#ruining a $300 jacket would not be fun

[notyournightsky]

Rip Dick’s $300 jacket. You will be missed 🕊️🫡

[teenz-stories]

Teen-Z: Forever Young #1-I Don't Wanna Be Your Ex (Part 7)

Meanwhile Belze-Bob and Greeny are painting the walls. Nymph female sighs.

Greeny: I have absolutely no idea what patterns we should use.

Belze-Bob: stops painting Yeah. I admit,drawing on car isn’t that fun. Unlike doing it for profits on walls.

Seconds later Bully gets an idea. He gets grafitti tools and he draws a golden crown on the wall.

Belze-Bob: ta-daas

Greeny: stares confused Dude. It supposed to be idea for she does air-quotes ,,Act of vandalism”.

Belze-Bob: It kinda is. He shrugs I would write ,,Farewell,Charlie!” and underneath it a crown. Or better. ,,Don’t Touch Pinky Ever Again!”.

Greeny: That last one would sound like he used to be female boxer and peoples would think him and Pinky are in toxic relationship.

Belze-Bob: How about...?

Greeny: cuts him off covering his mouth Nothing vulgar neither.

Belze-Bob: gets Greeny’s hand away from him Girl I didn’t meant anything like that. This goes to Teen-ZTube. We are doing completely family friendly content. He smiles awkwardly

Greeny: How about just simple ,,Bye Bye Charlie!”?

Belze-Bob: blinks confused I literally suggested similiar title seconds ago!

Greeny: smiles cruelly You suggest weird ideas.

Belze-Bob: I literally saved you from bankruptcy last month! If not of me. You would be without job. So I deserve some respect.

Greeny: I am your boss here. She smiles You’re my assistant.

Belze-Bob: growls I sometimes hate working with you.

Greeny: If you hate. Then find different job.

Belze-Bob: eyerolls I can’t! This supposed to be a job untill summer. I have something else in my mind once summer will start.

Greeny: blinks confused What exactly?

Belze-Bob: Surfing instructor. I heard the price is much better. Around 300 Zeedollars per week. You need to suffer with me still untill start of July,Greenie. He smiles widely  

Greeny: sighs dragging Bully’s gray jacket Alright. Come on,dude. We don’t have whole day.

Scene changes into Ninelle watching from boredom „Sweet Dreams ASMR” channel. Pale boogeyman female with mint hair wearing her black hoodie on video presents now made recently slime.

Cassandra: whispers New slime collection named ,,Happy Siren” will be out next week,everyone. But right now I can give you some sneak peek how scooping them will turn out.

Boogeyman female presents mermaid aquamarine  slime. She then pulls our the spoon.

Cassandra: I am glad I didn’t used cloud dough. She giggles But you should know that watching peoples dreams inspires me a lot to make new slimes. I am thinking about changing my content into vlogs. Those who keeps in touch with me,knows that I made a poll already about switching content. If you didn’t voted. Vote now.

Creepy pauses the video as she opens Cassandra’s Teen-ZTube page. She votes ,,Vlogs!!!”. Mermaid meanwhile looks at the damaged yellow mini skirt.

Mermaid: looks at the hole Well. You were right. This really looks terrible. She looks then at what Creepy is watching You watch also Dreamcatcher?

Ninelle: looks up from her phone Who?

Mermaid: Cassandra Spook. ASMR Teen-ZTuber.

Ninelle: blinks Oh yes! I watch her sometimes! And I heard she signed up to exchange student program! Having Teen-ZTuber among us who makes amazing slimes would be interesting.

Light: looks at the ruined materials Sorry to cut off the talk but Pinky texted me that we need to hurry with outfits.

Ninelle: sighs I had my designs ready but because of clothes moths we gotten to the point where we were starting.

Mermaid: looks at the damaged shirt Not exactly,honey. Hand me the scissors,thread and needle.

Light nods as he gives to Mermaid things she said. Mermaid smirks as she fixes that outfit in few seconds. She presents to everyone yellow skirt with white frills.

Dark: presses his thumb against his chin Well. You added different touch for this outfit.

Mermaid: Oh because this is how I plan my outfit to look like. Next is...?

Ninelle: shyly raising her hand Me?

Mermaid: gasps You need some change,darling!

Ninelle: shyly You mean my hair or my dress...?

Mermaid: Everything! If we start doing something new,we can also change our styles!

Ninelle: Alright. She sighs

Mermaid: I will sew something for you and later we will go to my spa. I closed for the night but. She shows Creepy keys to her spa I am more than welcome.

Ninelle: Even after that action with Chea?

Mermaid: Chea was an idiot who didn’t respected me. She had it coming. Plus. One negative opinion under hundred positive? Darling,please.

Ninelle: I will buy also new Glitter High doll after that.

Mermaid: There’s new line?

Ninelle: nods Velvet Lavender with slime pet! And many others but Velvet caught my eye. I wanna see if this glitter slime will look great like they said in the advertisements.

Mermaid: If Lovely will be still open...

Ninelle: Oh no. I’m not buying in Lovely anymore.

Dark: confused Why? I thought you-doll collector were always going there to buy Glitter High dolls.

Ninelle: tuts Well. Times changed. Last week I went to Lovely to check prices. 300 Zeedollars for one doll! This is ridiculous.

Mermaid: Fair point.

Scene changes into Pinky walking through the movieset. She finds Charlie inside. He plays video games and doesn’t pay attention to Pinky.

Pinky: sighs Hey. Charlie? Can we talk?

Charlie: looks up from video game Sure! What’s up?

Pinky: You know. She shyly rubs her hand against her arm Now that I think about this song and music video. I really start to reconsider our relationship.

Charlie: shrugs And?

Pinky: gasps What?! You really don’t care about what I say to you?!

Charlie: If you wanna break up with me. That’s cool. There’s plenty of other fishes in the sea. He snarls It’s up to you.

To whole scene looks Luvboy peeking from the other room. He gasps seeing Pinky in tears.

Pinky: So you only dated me because of my status quo?! Her voice gets shaky How could you?

Charlie: eyerolls Oh please. Pinky. I really love you. But I...

Alvin (offscreen): Charlie. Cut that off!

Pinky spots Luvboy walking with his drawing tablet. He is angry.

Alvin: angry What’s gotten into you,dude?! You guys been lovey-dovey and stuff. And now what?! He pushes Charlie to the table

Charlie: stands up angry It’s none of your business,Luvboy!

Alvin: Oh I think it is mine.

Pinky gets between angry boys.

Pinky: Guys! Stop! She pushes them away

Charlie and Luvboy stares shocked at Pinky.

Pinky: turns to Charlie I’m sorry,Charlie. I can’t do this anymore. Better end this relationship now than making from you my accessory,right? She smiles through tears

Charlie: I never been your accessory anyway!

Pinky: she sighs You wouldn’t understand. Peoples been right. This was leading to nowhere. I gotten in the toxic relationship.

Pinky runs away sad. Luvboy follows her. Scene changes into Pinky sitting on the parapet outside of the set sighing sadly. There can be seen full moon in the sky.

Alvin: pats Pinky’s back You’re good?

Pinky: sulks on the parapet No. I don’t know what’s gotten into me. I just wanted to make Charlie understand that this relationship is starting to feel so forced. And besides. It was always about him. I can’t believe I gotten into this kind of relationship. She laughs sarcastically What’s next? I will fall in love with some ugly weirdo because he will save my life?

Alvin: looks with worry at Pinky Now you know how I felt before we broke up.

Pinky: realises she made terrible mistake Oh God... she hides her face in her hands I feel embarrassed now.

Alvin: Maybe you should take a break from relationships? Not gonna lie but you dated almost everyone. Me,Bully,once you even tried to hit on Dark and Kid,Charlie. Well almost everyone from our year. He grabs Pinky’s arms Pinky. You ruin your life. Each relationship you get yourself into is worse than previous one. You wanna be loved? Then stop treating peoples like only you matter and rest are your toys. I think this relationship with this egoist taught you a lot.

Pinky: hugs Luvboy with closed eyes  I feel glad to have you. Then she stands up with idea in her head That’s it!

Alvin: confused What?

Pinky: I have an idea. Wait near my home. I will take a bath because I definitaly should relax after whole day.

Alvin: confused And then what?

Pinky: Then. We will go to your place and we will make test animation. You will show me how are you doing this.

Alvin: Let me guess. It’s for the music video purposes?

Pinky: Not really. She notices unamused Luvboy Okay it is.

Alvin: 60 Zeedollars.

Pinky: gasps

Alvin: I told you I don’t animate music videos for free. I know I am in your project but I want to have kinda profits from it too. He then sighs smiling gently But. You can get discount. I am lowering the price. 30 Zeedollars.

Pinky nods as she pays Luvboy 30 Zeedollars.

Pinky: Now I can truly get into the role. Since Charlie from now on is my ex-boyfriend!

[taybatwo2]

Pictures of my Shadow High’s/Rainbow Vision’s Mara Pickett. I picked her and Sabrina St. Cloud up at my local Walmart (they only had the pink girls from the Rainbow Vision bands) as belated birthday present to myself. More info about Mara Pickett under the cut, I’ll cover Sabrina next week.

I actually wasn’t completely sold on either of these girls at first, but after I washed out her hair product, wiped off all of Mara’s blush because it was covering a good section of her right chin/cheek/nose, redressed her (the all black outfit I have her in really helped tone down all the really bright 80’s Barbie pink she had on -which is also cute, but wasn’t my favorite on her- but I have a feeling all this black will stain her) and put her hair in pigtails (thank you to the person on Instagram that did that first), I really fell in love with her and give her a good 8/10, but she’s slowly inching up my list. Some details: I really like the cat mascot patches (like, look at how detailed these guys are) and even her cat-ear hat with the peg (I like that it will stay on her head and I can easily pop it off or on), even if no one else seems to like the peg hats.

My Mara does have side glancing eyes (or was wonky enough to make it look like she is side-eyeing) and I find it really endearing on her. She has Margot de Pearla’s face mold, and I think she wears it well. I also really like the fantasy colors that Shadow High is producing. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but there are so many realistic colored dolls, let me have these techno-colored weirdos. Although, I would like for Shadow High to point out why their students were all black and white and then rainbow skinned (I saw someone’s head-cannon -on Reddit?- that freshmen start out as black and white and earn their “colors,” which is a weirdly fun idea). She only has four outfit pieces to mix and match (plus her hat, pair of socks and two pairs of shoes), but her two jackets and two dresses (mostly) mix and match well. This kinda limits her possible outfits, but I am glad that MGA is still including extra outfits with the dolls…for now (side eyes Pacific Coast and the upcoming Shadow High Fashion Runway line…especially since they’ll probably still cost a kidney or two). Also, her studs are going to pop off her shoes so easily (MGA stop using studs and glued on decorations; it looks really cool but, it makes me really nervous trying to redress them and they will not handle being played with). Also, these pleather outfits will be decomposing in like ten years…sigh. I wouldn’t mind if MGA went back to all plastic shoes (with slits in the back so they actually fit on the doll’s feet). I know Mattel’s glue head is ruining their older dolls, but I feel like MGA is going to ruin a lot of people’s collections with these clothing and shoe decisions (even if they look really cool right now).

Also, her drum set is just a reskin of Venessa Tempo’s. It’s kinda lack luster (besides the angry cat mascot-they are wonderful), and looks really awkward without any cymbals or a place for her to sit down at.

Like what everyone else has been saying, MGA is putting too many dolls out at once, and for too much money (I am glad that these Rainbow Vision girls stayed at just under 50 each, but that’s still 300 bucks for ALL SIX). I have to keep looking up some of the doll’s names and interests because I can’t keep them all straight anymore (I feel like this is almost worse than Monster High at the end of G1 where they had so many great designs but very much unfleshed out characters). *insert Muffy from the Arthur episode where she can’t keep up with all the World Girl dolls* My Walmart JUST got in the Shadow High dolls this week (and FINALLY Marisa Golding from the Slumber Party Line) and only had the Wave 4 girls in ONCE and never again. It’s like MGA is cannibalizing it’s own space on the shelves in smaller stores. I feel like MGA will keeping upping the price and will start including less and less items with this pace. I was excited at the thought of fashion/accessory packs, but I hate that they are blind boxes and 10 bucks a piece (for all 54 items, you would to spend over HALF A GRAND). They could have released two large shoe closets/two purse closets, or smaller packs of shoe and purse closets (like five shoes and five purses in one pack)….or one big mega pack for a hundred bucks (they love doing mega packs with the LOL OMG dolls). I like doll collecting, but MGA needs to calm their titties. Anyways, what are all of your thoughts on MGA/Mara Pinkett?

[saladbroth]

"hey reggie, just out of curiosity... what on earth are you wearing?" for that first sentence thing 👀

atlas!!! thank you so much, this escalated ahdashdasf i thought i'd write like 300 words maximum but then i didn't i've been talking with about ralexie with @wadewaits and @sunset-bobby so i had to put them in here, and i'm always down for jukebobby, i hope you like it!

(send me a first sentence and i'll write a short fic)

-

“Hey Reggie, just out of curiosity… What on earth are you wearing?”

Reggie looks up from his phone to see Luke leaning in the doorway, curiosity and a good portion of glee written across his face. He’s not entirely sure what Luke wants him to say, since it’s literally just clothes, or why he’s grinning as stupidly as he is, but Reggie doesn’t even get to say anything before Bobby appears behind Luke.

They slide their arms around Luke’s waist and kiss his cheek before focusing on Reggie, a similar grin spreading across their face. “So, Reg. Good night yesterday, huh?"

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Reggie says honestly but they just grin wider, obviously not believing him like the bastards they are. Reggie doesn’t even know why he’s friends with them, they’re awful. Julie appears in the doorway, effectively blocking it completely for any other students who might want to try and get into their classroom before the bell rings to kiss her boyfriends hello, then turns to Reggie.

“Damn dude, good for you.” she grins and Luke cackles, following her inside. Bobby shakes his head at the two of them affectionately but follows them anyway as they take their seats next to Reggie.

“Good morning to you all, I hate you,” Reggie informs them, earning him another laugh. Julie leans over and onto his table, patting his arm. “We knew your date would go well, but this really is something.”

“What?” Reggie looks at her, and then, finally, down at the jacket he grabbed in a hurry while running late for the school bus. It’s not his. It’s not the soft grey zip up hoodie he usually wears, it’s one of the jackets from the guys on the swimming team, and he knows exactly who it belongs to.

(the rest is under the cut i didn't wanna make the post too long

His friends seem to know as well. Reggie groans and lets his head hit the table with a thud. “Fuck.”

“So I take it you had fun yesterday?” Julie asks innocently.

“It was great,” Reggie says. “They’re both really really nice, and I got cold so Alex gave me his jacket but I forgot to bring it back and now this is embarrassing and I’ll have to change schools and flee the country.”

Bobby snorts and pats his shoulder. “You don’t have to flee the country, they both wear each other’s jackets all the time.”

“Yeah but they’re boyfriends!”

“And you aren’t their boyfriend?” Luke is sitting in his chair backwards, dangling his legs and watching Reggie with an eyebrow raised expectantly. Reggie feels heat creep up his neck and into his cheek and buries a little deeper into the jacket.

“I mean. Maybe?”

Julie whoops and Bobby claps him on the back, congratulating him. “Well done bro, it’s about time!”

Reggie can’t help but laugh and then launches into a detailed account of last night, when Alex and Willie went on a date with him, to the cinema and then for food and then they just sat on the beach and talked for hours, and yeah it wasn’t their first date and also by far not their first kisses either but it’d felt different, in a way.

“You’re a goner,” Luke informs him but there’s nothing but affection in his voice, and Reggie grins. He’s happy and his friends are happy for him, and even a double block of history with Mr Johnson can’t ruin that.

He does feel a bit awkward in the hallway later, with the jacket that’s so clearly not his announcing Alex’s last name in embroidery on his back, but the others stay close to him and he only gets a few thumbs up from Flynn and Carrie. Nick whistles after him but smiles and Reggie’s fully prepared to tell him everything at lunch.

They run into Alex and Willie on the way to biology and of course, because they’re all awful friends, Bobby, Luke and Julie abandon Reggie with a wink and knowing smirks.

And okay, he gets it. He’s been crushing on Alex from PE who swims competitively for the school and Willie from art class, who also happens to be the team captain of the volleyball team for years, and he knows he’s been annoying about it but so were the three before getting together.

Willie and Alex are a couple literally everyone in the school knows and they’re great and Reggie’s still not entirely sure how the fuck he managed to talk to them in the first place, let alone end up in a school hallway wearing Alex’s jacket. But here he is. And they’re both smiling at him, speeding up to meet him.

“Hi,” Reggie says. “I’m sorry about your jacket, I know this is a bit weird but I swear I didn’t mean to put it on, I was just in a hurry.”

“Don’t worry, it looks good on you,” Willie says and lets go of Alex’s hand. Reggie stares at them and their pretty smile for a moment. Alex nods. “We share stuff, so don’t worry Reg. Just gotta make sure to let us have some of your stuff too at some point.”

Reggie nods. “Of course- sure, yeah. Uh. Do you guys wanna have lunch with my friends?”

Willie grins and leans in to kiss Reggie on the cheek, before tangling their fingers together. “Sure, it’s about time we fully get to meet them.”

Alex throws his arm over Reggie’s shoulder. “I’ve wanted to for a while, but I wasn’t sure if they’d like me- us.”

Reggie smiles up at him. “Oh they’re going to love you guys, don’t worry.”

[blankdblank]

Poke Pt 4 - Ghost Shopper

“So, sugar, what’s your name?” The words came from a body you didn’t care to see on the other end of the finger that dipped into the drink beside the spoon in your milkshake to take a taste for themselves not two moments after you had received it.

“Go away,” you responded. Your eyes not falling on the man but the waitress who watched you slide the milkshake away she lifted apologetically as if she knew this guy had done this before to other women.

“Don’t be like that sugar,” he crooned and in the move of his hand to reach for you a swift kick had the chair he was on flip to have him on his back.

“Go away.”

He scoffed and in his try to get up your eyes rose to find Natasha Romanoff and Steve Rogers there, both who gripped the man and shoved him clear of your table and with a smooth press of her boot had the chair upright and pushed up to the end of the table. “Mind if we join you?” Steve asked with his usual puppy dog smile with enough twinkle in his eyes to pretend like he wasn’t up to something, his go to look for most of his press clippings. Though his voice didn’t have as obvious a forced cheesy tone to it as those in the videos your school played for you all on occasion.

“Depends, are you going to touch my food too?”

“No,” he said and then grinned at your hand gesturing to the seat across from you with a tucked up newspaper in his inner pocket of his jacket reading of another wave of deaths for those who committed the usual death sentence crimes.

Natasha said in her slide onto the seat after him, “You would imagine after this last wave guys would behave themselves.”

“Punishment just losing its appeal it seems.” Steve remarked.

To which you replied, “Careful don’t let Stark hear you say that. Might think you’re rooting for the other team.” Making him smirk your way as you thanked the waitress for the new milk shake and then turned to take their orders.

Steve, “Just coffee, please.”

Natasha said, “I’ll have a brownie and some hot tea.” Steve looked her way and she said, “I don’t need another cup of coffee.”

“So is this good cop, bad cop round two of my interrogation?” You teased and Nat smirked your way.

“Peter mentioned it’s the last week of school for you guys and we were headed off to go shopping to keep this one from fussing over his friend while he’s in therapy. Popped in my head you might be up for some last minute Prom shopping if you haven’t chosen yet.”

“Oh, I’m not going to Prom.”

Steve’s mouth fell open, “How can you not go?! You only get it once. I might not have danced but I had fun with my friend Bucky when he wasn’t spinning his dame around.”

“It’s just shy 300 bucks a ticket,”

“What?!” Steve asked then looked to Nat and back to you.

“And that’s not counting the dress or heels or beauty parlor stop before hand. Not to mention transportation hassles. I don’t need to go to Prom.”

Steve said, “Well you at least could go window shop.”

“Last time I did that I ended up mourning over an expensive dress I would never drop a year of rent to buy. Even if I had one of Stark’s trust fund checks to pay for it.”

Steve said with a grin, “We can cover it. You could use a pick me up after that jerk ruined your day.”

“There’s one of him every twenty feet in this city and none of them could ruin my day if they all shared their brain cells. And thank you but I don’t accept handouts.”

Natasha smirked, “Handouts don’t come in the form of dresses from us. Besides, I could use some input other than from this one here. His head’s still stuck in the past and I have been delegated to baby sit this fossil until we get the clear from Rhodey.”

“Seems a shame there aren’t more female Avengers to help lighten the load for you.” You said taking a sip of your milkshake in the arrival of their orders and when the waitress left after your order of sandwich and fries was left in front of you they glanced to you again having thanked her for delivering it all.

“I can barely stand them most of the time. And only thing worse than more members to the guys would be a fleet of female Avengers to steal their thunder.” She replied making you smirk.

Then you answered back, “Especially the God of Thunder I would assume?”

“Says he loves women, but he’s shockingly devoid of thunder so far,” she said watching you eat one of your fries that was dipped in the honey mustard filled paper bowl beforehand. “You always protective of your food?”

“Trust issues. I can share with my brother, and I gave Peter some of my nutter butters once. I would assume a sort of bond like in the films would come over me to spoil them if I found somebody I cared about. Get to do all those sappy feeding one another off the same spoon moments.”

Steve, “Trust me kid, you’ll have plenty of options to find somebody. I was in my twenties when I had my first long conversation with a woman. You seem to not have trouble speaking to the opposite sex.”

“When they actually talk not really. A majority however like to touch not talk and find me a bit old fashioned for the times.”

Natasha said, “As you should be. Take it from another trust issues survivor. And I know just the store we will start in. I need a ball gown and something bordering on a classy toga.”

“Is that an opening for me to ask what for? Or should I just assume it’s to fill in blank spots in your closet?”

She smirked as she chewed her bite she cut off her brownie and answered when she swallowed, “Parties. I heard from Pepper you are going to be invited to the masked ball Tony is throwing. Quite the achievement for an outsider after their first meeting with the big guy,” she said to your first bite of one of the four triangles of your sandwich. “Then again I hear you’ve got an impressive intellect. Maybe Tony has plans to bring you into his company.”

Behind your hand you said around your mouthful, “I don’t want to work for Stark. No matter how much he offers for my ideas.”

“Now that’s an intriguing statement,” she said with her smirk spreading again as Steve looked over your calm expression in taking another bite of your sandwich. “With a million different reasons why you could have said it.”

“I prefer control of what I create. Other people always want to put their fingers in what I build.”

Steve, “Like your food, Tony does have a habit of controlling things. Can’t even unload groceries in front of him or he starts to rearrange things.” He paused then asked, “Can I ask, where are you from?”

“Stockholm,” you said behind your hand and Nat said, “Sweden.”

Earning a nod from him then asked you, “Miss it?”

Your head tilted side to side, “Depends on the day. Wouldn’t trade a day with my brother for anything though. He keeps me sane.”

Steve’s ramble on about how coffee had changed in the time he was frozen allowed you time to eat and pull out a few bills to lay on the table to accept the shopping trip you were being taken on.

.

And inside the upscale shop you eyed what should be the perfect dress on Natasha’s perfect hourglass figure with your head tilted as she said, “What’s wrong with it? I love it, there’s just something-,”

“I think it’s the sash.”

“But the sash is my favorite part,” she said and behind her you climbed onto the pedestal to untie the sash over the corseted sleeveless top that you eased both up and down to find a more flattering spot. “It was the sash.”

“Well they make and model the damn things on ironing boards on stilts hard to match it perfect for fuller figures on shorter frames like ours.” You said making her smile at her reflection imagining it with her mask she’d already chosen.

“Your turn,” you let out a squeak and she took your hand guiding you to a changing room, “Already picked you a ball gown.”

Inside you found and pulled on the strapless ball gown with a voluminous skirt like her own. Yet in a nude colored under layer topped with black lace decoration stitched onto black sheer fabric continuing up the bodice that had her smiling proudly at the sight of you in it to Steve’s posture straightening at you in something so formal as if he was your own date for the evening. A reaction copied for the five you were forced into between her nine choices.

One in teal, strapless with tight cinching and golden beadwork to the hips when it flowed out gracefully in loose layers. Two tight sleeveless gowns that had sheer panels to cover above the sweetheart tops to the neck. One in white and gold branch accents with a small train of fabric to pool around your feet, and the other in pale teal with silver lace accents and a sash at the waist to match for the dress that barely reached the floor in a straight cut.

For your own toga reminiscent style dress the bright white sheer layered skirt was slit up to the upper thigh and met the golden belt that separated the base from the lace top. With thick straps in white and a low dip in the cleavage almost to the belly button that had the super soldier actually swallow seeing you walk out. Though nothing compared to his near fall off his stool when you came out in the figure hugging golden number with accents to frame your curves perfectly on the thick strapped wonder with another low dipping cleavage cut you felt almost naked in for how he and even a few of the ladies in the shop looked at you in it.

On the verge of trembling you managed back to the changing room and took your time getting dressed again, mentally chasing a pebble in a game of hopscotch in a means to calm yourself from a panic attack that with use of a calming app you were able to step out with a stoic façade.

Natasha clearly was trying on another gown and Steve was near to the glass wall looking out at the street once again checking his messages so you simply moved to your empty stool to wait and wonder how many dresses she was going to try on and how long you would have to wait. Every choice you had was gone over in your mind for how long it would take to work them off. That train of thought only derailed after she came out with a mostly sheer appearing dress with glittering woven strips of sequined fabric your eyes followed in wonder of how it was made and who had thought the dress up that Nat shook her head at its lack of being able to be tailored shorter without spoiling the effect of the angles on the bottom panels at the hem.

A card was produced and where you thought you were free as she wrote the address for the Tower for it to be delivered to you eyed the street glad she didn’t force the issue of buying you any of your choices. Shoes however in an uptight boutique came next and from one gladiator strapped design to another you strolled. Listening to Nat in her choice for her toga party dress she also was having shipped to the Tower. Followed by four more pairs in the next two shops you helped her to pick as you refrained from so much as touching or staring at your own favored choices.

Freedom however was nothing more than a farce as up the steps to your apartment you sighed in unlocking your front door only to flinch at the rack of dresses with shoe boxes on the rungs beneath them. On the back of your closed door you noticed the note from Eddie reading, ‘Out of pizza back in a bit. You got a delivery while you were away.’

In an unamused scoff you neared the garment bags and boxes that with peeks inside revealed everything you had chosen including the shoes that behind you Steve had been handing over any pair you showed some sort of interest in. Unfortunately including a white pair that looked like it was covered in those candies that were little colored domes on sheets. Taped to the bar was a note that read simply, ‘In case of emergencies.’

“Emergency, right,” yet in pulling the note off the bar you read on the back, ‘Not a handout. You deserve a nice couple of presents for graduation and all your hard work.’

Behind you the front door opened and he flashed you a grin, “So? You went shopping?”

“Black Widow and Captain America crashed my lunch and she said she needed help picking gowns for one of Stark’s parties.”

“And she insisted, I get it. Bit pushy, that yellow box of shoes is hideous.”

“I didn’t want those. Didn’t say I wanted any of them,” you said nearing your mini kitchen as he set the pizzas on the pans atop the pre-heated oven he slid inside and used your own rhino shaped timer to let you know when they were done. “Guess Cap was following me and flagging every pair I might have looked at.”

“So, nice things, when’s the party?”

“Not a clue.” You said on your way to your chairs leaving your bag on one of the stools to sit down.

“What do you mean? That’s why you would shop, a party is coming up. You don’t do it backwards.”

“Well they apparently do. Note says they’re in case of emergencies. Guess whenever he gets around to it, if he does I’ll have an invitation. If not those things will sit there taunting me for all of eternity.”

“They won’t last for all of eternity. Good while, but not that long.” His eyes followed as you put up your sore feet, flexing and rolling them as best you could to ease the tension in them. “Bout time for the show if you’re up for it?” You nodded and Buster flew over to rest on the mounted screen on the wall he settled into his seat and linked up to cast the show across it so you could relax to a larger view instead of his smaller one on his back you used when alone.

 *

“Tell me again Brother why I have to don these absurd Midgardian clothes. My supply is amply suited for a party of Stark’s capabilities.” Loki said as him and Thor were strolling through the high end suit shop.

Thor stated, “Because Brother we are trying to blend into the crowds this night. It is a Masked Ball. These suits will also require tailoring to our bodies and we must grant the workers ample time to ready the garments.” He glanced at his brother who was eyeing a certain pattern on the jacket hung on his right he lifted the one in his size and laid it over his arm. “And the occasion will grant the young Shieldmaiden Pluto the chance to meet Jane and converse with us again. The pair of you were friendly.”

Loki said as he eyed a pair of slacks that caught his eye to Thor’s method of collecting armfuls he would drop into the hold of the aids come to help their picking. “Miss Pear has a brain. Quite rare on this planet. We did not converse much on intellectual matters however she does seem a cut above the flock. Could make for an entertaining bout of company should we only be subjected to more politicians, Agents and the Avengers. I did not expect being quarantined to such a small list of approved conversation partners.”

Thor, “Our race is new to this generation. They shall grow more accustomed and we shall soon be free to do as we please.”

Behind them when Steve entered now with Bucky in tow for their own bout of shopping Tony from his place being fitted in his new slacks for the proper hemline he asked, “Five gowns and twelve pairs of shoes? I said to pick the kid out an outfit, not a whole week’s worth of them! How many events do you think I’m inviting her to?”

Steve said, “Nat at least got her to try on the dresses and she would barely look at the shoes.”

“And now she has twelve pairs of them?” He asked disbelievingly.

“She said she didn’t want a handout,” Steve said that dropped Tony’s jaw. “Agreed to try a few dresses on and left it at that Nat’s the one who swiped her license for her address to ship the stuff to. She’s a good kid, had a guy shove his finger in her milkshake beforehand trying to push for a date, we felt bad for her.”

Tony repeated disbelievingly then raised his arms to be measured properly for the jacket to match the pants to be made from scratch. “Her milkshake.”

Steve, “Tony if somebody did that to Pepper you know you’d blast a hole in his head.”

Tony avoided that obvious fact by saying, “Pepper doesn’t buy gowns and shoes when she has a bad day. She yells at me like a sane person.”

Nat said in her task of bringing him over a tie to pair with his pants pattern, “She can’t afford to go to her Prom Tony. She’s skipping it and was stressed on having to give a demonstration at graduation. We bought her some outfits.”

Steve, “She wouldn’t even take the water bottles they had out for us in the shops either.”

Tony chortled, “60 bucks a pop she’s a smart kid. You drank five though. Why so thirsty Cap-cicle?”

Nat, “You might not understand-,”

“She’s a good kid on hard times. I know that.” He sighed, “Pepper saw the invoice now she’s planning more parties and her brother is still a member of the press.”

Thor stated, “The Shieldmaiden Pluto showed little interest in your business endeavors upon our introduction. She shall not steal your secrets.”

Tony said, “Just because your Mom helped out her ancestor doesn’t make her trustworthy. Arms length, no one brings her into the fold. She is visiting only.”

Nat smirked saying, “Oh you’re soft on her and you know it. She’s got moxie and enough trouble in her to throw you off your game.”

Tony, “I am not soft on her. I already got a kid to look after.”

Steve said, “Peter accepts your gifts though,” smirking at the huffing Billionaire who gave him a pointed gaze. “She’s got to be brilliant even had Nat stumped a bit when she delved into a paper she’d finished a week ago for her animal anatomy class.”

Nat joked, “As if you knew anything she spouted off about. Even Banner would have been stumped I bet.”

She said giving the scientist a glance at his own struggle to choose a suit of his own who muttered, “I have doctorates, none of them in animal sciences. But I bet I could make her head spin chatting about the complexities of atoms and the distant corners of the universe.”

To which Loki retorted turning heads to the Prince they imagined to have been ignorant to their conversation, “Or perhaps since we only know of one of her courses of study she may yet know more than you in that field as well.”

Bruce said, “I have several PhD’s in those fields. Decades of study and experience.”

Loki caught his gaze to say, “That does not make her intellect fallible in comparison to yours. Youth or no youth.”

Tony asked Nat, “What kind of demonstration is she doing at graduation?”

Nat, “Said she got distracted from writing a speech and worked on an experiment and her Dean wants her to show that instead of forcing her to write a speech.”

Tony said, “I’m making a call, we’re going to that graduation.”

Bucky asked, “I thought you said she was nervous, wouldn’t that make it worse to have us there?”

Tony, “Oh she’ll love the company,” already easing his earpiece on and telling Jarvis to call the Dean for your school.

 *

“Oh for Pete’s sake,” you muttered. Halfway from the back room of the store you were working in hauling with ease a seven foot pallet of water bottles and juice you parked on the aisle. Turning to rise on your toes to tear open the plastic wrap ushering the woman away who tried to just grab something from the middle of the pallet. From it you grabbed the seven things on top of it to stack on the floor at your feet to pull off the plastic wrapped groupings of sports drinks that she turned up her nose and muttered, “That’s too big. I want the little ones.” And her head turned to follow your point to the display on the main aisle past the scientist Bruce Banner who crept around the corner of the aisle eyeing the pronounced muscles in your bicep that relaxed as you set the box on top of the others in her strut away pretending she hadn’t just wasted your time.

“They leave you alone on drinks often?” He asked only to notice the two teens who had taken hold of the pallet jack with their shoes sliding until you gripped the back of the pallet from the side and gave them a starting push to get it the absurd three feet over they wanted it.

“I’m on registers today, just have me help the new kids with the heavy pallets.”

That had him smirk and say in your turn to head up front, “Out of everyone here they pick you?”

“Big guy in the magazines has a bad back. Days I’m not here they have to split it onto carts to move it.”

He turned and joined you on the walk to the front saying, “I figured it was fair warning, Tony got us seats at your graduation.”

“Ah, knew there was a plot afoot. No one digs into my past without aims for a piece of my present.” You looked his empty armed self over and asked, “You came out here all this way to tell me that? My schedule that obvious?”

“We’re picking up Peter on the way back. Stark had a copy of your employment history on his system not hard to dip into the system here and see when you were scheduled to be here.”

“Comforting, stalked by the Avengers. I’ll try not to let it get to my head. Safe driving. And mind Elm there’s a broken water main they’re fixing.”

“So that’s what that was. See you next week.” He said at a loss for what else to say now that his self appointed task was through.

“See you, Dr Banner.”

.

One week was unheard of to have off and after another listless night of falling asleep to your collection of shows and films linked to the public library’s infinite collection on a library card under your alias the final day of school arrived. A mixture of pity, envy and curiosity for what the senior class would get up to after this finite drop off into the real world flooded up from the younger years.

Yearbook pick up was the first step for everyone who had purchased them including yourself and hour by hour each year got their own memoriam of their year for just them while everyone else traded pens and colorful stamps and stickers that filled every yearbook offered. Had you not had the ability to heal yourself you imagined your wrist would be throbbing much worse than it was at the end of the half day before freedom was called for and the Seniors were off to ready for the Prom you were still not going to attend.

A bit behind you lingered to hand over small knickknacks to each teacher you had been given to their own tastes they appreciated for its silent gratitude and attention to their personalities you had picked up on their openness on their likes or subtleties. You felt you had to say goodbye in case you’d never see them again as this chapter of your life closed. Sure some might be at the graduation ceremony the following week but you felt you still owed them a proper goodbye.

Then surely focus sank back into the yearbook on your lap now inked to the brim with sentimental notes and scribbled names and smiley faces lost to the always present thought of how none of them truly knew you. And had they not made up their own glorified version of you in their heads it wouldn’t matter if you dropped off the face of the planet. But like always your phone buzzed and you had to grin at the message from Eddie. He wouldn’t be home tonight but like he’d implanted a chip in your brain after having carried Venom one time years prior he could feel when you were at your lowest through the connection he had to the symbiote.

It was a simple reminder to not load up on sweets fully knowing you’d baked brownies, cookies and a cake, most of which he didn’t take as you’d meant for him to for his stakeout to go with his igloo cooler of sandwiches and strips of bacon he’d packed to fuel the night up on shared watch with Venom. And again with the simple us they posed as for who would miss you had you vanished you bolstered your own tattered sails as best you could with thoughts and irritations for increasing your work hours over the summer. You needed the money, but all that work gave you little sleep when the big baddies liked to come out at night.

Only a few years in and you just felt tired of this anti hero business. There was no running from it as your every inch burned to make this place a better world for the next year of children that would be born into it. A safer place. Without Hydra or others like them. But that meant sacrificing your safety, your patience, your time, your dreams and possibly meeting your Mate. This road could only grow darker and even though you had spared your ability to have babies you doubted this world would ever be safe enough in your lifetime to be able to bring any into it. There was no choice. Keep fighting. Keep hiding. And never take off the mask until you have it torn off of you by whoever is capable and then get up and keep fighting now with a face and name to give the masses to put all their blame on for all the evil in the world.

Natasha was proof there was a pathway to be considered good, but no one but you and Bucky had a clue what it took to get her there, how she was molded to be all she was before she went rogue. What she knew she was running from and what they were capable of if she had been caught in one of their traps. No one knew, and if they did she would be painted with the very same damaged brush that you had been. She was subtle where your break away was explosive beyond belief and shook the world. You made true evil blink and now you bore that title for the act. No one knew how painful that was to you that no one knew, but deep down a part of you hoped they would never find out. That they would never know what cruelty the human race is capable of. What you had been trying to weed out. Which some days felt like an impossible thing. But you had to try.

“Damn,” you muttered missing your stop on the subway and you sighed readying to take the longer walk home that you would at least use the chance to stop in at a place to bring home some food for yourself. Behind the counter of the eatery you caught the cautious grin from the woman there as the man who was leaning over the counter drew back clearly having been caught in his try to stick the place up.

“Nice bag,” he said and his eyes dropped to your shoes noting their name brand even with the wear on the soles of them. “And shoes.” A nod of his head was followed by his saying, “Bag on the counter.”

Blankly you eased the bag off your shoulder and plopped it on the counter loudly and held your expression in his lean in with finger extended to try and get a better look at your necklace. “What do you have hiding there?” Hard onto his foot you stomped and drove your face forward to head-butt him that had his scream muffle in the fold of his body to the floor.

“Big bag please,” you said to the woman who smirked watching you take the plastic takeout bag you twisted and used to tie his hands behind his back.

“Thank you,” she said and called out to her son in the kitchen who was on the phone with the police who gave the clear that the man was subdued lowering the urgency. And right away she took your order and chuckled at your joke about being from a long family of hard headed women she joked back about sharing the same trait.

When your food was ready you shouldered your bag again and lifted both the food and large sweet tea you sipped on all the way home to the sound of the police dragging the culprit away as he complained about his now broken foot he didn’t want to put any weight on.

.

Dinner was lovely and like the year before you would use this night to keep the streets clear of drunk drivers outside the various proms held tonight the cars were levitated and breathalyzers were used to ensure those inebriated weren’t driving. Those who were too far gone were searched for their address and sent home in the fleet of taxis that waited for this night that agreed to accept payment at a later date and sent each of the kids home with an IOU that if they didn’t cover you would. Little things that helped to make this city better people did for one another.

Including the opening of several gardens and community centers out of formerly abandoned buildings that you helped to arrange with banks to realize leaving them decrepit did nothing to help and that with more construction crews in work they would be getting more money in the long run anyways. Because in all the mix up of the masses or those murdered for their crimes all their wealth was sent to public set up foundations to fix up towns. And all from your laptop you could make certain that the cities were being given a face lift and no deep pockets could stand in the way of this process or they would be targeted as well.

The medical world was much easier to fall into line with locks on prices and medical debts suddenly erased down to what it actually costs to make the medicines and tech used in implants and a basic daily rate for hospital stays. The foster system was a forest fire no matter how you looked at it and all you could do was to vet the guardians to weed out the despicable without chance to help the kids left without a home.

“Love the suit!” Spidey’s voice rang out luring a smile across your lips behind the mask facing the teen who dropped onto the edge of the roof you were seated on top of.

“Thanks, it’s got so many pockets. I love it.”

He chuckled as you let out a giggle and said in a nod to the next wave of teens exiting the Prom asking, “Your school let out yet?”

“Ya. My Prom was tonight, felt better on parking patrol.”

“My school had a Prom too. How do you know my name?”

In a glance his way you said, “I’m the one who’s been leaving your backpacks on your fire escape when you forget them.” That had him chuckle and you said, “I can give you a tracker bee for it if you want one.”

“Mr Stark made me a tracker spider. Thank you though.”

“Perhaps a chart on trash routes so you’ll know which are the best hiding spots then?” you giggled out and he chuckled again.

“That would be good to learn.” He said looking to the lot below as you did again.

“It’s all circular. You’d be surprised how many patterns are circular. Humans keep rotating back to it no matter how much we like crisp angles for our buildings. Even spiders do, if you like them in real life or, well we never covered why you chose the getup other than the clear webbing.”

He chuckled and said, “School trip to a lab I got bitten by an experimental spider. Not so bothered by them now, they tend to steer clear of me oddly enough.”

“It’s because they think you’ll eat them and brightly colored breeds mostly are some of the deadliest to other breeds, highly cannibalistic.”

“You really like bugs, you get bitten too?”

You shook your head, “Born able to make things grow and summon and create insects and animals. Including living mechanical ones.”

“Animals too? Then why bees?”

“If the bees die the world does. Same as trees, you know they connect their roots and share nutrients and talk to one another. The oldest become mothers to the babies that grow under their shady branches and even without sunlight they can grow healthy. The roots can stretch for miles underground and even if you planted saplings in the open outside of the forest she would adopt them too and help to keep them healthy.”

“Trees can talk?”

You nodded, “If people were more like trees just imagine how the world could be. We’d be in Eden.”

“Ooh,” you and Peter said about a teen who just fell off a half wall trying to do a cool pose for a picture, then he murmured, “That’ guy’s not in Eden.” To the panicked voices of the teens below at the sight of blood he brought out his phone and called 911 as you sent down a couple bees to help keep track of his vitals until the ambulance was on the way.

“So why are you out here? One of us should have a fun summer at least.”

“This is fun,” he looked at you asking, “Were you really trained like Black Widow and the Winter Soldier?”

“Mixture of the two. They took me as a kid like her and given the serum like him. I just made a bigger bang when I left their control.”

He nodded and asked, “That why you killed those people? To help other kids?”

“No one could have protected me. They trained me to kill people. No forgetting that. I got here and I had these flashbacks when I would see headlines in the papers or hear the police scanner my neighbor used all hours of the night. Which isn’t an excuse, I know I killed hundreds of thousands of people. Just can’t think of how many people they would have killed or hurt if I hadn’t. I’m just a nameless person compared to Stark who’s killed more than I have same as his dad by stamping their names on the weapons they sold and it cost him his heart to get him to try and help other people for a change. Difference is I’m broke and sit on top of other people’s towers instead of my own.”

On the back of your shoulder he pat his hand and said, “You aren’t killing people as badly these days. They know now what not to do has a more serious consequence and they keep doing it. Cops can’t catch all the bad guys in the world. We should be able to help. I remember with the Vulture guy Stark kept telling me to step aside. Do nothing. I get it.”

“Don’t ever forget you’re the friendly neighborhood Spiderman.”

“I won’t. It’s the people, not the system we serve.”

“Exactly.”

“I don’t think Mr Stark gets that.”

“I don’t think he knows the difference yet. He still has faith in the system. Hasn’t bit him yet.”

“Well he has SHIELD to keep an eye on him.”

“And if I wanted to kill SHIELD and bring him down I know just where I would get a job.”

“You think there’s spies?”

“There’s always spies in every agency. Been doing some digging lately for any visible idiots who put off clues.”

“What do you even look for in an agency founded on making spies for a spy?” he asked looking at you.

“There’s always something. No one is that good, not even Black Widow or the Winter Soldier. He’s been in dozens of pictures after his hits he was sent on.”

“What did she miss?”

“She has a bit of an addiction to a certain boutique that has to have an ID on file. Uses her favorite alias, which has a track-able paper trail for her celebration shopping trips.”

“You’ve dug into the team?”

“No, Fury has people for that who are terrible at closing rabbit holes behind them set off my alarms, every single one of them.” Making him chuckle. “And no, you haven’t tripped any of them.”

“Smooth sailing on the plan so far then,” he teased making you both chuckle.

Pt 5 

All –

@sherala007​, @mariannetora​​, @jesgisborne​, @knitastically​, @catthefearless​​, @theincaprincess​, ggbbhehe4455, @lilith15000​​, @alishlieb​​,

Not nsfw(smut) - @otakumultimuse-hiddlewhore​

X Loki - @pastelhexmaniac

[wickedgamesoyaoya]

Hii!! Can you do a fluff written/smau (depends on which is easier for you, I don't wanna burden you 🥺) with miya osamu and #14?? 🥺 but ahhh since I am so indecisive, I also love the one from stitch, #10. it's up to you on what you're gonna use hihi I love everything you write especially fluff!! makes my heart uwu

The festival was designed to be spread equally across the 300 acres of land that was the main campus of the college. Without a map to guide you, the search for the mystery man became quite gruelling. It had been half an hour since the hot dog eating competition, and your stomach had already digested a substantial portion of the food you had consumed. Further, the bottom of your feet were beginning to throb, demanding a moment of rest. In order to satisfy your physical needs, you took a seat on an empty bench, before stretching out your legs. A low sigh of approval spilled from your lips at the sensation spreading across your limbs. It was at this point that you elected to observe your surroundings for any indication of where you were. As your narrowed gaze travelled from the right to the booth several meters ahead of you, interest sprouted inside of your chest. Interest bloomed into overwhelming excitement when your eyes locked onto the person stood behind the wooden fixture.  

The words ‘Kissing Booth’ were painted in crimson, drawing the attention of the storm of students who passed by. Some younger girls exchanged whispers, daring the other to pay the cost for a public display of affection. But what piqued your interest was not the recycled vintage idea; no it was the male stood leaning against it casually. The grey-haired boy’s eyes were glued onto his phone, and his brows were knitted in irritation. The sight had prompted an unfamiliar sensation to tickle your stomach acids.

By now you had abandoned your plans to confront him, the gears turning inside your mind had directed your attention onto a far better idea.

“So, ten bucks and I get a kiss, huh?” After removing your wallet from your backpack, the appropriate amount of bills were extracted, and then placed between your fingers.

“Yeah, but not from me. I’m coverin’ for my brother, he’ll be back in a few minutes.” Osamu did not acknowledge your presence immediately, as he furiously typed away on his phone. But seconds later, the familiarity of your voice brought him to raise his stare to you to ascertain your identity. “Oh. It’s you.”

“Yes, chipmunk face. It’s me.” An artificial sigh parted your lips to mask the happiness that was weaving throughout your veins. “You know I’m not buying your act. Covering for your brother? Please.” By now, the students that were hovering from before had multiplied. With the audience growing, it would have been natural for you to shy away from the challenge. But there was something about the boy ahead of you that fuelled your resistance to your instincts. The goal was never to get a kiss – it was only to… What was your goal again?

“I’m not lyin’, my twin signed up for this. I didn’t.” Pushing his weight off from the booth, his hands found brief refuge inside his jacket pockets. What alarmed him was the growing number of people who were tuning into the conversation, there was no way in hell he would be participating in this event. Of course, the idea of kissing you was not exactly… terrible. However, kissing a stranger for charity was Atsumu’s concept of fun, not his.

“Fine, keep up the act. So, what if I pay you twenty?” The bluff pointed at the male was accompanied by a smug grin. Surprise displayed openly on Osamu’s visage. Though he strived to conceal it with a blank expression, which only increased your motivation to tease him. “Actually, I’ll just give you the full fifty. It’s for charity, right?”

“I don’t want your money.” He croaked out, casting his grey irises to the nosey students crowding the stand. He knew that you were slowly pushing him into a box, one he may be unable to escape.

“It’s not for you, it’s for the children.” Placing a hand against your chest, you curled your bottom lip out with a sniffle. The response instigated a few mumbles from the observers, who agreed with your statement.

“What did I tell ya? I’m not workin’ this.” Osamu remaining stoic, crossed his arms over his chest protectively. He knew you were a bit insane from his earlier interactions with you, particularly when you patted his face with a hot dog. And honestly, he was hoping that your paths would cross again… but not like this.

“First you cheat and steal my prize, and now you’re denying the children money! Tisk. Bad little chipmunk.” Instead of waving your finger in disproval, the fifty dollars that were offered to him were given a little wiggle. However, Osamu paid no attention to the latter half of your statement or your taunting actions.  

“Cheat?” He squinted at you quizzically, unable to comprehend why you would be accusing him of that.

“Yeah, no normal human can be that adorable when they eat. Those noises were not natural. I know it.” The response sounded ridiculous and the confident tone it was conveyed in was downright embarrassing. You knew that.

“What noises?” A faint smile traced along his mouth as he took a step closer to you, and allowed his arms to drop to his sides. He could see how flustered you had become with yourself, and it was kinda adorable.

“Don’t act innocent, chipmunk face. All these random people and I know the truth. You are a cheating, children hating chipmunk.” Before you could stop yourself, your teasing act had morphed into a full performance. All you could do now was maintain the façade of confidence.

“Ya know what, give me that.” Once he was close enough, Osamu snatched the bills you had been parading around for the last five minutes before slipping an arm around your middle, drawing you closer to him. “Here’s ya kiss.”

After leaning down, his mouth slotted against yours firmly and swiftly, quietening the noises that animated the college space around you. Stunned by his sudden display of affection, it took you a second to command your eyelids to flutter shut. Strangely enough, the taste of the food you both consumed earlier did not ruin the exchange. Truthfully, you were intrigued by the idea of tasting other foods from his lips. Would even the sourest items taste sweet on his lips? 

Heat stung your neck as you curled your arms around his neck subconsciously, lost in enjoyment. His own grip around you had tightened slightly, communicating his own satisfaction. Kissing a stranger was certainly not on your to-do list – but kissing this one stranger 100 times? That was added the second his lips connected with yours.

“UH… ‘Samu?” The blonde Miya twin stifled back his laughter as the couple ahead of him stepped away from each other upon hearing his arrival.

Osamu cursed lowly, scarlet flooding his cheeks once he released you. How the hell did he forget that people were watching? Or that his brother would be returning shortly?

While you were dazed by the kiss, you were quick to bounce back, showcasing a smile for the blonde who entered the scene. “Huh, so he does exist.” It really did not cross your mind that his twin did exist.

“Yeah, and you’re not kissin’ him now. Offer expired.” Osamu scoffed, shoving a palm against your face.

“I wasn’t going to!” Laughter bubbled inside your chest as you swatted at his hand, trying to secure a proper visual of his brother.

“So, who’s gonna explain to me what’s goin’ on?” Atsumu blew out the question with an amused chuckle. He knew that someone would potentially ask Osamu for a kiss, but he did not expect it to be the girl who competed against his twin in a hot dog eating competition. Fate truly was a weird thing.

“He will!” Thrusting the responsibility onto the grey-haired male, you stuck out your tongue. Osamu simply sighed and squinted at you playfully.  

While you may had attended the festival for free pastries, you ended up with a deal far sweeter – a man who tasted far better than any pie.

A/N: Hello my love! I really hope you liked this! <3 Full disclosure, I haven’t watched the kissing booth and this was not inspired by the film LOL.

General taglist:  @haikyuufairy  @newfriendjen @lvoejimin @moonlightaangel @gyozaaaaa @byun-nies @thevillagehiddenintheinternet @amberalisa @yourstarvic @swoonhui @chaichai-the-weeb @dreamstormings @chibishae34 @haikyuusimp91 @volleybloop  @rajablast @idiot-juice-enthusiast @melonmayhere @cuddlesslut  @athenarosaline @memes-and-money @coconut-dreamz  @mismatched-loves @elianetsantana @tsumume @tsukkismamagucci @the-golden-jhope @camcam1617 @azumane-kun

[i-simp-for-gintoki]

Visiting Yuji in Tokyo

“yuji x reader where she was childhood friends with yuji and its basically the friends to lover sort of thing? and basically reader is visiting tokyo and meets up with yuji for the first time in months?? bonus if gojo and megumi are there :)”-anon

Damn its either super short or long no inbetween huh? Sorry if this isn’t exactly what you wanted! Some of the characters are little ooc (when are they not when i write them-).This turned out much much longer than it needed to be

You and Yuji have known each other since kindergarten

He’s such a sweet kid its always really fun to hang out with him

You guys play lots of video games together and are basically inseparable

Constantly reading manga or watching anime its great

Your parents disapproved of you hanging out with a dude all the time but you could care less

Why should you only be friends with your own gender? Thats so stupid

You always wondered about why yuji had such great strength and speed but he says he was just born that way

Hes just built different

Around middle school his grandpa’s health had dropped and was moved to the hospital

You did your best to make sure yuji stayed in good spirits and often visited the older itadori with him

He’s not the best at wording things but hes always there for emotional support

Maybe it was around 7th grade you noticed something was different around yuji

Like he himself hasn’t changed but whenever you look at him your heart just melts

Your thoughts or compliments seem more filled with love for him and thats when you realized you started to fall for him

Thinking the crush would go away you didn’t act much on it

Oh what a fool you were

Around 8th grade yuji had started acting kinda weird around you

He’d be much more easy to fluster and tenses up for a second if you ever make contact

You confronted him about it and cue the very awkward and middle school like confession

“I really like you!

You were so happy you confessed back and said that the only reason you didn’t before was because you feared to ruin your friendship

He says even if he somehow didn’t like you back that something like that wouldn’t effect anything

From then on you guys are such a wholesome couple

All the cuddles

No fancy dates just casual arcade or movie sort of things

His grandpa gave him a hard time but approved of your relationship

Throughout 8th grade summer and the beginning of highschool everything was going great

But a few months into highschool lots of things happened

Yuji’s grandpa had passed away, he and his friends in the exorcist(?) club had gotten hurt and after that night he had weird markings on his cheeks right below his eyes

And to top it all off now he was supposedly moving to tokyo??

“Yuji why are you moving away? My parents would gladly take you in you know”

He tells you he can’t explain why which breaks your heart

“Who are you staying with then??” he stops for a second and it pains him to lie to you. “A distant relative of mine, he works at a private school and thats where i will be going from now on.”

“But what about us?”

And so you guys decided to do a long distance relationship

Every night when you can you call and chat for hours

But thats not enough

You want to be held or hold him, you want to just cuddle or atleast be in the same room

It pains you to have a relationship through a screen and you grow respect for those who do

Trust isn’t an issue since you know yuji wouldnt even think to cheat at all

Probably doesnt even know what the word means

But after a few months you decide to go to tokyo for a few days

With the help of your parents you rent a room in a hotel and head there

Were just gonna pretend your parents are super super chill(and slightly uncaring like my parents would never let me) and lets you go to a whole city by yourself for several nights

You were super nervous and excited

Its your first time visiting a huge city like tokyo and its gonna be the first time you see yuji in months

Itadori was super excited that you were in tokyo

So excited that he got lost trying to head to the hotel you were staying at

After an extra hour you guys finally meet

He walks through the hotel lobby doors and gives a smile and a wave

In an instant you tackle him in a hug which he GLADLY hugs back in

After just holding each other for a while he decides to show you around

Hes still clearly learning the area himself but he’s very excited to show what he does know

“The place over here makes amazing sushi! Oh! And over here they sell little action figures! Oh oh and over here the steak is kinda bad but its cheap so its worth it! And-” you could only smile as he pointed in random directions with one hand, the other was busy holding yours

Buying food from a bunch of random vendors and wearing silly getups you guys take loads of pictures

Tons of hugs and cheek kisses

Yes its frowned upon to be touchy and stuff in public in japan but honestly you guys could care less

The sun was setting and you guys were currently sitting at a park munchkin on some crepes when you turn to him

“Yuji, do you think i could visit who your staying with? I’d hate to impose but i just wanna know if your in good hands”

His chewing pauses

Its not like he didn’t want you tell about jujutsu

But he doesn’t want you to be apart of that world, he wants you to stay as safe as possible with no harm ever headed your ways

With him being a vessel for sukuna gojo had told him that he and his friends could potentially be targeted

Theres a reason sorceres put up cloaks when engaging in battles and its so normal civilians can continue living in peace without the knowledge these monstrosities actually exist

“Mm its a bit sudden and he’s out on a mis-er meeting right now so maybe tomorrow?” he says

You frown, you can tell he’s lying but he wouldn’t do it without a reason

“Fine. But Yuji. Just know that if you ever feel unsafe or want to come back your more than welcome too. There will always be a spot for you at my home” you say hugging him

You both kinda forgot you were holding crepes and when you pulled away from each other laughed as the ice cream and sauce was smeared all over your shirts/jackets

He walks you back to the hotel and says goodnight with a kiss

The next two days went by in a flash

Just spending time with itadori, even if it was just sitting in silence has been the most fun youve had in months

He had showed you many places and has boughten many small trinkets for you to remember

Your phone has grown about 300 photos just from the past couple days with him

It was about midday of your final day in tokyo and so you both wanted to make the best of it

You both where sitting inside a cafe exchanging stories and just chatting when suddenly two people walked in the cafe

One was very tall and had spiked up white hair and was wearing a blindfold, and the other had spiky/messy black hair

You didn’t think much of it at first but did question the blindfold

‘A fashion choice?’

Turning your attention back to yuji you gave him a soft smile as you listened to his ramblings about a manga

“I love you” you said cutting him off

Immediately his face turned red and whatever he was just saying turned into stuttering nonsense

Before he could respond he let out a short yell when someone placed a hand on his shoulder

It was the two dudes who walked in from earlier

“So this is what you’ve been doing.” “Fushiguro! Gojo sensei!”

The shorter one who looks yuji’s age started talking about how it wasn’t good to turn his phone on mute and go out the whole day

The tall one gives you a wave

“Sorry to interrupt your date but we gotta take yuji away for a bit” he says grabbing yuji’s collar

“Wait who are you guys?” you ask and they pause to give short introductions

“Fushiguro Megumi.” “Gojo Satoru, nice to meet ya miss girlfriend” “How did you know??” Yuji says making gojo laugh

“Its pretty obvious, you didn’t do much of a job hiding it” he says pulling yuji a little bit more.

“O-Oh im L/n Y/n, nice to meet you” you say realizing you forgot to introduce yourself

As the three chatted along with each other, you sat in silence as you tried to remember where you heard gojo’s name from

‘Oh yeah, he’s the one who yuji described as his relative. Even if it was really fast since he tends to change subjects whenever i ask’

“Wait Gojo? White hair...blind fold..are you Yuji’s relative?” you ask making both of them pause

They both turn towards yuji who gave a sheepish smile

“Thats me, im his mothers little cousin” Gojo said, a very quick and random asspull

“So why does he call you Gojo-sensei instead of uncle…Satoru?” “Well if im his moms cousin that would make me his cousin once removed wouldn’t it? And he calls me sensei since im a teacher at a school he goes to”

“And what about you?” you ask the other boy

“A classmate.” he says in a very short and uninterested tone

“Welp lets go” Gojo says dragging yuji but he quickly resists

“Wait wait! Sensei can i please stay? Today is her last day here and i don’t know when i will be able to see her again”

The teacher and student stares at each other for a long time

You have literally no clue what the blindfolded man could but thinking its so hard to read him

Then again you just met him so

Gojo sighs and lets go of yuji

“Just this once, and only because im the greatest sensei you’ve ever had. Lets go megumi. See ya miss girlfriend” gojo says walking away with a wave

Megumi looks surprised but follows him “really?” “Yeah yeah its fine, its only a couple of grade 3’s anywa…” as their voices faded when they left the building you gave yuji a look

“Are you going to get in trouble?” “im probably going to die in training…” “huh?” “nothin”

The rest of the day you guys hang out and its mmm

Yuji would be such a good boyfriend hes so wholesome

When its time for you to part he give you a big hug, kiss and ‘i love you’

You do the same and tear up a bit

With one final photo you head back to your home town

You make it a mission to visit tokyo more often and yuji tries to visit you whenever he can from then on

[blackcherrykiss]

BLOOD BOUNDARIES - Enhypen OT7 Fanfic (ch.7)

[CH.1] [CH.2] [CH.3] [CH.4] [CH.5] [CH.6] previous chapters

[CH.8.] next chapter (unavailable, check back or follow for updates!)

You fell into a distrustful panic that night now that knew the screams of the woods were also where Jungwon and his friends lived. You weren't sure if you should be scared for those group of boys or be scared of them. You'd be lying to yourself if you tried to believe it was only a coincidence the boys had a place in the forest of violent cries.

You questioned your sanity, were they murderers? Was that their dirty secret?

Your conclusions were endlessly dark, repeating themselves countlessly. You had never wanted to sleep away your thoughts more than ever. Eventually, you got exhausted from your thoughts. It was mentally draining to try and tear apart the possibilities of the situation, you didn't have enough evidence to be so sure. You lay in a cold sweat as you drifted off into a deep but horrible sleep.

You dreamt in full awareness. The boys with blood spilling down their hands and onto their swan white clothes. A red mess everywhere on the cream walls of an orphanage that overflowed with rays of a full moon. Although you were scared of what you were witnessing, you could not wake up even if your life depended on it. It seemed as if the dream had sped up your sleep as you woke in what felt like a few seconds. Calmly, you awoke in the misty autumn morning in a crushed up pile of blankets. You sit up to peel your wispy curtains away from the window to get a good look at the dark forest that steamed with a muddy blue fog. All of the memories of Jungwon yelling at you for just being near the woods flooded your brain as you stared. This time you were determined to search deep into that forest and get to the bottom of its mysteries as it called out to you.

"Y/N I think you're going to be late for your first class." Nana knocked before bursting into your room in full uniform, not a wrinkle on her shirt.

"Y-you're already ready? What time is it?!" You glanced back and forth between your pyjamas and uniform that draped over a random stool as you were too lazy to fold nicely the night before.

"We didn't want to wake you... So we went ahead thinking you'd come down eventually." She yanked you out of bed, gripping your forearms tightly before backing out the door, "Don't be late! We promised we'd keep out of detention this year!"

Within a blink of an eye, you slip into your uniform, slinking your arms through the holes of your blouse and adjusting your legs to be cover by your ashy plaid skirt. With your bag and binder in hand, you sprinted across your campus to the gymnasium where you found yourself arriving, everyone already in the proper athletic attire.

"You're late."  Your health teacher grit her teeth in visible disappointment. Your teacher knew how unlike you it was to be late as your classmate's eyes followed your every movement.

"P-pardon me." You clawed your fingers through your bedhead, speeding to the change room, nervous she'd assign you detention.

You let out the deep breath you were holding in as you got into the empty locker room, frustrated at yourself for waking up so late. You can't help but feel upset that you let your thoughts get the best of you and ruin your perfect attendance. Truly you were ashamed but began to see no point in continuing to rush the pace at which your day was running.

The locker room door opens and you see Kyungeun peep herself inside, "Y/N? You alright?"

You pull your boxy shirt flat down, zipping and tying every spot on your tracksuit jacket, "Yeah, sorry rough morning..."

"No worries, I just said that I had to go to the bathroom but I really just wanted to check on you." She had a motherly sound to her voice which comforted your bad start to the day. Perhaps she was in a good enough mood for you to ask her briefly about her relationship with Sunghoon.

"Kyungeun, I think I need to just clear the air... I saw you with Sunghoon in the library." You tilted your head in regret as to whether or not you were starting off the conversation in the right direction.

"Y-you saw us???" Her face drained to an unrealistic hue, "Lord... Sunghoon will kill me if he finds out you know."

"Stop! What do you mean? He'll kill you? Is it because I know that you two are dating?"

"NO! Nevermind then!" She cut you off right after the question mark in your voice. She looked rather relieved at your response which could only mean their relationship was much different than you had presumed. "I just can't tell you about our relationship I'm s-sorry it's between just us two."

"So then it's okay for him to flirt with my roommate?"

"No? Are you serious right now ?!" Kyungeun panicked.

"So you are dating?" You gave a smug smile.

"It's not that..." She was visibly frustrated not being able to describe herself in words, "I'll tell you this, I'm bound to him..." She ran her index finger along the reddened gash on her neck  He's blackmailing me."

"So you're like his pet?" You held in your laughter, you knew you should be more serious but you had no other way of trying to help Kyungeun express the gist of her relationship.

"I'll tell you another day...  Let's just go before the teacher gets mad at you for taking so long to change."

...

After your class full of advanced leg exercises and mediocrely fun games, you got halted by your gym teacher, "Y/N can we speak about how tardy you were today?"

You got fearful of her sentencing you detention, freezing up from your heel upwards, "I'm so sorry, I just had a lot going on last night..."

"Sweetie, I know this is your first late in my class but unfortunately the school does not tolerate tardiness in the way I believe it should be." She tapped her chin a few times, "I have no other choice but to send you to detention but it'll just be a half-hour at lunch." You felt better that it wasn't for a full hour or two after school but you were still dreading the idea.

"Can't you just let me off the hook? I promise it'll never happen again" You pleaded desperately.

"I'm afraid I cannot... If the other teachers or students knew you didn't get sent to detention I could get into trouble for giving you 'special treatment'. I know you didn't mean to love but I cannot afford to lose my job so I'll see you then." She patted one of your shoulders, giving it a little squeeze to cheer you up.

"I understand..." You nod with your head that already hung low.

"It's in the English room down the hall, there is usually only a few students there. Some familiar faces."

...

That rest of your morning would only pull through faster as you got some weird anxiety over walking into the detention room. You could not concentrate at all in the class you had before lunch. You felt as if you were too good for the detention group of kids, but here you were about to join those you criticized. Karma.

"Make sure to answer the questions 8-16 on page 300, you have the rest of the class to do so. Any questions?" Your physics teacher stood with his hands balled up behind his back.

Realizing you had no physics book in your bag after triple checking, you shot your arm up in distress, "ME! I forgot my textbook today... I was in a rush this morning." You faked a polite laugh with the expectation your teacher would have a spare.

"I'm afraid I don't have an extra, anyone willing to share?" The teacher lifted his head to scan the class.

"I could share." Jaeyun winked making your face recoil

"Perfect! You'll probably have to move your stuff to his seat then." Your teacher suggested.

With a thick coat of disappointment, you pulled a chair up to Jaeyun's desk to which he kneed you annoyingly.

Within just a few seconds of settling down, you complained "How the hell am I supposed to write? There is no space... Desks are made for ONE person."

"Okay then don't use my textbook and fall behind" He sneered.

"Wait wait, I just had the greatest idea Jaeyun." He gave you puppy eyes when you said his name, "What if you look for half the answers I do the other half then exchange?" You whispered so the teacher could hear.

"I can't trust you make good answers though..." He jokingly sighed.

"HEY! Okay or work together for every question to get it done twice as fast? Oh wait but then I'll be the one carrying the team... Bummer..." You stretched the corners of your mouth until your lips disappeared.

"I honestly don't feel like doing work so lose-lose." He pouted and rolled his eyes.

"Same... I can't even focus, I'm having a rough morning..." You openly admitted, "I got sent to detention for being late in my first class."

"Detention? Didn't think you were the type." Jaeyun had an unexpectedly sweet giggle which contrasted with his lower tone voice, "Heeseung and Sunghoon get sent often, surprised they aren't kicked out of the school."

"They get sent often?!" Your voice rose to which you quickly quieted down to avoid trouble, "Will I see them there?"

"Why? Looking forward to going now?" Jaeyun whispered with a grin, causing you to scoff.

"As if..." A sudden idea coming to mind, "Say Jaeyun... About the party... Heard you guys have a place in the woods...?" You became aware that you could pry some information out of him that would help you when searching the woods that night.

"Yeah, we do... We don't normally tell people about it." He said casually yet still with some sort of caution.

"So why tell us then?"

"Haven't had any visitors in a while..." Jaeyun toyed with his mechanical pencil, using the plastic part to trace around his lips, "Awfully interested aren't you?" He seemed to have caught on to your intentions, shifting the mood of the conversation around in a full 180.

Suddenly the dream you had earlier slipped into mind, causing you to sit in growing discomfort, "What do you want from my friends and I?"

"Nothing sweetheart... We're more interested in you than your dormmates. You look like someone we know." He laughed like a psycho and it creeped you out how the two of you were just poking lighthearted jokes to something much darker and mysterious, "I know you're afraid of us, you know far more than most girls." His voice dropped to a whisper as he watched the teacher behind you to make sure he didn't see the both of you slacking.

"Kyungeun knows your secrets too she said she'll tell me."

"She's acting like we don't know her secrets." Jaeyun closed his textbook, "Y/N just remember this, Kyungeun is half as bad as we are and half as pure as you are."

"Alright class, that's it for today's class. This textbook assignment won't be due until Friday have a good lunch." The teacher interrupted, causing your conversation with Jaeyun to end on a hanging note.

"Good luck with detention."Jaeyun hushed in your ear.

_______________

p.s, i changed the cover lol don’t make fun of my photoshop skills!

[baby-grayson]

A1 from the prompt list please 😊

Thank you Mika! 

A1: “Can I take a picture of you?”

300 Dialogue Prompts :  

Grayson’s teeth chattered inside of his mouth. His toes wiggled inside of his shoes, trying to expend all his excess energy. He licked his drying lips and gulped hard.

“Don’t be nervous,” you advised him, “It’s just my parents.” Grayson looked over at you from the driver’s side of his car. He ran a hand through his hair. “Exactly,” his words held stress, “It’s your parents.” You shook your head softly. You and Grayson were sitting in his Porsche, waiting to walk in to meet your parents for the first time. The air was chillier than usual, but warmer than expected for Christmas time.

You leaned toward him and kissed his cheek gently, “If I love you, then I promise they’ll love you” Grayson was wearing a suit jacket over a thin, ribbed sweater. Earlier that day, you told him the suit jacket was a bit formal. But he insisted that he should dress up to make a good impression on your parents: he loved you, afterall.

You eventually coaxed Grayson out of the car and walked him to your front door. You smiled wide, happy to see your parents for the first time in too long. Grayson wore a wide toothy smile, the edges of his mouth perked up with nerves. He handed your mother a bouquet of flowers and complimented her hair. Your father came from behind her and gave Grayson a firm handshake. “Pleased to meet you, sir,” the eagerness in Grayson’s tone was apparent.

Your mother ushered everyone into the living room, telling you about how dinner was almost done but needed an extra minute. You noticed a small bead of sweat run-down Grayson’s neck and wondered if it was from nerves or the suit jacket. While your mother skipped back into the kitchen, your father turned to Grayson, “So Grayson, I heard you like building?” Grayson nodded quickly, his tone was sharp, “Yes. Yes sir, that’s true sir.” Your rolled your eyes gently, even though Grayson couldn’t see you. Your father bent down to open a cabinet in your living room. He pulled out a brightly colored cardboard box, covered in red and green lettering. “I thought we could give you a Christmas welcome by building a gingerbread house together, while my wife finished up dinner. What do you say Grayson?” Your father wore a kind smile, hoping to really make your boyfriend feel like a part of the family.

Grayson’s eyes widened at the sight of the box. He swallowed dramatically. He exhaled softly. This was his chance to himself to prove himself as organized, managerial, creative, and a good team player. This was his shot with your father, and Grayson better not blow it.

Your father left the room to go to the kitchen to prepare a bowl of icing to stick the walls together. You and Grayson cleared off the coffee table. “This is fun, they never do this stuff for just me,” you joked. Grayson smiled in return, his pupils going slightly wide. “Babe,” you started, “Don’t tell me your nervous over a gingerbread house.” “I’m not nervous over a gingerbread house,” Grayson started, carrying tension in his jaw, “I’m nervous over your father.” You didn’t have time to soothe him before your father walked back into the room. “Well Grayson, if you’re the builder here than I’ll let you show your expertise,” you father chuckled, “You can put up the walls.” Grayson took in a breath and carefully mapped out the parts of the cookie house. He counted all of his pieces and walked you and your father through his plan to put everything together. Grayson went to attach two walls together, only to find that the ‘icing’ your father mixed was far too runny to stick anything together. “Uhhh…” Grayson’s eyes went wide at the discovery. He sucked in a breath between his teeth. Grayson stammered while trying to fix the situation, to no avail. He ended up leaning a few pieces of gingerbread together instead of actually assembling a house.

Having messed up the building, Grayson thought he could excel by being creative to spruce up the area around his crappy gingerbread build. Grayson’s large hands grabbed a few miniscule green gumdrops, hoping he could turn them into trees. He took a butter knife in his other hand, and tried to cut slits in the gumdrops to act as trees for the scene. Sadly, the gumdrops melted in Grayson’s hands. They left a sticky green film over his hands and under his fingernails.  His face fell and his shoulders slumped slightly, once again missing his chance at impressing your father. You father let out a hearty laugh, “I haven’t seen that much green under someone’s nails since the 70s”. You giggled and looked up to meet Grayson’s eyes. His eyes looked lost and scared, he longed to be in bed with you and to have you rub his back. You kissed him quickly and chastely, “It was a good idea babe.” Your words of support didn’t do much, Grayson felt like he was losing. His last idea to salvage his reputation in this situation, was to use the water icing as a decoration on the roof—or rather, the flat lying piece of gingerbread the four of you were passing as a roof. He loaded the icing up into a Ziploc bag and cut off the tip to create a piping bag. He felt confident that this simple idea would work. Except, it didn’t. Grayson accidentally gouged the side of his finger while handling the scissors and the piping bag. His finger was fine, only faintly pricked by the blade. The piping bag, however, was stained with trickles of Grayson’s blood. Grayson sighed; he ruined his last chance at doing something good here.

You, Grayson, and your dad sat and stared at the strange, leaning, icing-less, powder sugar covered thing you were calling a gingerbread house. Grayson’s head hung lower than usual; his mouth twisted at the corners every time his eyes landed on a new imperfection. He exhaled softly through his nose; you slipped a hand behind his back to rub small circles.

Your mom fluttered into the room, surprised at the sight of your gingerbread amalgamation. She smiled brightly, “Can I take a picture of you?” “Of course you can dear,” your father replied, sending her mom back into the kitchen to get her camera. “Is it even worth taking a picture of?” Grayson’s voice sounded tired; he spoke a little too loudly than he meant to. “I think so Grayson,” your father shot him a proud smile, “It’s the first family activity with you, son.” Grayson’s eyes widened: an instant, wide, toothy grin passed along his lips. He lost his air of nervousness and found a persona of pride. His heart sang when your father called him son. He wanted so badly to impress your parents. He knew fell well this was the first step in welcoming you to the rest of his life.

[imaginingmarvelandeverything]

Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy

Prompt: “You can’t tell anyone about this, okay? It could ruin my whole reputation.”, “Everything I did was to protect YOU.” and “I… I know you don’t want me to, but… I miss home.”

Pairing: Billy Hargrove x Reader

Warnings: Language, some guys being creeps, fighting, minor sexual assault (not explicit)

Word count: 3030

A/N: So, this is for @staticscreenwriting 300 writer challenge. Buckle up, this is a long one, I got a bit carried away. It got very dark very quickly, sorry. It’s based on the Disney prompts above but the title come from this song, which I was listening to as I wrote it. Also based some of this on The Lost Boys. I hope you like it!

Masterlist

“You can’t tell anyone about this, okay? It could ruin my whole reputation.” Billy smiled as he tugged Y/N closer to him by the belt loops in her denim shorts. He was leaning back on a picnic bench on the San Diego pier, looking up at her with hooded eyes. Her baggy shirt was moving in the gentle breeze and his shirt was unbuttoned as per usual. But unlike usual he was dressed in a pair of shorts. They were beach shorts, but shorts none the less. She was clutching a medium sized dolphin soft toy to her chest. He won it on one of the stupid throw the ball in the hole games and presented it to her like it was the most important thing in the world. She had giggled and kissed him before taking it from him.

Y/N laughed. “What reputation? We don’t go to high school anymore, dipshit.”

“Still, can’t let the world know I’ve gone soft.” The light from the setting sun was catching in his curls, turning the dirty blond a golden colour. It framed his face, highlighting his tan skin perfectly. Relaxed and laid back like this, with a soft smile on his face, he looked ethereal.

“I’m hungry. Let’s get some food.” She slipped her hand into his and pulled him back towards the main part of the pier.

There weren’t many people here now that summer was coming to a close. A few tourists and locals aimlessly wandered between the different stands. Billy made a beeline for the hotdog stand and ordered two while Y/N let her eyes wander all around them. San Diego was everything Billy promised it would be. Clear skies, clearer ocean and breath-taking scenery. It was paradise; their own slice of heaven. Part of her still missed Hawkins though. She didn’t know why. It wasn’t like she would have had a future if she had stayed, at least in California she might be able to make something of herself. She supposed she missed her friends, and her family, and the familiarity of everything. San Diego was new and she nearly got lost looking for the shops every time they ran out of milk. She insisted on going alone though which meant that Billy had taken to writing the apartments phone number on her arm so she could call him to come and find her when she inevitably took a wrong turn.

“Y/N?” Billy pulled her out of her thoughts. He was holding out one of the hot dogs for her to take, a look of concern on his face.

She smiled at him as she took the hot dog. “Thanks, want to go sit somewhere?”

“I know a place.” He held a hand out to her. She placed the dolphin in the curve of her arm that was holding the hotdog, before she took his hand and he led them down the steps at the side of the pier onto the beach below.

He led them almost all the way to the shoreline before he sat down in the sand. He patted the space in between his legs as an invitation for her to sit. She sat down and he wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her back against his chest. They ate in silence as they watched the sun sink lower in the sky. When they had both finished, she lent her head back onto his shoulder and he pressed a kiss to her temple. He threaded his fingers through hers, resting their hands on the dolphin that was now resting in her lap. He couldn’t keep the smile off his face. He was finally back in front of the ocean, away from his shitty dad, with the girl he loved resting against his chest. The last time he had sat on this beach he would never have guessed that he would make it out of his dad’s grasp, let alone fall in love.

When the sun had dropped behind the horizon they got up and dusted the sand off of each other. Billy’s hands lingered a little too long on her bare legs, causing him to shove his shoulder and nearly sent him falling back into the sand. Y/N managed to push the dolphin into her bag so she had both hands free. They were back on the pier thinking about getting something to drink when Y/N noticed Billy’s entire demeanour shift. He stopped dead on the spot and pushed her behind him.

“Well, well, well. Billy fucking Hargrove. You’ve got some nerve coming back here.” The boy that spoke looked about their age with dark hair styled in a very badly cut mullet. His nose was crooked, as if it had been badly broken. There were three other guys stood with him, all with similar hair cuts. None of them looked like they were dressed for the warm weather.

Billy felt Y/N’s hand close around his right arm as he tried to keep her mostly out of sight. Why wouldn’t the world just let him be happy for once? Why did there always have to be something else thrown in his path?

“Michael.” Billy subconsciously stood up to his full height.

“What, no greetings for us lot?” Michael clasped his hands over his heart in mock hurt as the other boys mimicked him.

Billy almost growled. “What do you want?”

“Can’t we just want to catch up? I mean it has been over a year. How’s that little sister of yours?” That earned collection of laughs from the other three boys.

“Mind your fucking business, Michael.” If Y/N hadn’t been gripping his arm so tight he would have launched himself at the other boy. But he knew how that would end.

“Billy, let’s just go.” Y/N’s voice was small but it drew Michael’s attention to her for the first time.

“What do we have here? Don’t think I’ve seen you around her before, hot stuff.” Michaels eyes trailed down her bare legs with a look of almost hunger on his face. It sent a feeling running down her back, as if someone had dropped ice into her shirt.

“Back off, Michael.” Billy growled as Y/N’s grip on his arm tightened, showing him how uncomfortable she was. She didn’t know what these boys wanted, or how they knew Billy, but she knew it wasn’t going to end well.

“My, my, Billy Hargrove defending a girl. She must be a hell of a fuck.” Michael laughed as Billy’s hands formed fists. “Or you’ve finally fallen for a nice girl. But the fact that she’s still with you probably means that she doesn’t know the real reason you left California. You see hot stuff-” Michael didn’t have time to prepare for Billy’s fist connecting with his nose.

They all heard the crunch of the bone before Billy pulled the other boy up by his jacket and slammed him backwards into the railing. Michael just laughed and brought his knee up into Billy’s groin. Billy doubled over in pain and stumbled back.

“Billy!” Y/N went to run to him but one of the other boys caught her around the waist and pulled her back, directly into his chest.

“Let them finish it, alright, sweet cheeks.” He laughed in her ear as she tried to get out of his grip. “We could have some fun while they’re working it out.” His voice made her blood run cold and she momentarily froze as his hands started exploring her body.  

Michael had managed to connect a punch with Billy’s jaw, but Billy blocked his next attack and punched him in the stomach. Billy landed one last punch on Michael’s face that sent the other boy to the floor.

“She’s gonna want to know now, Hargrove.” Michael laughed as he spat blood out of his mouth.

Y/N managed to elbow the boy that was holding her in the stomach. He released his grip on her and doubled over in pain before she landed a kick in his groin. He fell to the floor groaning in pain. She screamed when another set off arms wrapped around her waist.

“Hey, it’s me. It’s just me. Let’s get out of here.” Billy held her against him as he lent down and picked her bag off of the floor. A small crowd of people had formed but they easily pushed their way through. She was pretty much limp in his grip as he set her in the passenger seat of the Camaro. The tears were streaming down her cheeks as she struggled to get the seatbelt into the buckle. Billy reached over from the driver’s side and slide it in for her.  

They had only been driving about ten minutes when she told him to pull over. She threw off the seat belt and made it about four steps from the car before she falling to her knees and throwing up. She stayed in the same position on the floor, breathing heavily, until she felt a hand on her waist. She yelped and fell backwards away from Billy. She pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her head into her knees as Billy looked at her with hurt and confusion. She knew it was just Billy, knew he would never hurt her, but she could still feel the other guys hands running over her body.

“Y/N?” Billy’s voice was softer than normal.

She looked up and saw he was holding out a bottle of water and a pack of mints. She took them both from him before taking a gulp of water and taking two mints from the packet. Her eyes glanced over the damage to his face. His lip was split and a bruise was forming on his jaw.

“What did he mean?” Y/N moved her gaze up to meet his crystal blue irises that seemed to be shining with tears. “The real reason you left California?”

Billy hung his head, a few tears slipping down his cheeks. “It was an accident. I-I was supposed to be dropping Max off at this kid’s birthday party. I was angry that my dad was treating me like a taxi, with no regard for the fact that I already had plans. It was stupid. There was this-this party on the beach. I thought what could go wrong.” He laughed but it held no humour and looked towards the night sky. “I just drove straight to the beach, told Max to stay in the car. She didn’t, she never did. I was doing a keg stand and when they brought me down, I noticed she wasn’t there anymore.” He was starting to shake now, the tears were flowing down his cheeks much faster.

“So, I went looking for her and I found her under the pier. Michael and the guys, they had her cornered. Jake was holding her board. I can’t remember what they were saying. She was terrified, backed up against the wall. I stepped in between them and Michael said something and I just saw red. By the time the other guys pulled me off…” He trailed off and pushed a hand into his hair. He still kept his gaze on the grass beneath them. “You thought Steve was bad last Christmas. I put Michael in the hospital. He was in a coma for three days. His dad threatened to take legal action and my dad had the chance at the job in Hawkins, so moving was the compromise.

“It was my fault. I left her on her own, like I did with you tonight, so that Jake could…Everything I did was to protect YOU, and Max, and I couldn’t do either right. I’m sorry, for tonight, and for not telling you. God, all I ever do is fuck things up.” He buried his hands into his hair and tugged roughly at his curls.

“We all fuck up, Billy.” Her voice was small as she hesitantly reached over and removed one of his hands from his hair before lacing her fingers through his.

“Not like this.” His bloodshot eyes met her own. “If Michael had got the upper hand, what do you think they would have done? I put you in danger. We should have just walked away like you said. I never learn. All the fighting ever does is get me in deeper shit.”

Y/N didn’t know what to say. He took his hand back as sobs racked through his body, causing his shoulders to shake. She had never seen him like this. There were a few times that had come close, when his dad had nearly taken it far enough to put him in the hospital.

“Can- can we just go home?” Y/n’s voice broke as she spoke.

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s go.” He got to his feet and dusted off his jeans before offering her his hand. She took it and let him pull her up. Her legs still felt like jelly and she had to grab his arm to prevent herself from falling straight back to the ground. “You good?”

She just nodded and he opened the passenger side door. He helped her inside before walking around the other side and getting in himself. He crossed his arms across the steering wheel and rested his forehead on them. They sat there in silence for a few minutes before he wiped a hand over his face and gunned the engine. The Camaro roared to life before he pulled back out onto the road and carried on driving home.

“I… I know you don’t want me to, but… I miss home.” Her voice was so small, he almost didn’t catch it.

“Y/N,” He paused, considering his next words carefully. “your feelings are your own, as are your decisions. Don’t ever put me before them. If you want to go back… back to Hawkins, honey, I’ll drive you there now. I don’t want to keep you somewhere you don’t want to be.”

“I didn’t mean that. I just… I don’t know. I don’t know.” The tears started streaming down her cheeks again. She didn’t know what she wanted. She didn’t want to go back to Hawkins, but she didn’t want to stay here knowing that at any moment they could run back into Michael and his gang.

“Hey, don’t cry.” Billy removed a hand from the steering wheel and laced her fingers with his. “We’ll figure something out okay. I don’t know what, but we will. I promise. Let’s just sleep on it, alright? And we can figure stuff out in the morning.”

She nodded and clasped his hand between both of hers, her gaze falling to out of the window.

It didn’t take long to reach the apartment building. Billy threw the car into park before jumping out and walking around to the passenger side. He opened the door and helped her out before grabbing her bag that he had thrown on the back seat. The dolphin soft toy was sticking out of the top of her bag and he locked his jaw at the sight of it. He didn’t understand how every time he was actually happy something had to get in the way.

Y/N didn’t let go of his hand until they were inside the apartment. It was tiny and wasn’t in the best shape but it was theirs and that was all that mattered.

“Do you need any help?” She gestured to his chin, which had now started to turn a lovely shade of purple.

“No, I’ve got it. You jump in the shower.” He pressed a kiss to her temple before walking into the kitchen and pulling out the first aid supplies.

Y/N turned the shower to the highest temperature before stepping in. The scalding water ran down her skin, burning as it went but she didn’t care. She just needed to get the feeling of that guys hands off of her. She didn’t stay in long, knowing Billy would be waiting. She wrapped herself in a towel and brushed her teeth.  She walked out to find him sat on the edge of the bed. He had laid her a pair of sleeping shorts and her favourite of his metallic t-shirts on the bed. She smiled softly as he pressed a kiss to her forehead before walking into the bathroom she had just vacated. She pulled the clothes on before climbing under the covers and facing the middle of the bed. It wasn’t the comfiest of beds but they made do.

Billy had always been fast in the shower. It wasn’t long until he was climbing in next to her. He kept his distance, facing her, unsure how close she wanted him. She answered his question for him as she rested her head on his bare chest, beneath his chin. He gently wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her flush against him. One of her arms looped over his side while the other rested over his necklace. She could feel his heartbeat slow down beneath her finger tips as he pressed a kiss to her hairline.

“San Francisco might be nice.” Her breath fanned over his chest as she talked.

“Yeah, it might be. We’ll look tomorrow. Just get some sleep, honey.” He tightened his grip on her.

“Billy?”

He hummed; she felt his chest vibrate against her.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.” He wondered how he had ever got so lucky.

[fire-the-headcanons]

[In which team STRQ goes to a Halloween party at Beacon, dressed as their teachers and TAs. Enjoy.]

Tai elbowed Summer, puffed up his chest, and strutted straight for them.

Sneaking up just wasn't Port's style.

"Good evening, students!" he blustered. "How are you enjoying the festivities?"

"Mister Xiao Long, is that you?" Pete asked, blinking. Behind him Professor Mesánychta folded her arms and surveyed the four of them with one fist pressed over her mouth.

Checkmate. Tai stood up even straighter, nearly going up on tiptoe, and put his hands on his hips. "Of course not! I am Peter Port, who else would I be? Talk some sense, young man."

"Magnificent!" Pete roared, throwing an arm around his shoulders. "They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and I am flattered indeed!"

"I see you two have corrupted your teammates quite efficiently," Mesánychta said, still failing to mask a smile. Tai beamed, returning a mock salute.

Follow the Beacon Taiyang—Splitting Scares

[Link to Masterpost]

[TW for gore, fake blood - Halloween decorations

A note on the "horror house": it's a haunted house, on Remnant, designed by child warriors, exercise all due caution]

The Grimm Studies building was unrecognizable.

Somehow most of the lights had been coaxed from their usual neutral white into an eerie blood-red, staining the usually warm wooden paneling a gnarled black. Lights that hadn't changed were aimed at tables, covered in pristine white cloths. Grimm colors filled the room from corner to corner—add in the large number of students wearing bone masks and black clothing instead of proper costumes and the effect was eerie.

The mounted model Grimm heads remained, but the plaques and labels had been covered in black paper or cloth, giving the illusion that actual monsters were frozen in the walls and glowering down at them. As he looked closer…

Eugh.  

Qrow elbowed him, keeping his voice low. "Those… that's fake, right?" 

"Yeah, they're like 300 lien a pop at the party store."

"Thanks. ...That's… gross."

"Yeah." The dismembered limbs and dripping blood in the models' mouths crossed a line he wasn't entirely comfortable with. "Yeah." He pretended not to notice as Qrow turned and whispered something to Raven.

"There's Professor Carmine," Summer cackled, rubbing her work-gloved hands together and eyeing the far end of the refreshment table. She wore a chef's hat and white coat... with her trademark leather apron tied on as always. "I'm going in!"

They skirted the edge of the crowd, following Summer as she darted around the the table to come up behind the professor. Tai and the twins waited back a pace as she took the last few steps.

"Carmine Eitri! Have you done your maintenance this week?! " Summer demanded at full volume, making the professor and several students jump.

"What? You—" Carmine froze, looking her up and down, taking in the paper welding goggles and hastily-stitched apron with a delighted smile breaking across her face.

"I don't think you'll be smiling if your weapon malfunctions in combat!" Summer shrieked, barely keeping a straight face. She eyed the professor and the third years she'd startled before. "I want to see those gears shining or you can take the ashes out for a month!"

A boy with a Grimm mask hanging around his neck swore softly as Carmine burst into laughter. "Why didn't we think of that?" He pointed at Qrow. "Look, that kid's Ozpin."

"Wait, aren't those the freshmen that cheated during initiation?"

The professor raised her right hand, still chuckling. "I'll do it next time, I promise. Look at you four! I always love to see some clever craftsmanship. Have the others seen yet?"

"No, we just came in."

"You'll have to tell me everything later," she said with a nod, and turned back to her conversation with the third years.

"That went well." Summer grabbed a cupcake. Chocolate frosting and marshmallow claws made it look like a Beowolf's paw. "See anybody else?"

"Nope," Qrow said, passing Raven a chocolate chip cookie as he scanned the crowd. As soon as the twins bit into the treats they stared down at them with identical frowns of disappointment.

Tai laughed. "Come on, they're not bad. Summer's are just really, really good."

"Huh?" she muttered, still staring into the crowd. "Oh!"

"Zelenia, there you are. I wanted to— oh." Ozpin stopped short, blinking in confusion at Raven and a distorted mirror image of himself. 

"Yes, headmaster?" Raven asked in a decent imitation of the professor. Qrow just grinned up at him, completely failing to keep a straight face.

He chuckled, taking a sip from his mug. "Very clever."

"Well, I certainly thought so," Qrow said in Ozpin's accent, sidling forward and mirroring him with an identical cup, though his was now full of fruit punch. "And I'm glad to see that your teamwork has improved considerably."

"That it has. ...I see your reputation at Signal was not unearned, Miss Rose, Mr. Xiao Long. Has Zelenia seen your handiwork?"

"Not yet," Summer replied. "We were looking for her too. Professor Carmine loved it though."

"She's probably doing a safety check in the house of horrors," he said, glancing at the hall that led toward Containment. Students were lined up to go inside, tucking parts of their costumes and the odd weapon into the bins provided. "Do make sure to show her when she gets back. I think she'll appreciate it."

Ozpin walked away, still chuckling, and Summer leaned in close to whisper in Tai's ear. "'House of horrors'? Is he ninety?"

"...Aren't you going to ask him?"

She huffed. "I chickened out, okay?"

"If it is a joke just lean into it. This is our only lead. I'll do it, if you want."

"N...no, I've got this." Her hands clenched and unclenched a few times. "I've got this."

"Well, he's getting away," Qrow said, and the four of them headed off after him. Luck wasn't with them, though, and the professor was already lost in the crowd.

***

It took a few laps of the hall to finally spot Mesánychta and Port, emerging from Containment as predicted. Perfect. Tai elbowed Summer, puffed up his chest, and strutted straight for them. 

Sneaking up just wasn't Port's style.

"Good evening, students!" he blustered. "How are you enjoying the festivities?"

"Mister Xiao Long, is that you?" Pete asked, blinking. Behind him Professor Mesánychta folded her arms and surveyed the four of them with one fist pressed over her mouth.

Checkmate. Tai stood up even straighter, nearly going up on tiptoe, and put his hands on his hips. "Of course not! I am Peter Port, who else would I be? Talk some sense, young man."

"Magnificent!" Pete roared, throwing an arm around his shoulders. "They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and I am flattered indeed!"

"I see you two have corrupted your teammates quite efficiently," Mesánychta said, still failing to mask a smile. Tai beamed, returning a mock salute. 

As they left he turned to Summer. "Well?"

She sighed, raising her hands. "You were right. Themed costumes are better."

"Sweet, because next year I was thinking we could do a sort of masquerade thing based on our names—"

"You're already thinking about next year?" Qrow asked.

"Sure! Why not?" he shrugged. "It's fun. Speaking of… who wants to try the horror house?"

"Um." Summer spared a nervous glance at the bloody wall decorations, and then at the large sign hung next to the entrance. "Only if we go through as a team." 

She had a point. The warnings were… specific.

Qrow looked at Raven, who shrugged. "Sure, we're in."

"No weapons, no loose jewelry or clothing, you may be pushed or jostled, you may trip or fall," he read, unease growing with each line. "They're really splitting scares with these rules, aren't they? Ow. You may get wet but it won't stain— give your name for Semblance check? Full auras only?! Is this a horror house or a weapons-free cage match?!"

The fourth year with the Semblance check clipboard chuckled ominously. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Summer demanded.

"Well, I hear there's face painting back at Signal if you don't think you can handle it."

"You're on," Raven declared, carefully setting her makeshift headband and floured jacket in one of the bins. Tai followed suit, though Summer and Qrow had more accessories to contend with.

"Wait," he said, throwing his arm in front of her as she reached the door. "No weapons. You have to leave the knife here."

"What? She doesn't have a—" Tai's jaw dropped as she pulled a utility knife out of her shirt with a scowl, clearly debating whether or not to actually hand it over. " Why are you carrying that?! This is a party!"

"Self-defense," she answered, glaring at him in a way that plainly asked why he didn't have one too.

"...Yeah, you gotta leave that here," the fourth year said, smug bravado suddenly nowhere to be found. Gingerly, he pinched the blade between his thumb and forefinger, trying weakly to lift it from her grasp. 

"Aren't there supposed to be live Grimm?" she asked, making no move to release it.

"The actors are armed in case of emergency," he said quickly. "But there's also never been a problem. There are extensive safety precautions in place."

Raven only resisted for a moment longer before allowing the handle to slip through her fingers.

"It'll be fine!" Summer reassured her. "We're going through together."

"Yeah, just try not to punch anyone," Tai said, guiding her forward by the shoulder. "Raven Taupe and Taiyang Xiao Long. Those two don't have Semblances yet."

"Two on the same team, huh? Some odds," he said, skimming through his notes. "You're good to go. Head all the way down to the warehouse." He waved them past, staring Raven down. "But seriously, try not to punch anyone."

The hallway beyond was unchanged. No decorations, no red lights, nothing but the sky outside and the darkened labs to suggest they weren't on their way to class.

"That's kind of anticlimactic," Summer muttered, looking up at the lights as they walked.

"It's to ruin our night vision."

Slowly, everyone turned to stare at Raven.

"Easier to sneak up on someone who's blinded by the dark. It's the same reason you don't light a fire to keep watch.  The point is to scare people, right?"

Tai chuckled nervously. This was getting less and less appealing by the second. 

"Scared already?" Raven teased. "It hasn't started yet."

...Now, this could be fun. "Oh? Well if you're so gung-ho about it, let's see who breaks last."

"You're on." She smirked. 

Where had this calm… confident version of Raven been for the last two months? It suited her so much better than quiet terror or misdirected fury. It came out sometimes when she fought, but he'd never seen it outside of combat—

"Great. You two walk in front," Summer said, stepping back and gesturing for her to take the place next to him.

He grabbed the handle of one of the double doors, grinning at Raven. "On three. Ready?"

"One—"

"Two—"

"Three." They shoved the doors open and stepped into the dark, blinking. Effectively blinded.

The warehouse was lit by a single, flickering emergency light that turned the rows of cages into a shadowy forest. Dozens of eyes burned in the darkness, flashes of light occasionally reflecting off of bone as they snarled and beat against the bars. Of course—there was plenty of fear in a horror house to get them up in a frenzy.

"Oh, that's freaky," Summer breathed. The nearest cage to the entrance had been torn open with the door hanging limply from one hinge.

 Behind them, the doors slammed closed on their own and cut off the light from outside.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" The four of them jumped as someone leapt at them from the left, the scant light barely outlining his white lab coat. "YOU'VE LOCKED US IN WITH—"

He cut off at the sound of a low growl, shoving them behind him as he backed away from two Beowolves with horrible, burning eyes. Tai genuinely couldn't tell if they were costumes or not—they had to be, right? But were any of the fourth years that big?!

"RUN!" the scientist screamed, giving them a hefty shove. They took off, weaving around more twisted and fallen cages that chipped at Tai's aura every time he missed a jagged spur of metal in the dark. More wolves jumped out from either side, falling in behind them as they sprinted for the far door, claws clicking on the cement. Grimm snapped at them through the bars and it was impossible to tell which ones were real.

"We'll get out through the classroom wing," the scientist gasped, dragging the door open at last. The four of them darted past him as he waved them through. "There's a safe zone in the rear lobby. We have to seal Containment before they get ouAAAUUUGH—" he cut off as a wolf leapt from the darkness, its teeth closing over his shoulder and his scream blending with all four of theirs. A second bit onto his other arm, dragging him back into the room, and the door slammed shut.

Summer leapt forward to yank at the handle but it had sealed. On the other side, his terrified scream abruptly cut off. The four of them stood, stunned, the only sound the snarls of the Grimm.

"...FUCK this," Qrow said, conversationally.

Next Chapter: Summer—A Bit Much

[winchester90210]

The BH 90210 Rewrite. 1x13: Slumber Party

Rewrite Masterlist

Read the previous chapter here!

Chapter Summary: Junk food is had, secrets are exposed, and flings are revealed...

Warnings: mentions of sex, swearing, one minor make out scene.

Word count: 2,900

My work is not to be reposted and/or edited without my expressed written consent. (Reblogging is fine and encouraged!!)

The flashback is in italics.

Feedback is incredibly appreciated! :)

A/N: This is one of my favorite episodes! Hope you guys enjoy it! Sorry about the scheduling issue, next week should go as planned. Feedback on this chapter would be wonderful! :)

-

"Are you sure this thing isn't a slumber party?" Kelly criticizes. You open your locker as your friends begin to bicker on both sides of you. Something akin to petty surround sound.

"I told you! It's a night of female bonding-- a chance for us to get together and talk about what's important," Brenda explains.

"But we're doing it in our PJs," Donna interjects.

"Well, that would make sense unless you prefer to sleep in your clothes," You say, "Bren, I think it's a great idea. It could be fun!"

<!-- more -->

"Can we invite some guys to come over later? I mean, after we've talked and bonded and everything?" Kelly asks.

"Kelly, I thought what we wanted was an evening to ourselves where we don't have to think about guys, talk about guys, or worry about what we look like 'cause some guy is around. Isn't that what we said?" She nods, rolling her eyes. "So what's the problem?"

"Nothing!" She leans against the lockers, "Actually... there is one thing. I kinda made plans with this other friend of mine, Amanda Pacer. You don't know her, she's a senior, but we have been friends forever."

"So bring her," you suggest, taking out your history book and shutting your locker.

"Well... I know this may sound stupid, but I don't want her to think this is a slumber party... It's not a slumber party, right?"

-

"Brenda! Kelly, Y/N, and Donna are here to bond with you!" Brandon shouts up the stairs, laden in his all-white Peach Pit uniform. He looked so cute, this "no guy" rule was pointless. Especially when the said guys looked like that. "Hey Y/N/N," he kisses you softly, pulling you closer to him.

"Hey," you mumble. He gives you a hard, dizzying, coffee-flavored kiss as he slowly backs into the front door. You hum against him happily, "I'll pay you to stay, I'm serious. Cold hard cash." He grins, slipping his warm hands under the sides of your jacket, holding onto your hips gently.

"As much as I'd like to, I promised Nat I'd pick up this shift."

"Tell him you have other business to attend to. Like getting me out of this slumber party. Nat'll understand," you plead jokingly. One more soft, sweet kiss and he lets go of you. "Brandon..." he smiles at you adoringly and turns towards the other two girls waiting in the foyer, pretending that they weren't just watching everything you two were doing.

"Have fun, ladies," he swings the front door open and leaves as quickly as possible, knowing that if he stayed any longer you'd actually end up convincing him to stay. As one Walsh exits, another enters as Brenda comes down the stairs wearing a long, plaid nightshirt. But before she's even fully down the stairs, Kelly starts to complain.

"Brenda, this is really weird."

"Kelly, we are going to have fun! Where's Amanda?"

"Oh, she's coming later," She fidgets awkwardly, "She uh, wanted to bring her own car in case..."

"Something better came along," Donna interjects.

"I think this might be a little too down-home for her."

"Kelly, we're not going on hayrides," you cut in.

-

"Okay, we have chocolate ice cream,vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream!" Brenda announces as you pour the doritos into a bowl. It's a scramble of hands and junk food as you all grab what you want.

"Do you have any other cookies?" Kelly asks.

"Yeah! I think they're in the cupboard," Brenda nods.

"Oh, I love cookies smushed in ice cream!" Andrea beams, "it's the best."

"You ever put popcorn in ice cream?" Donna wonders. The group groans in disgust. "Hey, it's really good!" You hop on the counter next to where Donna is and grab a chip

"Well, there's microwave popcorn in a bowl over there, knock yourself out," Brenda giggles, handing you your bowl of chocolate ice cream.

"Thanks," you smile, "Hey, Amanda, what do you want? Vanilla or chocolate?" You glance over to Kelly's friend as you help the girls put together their sundaes, and she's sitting alone at the kitchen table with her arms crossed, pouting.

"Nothing for me, thanks."

"Oh, come on, Amanda. You're gonna make us all look like pigs!" Kelly exclaims.

"You said it, I didn't," Amanda ostracizes. The room goes radio silent, but instead of bumming out the room, Brenda starts snorting like a pig at her while the rest of you laugh and pick up your junk food.

-

"Donna, that is so gross!" Kelly laughs, watching as her best friend shows vanilla ice cream and popcorn into her mouth all in one spoon. Your cheeks already hurt from laughing, but you couldn't stop smiling.

"I know, but I like it! I don't know why, but I do, okay?"

"This is something you can never do with guys," Kelly smirks, piling on the whipped cream to her sundae.

"What?" Andrea asks.

"Pig out!" The five of you giggle as Brenda turns to Amanda, who's once again decided to remove herself from the group.

"Do you eat on dates, Amanda?"

"Never. But I always order something expensive," her voice is sharp, and she's slumped back in the white chair in the far corner of the room.

"Why?"

"To let them know I'm worth it," she shrugs.

"I knew it was over for me and Steve when I started pigging out everytime we went out to eat," she scoffs.

"He never took you out to eat, Kelly," Donna giggles, and then everyone, (excluding Ms. Grump Pants, of course) bursts out in laughter.

-

"I am in... sugar shock." Brenda sighs, resting her head on your shoulder as you lean back onto the couch, smushed up against the other girls.

"I feel like I just gained ten pounds," Andrea groans.

"So, what do you guys want to do now?" Kelly ponders.

"Ooh, lets rent Pretty Woman!" Donna suggests.

"Donna, you've seen that movie 300 times," Kelly snickers.

"It's dependable. You know, sometimes I think about running away and becoming a hooker on Hollywood boulevard," she puts her fist up to her heart, fawning, "just so I can meet Richard Gere."

"There's only one problem... you're not Julia Roberts."

"Look, we're not going to rent a movie... or become prostitutes," you tease Donna, "The whole point of this was so we could talk. Andrea, go get your Ouija board."

-

You settle back down onto the couch after coming very close to crapping your pants because of what you thought was the Ouija board... which just ended up being David Silver sneaking creepy pictures of you guys through the window. You breathe deeply as your heart rate settles down. Amanda checks her watch and scoffs.

"It's after midnight."

"What, do frat boys turn into pumpkins?" Brenda bites sarcastically.

"No, they turn into drunken slobs." You sure made my night," she complains.

"Amanda, you didn't have to come!" Kelly barks.

"What? And miss all the fun? The party games?" She laughs sardonically, "I don't want to leave anymore. Everyone's ruined my night," she takes off her beige coat and throws it on the chair. "It's my turn to ruin their's. Okay everyone. I've got a game if you're up for it. Skeletons in the closet. Everyone sits in a circle, and the person in the middle has to answer all their questions as honestly as possible. The kind of question is up to you, whatever you feel like asking. Of course, the better the question, the better the game."

-

"Go ahead. Ask me anything," Andrea smiles nervously.

"Why does everybody call you 'Awwwndrea?'" Amanda starts.

"Excuse me?"

"What are you, British? I mean... Awwwwndrea?" Amanda guffaws.

"That is pretty pretentious," Kelly adds.

"Kelly," you warn her.

"It's pronounced both ways. But An-dree-uh is a little boring and common. I like to be different."

"Good answer," you smile.

"So, am I through?"

Amanda studies her carefully, "No. Not yet... have you ever slept with a guy before?" What the hell was wrong with this girl?

"That's... a little personal. But uh... no. No, I have never slept with a guy before. Yet."

"Well, if you could sleep with any guy in school, who would it be?"

Andrea chuckles anxiously, looking down at the ground. "Come on, you guys. I can't answer that..."

"Yeah, you can. You can trust us, Andrea... well," you glance at Amanda, "most of us, at least."

"Uh... I don't know. I guess... I guess uh..."

"Brandon?" Kelly cuts in.

"What?" You glare at Kelly.

"No." Andrea answers, "No. Not Brandon. No... it would have to be Hans Fleischman. He is this incredibly gorgeous lifeguard who pulled me out of the water when I was stung by a jellyfish at Zuma beach last summer." You adjust in your seat uncomfortably while the Kelly snickers in disbelief at Andrea. "Hey, what is this? Brandon is just a friend."

"Wait-- wait a second. Is this the same Brandon that's all over her everyday?" Amanda laughs out, "Sweetie... get a life. You like him. Everybody already knows." You sure didn't. "And he likes her." You don't even dare to look up from your thumbs. What the hell were you supposed to do in this situation? Sure, you encouraged her to answer it but you didn't think it would be Brandon. You would feel weird comforting her, but you still feel weird just sitting there and letting her get harrassed.

"Okay... okay. So it-- it is Brandon." Her eyes well up as she stutters through her words. The room is silent for a moment before you hop to your feet.

"Well, this has been a blast," you huff, "I'm gonna go get a soda. Anyone else have plans to seduce my boyfriend? Kelly? Donna? Hey, how about you, Amanda?"

-

After Kelly's turn, to which she described her traumatic first sexual experience, and Brenda's where she describes how she betrayed her best friend back in Minneapolis... you were really starting to hate this game.

"Come on, Donna, you've gotta have some secrets," Kelly encourages.

"I don't! I tell you guys everything!"

"If you could go out with any guy in school, who would it be?!" Brenda asks. Let me guess, Brandon?

"Greg Houseman. You know that, she never stops talking about him," Kelly sighs.

"What is the most dishonest thing you've ever done?" You ask, curling your legs up to your chest. She pauses to think for a moment.

"Nothing..."

"Didn't anybody in your family go insane or something? Anything?"

"No... we're all really normal," she shrugs. The thing was, she's right. You've been to her house. Her mother is great, her dad's really nice, her house is perfect... she was completely normal.

"You know what your problem is, Donna?" Amanda prompts, "Your life is totally boring. Anyone who can't dredge up one secret about themselves is either lying or a total zero."

"That is not true," you snap.

"Why, what are you hiding, Y/N/N?"

"Nothing, Amanda."

"Oh, really? That's not what I hear... or what I've seen."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Get in the circle," she smirks, this time deviously. Dangerously. You follow her orders, moving from the floor to the chair.

"What's your favorite movie?" Brenda asks.

"Rebel without a Cause."

"What's your favorite color?"

"Baby pink," you watch Amanda out of the corner of your eye, getting more and more frustrated at the boring questions.

"Oh, come on! You guys are such a drag!" She leans forward, smirking, "What's going on with you and Dylan McKay?" You look at her confused.

"He's dating her," you gesture towards Brenda, "Not me." Amanda shakes her head immediately, as if she knew you were going to say that.

"Do I need to dumb it down for you, sweetheart? What happened at the Bel Age a few months ago, y'know, when you jumped him?"

"What?" Brenda says quietly, her voice breaking. She looks at you as tears start to brim her eyes.

"Bren, wait a second--"

"Did you sleep with my boyfriend?" Your jaw goes agape and you laugh sourly in shock.

"You really think I'd sleep with Dylan?!" A pit of guilt was forming in your stomach as you tensed up.

"I don't know what to think, Y/N! All I know is you two spend an awful lot of time together alone and now I'm hearing that you pounced on him!" she snaps. Oh my god. You couldn't believe this was happening.

"That's not what happened, Bren!"

"Fine!" She scoffs bitterly, "what happened, then?"

"So, I was at the Bel Age a few months ago, Brandon had just gotten the job at the Peach Pit..."

-

"I don't wanna go home yet," you told him. The Porsche rumbled as Dylan warmed it up. He raised an eyebrow at you as he leaned back.

"Where do you want to go?"

"Anywhere you want to take me." Those would be words you would later come to regret. Asking a hot guy with a leather jacket and a Porsche to have his way with you? Bold move. Dumb move, too. He could've taken you anywhere. Baja, the abandoned elementary school, anywhere. But where did he take you? The Bel Age hotel.

When you walked in he popped the radio on and you sat down as a Gloria Estefan song played quietly throughout the hotel room. Dylan was over at the wet bar, pouring himself a glass of scotch. Looking back, it was the only time you'd ever seen him drink something in moderation.

"You drink?" He asked, looking back at you.

"I could start," you shrug. And that was the first of many bad decisions you'd make in that hotel room. He grabs a second pint glass, but you weren't paying much attention to him as he clanked around, trying to pour you something that wouldn't make you gag.

He hands you the concoction and sits down beside you, his legs against yours. A little closer than normal, but you didn't think anything of it. Fidgeting anxiously, you began to drink whatever it was he gave you. It was new, being alone with him like that. Sure, you could hang out with him in groups but... just you and him? You tilted the glass back, letting the smooth and surprisingly digestible liquor flow down your throat until there was nothing left in your glass. This stuff was supposed kill anxiety, right? He eyes you up. Peculiarly, but not critically.

"Thirsty?"

"Yeah, you could say that." He would continue to fill your glass, and his own, for that matter, all night. He'd put on his Road House VHS tape somewhere in the middle. And you were watching it. You really were. But as the movie went on longer, you got closer. A fairly innocent movie night (the first of many) turned into a night full of regrets.

His hand was on your leg right before the first kiss happened, thumb drawing dizzying little circles on your thigh as he watched the movie. You're sure if you showed any signs of discomfort he would've stopped-- that fact gave you peace in the moment. But the last thing you wanted him to do was stop. So he didn't. And neither did you. It wasn't until later, when his lips were trailing down your jaw, hands pushing your dress up, and his own white t-shirt was somewhere on the floor next to you. That's when it came to a crashing halt. Removing his lips from your neck, he sighed.

"What is it?" You asked. The air between you two was intense, sensitive. One move and he'd be back on top of you, starting the cycle all over again.

"What about Minnesota?" He slides you off of his lap in one swift motion, but his hand was lingering on your hip.

"What about Brandon?"

"Come on, you've seen how he is around you. I don't want to get in the way of that, mess anything up."

"You're not messing anything up. If Brandon was interested he would've made a move already."

Cut to you, current day, girlfriend of the mentioned boy, "Hah... whoops."

"But either way... this is a bad idea, isn't it?" You sheepishly picked up the shirt from the floor and handed it back to him. "So," you cleared your throat, "Friends?"

"Yeah," he chuckled, fiddling with the shirt in his hand. The energy in the room was different then, awkward. Laughable. But friendly.

"And that was it," you finish, "We're friends. Kissing him now would be no different than kissing Donna or Kelly."

"You wouldn't have kissed him if you didn't like him!"

"I do like him. As a friend," you plead, "Bren, I've been supporting you guys since day one, I would never do something to hurt you." You search her eyes for something. A little bit of waivering, forgiveness, pity. Anything at this point. Stupid Amanda and her stupid skeleton game. Brenda avoids your gaze for a moment.

"And nothing's happened since then?" She chokes out. You see her shoulders rise and fall as she takes in a shaky breath.

"Nothing's happened since then."

She lets out a deep sigh, almost out of relief, but tears are still threatening to spill from her eyes "Okay... I guess I understand." As she says that, it's like every muscle in your body lets go of the stress it had been holding for the past few weeks. You really hate secrets.

"Uh, Bren... I have a confession to make," Kelly pipes up from the side of the room, "After you started going out with Dylan I tried to get a date with him." Oh shit.

-

-

-

-

Taglist: @be-patient-be-good @mpmarypoppins @bevelyhills90210 @blueoz @harleylilo88 @princess-ghost-alien @hueycat2004 @l4life @keepcalm-and-beyou

[petitprincess1]

My Heroic AU (Warning: Long Post)

So, I don’t know why, but I have this dying need to explain my Heroic AU, especially since I got newer followers. I just want explain more about this to even those that have read my fics, but are more curious about it.

Central/Main Idea: Mine are more on the chaotic good side of things than lawful because I find it more fun and they kind of explore the whole “if villains can kill and destroy and people just accept it, why can’t a hero do the same, especially when justified and with a corrupt justice system?” Basically, whenever a hero does anything like kill or destroy, no matter the reason, they are automatically seen as corrupt or they have a dying need to be stopped, even more so than villains. My Heroic characters basically exist to prove such a thought wrong…even if they aren’t the most mentally balanced people.

Also, the images I’m using were created by @themcnobody when they did a commission for me and I posted it up, so I don’t think this counts as reposting, but I’ll remove them if they don’t want me using them.

The Crew:

Clemencia/Felicity Clement Age: 19-20 Height: 5 foot 3 Job: Assassin/Hitman for Hire Background: Clem was born powerless in a family full of superheroes both on her father’s and mother’s side. Around the time when she was born, White Hat made her family move to a more crime filled neighborhood to lower the crime rate. Unfortunately, due to them being stuck in a bad neighborhood and not having powers, Clem was stuck sheltered for over 19 years. 

However, that changed when she left out on her birthday without her family knowing…and she instantly got followed and almost attacked from a drunkard. Luckily and unluckily, Clem was “saved” by Demencia, who was following the drunkard because they were in debt with the BHO. Dem was going to attack Clem for fun, but she instantly got out of her murderous mood when the girl just expressed her gratitude and she just left her. 

When she came back, in the middle of her party and in front of her entire family, she expressed having a newfound inspiration with her life and finally knowing what she wants to do. And says loudly and proudly, “I want to be an assassin like Demencia!” Everyone was quiet. No one clapped. No one cheered. The only person even seemingly intrigued was a man wearing a top white hat in the back. Personality: She is an endless ball of energy, mostly due to her having so much fun with her unicorn powers and she will always try to use them whenever she can (even if it’s just simply changing her pupils to look like hearts or stars or even question marks). She loves basically being the spoiled little princess of the group, but she also knows when to get serious. And when she is serious, she can be pretty deadly, even though she hides it all with a huge smile on her face and with her excited demeanor all while summoning a battle axe. 

Clem also is a huge dork that loves to make multiple references from games to movies to music, it doesn’t matter. It’s just something that she loves to do. She’s the second most mentally dysfunctional person in the group, often constantly doubting or questioning her decisions She also is obsessed with loving Demencia as much as she is obsessed with killing her or capturing her. All because of that night of Dem saving her and she wants to show her extreme appreciation by being either her greatest enemy or amazing lover. She’s fine with either one. Just as long as she can be with her love.

She loves Slug like a brother and will often play as a lab rat for him by testing his poisons. It doesn’t do any harm, since her horn also has a bit of eldritch magic in it. And other than Demencia, White Hat is another person she’ll die for. She adores him and believes she owes everything to him.

Also, her horn is real and it constantly fries at her brain, while also simultaneously keeping her alive. It be like that sometimes.

~~~

Slug Unglück Kaiser Age: 31 Height: 6 foot 2 (with boots on) 6 foot (with boots off) Job: Medic/Scientist Background:  Basically, his mom and dad are a villain and a hero couple, one of the very few that actually are harmonious together. They actually were (and still are) rivals to each other, but they just think of their “little” fights are just a little game to them. Anyway, they have Slug and his father instantly wants his wife to stop all heroic duties, warning her that now she that she has something precious to her that villains will immediately seek out that target or use him as her weakness. Of course, her being a hero, she ignores him and says she’ll be fine and continues fighting crime. This continues perfectly for a good 5 years, until she ended up going to a mission where they had Slug captured and were using him as leverage. They basically wanted her to give up her life of crime, tossing her a gun, or else her son would die. Not wanting to waste too much time and having already made the decision. She pulled the trigger…killing herself in front of Slug.

The father didn’t blame Slug for her death at the time, but he does immediately try to get him to a life of a crime, despite the fact that he was born normal. His father does this in any way he can whether it be making him see gruesome murders or manipulating Slug or lying to him at every turn, it doesn’t matter to the father. Slug’s grandparents, on his father’s side, hate that their son is doing that to him, so they instead subjugate him to more loving things, this includes making candy and baking. And Slug loves it! So much so that he starts doing it at home more and more, which makes the dad nervous, the last thing that he wants is for Slug to make take himself out of wanting to be a villain. So, the lies, deception, and manipulation increase to full on verbal and mental abuse over the course of 5 or 6 more years. Luckily, Slug always had his baking and candy making to calm him down. 

During one night, while his grandparents were over, his father gets into a very heated argument with his parents while Slug is trying to tune it all out by making his own sugar syrup. The arguing gets louder and louder to the point where Slug felt like he needed to say something, to at least get his viewpoint on things. This gets his dad pissed off to the point where he, blindly in a rage, grabs the pot that Slug was making the syrup and threw it at his face (simple syrup, which is just sugar and a bit of water, can be from 200-240°F), which luckily only hit the left side of his face from reacting quickly. His grandmother immediately tries to calm the burning, while his grandfather keeps his father away from Slug. His father ends up escaping Hat Island and is at large.

Unfortunately, for Slug, while they did get him to a hospital, the syrup gave him four degrees burns, which means you’re to the point where you have brown, leathery skin and you need skin grafting, a part of his lip was burnt so badly that it revealed some of his teeth, and that his left eye was damaged, not blind, but he can barely see out of it. Which is why he needs goggles. Personality: He’s kind of a direct opposite for Flug, like how Flug looks soft but he’s actually intimidating, Slug looks intimidating but is a complete softie. He is pretty blunt person and will always take the more logical route than the emotional, so he tends to seem very cold and analytic, but then will pretty much stuttering out apologies once he’s realized his mistake. He also self-taught himself poisons and engineering to start his own candy van with his friends. 

He also tends to carry candy around as a habit and just something to chew on when he’s thinking or nervous. Plus, he also manufactured his candies to be weapons, just so that no one can get suspicious of him when reaching into his jacket.

 He’s 100% loyal to White Hat and is pretty much ready to kill or harm anyone who dares speak against. He’s even ready to fight against Black Hat if need be, even though he knows it’s a losing fight.

Clemencia is like a little sister to him and he’ll always have her back, but he does tend to make her powers short-circuit on purpose if she does anything too insane.

~~~

White Hat Age: Old…but 300 years younger than Black Hat Height: 6 foot 6 (with hat on) 6 foot 4 (with hat off) Job: Owner of White Hat Incorporated/Consultant Background: …He won’t let me tell you. Personality: How does one describe him? White Hat is the worst out of everyone. Depending on who you are, he can be sweet and nice one second, but then snapping and downright terrifying the next. He likes to refer to people, at least mostly when he’s alone, as his puppets because he can easily trick people that he’s an all-around. I mean, who’s gonna question the man that’s the number one hero and was documented doing so many heroic deeds? No one, which makes this perfect cover up. And no one is safe from him, if you’re a hero or a villain or just an employee and you defy him, trick him, backstab him in anyway, you are probably not gonna live for much longer (in other words, you’re gonna get a visit from Clem) or if he sees value in you, then he has no problem in re-teaching you the rules here in White Hat Inc. 

Other than that, White also loves to be around humans, however. They oddly fascinate him with how interesting they are, especially with how they can easily make their lives harder by making one wrong decision or how they can ruin their day with one intrusive thought. And yet, a lot of them still find reason for continuing to live. Extraordinary. Plus, he also adores the food made on Earth and will sometimes take that over souls or flesh any day.

Also, he’s in a poly relationship with Clem and Slug because their his two most favorite puppets…and he does care for them. Fun fact: I was/am scared of White Hat because I don’t trust people who smile or are happy all the time. I just don’t. No one smiles that much and no one is that carefree. I don’t like them and that’s why I made him a master manipulator. 

~~~

Also, there isn’t a 606, but there is a Hatbot, who basically is pretty much like 505, except he often does harm others. He just believes that he’s playing with them, since he has the mindset of a child.

And that’s pretty much it. Let me know if you want to know more and this is a lot longer than I thought it would be.

[pleasereadmeok]

Another  ‘OMG did Matthew Goode really say that’ interview for you to enjoy....

SuperHeroHypeFeb 16, 2009Superhero Hype! talked to Matthew Goode on the Vancouver set of Watchmen about playing Ozymandias:

CS/SHH!: In the comic book Ozymandias has one of the more interesting costumes…

Matthew Goode: I know, slightly worrying. I remember when they told me [I got the role] and remembering, “Excellent!” Then I read the book and went, “Oh my God, I’m in a pair of pants.” Luckily, they’re slightly cooler. When I first went to L.A., I was in after Patrick [Wilson] and felt pretty good because he was like, “Dude, it’s f**kin’ awesome.” He looks sort of Batman-y. I’m in more of a suit than just pants. I wouldn’t have the legs for it. It would ruin the whole effect, my skinny, pasty English legs.

CS/SHH!: Were you familiar with the comic book prior to getting the role?

Goode: I wasn’t. I met someone who is involved in the cartoon “The Incredibles” and I knew that was loosely based upon the novel here. I wasn’t really into that area of comics and graphic novels, so it was all new to me, but I know it’s apparently the best graphic novel ever written according to Time magazine. So when I did finally get around to reading it, it was so much more complicated and adult and intelligent than I expected. So when it came time to make the decision to do this I was like, “F**k me, I’m in.”

CS/SHH!: What was the most striking thing about the book for you?

Goode: What was interesting, me and my friends just discussed the politics and apathy, and if we were attacked by another planet or an outside force, then surely everything would have to come together, so I thought that was a really interesting concept. And, obviously, with energy issues we have now… it’s incredibly relevant and I feel very proud it was written by a Brit. [laughs] So, I think all of those things jump out particularly quickly. The idea that you can have a lot of fun.

CS/SHH!: How do you walk that line between the serious moments in this film and the possible camp that could come through?

Goode: With difficulty. What’s funny on this job, I came right from “Brideshead Revisited” which you can’t really get any more different. It’s the same as anything. You learn your lines, you have a chat with Zack and the movie is bigger than any one particular actor or character. I’m dealing with it as I go along. On the first day I’m standing there in a bright purple jacket and blonde hair. I’ve got women who work for me in my office that are wearing very little. There are 200 people standing around… it’s work, really. God knows what it looks like, but this is Zack. I know when he was making “300” people were watching the rushes wondering, “What the f**k is this guy doing?” He’s a bit of a visionary and he’s got so much energy – in Zack we trust.

CS/SHH!: What’s your take on Adrian’s part in this story? Is he wrong? Right? What’s his angle for you?

Goode: There is the big question of morality and you’ve seen it before in films like “Saving Private Ryan” where you are saving the one with the possibility of more dying. And here it’s saving the world… as a ratio compared to the rest of the world, to put it in that perspective it does seem like a good equation, obviously it’s a horrific thing to do. The thing is, it’s a line of insanity. Is it crystal clear? I’m doing it this way and I couldn’t give a sh*t what you think. His eating a bowl of hash and being in love with Alexander the Great, is he metrosexual? All of that rubbish – at the end of the day, I don’t want Adrian to be maniacal in the slightest. Then again, we’ve still got a ton to shoot, so Zack might come back to me and say, “He’s crazy!” I think I want him to be as human as possible. As clear cut and a bit remorseful for what he’s done, but we’ll play it a few different ways and see.

CS/SHH!: Adrian is not in the book a whole lot, but he’s always present so is there a bulking up of your character scene-wise in the film?

Goode: That’s sort of my worry is that you’ll get stuck with a lot of exposition and that’s fine but in the book when he’s talking to his Vietnamese work group, it’s suddenly that four or five pages of [talk]. That’s worrying to do because, how the f**k am I going to do that without boring myself to death and making it interesting? So that’s been broken up, as you obviously have to do with any adaptation to make it interesting. There hasn’t been a “bulking up” but there’s been sequencing changes that have been done well.

CS/SHH!: Do you ever play Adrian at your own age?

Goode: That’s one of the things, he’s meant to be in his 40s. There’s a bit with the Watchmen in the ’70s – that’s about my age. But he’s meant to be a fine specimen of a man. [laughs] So you have to suspend your disbelief. It’s meant to be he’s a walking advert for Oil of Olay. There hasnt’ been too much prosthetic work. Poor Jeffrey [Dean Morgan], he’s gone through the gamut of sitting through the makeup for several hours. He goes from 20 to 67 and, I’ll tell you, you’re going to love the opening of the movie. Sh*t the bed, he gets the crap beaten out of him. Thrown across the room, busting through tables. The less I’m involved in swinging the punches the better.

CS/SHH!: All of the characters have a past with one another so have you been hanging out with your co-stars?

Goode: Certainly not before the project and often times, because of the long schedule and the sequence and filming, we’re not all here at the same time. But when we are, beers have to be drunk so we do go out and have fun together. You want to be as friendly with the rest of the cast as you can be. We have a laugh.

CS/SHH!: Do you look forward to being an action figure?

Goode: It’s slightly embarrassing. There’s an action figure in one of the shots, I’ve been staring at myself. I have to say, it’s incredibly life-like. It’s enjoyable and something I’d probably put in the sh*tter at home. [laughs] Something people can see when they come out to the house and say, “God, you’re an *sshole.”

Source: Ryan Rotten

Read more at https://www.superherohype.com/features/98303-watchmen-set-visit-matthew-goode#BbxuIKy9mOwdeet7.99

[crazy-fruit]

ART  Writing Year In Review: 2018

I’m currently bored by my WIP but not tired enought to sleep so I "stole” this format from @skitzofreak and made it about art.

Total number of artworks drawn this year: I honestly have to guess. On tumblr my ratio is: Orginalart: 57 / Fanart: 90 / Total: 147 Though my files say: Digital Fanart: 131 / OCs: 65 / Random: 21 / Scans: 84 /Total: 301 Now to be fair I have some files twice or turned traditional sketches into digital art, but I guess I could settle on something around 300. (Considering I also have finished 2 sketchbooks and only 10 pages left on my current one)

Did I draw more or less this year than last year? Probably not, because I was still an art student for the first months of 2017. So I’d call it even. 

Fandoms drawn for this year: Rogue One, in particular Rebelcaptain, The Last Unicorn (with a focus on Schmendrick, though somewhere I have a sketch of Molly flying around), Doctor Who, Mass Effect and one sketch of Kate Daniels and one Spidersona.

Did I take any drawing risks this year? YES! Many. Started to draw smut. (still blaming @sleepykalena and @skitzofreak for it) I did two collaboration’s with authors. While “Constellations” was planned, it was a risk, because I can’t draw kids and “Slow, Tender, on the Wing” was done without having read the fic before. I did incredibly huge pieces digitally. Frankly every single fanart, that’s inspired by a fic is a risk. I can never be sure the author will like my interpretation of their words. (biggest one was making human versions of 2 OCs.) I did a cover for a book in watercolours bigger than A3. Which meant any mistake and the piece would have been ruined. Did I have any drawing goals for the New Year? 2018: Not that I recall, but maybe to get back to my OCs, which oh boy I did 2019: More in field sketches! (paint entire South Africa in watercolours) Draw what inspires you. No holding back! @myself Add at least half of the effort into your orginal art as you did into fanart in 2018, because your OCs are much more worth it!

My Favorite piece this year: It’s a close call, so I’m going to pick two. My favourite:

I really wasn’t happy with the result at first. But over the months I’ve grown incredibly fond of it. (Maybe it’s also because I like the story) To me everything fits right. Jyn’s expression is so on point. Her entire pose. Sad but prepared to die. Although her left sleeve is too wide for me, I like how it somehow still shows that she’s clenching her muscles underneath. Then the still fresh scars, her beaten up pants with dried blood on them. The star embroidery. Now I dare to say it’s perfect. Close second is this one:

Or I feel like I should mention it somewhere, because it has the nicest colouring I did this year. Honoray mentions: The May 4th Piece, because it is so fucking big and the cover, because fuck I did a cover.

Most Fun: With so many pieces that I did this year, it’s difficult to say. There is pretty much always a point in my progress where I curse the image. But I did enjoy colouring a lot of skin this year and if I can make jokes like this, the drawing process couldn’t been that bad.

Hardest to Draw: Or an example of how difficult I find it to bring my vision to “paper”. (Which funny enough is no longer a thing I do for my own ideas, they just happen withouth much planning in advance)

Okay...the characters, the lineart, all good. The background and especially the colouring I absolutley loath. Now and when I was working on this. Doesn’t do the scene justice.

These two are even worse, because I not only tried to draw the image once, but twice and I failed miserably.  Everything is wrong about this (except maybe the jacket design and that I added a place for Jyn to store her lullaby, before it was mentioned in the story). I think the part why this one bugs/bugged me is because I know I can do better, but even on my second try I couldn’t accomplish for what I was aiming.

Things I am actively trying to remove from my art: drawing similiar poses

Things I am actively trying to incorporate into my art: more diversity

[ohgoddard]

Storyteller.7.

Holly often wondered why they traveled where they did. Well, she knew why she traveled, but not why Armak did. He truly seemed to just be wandering the world as he has been for millennia upon millennia. There was no real purpose behind where he went, at least none that Holly could discern. Everywhere they went, no matter if it was some sleepy town on the border between Golrokh and the Concord or in the shadow of the Acropolis, Armak seemed to have a story about it. She wanted to think she was doing it for her, taking her to places that held interesting stories behind them that he had the graces to be at. Often though, his stories were benign. The real interesting parts were the details he omitted because he thought them ‘uninteresting’ or ‘unimportant’. Like how the Acropolis wasn’t always floating high in the air or how the dwarves far up north originally lived in small above-ground homes. She still doesn’t believe him fully on that last fact, it seems too unlikely, but regardless he held a wealth of knowledge that only he seemed to know and have a memory of. Even knowledge of Holly’s favorite era of the continent’s history: The Great Divide.

Holly has long been fascinated with the era of history, it is the only one her parents bothered to tell her about outside of the elven conclave. Several members of the conclave left to fight alongside the Kroven clan when that war was still happening, and they were even granted an appearance by the leader herself, Seoven! Holly had grown up with stories from her parents about The Bladed Rose of the East showing up to thank the elves for their expert trail making and ranger skills, and to promise them a seat at the table when the continent was united from Gukrag’s despotic and bloodthirsty reign. At least, that is what her parents told her. She often wondered why Seoven never came back to the conclave after that, or why her parents often went on cynical diatribes about the nation of Golrolkh and betrayal. She didn’t even know the Empire or Concord existed until she left the conclave in the dead of the night and eventually found herself mugged and robbed until Clermont, where all who are chewed up by the land are spit out to. She wanted to know more and wanted to record it all to boot. But the libraries are in the hands of those who won’t share, and those who would share have motives all too ulterior. It was refreshing when she came across the drunk immortal in the town falling to pieces, which she thought was a sad statement on her travels in the world.

She always asked questions, and when the old man was feeling it he would even answer some of them. She could tell he enjoyed her company, even if he had trouble showing it. This did not stifle her frustration with him, as she swore he made it a game to make her as mad as possible sometimes. He would always get away with it in the end, though. Usually by telling some long story about a random rock in the road that is actually the last remaining stone of a huge castle keep he once saw the assassination of some regional noble at. She always questioned where they were going, and always got the same answer: “We’ll know when we get there.” He tried so hard to sound wise, but she knew better. No matter his dour attitudes though, she knew Armak had his bearings straight and would lead them in the right direction.

Armak had no clue where he was.

When you live as long as he has, the lands no longer look the same as he once remembered them. Events he thought as no more than a decade ago were actually a thousand years prior. The oldest men and elves he encounters are children when compared to him. He always looks alien wherever he goes, yet he was once commonplace in these lands. How times change, and how slow he consistently is to change with them. Armak is also not so prideful to admit he is a small amount stubborn as well and is not willing to buy new maps. Armak has been here before, things cannot change that quick. Sure, a few hundred years have passed. But mountains do not appear or disappear in that time. Forests may grow, rivers may change route, but the largest of landmarks must stay.

Armak tells himself this, trying so hard to disregard the extreme world-shaping the Yaldor did which eternally messed with his internal compass. Because those damned Gith, those gods damned mindflayer fuckers, took it upon themselves to do exactly what no one asked for. Ruined so much in terms of natural beauty. And so much more, but Armak is trying to maintain a happy attitude. Especially for Holly. Recently, the stories that surface the way to the top of his memory have been rather morbid ones. Night raids with Seoven, usurping regional rulers through violent coups, tales of arriving at border towns just minutes after the Scartooths’ Warband arrived first. War was not a pretty time, nor were there many happy stories he could tell that he could fill up Holly’s notebook with. There were bound to be fun stories, the war lasted for-gods-damned-ever. It technically ended only a hundred-ish years ago. The veterans of the war are already old men, and there are generations of people who have never known conflict on the scale that used to be commonplace. He hopes it stays that way.

He has been trying to go to places with happier memories. Armak doesn’t know when or even if he will leave this world behind him finally, but he wants his legacy to be better. The years he spent as a spymaster of terror, whose name was spoken among the Scartooths with the same tremor of terror when they spoke of Gukrag. His accomplishments are wide and greatly unknown to even himself. Mostly, he was just there to observe what happened. His involvement is negligible at best, but that does not mean his influence is insignificant. Bloodlines have ended because of him, magical items lost forever, borders changed. He does not want to be remembered for that. He wants to be a folk story people tell. The wise and older than the trees or field they sit near who comes in with stories and advice.

Of course, he’d have to actually talk to people to do that and he abhors conversation on a deep base level of his personality. So, he’d settle with telling his story to Holly. She has more or less forced herself into his life, and he wasn’t going to make any great effort to remove her. He forgot how nice it was to talk to someone. And she has helped him regain some semblance of happiness in his life, so he’s trying to give her some great stories to record in her book.

Now, if only he could find where the hell it was he was moving towards. The desert is a lot bigger than when he was last there some...300-ish years ago. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Armak, I know I ask this a lot, but where exactly are we going?”

Nighttime in the desert was always paradoxically cold. When someone walks through the dunes in the sunlight it feels like the heat walks within you and is twice as intense as your willpower to go on. Yet, when the sun finally leaves you at the crest of night, the cold seeps into your body with the absence of the heat. The two travelers sit close to each other, huddled around the dancing fire Armak summoned on the sands. Armak doesn’t hear Holly the first time she spoke, instead being lost in the stars above him.

She gives him an elbow into his ribs. The serenity of the night has now been shaken from his eyes.

“Armak, please tell me how long we’re going to be in this desert. I hate wearing all these face wraps and heavy clothes. It makes me sweat like a hobgoblin!” Holly was covered head to toe in clothes obviously not designed for her, as they hung off her body in great amounts. Armak snickered, bringing a hand to cover his beak as he looked at her. When he told her they were venturing into the desert, she was initially thankful for the change of scenery. So far, all they have traveled was repeating grassland and cold, snowy mountains. Yet, when the grass began to appear less and less and the air begins to turn arid and hot, she had worry she never thought she would have. Intense dehydration and sunburn.

So, with Holly being unprepared for the situation, Armak gave her a spare set of clothes and wraps he had to protect her from the harsh sandstorms and intense temperatures.

“Oh Holly, you look so ridiculous in that get-up. My goodness, who let you dress like that?” Holly tiredly punches him in the arm for that comment, causing another laugh from the Immortal. “It's not like you can talk,” she mumbled through the wraps on her face,” Mr. ‘I forgot my winter time gloves in Byhurst’. And how about the other times where I've had to give you spare jackets and spare hats and -”

Armak groaned.

“Say what you will about Elf development, your sense of humor matures at a much slower rate. Holly, I mean no harsh feelings towards you. It was a joke.”

The elf glares at him. “I’ll have you know, Elf humor is very refined and hilarious. You just need to know all the prerequisite history and references to understand the hilarity ingrained into every word. Like, ‘Why did the Despoiler of the Elven Faith crack the God Crystal?’ ‘To ascend into the higher realm of being!’”

The desert was quiet, and not a creature moved or made a sound.

“Holly, I have been to most of those events you reference in your jokes and stories. I ‘get’ the elf humor. Sometimes it is funny. I just think that...maybe... You should stick to writing stories instead of jokes.”

If looks could kill, this one would do it via guilt. Holly’s death gaze was further accented by a flush face, something Armak didn’t know to chalk up to embarrassment or anger or the heat. Detecting that a change in topic was needed to avoid conversation in uncomfortable territory, Armak thought quickly.

“This place, Holly, hasn’t changed much since I’ve last been here. At least, in any great amount. The rocks are in the right places, the skeletons of the cities still stand where I once shopped and slept. It's the least changed place in this whole world, Holly.” He stared up into the sky again. Holly’s gaze softened, though she still said nothing.

“Change has been hard for me. It's hard for any long-lived man but on me, it has taken a toll. People whom I have made friends with live their whole lives and give birth to children who will introduce me to their children, ad infinitum. I am friends of families, not people. No one can stay with me. The artificial, even, eventually wither away from damages not even the best artificer can fix. The few who can be in my company I’d rather not be among. They are all evil men or beasts with no morals, with only a desire to consume to keep living. Liches, Demons, lords of dark realms. None are good house guests.” His gaze falls from the stars and into the fire, where he stares.

“I have witnessed much, you know that. I have seen and been through so much change and I remain remarkably the same throughout. Whole forests grew where once was a field. Towns have been founded, expanded, and wiped from history before me. The oceans have risen and sunk, and here I am all the same. Only here, Holly, only here in this desert can I be the thing that changes. A desert doesn’t have to change, it knows it is the end state of all. It is patient. It doesn’t have to see the change to know it will happen.”

Holly looked into the fire with him. Traveling with Armak was...difficult. He has spent centuries on his own, interacting with him was like talking to an elf raised by the wolves. His feelings were not complex ones, but the reason why he felt the way he did was unique. Sure, some may feel life rushes past them, and they are worried that they do not change with the world and have fears of being left behind. Armak was left behind, and no matter how much can try the world will change before he has caught up. He will always be chasing what people who are born and killed in his lifetime will experience threefold. Plus, when he was depressed Holly felt sad too. Holly needed a way to make him happy and fast, otherwise, she’d feel bad about this the entire night and she needed her sleep lest she becomes an actual feral elf in the morning.

“Not all change is bad, you know. There is a good chance you must have seen that has made the stay on this lovely eroding rock of world pleasant. C’mon, I bet if you think about it you can find some good ones.”

Armak chuckled, still looking into the fire.

“I know what you’re trying to do, Holly. I get it, I do. But that isn’t what the problem is. The problem is -”

“Yeah yeah, you’re old and seen a lot. I’m not going to let you dwell on this any longer. You’re going to think some happy thoughts right now or else.” She stood up, crossing her arms at him. His feathered head turned to face her, a quizzical look upon it.

“Oh? And, pray tell, what you might do if I refuse to be the happy boy you want me to be?” “I’ll stop making the strawberry shortcake you like.”

She means business, Armak thought. He better start thinking happy or one of the tastiest things he has ever eaten in his thousand years of life will be taken from him much quicker than he would have liked.

“Well,” he said while dragging on the last ‘L’,” I do remember being in this absolute hellscape some odd hundreds of years ago. The ground was up-heaved, the trees and grass were in flames, the sky itself was red and black from the flame and smoke. It was torn apart by a large Warband that devoured itself a few months later. I remember thinking it was such a waste, the whole land benign devastated over some petty squabble. They’re always petty. I come back to that same spot only seventy years later and it is the most beautiful spot I have ever witnessed. The greenest of fields and most bountiful of game. Trees that gave sweet fruit and not a Warband in sight.”

Holly smiled, laying flat down next to him and propping her head upon her arms with her usual happy listening look.

“Then, I was in this very same desert. Remember the story I told you about the djinni and the sphinxes? I found that very same nomadic tribe, the one of which I have saved the princess from. Turns out, she had united the tribes under her banner through masterful politics and marriage. She also said she had an immortal whose magic and cunning could defeat even that of a djinni. I was made into a story people told around campfires, Holly. Children spoke of me as if I were some saint who watched over them. Mothers used me as a threat to make sure they didn’t go wandering either. It brought about a small era of peace to her spot in the desert. It was a good change. That good can happen, even preceding bad, makes change worth it sometimes.”

Armak raised his head from looking into the fire, glancing over at Holly. A smirked snaked its way onto his face.

“Another positive change I saw was the princess of Fresonia, a long-gone nation. She changed very well. First, she took off her dress, then -”

Holly’s frown and disapproving look was all he needed, causing Armak to go into a small laughing fit. And try as she did to stay looking grumpy at him, she couldn’t completely hold back her smile. After the laughing from Armak died down with a cough, he looked amused with himself. But Holly wasn’t going to let a happy Armak go just yet.

“What do you think was the biggest, positive change you’ve seen?”

Armak raised his hand to face in a pensive manner, holding his beak and stroking it as if it were a wise man's beard. His eyes look into a far-off place, but a smile soon grew on him.

“I have one. Though it may not start all that positive, it has a happy ending. Well actually the story itself is pretty damn dramatic, but it has a happy end overall. Technically.”

This piqued Holly’s curiosity. She righted herself from laying down, brushing the sand off her clothes and hurriedly throwing things out of her bag for her journal. This little panic she did every time Armak was about to go on some long tale always amused him. Reminded him of a time when was a professor at some university somewhere. Eventually, Holly found her ever disappearing notebook and broke out her nifty invention she started leaving in every town they came across; the pencil. She looked up to him, eyes wide with eagerness. “Well? Are you gonna tell it or not?”

He smiled. “Alright. By the way, this story may be of interest to you some. It has some big names in it.”

He cleared his throat, glancing at Holly and knowing that she was racing to try and remember what she considers big compared to what Armak does.

“It all started in the war court of Seoven when the news that Oshphim, the Great Wizard Exarch, died.”

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When one imagines the celebration of a coronation, there is a certain amount of fanfare one expects. Parades, people cheering in the streets  The Exarch is gone, long live the Exarch!, and a grand event any and all can attend and witness. They are events that many do not get to see, as those in power often live lavious and long lives compared to the common people. It was a time of celebration of the new ruler, yet always clashed with the grieving of the old. How someone deals with that delicate balance of emotion is critical to the beginning of their reign.

It would have taken a god themself to drum up any excitement in the royal hall of the great Southern Holdings. For the monarch they lost was beloved by all. Exarch Oshphim was a wise and gentle ruler. His knowledge knew no bounds, and he used it to create a shining jewel in a land where people still separated themselves up by tribes and fought wars by destroying whole peoples. He created cities, his skills in planning were unparalleled. He knew what was needed where and when. And his knowledge was not limited to the functions of the mortal realm, either. He was a wizard of great renown, being able to shape the very earth to his liking on a scale not matched until the Unakran Invasion. He diverted rivers to feed the farms and create fertile land to grow food. He raised the flood walls so buildings and the economy could prosper. He made sure no natural disaster happened unless he wanted it to. And since he never felt ill of those he ruled, it never happened. He fed the hungry, housed the homeless. All worked a decent day and were content under the Exarch. You know, he’s related to that princess I told you about? Wild, isn’t it?

Anyways, the Exarch was beloved by his people. His children on the other hand? Much different story. His children have often been a matter of discussion. They are not wholly Yuan-ti, like their father. In fact, when they were born out of wedlock the country was in upheaval. Such births often caused great succession crises. Hell, the kids didn’t even look that much like the guy. I remember merchants fleeing the main city en masse. However, through his expert statesmanship, he convinced the country that his children were no signs of the end times but an omen of prosperity. For you see, the children were half-celestial. The Exarch, in his wisdom and apparent powerful charisma, found love in a full-blown celestial. The children were, by definition, Aasimar and Immortal.

Now, ignoring the problems of having an Immortal ruler for deep discussions on politics later, the problem the people had with the coronation was with who was ascending to the throne after Oshphim died. His two children could not have been more different in every aspect. To start with, they were born wildly different.  The Celestial who divided her body into two was a being of the stars, and as such had a part in the changing from night to day. One of her children was born with the powers of the sun and the daylight, able to influence the sun’s rays and use them to her whim. The other child was born with the powers of the moon, controlling the tides and able to influence the thoughts and minds of those who dreamt. Though, she never did.

The sun child was dubbed by her father “Solaris”. Her stature was staggering, ahead of long dark auburn hair and eyes of pure glowing gold. She walked with authority yet spoke with a voice that reminded you of those sunny days. She inherited most of her father’s physical traits, her face having sharp angles and a hard brow yet a welcoming smile that literally glowed. Her soft and pale skin always glowed strikingly in her ever-present warm radiant light. Yet, she never shied from the heritage of her mother. She always had these wings of orange and yellow, striking like an angel, furled on her back. We’ll get back to Solaris, as I can assure you Holly you have the wrong idea about her.

The moon child was named “Tungi”. A name from Oshphim’s culture that simply meant ‘moon’. The Exarch was not a creative man, but the names were apt. Tungi was not quite as tall as Solaris and nowhere near as outwardly imposing. Her hair was dark shades of purple which seemed to shift and change into other colors of the night sky. Her skin, like her mother’s, was a dark brown. Her eyes were swirls of stars and splashes of comets, mesmerizing to look into and incredibly hard to have a conversation with her because of it. She spoke with a shy voice, but one that was deep and soothing. Her aura was one of tranquility, one always felt calmer when they stood close to her. However, she liked to blend into the crowd. Despite having most of her mother’s traits, she rarely ever showed her wings. Instead, she often just passed herself off as a human member of the court. She was also amazing at chess.

Tungi was the Exarch’s favored daughter. She looked the most like her mother and carried much the same personality. She would always assist her father in his studies, catch onto magic quickly, and devoured books at the most astounding rate. However, unlike her father, she loathed talking to people if she had to. Not due to any hermit-like personality, or some deep antisocial tendency. No, she was just so incredibly awkward and shy that a conversation with her was next to impossible. This isn’t to say talking to her was hard by any means. She was incredibly charming in her own way. She could talk for hours and hours about the most interesting things she’s read or seen. Or a magic scroll she wrote which could yield greater-sized crops. She never kept on topic. A great scholar, magician, alchemist, city planner, but Tungi could not hold a consistent conversation to save her life. Which, sadly, is what ended up happening at the coronation.

It was no secret Tungi was the Exarch’s favored daughter. It was also no secret that it was Solaris who would ascend the throne. Both children being born at the same time down to the second, it was a matter of private discussion among themselves who should rise to the throne. Tungi put up no fight for it. She knew her limitations but also held no desire to rule. She would be content to live in the castle forever researching magic and being a loyal desire to her sister. Her sister. Now there was the problem, Holly. Solaris rising to power was something no one wanted. Despite being a creature of the light, Solaris was a backroom and dark political monster. Her favorite game growing up in the castle was to find and blackmail members of the court into robbing the kitchen for her. She made deals with foreign dignitaries that ended wars before they even began. Her wit so wicked and her tongue so sharp it was no wonder she rose to have great political control of the court. Every noble, whether they wished to or not, supported her. And this was not limited to her lands either. Exarch Oshphim swore fealty to a higher monarch: Seoven. When the Great Divide happened, he sent his daughters in his place to the War Court to assist in the war.

In the war court, it was very much the same story. I remember when they arrived, Seoven paid them no mind. Solaris went for the attack, trying to butter Seoven up about some victory or another to gain her favor. I swear, the cold shoulder she gave Solaris extinguished her flame a great deal. However, that changed when Tungi approached the map Seoven was surveying. She pointed out several flaws in the supply lines, which when fixed saved hundreds of lives. Tungi quickly became the favored daughter over Solaris once more. This was the last straw, in Solaris’s mind. At least, this is my theory. I could feel something inside her break when she was quite literally passed over by the only other authority figure she has met in her life for her sister.

Solaris was declared heir on the deathbed of Oshphim, the man was that hesitant to name her the monarch. Solaris cultivated a public opinion of herself to the lands like she was the one who brought them their food, their happy memories. The public was in her hand. Yet, those who knew even a little bit of courtroom gossip understood that Tungi would be the better leader if only she could talk to a damn person. As such, the coronation was a dour mood. No one in the room wanted to see Solaris sit upon the throne. It was just the practicality of the situation that she arose to power. Cunning, deceitful, she would be an excellent monarch.

Or a tax collector.

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Holly lets out a loud and humorous snort on that last joke, still hurriedly writing.

“Armak, I appreciate the backstory a lot here and all. And your jokes are top-notch in this story, really. Yet you’ve told me nothing about the actual coronation?”

“Well, Holly, to understand the importance of the change I'm talking about here you’re going to need some ample background information. I’m leaving a lot out too because I know you’re a tired elf right now. And when you’re a tired elf at night, you are often an angry elf in the morning.”

“Why do you keep saying ‘elf’ like that?”

“Like what?”

Holly rolled her eyes.

“Nevermind. What are you leaving out? Make it short, though. My hands are getting tired.”

“Well, first off: their father died when they were out at the war court. It was a very awkward cart ride back. Not just atmosphere-wise either, Seoven was quite large. The sisters also had a huge schism between them. Solaris was always jealous of Tungi’s preference and it was obvious to any observant man. Tungi would never say anything about it. She was optimistic that way. Oh! Solaris was also only kept on Seoven’s war court because she was one of the best generals she ever had. It was almost scary how great a strategic master she was. Tungi was the master logistician, fueling the army her sister led. As well as the rest of the Kroven clan. They were useful in their ways to Seoven.”

The sounds of lead drawing across the paper at speeds never recorded filled the night as he waited for Holly to catch up to his dictation. Armak stared at the sky, smiling. He liked talking of Tungi. She was a good friend of Armak, being the only one who could talk about old events as if they just happened. Mostly due to her studies. He always liked her excited attitude when she got invested in something she loved. A very dedicated woman to whatever craft she wanted to become a master of. Armak glanced at Holly and could remember Tungi doing the same thing on the floor of a tent in War Court.

 As much as things change, some things just stay the same.

“Alright,” Holly said, putting down her pencil momentarily to stretch her hand. “I’ve caught up. Now, I love the backstory. And I will be sure to ask you about it later when I flesh out all these notes I'm taking. However, can we get to the big event itself already? It is getting late after all.”

Armak chuckled. “I forget others don’t have all the time in the world.” Holly made a face at him, motioning with her hands to continue the story.

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Right, the coronation itself despite its dour moods was set in an extravagantly decorated throne room. Red banners depicting the sun rising were hung from the rafters, a not so subtle indication of a new age rising in the land. And also the sun ascending the throne. Solaris was never a subtle person if she could help. Not that she couldn’t sneak, she just preferred to get away with it in open daylight. I remember I was standing with Seoven near the throne, a simple wooden chair by any other name. She wore an elegant dress of her minotaur people, something you won’t see anywhere else. A beautiful purple and gold accent thing. I wore rags compared to it. I think I wore actual rags… Regardless. I was there with Seoven because this was an important event. Not because of the coronation itself, but for the war effort. Sure, while the Southern Holdings had the manpower to supply to the war effort, it wasn’t what made them useful to Seoven. It was the high concentration of magic users. The country was the only one with a magical war college and had the best war casters in the Kroven Clan. Gukrag’s spellcasters consisted no more of a few souls who could create small bumps in the road. With this advantage, the Kroven Clan was advancing towards victory closer and closer. Seoven said to me,” I would rather Gukrag take this kingdom than watch her rise to the throne, but if it means I never have to hear that orc’s despicable name I will swallow my opinions.”

She had such a way with words.

I remember eyeing up the feast table to my right when the doors to the royal hall finally opened. Walking down the aisle was Solaris, tailed by four priests of the Celestial Faith (a very new change made towards the end of Oshphim’s life. One that was controversially thought to be not one made entirely of sound mind or outside influence if you catch my drift here Holly). Dressed in a trailing white gown, adorned with gold accents that reflected her radiant light, and her wings were fully unfurled. It was a spectacle show, one which Seoven visibly did not care for. Coming in, the last of the procession following Solaris, was her sister Tungi. She dressed for her father’s mourning, a simple black gown. A more striking statement could not have been made to the public. As Solaris walked up the steps to the throne and sat in it, I could feel the room tense. It was an uncanny feeling. It felt like the split second you saw someone’s fist before it collides with your nose.

The shoe had been raised and was now waiting to drop.

The priests walk up the steps to Solaris, two of them carrying a small box of obsidian and marble in their hands. The two priests carrying nothing turn to the crowd in the room, nobles and common folk alike. They said, “A new monarch sits upon the throne. The Exarch is dead, a new one rises like the sun. A phoenix from the ashes. Do those of the land’s holdings swear fealty to the ultimate, the one?”

A cry of,” For the Land, we swear fealty” echoes from the crowd. However, I could not forget that Seoven and Tungi remained quiet. For that matter, so did I. But in my defense, I had no idea that was going to happen. Seoven of course did not speak for she was above Solaris. The Empress was not about to swear fealty to a petty queen. But Tungi, she remained silent. A pained smile was on her face.

The two priests with the box opened it, removing a large and spiked golden crown from its interior. They raised it slowly above Solaris’s head and lowered it onto her head. The previous two priests turned to face Solaris and said aloud, “Solaris, daughter of Oshphim, by which power do you swear to keep the lands safe and prosperous? To lead us and keep our lands that shining beacon atop the hill?” Solaris raised one hand and simply laid it against her heart, speaking not a word. She didn’t need to. Murmurs among the crowd spoke for her. By her own divine powers, she declares in her movement, her reign is ordained. With the gesture understood by all, the priests bow their heads to Solaris before turning to the crowd once more.

“The lands have entered a new era! Praise be to the Celestials, who have granted us so much! Praise be to Exarch Solaris!” And as the people cheered, I suspect in fear of what would happen if they didn’t, Solaris rose from her throne. Her wings unfurled and spread wide, beams of light shining bright. The stained glass of the hall cast colors onto every surface, and the bells of the churches in the village below rang in immaculate chorus. The hall all knelt before their new ruler. Except for Seoven and me.

And Tungi.

And I could feel the shoe begin to lower.

“Rise, my loyal subjects. Rise and see your ruler speak to you.” Her voice carried through the very wind, sounding austere and serene. “These are confusing times, I know you all have your worries. My father was a great man, and deserved the praise and love you all gave him. I can only hope to do but a quarter of what he did for you all.” Her speech flowed like a creek in the fall, snaking its way into every ear. This is why she sat atop the throne.

“However, I am troubled that I am to bring more strife into your life.”

And like that, the show dropped.

I looked to Seoven, whose face shaped into one of concern and confusion. This was not how things should be happening. I looked at Tungi across the room and saw a similar look. I began to piece things together in my mind.

“There have been attacks on our lands recently, many of you are aware. We thought it to be the wretched Scartooths, those who broke through our brave soldiers’ front lines to pillage our people. However, I learn of a darker truth. There has been espionage among us! A traitor to us all has allowed bandits and worse to wreak havoc on our homes and farms! One who betrayed not only the people of our fair land but her father.”

The realization hits Seoven first, then I saw it shoot to Tungi across the room. I saw two guards, decked in white and gold armor, shut the mighty doors to the throne room hall. I stopped Seoven’s hand from reaching for her great ax at her hip. I knew what was happening, but if Seoven did what I thought she was going to do it was all for naught. We had to watch it happen. We were powerless.

“Tungi! How could you do this? Betray us all? How could you betray our father? The one who taught you all you knew and more? I know what you did! I know during our missions on the field of the war you would disappear for days only to return without a reason. Now I know the reason why! You were paying off Scartooth bandits to raid us! You sabotaged the supply lines and for what? I’ll tell you why she did it, my people.”

Tungi was shaking, her hands shooting to her mouth in shock. She was backing away from the approaching guards, their halberds drawn. The crowd was dead silent, not daring to make a sound. Tungi was being pushed closer and closer to her sister. I can remember the look of terror in her eyes as she approached me. I can remember the shaking rage of Seoven. The smug, sadistic look upon Solaris’s face.

“Dear sister is a Scartooth traitor!”

It took no great deal of magic to subdue Seoven’s rage. I could feel her anger at Solaris for these baseless accusations. But I knew that action here would only cause more harm. We could not afford a Civil War. So I could only watch in pain and regret the events play out. My entire being was spent trying to keep Seoven was bursting into a rage.

“Well? Have you nothing to say in your defense? Would you merely stand here before me and accept what I say as truth?”

A dirty trick and she knew it. Tungi was in shock, not a word would escape her. You could have put the quickest politician in her spot and not a word would be uttered. She trapped her. Everyone knew this was a ploy, Tungi would never. There was no ground for Solaris to do this. But she was the ruler. She was the law. And if they wanted to keep their heads, they would play along. Such is the game of politics.

As Tungi stood there silent, Solaris laughed.

“Just as I thought. The guilty would never own up to their failures.” Solaris stepped down the steps, standing over her sister with her incredible height. “You will pay for the terror you have put upon our people, and It will be harsh. You will rot in the dungeons for as long as I rule above.” Solaris smiled. “It is what the ruler would prefer happen.” Solaris then mentioned for the white and gold guards to take her sister, turning to walk back up the steps to the throne.

But the guards would never get Tungi.

A shockwave emanates from the Moon princess, sending onlookers and the guards back several feet. Even Solaris was shoved into the steps. Glorious wings of white and soft blue unfurled from Tungi as she rose into the air, arms stretched before her. The stained glass windows all shattered, and the great doors to the throne room were thrown off their hinges. The candles in the room all snuffed, and the sun outside was masked by rolling clouds of rain. I saw Solaris turn in shock and fear, such a look was never before seen on her face. And I felt it genuine.

Tungi as she floated in the air looked powerful, yet I saw on her face were tears. In a voice never before heard from her, it echoed deep and powerful. “Sister, why do you betray me so?! Why do you lie to our people as your first act as ruler? Do you truly hate me this much? Have I been this bad to you that you would banish and imprison me than talk? That you would make a power grab when no one dare opposes you?!” Another shockwave, sending cracks into the stonework of the castle. “Solaris! We are sisters! We are of these people! Why act like you’re above them! I do not see a throne of gold, but one of wood like any other might sit on. You rule a kingdom of wax, and I fear the day you burn too bright and watch it all melt!”

Tungi flew to open doors of the great hall and faced the crowd and her sister.

“I will return!” As she spoke, her voice cracked in a sob. “I-I will be back! I will reclaim this land from you! For I have no ambition of power, only ever wanting to serve my people. Yet I would rather be a reluctant ruler than one who would turn it to ruin. A traitor you call me? Then a traitor I shall become!”

With that last line, she looked forlornly down to me and Seoven, mouthed a word of sorrow and apology, and flew out the door. Never to be seen again in the realm.

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“The cart ride back to the war court was awful, let me tell you. It was just me and Seoven, Solaris staying behind to ‘serve’ her kingdom. I had to endure hours of yelling on betrayal, how it was all horsepiss that Tungi would even think to betray, that Solaris would be killed on sight if she ever saw here again and so much more. She also socked me for magically subduing her, but she understood why. We had a fun relationship like that.”

Holly looked up at Armak, shocked. Pencil unmoving.

“But what happened with Solaris after all of that?” “Oh, Seoven tried to ignore her as much as possible. Stave her influence off the war court as much as possible. However, Solaris had a chokehold on the most valuable resource ever; war casters. Plus, when news got out the Scartooths had an all-power Archmage it was only a matter of time before Seoven brought in Solaris’s magic again. Not that Solaris ever left the Southern Lands after that, she was afraid of Seoven, and rightfully so.”

“Who was the Scartooth’s new mage?” Armak grinned. “Who do you think?”

Holly’s face exploded in surprise. “TUNGI?! But I thought you said it was a lie that she was a traitor?”

“And it was. However, with nowhere else to turn in hope of regaining her throne, she went to Gukrag. It's funny, though. You are aware of Gukrag, right?”

Holly nodded. “Yes, the Warboss of the Scartooths. Big orc.”

“Exactly. When Tungi approached him, the story goes, he yelled into the sky ‘FUCKING FINALLY’ then proceeded to make her in charge of his nation.”

Holly blinked. “Wait what?”

“Well, not in charge of his nation per se. It took a while for Tungi to gain his trust. He saw her amazing magical skill. He saw that she could puppet hundreds of people, disintegrate whole armies, flood battlefields, and win things without a fight at all. This was incredibly boring to Gukrag. But, he was convinced of her loyalty to him in as far as reclaiming her old land. Gukrag then did perhaps the smartest thing he ever did. He put in her charge of making his country better. Holly, this orc could not run a major nation to save his life. The whole country was held together by fear of them disobeying Gukrag. She built schools, paved roads, healing buildings, made living spaces, she transformed that rough collection of tribes into a nation that is revered and respected to this very day. All according to Gukrag’s plan. He’s not an idiot, he is insanely clever and smart in ways outside of books. He knew he was no expert in nation-building, only in combat and battles. But the preferred daughter of the great nation builder Oshphim? You don’t have to be a genius, Holly.”

Holly sat there, speechless.

“This..this changes everything I thought I knew. But Armak, I’m confused. How is this a positive change? The rightful and good Monarch was usurped by the evil! Everything in that story was bad!” “Ah, but you think in the past. Think of the now. Ever heard of the Lunavla Empire?”

“You’re not saying..”

“I am. The most prosperous nation, the best place to live hands down. Accepting of all, turning away none. The noblest of places. I’d say that is a good change, wouldn’t you?” Armak stood laid back in the sand, getting comfortable. Holly, still scribbling away in her notepad, leaning against his long and gangly legs. “Armak, this..this is so interesting. I wish I could speak to another person there that day.” “Oh, you can.” Holly gave Armak a look of doubt. “I don’t want to use necromancy again, it makes me feel sick.” “No, silly girl. They are still alive. Two of them. I am good friends with one.”

Holly was growing tired of getting shocked. “Who? How old are they?” “Oh, she would not appreciate it if you asked her that. But I’m surprised you can’t piece it together.” “You don’t mean Tungi is still alive?” “Do you actually listen to my stories? Remember, she is half celestial.”

Holly closed her book and threw it in her bag, exhausted. She stretched out before returning to laying on Armak’s legs.

“You owe me an audience with a monarch.” “I owe no such thing.” But it didn’t matter, she was fast asleep. And as Armak looked up into the starry sky, he smiled.

A positive change indeed.