly causing the young Proxy to let out a not so masculine scream.

Toby turned to see who it was, none other than Masky and next to him Hoodie who simply remained silent.

" what?" Toby spoke as he put his hands in his pockets, he had a wide smile, almost imitating Smile Dog.

The other two Proxies looked at each other and then at him. "What's with that stupid smile?" Masky asked, Toby shrugged letting out a chuckle then walked into the forest with them.

As they walked, the young man finally spoke, "It's nice to be in love, right, guys?"

The two Proxies stopped and looked at each other again, silent.

Ticci Toby had fallen in love.

End chapter 1